NY Mets Monday Morning GM: 4 alternatives David Stearns may wish he signed instead

4) JJ Bleday instead of MJ Melendez

No one is losing sleep over the Mets signing Garcia over Webb (at least not yet). You shouldn’t give it a second thought about the Mets adding MJ Melendez over JJ Bledary either. JJ vs. MJ, it’s a shame Bleday wasn’t an LJ so we could make a direct correlation to one of the NBA’s greatest arguments.

Both hit left-handed, have a minor league option left, and were signed for around the same amount of money. Bleday got $1.4 million from the Cincinnati Reds with Melendez receiving $1.5 million from the Mets on a split contract. It should cost the Mets less with Melendez because he’ll make fewer dollars for time spent in the minors.

Bleday is a center fielder who rated terribly there last year. He has had bad metrics throughout a large part of his career. A similar hitter to Melendez as well, he’s a lifetime .215/.307/.394 slasher.

The guy the Mets got, Melendez, has a .215/.297/.388 slash line and some of those same bad defensive metrics. It’s a close draw between the two. There’s a good chance neither team is satisfied with their depth piece.

The clear benefit for Bleday is he can play center field even if it’s not too good. Melendez’s defensive strength outside of his arm is the capability of being an emergency catcher. How useful will that even be?

Chances favor neither player performing all that well for their new ball clubs. It won’t stomp the comps.