He's a Free Agent (Again)

I can't do it this year.  Searching through everything about Xavier Nady isn't helping me find a reason for the Mets to sign him.  He hit only .248 for the season before a Dillon Gee pitch fractured his left hand.  And looking at his splits doesn't help.  There is no upside to a player hitting .248 against both right-handed pitchers and left-handed pitchers.  I can't even make the argument that he hit for power this year, as he only hit four home runs.  They were all against lefties so maybe he still has something.  But he wasn't even a run producer this year.  35 RBIs are not going to convince anyone he can be productive in their lineup.  It's just depressing.

If there is a silver lining it was the fact that he did do something in platoon-playing time and his defense didn't suffer from the sporadic playing time.  For the first season since 2008 his elbow stayed healthy through his playing time.  This was a result of Nady playing 52 games at first base and only ten in the outfield.  His defense at first wasn't bad, as he made some nice plays this year.  When he did play left field, he wasn't too bad there either.

He's probably going to be a bench player wherever he signs.  He won't relive his days as the "Untie-er" on the Pirates in 2008.  But there is a good chance he will be more productive next season.  For the first half of the season it seemed like the Diamondbacks had a revolving door at first base so there was no way to know who was playing when.  As a right-handed bat off the bench he'll have a somewhat more defined role.

The Mets don't really need Xavier Nady and I'm not going to convince anyone they do.  But I miss him and think it would be cool if they considered him anyway.