Coste, who rookied with the Phillies at age 33 in 2006, will turn 37 before the start of the 2010 season. Defensively, he can catch and play first base. Though he hasn't thus far in his major league career, in his time in the minors Coste did spend significant time at third base. (He also played some games in the outfield, but that's probably irrelevant as he's a full eight years removed from his most recent outfield appearance.
In terms of his hitting, after a very fine rookie showing in 2006, Coste's offensive game has gone downhill. Never one to take a walk, Coste has shown a declining batting average and power as he moves into his later thirties. Which can hardly be a surprise.
Though he has shown proficiency against lefties and Omir Santos has against right-handers, it would be very surprising if the Mets make these two their catching tandem. His versatility does allow the possibility of him making the roster as a utility catcher - with the ability to backup the first and third basemen - but his decline in hitting over the last few years does not make that seem very likely.
More likely, Coste is being brought in with the expectation of landing
a job in AAA, where he would be just a phone call (and a flight) away
if a major league catcher went down.
On the other hand, he may be in the fray with Omir Santos for the
backup catcher job. I'm not really sure how the Mets brass feels about
Santos.
Either way, I think the pick-up is a good one. Coste is a versatile
player, and to be quite frank, the numbers he put up after being
traded to Houston last year, .204/.259/.252, while horrendous, are far
enough from his standard that I think he could bounce back.
No comments:
Post a Comment