3B Fernando Tatis – R/R – 5’11” 195 – MiLB FA 3/07–1/1/75

AAA: .242/.345/.592, 6 2B, 12 HR, 17 BB, 23 K – 120 AB, 37 G

MLB: .297/.369/.484, 16 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR, 29 BB, 59 K – 273 AB, 92 G

Tatis was one of the great stories of 2008 for the Mets after a July in which he hit .397/.463/.767. Take a closer look at his performance in the majors versus the minors. Despite a higher batting average in the bigs, his walk rate and ISO SLG declined.

SS Anderson Hernandez S/R – 5-9 150 – Trade w/ Det for Vance Wilson – 10/30/82

AAA: .203/.262/.307 21 2B, 7 3B, 5 HR, 38 BB, 95 K – 125 G, 479

MLB (WAS): .306/.383/.333 2 2B, 0 HR, 9 BB, 7 K– 25 G, 72 AB

Hey, who would you rather have: Luis Ayala or Jesus Flores? That’s Luis Ayala of the 5.40 ERA or the 23-year old Flores who hit .256/.296/.402 for the Nationals in 301 AB this year. False choice? Not really. Hernandez was added to the Mets 40-man roster during the 2005 season. In 2006, he hit .249/.285/.295 in 414 AB in AAA at Norfolk and then .152/.164/.242 in 66 Big League AB. He was on the 40-man roster when Flores was not, in December of 2006 when the Nationals stole Flores from the Mets in the rule 5 draft.

Of course, I approved of flipping Hernandez for Luis Ayala. With no power at all, it’s tough to carve out an MLB career, and Hernandez has little offensive unless he can hit .300, an unlikely proposition.

1B Michel Abreu –R/R – 6’3” 255 – NDFA 1/31/06 – 1/2/79

AAA: .285/.343/.447 24 2B, 15 HR, 38 BB, 59 K – 425 AB, 120 G

Abreu closed out the season with a .444/.531/.778 August, but it was too late for the 29 year old Cuban defector. Abreu, who missed all of 2007 with visa problems, will be a free agent after this season.