Wright or Reyes? The two cornerstones of the Mets have quickly become the present as much as they are the future of New York’s National League franchise. Both had excellent seasons and were selected to the All-Star team. But who is better? Who has more upside?
If you asked most Mets fans at the beginning of last season, hands down, David Wright would have won. But with Wright slumping in the second half of last season, while Jose Reyes sizzled, perhaps assessing which player will be better needs reexamination.
    Clearly, the Mets organization, its fans, and even the writers who cover the club hope that these two great young-stars, the best duo the Mets have produced since the Strawberry-Gooden pair graced Shea Stadium in the 1980s, the caliber that will put them annually in All-Star games, or even, that they will become Cooperstown candidates. That Wright’s number 5 and Reyes’s number 7 will someday be plastered on the outfield wall of Citi Field alongside Tom Seaver’s 41, Gil Hodges 14, and Casey Stengal’s 37 (and possibly Mike Piazza’s 31).
    But who actually has the edge between these two young players? Though Wright has the obvious advantage in power: He out homered and out-doubled Reyes, the shortstop was clearly and understandably superior in the speed categories. Reyes’s numbers improved tremendously from 2005 to 2006, while Wright’s number were basically the same in those two seasons. The big jump for Reyes was his On Base Percentage which went from .300 in 2005 to .354 in 2006. Wright’s OBP actually dropped from .388 to a still solid, but lower .381. 
    It has already been stated that Wright has more power than Reyes, but the shortstop actually out-homered Wright in the second half 11-8 thanks to Reyes’s three home run game against Philadelphia, a feat Wright has yet to accomplish.  Given his higher OBP and his other statistics, Wright would seem to be a more polished player than Reyes. However, the gap between the top players is closing fast. Reyes, who was brought up one year before Wright, and is a year younger, was rushed through minors to the major leagues, in part because the Mets were awful in 2003 and needed a spark. However, for two years Reyes’s development was stymied because of leg injuries, mysterious injuries that made him miss over 100 games in two years. It wasn’t until 2005 that Reyes played a complete season and it seemed, particularly in the beginning that he was rusty, given the fact that it took him a month to draw a simple bases on balls: he only had 27 walks the entire year.  In 2006, Reyes basically doubled his walk total with 53, showing that he learns quickly once he can play entire season. In fact, his in-season improvement in both 2005 and 2006 is a great indication of his burgeoning talent.
    For Wright, last season’s second half was a disappointment. Many blamed his strong performance the Home Run hitting contest during the All-Star break for ruining his stroke, but the problem stemmed from the pressure he was putting on himself. All you had to do was to look at Wright’s eyes and see he was pressing. This would explain why when he played in Japan during a tour in November 2006 he began to hit like he had in the first half of 2006. Perhaps the fact that Reyes has lived under Wright’s shadow to some extent has allowed him to flourish. Whatever the case may be, both players have a chance to become superstars, even potential Hall-Of-Famers, but given Reyes’s tremendous growth and his still raw abilities, the New York shortstop would have the greater upside. We’ll see.

Andrew Schiff is a freelance journalist who has written a biography on Henry Chadwick, The Father of Baseball to be published by McFarland late in 2007.
See www.henrychadwick.com.

Latin American Winter League baseball is a great place for young up-and-coming talents to prove to their American parent clubs that they can play competitive baseball on a high level. It also provides a chance for young players to get at bats during the off-season and improve their skills. Mets’ infield prospect, Anderson Hernandez used the Dominican Winter League to show the Mets the he indeed still has potential to become a bona fide hitter. Hernandez, a switch hitter, won the post-season batting crown after hitting .402 with one home run, 12 RBIs and 22 runs scored in 23 games with the Tigres del Licey.  Despite this superb performance the question still remains: can Anderson Hernandez hit major league pitching?
    Concerns have always been about Hernandez’s bat. Even when the Mets acquired him two years ago from the Detroit Tigers for Catcher Vance Wilson, just before José Reyes finally established in 2005 that he could remain healthy for a full season, Hernandez’s reputation had been based largely with his sparkling glove.  However, in 2005, Hernandez raised eyebrows when he had an excellent season for the Mets AA team, the Binghamton Mets, hitting .326. Because José Reyes had finally established himself and remained healthy, the Mets were prompted to move him to second base, in deference to Reyes.  Hernandez made an exceptionally smooth transition from short to second and was the opening day second baseman for the Amazin’s at the start of the 2006 season. Hernandez played some exceptional defense for the club in the early going, but he wasn’t hitting at all. After going more than twenty at bats without a hit, Hernandez finally broke through with a single. Unfortunately, in April, an injury made on a superb fielding play that saw Hernandez dive into the outfield, sidelined him for months. Luckily for the Mets, and not so lucky for Hernandez, Jose Valentín, who had rarely ever played second base, came in and played spectacularly. Valentín slugged 18 home runs, hit for a decent average, and what is more important played, the position as if he played it his whole entire life! Valentín’s surprising play was one of the key factors in the Mets winning their first division title in 18 years.
    With Jose Valentín signed to a contract extension, questions remain as to what role Hernandez will play with the big club in 2007. Will Hernandez be sent to the minors again so he can get some at-bats? Will Hernandez stay with the club and play a utility role, or will he platoon with Valentín, who has difficulty hitting from the right side? These are all questions that may be answered this spring.
With his performance in the minors over the last few seasons and his stellar showing in the Dominican Winter League, Hernandez clearly has proven that he can hit AAA level pitching. However, the question still remains whether he can hit Major League pitching. Hernandez eventually resurfaced in 2006 and played some games in September for the parent club after spending most of the year in the minors, after recovering from his injury, and wound up hitting his first major league home run from the right side of the plate – his homer impressing and surprising Mets’ manager Willie Randolph. But, simply put, Hernandez’ hitting performance was still abysmal. When called up in 2005, Hernandez only had one hit in 18 at-bats. Then, in 2006, Hernandez only managed a .152 batting average in 66 at-bats. Clearly, Hernandez needs to prove that he can hit major league pitching on some level to be considered an every day player. If Hernandez can at least hit .250 or better and use that great speed he has, the Mets may have found their second baseman for the future.

Andrew Schiff is a free lance writer and has written a biography on baseball’s first journalist, the man who invented the game’s statistics, Henry Chadwick. Look out for Henry Chadwick: The Father of Baseball published by McFarland in late 2007.
www.henrychadwick.com.