Everyone knows about Kelly Shoppach and Scott Hairston and how they both could help the Mets next year if they’re re-signed, but Ronny Cedeno is not getting enough love.
Ronny Cedeno is the backup middle infielder and has gotten 140 plate appearances this season. He’d probably have more if he hadn’t had a brief DL stint. He’s got an .822 OPS with a .367 OBP. Of Mets with 100 at-bats, he’s 3rd in OBP behind David Wright and Mike Baxter, and Scott Hairston overtakes him in OPS due to his awesome slugging. Ignoring the obvious problem of having three part time players out-performing most of the regulars, Ronny Cedeno would be a really useful player for the Mets next year.
He’ll only be 30 next year and plays the middle infield positions pretty well. He hits right-handed which is useful for the Mets if they continue to have a pretty lefty-heavy team. He’s not really a stolen base guy (hasn’t attempted one all year) but he’s not slow. He’s not really a power guy, but you can live with that from the backup in the middle infield, and he does have three in limited time this season.
Certainly he’s having a career year, and it’s been so few at-bats that it’s hard to rule out it being anything but luck, but he has increased his walk rate by over 4% to a very good 10.7% and raised his extra base hit percentage. This seems to reflect the not swinging at bad pitches and waiting for ‘your pitch’ that has been Dave Hudgen’s philosophy. His swing percentages are down, also suggesting he’s laying off balls and unhittable pitches. So perhaps he really has learned something in New York, even if his .455 slugging percentage is probably unrealistic.
Given the option of believing Cedeno has made progress at the plate versus looking for another guy to fill that role that we hope can contribute, I’d definitely like to keep Ronny here next year.