Is George McCoy for real... or just another night, another dream another vision
Number one on the Twin Cities River Monsters offseason checklist was to find a big left handed bat. And looking down the transaction log, that bat is... George McCoy?(wa wa wa). Are you kidding me? I get it that new team owner Martin Delgado is hell bent on tightening the wallet, but this can't be for real. The 28 year old McCoy was put on waivers not once, not twice, but three times last season before eventually being non tendered by the last team, for whom he didn't even play a game for.
Ok, let's rationalize here. Surely there is a plan. Publicly team GM Alan Ehlers said he had interest in Wilson Prieto and Callum McKay. Well, both of those players went for over $12 mill AAV. I'm not going to say McCoy is better than either player. Prieto/McKay are both more well rounded. But if you just compare batting ratings against RHP. You really can't differentiate much. Statistically wise, McCoy has been inconsistent. In 2059 he hit(against RHP) .302/.349/.463 with CCJ and .208/.237/.260 in OMA, in 2060 he hit .345/.382/.528, yet in 2061 he hit just .256/.292/.389. I think we can chalk up some of 2061 to adaptability. Being on 4 different teams in one year has to be tough. But which McCoy is the real McCoy?
Obviously Twin Cities hopes to get the Charm City version of McCoy. But if they don't, at least the low cost of acquisition allows them to pivot. Locking up Prieto or McKay would have married them to a player for 3 or 4 seasons. The River Monsters have Hector Garcia, Darren Wearne, Estaban Ramos, Marke Busse, Makar Edigarev, Amid Kasim, Jonathan O'Quinn, ect as in house options. Each of these players brings a unique skillset to the table if McCoy fails. Also, if your looking for a bat a the trade deadline, leaving LF open for upgrade gives you a lot of options and leverage.
So I guess, at the end of the day, Twin Cities isn't quite sure what they will be. The plan was to add a big lefty bat to the outfield, but that bat wasn't really available. So rather than blow their wad on the best player available(even though they are not good enough). They are kicking the can down the road rather then settling.
