The one that got (traded) away

Add comment April 11th, 2008

Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry surely must be kicking himself for trading away Angel Pagan in the off-season. Pagan was sent to the New York Mets for two prospects: outfielder Corey Coles and pitcher Ryan Meyers. To Hendry’s credit, the move made sense: space was needed to bring in Fukudome, hopes are still high on Felix Pie and Pagan missed a majority of last season while battling colitis (visit here for even more information).

But, Pagan worked his way into the Mets’ starting lineup with an impressive spring training (an injury to Moises Alou didn’t hurt either). And through eight games this season, he leads the team in batting average (.370), RBI (9) and runs (8). On top of that, it was Pagan’s game-winning single in the 12th inning last night against the Phillies, who the Cubs begin a three-game series with tonight, that kept the Mets at .500.

As for those prospects? In three games for Daytona in Class A Advanced Florida State League, Meyers is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA. Coles is batting .063 (1-16) in six games for Tennessee in the Double-A Southern League.

If it wasn’t for Pagan’s run-in with colitis and Hendry’s crush on Pie, Pagan should have been a no brainer to start in center this season. Last season, Pagan played a total of 236 innings in CF without committing an error and proved a solid .306 OBP in 148 at bats. On the other hand, while Pie showed he was just as good in center (no errors in 425 innings), his plate appearances weren’t nearly as valuable as Pagan’s. And with the way things have been going this season for Pie (.217 OBP), it seems not much has changed.