Do the Mets have three potential Gold Glove-caliber outfielders?
I haven’t seen enough of him to notice his fielding. — Derek C., Lewisville, N.C. If you read the story that mentioned Bay’s assists, then you must have read what I wrote about Alfonso Soriano’s assists. He is second to Francoeur in career assists since the Mets outfielder broke in with the Braves in 2005, 70-58. Most of Soriano’s assists, from what I can see, have come from opponents testing his arm strength, his accuracy and his attentiveness. In many cases, a high assist total for a left fielder is indicative of just that, because if an outfielder has an above-average arm, he’s not playing left. Exceptions to that rule of thumb were Dave Winfield — when he played left — Reggie Jackson, who played right for the Yankees, Kevin McReynolds, when he was the Mets’ left fielder, and Darryl Strawberry, the Mets’ right fielder. But as terrific a left fielder as Barry Bonds was until he moved to the Giants, the assists he amassed were, to some degree, a function of his unremarkable arm. I
