Is Mo Vaughn toast?

[Fuzzy Bear]

Mo Vaughn had surgery to repair a distal biceps tendon rupture and a torn bicep muscle in his left arm. He missed all of last year and is hitting poorly this year (low average, limited power).

This injury is as career decimating as a knee injury to a speed guy. When you add to the equation the fact that Vaughn is fat, slow, and prone to hamstring and leg pains, the power shortage that has resulted from this injury makes him a useless player.

I thought the trade was bad in that Vaughn was already showing signs of decline prior to the injury. (Vaughn is the poster boy for a young player with old player's skills, except he ain't as young as he used to be.) I see Vaughn as no better than Todd Zeile, even worse, in fact, as Zeile provided better defense. I also see the Vaughn trade as the single biggest reason the Mets will crash and burn this year.

But enough of me. What do you all think?

[Duque]

I'm guessing that Mo was the Mets Plan B after Juan Gonzalez jilted them, because they did take a big risk on a guy who really hadn't been that good since leaving Fenway.

I don't think the Angels pictured Appier being as good as he has been, but even if he regresses a little it'll still turn out to be a coup for Bill Stoneman.

[Max Power]

He's slugging .358 this year. What makes you think he's done?

Strange enough, his OBP is about 100 pts higher than his BA - which is career normal for him.

Problem is, he's hitting about .240 this year so far.

I wonder how much he's missing the Green Monster and the Pesky Pole? He did lose about 120 points of OPS going from Boston to Anaheim - - and, that was before getting hurt.

Stick a fork in him, IMHO.

[SmedIndy]

Mo needs to get out of the gentlemen's clubs...

[poorme]

I'm not willing to say he's done yet. He's struggling mightily now though. Ruben Sierra was done. Done, done, done. And look what happened to him. Baseball is a funny game, if you think you've figured it out, you're wrong.

[Max Power]

I think Ruben's issue was more mental than body 'tho.

[KCBOOMER]

Mo Betta Blues??? No, Mo Betta Start Hittin'.

[WiredTiger]

Vaughn is looking a little creaky. But unless his injury had permanently changed him for the worst I think he's got a few more decent years left. Going from Fenway to Shea would cause a big drop in any hitters number.

[Skip]

I thought he was effectively done before the trade even occurred and nothing since has changed my mind. Big, slow, injury prone, and less than fully committed add up to bigbigbig problems.

[poorme]

Originally posted by Skip
less than fully committed add up to bigbigbig problems.

this is the key.

Also, he was not "done" before the injuries. He hit (.281 and .272) and (33 and 36 hr) in 1999 and 2000. This was a considerable dropoff from his previous Fenway induced MVP type numbers. BUT, these are still very respectable numbers, probably about league average. And I believe he was hurt a lot of that time. Is he done? Maybe. But how is this guy done if chumps like John Mabry can hang around?

I don't think Phillips thought he was getting the next 40-40 man in Vaughn. They wanted pop at the plate, and in that respect he's been a disappointment. His defense has not been bad (though the Mets on a whole are). I was more confused why they went after him because they need to move Piazza--though he doesn't want to stop catching. I think Mo gives them 4-5 years of decent offensive production, certainly as good as 50% of the teams in teh league will get. Just probably wasn't worth the money

[spitball]

Mo's only problem is his weight and his unwillingness to seriously address the issue.
I just don't get how professional's can be so cavalier about their conditioning.
Maybe he's in the best shape he's been in in years but it isn't good enough in this day and age.
It's painful watching him play 1st base. It's painful watching him flail away at pitches he can't reach because he's a fata@@.
Move Piazza to 1st and get some numbers out of that position.
Mo....buy a stairmaster.

Mo is still one of my fav. players. Somehow someway, I'd love to see him back in a Red Sox uniform.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Originally posted by WiredTiger
Vaughn is looking a little creaky. But unless his injury had permanently changed him for the worst I think he's got a few more decent years left. Going from Fenway to Shea would cause a big drop in any hitters number.

Shea is one of the better pitchers' parks, but that has more to do with batting average than power. Vaughn's power is gone. I think he's lost power the way guys with knee injuries lose speed. They don't get it all back with a trip to Dr. James Andrews and a winter of training.

[VNV Nation]

I gotta tell ya I thought this was a bad move from the get-go. Appier isn't graet but i figured he'd be better than Trachsel/Astacio/D'Amico...he was good last year for a bad team. But Mo is just toast. makes you appreciate what Todd Zeile could do.