Paul Lo Duca’s contract expires at the end of 2007. He had his best season since probably since his breakout season in 2001 with the Mets last year when he posted a .318/.355/.428 mark. He also scored 80 runs while playing in only 124 games. I like having Lo Duca in the line up because he provides a solid table setter (he hit second most of the season) for the big bats like Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado and David Wright.
You always have to be concerned about catchers though. Lo Duca is coming off of a thumb injury and he was given a red light in Will Carroll’s recent healt report. He’s also 35 years old. PECOTA has him at a .289/.332/.396 clip with a 15.1 VORP which would mean we’re talking about one win in the standings compared to last year. Also of concern are his high collapse (40%) and attrition (29%) rates. And in his five year projection, he doesn’t have much value once you go past 2008 so even signing him to a two year extension might be a little risky.
