Who Should Be Part of the Solution?

While many Mets fans are starting to remove the brown paper bags they’ve customarily festooned upon themselves prior to watching a game, there are still a myriad of problems that remain to be solved. Going forward a lot of difficult personnel decisions must be made, but let’s look at the cast of characters who should come along for the ride out of the second division.

The Keepers

David Wright

The team captain is earning a good paycheck (though probably not the magnitude of the one he’s receiving). However, he’s signed to the type of long term, overpriced contract that got this franchise into trouble in the first place, so he’s there by default.

Matt Harvey

What can you say about the guy who just hurled a 4 hit shutout against the Rockies to lower his season ERA to nearly 2.00 and added to his league leading strikeout total. He delivers the goods at baseball’s minimum wage, too.

Jenrry Mejia

Even more so than the highly touted Zack Wheeler, the forgotten former wunderkind is pitching with the savvy of Pedro Martinez. Here’s hoping the off-season surgery to remove bone chips heals quickly.

Bobby Parnell

Resisting the urge to trade the closer-by-default, the Mets seemed to offer a vote of confidence. Of course, had they traded him then his injured neck would now be someone else’s headache. He still seems likely to implode at any time, but the numbers he’s posted are first rate.

Zack Wheeler

There have been glimpses of the effortless delivery that had scouts drooling, but the consistency is still a work in progress. Despite Terry Collins throwing him under the bus, he most definitely has the talent to be a top of the rotation starter.

Jon Niese

Coming back perhaps a bit prematurely in August lets the Mets decide what he can do and whether or not he’s better served in the rotation or as a trade chip. Unfortunately he’s the only lefty starter, so I’m thinking his spot every 5 days is pretty secure.

Wilmer Flores

It took only the second game of his brief major league career for the Mets to see what this young man is capable of doing. His sweet swing and good eye make you believe he can hit at this level. Where he’ll play in the field is still undecided, but his bat should force him into the lineup.

Juan Lagares

His second half is nothing short of remarkable. He is one of the players who you seem to want to come to the plate when a clutch hit is needed. On top of that he brings speed and some pretty amazing defense to the table. He seems to be able to work on what isn’t working until he overcomes obstacles. That type of attitude makes him a keeper.

Travis d’Arnaud

Though he has not yet made his major league debut, all of the scouts can’t be wrong. He has the offensive and defensive tools that should make him one of the more valuable catchers in the big leagues.

Noah Syndergaard

An ERA under 2.00 has everyone pushing him towards the top of the prospect lists. He’s probably considered more valuable than Wheeler at this point as everyone was expecting instant Harvey-like success and it didn’t happen.

Cesar Puello

After his PED time is over, the rare combination of power and speed from an outfielder makes his most definitely worthy of future consideration in one of the corner spots.

On the Bubble

Eric Young, Jr.

Yes, he’s brought some energy to a moribund team and demonstrated what happens when someone with more range than a statue patrols left field. However, he’s always been a 4th outfielder and his recent offensive tailspin after his hot start seems to demonstrate why. He’s arbitration eligible and could wind up earning more money than the team will want to pay for a reserve player.

Marlon Byrd

After failing to trade him at an all-time high value of productivity, the Mets now face the unenviable task of letting him walk away for nothing or signing him to a huge salary increase. They’ve set themselves up for a major second guess either way. What is the likelihood in his age 36 season Byrd will approach his 2013 numbers?

Daniel Murphy

A left handed version of Wilmer Flores (with less power), there doesn’t appear to be room for both of them on the team unless they move one of them to 1st base. Considering Murphy will be cashing in via arbitration I’m guessing he may be the odd man out.

Dillon Gee

When he’s on, he’s as good as anyone, but he seems to do his best with smoke and mirrors. As a soft tosser he must rely on control and guile to win. He’s not going to blow people away. He should earn a big increase in arbitration this year, too.

Rafael Montero

The man with the remarkable control who totally dominated AA this year has met with success in AAA though more in the mold of what Wheeler has done in the majors. There’s some good, some bad and some spectacular.

Ruben Tejada

I don’t know what more he has to do in AAA to prove he’s healthy and has the right attitude to return to the team, but he’s most definitely the best long term choice ready to play at this level.

Terry Collins

While he makes numerous ponderous decisions – burning out the bullpen, benching hot hitters, riding the cold hand and forgetting some of the fundamentals of small ball – yet he’s never really been given a suitable roster of talent with which to fashion a contending team. A fresh face could do better but he could also alienate the players left behind.

The Rest

None of the others seem to have much future with the team. Some of the bullpen arms will be returning, of course, but none seem irreplaceable. Some of the hitters are serviceable bench parts, but the former starters like Lucas Duda, Ike Davis, John Buck, Jeremy Hefner and Omar Quintanilla really shouldn’t be part of the future.