The St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox are set to face each other in the World Series tomorrow. It should be a fantastic series that pits two of the best teams in baseball. Why is this series of interest to Mets fans? Well, maybe we can get a glimpse of how our organization should be run. Both teams got to the World Series with different methods and I think a lot can be learned from how these two teams were put together.
St. Louis has the closest blueprint for what the Mets have now. This team built its foundation from within. Their drafts and farm systems have yielded countless contributors to this team every year. The cornerstones of this franchise have never played anywhere other than for the Cardinals. Jon Jay, Yadier Molina, David Freese; the list goes on and on with homegrown talent. The only two places that have been filled from outside the organization have been the corner outfields with Matt Holliday and Carlos Beltran. Does this sound like the lineup blueprint for what the Mets will be trying to accomplish this offseason?
The starting rotation produces more of the same. Young arms that have been given the chance to contribute to this club in important situations. Shelby Miller and Michael Wacha are the new studs that, along with Adam Wainwright, form a very effective troika of starting pitchers. The bullpen has had more plug and play than the rest of the organization, but still has organizational depth. Trevor Rosenthal has blended with new faces like Randy Choate and a reborn Edward Mujica to complete their team. St. Louis sits at a team payroll closing in on $102 million dollars so this isn't to say that a team like this doesn't come with some cost, but their greatest asset is knowing when not to make the big salary move. Their refusal to pay Albert Pujols was considered heresy by some who worship Pujols as a baseball god, however, his play has done nothing to make the Cardinals regret moving on with Allen Craig, who is only the best hitter with RISP on the planet.
The St. Louis Cardinals just seem to do everything right and to some extent as a Mets fan, I hate their guts. But you have to respect the innate ability to always be right. The Boston Red Sox aren't always right, but they sure didn't do a whole lot of wrong this year.
Few people seem to remember just how terrible this team was a year ago. The team was written off, doomed to a wasted year of irrelevance with beer and chicken jokes being thrown in their faces. Boston of course went on to shock the baseball world and is now competing for a championship. The question of how can be attributed to the correct distribution of funds for players that fit in with the team and what they were trying to do. They got rid of cap salary destroyers like Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford and found players like Shane Victorino and Stephen Drew who were able to produce in the situations where the former players could not. The team became more balanced and even got a shot to the arm with the acquisition of Jake Peavy to the starting rotation.
Boston never had a terrible team design. There were obviously star players on the roster and they just needed complimentary players. Now, Mike Napoli definitely plays better than anything you would consider complimentary, but his addition is the type of calculated add that moves a team into contention. They needed a power bat to help David Ortiz. They identified that need and filled it without mortgaging their future. When 2014 comes, this team may look nothing like the one playing in the World Series. They are set to move on with the future of players like Xander Bogaerts and could surely lose out on Jacoby Ellsbury to free agency, but the new regime in Boston has gambled and won. I'm inclined to believe that the winning won't stop there.
When you watch this series, think about how these teams got there. The process for both teams was successful and the Mets could go a long way by implementing a little from both organizations.
Oh and just a prediction: Cardinals in 7. Pitching is just too good right now.
As you indicate, both these teams serve as models for the Mets. What you don't mention is that it is a model that Sandy Alderson has been following since his arrival.
ReplyDeleteThe Red Sox didn't go into the free agent market last year and chase high priced, big name free agents. In fact, they reduced payroll by more than $20 million, freeing up money to sign the key pieces that helped them win the pennent. They focused on clubhouse harmony and spirit. Mets players last season continually spoke of the cameraderie in the clubhouse.
Those who are screaming for the Mets to spend more freely this off season and get the payroll back up to $120 million or so should take notice. Our payroll will continually grow in the next few years as our arb eligible kids mature and we sign core players to extensions. The 2010 Cardinals were exactly where we are now.
The Cardinals weren't afraid to let Pujols walk when his price became outrageous to them. Is there a Reyes parallel? Like the Cards of a few years ago, we have several outstanding young arms coming along. Less heralded is the fact that we have a nice group of high-ceiling position players who could eventually take their place in our core group: d'Arnaud, Nimmo, Cecchini, Lawley, Herrera, Smith, Plawecki. Not all will be stars, but some could excel, combining with an elite pitching staff to lift the Mets to championship calibre.