Reese Kaplan - Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

With the one-way ticket to Pittsburgh handed to Ike Davis this past week on the heels of the unceremonious dumping of native son John Lannan, it appears that Mack’s 20 game assessment is slightly ahead of schedule.  We’re currently 19 games into the season as of Tuesday morning, sitting at a game over .500, and ready to decide what changes need to be made in order to push the team into the winning side of the ledger for more than just a single day.  40 year old Bobby Abreu joins his fellow 40 year old buffet line buddy, Bartolo Colon, on the Mets roster now, too.  Heckuva job, Brownie…always bet on black. 

Parting with Ike Davis was a little bit unexpected as the team seemed to give him an inordinate number of chances and as recently as opening day inserted him into the lineup as the number one first baseman.  That Lucas Duda was given the first nod for an extended look (well, by Collins’ definition that meant 2 days on, 1 day off), was equally surprising.  When they finally gave the big guy the endorsement to be the go-to guy by trading Davis was even more surprising, but I suppose there were $3.7 million reasons to make that deal.  To be fair, Duda would not have drawn as much in return nor provided as much salary relief, so it was probably a foregone conclusion that Davis would be the odd man out. 

Now that Sandy Alderson has finally moved to address one of the issues facing the team, it’s time to take a look at some others and see who might be available in-house to address the issues that are negatively impacting the team’s desire to progress towards a winning record. 

Shortstop

Granted, at the 18-game mark it’s not completely fair to condemn Ruben Tejada as a complete failure, but he’s certainly looking like the 2013 version who struggled to keep his head above water.  His play in the field (Monday night’s game notwithstanding) ranges from barely adequate to average.  He never provides power or speed.  If he’s not getting on base and not in line for a Gold Glove anytime soon, it’s time for this failed experiment to mercifully come to an end. 

I’d give a May 15^th deadline for suddenly hot hitting Wilmer Flores to make his arrival (assuming Sandy Alderson doesn’t have another – what did he call it – “trade?” up his sleeve.)  After 3 years of inertia in this regard, it’s refreshing to see he’s discovered that lightning-in-a-bottle minor-league free agent contracts are not the only way to shape a roster.  By the middle of next month Wally Backman should be able to let the powers that be know if Flores’ bat can compensate for his glove.  If the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals can function with Jhonny Peralta manning shortstop, then we can probably do so with someone who’s not going to make anyone forget Ozzie Smith. 

Plan B in this regard would be to bring up slick-fielding Wilfredo Tovar who is off to a surprisingly hot start with the bat.  While I wouldn’t expect it to continue, at least we’d gain the benefit of solid defense and little bit more running speed.  He’s already on the 40-man roster, which stands in his favor as an alternative. 

First Base

Lucas Duda may be a gentle giant who seems sometimes to crumble under pressure, but obviously everyone would be tickled to see him rise to the challenge.   I figure he gets until at least the end of May to see if he can sustain success.  If not, currently reigning minor league player of the week and 2013 AA MVP Allan Dykstra is waiting in the wings to supplant him.  He’s a very high OBP player with decent power and a suspect glove who’s not yet made it to the majors.  Brian LaHair of the Cubs might be a good parallel as someone who finally turned the corner at age 29 and made the All-Star team. 

Second Base

If $3.7 million was too much for the Mets to stomach at 1^st base, then another successful campaign by Daniel Murphy might push his salary up towards a Wilpon gut-wrenching $8 million mark next year.  With the ever-shrinking payroll and alternatives in Wilmer Flores and Eric Young, Jr. it’s possible he’ll be the next offensive player on the move.  Dissimilar to the Ike Davis situation, Murphy is a likeable guy with a terrific work ethic who has done everything asked of him.  This one would be strictly about what he could net in return and whether or not that Tampa/Oakland model of trading players before they get to be too expensive actually begins to take root here in New York as well. 

Catcher

Again, the fans are perhaps more impatient than anyone for a winner, hence the premature rush to call Travis d’Arnaud a failure and cries for Anthony Recker to take over behind the dish.  While riding the hot hand makes sense in some cases when it’s veteran vs. veteran, you do have to take a look at the long term record of both players in question to see which one gives you greater probability of success.  Recker has appeared in 221 big league ABs.  At age 30 it’s unlikely he’s morphed into Johnny Bench.  He’s a career .199 hitter.  d’Arnaud has not had much time in the majors yet and he’s off to a horrific start, but his minor league pedigree is first rate and it seems more prudent to keep rolling the dice on him hoping for the success we all expect than it does to trot out someone who is good enough as a backup but rapidly exposed as a starter.   Last night he had a 2-hit game and he’s inching towards the Mendoza line, so perhaps his slow start is just that.  Even Ron Darling voiced appreciation for his next at-bat when he lined a laser to shortstop that resulted in an out.  He said if d’Arnaud keeps hitting like that, they’ll start falling in for sure.

Outfield

Eric Young, Jr. is having a confounding season.  He’s hitting worse than ever (.217 at last glance) and already set a Mets club record for strikeouts in 17 consecutive games.  Yet despite these poor stats, he’s once again leading the league in stolen bases and top five in runs scored.  Also, despite the paltry batting average, he’s drawing walks and has an OBP of .346 – not exactly All-Star material, but nearly 20 points higher than his career average in that regard.  For now he needs to be in there every day alongside Chris Young in CF and Curtis Granderson in RF until Juan Lagares returns.  Then it gets real interesting.

There’s no great help down on the farm.  Eric Campbell is hitting well and Matt den Dekker had a terrific week after a slow start.  Cesar Puello thus far is not looking like the up and comer we’d expected based upon his breakout season of 2013.  Bobby Abreu is already here, though where and how he’ll play is anyone’s guess. 

Starting Pitching

Assuming they can stay healthy, leave ‘em as is.  We’ve seen flashes of brilliance from everyone with the exception of Zack Wheeler.  Jenrry Mejia is doing his best Matt Harvey impression.  If he can get past his blister and his bunion and whatever else ails him, he looks like the pitcher he was always expected to be (despite Jerry Manuel's and Omar Minaya's best efforts to ruin his career).  It’s actually interesting that as much as you hear people clamoring for the promotions of Rafael Montero, Noah Syndergaard and now Jacob de Grom, you have no place to play them.  Could it be that there could be another, uh, “trade?” in the works at some point in the future? 

Bullpen

It was not a good week to be Jose Valverde.  He pitched a little like a composite of Doug Sisk, Mel Rojas and Oliver Perez.  The long balls were a-flying.  When you’re 37 years old and hanging on by your fingernails only to have your job taken away and handed to a 38 year old who’s lost 10 mph off his prime-time fastball, well, it might be time to consider other career options. 

Most surprising this week was the return of Daisuke Matsuzaka who pitched successfully in back-to-back games over the weekend, including a 2 inning stint in which 5 of 6 outs by strikeout, earning his nickname of Dice-K.  With Bobby Parnell down and out, Jose Valverde licking his wounds and Kyle Farnsworth enjoying some borrowed-time success, might it not be out of the realm of possibility to do a Dennis Eckersley and convert Dice-K to closer?  He’s two years older than Eck was when he transitioned from starter to closer, but he was notable for his success pitching on consecutive games during his Japanese amateur career.  He always struck out a fair number of batters, so it’s not the craziest idea in the world.  Then again, when your current closer is Farnsworth, you start grasping at any available straw. 

The only bullpen help down on the farm include the non-roster duo of Joel Carreño and Miguel Socolovich, as well as “Wild Thing” Vic Black.  Hey, Mitch Williams made a long and successful career never knowing when his control would desert him.  Maybe Black can do the same. 

Bench

It's arguably the worst in the majors with Josh Satin, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Anthony Recker and Omar Quintanilla all pretty much replacement level or worse.  Only Bobby Abreu is fairly credible, but at age 40 you do have to wonder what he's got left in the tank.  Then again, he was punishing pitchers in AAA when younger competitors couldn't manage to do the same.  I guess he's the new Rusty Staub or Ed Kranepool or Julio Franco.  It's interesting that they dispatched with Ike Davis due to his limited usefulness as a bench player, but isn't Abreu even less versatile, not really able to play the field?

Don't get me wrong. It’s refreshing to me to see them tinkering with the status quo.  Losing has become a way of life around this club and perhaps some fresh blood and new roles for existing players will result in a change in attitude that’s long overdue.  If it means some people also have to change their latitude, so be it.  The fact that they’re trying is refreshing.  Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t, but something different is most welcome.  (And as Jimmy Buffett sings to Mets fans everywhere, “If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane!”)