Mack’s Morning Report - 6-26-15 - 2016 and Beyond

Good morning.

I guess I’m sort of moving on this season.

The more I try to figure out what to do this season, the less I come to any conclusion.

This is a team that was built behind young, team controlled pitching, backed by an offense led by David Wright and Daniel Murphy. Michael Cuddyer and Curtis Granderson were added over two off-seasons and, along with Travis d’Arnaud, Michael Cuddyer, and Lucas Duda, this was supposed to be enough offense to get the majority of games won.

Everything was hunky-dory when all of these guys were in the early games together.

Fans have to realize that extended contracts just don’t disappear if a ballplayer doesn’t live up to your expectations. Just ask Jason Bay’s wife and how much she’s had to spend from checks sent to her by the Mets.

Trust me, the Mets aren’t the only team that suffers from bad contracts. There is none worse right now than the Boston Red Sox. Hanley Ramirez ($88mil through 2018), Pablo Sandoval ($95mil through 2019), Dustin Pedroia ($110mil through 2021), Rick Porcello ($82.5mil through 2019), and Rusney Castillo ($72.5mil through 2020) are all either injured or under-preforming. We have it bad. They might be terminal for their front office.

I haven’t changed my stance on the pitchers on this team. Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Rafael Montero, Jenrry Mejia, Jeurys Familia, and Steven Matz are the future of this team through 2018. Harvey, Mejia, and Familia will become a free agent in 2019 and we’re going to have to wait and see if the Mets attempt to sign any of them up to a long term deal.

As for ‘field players’, very few matter to me over the long run. I’d like to keep Lucas Duda, but the last minute breakdown in contract extension talks just before the start of this season may have created bad blood between the player, his agent, and the team. 

Dilson Herrera looks like a keeper at second, but I do still need to see much more here, both offensively and defensively. 

I love Travis d’Arnaud behind the plate… now all he has to do is stop getting hurt and needing so many days off. 

And Michael Conforto will definitely be a starter in my outfield, as early as next season.

But that’s really it.

David Wright looks shot and, if I was the Mets, I’d strongly consider going the insurance route here.

Daniel Murphy isn’t worthy of discussion because he will be gone next year.

Regarding Wilmer Flores, are we really supposed to be happy with a middle infieder that hits .240 and can’t get to a ground ball in time (or turn a double play) just because he can hit 10 home runs before the all-star break?

I’ve never been a fan of the Curtis Granderson signing and Michael Cuddyer at best represents a bargain basement approach to solving a team problem in the outfield.

And this brings me to Juan Lagares who overnight seems to have turned into a bad defensive centerfielder. There’s obviously something wrong here, but is it more than an injury? I don’t think it is, but I know how much emotion he plays with and I just don’t see it coming out of him right now.

The rest of 2015 may be a tough time for Mets fans. The 11 game winning streak only represented a team that had most of their starters in the dugout and their names written daily on the lineup. That went away quickly.

None of us can make any of these contracts go away and no team in baseball is going to actively help the Mets reach their goals. The decline from first place was delayed due to the miserable way other teams played in the division, but Washington seems to have now got their act back together.

Equally important is the distance being made by teams like Pittsburgh, Chicago, and San Francisco. It’s becoming quite evident that the only road to the playoffs for the Mets will be to beat the Nationals as division champions. Tell that to Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper.

Dillon Gee ($5.3mil), Bartolo Colon ($11mil), Daniel Murphy ($8mil), John Mayberry ($1.45mil) and Buddy Carlyle ($725K) represent $26.475mil worth of projected savings from the 2015 to 2016 payroll.

No loss of any of these players leave a gaping hole in the 25-man squad, thus, all of this money can be used for arbitration raises and at least one quality blue chip either via a trade or free agency.

Bobby Parnell ($3.7mil) and Jerry Blevens ($2.4mil) are also scheduled for free agency, but my guess is the Mets will try and re-sign both.

I still feel the primary need for this team is a defensive-minded shortstop that also brings a decent bat to the table. The team has to address the horrendous defense being played this year on all three infield positions.

I light a candle every night that Dilson Herrera will continue to improve on second base. I think we have a winner here but it’s going to take another year to probably find out.

Frankly, the whole David Wright fiasco is preventing this team from moving ahead both during this season and 2016. A decent addition at short could move Wilmer Flores and give him new life at third, but you can’t do this with your Captain still a member of the team.

It’s a horrible, horrible set of circumstances.