9/3/16

Reese Kaplan -- 2016 is a Bitter Pill to Swallow

September 1st the rosters expand and the Mets hurried to bring some players back who could perhaps contribute.  Ty Kelly can play 2B and other positions with Neil Walker on the shelf for the remainder of the year.  Gabriel Ynoa may start or relieve given the sad state of health of the starters and sad state of performance lately of many of the relievers.  Kevin Plawecki is sure to get plenty of ABs as it’s been another lost season for Travis d’Arnaud and they probably want to see what he’s capable of doing at the major league level after finishing the year well over .300 in Las Vegas.  Michael Conforto is also back but has nowhere to play with Yoenis Cespedes and Jay Bruce manning the corners. After all, we need more De Aza and more Granderson!

With David Wright, Lucas Duda and Neil Walker gone for the remainder of the year, now is the time to see what the reserves can do in an extended September audition.  The problem, of course, is the Skipper’s predilection to the familiar and the veteran rather than giving the younger players a shot.  Now I’m not advocating you sit a guy like Jose Reyes who is likely going to be somewhere in the mix in 2017 and who’s hitting .299.  However, players not likely to be here such as Kelly Johnson, James Loney and Alejandro De Aza should not start again for the remainder of the year. 

What I’d like to see is Wilmer Flores at 1B where his lack of range is minimized, Ty Kelly and TJ Rivera sharing 2B, and Michael Conforto in CF to see if he can handle the position and to see if his bat carries over from AAA.  What will happen, of course, is Loney will continue to play 1B, Flores, Kelly, Johnson and Rivera will get juggled at 2B, and more De Aza and Granderson in CF. 

(What I'd really like to see is Gavin Cecchini in a one-month trial at 2B in the majors, but since they don't yet have to put him on the 40-man roster they will use the, "He's not had experience there and it's unfair to make him learn at the major league level" excuse to cover up the economic reality of preserving his options.  He did play 2B Thursday for the 51s, so take that for what it's worth).  

If a team goes from the World Series in one season to below .500 in the next, who should be held accountable?  Hint:  the manager can’t fire the GM.  Is it time to pull the plug on the Terry Collins era?  As harsh a critic as I’ve been of the man, I do acknowledge that this season has been one in which he has not had the horses.  However, he continues to do the imponderable, like playing the sub-Mendoza De Aza and trotting out Curtis Granderson on a regular basis.  He burns through his bullpen every day and leans on has-beens like Johnson when younger players rot on the bench.  If they do opt to make a change, to me it will be for the cumulative sub-par performances he’s wrested from his players, and not simply for the losing season of 2016.

Whether it’s with a new Skipper at the helm or the same old same old, how optimistic are you for 2017?  A lot depends on the health of the two corner infielders as well as the starting pitchers.  After that, there’s a whole lot of guessing going on.  Since they have no post-season revenue to spend, I expect there will be a return to the immediate post-Madoff era frugality. 

In fact, Jeffy may be secretly wishing Yoenis Cespedes opts out so he can save $9 million by taking the option on Jay Bruce.  Ugh.  Maybe he goes full austerity and passes on him, too, going into next season with an outfield of Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo and Juan Lagares (while peddling year four of Curtis Granderson for the proverbial bag o’ balls).   That would give them an outfield earning about $5.5 million in total.  I can hear the justification now…”Well, when Duda and Wright come back, that’s like adding 60 home runs and 200 RBIs to the mix!”  Ugh!

It’s getting harder and harder to watch the team when there’s no influx of new blood or any new approaches tried when the status quo just isn’t working.  

13 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Despite the last 2 disheartening losses, we are only 2 out in the WC. I love auditions, but it will have to wait. Gotta play it out. Loved Cabrera's homer last night, which was the most recent of many that would have been caught before the fences were pulled in. Wilpons recognized their fence mistakes, twice, don't make the mistake of not re-signing Cespedes. Keep Bruce, too, can always trade him mid season.

Zozo said...

When does Cecchinni have to be put in the 40 man roster? If it this winter you might as well put him on now. IMO you can drop Ty Kelly

Reese Kaplan said...

Or Eric Campbell

Reese Kaplan said...

Or Eric Campbell

bgreg98180 said...

Remember it was Jeff Wilpon that insisted Alderson make the trade for Cespedes.

I would imagine he is in the corner of keeping Cespedes a Met.

As far as who to blame?

My sites are on BOTH Collins and Alderson.
The reason being the injury/health problems. Whether it was a result of building a roster that was too dependent on players with recurring injuries.
Poor management of injury/health of players.

Putting too much stress on hard throwing pitching arms due to pressure from playing with a poor offense.

Poor development of younger players and inexplicably sitting hitters that are hitting in favor of others that are not are also significant reasoning for Both Collins and Alderson to pack their bags

bgreg98180 said...
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Tom Brennan said...

Great points, Bob….i 100% concur that they overtaxed their starters by putting a lousy offense behind them since the Harvey Era of young studs began. Always try to squeeze that extra inning out of an elite guy to keep us in the game.

Get Campbell AND Kelly off the 40 man. Get Sewald up here ASAP. I'd rather have seen him in the 8th last nite than the fatigued Robles.

bgreg98180 said...

Sorry.
I don't know why but my replies always double themselves.
I can't figure out how to stop it.

Also....
Watch Familia and his workload.
Long season last year with plenty of high stress situations during the playoffs.
Add in this year's workload.....and Familia is entering a dangerous area

bgreg98180 said...
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Zozo said...

Pedros Martinez always stresses stressful innings as something that is very taxing. I agree more money should have been spent on offense to give them some non stressful innings were they have a 5 run lead and don't have to be perfect and over exert themselves.

Tom Brennan said...

Sewald was superb before this year, and considering he is in Vegas, relatively superb this year too. Get Familia out of danger zone by getting Sewald up here Tuesday, with Vegas season ending Monday.

Tom Brennan said...
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eraff said...

They've gone from 5.5 back to 1 out in the WC standings.

It's a good time to watch and cheer and hope.