Reese Kaplan -- Jealous of Others' Shiny New Toys

Sometimes it’s frustrating being a Mets fan.  Scratch that.  Rarely it’s not frustrating being a Mets fan.  The Hot Stove time of the year at least gives a reprieve to the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th guessing of lineup and in-game managerial decisions.  Now the focus is on the GM and the owners who always seem either content with the status quo or unwilling to embrace the realities that people get hurt. 

Going into this season they’re banking on 5 starters, all of whom missed time with injuries last year.  The only healthy one is now going to be pitching in Atlanta.  Behind them you have two pitchers in Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman who shined when it counted most, but in Lugo’s case there’s not much of a pedigree behind the stellar performance.  The bullpen is without Jerry Blevins, Fernando Salas and likely a month or more without Jeurys Familia. Even with them the innings allocated to others in the pen were often a crap shoot.    

Yes, the club has retained the services of Yoenis Cespedes and Rene Rivera.  Kudos for that.  However, as they evidently field calls about their left handed hitting surplus, other teams are inking players to free agent contracts to improve their roster and they’re making trades.  Resources are scarce and the longer you wait, the more likely you’ll find fuzzy hot dogs rather than filet mignon when you open the fridge. 

Take, for example, the Washington Nationals.   A few years ago they had arguably the best starting rotation in baseball and they chose to add Max Scherzer.  How’d that work out for them? 

Last year the Chicago Cubs already had enviable hitting and still added Ben Zobrist, Dexter Fowler (FA who returned on a one-year deal) and Jason Heyward.  All they did was win the World Series.

Now spending isn’t a guarantee of success.  After all, look at the Yankees for the past several years where they haven’t finished at the top of their division since 2012.  The Angels and Tigers are two other franchises that bought into the spend-to-win philosophy but it has pretty much backfired. 

However, if you look at the top payrolls in MLB right now you see names like the Dodgers, Red Sox, Giants and Rangers, teams that are indeed contending for the top. 

Consequently when you see the Mets say things like they won’t be players for the best available bullpen arms – Chapman, Jansen and Melancon – you have to wonder about the commitment to winning.  In their haste to lower payroll they are going to trade one or both of Jay Bruce and Curtis Granderson.  What happens if, for example, Yoenis Cespedes gets hit by a golf cart?  Do we seriously think Brandon Nimmo or Ty Kelly is going to replace him?

I have no problem with trading both of these players if the return makes sense.  Can you get some top prospects to fill in the fairly barren minor league cupboard?  Can you find a relief pitcher or leadoff hitter or catcher who can help immediately?  The spin, however, is about payroll exclusively and that fuels the fire of people who refer to the Wilpons as cheap.

Hey, when you just forked over $110 million for Yoenis Cespedes, I don’t think you can properly call them cheap.  Misguided perhaps – like paying David Wright when his numbers were in decline at Citifield and Madoff had bankrupted the franchise – or failing to be in on foreign players who could help the club.  My criticism is more about banking too heavily on health when 2016 should have demonstrated to everyone that people do indeed get hurt and miss significant amounts of time.  Even Ron Darling went on record recently saying that you have to plan as if you will get nothing whatsoever from David Wright.  Granted, Jose Reyes is a better alternative than Eric Campbell, but you could certainly make the case that Evan Longoria or Todd Frazier would be better still.  

I’m frankly tired of the club preparing for a marathon each year and then thinking the Modell’s off-brand shoes will hold up for the duration.