Reese Kaplan -- Fish or Cut Bait

At the end of a long, hard journey you often want to take a break, rest a bit and reflect on how you got there and what you’d have done differently.  While much has been written about the Mets’ rocky road, they’re probably in that reflection stage right now.  

Obviously the salary dumps were a no-brainer (though one could question the mental acuity of the person making the deals since the returns seemed modest at best).  However, what’s done is done, and to the Wilpons’ collective relief so too has payroll been reduced enough to pay for next year’s private jet. 

While the payroll dead weight is gone, a question remains regarding the people who are not likely part of the future.  I’ll leave Asdrubal Cabrera aside for the moment as he is in that former category of salary dumps but simply not yet realized.  I'll buy into the showcasing of him until August 31st but then he too must get comfy on the bench.  

However, there are others to consider whose future should not be part of a strategy for building a winning ballclub.  

• Tommy Milone – the very definition of a journeyman, Milone has spent parts of 7 seasons in both leagues, never really distinguishing himself in any way.  His career 4.35 ERA is mediocre but his output lately has been horrible.  He was pitching to a 5.71 for the Twins in 2016, released by the Brewers with a 6.43 this year and for the Mets he’s delivering an ERA over 10.00!!!  Why is he here?  Does Sandy Alderson honestly think that at age 30 he’s finally going to figure out what’s eluded him thus far?
• Jose Reyes – mercifully he is now on the DL where he can do less harm to the team, but he’s pretty much fallen off a cliff since his last decent season in Toronto in 2014.  The descent started slowly but picked up steam with Reyes at only .223 this season over nearly 400 ABs and only 14 SBs.  We don’t need to see any more of him when he returns except as a pinch runner late in games.  Rumor has it he's next up as a spare outfielder with Conforto and Cespedes both done, but wouldn't it be better to see what Travis Taijeron (or even Travis Snider) could do?
• Hansel Robles – while Sandy Alderson obviously has an infatuation with relief pitchers with so-called “live arms”, Hansel Robles has proven to allow way too many home runs to entrust with anything but mop-up duty.  Let’s see other faces in more critical points of the game. 
• Josh Smoker – it would have been a nice story if he could have put it altogether after the injuries that derailed his career, but his home prone tendencies are even worse than Robles’.  He’s giving up way too many hits and walks.  Sorry, Josh but you should follow in the footsteps of your namesake who was outrighted to Las Vegas.
• Matt Reynolds – while he’s shown some extended periods of good offense in AAA, he’s never been able to translate it to success in the majors.  Now to be fair, 151 ABs is not a lot, but he’s only hitting .212 during that period and while he may be a utility player in the future there doesn’t appear to be much necessity to start him at any position.
• Erik Goeddel – after a nice debut in 2014 and a stellar 2015 it’s been a downhill slide for the past two years for starter-turned-reliever Goeddel.  While not as flat out awful as some of the others, I’d sooner see more of Chasen Bradford and Kevin McGowan since there’s nothing compelling about Goeddel’s body of work.
• Travis d’Arnaud – don’t get me wrong.  I’m still a believer that he can and should be the starter in 2018 since Tomas Nido and Pat Mazeika are not ready yet.  However, it’s more important at this point of the season to see what Kevin Plawecki can do with an extended look while he’s healthy.  That way the club will know if the tandem is their catching duo for next year.  Sitting Plawecki on the bench 5 or more days per weeks accomplishes nothing. 

The period between now and the end of the year should see the Mets marginalize the amount of playing time these folks get in order to see more of Wilmer Flores, Gavin Cecchini, Kevin Plawecki, Brandon Nimmo, Dom Smith, Amed Rosario, Chasen Bradford and Kevin McGowan.  The aforementioned others have had their chances and not capitalized on them.  Let’s take the remaining five weeks or so to see what these folks can do with steady playing time.  You’re either planning or 2018 or you’re still deluding yourself that the games and standings matter this year.  Fish or cut bait.  You can’t have it both ways.