Mike Friere - Now and Later - Part One (Catchers)

I was hanging around the house yesterday enjoying the last few weeks of nice weather here in the Tampa area and I had an idea for a new series of articles that should dovetail nicely with this blog.  All of us are Mets’ fans and most of us focus on the parent club and how they are doing, etc.  Some of us are also big fans of our minor league system and the many prospects that make up the different teams.  I am pretty sure that is how this blog got started and it is interesting to watch the team’s future as it develops, or fails to do so, right before our very eyes.

So, this series will focus on a different position during each installment until we exhaust all of the available positions on the diamond.  The concept of “now and later” is an assessment of a particular position in 2018 (now) and a look into the near future (later) to see if the particular position is in “good hands” so to speak.  I think it is difficult to make any sound predictions more then two or three years into the future, as things typically change in ways that no one expects.  With that said, “later” will primarily focus on players from the AAA, AA and A levels since anyone below that level is probably not going to vault their way onto the major league roster in such a short window.  However, if there is someone below that level that is intriguing, they could make their way into the discussion as a "honorable mention”.

For Part One of this series, I would like to focus on the state of our Catchers, which is notoriously a weak spot in most teams' lineups.

It would seem that the Mets will enter the 2018 season with a "platoon of sorts" behind the plate with Travis D’Anaud and Kevin Plawecki manning the position, despite the fact that both are right handed hitters.   I would expect a pretty even split between the two players and their combined statistics by the end of the season should be more then respectable.  For example, during the 2017 season, the two players combined for 19 home runs, 70 runs batted in and a solid OPS of .742 even though it wasn’t a true platoon until late in the year (KP only had 100 at bats, while TDA had 348 at bats).   If both players put in a similar work load, I don’t think a combined total of 25 home runs, 90 runs batted in and an OPS around .775 for the 2018 season is out of the question, so the position is on solid ground in the short term.

Travis D’Arnaud will play the 2018 season as a 29 year old, so he is no longer a “prospect”.  Part of the issue with TDA, in my opinion, is that he was an overhyped prospect with the Phillies and Blue Jays, before he was dealt to the Mets in the RA Dickey trade.  He has not lived up to what was expected of him, so he is viewed by some as a disappointment.  Putting that to the side and focusing on what he has been able to provide, TDA has been solid when he has been on the field, with his injury history being a different issue.  The Mets can control TDA for one more season in 2019 before he becomes a free agent in 2020, so he is clearly a “now” player since he future pay will not likely match his performance and that one of the quickest ways to exit a team's roster.  

Kevin Plawecki was a fairly high draft pick in June of 2012 and he was viewed as a decent all around player who makes solid contact, albeit without a lot of power.  His ascension through the minor league system has been slow but steady and he has made a handful of appearances for the major league club over parts of the past three seasons (527 plate appearances in total), with the tail end of his 2017 season on the upswing statistically.   He will enter the 2018 season as a 27 year old, which is not really “prospect age” any more, but he should continue to develop a bit.   Additionally, the Mets own his arbitration rights for the next four years before he becomes a free agent in 2023, so he could be a part of "now and later”, if you will.

Looking a bit farther down the road, here is what is available “down on the farm” from low A upward;

Jose Lobaton (34)

***Thomas Nido (24) 

Tyler Moore (25)

Colton Plaia (28)

Pat Mazeika (25)

Anthony Dimino (25)

Jose Garcia (24)

Brandon Brosher (23)

Dan Rizzie (25)

Ali Sanchez (21)

On first blush, there isn’t much in the way of “prospects” on this list (minus anyone I may have missed), especially if you are looking at their ages and projecting where they will potentially be in two or three years.  Of the group, only Thomas Nido is currently on the Mets’ 40 man roster, which is telling in some ways.  I could be wrong (likely), but of the names on that list, only Thomas Nido, Pat Mazeika (maybe), Anthony Dimino (maybe), Brandon Brosher (maybe) and Ali Sanchez (maybe) strike me as having a shot at contributing in New York during the 2019, 2020 or 2021 seasons.  

This would be my early pick for the weakest position within the organization and it is also a spot that I hope Sandy addresses in the coming MLB Draft this coming June.

Looking ahead, I think TDA will move on as a free agent after the 2019 season, so it would make sense for the Mets to  with their current platoon for this season and next season.  Starting in 2020, I think KP will remain a fixture on the Mets’ roster, but we will have a need for another catcher which is where Thomas Nido enters the picture.  In 2020, TN will be 26 years old and he will have had another two seasons of development in AA, AAA and likely limited at bats with the Mets as a late season call up between now and then.   Since “platooning” seems to be a smart way to address the position at the major league level, will we see the TDA/KP platoon give way to the KP/TN platoon?

I think this is likely to be the case, unless there is a trade or free agent acquisition in the interim, of course.

What do you think?