Mike Freire - Foundation Pieces

Good Morning, Mets' fans.

I know that we still have a good portion of the 2018 season left to endure, but it is starting to reach the point where we need to look ahead to better days that hopefully start with the 2019 season.  I know, some of you have been looking ahead since the middle of June and that is understandable with how the season went off the rails at that juncture.

Regardless of when you threw in the towel as a fan, what is crystal clear is that the team was not good enough to withstand the barrage of injuries that took place this season and MAJOR changes are needed between now and next April if things are going to be different. 

The point of this entry is to take a quick look forward and to identify which players on the current roster will be a part of the solution.  In my world, I call them "foundation pieces" and they will form the core of our next successful team.

So, what is a foundation after all?  It is the base upon which you construct a house or other permanent structure and if you want your efforts to last, you select the strongest material that you can.  To quote a recent Coldplay song "Viva La Vida", the last few Mets' teams were based completely on "pillars of sand" and when the foundation crumbled, so did the team.  

No, what you want is a foundation that is much more solid than sand.  Perhaps we could follow Ashford and Simpson's lead and build the next Mets' foundation as "solid as a rock"? 

Enough with the music trivia, right?

Getting back to the topic at hand, what players on the current roster would be considered "solid" or an integral part of the future?

Here is my list, which includes a bit of projection and hope;

Peter Alonso (1B)

Jeff McNeil (2B)

Amed Rosario (SS)

Brandon Nimmo (LF)

Michael Conforto (RF)

Jacob DeGrom (SP1)

Noah Syndergaard (SP2)

Yes, there are only seven players on that list which is roughly 28% of a normal, "game day" roster.  This does not mean that there are not useful pieces left on the forty man roster, like Zack Wheeler, Seth Lugo, Robert Gsellman or even Dominic Smith.  Clearly, the team cannot go into the 2019 season with an seven man roster, right?

What I am trying to say is that the players on the aforementioned list are the foundation upon which the rest of the roster should be constructed.  Some other players will be around for a bit due to contract status or other reasons, like Yoenis Cespedes, Jason Vargas, Todd Frazier and Jose Reyes (just kidding on the last one, I hope).

Others will force their way onto future rosters as they develop in the minor league system and we may see some new additions with free agency and/or trades taking place this winter.  A great example of that should include moving pieces like Zack Wheeler and Wilmer Flores whose value has risen in 2018 but who are also free agents starting in 2020 (sell high while you can).

Until that picture becomes clearer, the seven players listed above will form the foundation of next year's team, in my humble opinion.

In what could be good news or bad news, that leaves the following positions open for change and improvement;

Catcher, Third Base, Center Field, SP's 4 and 5, along with most of the bullpen and a Closer.

What do your "foundation pieces" look like?