First of all, take a deep breath and remind yourself that last night was just one game. Also remind yourself that in addition to not being able to hit or field, Jose Reyes has now demonstrated he can't pitch either. Yet he's still here...
Now onto your regularly scheduled whining...in your frustration, hostility and disgust with the ongoing inertia of the trading deadline period that's come and gone, it's time to ask yourselves a question. When was the last time the Mets made a trade that was not about saving money? I’ll give you a minute to ponder that…
Now onto your regularly scheduled whining...in your frustration, hostility and disgust with the ongoing inertia of the trading deadline period that's come and gone, it's time to ask yourselves a question. When was the last time the Mets made a trade that was not about saving money? I’ll give you a minute to ponder that…
During the current reign of terror from the front
office post-Minaya, there was the salary dump of Carlos Beltran, the salary
dump of R.A. Dickey, the salary dump of Curtis Granderson, the salary dump of
Addison Reed, the salary dump of Neil Walker, the salary dump of Lucas Duda,
the salary dump of Jeurys Familia, the salary dump of Asdrubal Cabrera, the
salary dump of Jay Bruce (first time), the departure of Daniel Murphy, the
departure of Tyler Clippard, the salary dump of Ike Davis, the salary dump (and
PR disaster) of Frankie Rodriguez, the salary dump of Marlon Byrd and John
Buck, and some would say even the departure of Justin Turner was financially
motivated.
Try as I might, it’s hard to come up with times when trades
were made about improving the club rather than saving money. There is, of course, the Michael Fulmer to
Detroit for Yoenis Cespedes move. Kudos
for that one. (We’ll reserve the
subsequent contract discussion for another day). There was the addition of Juan Uribe and
Kelly Johnson in 2015. There was the
addition of Addison Reed and Tyler Clippard that same year. Do you see a pattern here? Add real talent that costs a little money and
go to the World Series!
Now on the free agent front, the Mets have indeed spent
money, though not particularly wisely nor on the top available talents. They’ve been burned many times, including
Jason Bay, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Vargas, Frank Francisco, Jay Bruce and others. Consequently I can see that window closing
rapidly, too.
It would seem then that the opportunity to replenish the farm
system would come from dealing away the soon-to-be-expensive Jacob deGrom. After all, as painful as it was to see the
club trade Tom Seaver, they did get a rookie-of-the-year in Pat Zachry, a
rookie-of-the-year candidate in Steve Henderson, a gold glove 2nd
baseman in Doug Flynn and the throw-in of Dan Norman. Three out of four contributed, but never got
out from under the fan and media fury of the deal which was done to spite
Seaver at the behest of the club owner.
deGrom could have netted a similar haul, perhaps even more in today’s
economic climate, but the club sticks to its failed agenda of, “Wait ‘til next
year” in the hopes of sustaining the season ticket model and the sale of
jerseys.
Once again the club also stubbornly refused to pay down any
of the salaries of departing players to up the returns received. Consequently they got more mediocre stat
pitchers when the biggest problem they have is scoring runs for the pitchers
they already have. Jacob deGrom has a
league leading ERA and a losing record because a 1-0 lead often proves
insurmountable, yet what they continually ask for and receive in return are
hard throwing pitchers of dubious pedigree who can’t find the plate and who won’t
solve the endemic problem of the anemic offense.
The only action on Tuesday’s trading deadline was another
scrap heap pickup, though surprisingly for someone not yet sporting gray
hair. The Mets signed speedy gloveman Jack
Reinheimer. He can’t hit a lick, so he’ll
fit right in. With the promotion of Luis
Guillorme and Levi Michael hitting well, it makes perfect Metsian sense to
bring in another shortstop. I suppose I
shouldn’t complain too much. When was
the last time the Mets cared about baserunning or defense?
Well, as Tom Brennan and I exchanged hypothetical lyrics to “Meet
the Mess”, all you can do is remind yourself who is in charge and then it all
makes sense. Winning doesn’t matter as
long as those turnstiles keep on turnin’.
Proud Mary keep on burnin’.
Oh, and one final thought...how many of you read the piece in which John Ricco, head Stooge, was quoted as saying they don't know which way they're headed (in terms of rebuild or retool). They don't know what they're doing? Who'da thunk it? They say admitting you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery...
Oh, and one final thought...how many of you read the piece in which John Ricco, head Stooge, was quoted as saying they don't know which way they're headed (in terms of rebuild or retool). They don't know what they're doing? Who'da thunk it? They say admitting you have a problem is the first step on the road to recovery...
For a real baseball organization that strives to logically improve itself, there can only be 1 resulting strategy born from the refusal to cash in on the highest value deGrom will ever have.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a drastic money commitment to 2019.
I say drastic because there are more holes on the Mets than commenters and reporters admit to.
1st base: Alonzo as AAA player can not be counted on.
2nd base: should be covered between Flores and others.
SS: covered with Rosario
3rd: can not count on Frazier as this year has proven
Cf: Nimmo, covered
RF: Conforto, covered? Will Conforto become consistent? Plenty of hope and "should bes", but a full year has not been demonstrated yet.
LF: Cespedes, Bruce, and Lagares can not be counted on.
C: none proven
SP: 4 slots filled. 5th slot open as well as 6th and 7th that every year has proven to be a necessity.
Closer: needed
Relief: 2 probably needed.
That leaves needs at 1st, 3rd, OF (starter and 4th of), Catcher, Closer, 3 SP (including 6th and 7th options), 2 RP.
This also leaves a lot of wasted or unreliable payroll sitting around in Cespedes, Bruce, Frazier, & Vargas.
In order to, according to the Wilpons/Ricco "commitment" to contend, payroll will be in need of a major spike.
Anything less is yet another half-hearted moronic effort.
As I have often asked here, "Tell me what the Mets do right, except scr&&wing up" with no answer.
ReplyDeleteI too read that quote from Ricco and could only shake my head in disgust. The Stooges, 3 headed Imbeciles, the 3 Amigos could not see the wisdom of trading deGrom when he will never be worth more. Instead, they will keep him and not sign him to an extension as they should once they decided not to trade him.
Being a Mets fan these days is about not having any hope. Is about re-defining new lows every day while the Wilpon leeches continue to suck the life out of this team.
Now they are again trying to sell us the 2019 season by keeping the pitching intact and expecting the same failed players to bounce back. What a joke of an organization. Is not good enough to be bad, they have to make sure that they are the worse team to root for in the entire ML.
Inept: having or showing no skill, incompetent, unskilled, amateurish which pretty much sums it up so the question really is why are we still fans of this team?
ReplyDeleteI sure wish Ricco had traded Matz now, don't you? That starting pitcher "core" may turn out to be a rotten core. Matz has been deeply disappointing since he started his Mets career winning 10 of his first 11 decisions.
ReplyDeleteThe Mets rallied valiantly last night, only to fall 21 runs short. I'm proud of that rally, aren't you?
Jose Reyes can't pitch, either.
Jose Reyes has 1 more RBI than Tanner Roark.
There must be some team out there that realizes that Jose Reyes is the missing piece in their World Series run.
Would ANY other team still have Jose Reyes on its roster?
Gary, I think Pete Alonso will be fine. Another few hundred minor league at bats will get him there.
Well, the Astros apparently have no compunction about adding wife-beaters to their roster...give them a call about Reyes. They missed out on Familia, but did fortify their bullpen with Roberto Osuna.
ReplyDeletewell, there's a "let's loose on purpose for a higher draft choice" crowd on here. This is what that looks like. Happy?
ReplyDeleteThe bottom line... here is your current 2019 team:
ReplyDelete1B - undetermined
2B - undetermined
SS - Rosario
3B - Frazier
C - undetermined
OF - Nimmo
OF - Conforto
OF - undetermined
SP1-4 - set
SP5 - undetermined
RP - Drew Smith
Rest of pen - undetermined
Doesn't leave many options for realistically "contending" as Wilpon/Ricco set as their goal.
DeleteEven if the payroll is allowed to go over $200 million, I'm not sure there are even enough impactful free agents at needed positions to create a contender.
Thinking in regards to the lineup:
Delete1. Nimmo
2. Conforto?
3. Nobody
4. Nobody
5. ?
6. Frazier
7. Rosario
8. ?
Adding to the expense of building a contender is the fact that the heart of the lineup will require replacing.
Middle of the order batters that have good batting averages (please let's not fall for the failed OBP focus again) and good defense, are going to the most expensive free agents.
What options are there for 3rd & 4th place hitter available this winter at a needed position?
Machado: would have to convince him to be the 3rd baseman (added bonus Frazier becomes a bench player, but opens another hole in the 6th place of the batting order)
Bryce Harper: certainly has the talent, but struggling this year and I would avoid because the Mets do not need any more injury prone players.
Donaldson: 33 yrs old. Could be an option at 1st but would want too lengthy of a contract to justify.
A.J. Pollock: nice choice, but beware 31 yrs old.
So, how much $$ would it take to convince Machado and Pollock to sign on the dotted line and form the 3rd and 4th place heart of the batting order?
$50+ million total annually?
Where does that put the total payroll?
Remember: there are still multiple holes in the batting order/field positions, closer, Starting Pitching, and Bullpen.
Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo, Anthony Swarzak and Jenrry Mejia are all probably in that bullpen mix already.
ReplyDeleteWhat a surprise, Matz is suffering from forearm tightness.
ReplyDeleteGiven the pitching staff history, will this be another reconstructive elbow surgery candidate?
Another example of why building around pitching in the post steroid era is questionable.