Reese Kaplan -- Since the Mets Don't Care About Defense...

While everyone gets on Sandy Alderson for the contracts handed out this past off-season to Jason Vargas, Anthony Swarzak and Jay Bruce which resulted in poor production, somehow no one seems nearly as upset by Todd Frazier’s minimal contributions.  Yes, he’s had some injuries and if you extrapolated his numbers they wouldn’t be awful.  In fact, hitting in the .230s is a step above what he delivered for the White Sox and Yankees last season.  At $8 million this year, he took a cut from the $12 million he was earning.  Next year he’s on tap for $9 million and performing at 2 WAR you could certainly argue he’s good value.

In roughly the same amount of ABs Wilmer Flores has provided the same offense with a higher batting average.  More importantly, he’s showing that with regular playing time those number have improved dramatically – something we’ve seen the past as well.  Wilmer is earning $3.4 million this year and arbitration eligible for the first time.  At 1.3 WAR, he’s going to get a pretty big bump in pay.  By numbers he is rated as a -2 defensively (slightly below average) at 1B though the eyeball test may disagree.  He is someone Manager Mickey Callaway has singled out as needing to be in there every day because he takes quality ABs.

Therein lies the problem.  The Mets’ highest rated near term prospect is Pete Alonso who plays 1^st base.  Then there’s Jay Bruce having worked out at 1B.  Then there’s Dom Smith whose best position is 1^st base.

Well, what about 2^nd?  Jeff McNeil is certainly making the case that the Mets should have promoted him the second Todd Frazier went down with an injury, but hey, we all know how critical it was to get Jose Reyes and Jose Bautista more playing time, right?

So, going into 2019 you have an interesting problem.  Assume they hold Pete Alonso down for the first 3-4 weeks of the season “to work on his defense” – at least that’s what the Cubbies got the Players’ Union to swallow when they didn’t promote Kris Bryant to start the year.  Who plays 1^st for that interval doesn’t much matter.  However, once Alonso arrives (miraculously having dramatically improved his defense in just 3-4 weeks), who goes where?

Just to add gasoline to the fire, there are a number of folks campaigning for the Mets to reunite with hands-of-stone Daniel Murphy because he can hit the ball well.  Wait…isn’t that the very same profile of Wilmer Flores – someone who can hit but doesn’t seem to comport himself well while wearing a leather on his hand?  To wit, Murphy ranged from -7 to -9 as a second baseman while playing for the Mets.  Will he improve with age?  He’d be 34 next season.  By contrast Wilmer Flores was nearly as lethal at 3B but at worst was a -3 at 2B. 

Many feel Wilmer’s best role (should he stay with the Mets) is as a supersub, getting ABs all around the diamond and coming off the bench.  Evidence has shown that he performs better when playing steadily.  Unlike others, he does not get “exposed” when he’s in the lineup on a daily basis. 

On Thursday I read the disheartening comment from a clearly flummoxed Terry II that perhaps they’re going to move McNeil around to see how he responds to a utility role.  WHAT???????????????

No, the answer seems obvious to me from both an economic standpoint and run production standpoint.  Once Alonso arrives, play Wilmer at 2B and shift McNeil to 3B.  While Todd Frazier still has not gotten the stink of failure on him that plagues many Mets’ acquisitions, peddle him and his reasonable contract to another club.  You’re only secure with him for one more year anyway, and better to trade someone a year too soon than a year too late.  Take the savings delta between his salary and Flores’ salary to address another need.  If Alonso struggles against certain righties, you still have Bruce (and Smith) available to play 1B.  You’re not going to find takers for Sandy’s mistakes (throw Juan Lagares in that mix, too), so you’d better start thinking about small savings wherever you can find them.