Reese Kaplan -- The 2017 Fleecing Revisited

Suppose you’re looking to make some deals and you have an infielder who averages 19 HRs, 68 RBIs and .268 per season for his career.  You have an outfielder who averaged 28 HRs, 76 RBIs and a .252 average (and was a three time All Star).  Then you have a first baseman who would provide 27 HRs, 80 RBIs and a .242 average.  Then there was another outfielder who could give you 31/94/.247 and was a three-time All Star.  Then there was a reliever who provided seasons of 1.17, 1.97 and 2.57 ERAs for the Mets.  What do you think trading away this bundle of sluggers and a talented reliever could net you?

Well, if you’re Sandy Alderson (or John Ricco as some suggest was calling the shots), not a whole lot, apparently.  Let’s take a look at the “haul” the Mets received during the 2017 sell-off:

Eric Hanhold had a breakthrough year in Binghamton, going 3-1 with a 2.84 ERA and a great WHIP of 1.184 with over 11 Ks per 9 IP over 17 games.  Then he hit the Las Vegas wall where he pitched over 14 games to 7.11 ERA.  In a brief trial in Queens he pitched to a 7.71 ERA before being disabled and now apparently put onto the 60-day DL to clear a space for David Wright.  He was obtained from the Brewers for Neil Walker in the only deal during the great selloff in which the Mets paid down salary.

Curtis Granderson netted the Mets the bespectacled Jacob Rhame from the Dodgers organization.  He was mostly awful in his 2017 and 2018 stints with the Mets, going 2-3 with a 7.11 ERA and an awful WHIP of 1.632.  Now I’m a little more lenient on Rhame than I am on some of the others having seen him up close playing for the 51s when I was covering their games against the Chihuahuas.  He was able to manhandle the opposition.  His 25 games in the PCL resulted in a 3.06 ERA and a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio.  There’s something there…how he gets it to translate to the next level is Dave Eiland’s job. 

Lucas Duda’s banishment to Tampa resulted in the acquisition of Drew Smith who had by far the best numbers of any of the relievers acquired last year.  He came up this season and initially was looking to be the real deal but his last 3-4 outings he’s been more of a batting practice pitcher.  Even so, by comparison to the poor performances of the others, his now 3.86 ERA is All Star worthy.  In Las Vegas’ pitching hell he managed a 2.76 ERA, his worst mark in a minor league career stat line of just 2.22.  He’s a keeper. 

In mid 2017 the Mets had the leading RBI batter in the National League and all they got in return was a low level minor leaguer by the name of Ryder Ryan.  At age 23 he started the year impressively in St. Lucie, dominating the opposition with a 1.77 ERA, excellent control and resulting in a promotion to AA.  In Binghamton the positive sign was he maintained the good control but the ERA mushroomed up to 4.13.  He’ll likely start the year there again but should make it up to Syracuse during 2019 and perhaps even to the Mets. 

Gerson Bautista was one of three pitchers acquired from the Red Sox for Addison Reed and the Mets are probably wishing they had a do-over.  The man can throw the ball through a wall but if you can’t find the wall or have no movement on the pitch then major leaguers will tee off on you.  In his brief trials in the big leagues it’s been fugly.  He managed to last just 4.1 IP and has a WHIP of 3.00 with an ERA of 12.46.  He was the Bizarro-World Jacob deGrom in Las Vegas, going 3-1 with a 5.22 ERA and a WHIP of nearly 2.000.  Just like many hard throwers before him – Josh Smoker, Jack Leathersich and others – velocity alone is not enough to succeed.

Stephen Nogosek had a reputation as a hard throwing but wild reliever who could fan batters but walk nearly as many.  He seemed to get the handle on some of his repertoire this year in St. Lucie, posting his best ever stretch with a 3.06 ERA over 23 games with over 10 Ks per 9 IP.  Unfortunately that was accompanied by over 5 walks in that same metric.  However, it did merit him a promotion to Binghamton where it was a rude awakening.  In 16 games he had an 8.10 ERA and a slightly reduced K rate of 9.5 per 9 IP.  Unfortunately, his walk rate was exactly the same 9.5 per 9 IP.  A work in progress is the most optimistic way to view his progress.

The pitcher deemed closest to the majors in that trade was Jamie Callahan who was not completely awful in his 2017 trial.  He provided a 4.06 ERA over 9 games but after 7 games in Las Vegas pitching to a 9.72 ERA he went under the knife for Tommy John surgery. 

My plea to the NY Mets is PLEASE do not hand the reins to John Ricco in 2019.  Even if it was Sandy’s call, he was in the room and should have spoken up to say “You’re being fleeced!”  We saw more of the same since Sandy stepped down, so the pattern needs to change.