As the season draws to a close there are a number of
positive signs that are giving fans some hope and optimism for 2019. Even Mickey Callaway who many wanted kicked
to the curb is getting some accolades for his persistence through the horror of
July. While most can point to the
obvious good things that have happened – Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Amed
Rosario, Zack Wheeler, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Brandon Nimmo and Seth
Lugo, there is a huge disparity of prioritizing what needs to be done to build
upon this now seemingly solid foundation.
Bullpen Boosters
There’s no way to sugarcoat the performance of the Mets’ pen
this year. It’s bad…really, really
bad. After having dispatched with one of
the best arms in Jeurys Familia, losing a wild but experienced arm in AJ Ramos,
losing one-season wunderkind Anthony Swarzak to injury for most of the year and
then needing normally stellar Jerry Blevins to take half a season to regain his
effectiveness, it put way too many innings in the hands of people unable or
unready to handle the role of supporting the starting pitchers.
There is some hope in the arms of Seth Lugo, Robert
Gsellman, Daniel Zamora and Drew Smith.
They have all had stretches of competence that suggest they have a
reasonable expectation of success moving forward.
The problem is they have shared duties with folks like Jacob
Rhame, Paul Sewald, Tim Peterson and others who have been cut or dispatched
like Hansel Robles and Gerson Bautista.
Then there’s an in-between group who have shown flashes like
Tyler Bashlor, Drew Gagnon and Eric Hanhold.
The folks in this group feel that there is a true closer
missing from this mix and advocate going after the likes of Craig Kimbrel. While no one could argue with having the best
shutdown reliever in baseball added to the roster, the fact is that he’ll earn
likely what Aroldis Chapman and others got in free agency -- $17 million or
more per year for multiple years.
Entering 2019 at age 31 that’s not necessarily an unreasonable nor
unfair salary, but the ownership over the past eight seasons has not
demonstrated a willingness to make that kind of investment in relief
pitching.
Surely there are other competent arms out there available
for less such as Kelvin Herrera, David Robertson, Tyler Clippard, Brandon
Kintzler, Zach Britton and Andrew Miller, but most of them would lead to a
bullpen by committee approach rather than a traditional closer. They could entrust Lugo or Smith to that
role, but there’s not much of a track record to instill as much confidence as
would Kimbrel.
Catcher Cohorts
Ever since Travis d’Arnaud’s 2017 season when in 2/3 of a
season he delivered 16 HRs and 57 RBIs, the Mets have been struggling to get
production from behind the plate. d’Arnaud
was, of course, lost about ten days into the season and Kevin Plawecki gone the
very same same day. Extended looks at
Jose Lobaton showed why he’s been at best a backup throughout his career and
Tomas Nido demonstrated why he struggled to hit in AA. Kevin Plawecki returned and got a lot of time
this year but to date has achieved just a .212 average and newcomer Devin
Mesoraco provided good pitch framing and some power, but the injury bug that’s
derailed his career struck again.
So going into 2019 your in-house options include d’Arnaud
(who many advocate non-tendering), Plawecki and Nido as Mesoraco is a free
agent and Lobaton will likely depart as a minor league free agent as well.
For a position traditionally difficult to fill, this year’s
free agent crop includes a couple of premium catchers there for the taking if
you’re willing to write the check.
Yasmani Grandal is both the defensive whiz and power threat the team
needs. Wilson Ramos is a more consistent
hitter with a bit less power and less defensive acumen. Grandal is Johnny Bench lite. Ramos is Ted Simmons lite.
For a frame of reference, Buster Posey earns $22 million,
Yadier Molina $20 million, Russell Martin $20 million and Brian McCann $17
million. Think $17 to $20 million as the
aspirational price range for each of these two catchers. There are some trade targets as well such as
KC’s Salvador Perez and the Marlins’ JT Realmuto, but do the Mets have the
chips to pull off this kind of deal? The
oft-desired Jonathon Lucroy is available but he’s been on a rapid downhill
slide for the past few years and likely isn’t a good investment.
Starter Supporters
Given the fragile state of the Mets’ rotation over the past
several years, many fear that a full season of Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard,
Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz and Jason Vargas simply won’t be happening. They are less than confident in having
swingman Seth Lugo or so-far unimpressive Corey Oswalt as the Plan B.
Towards that end some are advocating adding another solid
arm to the rotation and perhaps converting the $8 million Vargas into a left
handed relief pitcher and emergency starter.
There is some merit to that though Vargas did turn in a much more
respectable interval late in the season than anyone would have anticipated
given what little he did earlier in the year.
From July 27th through September 20th he’s gone
4-3 with a 4.37 ERA and players hitting .235 against him. These results mirror his career numbers of a
4.29 ERA and probably does play as a fifth starter.
There are some decent arms available in free agency,
including Dallas Keuchel, Gio Gonzalez and an interesting buy-low candidate in
Lance Lynn. Of course, adding a starting
pitcher or two could open up the trade possibility of one of the existing
starters to replenish other needs.
So what is your off-season priority and plan?
3 comments:
The bullpen has to be fixed - and one of those fixes could be Jenrry Mejia, who has had a checkered past with Tommy John surgery and triple bypass (3 suspensions that bypassed about 3 prime time years for him).
I like adding him - and Kimbrel.
Catcher needs fixing - I like Ramos.
2nd base does not need fixing. Any new guy, one has to wonder if an 0 for 5 could descend him back towards league-normal production. Jeff McNeil goes 0-5 Friday, sits Saturday, but answers back emphatically by getting on base FIVE times on Sunday! 57 games, and a major league 2nd best at .340. And just 2 errors!
This morning I'm too lazy to calculate the exact budget dollars. It's nice to sit back and say I'd like to add Kimbrel and Grandal or Wilson, and while we're at it, let's get Manny Machado, too. The problem is that the club never wants to commit to the best players available, hoping to get the second, third and fourth tier types. That's why I made mention of Lance Lynn who was very good all those years for St. Louis before this year's clunker. Buy low.
Agree, Reese.............I think CF is also in need of a pick up.
Post a Comment