Good Morning, fellow Mets' fans!
I hope that everyone has recovered from a rather hectic Christmas holiday and that you are resting up in anticipation of a nice New Year's Eve. I am fortunate to have the week off so I have extra time to spend with the family, which may or may not be such good thing, but that is another story for a different day.
With that said, I took a quick look around and realized that things are in pretty good hands in our household. It got me thinking about our favorite ball club and how things are progressing so far this offseason.
As most of you know, things started off with a "bang" as our new leader made a high profile and controversial trade with the Mariners to bring in a new closer and a new second baseman. Additional moves followed and it was accompanied by some aggressive rhetoric from BVW about "not being done" and how the Mets should be looked at as "favorites for the NL East crown" in 2019 and beyond.
Pretty heady stuff, if I don't say so myself.
Since that time, things have slowed down a bit which is both normal for this time of year (lull after the Winter Meetings) and understandable with the holidays upon us. Plus, after the very fast start, maybe BVW needed a bit of time to catch his breath? Any of us that are on the wrong side of 40 can attest to needing a bit of a break from time to time, right?
There is still plenty of time between now and the start of Spring Training, so I fully anticipate additional moves to address the open and/or substandard positions on our roster, like another left handed reliever, for instance.
Once thing I am pretty sure of is that the "black hole" that existed behind the plate last year should now be a strength with the recent signing of Wilson Ramos and what appears to be his back up in the form of a healthy Travis d'Arnaud (and yes, I just threw some salt over my shoulder while keeping my fingers crossed as I type). We even have quality depth in the form of Kevin Plawecki, who may end up on another team's roster, but for now is our #3 and likely ticketed for Syracuse.
In a regular season, your "starter" behind the plate usually plays in roughly 125 or so ballgames, not counting a few DH appearances and/or pinch hitting duties. If that is the case, then there are approximately 37 games left for the back up to handle which includes day games after night games or perhaps a match up that favors the back up, etc. Using this breakdown and making a rather large assumption that WR and TDA will both stay healthy, this is potentially what our catching tandem could produce in 2019;
.263/.311/.427 (.738 OPS)
25 HR/ 95 RBI/ 0 SB and 69 RS
***This is a simple projection based on each player's career averages that were adjusted to mimic the listed split in playing time and giving WR a larger role. It does NOT assume any other at bats for additional players that will likely have a SMALL role next year (yes, more salt over the shoulder).
I also didn't break down the total offensive contributions from last year's team behind the plate, but it included the following players and games played;
Kevin Plawecki (71), Devin Mesoraco (57), Thomas Nido (30), Jose Lobaton (18) and TDA (4).
I think that list says quite a bit on it's own and it would be a huge upgrade for this coming season IF the team gets the type of statistical output that I think they will.
This does not take into account better defense and a higher percentage of throwing baserunners out that SHOULD follow along with everything else that WR does well. I am not a huge fan of TDA's but the Mets seem to like him and I can live with his overall production (or lack thereof defensively) so long as he is strictly the back up and he does not need to play anymore games then projected above.
Yes, Mets' fans, the team is in pretty good hands behind the plate this year and I think it will show in the most important place of all and that is the win column.
I wonder when TDA will be ready to throw at a level needed to cut down base stealers? May? His surgery will only be 10 months old when ST begins in about 7 weeks.
ReplyDeleteI believe Plawecki doesn’t have anymore options, so he can’t be sent down to Syracuse. :(
ReplyDeleteI would check in on Mesaraco and see if he is interested in being the backup at a reasonable price? Trade the other 2
Agreed with Tom, thinking that an already poorly throwing TdA will be ready to start spring training has me thinking you started in on the New Year's Eve libations a tad early.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Zozo that a capable backup is needed but, like TdA (and Ramos for that matter), Mesoraco is a walking injury. I don't expect that to improve with age.
The Mets could keep TDA if, say, in 2 months, they sense he will truly ready close to Opening Day and Ramos is healthy.
ReplyDeleteYou could go with Nido for 2 or 3 weeks as a rarely used early season back up, then send him down and activate TDA then. And play TDA only against low SB teams.
His bat in 2017 was impressive: 348 AB, 19 doubles, 16 HR, 57 RBI. Having that sort of quality bat if Ramos got hurt for a while would help the Mets avoid a black hole at the plate when the catcher comes up - that black hole was a big reason for the Mets' mid-season horrific play last year. Lack of hitting can become contagious.
Guys -
ReplyDeleteI REALLY love the addition of Ramos and see us returning to a non-issue behind the plate for a couple of years.
That being said, I want a capable defense first backup that can handle this staff and throw out runners. Batting over .220 would be a plus too.
This is NOT Travis d'Arnaud.
I hope this signing is a precursor to a trade and the Mets use a guy like Nido here.
Just my take.
Caleb Joseph should cost next to nothing, throws out 31% of runners and has some power.
ReplyDeleteGood one, Reese....I may have had a few IPA's this week!
ReplyDeleteYou guys raise an interesting point on TDA's arm and recent surgery.........I figured he must be on track to start ST without issues IF the Mets tendered him an contract and subsequently settled for 3.5 million or so (that's big money for a #2 catcher, IMO).
In a perfect world, I would deal TDA and KPlaw for an extra bullpen arm or roster depth.
I would then use the cash to find a stud defensive catcher, much like Reese mentioned above OR see if Maldonado will sign
for close to what you were going to pay TDA.
However, my gut tells me that TDA will be the back up (and no, that isn't indigestion).