While most of the attention is rightfully focused on who
will be in the starting lineup and the bullpen, I got to thinking about the
Mets bench in 2019 and who might reside there.
Right off the bat, you figure there is now going to be a raging debate on the relative merits of keeping one of Kevin Plawecki and Travis d'Arnaud with yesterday's unexpected signing of Wilson Ramos to be the starting catcher. It’s conceivable but
highly unlikely they would carry three catchers given the tendency to go with
7-man bullpens. Devoting two of five
precious bench spots would be very difficult to do.
Next, you have the infielder position question. If we assume for the moment that Todd Frazier
is the starting third baseman, that would mean one of the bench slots must go
to Jeff McNeil. He’s left handed and
thus far played both 2B and 3B in his career but not yet 1B, OF or SS.
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A similar player to Jeff McNeil is the long forgotten T.J.
Rivera who may or may not be healthy enough to start the season. Over the course of parts of two seasons
Rivera has had 319 ABs with a .304 batting average, 8 HRs and 43 RBIs. Unlike McNeil, Rivera has already logged some
time at 1B and even 3 games in the OF.
Consider him something of a mirror image to the left handed hitting
McNeil.
First base is a bit of a quandary as well. As a betting man, I’m thinking Dom Smith gets
a few weeks to showcase himself until the service time deadline passes and
Peter Alonso ascends to the majors.
Another way to go would be to consider some combination of Todd Frazier,
Jeff McNeil, TJ Rivera and Kevin Plawecki as adequate to tread water until the
slugging rookie gets his ticket to Queens.
Outfield is most definitely a shortcoming for this club
right now. Until another move is made,
Juan Lagares is penciled in to start in CF.
Consequently, there are NO natural outfielders on the roster worthy of a
major league promotion. One would think
at least two more are needed with one a dedicated outfielder type and one
perhaps a super utility who can play OF and also another position elsewhere on
the diamond (Marwin Gonzalez, anyone?)
If they go with the four temporary horseman timesharing first base, then
Dom Smith might be on the bench temporarily as an outfielder.
So if the season started today the only players you could
count on being ready 100% would include Kevin Plawecki, Jeff McNeil and Dom
Smith. Travis d’Arnaud and TJ Rivera are
in DL-recovery limbo.
Now there are some other players that have fallen by the
wayside who could help, including Gavin Cecchini and Luis Guillorme. Both are natural shortstops and even with
Cecchini’s less-than-stellar performance there would still be quite an upgrade
defensively over McNeil or Rivera.
It will be interesting to see how BVW treats some of Sandy
Alderson’s draft picks like Smith, Cecchini and Guillorme. Thus far we have seen him peddle away Justin
Dunn and Jared Kelenic already, so it would seem he wants to establish an
identity of “his” guys. Towards that
end, we might see some of these minor pieces moved around to fulfill needs such
as backup outfielder or middle reliever.
It appears there is too much uncertainty with the catching situation
and centerfield still up in the air, as well as question marks about the health
of Lagares, Rivera and d’Arnaud to think that we’re even close to the roster
that begins the season.
16 comments:
Morning Reese:
Lets enjoy what the hot shot GM, just did.
It is early days too worry about the bench.
With BVW looking at CF options now,what do you think of kevin Pillar?
Steve
Not worrying about the bench is what led to the Eric Campbell, Eric Young,Matt Reynolds types of benches in the past.
Pillar is an interesting thought. He's what a healthy Juan Lagares probably would be -- some power, some speed, not a great batting average and spectacular defense. The difference is that he's paid approximately what he's worth $3.25 million as opposed to the $9.5 due Lagares this year.
I would bring back Granderson for the bench. Maybe even Jose Bautista.
SOOOOOOOOO happy to stop talking about Realmuto trade that would have cost us Syndergaard.
We need to not half step anything this season, even the bench. Unless Colin Cowgill is available. LOL
I believe that better starters create better utility players.
I still see Lagares as our SP4 and Smith as OF5 and backup first baseman.
Our starting center fielder on opening day is not in the organization yet.
As for back up catcher, I would scrub both d'Arnold and Plawecki and go with the fourth alternative (and best defensive) as back-up... Tomas Nido.
First, since I feel like i’ve beem bitching and complaining a lot this offseason (you’d never know that i’m a pretty optimistic person in real life) let me say for the record (as if anyone cares) that I really like the Ramos signing. He’s not the perfect answer, and there are health concerns, but thanks to the universe for not making me contemplate a Syndergaard or Conforto trade for at least a minute.
I would actually be OK going into the season with Lagares starting in CF. But clearly, three OF and 3 C on the roster is not a final product. My guess is Brody gives up whichever of the two catchers that he can get something for.
I assume that Dom starts the year at 1B and Alonso comes up early. At that point, I would keep Plaw, Guillorme, McNeil, Smith, and an OF not named Adam Jones.
I agree, Reese.....the bench has been a black hole the last few years and it really showed when we started to get some injuries (last June comes to mind).
I would like to see a player like Marwyn Gonzalez added to the roster. He is a "Swiss army knife" that would cover up some deficiencies and give MC some options as the 162 game slog passes by.
I also would switch McNeil and Frazier (despite what MC said).....Jeff needs to play everyday and Frazier can back up several spots in the field and offer some pop off the bench.
It's the Christmas holiday season.
Family from far and wide are coming to share in the festivities with you as host.
Many of those family members are staying a few days in your house.
All sounds great but, you know that your main bathroom toilet has a history of not cooperating. You know the darn thing just loves to back up and make all kinds of a mess (especially at the worst possible times).
Do you really want to enter this scenario thinking "this time it will be different", "it couldn't possibly happen again"?
That is what entering the season depending on Lagares in centerfield is like.
I wouldn't chance it. ( in either scenario)
FANTASTIC analogy, Bob.
I think we all have that toilet, which is odd, isn't it?
Lagares starting the year in CF is fine when you consider that if you sign Pollock for example, what happens when Cespedes comes back? It would mean that either Nimmo sits or Conforto sits.
Lagares can altenate with Nimmo in CF after Cespedes comes back and they would both be happy.
Worrying about what happens when a player that may not return at all this season comes back is not the mindset of a playoff contending team.
Plenty of options if Cespedes returns to hamdlenthensituation then.
Relying on Lagares until then may result in scrambling for an outfielder as Lagares gets hurt in May, June, July, August, or September.
Track record suggests it would most likely be in May or June.
Beware the Coasters
We all have seen them. The veteran type player who once "was good." I say beware of these players the very most. They will bring promises of glory and deliver so much less.
There are a ton of MLB free agents out there. But they are all "coasters" to my eyes.
The Mets just rid themselves aof a couple of "coasters", no one will miss them. So please, for the sake of the Mets team, do not go out and sign anymore "coasters".
The team now is about overachieving, bringing this to a new never before seen level of play and professionalism. let that happen and not let the "coasters" ruin it all in 2019.
Thank you and have a nice day.
Kevin Pillar
This is a wonderful idea you have raised above. Bringing him in I think makes perfect sense now. His stats are basically identical to Wilson Ramos's, plus he can steal bases too. His contract at Toronto was like $3.25 million for 2018. Maybe offer him a two year deal since he is up for arbitration.
I have seen him play and he is always hustling.
I say no to Melky Cabrera, Adam Jones, and all the other oldie but goodies out there.
Pillar is like 28/29. He'll do. Then you have your five: LF Conforto CF Lagares/Pillar RF Nimmo. And then Dominic Smith who should be given every opportunity to start in the outfield come ST. There is always a slim possibility that Juan Lagares "could be" traded. He's 30 years old now and injury prone.
There was talk on one of the other websites concerning the finding of a swing man starter/reliever for this 2019 NY Mets team. What about Jason Vargas?
If I could magiclly wave a wand and get one more starter here, a young one because we need one, it would probably be Darwinzon Hernandez from the Red Sox.
I noticed his MiLB stats this past season and then saw him pitch in the AFL All Star game a few months back. I was really impressed by him. Not kidding. Throws hard, has mound presence and veteran type composure.
The trick would then be simply this, how would we get him in a trade with Boston. Hmm, let me think a moment. I got it, the Red Sox need someone to take over second base. Pedroia's chances of being able to are at best 50%/50%. And we do have Andres Gimenez. Hmm. Could work Metsotarians. We have Cecchini and others like TJ Rivera to back up second.
Dear Thomas Banyan:
First off, Happy Holidays to you, Reese, Tony, and the Mackster of course probably out sunbathing right now! (That rascal)
Your article today, on the "Young Gun" pitcher Mets prospects, makes me kind of wish that I had gone Orthopedic Surgery school. Five prospects, good ones too, have all had at least one serious arm surgery, either Tommy John or Rotator Cuff. Funny what the post steroidal era has delivered to us. Some teenagers today are opting to get their TJ Surgery done and out of the way, so that they can hit the professional ranks in good shape.
My neighbor does these surgeries two for one, when he isn't doing auto mechanic work. But it's hit or miss sometimes with him.
Happy Holidays to Everyone, All The Best! And remember to get to sleep early Christmas Eve or he might not bring you a new scorecard and Thor Wings.
(Looks like Santa came early to Matt Harvey's house, $11.0 Million. Holy Moly man. And he's in LA not far from Hollywood too and all those starlets! Some people have all the damn luck!)
BTW...
I saw the original owner of the NY Mets last night, JWP, and she told me to tell you that GM Van Halen is correct in fact, this is going to be the NY Mets year!
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