Reese Kaplan -- An Ex-Mets Not Quite All Star Squad

Every team swings and misses now and then when it comes to judging talent.  New GM Brodie Van Wagenen has not hesitated to cut ties with Sandy Alderson picks in his attempt to reshape the roster.  It got me to thinking about which former Mets still playing baseball elsewhere and whether or not there were enough to field a contending (if not All-Star caliber) team.

The names were plentiful and in many cases of reasonably high quality as well.  For example, the four infielders on the All Ex-Met team are not horrible.  Daniel Murphy is a first baseman primarily at this stage of his career and that’s what he should be doing to help out the Colorado Rockies.  Expect a corresponding explosion in his power numbers at Coors Field.

Next up you have former fan favorite Wilmer Flores penciled in as the starting 2^nd baseman.  It’s interesting that he was never given this gig while play in New York, so it will be interesting to see if the modest investment made by the Diamondbacks is recouped by his bat. 

Although he’s no longer slated to play SS, that was his primary position with the Mets.  This year the switch hitting Asdrubal Cabrera is expected to man 3B for the Texas Rangers. 

However, for this team the crowning jewel of Sandy Alderson’s bad decision making was not his assertion of letting Daniel Murphy walk away for what would have been a QO of about $17 million.  No, that booby prize is for deeming Justin Turner not worth the $800K he earned as the part-time player and designated pie-in-the-face guy.  Don’t you wish they had him back during all those long David Wright DL stints!

For catcher the ex-Met team is somewhat weak with Kevin Plawecki getting the starting nod now for the Cleveland Indians.  Good luck to the man who has sex toys in his locker. 

Outfield is kind of weak on the ex-Met team as well.  Word filtered down that Curtis Granderson just signed a deal with the Marlins but there’s no telling what role he might play other than manager-in-waiting.  Jay Bruce is likely to bounce back from his injury-plagued 2018 while starting for the Seattle Mariners.  There is no clear cut 3^rd outfielder, so applications are being taken.  Contenders include Jose Bautista, Austin Jackson and Eric Young, Jr.

The starting pitching is a work in progress.  Michael Fulmer is coming back from a Rookie-of-the-Year campaign, then injury.  He’s Detroit’s ace, but that’s not saying much.  Matt Harvey is, well, Matt Harvey.  Collin McHugh is thrust into the Astros’ rotation and has had a credible post-Mets career.  John Gant is a bit of a stretch because at this point he’s more of a swing man or AAA reserve for the Cardinals.

The bullpen is a bit stronger, though Addison Reed flourished more for the Mets than he did previously for the Diamondbacks nor subsequently for the Red Sox and Twins.  Anthony Swarzak could bounce back if he’s fully healthy.  Yusmeiro Petit has carved out a nice career for himself as a middle-of-the-bullpen piece.  Some castoffs who didn’t get much of a shot like Chasen Bradford and Neil Ramirez round out the pen with Joe Smith in there somewhere as well.  Matt Koch is in the Diamondbacks’ pen though he never made it to Queens.  (I’m assuming Gerson Bautista will spend the year in AAA). 

On the bench you would have folks like Neil Walker, Lucas Duda and Jack Reinheimer, but there are some notable names yet without jobs like Jose Reyes. 

Personally, I was somewhat surprised by this exercise, both in the quantity of ex-Mets players still in MLB but also how much better the current squad is than the castoffs.  Is there anyone obvious I missed?