Reese Kaplan -- 1986 Mets Made Too Much Depth Work

The only time the NY Mets had a “laugher” of a season was in 1986 when they dominated almost from Opening Day through the end of September.  Yes, the tension and emotion of a hard-fought pennant race are certainly something to get the juices (and blood pressure) moving, but how nice was it for once to have had pretty much no doubt from the first crack of the bat in April?

I bring up this journey down memory lane because of something one of our regular readers, Bill Metsiac, has been saying repeatedly whenever the topic of the current roster composition comes up.  A lot has already been written about the depth the Mets already have and will expand when Todd Frazier and Jed Lowrie are finally available.  If you look back to the 1986 squad, they too enjoyed a similar embarrassment of riches and rode it all the way to the World Series.

If you asked someone right now who, for example, was the centerfielder on that club you would alternatively get people answering Mookie Wilson and Lenny Dykstra.  It was not strictly a platoon, but both played a significant amount during the year, finishing within 50 ABs of each other, both productive and helping lead the club to the post-season.  Combined they provided 17 HRs, 90 RBIs and 56 SBs while hitting over .290.  Wow, who wouldn’t want that kind of production?

The Mets’ outfield may not be quite up to that caliber right now, but on the days when Mickey Callaway plays Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto together, I don’t think anyone is complaining about the offensive potential they provide.  Should Yoenis Cespedes come back at some point this season then the OF becomes that much more potent.

A similar question would be answered differently if you asked about 2^nd base.  Some would respond Wally Backman was the starter while others would remember the efforts of Tim Teufel.  While neither provided much run production, you can’t forget Wally hit .320.

Most everyone would agree that World Series MVP Ray Knight was indeed the starter at 3B where he did have more than 500 ABs while delivering 11 HRs, 76 RBIs and hit .298.  However, the Mets still managed to find lots of ABs for Howard Johnson and Kevin Mitchell – even more than Knight received – and they combined to provide 19 HRs and 82 RBIs.  Of course, both of them occasionally even saw some action at shortstop where the only weak link in the lineup, Rafael Santana, hit but .213 for the season. 

So many people are wondering what becomes of Frazier and Lowrie, given the fine work provided by Pete Alonso, Dom Smith and Jeff McNeil already?  Frankly, who cares?  The idea is to win and if you’re getting contributions from everyone then the depth is indeed a luxury to enjoy.

About the only folks not happy with the impending return of the veteran infielders are likely Luis Guilorme and J.D. Davis whose grips on major league roster spots are tenuous at best.  In Guillorme’s case, he’s not yet shown the type of bat in his limited opportunities to justify remaining on the big league roster.  Davis has most definitely shown flashes of great bat speed and exit velocity, but the young man has minor league options and the thought is that Todd Frazier would provide the same right handed power. 

In an ideal world the Mets would be able to peddle some of the excess to another club to obtain fortifications for the 5^th starter slot or the bullpen, but the guys you’d most want to trade are probably the least desirable to other clubs.  However, rather than losing sleep over how to make room for everyone, just look back to 1986 as a model for how you can use depth to your post-season advantage.