7/18/19

Tom Brennan - METS' OWNERS WINS AND LOSSES; AND RENE RIVERA


METS' OWNERS WINS AND LOSSES

It is so easy to gauge major league teams on the bottom line: team wins and losses.

The Mets have had all too many years below .500.  

At least it feels that way to me.

Wouldn't it be nice, though, to calculate owners' wins and losses?

You know the Yanks would rank very high on wins vs. losses (i.e., did decisions on trades, non-trades, drafts, etc. pan out as wins or losses?)    

Yanks?  Yep.  Very high. Maestros.

Mets' Owners? You assign a score. 

I definitely, over the past, let's say, 20 years, put the Mets in the bottom third in "owner wins and losses."  

Because it seems they've made far more bad deals than good.  

At least it feels that way to me.

I'd give the Wilpons a 20 year grade of D-.

Am I being too harsh?

Where would you put them?



RENE RIVERA

The Mets could be sellers big time over the next two weeks.

One possible trade chip...Should Wilson Ramos go?

One must always ask: what is the alternative to Ramos, if he is gone?

Ans: RENE RIVERA

In a span of 55 games in May, June, and July in AAA, Rivera has been flat out ripping:

He's hit 17 homers and knocked in 53 runs, while hitting .300 over those 55 games.  And he is a solid catcher too.

If you were looking to tide yourself over to 2020, and hope, perhaps, that the 2020 Mets catcher tandem could be two of the following: Rivera, Tomas Nido, and Ali Sanchez, you might just trade Wilson Ramos now - he of the good offense and the not-so-good defense - if there are takers.

Nido has rebounded to hit .281 over his last 57 at bats.  

(However, purportedly a defensive catcher, he is 2 for 19 in caught stealing this season, and 7 for 45 (15.5%) career, which certainly isn't good.)

Or you could keep Wilson Ramos and trade Rene Rivera, presumably.  Someone ought to want a guy hitting like that in AAA, with major league pedigree, even as a back up catcher.

15 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Owners at least had the sense to trade Wilmer Font to an AL team. LOL.

Tom Brennan said...

d'Arnaud 2019 caught stealing rate is far better than defensive whiz Tomas Nido. Funny how that works, huh?

Gary Seagren said...

Tom hold the presses were in a playoff race didn't you notice? 4 out of 5 after the break and were rolling so Tom please have some positivity and lets say all together now: LETS GO METS!

John From Albany said...

Yes. Let's go Mets

John From Albany said...

Mets need to make moves that build them for now and future. They need a center fielder that can actually field the position abd run. Really like the Astros Shaw who had 70 minor league steals last year. If they can swing a deal for him and maybe Tucker too, they should. Not sure what the Astros need but the Mets should talk to them.

Tom Brennan said...

Two things to Gary and John:

A NY Post article today noted that after the Mets 4 game win streak, they have a 9% chance at a wild card spot. So unless they win 3 of 4 against hot Frisco, the optimism will be brief.

This team clearly needs fixes in the bullpen and CF. Keep churning out those trade ideas, John.

Robb said...

The owners: This the difference between strategy and tactics. I think their strategy is wrong. Even then I think their tactics were wrong to enact that strategy. But this year they went out and spent capital to try and make this team a playoff team.

Tom Brennan said...

Robb, bad strategy + bad tactics = bad grade.

My grammar school nuns just gave them a D- too.

Reese Kaplan said...

No guts is the problem. They couldn't even get losing right to allow themselves the top draft picks which is how Houston and San Diego built their strong minor league systems.

Tom Brennan said...

Reese, is that an F grade?

John From Albany said...

Remember the stories about Jeff Wilpon being excited after trading Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano? 'Nuff said.

Tom Brennan said...

But what does everyone think? If the Mets start losing again, trade Ramos, call up Rene Rivera?

John From Albany said...

Don't wait to start losing to improve the club. Aways try to improve. But first you need to know what you have and determine what you need. Mets need better defense, more speed, better bullpen (both in personnel and theory - different looks - different styles, etc.) They have to stop playing people out of position and build with the capable people you have. Those who saw Alonso and McNeil in the minors figured they could be cornerstones going forward but we traded for a second baseman and moved McNeil to the outfield. Now we have a First Baseman in Left, a Left Fielder in Center, a Second Baseman in Right Field, a poor defender at Shortstop, a declining Second Baseman, a declining catcher trying to support a team built on pitching. How does this make sense? Get a good plan, stick with it and move forward.

Tom Brennan said...

John, that sounds like a lot of Owner Losses to me. Can losing owners fix this team's flaws? Or make them worse?

I definitely did not understand Jed Lowrie and Robbnie Cano acquisitions, with Jeff McNeil here and JD Davis also acquired. McNeil hit .330 over 65 games FOR THE NY METS in 2018 - did they think he'd collapse in 2019 and hit .230? After the 2018 season ended, if you asked me, I would have figured McNeil in 2019 would hit between .270 and .320. What the heck is wrong with that? Loser owners could not see that.

bill metsiac said...

Maybe I'm missing something here, but since when (except in the Bronx) were owners responsible for trades?

Yes, Tom's stats are right on, but I grew up believing that GMs were responsible for making trades, though owners are responsible for approving or rejecting the proposals.

Aside from speculation by fans and media, I've seen no evidence that this is less true of the Mets than it is of the rest of MLB.

Blame Steve Phillips, Omar, Sandy, Brodie, or any of the others, and the criticism is well placed.

Some of the worst trades in Mets history were made long before the name Wilpon was even know to any but the most ardent fans.

Who traded Ryan? Seaver? Otis? Kingman?
Let's put the blame where it belongs - - - on the guys who actually made the decisions.