Reese Kaplan -- How About a Fair Evaluation?

With the impending change in ownership most folks in the Mets world are looking for a Steinbrenneresque infusion of capital in order to turn the Mets into a force.  However, many have already forgotten the positive second half of the year in 2019.  Even fewer in the Queens baseball sphere are willing to give any credit to the GM given charge of the front office.  How bad was he if they finished with a winning record for the first time since 2016?

Scratch the average Mets fan and you will hear him bleat back something to do with Jarred Kelenic who finished 2019 in the Mariners organization with a three-league performance of .291/23/68, striking out in over 25% of his ABs and struggling a bit once he hit AA at the tender age of 19, his average dropping to a mere .253.  That doesn’t mean he’s not a solid prospect overall, but to hear Mets fans scathe Brodie Van Wagenen for the trade you’d think he was the second coming of Juan Soto. 

The other jewel sacrificed in that trade was pitcher Justin Dunn.  He was high on the Mets’ future prospect sheet and he delivered a 2019 with a fine AA record as a starting pitcher.  He went 9-5 with a 3.55 ERA which was good enough to get him promoted for four late season appearances with the parent club in Seattle over which he threw just over 6 innings, striking out 5 but walking 9, though he held the runners from scoring with a 2.70 ERA.

Hard throwing and skinny Gerson Bautista also was Seattle-bound in that deal.  He pitched to a combined 7.85 ERA in the minors, showing he was not ready when he hit the majors by delivering an 11.00 ERA over 8 games (including two starts).  He also walked more than he struck out and posted an awful 2.44 WHIP. 

Combine the attributes of Kelenic and Dunn with what the Mets received from Diaz and Cano, well, it looks as if the only plus side to that deal was some salary relief by dumping both Jay Bruce and Anthony Swarzak, neither of whom were worth their payroll dollars.    None of the prospects has delivered enough to make me cringe (yet) and the two major league All Star talents the Mets received get a do-over after a forgettable 2019 campaign. 

What about the good stuff no one talks about?  How about JD Davis for minor league parts?  How about firing Mickey Callaway despite having a winning record (which was most welcome after hanging onto a 7-year losing record manager before him).  How about saying goodbye to Juan Lagares and Todd Frazier who did not fit anywhere on the club anymore?  What about the courage to say goodbye to Zack Wheeler when it would have cost nearly Jacob deGrom money to keep him?  How about promoting Pete Alonso on Opening Day in 2019 instead of holding him back for an extra year of control?  How about giving Dominic Smith a baseball life once again?

There’s no one actively seeking to build a BVW statue to commemorate his rookie season.  Let’s not forget the Keon Broxton debacle.  However, he did achieve more in his first year than the Sandy Alderson/Terry Collins/Mickey Callaway group did previously.  For once some positive vibes ought to be coming towards him as long as he has a job in the front office and before Steve Cohen brings in his own people to run things.