Mack - Observations - Luis Encarnacion, Brodie's Trades, Jake deGrom

Good morning.

We welcome former major league pitcher, Luis Encarnacion, to our family of Mack's Mets readers.

Encarnacion was first signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1984 as an International free agent. He pitched for part of eight seasons in the minors, going 45-41, 3.06.

He also pitched in the majors in 1990 for Kansas City, going 0-0, 7.84 in 4-G, 10.1-IP. 

Welcome Luis.

Second... a review of our General Manager's trades since he arrived on October 29, 2018:

The Mets have traded...

Pitchers:  

Justin Dunn -  2020: MLB - 1-ST, 0-0, 6.00

Gerson Bautista - 2019: MLB - 8-G,  0-0, 11.00

Anthony Swarzak - 2019: MLB - 59-G, 3-4. 4.56

Adam Hill - (A) 2019: 26-G, 23-ST, 7-9, 4.38

Bobby Wahl - 2019:  3-G, 0-1, 11.57

Neraldo Catalina - (Rk) 2019: 11-G, 1-ST, 3-3, 2.14

Simeon Woods-Richardson - (A/A+) 2019: 26-ST, 6-10, 3.80

Anthony Kay - (MLB) 2019: 3-G, 2-ST, 1-0, 5.79

Jason Vargas - 2019: (MLB-2 teams): 30-G, 29-ST, 7-9, 5.77

Blake Taylor - 2020 (MLB): 4-G, 6-IP, 0.00  

Jordan Humphreys - 2019 (Rookie-TJS Rehab): 2-ST, 0-0, 4.50

Catchers:  

Scott Manea - (A+) 2019: 328-AB, .235, 12-HR

Kevin Plawecki - (MLB) - 158-AB, .222

Infielders:  

Luis Santana - (A-) 2019: 186-AB, .267

Felix Valerio - (Rk)  2019: 176-AB, .306

Outfielders:  

Jay Bruce - 2019: (MLB ) - 145-AB, .221, 12-HR 

Jarred Kelenic - 2019: (A/A+/AA) - .291, 23-HR

Ross Adolph - (A) 2019: 238-AB, .223

Kenedy Corona - 2019 (Rk-A-): 219-AB, .301, 5-HR

The Mets received:

Pitchers: 

Edwin Diaz - (MLB) - 2019: 66-G, 2-7, 5.59

Walker Lockett - (MLB) - 2019: 9-G, 4-ST, 1-1, 8.34

Wilmer Font - (MLB 3-teams) - 17-G, 6-ST, 4-5, 4.48

Marcus Stroman - (MLB) - 2019: 11-ST, 4-2, 3.77

Catchers:

Austin Bossart - (AA) 2019: 260-AB, .196

Infielders: 

Robinson Cano - (MLB) 2018: 390-AB, .256

Cody Bohanek - (A+/AA) 328-AB, .226

Sam Haggerty - (MLB) - 2019: 4-AB, .000

Outfielders:  

J.D. Davis - (MLB) - 2019: 410-AB, .307, 22-HR

Keon Broxton - (3 teams) 2018: 228-AB, 

Jake Marisnick - (MLB) - 292-AB, .233

Billy Hamilton - (MLB) - 2019: 275-AB, .211

Fangraphs on baseball's most irreplaceable players - 

1. Jacob deGrom, New York Mets (-11.0%)

The Mets brought in Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha this the offseason to add depth to the rotation, depth that proved immediately necessary when Noah Syndergaard having Tommy John surgery. 

Marcus Stroman’s torn calf has tested that depth even further, though the team received the good news that he’s already recovered sufficiently to be throwing simulated games. 

Even assuming Stroman comes back fine in the near future, though, losing deGrom, who ZiPS projects to finish second in the majors in WAR among pitchers, would be difficult to overcome. deGrom can dominate any game he’s in and despite the oddball offseason, his velocity’s actually increased by a couple miles per hour. 

The Mets can’t replace deGrom’s performance because, literally, nobody can.