John from Albany - To Develop Players, Bring Back Fonzie.

 

One of the stated goals of the Mets new regime is to "Upgrade player development.”

Steve Cohen, Sandy Alderson and Zack Scott - if you want to upgrade player development, then it is time to bring back the best Mets Manager (Major or Minor) I have seen since Gil Hodges passed away.

It is time to bring back Edgardo Alfonzo to a coaching, instructional, or managing role with the Mets.

Yes, Mets Legend Edgardo Alfonzo, one of their greatest Mets infielders of all time, and the Manager of the 2019 NY Penn League Champions, the Brooklyn Cyclones.

More than the fact that Fonzie won, it was the way he won, how the team played, the emphasis on fundamentals, the emphasis on defense, the emphasis on the running game and the emphasis on manufacturing runs.  They scored runs on outs time and time again.  The 2019 Cyclones were a flat-out exciting team. 

They hit against the shift.  Took extra bases when the other teams’ shift had players out of position and bases uncovered.  Scored from third if the ball got by the catcher.  Even when they were thrown out by being a little too aggressive, it was great to watch.

It was the type of baseball that helped the Royals beat the Mets in the 2015 World Series and those Cardinal teams in the 80’s beat the great Mets teams though those 80’s Mets were much more talented on paper. 

Fonzie developed players like Wilmer Reyes and Yoel Romero to excel at multiple positions.

Wilmer Reyes - Shortstop (38 games), Second Base (2 games), Third Base (10 games), First Base (2 games); Yoel Romero - Shortstop (23 games), Second Base (7 games), Third Base (19 games), Left Field (1 game).

Fonzie was able to win despite the fact that the 2019 Brooklyn team was not a team with many top 20 Mets prospects. Only when 2019 draft picks Matthew Allan and Brett Baty were added at the end of the year for the playoffs, did they have any.  The team they beat for the championship, the Lowell Spinners, were better on paper.  According to Sox Prospects.com, 10 of the Red Sox top 20 prospects were on the Lowell roster.  

Fonzie had the team working on fundamentals and defense everyday including daily bunting drills.

In 2018 Mickey Callaway was asked why he didn’t have Dom Smith bunt in a given situation and Mickey answered something like “I don’t think Dom has ever bunted before”. 

In Brooklyn last year, they all could bunt.  Even catcher Jake Ortega was able to bunt.  In the ninth inning of the deciding game in the first playoff round, Jake bunted over what proved to be the winning run.

They played hard.  They played baseball the right way.

Remember when much heralded Mets prospect Fernando Martinez came up to the Majors, hit a pop up near home plate that ended up landing in fair territory and he didn’t run?  He was tagged out by the catcher. 

In the first Brooklyn playoff game in 2019, first baseman Joe Genord (not a speedster) hit a pop up to the infield that the Hudson Valley catcher did not handle and it landed in fair territory.  When it did land, Genord was standing on second like he should have been.  He later scored on a single.

Could the Mets use Fonzie in Queens?  Yes.  However, they could use him in Syracuse, Binghamton, St. Lucie, or back in Brooklyn.  More importantly the style of play we saw in Brooklyn in 2019, and the fundamentals that Fonzie emphasized needs to become the norm for the Mets, not the exception. 

That style of play.  The emphasis on defense and fundamentals is the right choice for the organization.  The right way to develop players.

Time to make the right call.  Time to bring back Fonzie.