The uncertain feelings about the Sandy Alderson increased
involvement in the management of the Mets’ roster construction came to the
surface earlier this week through the contracts extended to Steven Matz, Robert Gsellman, Jacob Barnes and Guillermo Heredia.
These moves kind of caught some folks by surprise as if Alderson was
still operating under the Wilpon “Do Not Spend” mantra as none figured to be
major parts of the 2021 available selection of players.
None of the other folks extended contracts came as a huge surprise, though a great many feel more like filler than actual major league players. There are return engagements for Corey Oswalt, Franklyn Kilome, Daniel Zamora, Tomas Nido, Ali Sanchez, Patrick Mazeika and others. There are currently 34 members of the 40-man roster, so there is plenty of room to add players through free agency or multiple player trades.
The ones let go included the less-than-stellar Paul Sewald (of
a career 1-14 record with a 5.50 ERA), Ariel Jurado (and his one NY Mets
starting assignment), Nick Tropeano (who actually pitched well for Pittsburgh
before the Mets acquired and dispatched him without a single inning pitched),
and Chasen Shreve. That last one was a
bit of a surprise since Shreve during 2020’s dumpster fire of a pitching staff
was able to contribute 34 Ks in 25 IP while delivering a non-cringeworthy 3.96
ERA. Given the fact that lefty Justin Wilson is no longer a Met, it was puzzling for the Mets to hang onto other
inferior pitchers but to show Shreve the door.
Now some people feel that the team is a bit focused on the ancillary
pieces like setup reliever Trevor May and hot rumors regarding the interest in
bringing good but not great catcher James McCann. Neither are bad choices at all, but the fans have
had their appetites whetted more for the likes of Brad Hand and J.T. Realmuto. Some folks are already whispering about where
is Steve Cohen’s money?
Again, without a GM in the front office, it’s a bit much to
be splitting your time between building a business plan, interviewing baseball
executives, reaching out to player agents and preparing for next week’s online
Winter Meetings. Sandy Alderson has by
necessity bitten off quite a bit of work for himself and the rumors regarding a
GM becoming part of the Mets empire have suddenly become fairly silent.
Part of me is very excited about the return of
baseball. Part of me is even more
enthusiastic about not having to anticipate how the Wilpons and Brodie Van
Wagenen would create back page embarrassment in the New York tabloids. Part of me is fairly certain that some decent
players will indeed become part of the roster.
But no matter what, part of me is still anxious about the fits and
failed starts of the new regime thus far.
While I’m anticipating many more Mets transactions will be
taking place during or immediately after the Winter Meetings, the fact is that
the lower tier deals may be necessary, but they don’t generate the huge headlines nor
infuse the fans with any kind of pre-season bragging rights. It’s not going to be a magic, overnight fix,
but the small moves are necessary as well as the large ones. Just keep those stories coming, Sandy…we all
want to dream of October baseball.
7 comments:
I hope part of the foundation includes Dahl, Almora and Bradley.
Dahl is a former top prospect that can play any of the 3 OF positions. He was an all star I believe in 2019 and is prone to the injury bug but can flat out hit and run. Signing him makes Nimmo expandable to trade for prospects or insurance for Conforto leaving after the year as a free agent.
Almora is also a top prospect who is high light reel in CF. He was hitting just fine when he first came up but his offense went off the rails after one of his batted balls struck a fan. Supposedly he hasn’t been the same at the bat since. I would prefer him over heredia as our 5th outfielder because he may have a chance to become the starter if he can figure out how to hit again.
Archie Bradley is only getting better each year. His non tender completely surprised me and I feel he would be a great addition to the relief corps. Signing him can also make an Edwin Diaz available to for prospects. Bringing in Hand or Hendricks can help that process along even further.
I feel this free agency, since you may get real good bargains, shouldn’t be taken lightly. If your able to trade a Nimmo, Rosario, Diaz or JD for some good prospects you should do so ASAP. Because there is plenty of quality out there for bargain prices and we have one of the few owners that isn’t shying away from spending some money this year. Take advantage of a complete MLB down year and fill up our coffers.
I think there’s another way to see this. From what I’ve read, all the players you mention, including Matz and Gsman have minor league options. Shreve did not. It appears we are willing to sign major league contracts for players who may wind up in AAA, even Matz. Supposedly, if Matz refuses a minor league assignment in March he can be released for $800k. The Wilpons would never do this.
Natale DiDonato
I think you may be seeing that Sandy wasn’t, just handcuffed by the Wilpons but he also does not have the stomach for spending:
He mentioned Hand in the press conference but he hasn’t acted when he has been available: he was in Oakland when Hendricks was performing and he wasn’t a target.... let’s see what he will actually do
Natale does Matz have an option as well? I knew Gsellman does for one more year. I hope your right on Matz, if he can’t figure it out up here send him down to work on it.
It is extremely, extremely premature for anybody to be whispering "Where is Steve's money?"
It's a long process. Let's see what happens.
Jimmy
O.K. we've had a month in the Steve Cohen honeymoon period but now were home and it's time to get back to work and what's for dinner dear? I truly believe this regime will come through but it's hard on my patience cause I'm really anxious for something to happen but I'll try to relax for now. Best case scenario is we get Bauer and McCann and maybe Springer and fill in the second tier with quality and make this Christmas/Holiday season special.
Re Matz, he only spent time in minors in 2017 since coming up in 2015 so that would indicate he has options. Plus the article indicated he could be sent down.
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