Reese Kaplan -- Some Sad Goodbyes (and a Sadder Bench)

It’s been a rough start to 2021 with the losses of Tommy Lasorda, Don Sutton and now Hank Aaron already upon us.  There are no truly comforting words that can be said that are fresh, impactful or original.  Everyone’s life will terminate at some point.  The best we can do is through our memories and shared conversations relive the vivid moments of their careers that were powerful, emotional and dramatic.  We all know what it felt like last year when we heard the news of Tom Seaver’s passing.  That is how primarily Dodgers and Braves fans are feeling right now about their icons no longer being around.  Childhood, teen years and adult experiences with the people who provide us with such joy are indelibly burned into our brains.  Try to focus on the positive things to deal with the stress and pain of the losses.

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Onto the Mets…

As we begin our second to last weekend of January, there are still plenty of things left to do.  Yesterday we discussed positional strengthening the team needs to do at third base, center field, the starting rotation and the bullpen.  The goal was to get folks thinking about it and prioritizing.  However, there’s another few areas the club needs to address as well.

Injuries and poor performances are unfortunately a part of baseball life and not one that only impacts the Mets.  Anyone can sit there and enumerate countless examples when the first team players were either unavailable or not performing well enough to warrant being in the regular lineup day after day.  That’s not the purpose of today’s discussion.

Instead, we want to look at who the Mets have lined up as substitutes, not just for the occasional pinch hitting, defensive replacement or pitching mop up roles, but who they may need to rely upon for regular playing time if injury or poor production force their hand.  Right now the bench is looking somewhat thin and it needs some improvement.

For purposes of this analysis, let’s assume Pete Alonso is at first base, Jeff McNeil is at second, Francisco Lindor is at shortstop, J.D.Davis is at third and James McCann is catching regularly.  In the outfield there would be (until changes are made) Dominic Smith in left field, Brandon Nimmo in center field and Michael Conforto in right field.  That lineup is surely filled with good offense. 

Defense is quite another matter.  Alonso is considered at best adequate, McNeil is adequate, Lindor is stellar (as is McCann), but Davis is a disaster.  Smith is a productive hitter but his steep learning curve in the outfield is a glaring deficiency.  Nimmo was the worst center fielder in baseball last year.  At least Conforto is competent where Rusty Staub once roamed. 

The real question is who are these bench players who might be called in for late inning appearances (or longer term when needed)?  Right now Luis Guillorme is an infielder.  That much is pretty well carved in stone.  After that it starts to get murky.

Behind him you have Robel Garcia, a guy who really hasn’t had a shot in the majors other than a cup of coffee with the Cubs in 2019.  That season it was understandable as his combined AA/AAA metrics included 27 HRs and 78 RBIs to go along with a respectable .284 batting average.  However, counting on him without much track record is enough to induce the larger sized bottle of antacids. 

For backup catcher the incumbent who is out of options is Tomas Nido.  Some folks like him.  Some think his bat will come around.  Some feel his defense is worth whatever offense he can provide.  The fact is he is a sub-Mendoza hitter in a half-season’s worth of work spread each year from 2017 through 2020.  On the plus side he does have 7 HRs and 32 RBIs, so a full season of run production may not be all bad, but the batting average most definitely needs to increase.  His best effort over just 24 ABs last season was .292, but that’s like thinking Trevor Bauer is a $30 million pitcher based upon his contributions every five days during a 60-game season. 

There are really no credible backup outfielders on the roster.  Considering Nimmo would likely shift to left in the late innings, you need someone to play center.  Jose Martinez is not the answer there as he’s in that Dominic Smith mold of defense in the outfield. 

After Martinez you have Guillermo Heredia who is turning 31 and thus far in his pro career has demonstrated he can neither run nor hit for power while only carrying a career average of .239.  Having him patrol for more than defense causes an involuntary shiver.

That collection right now is your six-man bench.  Yes, you do have people who can float around from position to position, but if the chips were down and you needed to start any of these players for two or more weeks every day, there would be a considerable drop-off in production.  Finding bench players is relatively easy by seeing who is cut from other rosters or who is already a low level free agent.  Another approach would be to fortify the AAA roster with ready-to-promote players who are either hot prospects or veteran major leaguers. 

The Mets front office has plenty of work to do.