On Friday a few former Mets names made the news headlines in minor ways. There was news of the Todd Frazier minor league deal with the Pirates. Then an announcement came out that Paul Sewald is heading to the the rainy city of Seattle. Finally, a photo was released showing new Baltimore Oriole minor leaguer Matt Harvey in his orange shirt for the birds. Isn't it interesting to see that players the Wilpons, Brodie Van Wagenen and, yes, Sandy Alderson relied upon to try to win major league games for the Mets are not able to secure 40-man roster spots elsewhere?
Of course, they're not alone in this Spring Training attempt to mount a comeback. Juan Lagares, Walker Lockett and numerous others who took at bats or innings on the mound for the Mets are filler on other squads.
The Mets are not above the recycling trick. After all, now over age 30, they have reunited with former infield prospect Wilfredo Tovar. He had parts of three season in the majors for which he owns 101 ABs, 0 HRs, 7 RBIs, 1 SB and a batting average of .188. He has a rich history of just shy of 1200 games in the minors but never really amounted to much (which is a testament to the poor Mets scouting more than his effort).
The whole concept of recycling arose when some of us Mets fans expressed disappointment that we were not destined (at least not immediately) to have round three with Todd Frazier or round three with Juan Lagares. The season is a long one, however, so anything is possible. Do you remember the twice they acquired Kelly Johnson? He wasn't as bad as some of the others, but this whole unoriginal idea of bringing back players who failed the first time around to let them fail again is not likely a strong way of trying to attain a competitive roster.
Last season many were very surprised that newbie manager Luis Rojas was willing to bench the recently very productive Amed Rosario for a strong glove man in Andres Gimenez. That move was very anti-Mets in that a position was granted not to the veteran based upon seniority but instead was given to the person who played himself into the right to start. It's ironic now, of course, that both of these infielders were dispatched to Cleveland, but that's not the point here.
How many times have you see a hot hand on the Mets get rewarded with a permanent seat on the bench or in the bullpen rather than given the opportunity to prove himself? I won't go into the well worn Terry Collins misuse of Wilmer Flores or the love affair with veteran players who, other than having played for many years, had no other justification for continuing to play? (Let me remind baseball fans that Collins' "star" shortstop Ruben Tejada has only rarely sniffed the majors let alone start since mercifully leaving the Mets at age 26 whose typical season would be .250 with 2 HRs and 39 RBIs.)
People found the same issue with pitchers, catchers, infielders and outfielders. The Mets were always fond of trying to catch over-aged lightning in a bottle when a formerly decent player was cut loose and they thought the long pedigree of ancient history would overshadow current ineffectiveness. Do you remember the great experiment with Bobby Abreu? He was a terrific ballplayer in his days with the mostly the Astros and Phillies, but during his final big year experiment with the Mets he was a 1/4 season player who hit .248 with 1 HR and 14 RBIs. Yes, it was nice having someone who had once been great but everyone else in baseball realized those days were long behind him.
Not all of these cheap-shot hires are of players who were All Star regulars during their careers. The James Loney experiment is a good example. Do you remember the end-of-career attempt with Julio Franco? It was impressive he was still playing and looked so well conditioned at ages 47 and 48 but he was no longer who he once was.
Occasionally the tail enders do contribute at a solid level. Big Sexy Bartolo Colon pitched for the Mets for a period of three years from ages 41 through 43, delivering a winning 44-34 record and a 3.90 ERA which is better than his career mark of 4.12. That productivity appears, however, to be the exception to the rule.
It was a highly refreshing to see the Mets sign 28 year old pitcher Taijuan Walker to a two-year contract which was so un-Mets compared to what they've done in the past. Similarly, they bet the farm on being able to extend the deal on final-year-under-contract Francisco Lindor who is just 27. Yes, James McCann is already over 30, as is Carlos Carrasco and Kevin Pillar. But finally the Mets are thinking for more than one-year stop-gap roster improvements.
2 comments:
Reese that acquisition repeatedly of recycled players, many of whom were past their expiration date, was foolish. It just didn't work. I'll bet that strategy of trying to limp by with guys like that and with truly marginal minor leage call-ups cost them 100-150 games over the past 10 seasons.
Thankfully, a Cohen regime gets that. They have signed some guys who had bad 2020 seasons (Mallex Smith, Almora, etc.) but they are young enough to have bounce back seasons.
Willie Mays was still worth bringing to the Mets. He was Willie Mays.
Joan Payson alone was the reason they brought Willie back and I get it but real glad we have a new owner who really gets it and isn't afraid to spend but wisely. Scouting must also be greatly improved because the thing I'm most excited about going forward is us finding the next Soto, Acuna or Jimenez for example which would signal a major improvement organizationally. Also lets not forget our biggest repeat offender Bobby Bo or as he's known the Million dollar man.
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