February 25, 2021
This is a follow up to my earlier article. Some folks wondered whether a 73 year old
former marine was the right person to change the dynamics of a moribund
organization.
Sandy’s hiring was not met with universal acclaim. It’s generally agreed that one reason for hiring
Sandy was to help Steve Cohen secure approval by owners to purchase the
team. He supposedly gave Cohen the credibility
needed and that this would be a team with a sound infrastructure.
How well has Sandy done thus far? The hirings of Jared Porter and Zachery Scott
were considered to be shrewd moves at the time.
While they were forced to terminate Porter, all indications are the team
is moving in the right direction. For
once, the future looks bright.
Sandy can be viewed as a transitional figure with the
goal of bringing the next generation of talent on board. He has been successful thus far as he has
pretty much revamped the organizational chart.
There are moves still to be made, such as finding someone to replace
Porter and continuing to upgrade the analytics department.
At the close of the 2020 season, the Mets were a team in
disarray. Outside of deGrom and Peterson,
there were no other reliable candidates to form a starting rotation. Look at us now. Bringing back Stroman, trading for Carrasco
and signing Walker gives us a solid rotation to compete with the Braves. And if Syndergaard comes back strong, the
Mets will be able to match up with any other team.
In addition, there are a handful of legitimate arms to
compete for the sixth, seventh or eighth starter position with Lucchesi,
McWilliams and Yamamoto in the wings.
The team should be an offensive juggernaut with the likes
of Lindor, Conforto, McNeil, Alonso, Smith, Nimmo, etc. I’m not thrilled having Davis at third but
hopefully his offense offsets his defensive shortcomings. It looks as though we have a strong
bench. I believe Nido will turn out to
be a solid backup to McCann.
Coming off a short 2020 season, I don’t expect pitchers
to go deep into games. More likely than
not, pitchers will be pulled following the fifth or sixth innings with deGrom
being the exception for the Mets. Therefore,
having a strong bullpen is of paramount importance. I’m satisfied with the quality and quantity
of the current mix.
The moves made by Sandy have given us a strong and deep
team heading into 2021. Also, there is
now depth throughout the organization with the highest levels of the minor
leagues being stocked with former MLB players looking for their next
opportunity.
If I was to grade Sandy for the job done so far, I would
give him a B+. The front office is still
incomplete and we have not improved third
base. There is a lack of depth at
the catching position that needs to be addressed.
I’m pleased to have Sandy in charge of running my team. Look at what he’s accomplished in his first 100
days.
Ray
11 comments:
For me and as I have said before, Cohen first mistake was hiring Sandy and I am really not impressed with most of what he has done.
For me the Mets had priorities to fill. CF, C, pitching and better relievers.
First mistake was including Gimenez in the Lindor trade. Who were the Mets competition? Why would you trade your two shortstops in one trade? What happens if Lindor asking is too high and the Mets need to sign someone else?
This was the typical signature trade all GMs seem to want to do. With the Agent from Hell it was trading Kelenic for Cano and Diaz. Lets hope we don't end up regretting this one as well.
Second mistake was to not sign Brad Hand. Sandy said that had he been in place when Hand was released he would have put a claim on him. That being the case, why couldn't Sandy just offered Hand the 10M he was set to make to get the deal done?.
Not all has been bad but the idea was to put the team together in a couple of years, not one. You needed to evaluate what you had inhouse first.
The Mets should have given a year to Gimenez to see what he could do, if he was for real. Is he the next Vizquel?. Just a bad trade. It would be equal to the Mets trading Smith before finding out if he is the real deal and if he fits the Mets better than Alonso.
After all these moves, are the Mets really better than the Braves?.
Will the Mets have the flexibility to sign Lindor, Conforto, Syndergaard, Stroman and others?.
I give him a B, for not securing one of the Big 3 FAs nor Brad Hand.
But getting used to D"" Wilppn off seasons, I'll take a B.
I'm alone in this sentiment, but I'm more upset about Rosario leaving than Gimenez. Great fielding shortstops are great to have if they do not embarrass themselves at the plate. Gimenez has that potential. As a minor leaguer he was never particularly note worthy. He started off hot and then cooled very rapidly. People weren't as critical because his defense and baserunning were stellar while Rosario was having a terrible season. However, given major league track records, Rosario is and will be a more accomplished offensive threat.
As to both leaving at once, yes, it will look very bad if Lindor isn't secured to a long term deal.
I still believe Rosario will have a better career than Gimenez. Time will tell.
I would have rather we signed Springer than trade for Lindor. That still perplexes me.
I'll be surprised if Stroman is with the team next year. I believe they are competitive with the Braves.
I only question Cohen's haste in hiring Alderson. Once the purchase was complete, being a Mets executive instantly became one of the most sought-after baseball jobs. Cohen could have at least waited, not long, just to see who would become available. I'm sure several executives were home contemplating their respective future. We have to consider the mandate handed Alderson by the Wilpons and that Cohen issued; two different expectations, therefore two different courses of action. The impact of free-agent signings that weren't are justified, while the trade market was a whirlwind. The Mets are better today than they were four months ago. Can't undo all the damage wrought by the Wilpons in 100 days, but the Mets are well on their way. Still much to do.
We did hire rising execs Porter and Scott so there was a plan in place. Got to like the first hundred days.
I do not disagree with Ray's assessment of Sandy. I have no issue with his hiring, and would probably also give him a B or B+.
As someone pointed out, I didn't think it made much sense to include both shortstops in the deal for Lindor. I am really assuming that Lindor will sign long term, but even if he doesn't, they have Mauricio waiting in the wings and could sign a guy like Semien as a one year bridge in 2022.
I personally like Gimenez better than Rosario and think he will be better longer term. I really thought they would best be served by playing Gimenez at 2nd base with Lindor.
As for Springer, if they were to do only one, I think the Lindor trade is better than signing Springer would have been. He is 4 years younger and really a better player.
Sandy's hands were tied a little too tightly by a couple issues. First the DH non-decision really crippled him. CF defense was my first priority of the off-season and he didn't upgrade it which dropped him into the B range. The other issue was the whole freeking Bauer circus. I will never know for sure, but I think it is a pretty good guess that if Bauer had ended his charade before Springer signed, Springer would now be with the Mets. I think once they knew they were out on Bauer, they would have allocated the time and money to sign their centerfielder.
Last thing, I think I'll take the other side of Ray's guess about Stroman. I am actually thinking he'll have a good year and they will sign him over Thor. I think he truly appreciates being a Met more. I can see deGrom, Stro, Walker, Carrasco, and Peterson form a pretty decent (nope, extremely solid) rotation for the next three years.
Remember 1969, add Syndergaard to that last paragraph, and it could be even more dangerous.
Yea, I just don't see them signing both of them. I think Stroman stays and Syndergaard walks.
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