Reese Kaplan -- A Flurry of Personnel Moves, Hopefully for the Better

With the return of Seth Lugo, Kevin Pillar and Pete Alonso, the Mets are starting to feel a bit more like the team most of us envisioned during the pre-season.  While everyone is probably grateful to the less-than-stellar cast Luis Rojas has had to use during the 17+ people taking occupancy on the IL, the fact is that the slim lead in the NL East wasn’t going to last when you are relying heavily on folks who were castoffs from lesser teams.  

Along with the reunions, the Mets also brought up Mason Williams after his hot start in Syracuse to bring his brand of classical gas to Citifield.  While he may or may not be a contributor to the winning ways, the fact is that he is not likely to be much worse than the less-than-dynamic-duo, Khalil Lee and Cameron Maybin, who were cast aside to create space for the changes made yesterday.  Throw in the new acquisition on Seattle waivers today -- Travis Blankenhorn -- and the once and future Mets, Wilfredo Tovar, was reintroduced to waivers.  

There are still an awful lot of returning players who will dramatically uplift the team.  Imagine the Mets with Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, J.D. Davis, Brandon Nimmo, Carlos Carrasco, Noah Syndergaard, Luis Guillorme and others in place of some of the well-meaning but hardly impressive substitutes.  Even guys like Dellin Betances and Albert Almora might surpass some of the many stopgap players brought in to fill the bench (and often the starting lineup).  

I could go player-by-player and delineate the pros and cons of what they have done for the Mets in 2021, what they did in previous years or for other teams, but we don’t have time nor desire to rehash everything.  The question now is what they intend to do with the others on the current roster as more and more higher-regarded players become available.

When Monday’s flurry of personnel moves took place, some were a bit on the surprising side.  Sean Reid-Foley was told to report to Syracuse while sporting an ERA of 1.98, a WHIP of just 1.10 and a 5-1 strikeout to walk ratio.  Apparently “what have you done for me lately” wasn’t part of the Key Performance Indicators used to make these decisions.  

Almost as surprising was the Mets’ decision to cut ties with Sam McWilliams.  He was highly sought in the off-season based upon advanced metrics despite some lackluster minor league performance stats, yet he didn’t turn the corner in the early part of 2021 to demonstrate that he’d mastered anything that translated into solid output.  He was given a major league 40 man roster spot, so that change probably had more to do with the necessity of opening space for others who were coming off the 60-day IL and it may mean the club has seen the last of McWilliams who has the right to declare free agency.  

Patrick Mazeika’s departure from the major league roster was not wholly unexpected as I surmised on Monday.  He was a third string catcher on a team that really didn’t need one as soon as Pete Alonso reestablished his usual place at first base.  Catching would be handled by some combination of James McCann and Tomas Nido.  Mazeika had his one moment of glory with the bat, but .214 hitters are not considered major assets to the pennant race.

One would think that pitchers Robert Gsellman and Jacob Barnes are the ones on thin ice when the next reliever proves ready to attack major league hitters.  Some would have volunteered Joey Lucchesi as a potential departing arm until he finally put together one good start.  A lot of that depends on whether they plan to use Seth Lugo as a struggling starter or a successful reliever.  

Jose Peraza, Travis Blankenhorn, Billy McKinney and other substitute players are also ones who may not want to take out any long term rentals.  The Mets need to decide what to do when infielders and outfielders come back from the IL.  They could do with Almora what they did with veteran Maybin, but that move would cost them more money and in the past it would have been highly unlikely.  Of course, there is a new owner now who perhaps cares more about winning than penny pinching the payroll.  

Some are advocating the Mets go out and make a real trade to obtain pending free agents like Kris Bryant, but right now it’s probably premature to make those kinds of moves unless serious complications with recovery emerge among the many still unable to play.  Of course, the bigger advantage for the Mets would be some heating up from underperforming veterans like Dom Smith and Francisco Lindor, but when you’re in first place it’s difficult to be too critical.