Reese Kaplan -- How to Improve the Roster Mid-Season

Back in 2015 the Mets were in a very similar state to where they are right now, offering up a team batting average of just .233 to help them try to win ballgames.  In 2021 things have not moved much with the team batting average standing at an even worse .231.  Back in the last World Series year the Mets knew they needed to do something to fortify the lackluster roster and the first move they made was in the right direction but not nearly far enough.

GM Sandy Alderson offered up a couple of minor league pitching prospects named John Gant and Rob Whalen to the Atlanta Braves who, in turn, sacrificed their reserve players Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson.  While neither of the two were destined for All Star level performances then or in their pasts, the fact is they were still markedly better than the excuses the Mets were using while they attempted to play competitive ball.  

Back in 2004 Uribe had delivered to the Chicago White Sox a season with 23 HRs, 74 RBIs and a .283 average.  It took quite awhile, but in 2010 for the San Francisco Giants he elevated both the run production numbers to 24 HRs and 85 RBIs, though the batting average took a nosedive to .248.  For the Mets he was already out of shape at 36 years of age and after his acquisition in 2015 he seemed to come up with some big hits but at just a .219 average.  He did log 6 HRs and 20 RBIs in 128 ABs.  If he’d had a full season worth of production he’d have been on the road to exceed his San Francisco Giants numbers.  

Now Kelly Johnson was slightly better with making contact.  He hit .250 while delivering 5 HRs and 13 RBIs in the same number of at-bats as his former Braves teammate Uribe enjoyed.  Apparently the Mets liked what they saw of him because a year later they reacquired him from the Braves, this time for minor league hurler Akeel Morris and some money.  This time around the batting average rose to .268 and he delivered 9 HRs with 24 RBIs in a few more ABs.  

None of the pitchers sacrificed in these two deals amounted to much for the Braves.  Gant went 1-4 during his single season in Atlanta along with a 4.86 ERA, a very high WHIP and mediocre control.  He gave up more hits than innings pitched.  He fumbled around the Cardinals for the next five years as both a starter and reliever, pitching somewhat better but never entering the upper echelons of the game. 

Whalen appeared in just 8 games over the three years he spent in the majors with the Braves and the Mariners while delivering a losing record and a 5.75 ERA.  He hasn’t been in the majors since 2018. 

Akeel Morris had at times put up some gaudy numbers in the Mets minor league system, but it was not to be.  An 8-game trial at the tail end of 2017 resulted in a very promising 1.23 ERA, but he was gone to the Angels the next year, pitching to 5.79.  He hasn’t been back to the majors since either.  

None of these players nor deals were the big name transactions that made a definite positive impact.  A few decades earlier in June of 1983 the Mets picked up Keith Hernandez for a relief pitcher with a drinking problem and a suspect minor leaguer.  Going back even further they gave up a solid pitching prospect in Steve Renko for Donn Clendenon who helped solidify the team’s miracle ascension to World Series champion in 1969.  Renko won 134 big league games over a 15 year career from 1969 through 1983.  Clendenon was already 33 years old when he came to the Mets, but delivered well for them in 1969 and excelled in 1970 when he hit 22 HRs and drove in 97 while hitting .288.  Sometimes you have to give to get.  

That brings us back to 2015 when the Mets were once again persuaded in their second proposed deal to hold onto Wilmer Flores but give up pitching prospect Michael Fulmer for heavy hitting and chain smoking outfielder Yoenis Cespedes.  The man didn’t take long to turn it on offensively for the Mets, finishing the season hitting .287 while hitting 17 HRs and driving in 44 in just 230 ABs in New York.  He single handedly carried the team into their improbable World Series against Kansas City and demonstrated what an impact player could do to a team’s chances.  Now the Mets did add some very credible bullpen arms as well which contributed significantly, but it was Yo who made them go.  

Of course, Fulmer was a real find for the Detroit Tigers.  In 2016 he started 26 games for the Central Division Tigers, going 11-7 with a tidy 3.06 ERA and a very nice WHIP of just 1.119.  That performance was good enough for him to get the AL Rookie of the Year award that season.  Unfortunately, health and competence have been hard for him to embrace ever since and his career ERA ballooned up to 4.09 after that fine start.  He holds a career record of just 28-37, though he’s demonstrated good control while giving up too many hits.  

As the Mets ponder how to improve their roster in 2021 there is a lot of noise being made about the addition of former MVP Kris Bryant who comes with a National League MVP award on his shelf and is sporting a very nice .271 average along with 16 HRs and 46 RBIs.  Those are Pete Alonso numbers but you have to wonder how much you’d want to give up for him given he’s due to become a free agent at year’s end.

Now the Mets took a very different approach back when they acquired pitcher Marcus Stroman in 2019.  He was a very solid if not All Star caliber pitcher who would help shore up a starting rotation that was having health and effectiveness problems.  What made him attractive (besides his Long Island heritage) was the fact he was under contract for more than just the 2019 season.  That type of player is a longer term solution than the quick 2-month rental variety.  

To obtain Stroman the Mets had to give up two of their more standout pitching prospects in Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson.  Thus far southpaw Kay has appeared in 10 major league games, going 1-2 with a 4.45 ERA.  He’s started 5 games and relieved in 5 more.  Woods-Richardson is a high strikeout pitcher with good control, but over his three minor league seasons he has a 9-13 record with a 3.99 ERA.  Both are grades of incomplete as of now, but Stroman has been a good find for the Mets whether he remains here next season or not.  

This year the Mets have been connected to the Pirates’ Adam Frazier.  In some ways he’s a clone of who fans here have come to expect from Jeff McNeil.  Frazier is a career .286 hitter and this season has been approaching the top of the pack with a .324 average.  He has no power and doesn’t drive in many runs, but that kind of contact is good to have when he could be on base for the sluggers in the lineup who would follow.  He’s good for more than 2021 as well, hence his price tag might be a bit higher than what people are willing to give.  

So that quick stroll down transactional memory lane brings back the mid-season trade question of whether it’s better to go for the big bopper, the stud pitcher, a second tier player who will be here longer than the remainder of this season, or do you simply fill the squad with people in the twilight of their careers like Uribe and Johnson?  I’m thinking a stud player who can last longer than one season would be the first choice, followed very closely by the second tier player who will be there in 2022 or longer.  If it means giving up some quality minor leaguers to do so, then make it happen.