Building a baseball team in the major leagues is not quite the same thing as picking out a fantasy baseball team for which you garner bragging rights or monetary prizes based upon the results. It is about picking a roster of who you want, who you must have and who should be shown the door. Also, it is not simply about one year and should be part of a forecast for a period of five years to be consistently competitive.
Towards that end, the previous regime's approach to obtain free agents in the latter stages of their career was done out of thriftiness and lack of competition for services. The Mets did bring in a few more senior folks this past year who excelled like Aaron Loup, some who had moments but otherwise were not stars like Kevin Pillar, and some under-30 options who were expected to play bench roles but wound up starting far more often than envisioned like Jonathan Villar.
Year one in the Steve Cohen regime was certainly an uneven endeavor. The contracts given to multiple free agents were interesting and certainly a different approach. The results were not what was anticipated but it did show that Cohen was open to being a bit more active in free agency. Then the trades that brought in some big name players like Francisco Lindor and Javy Baez suggested he was not averse to someone who would command a big contract if they could help the club win games.
Going into year two some lessons have been learned regarding banking on past accomplishments. Furthermore, the leadership from the coaching and managerial staff were pushed to the maximum and it appears the report cards given to all but Jeremy Hefner were the type you would hide from your parents if it was your own evaluation being graded.
Pair this problem with the front office challenges and it is increasingly difficult to envision where the club will go in 2022 and beyond. As of now there is no President of Baseball Operations (POBO), no General Manager (GM) and no on-the-field Manager.
Now, to hear some folks tell the tale, Mets fans should be thankful that for the most part Cohen has closed up the leaks that plagued the Wilpons as owners, and thus the rumored hot three of Theo Epstein, Billy Beane and David Stearns was not necessarily a be all and end all list from the Cohen braintrust, but instead the picking of the top of the list from the media. Everyone is aware that all three are pretty much off the table. Consequently others feel the Mets are left grasping at straws while others think that the list of viable candidates has simply not been revealed to people covering the team.
Some people are pushing the Mets to race out to hire an available senior Manager like Buck Showalter, Bruce Bochy or Walt Weiss. This thought process is somewhat backwards as it should be the POBO who picks the GM who, in turn, picks the field Manager. There is no guarantee that a legal obligation to a Buck Showalter, for example, would mesh well with the as-of-yet unidentified front office personnel would be a step in the right direction.
No, right now folks need to take a deep breath and realize that the postseason is not over, not everyone who might be on the radar is available for conversation, and although it seems a very short period of time until the Winter Meetings kick off on December 5th in San Diego. The fact is that Cohen built his business empire on careful analysis and strong planning. As much as everyone who roots for the Mets wants to see a magic wand waved and all relevant managerial personnel instantly on board with the team, it doesn't work that way and people need to grow...what's it called...oh yeah, patience.
It may be that the Cohen team can secure a bright front office person for whom the POBO is going to rely upon a lot of leaning on Sandy Alderson as he or she grows into the role. It could also be that some less-than-hyped candidates with much experience elsewhere have not yet been interviewed. Or it could be that he goes in the Brodie Van Wagenen route, hiring someone completely unqualified simply to prove he's not afraid to make bold decisions. Right now we don't know. The frustration is indeed palpable but like any other hiring uncertainty, it will eventually be settled and the club will start to evolve into a Cohen condition. Until then, watch some football (other than the New Jersey teams) and take joy out of that experience. The answers will come.
6 comments:
Honestly, with this front office speculation stuff, I just chill and hope for the best. I figure when they make a decision, they'll make one.
I liked Brodie's drafts a whole lot, the rest not very much. Rojas was too measured. Sometimes, fiery is better. Let's hope Uncle Steve can learn from the past and set the Mets on a right and sustainable course.
Sorry Reese but the "watch football other than NJ teams is too late as I've been committed for way to long (or should I say I should be committed) to BOTH teams. Where you aware that my Jets and Giants have the worst records combined in football since 17'. Now about Stevie I really thought when he bought the club he would act alittle more cautiously to kind of survey the landscape before jumping in as I'll never get the Lindor signing knowing as you said "Cohen built his business empire on careful analysis and strong planning" so what came over him? Lindor at the very least should be a team leader so that " dumb as a rock" thumbs down thing was on him and from everything I've seen and heard a team leader in the clubhouse he's not and he's our's for 10 more years as that money could have been used soooooo much more wisely elsewhere.
I wish the fan base would give this team needed to finally build the team correctly through draft and International picks.
We have long term solutions coming at
catcher, third, at least one OF position, and at least 2 SPs.
Don't make this team do it wrong again.
The first Cohen mistake was Sandy Alderson. That started the hiring of unvetted front office personnel and also ignoring the many red flags of Trevor Bauer, the ill advised Lindor trade for a team with few top prospects. Never mind the 341M contract for the same.
Lets face it, Alderson is a has been and hasn't build anything worth talking about in a long long time.
I wonder how long it will be before Terry Collins is managing the Mets again because they need an experienced manager.
So yes, Rome wasn't build in a day and neither should the Mets try to build a world series team in one year. It takes planning, a great minor league system which are both lacking on the Mets. If the Mets again try to fix their lack of oversight by trading top prospects, they will never get there.
I don't know what the Mets pay attention to but most if not all contending teams have young talented players that came from within the organization. The Mets normally keep them long enough to trade them before they can make an impact on the ML team. That is a major flaw as they are the ones who bring the energy to the team.
I hope the Mets give opportunities to Vientos, Batty, Mauricio and others and not sign expensive veterans who will make the team so expensive that it won't be able to add players later on if needed.
Just remember the energy on the Mets team when Wright and Reyes came up. Hell, just look at the 1986 WS team. Gooden, Straw, Mitchell, Darling, Backman. Veterans like Carter, Knight, Hernandez. That's the kind of team chemistry that the Mets need right now. Not an overloaded team full of expensive veterans who will lock the positions for many years.
Viper, lots of good stuff. Undoubtedly, Cohen is a man of high intelligence so he sees the need for change. Problem is, he isn’t finding the type of executives he prefers. I’m sure Alderson means well, but that pursuit of Bauer is just the latest example of how Alderson could never read the market well and struck out in free agency very often. Too, his theory of strikeouts are just another out sucks as does his thinking of using power pitchers to cover a bad defense rather than supplementing those pitchers with a good defense. The very best thing Alderson can do now is find someone and quietly retire.
Sandy won't retire. He is too full of himself.
Just imagine for a minute that the Mets would have signed Bauer, what do these idiots think that deGrom would have thought that Bauer, a lesser pitcher in my opinion, is making 40M?.
That would have guarantee that deGrom would be opting out and expecting the Mets to extend him at 40M also.
Sandy needs to see the situation of the moment and also what it means for the future. That doesn't happen often enough in the Mets world.
Just think about the 2B and 3B situation. If they sign Baez at 25M per year for 6 years, it would mean that 2B alone in 2022 would cost the Mets 45M when you add Cano's 20M. Yes, you can move Cano to 3B for his final year but still, is a stupid move to sign Baez because you either block Batty / Vientos at 3B or Mauricio at 2B.
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