Reese Kaplan -- Sitting on Your Hands Won't Build a Winning Team

Suppose I offered up a utility ballplayer capable of playing multiple positions in the infield and outfield who in 2021 hit .274 with 4 HRs and drove in 14 runs in just 84 ABs?  That would seem like a decent level of productivity for someone who could substitute for the many injured and anemic hitters that were getting regular time in games, no?  Hell, he even took the mound for 2/3 of an inning and finished with a perfect 0.00 ERA.   

Apparently the Mets thought so little of Mr. Reliability that he walked away as a free agent.  Now the fact that Brandon Drury will not be a part of the 2022 Mets isn't going to make or break the club, it still seems to me that you should show that you value the players who help you during their time in games and show less affection for the ones who do not.  

Going forward the Mets do indeed need to make credible additions to their starting roster, but as outlined just yesterday, the bench players they embraced during 2021 helped contribute to their demise from the upper level in the division.  It would seem that the capable bench types should be embraced and not merely discarded.  

Granted, the Mets did not make the free agency decision about Drury.  He figured he had a decent 2021 season and would likely be treated more like a major league player by another franchise, so he went off to sell his services to the highest bidder.  It would appear that the Mets are focusing way too much on the front office personnel, departing major league free agents, manager and reclamation of respect than they are about ALL of the pieces necessary to build a winning ballclub.  

Now, as a point of comparison, broken-nosed Kevin Pillar was signed to a two-year contract and proved credible if not outstanding during this past year.  He hit only .231 with an impressive 15 HRs but fell below Drury in OBP, SLG, OPS and OPS+.  

Now Pillar was paid a respectable if not outstanding $3.6 million in 2021 and his contract has two-way options for 2022.  If the Mets keep him, his salary nearly doubles to $6.4 million.  The player can opt in at $2.9 million or the Mets can opt out at $1.4 million.  It would seem to me that the wiser move here would be to let Pillar walk and pay the $1.4 million, but these are the Mets and logic is often cloaked under several layers of player name familiarity.  

Of course, standing in Pillar's favor is the fact he is a natural outfielder.  Now-gone Drury has played 126 games in his entire career out there, but Pillar has done more than that in a single season.  The Mets are most definitely in a quandary when it comes to outfielders for 2022 with Michael Conforto allegedly already out the door, Dom Smith being peddled off a poor season, J.D. Davis rumored to be cut loose due to injury and an inability to play the outfield well, and Albert Almora, Jr. already gone.  That pretty much leaves an outfield of Brandon Nimmo and the Mets most definitely need to fortify this part of their roster.  

There are a myriad of other needs as the Mets try to reengineer the lineup for 2022.  No one is sure about the 2B and 3B positions.  They are contractually obligated to James McCann for three more years but received less productivity than was hoped given the $10 million per season he's being paid.  

The starting rotation right now consists of a recovering Jacob deGrom, a horrific secod half by Taijuan Walker, an uncertain expectation for Tylor Megill and an embarrassment by Carlos Carrasco.  Everyone is assuming they will make strong efforts to retain free agents Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard but nothing is carved in stone.  

Free agent Rich Hill may not be headed to an All Star game, but a 5-inning pitcher with a sub-4.00 ERA is not a bad fill-in choice should none of these other uncertainties evolve poorly.  

Then there's the bullpen led off by potentially departing free agents Aaron Loup and Jeurys Familia.  While no one will shed tears if Familia and his salary depart, Loup is very much at the top of most folks' lists of who the Mets should try hardest to retain.  

Beyond these two variables, you have the usual run of Edwin Diaz, Seth Lugo, Drew Smith and various other bodies.  It looks pretty weak without Loup.  Even with Loup this bullpen likely won't strike fear into opponents' hearts.  

The Mets have been quite vocal about solving the front office and manager issues in the sequence of POBO, GM and field manager.  That approach sounds right on paper and will be applauded if they can actually make it happen.  However, right now they have none of the above and the first eyebrow-raising free agent departure suggests that players on the roster are a distant fourth in their priorities.  

Fourth might be appropriate because the club likely won't finish any higher than that unless they realize you cannot design and build a club on a whiteboard.  You actually have to have all channels open and working at the same time, not the way you've scripted it to transpire.