Every week (and seemingly every day) we Mets fans are forced to revisit the personnel situation in the front office and the corresponding baseball meetings at which team executives are needed.
Starting Monday the GM meetings take place and unfortunately despite all the new names being bandied about regarding who could or might be interested in becoming a part of the Mets, the fact is that no hires have yet been made.
There was news this week going to other way when the thin outfield roster was made to look positively anorexic when they announced Thursday that Kevin Pillar and the Mets have mutually decided to part ways. Now this move won't keep me up nights but the fact is that with Michael Conforto likely headed out the door and Albert Almora Jr. already gone, the club is a bit needy in terms of who patrols the grassy patch between the left and right field lines.
To look at the roster today you have Dominic Smith regarded as an outfielder with Pete Alonso still at 1st base, Jeff McNeil likely regarded as an outfielder with the debate about bringing Javy Baez back to play second base, and the oft-injured Brandon Nimmo in center field. I suppose you could call J.D. Davis an outfielder as well given that no-vacancy at first base and the unresolved question of who plays third. That combination of players doesn't right now set anyone's heart aflutter though both McNeil and Smith have definitely produced offensively in the past. Davis had a surprisingly good year given his injury, but after surgery we don't know how his power will be.
With the news that Nick Castellanos was separating from his temporary home in Cincinnati, everyone was immediately clamoring for the Mets to make a long term offer to bring this still under-30 slugger to Queens. The problem is that defensively he is worse than Smith was when he first attempted the outfield and he only got pushed out there when his third base efforts were deemed unprofessional.
Frankly, the Starling Marte free agency should be much more appealing to the Mets. He adds dimensions of both defense and speed while providing decent power. He's hit as many as 23 HRs in a season while leading the league in stolen bases and holding a career .289 batting average. At age 33 he likely wouldn't require more than a 3-4 year deal and it won't be in the over-$20 million per season range like Castellanos. Now if this kind of speed, defense and power came to the Mets to join on-base machine Brandon Nimmo and one other outfielder, that mix might actually work.
The problem with all of these scenarios is the fact that Sandy Alderson essentially is the entire front office right now. He'll be the one representing the Mets at the GM meetings and from what we've seen, he's not exactly anyone's favorite phone call to receive. Consequently, the GM meetings could start and finish without anything definitive being done to lay the groundwork for improving the 2022 roster.
Hopefully one of the rumored candidates for the GM role or the POBO role will emerge as legitimate over the next week or two. With the CBA set to expire, it's hard to conceive of Sandy Alderson giving that issue the attention it deserves while simultaneously conducting interviews for the two office openings and then the on-the-field manager and coaching vacancies. It is going to be an uneasy week in Carlsbad, California without the full mix of personnel at least identified let alone on the job.
8 comments:
Pillar was one of the chief Citifield sufferers.
He hit quite well, actually, on the road, but abysmally at home. Is on record saying it is a tough place to hit. Fences in, he’d have had a different season. If I were him, I would not rush to come back, but I bet he’d rush back if offered $$ halfway between the option amount each party rejected, say $4 million, and if the fences were brought in. My familiar refrain.
Khalil Lee will be here with his speed, glove, and clearly improved but still questionable bat until proven otherwise. I think Davis could be a cheaper Castellanos until a truly cheap Castellanos, Mark Vientos, is ready. He’ll be ready soon, but could be at 3B.
McNeil? Keep him in left field, far away from the smiling, green-haired neck-choker, and Jeff will re-discover .300.
All that said, I would definitely consider Marte until Alex Ramirez is fully ready in 2024, at age 21.
We needed outfielders at the trade deadline and we got another middle infielder. We need outfielders now and they are talking about getting Baez back and maybe adding Correa to play 3rd. Makes perfect sense.
Did y’all see Chili Davis’ comments in the NY Post? To me, kind of what everyone feels about Alderson: Just a too stiff and completely rigid fool as a GM. He has that Jerry Jones “I know best” kind of approach to the whole organization but instead we see minor leaguers without proper preparation, major leaguers with confused approaches, and a Front Office that cannot assess what the team really needs.
I don’t enjoy this kind of dumping on someone, but I’ve always found Alderson to be inflexible in his approach and just downright off key many times.
Alderson kind of reminds me of Cashen a bit where the game just passed him by after building the 80's wild bunch he wasn't able to adjust to the "new game". I was so hoping Stevie would change things beause we really need to shed that "same old Mets" label.
Like Terry Collins before him, sometimes a seasoned veteran in a management capacity has not adapted to the way in which the game has changed. I think they will keep Sandy Alderson on board to help the eventual new hires transition to their roles and then he'll slowly be pushed out the door into retirement.
Tom you really have high hopes for Ramirez kind of like Soto or Acuna so is it hope or reality?
Anderson turns 74 this month. Maybe he can run for President or House Majority Leader to bring some needed youth to those two jobs. He’s got the needed executive experience. Kidding aside, there is a chance this won’t all be fixed to our liking this off season.
Gary, 18 year old Alex R after a slow brief start hit about .270 in St Lucie. In the past, name an 18 year old who played in Low A. I can't think of one. And he did well there. Which, to me, means he is a soon-coming star. Fast, agile, good size, will have big power. And unlike a few ranked Mets prospects with huge holes in their bats, he excelled. Seems to me no reason he won't be ready by mid-2023.
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