Reese Kaplan -- OK, The Mets Have a Manager. Now What?

Now that the Mets have hired the veteran and readily available Buck Showalter to lead their team ostensibly for the next three years, this whole interview process with alternative candidates proved to be as pointless as everyone assumed it would be.  Everyone knew from the beginning that the job was Showalter's to have as long as he wanted it.  The only thing that needed to be done was ironing out length and salary.  

Perhaps the alternative candidates were visited as Plan B options should Steve Cohen and Buck Showalter not agree upon contractual terms.

The big question now is one that I raised a few weeks ago regarding coaches.  Everyone will be putting in their "best" advice on who would make sense for the Mets to hire.  If this process continues as it usually does, then Showalter will get the first round interviews with perhaps the final endorsement coming from a second interview with the front office after he's narrowed down his selections.  

What will be interesting to see is if he chooses coaches he's used in the past, coaches with experience from other teams, or new blood that deserves a chance.  

The role of a bench coach is probably a little different for the Mets than it would be for other teams.  If you have a rookie type manager without a lot of time with the lineup pencil in his hand, then having a veteran bench coach to lean on makes a lot of sense.  However, when your new manager has 20 years of MLB experience at the helm, then the bench coach may be the one who is a bit more green since he already knows what to do on a day-to-day basis.  

Towards that end the rumors have already started that Carlos Beltran may be brought back in a bench coach capacity because Steve Cohen admires him and it would give him some groundwork training from Buck to take over the managerial role when Showalter's contract ends.  

The corresponding content over the next lockout interval of time is how the Mets finish shaping their Opening Day roster.  They have made some significant additions already with Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha.  

The first two are rock solid improvements to the team.  Switch-hitter Esocobar is kind of the Jonathan Villar replacement and could be the starter at either 2nd or 3rd.  Canha is the one that has some folks scratching their heads a bit as he's not exactly been an All Star shoo-in during his Oakland career.  He's hit over 20 HRs just once and holds a career batting average of just .244.  The one thing that stands out in a Brandon Nimmo way is that he's achieve a very high on base percentage.

Right now the spoils of a top notch manager, arguably one of the top two or three pitchers in the game and the formidable new centerfielder have many fans enjoying grandiose fantasies that the latter two newcomers are high level bench options but not necessarily starters.  That thought process also includes Robinson Cano playing regularly at 2nd base and a newcomer such as Kris Bryant brought on board to play 3rd.  

The trio of players on thin ice therefore are Jeff McNeil who didn't get along with the $341 million man last year, Dom Smith whose first base position is blocked by Pete Alonso, and J.D. Davis, whose bat plays but glove doesn't.  Everyone expects at least two of them to be parlayed into other options such as middle relievers or back end starting pitching.  Folks think that as long as Steve Cohen is looking to win now then it doesn't matter how high his payroll goes in that effort.  

Of course, the conspicuous option that would fit quite well on the Mets right now would be Japanese slugger Seiya Suzuki.  He offers up a high batting average, baserunning speed and solid defense.  At age 26 he already has multiple seasons hitting from 28 to 38 HRs, has stolen as many as 25 bases in a season and holds a lifetime batting average of .309.  He had one season in which he struck out 116 times, but he's gotten that under control lately with his most recent year featuring 88 walks and 89 strikeouts.  

Getting him would require a payment to his current team plus the long term contract (which would likely be far less than, for example, Michael Conforto would be earning from his new employer).  Progress can't be made towards Suzuki until the lockout ends.

Others are advocating the Mets get another very high level starting pitcher to supplement the rotation.  Right now you have Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer as a loaded 1-2 punch.  However, it gets weaker after that with first-half wonder Taijuan Walker, awful Carlos Carrasco and then a panoply of fifth starter options including Trevor Williams, David Peterson, Tylor Megill and others.  Getting a third stud pitcher would fortify the likelihood of the Mets winning games regardless of their offense.  There are still good free agents out there and other pitchers are possible in trades.  

No one has said much about the bullpen yet, but with Aaron Loup joining former teammate Noah Syndergaard in that other Los Angeles franchise, it's pretty empty in the bullpen.  Jeurys Familia is gone and others are simply not that good.  Here the blueprint for many is the same as it is for starting pitching -- go after a huge name to take over the lefty Loup innings.  Again, free agents and trades exist but also not until after the lockout ends.  

For Mets fans, they're anxious now for baseball to get started once again.  They want to see what an experienced manager with three Manager of the Year trophies can bring.  They want to see what the new player additions can do to contribute to victories.  However, the biggest question is who will and who will not be on the roster when Spring Training ends.  For that to get resolved, the owners and the Player's Union need to sit down at the table and negotiate a new CBA as soon as possible.