Pages

7/18/22

Reese Kaplan -- 2022 is a Nice Start But What's Next?


What will the 2023 Mets look like?  That question is dancing around a lot of folks' heads as they watch this team splurge far ahead, then look totally lost, then seemingly find their way again like the first place team they are.  

Some advocate a major overhaul which is somewhat surprising given their standing atop the division for nearly the whole year.  Others simply want to purge the roster of ineffective players.  Still others want a hybrid of the two.

While it's easy to start with the George Steinbrenner "buy everyone" approach of doing things, the fact is that it's a much more expensive approach than ever before.  Word came down, for example, that Juan Soto of the Nationals just turned down a $440 million contract which would have paid him for the next 15 years.  That number is north of what Mike Trout earns for a guy who is quite good, very young and likely a solid member of whatever team can claim him as one of their own, but in reality he's not yet at that level.  

His best season was 32 HRs and 110 RBIs, numbers any team would be tickled to have coming from one of their own.  This year he's only hitting .250 and his 19 HR/42 RBI accumulation are quite nice but not quite at that previous level.  Still, for a 23 year old to think he's worth more than $29.3 million per season for the next 15 years is partially arrogance and partially greed. Mostly it's just a matter of trying to get on a better team.  


The point here is that the very best is like shopping for a car.  There's Kia, there's Cadillac, there's Lexus, there's Rolls Royce, there's Koenigsegg, there's Bugatti and there's Lamborghini.  The problem is people want to pay for a Kia and have it perform like a Lamborghini.  Many feel that Steve Cohen's money is not their money so they should have an entire garage full of Lamborghinis. 

The mid level approach is theoretically how long term successful franchises like the Tampa Bay Rays and the Houston Astros operated.  They would do whatever was possible to promote and enhance their internal prospects to become core pieces of their major league baseball march towards the postseason.  

How many young ballplayers came up through these franchises that were integral to their success?  Where these approaches differ is in the depth of the pockets of the respective franchises.  

One could afford to keep whomever became a star and the other would try to trade away folks still in their prime because the accountants simply wouldn't fathom throwing big money at them when there were replacements down on the farm who would give another six years of bargain priced roster occupancy.

Neither of these approaches is 100% right nor are they a sure fire guarantee to success.  Remember when the Mets thought guys like Fernando Martinez and Thomas Szapucki were sure-fire long term All Stars, only to find out that the combination of health and ability can interfere dramatically with projections.


So given Steve Cohen's deep pockets and the franchise's heretofore lackluster history of promoting from within unless forced to do so, it would seem that the Mets need to watch the Lamborghini market but not at the expense of the next big thing down in Syracuse or Binghamton.  

How you balance the Francisco Lindor type of contract with opening up the opportunities for Ronny Mauricio, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez takes the high wire skills of the Wallendas.  No one knows if Billy Eppler is up to that kind of challenge, but after a highly successful start to the 2022 season we'll soon find out.  

Grabbing a Starling Marte was a pretty obvious move that helped immensely and immediately, but no one foresaw the same type of benefit from lesser known players having a daily positive impact.  

7 comments:

  1. Wait, who says Szapucki isn’t an ace?

    Last 6 starts, 42 Ks in 29 innings, and 88 in 59 innings this year. Walks down recently. If this was a wak team, he’d probably be need right now at MLB level.

    Soto is younger than Pete was when he debuted. He already has 118s and .293/.427/.541. If 2020 wasn’t shortened, he might have 150 HRsalready. Feared arm in the outfield. Seems to be in Mays/Aaron/Bonds category. If I had 2 Pete Alonso’s, I’d trade both to get Soto. If the Mets do get Soto, I doubt they’d keep Jake.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Baty has heated up. Apparently they wanted him to tap into more of his power. Since June 1, the results have been a clear success. He is in acceleration mode. He could be ready to be opening day 3B in 2023 - for the Mets…or Washington.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Back to Soto…his power numbers are somewhat suppressed by his walking almost one a game after 2019, and in 2019, at age 20, he was walked 108 times. Totally feared.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is a great, thought provoking post.
    My thoughts, so provoked:

    The Steve Cohen Mets wanted to build a winning franchise. That means more than just win now. It means building a reliable pipeline so there is always a "next man up". If you drain the top prospects for a generational player like Soto, you create multiple problems. You create vast holes in the pipeline, you create an unsustainable team salary structure, and you create huge expectations for upcoming free agents. The only way to solve that mess is to trade away your other expensive players, which creates a losing MLB team like the one Soto does not want to re-join for the next 15 years. He cannot carry that team by himself. Harper couldn't, Rendon couldn't, and even the mighty Trout cannot pull his team above .500.

    So my approach is let someone else take on the burden of a 15-year $450M contract. Let Alvarez make it to the majors to plug a real hole in our MLB team. Spend a few bucks on a DH that can hit .300. Invest some money in a constantly improving player like Nimmo with an extension. And save for Jake!

    ReplyDelete
  5. How do the Dodgers do it by trading prospects for Betts, then turning around and trading more for Schertzer and Turner, and continue to rack up 100 win seasons?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Paul I agree lets build a team that can win year in and year out which means build from the ground up and this draft will hopefully be a big piece to the process. By the way Trout AND Otani can't get it done with the Angels and the odds of at least one of our top prospects giving us a 30 HR 100 RBI season with solid defense at a fraction of the cost is very possible and we haven't stripped ourselves bare. Right now we need Jake back and a BP piece or 2 and a DH and I'm sure Eppy and Co. are working on it as I speak.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just remember Soto is not yet 24 and despite the shortened 2020, he already has 452 career walks. Just extraordinary. Alfonso is 8th all time as a Met with 458.

    On the other hand, I saw the Nets go for superstars and it did not work out.

    ReplyDelete