Reese Kaplan -- Growing From Within -- What a Concept!

The New York Mets have not lately been a team built on working with their own homegrown resources.  Whether the front office was run by Sandy Alderson or Brodie Van Wagenen, it seemed that the club regarded its minor league prospects as trade chips rather than as future major leaguers.  While there is certainly value to that approach, the opposite perspective of building from within is equally valid.  

Look at clubs like the Yankees in their heyday, the Cardinals, the Braves and some economically constrained clubs like Tampa and Seattle who find themselves having to go as far as possible with low cost players in order to succeed.

When the trade deadline approached the Mets fans and media expected more of the same, watching highly regarded youngsters peddled away for fringe major leaguers who would help for just the balance of the season a'la the Javy Baez methodology.  

Now to be fair, Baez was not welcomed back here and has struggled mightily for his losing but well-heeled Detroit employer while the minor league fodder sacrificed for a few months of truly top notch production made by Mr. Thumbs Down have not yet come back to haunt his former employer in Queens.  That result suggests that the prospects either were not quite ready or not nearly as good as they were purported to be.

Despite the hue and cry by newspapers, bloggers and fans for the Mets to go big or go home, new GM Billy Eppler did not follow the same path as his predecessors, instead looking to tweak the roster here and there while not giving up the farm to do so.  That point is abundantly clear when both Luis Guillorme and Eduardo Escobar went down with injuries simultaneously.  

Instead of making due with an over-30 AAAA player trying to fill the starting holes created by IL stints of the regulars, the Mets tapped number 2 prospect Brett Baty to get his start in the major leagues.

Some folks were incredulous that the Mets have been so reluctant to promote their top minor leaguers while others were doing cartwheels when they finally did.  No one was rooting for the injury barrage making the promotions necessary, but what happened was beyond anyone's control and it was good to get a brief look at a man who should be a piece of the team in the near future with Baty's arrival.  

The fact that his first major league at-bat resulted in a home run which helped the Mets take their first game of this Braves series is all the more a storybook as if created by baseball-oriented fairy tale writers.  

Many are quick to point out the necessary jolt Michael Conforto made on the big club when out of injury necessity he was rocketed from AA to the majors back in the championship season of 2015.  Of course, here we are seven years later and Conforto couldn't secure himself a new job.  That result was due more to injury and salary requirements than his down year performance in 2021.  

I bring up the Conforto reminder because not every prospect advancing to the major leagues is going to flourish consistently year after year.  Conforto was an All Star back in 2017 and in 2019 showed great promise by slugging 33 HRs and driving in 92 runs.  Unfortunately he has not done nearly as well since then with slumps and injuries derailing progress.  It is now somewhat understandable why his then employer didn't make Herculean efforts to keep him around.  

As the Mets move forward towards the close of the 2022 regular season schedule it is assumed that Baty's presence is both out of necessity and an audition for his future in the major leagues.  The Mets have other infielders in their system like Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio who also seem capable of hitting the ball, so it's still possible that even a stellar August and September by Baty might simply solidify his option to be a big name trade chip.  

Of course, it also could spell the end for Eduardo Escobar who has had some great moments (including hitting for the cycle) but has been horrific overall for the 2022 season.  The Mets are on the hook for his $9.5 million salary for 2023 and either a $9 million salary or $500K buyout for 2024.  By Cohen standards that's not major money, but it's not pocket change either.  

For now, it's good to see a guy who swings the bat getting a chance to play regularly.  Sometimes it works out (Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo being two good examples).  Sometimes it doesn't (Dom Smith and a multitude of others failing to do so).  

You have to remember that championship clubs are not all veterans nor all rookies.  They are a mix of the two.  The Mets have tended to eschew rookie growth potential for veteran competency of varying degrees.  It's nice to see that trend starting to change as the fans would love to see their own homegrown players get a chance to be an integral part of their favorite ballclub.