Paul Articulates - We're in deep

The Mets have had plenty of star power in the past – names that are written in New York sports lore.  Five of them grace the upper deck with retired jerseys and others (like #5) are sure to join them.  Those players boosted memorable Mets seasons, but often were not enough to get them over the top, as our only World Series championships occurred in 1969 and 1986.  

It is very difficult for a few great players to carry a team to a World Series title because baseball plays out over a very long schedule and there are unpredictable things like injuries and slumps that can happen at the wrong time.  As you have seen in the past two seasons, a team can catch fire and surge past better teams that dominated the regular season.

Steve Cohen, Billy Eppler, and the rest of the Mets’ front office have done their absolute best this offseason to mitigate those unpredictable issues by creating the one thing that the Mets have rarely had: DEPTH.  

In 1986, one could argue the Mets had great depth.  Dykstra and Wilson in center, Backman and Teufel at second, Hojo and Knight at third, five great or very good starters, plenty of pen, and a bench with guys like Kevin Mitchell, and young guys named Dave Magadan and Kevin Elster.  Since then, it is tough to point to a Mets team with real depth at several positions.

Enter the 2023 Mets.  With recent acquisitions, this team now appears to have a deep infield, outfield, starting pitching, and bullpen.  Let’s take a closer look.

Infield: The signing of Carlos Correa really put this infield over the top by bringing all-star talent to the 3B position.  Francisco Lindor had a great 2022 season and showed leadership as well as solid performance with both the bat and the glove.  Jeff McNeil won a batting title while becoming a trusted double play combination with Lindor.  Pete Alonso hasn’t won his gold glove yet at first base yet, but no one can argue with last year’s offensive performance as he smashed the Mets’ RBI record.  What is almost as impressive as the starting infield is the quality of the utility infielders.  

As Mack will attest, Luis Guillorme could be a starter on most teams – his glove may be the best of the bunch and his bat came around last year with a .273 batting average and a .351 OBP.  Eduardo Escobar now becomes a second utility player, and he has already shown the ability to handle the SS, 3B, and 2B positions.

Outfield: The re-signing of Brandon Nimmo was important for the team.  Nimmo was coming off a great season where he continued to improve offensively and defensively.  Starling Marte and Mark Canha had solid seasons in their first year with the team and one could only expect more of the same.  Jeff McNeil showed that he can play a very capable outfield in either corner position.  With the aforementioned infield depth, he could see more time in the outfield this season to spell the starters while his 2B position is filled by our exceptional utility players.

Pitching: With starters like Scherzer, Verlander, Senga, Quintana, and Carrasco plus Tylor Megill and David Peterson behind them, the Mets will put a top arm on the mound every day.  Seven deep at starter is a great way to start the season with all of the injuries we see on pitching staffs.  Even if a couple go down, Joey Luchessi and Jose Butto are next in line.  

Meanwhile, the bullpen has added some very good arms like lefty Brooks Raley, righty David Robertson, and young pitcher Elieser Hernandez to go with returning relievers Drew Smith and Adam Ottavino.  Having Edwin Diaz as closer is a lock-down finish that few teams can boast.

Catcher: The Mets currently hold three catchers on their roster capable of starting in the major leagues.  It was four yesterday before they traded James McCann to the Orioles.  

Tomas Nido won a gold glove last year as the replacement for an oft-injured McCann and his defensive performance was no fluke.  Nido struggled at the plate as well, which had many Mets fans calling for the debut of top prospect Francisco Alvarez.  

Alvarez finally made it, but only saw a few at-bats in the stretch run and playoffs.  He will compete for a job this spring.  The Mets surprised many by signing 2021 all-star catcher Omar Navarez, who last played in Milwaukee.  

There will be a battle for starter with Navarez the favorite.  Meanwhile touted prospect Kevin Parada begins his first full year in the Mets’ minor league system where he is expected to flourish.  I can’t really spin the catcher position into a great depth story yet, but we certainly have many capable defenders who can handle a pitching staff and limit the run game.

The depth described so far becomes an important advantage for the team in many ways.  First of all, as stated earlier they have some resiliency when injury occurs.  Second, there will be fierce competition for positions which sharpens the skills of everyone.  Another advantage is that the prospects in the minor leagues get a little more maturation time and can work in slowly in substitute roles once they are called up – instead of being thrown into a role where they have to produce under pressure that can lead to confidence issues if they fail.  Finally, there are a lot of valuable pieces that can be put into play at the mid-season trade deadline if there is a critical need to ensure a deep playoff run.  Yes, depth is a wonderful thing and I believe that the Mets have created a very deep team for their 2023 season.  What do you think?