Paul Articulates – When do you bring up the big prospects?

Last year was an interesting year for Mets fans.  We enjoyed 101 wins, never suffered a long losing streak, and seemed to be destined for a long playoff run.  The wheels came off late, and the mad scramble to fill some holes that had been there all year was unsuccessful.  In retrospect, the call-ups of Brett Baty, Francisco Alvarez, and Mark Vientos were too late.  Why did this happen and how would it have been handled better?

First, the team’s success got in its own way.  We all knew that there was a DH problem, as the acquisitions of Darrin Ruf and Tyler Naquin failed to provide a reliable right-handed DH against lefties.  Daniel Vogelbach got some big hits from the other side and did a nice job working pitch counts, but he faded late as well.  The lack of hitting from the DH spot and the 3B position most of the season was overshadowed by the team’s ability to generate runs from the rest of the lineup and the pitching staff’s ability to hold down opposing teams.

With the team winning consistently with the lineup they had, it was easy to let the top prospects continue their development in the minors where there is less pressure to perform, less distractions off the field, and less formidable pitching to ruin a batter’s confidence.  So the development continued deep into the summer and into the fall.  When the call finally came for Baty, then Vientos, then Alvarez, they were thrust into a situation where there was no time to observe.  They had to suit up, take the field, and perform.  The race with the Braves had gotten very tight and now we HAD to win.  None of the three excelled, and the season ended before it should have.

This was a very unfamiliar situation for the Mets.  They have rarely had teams that were so successful that they could hold their prospects for further development.  They have rarely had teams that were in a heated division race that created performance pressure on young players.  Yet here they were, and the calls came too late, and the three prospects had their first taste of failure at the MLB level.

In fairness, I should note that Brett Baty was called up in mid-August and had some initial success with that bomb he hit for his first MLB hit.  Injury kept him out during the heat of the divisional race.  But with the other two, it certainly would have been better to get them some low pressure at-bats earlier, and to immerse them in the learning environment that the Mets had created with this team.

So what does the team do this coming year to get their top talent seasoned with MLB experience?  How does this very deep team they have built in the off-season make room for their touted youngsters?  There are going to be some difficult decisions when you have seasoned MLB players in utility roles and “ready” prospects on the doorstep of the big leagues.  I think they are going to have to make room and pay the price for player development at the earliest stage when rosters expand.

Tough decisions, but a wonderful problem to have when it’s difficult to figure out how to play good players.