Reese Kaplan -- Great Start to the Roster But Far From Finished

Many folks are gushing over the things Steve Cohen, Billy Eppler and company have done so far this offseason. Yes, bringing in star players like Justin Verlander, David Robertson and Jose Quintana while retaining Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo is surely a fine start to things. However, most folks feel that the next bit of roster tinkering is minor. Yes, it would be nice to land another big arm for the rotation instead of relying upon David Peterson and/or Tylor Megill, but folks in general seem happy with what the team now has. Similarly they envision a patient management team that will allow young hitters to play in the field or at DH while adjusting to the major league version of pitching and they won't get yanked from their role after a bad stretch of 5-7 games. They feel Jeff McNeil is the 4th outfielder and some glove-first guy can be brought in for that number five role. They think Francisco Alvarez's bat is so strong that he deserves to be the starting catcher on Opening Day.

Maybe I am just more cynical, more realistic or more a student of Mets' seasons past. I'm accustomed to players getting hurt, players underperforming and rookies benched after not starting off like they were made for the All Star team. Who here remembers shortstop being manned by Omar Quintanilla, or third base with Eric Campbell or catching with Omir Santos? How about games started by the likes of D.J. Carrasco, Chris Schwinden, Drew Gagnon or P.J. Conlon? I won't even take antacid to recite relief pitchers from years past.

So right now as the team approaches the holiday season they have indeed accomplished a lot but there's still quite a bit of work left to be done. If they want to replace Chris Bassitt's innings from last year then banking on hopefuls who are not proven is likely a major gamble. If they realize that starting pitchers are yanked at best after 6 innings (and sometimes earlier). Without Seth Lugo, Adam Ottavino, Joely Rodriguez, Trevor Williams and others there would appear to be major work needing to be done here as well. Let's not even get started on the bench as they are insufficient in the outfield, infield and unproven at catcher from the rookie and the veterans. In fact, right now Tomas Nido is likely the starting catcher come Opening Day given James McCann's struggles last year and Francisco Alvarez's lack of time spent with the major league pitching staff.

They do have NL Manager of the Year in charge of the lineup, motivation and decision making in Buck Showalter. Some people nitpicked on his handling of relief pitchers as well as some of his lineup manipulations, but when you advance 24 games in the win column and make the playoffs, it's really hard to get too overly critical. Jeremy Hefner has gotten more out of many pitchers than did coaches of the past. The one big thing this year is the change of Eric Chavez into a non hitting coach role given how much improvement many players showed under his tutelage. About the only thing people criticized in the Mets offense was their overall lack of home run power once you got past Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor. Others who demonstrated more power in the past like Jeff McNeil and Mark Canha were lacking in that regard last season while the up, down and then up again Eduardo Escobar finished with respectable but subpar home run and RBI totals. Many feel that adding Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez will help in this regard, but others feel a veteran proven slugger is what's needed at the DH slot (at least one hitting from the right side).

Since a lot has already been written about the state of the Mets payroll, the willingness of Steve Cohen to spend to win, and the need to integrate some low cost assets for future savings. Jettisoning good but not great players earning north of $10 million per year like James McCann, Mark Canha, Carlos Carrasco and Eduardo Escobar could help either reduce the overall payroll aggregate total or provide funds to address the already identified needs. How would, for example, a guy like Tyler O'Neill look in the outfield every day? He has had his own Nimmo-like health struggles for the Cardinals, but in his best season in 2021 he hit .284 while clubbing 34 HRs and driving in 80 runs. That would be marked improvement over what Canha did. Of course, to make trades like that you have to give to get and thus far the Mets either overpay like they did for Darrin Ruf or they stubbornly refuse to sacrifice hot prospects even when the immediate need doesn't get addressed. For example, if they feel Mark Vientos is not the DH of the future, shouldn't he be marketed to other clubs as a legitimate power option?

Right now I'm of the opinion that the front office gets an A- with an incomplete for what they've done thus far. The bullpen in particular is a major concern as most of the warm bodies now wearing Mets uniforms have not had any prolonged success in the upper minors or majors. I can breathe easier when I know who the spare outfielder will be and I need to know who the 3rd starter is if you assume Quintana and Carrasco are slated for 4 and 5. It's not a disaster and there is still a lot of time left before players report to Florida and Arizona, but the lack of media leaks like in the past has the fans and baseball reporters tapping their feet and twitching with uncertainty.