The Mets are making the final tweaks to their roster. Also, will the club finally figure out how to successfully integrate their prospects into the lineup?
With the excitement (and disappointment) of the Carlos Correa chase abated, the Mets are moving into the home stretch of the hot stove season. They're still making moves to strengthen their club three weeks before the official report date. By signing Tommy Pham as their fourth outfielder, the club thrilled approximately 0% of their fanbase, but it was a significant signing nonetheless. It was important to have a better option than Khalil Lee and Abraham Almonte for that spot. Pham may not be the dream choice of Mets fans, but he was a solid pickup for the club.
One negative about the signing is that Tommy Pham will play next season at age 35. The Mets roster is chock full of ballplayers at or near the end of their MLB journey, and Pham is yet another MLB senior citizen. There is also a question about how much Tommy has left in the tank. His last really good year was 2019 with the Rays. Pham posted an OPS+ of 120 and provided speed and power to that Rays club, hitting 21 HR and stealing 25 bases. However, it's been downhill for Tommy since. In the three subsequent seasons, Pham has put up a combined .231/.324/.372 slash line, amassing a sub-par OPS+ of 93 over that period.
The Mets were looking for a backup outfielder who could hit lefties, and Pham can still do that. In a weak overall season with Cincinnati and Boston last year, he slashed .273/.338/.446 against southpaws. The Mets would be very happy if Pham could match those numbers in 2023. Interestingly, of the four OFs currently on the major league roster, only Brandon Nimmo bats left-handed. We'll likely see Jeff McNeil spend a significant amount of time in the outfield in 2023. If, as I expect, Brett Baty gets promoted during the summer, it will be interesting to see if he gets some time in LF, also.
On Mets Twitter, the overall reaction to the Mets signing Pham seemed hostile. Fans seemed to hope for Adam Duvall or Jurickson Profar over Pham. Much has been made of Tommy Pham's infamous slap to the face of Joc Pederson. Personally, the way Pederson killed the Mets last season, I can't really hold that against Pham. Tommy is reportedly an excellent teammate who is well-liked in locker rooms. My only worry is that Pham might get too many ABs against right-handed pitchers if one of the starters gets hurt. But manager Buck Showalter and the current front office seem less prone to blindly handing out ABs to "proven veterans" when they aren't warranted, something we've seen from previous Mets managers.
As noted earlier, I see a scenario where Brett Baty gets some playing time in the OF. Barring spring injuries, Baty is likely to begin the year in Syracuse. The kid had only 26 PA in Triple-A, and Billy Eppler's front office seems to want to get him some time there this season. But I fully expect a promotion to the Mets unless Baty absolutely face-plants there. What happens next depends greatly on how Eduardo Escobar performs early on.
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3 comments:
I love one year contracts for secondary players and I don't care how old they are if they can hit or pitch.
Pham needs to slam.
On Brett Baty and Mark Vientos
I like both players, a lot. I see their establishing skillset and want them to get their shot this season ASAP as a quality young NY Mets player.
I tend to think that with the rumor that great Met David Wright may be coming to ST camp, that Mets ownership and management do have a sincere desire to see what both Brett Baty and Mark Vientos can accomplish at third base during this ST preseason.
It's very hard to accurately gauge MiLB young talent. Some players are ready talent wise sooner for MLB, others tend to need to percolate a little bit longer in MiLB until they become totally ready. i.e. Here might be Brandon Nimmo. But what a terrific player he is for these NY Mets.
My gut read on these two particular players (Brett Baty and Mark Vientos), is that one or even both could be ready for this big league challenge right out of the shoot, and after this fine tuning. But sometimes it is just how a younger player reacts to this MLB challenge that determines his own readiness for here. It isn't just the talent side of this equation, but also the mental preparation that player brings into this.
Time will always tell. I wish both of these players the very best. We need you guys!
What happened to Guillermo
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