Mike's Mets - Man the Lifeboats, Part 4

 

By Mike Steffanos

We wrap up our 4-part series on the Mets' chances for turning the season around with thoughts on the manager and front office and summing it all up.

It's incredible how much has happened with the New York Mets just since I began writing this series on Tuesday. First, there was Wednesday night's epic win fueled, in part, by call-ups Francisco Álvarez and Mark Vientos. The Mets didn't even decide to bring up Vientos until Wednesday. Next, the Mets put forth a solid effort to defeat the Rays (and finally win a series) on Thursday afternoon. After the game, we learned that the decision had been made to bring up catcher Gary Sánchez. As of the time of my writing this piece, no corresponding roster move has been made. (Update: it has.)

Before I get into the meat of this post, let me share some thoughts on the latest move. I'm hoping the roster move will be to send down Michael Pérez. I have nothing against Pérez personally. It's just that he will have to go in the relatively near future, anyway. If the Mets choose to make the move I don't want to see — sending Álvarez back to Syracuse — that would only defer a decision on Pérez until Tomás Nido returns, anyway. Beyond that, I made the point yesterday that Álvarez's offensive number so far (.218/.274/.423), while hardly stellar, are above Gary Sánchez's MLB production from 2018-2022 (.202/.295/.427). I see no reason for Sánchez to suddenly improve on what he's done in the past 4 MLB seasons, while Francisco has a chance to be much better if he settles in. (Update: It was Pérez)

While I've seen multiple pundits opine that promoting Sánchez is a "no-brainer," I respectfully submit that it's not that simple. Any playing time that Gary Sánchez receives will come at someone else's expense. The list would include Álvarez, Vientos, Tommy Pham, Eduardo Escobar, and Mark Canha. Look, I can hear a chorus of "Who cares?" in response to some of those names, but please bear with me.

I'm sure plenty of Mets fans would willingly pack the bags of Pham, Escobar, and Canha and drive them to the airport if it would get them out of town faster. All of those guys are underperforming right now except for Escobar. Since the call-up of Brett Baty in mid-April, Eduardo has slashed .324/.375/.649 over 40 PA in a part-time role. Against lefties, Escobar is hitting .227/.277/.500, including 3 of his 4 HR. With Luis Guillorme sent down, Eduardo is the backup infielder, period. He's doing well in a part-time role for which he seems better suited.

Meanwhile, the biggest worry with calling Mark Vientos up is playing time. Mark is primarily in the mix for RH DH, and now Sánchez will also be competing for those ABs. Next up are Pham and Canha, neither of whom is currently in the good graces of fans. But what complicates this is that the team is incredibly thin in outfielders. Tim Locastro is out of the mix, as the Mets put him on the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man spot for Sánchez. The Mets need Pham and Canha to return to being useful, productive hitters. Like it or not, that requires ABs.

Last season, J. D. Davis struggled with the Mets. He was caught up in a playing-time crunch and could never hit his way out of it. Since being given regular playing time with the Giants, J. D, is back to being the productive hitter he was with the Mets from 2019-2021. Hell, the Mets could use his bat this season. The idea that you throw a bunch of guys into the mix and let the cream rise to the top is all well and good, but it doesn't always work out if no one gets enough opportunity. I'm worried that adding Gary Sánchez to the mix is more complicating than helpful. Gary is 30 years old and hasn't been a productive hitter since 2019. I get the attraction of Gary's power to a team that still lacks pop, but it comes at the expense of less opportunity for Mark Vientos to prove himself.

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