Tom Brennan - Minor League Options are Not Your Friend

Welcome back, and you should be thrilled that we’ve burned your last option.

In baseball today, having minor league options sucks for the player who’s got those remaining options. 

Nido has none, Alvarez has 3. If it was the other way around, Alvarez would undoubtedly be a major leaguer from now until he retires.

Pham has none, Vogelbach has none, Escobar has none, Canha has none. Trade em, release em, or they stay.

Guillorme got sent down instead of them because he had options.

Baty still has 3 options, Vientos 2, so they better produce or else.

Megill has 3 left, Brigham and Smith have 2. Pitch well, or enjoy central NYS in the summer.

A few guys have options, but no concerns. 

Alonso and McNeil each have 3 options left. Going nowhere.

In Injury Land, Ridings and Montes de Oca each have 3 options left, and Coonrod, Elieser, and Uceta have 1 each. No worries about options being used against them until they pitch again. 

Chubby Checker and I hope they pitch again, like they did last summer. 

So do they.

I’ve run out of options here. 

Having a great day is not optional, so have one.

BUT BEFORE I GO…

HOW ABOUT THAT ELI ANKENEY:

Eli was the 599th overall selection in the 2022 draft. 

Pitching, though, like a first rounder since.

He picked up his first win on Sunday, and since turning pro, he’s thrown 12.1 innings, fanned 20, allowed just 4 very lonely four runners and has an ERA below 0.01.

I have a simple suggestion for St Lucie lefty Eli…

PITCH MORE!

ALVAREZ AN ALL STAR? 

About 10 days ago, the Mets hierarchy was burning brain cells trying to figure out how to send options-rich Francisco Alvarez so they could keep underperforming catchers instead, who were out of options.

Now there should be a campaign to get him on the All Star team.

And why not? Despite drastically fewer at bats than the top 2 catchers in HRs, he already has 8 rockets to his credit, and has the second highest slugging % among catchers, trailing the leader by a mere 9 points.

And my guess as I write this is he will be chosen Player of the Week.  

Last 7 games, .423/.483/.962, 4 HRs, 10 RBIs.

I was right all along…he isn’t human.

AGE ISN'T RELATIVE IN BASEBALL

Oh, and one more point to keep in mind.

The Mets drafted catcher Kevin Parada in the first round in 2022.  You immediately think, "just drafted, young guy. NICE!”

Except Alvarez is currently 100 days younger than Parada.  Parada, you see, turns 22 in 2 months, Alvarez turns 22 in 5 months.

And, as Alvarez tears apart MLB pitching at that age, Parada is in High A (probably considered a "challenging assignment for a guy in his first full season"). He had just 55 pro plate appearances in lower levels in 2022.  

Parada has 3 HRs, 14 RBIs in 143 ABs and a slash line of .238/.345/.406, which actually is not bad at all (actually good) when you play in Brooklyn, land of the hitter-neutering wind.  Even Alvarez found hitting in Brooklyn tougher than the road in 2021, also, when he was 19.

Smartly, Parada has 13 doubles in 38 games, likely clearly understanding that trying to hit in Brooklyn with HR power is self-defeating.  After all, in 2022 and 2023, Brooklyn batters have hit 64 HRs on the road, but just 44 at home in the same number of games. How telling.

So, I cannot wait for Parada to get to AA to a more hitter-neutral park. 

But...his age, and Parada is still very young (and I think he will be MLB-ready by late 2024 or OD 2025, when he will be just 23), is older than the catcher who right now is tearing apart MLB pitching - Francisco Alvarez - which shows how incredible what Alvarez is doing is.

Another way to look at it is, Francisco, right now, is 3 full years younger than Pete Alonso was when Pete made his Mets debut.  In fact, Francisco is almost exactly the same age (year & months) as Pete was when he made his minor league debut in low A ball.  Right now, the “veteran starting catcher” Alvarez is 100 days younger than David Wright was when he made his MLB debut.

That really early (and so far successful) MLB career start is a reason I think Alvarez has better HOF chances than Pete.  Logic tells you it is harder for a hitter who debuts at 24.3 years to compile sufficient stats to make the Hall of Fame.  Alvarez has more than a 3 year head start on Pete.  

I am not projecting Alvarez for the Hall of Fame, of course.  For one, Doc Gooden was being virtually inducted into the Hall by many after his age 20 brilliant Cy Young season.  

I'm just saying that Alvarez's early MLB start gives him a greater Cooperstown shot if all goes right.  And after 62 seasons, it would be nice to have a home-grown Mets player make the Hall of Fame.

WHERE ARE WE?

5 games out of first, one game out of the Wild Card. LGM.