Among fellow Mets fans the ongoing Bizarro World transactions the Mets have been making are way more than head scratching. They are downright horrible.
First came the headlines on Monday that the Los Angeles Angels had reached out to sign former Met (and various other teams) All Star Daniel Murphy from the independent league Long Island Ducks where he was hitting .331 at his age against mediocre pitching. There's no guarantee he will be able to replicate those kinds of numbers when he joins Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout and others on Arte Moreno's ballclub. Still, it couldn't help but annoy Mets fans to see someone who did quite well here and even better elsewhere readily available and still playing go coast-to-coast in a minor league deal when this club is currently without All Star Pete Alonso for up to a month.
Of course, the Mets do have some in-house options available to play first base to cover for Alonso. Both Mark Canha and Mark Vientos have played many games at first base in their minor and major league careers. Daniel Vogelbach is also a first baseman by trade. While Canha's batting average and Vogelbach's girth suggest that neither are a good extended term replacement. I won't rehash the Mark Vientos mismanagement by the team who seems determined to trade him away rather than actually let him come to the plate.
Then, just to put an even more unfathomable twist to the Alonso substitution, the Mets reached out to pluck oft-DFA'd Luke Voit out of the unemployment line to have him insert himself onto the Syracuse roster in rapid preparation for ascent to Citifield where he and his chunky frame who has failed with the Cardinals, Yankees, Padres, Nationals and most recently the Brewers. He's a 260 pound big right handed slugger who will remind many of a nearly mirror image of Daniel Vogelbach who, like Vogie, has forgotten how to hit the ball over the wall.
So think about that opening again -- the Angels get Daniel Murphy, the Mets could have used the three in-house options to cover at first base, and the team decided the all-or-mostly-nothing Voit is the smartest move to make. Does this transaction smell more like Darin Ruf or Tyler Naquin covering Billy Eppler's less-than-profound solutions to roster needs?
A lot of folks are fond of renunions with known commodities as a way to address problems. The Mets have had multiple sessions with several players during their existence, including Bobby Bonilla, Rusty Staub and Jose Reyes. Sometimes these moves work but often they do not.
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If you talk to fans who are beyond disgusted with the 2023 team performance, they will tell you that bringing onboard an older player who was cast aside by his last team is never a formula for success. For people who embrace this negativity I offer up the reminder of a rag-armed perpetual loser pitcher by the name of R.A. Dickey who is about to be honored with a special day with his knuckleball-introducing manager Buck Showalter. Sometimes those slim options turn out way better than anyone expected.
Still, in the magical realm of hot hitting and run production, making hefty Luke Voit the solution to the Pete Alonso lost offense is an exercise in futility.
4 comments:
A spot on article Mr. Kaplan.I think little Jeff Wilpon is still with us and he is disguised as Eppler. These are the same moves he would have made . I do hope that the David Stearn rumors are true.
Thank you, Les.
There are no guarantees that playing Mark Vientos more often or promoting Ronny Mauricio are sure things but everyone this side of Buck Showalter and Billy Eppler knows that what they are trying since the season began is most definitely not working. Doing nothing when something needs to change is almost a Terry Collins move, but he still had the knack of benching hot hitters to give opportunities to weak links after having had a 3+ hit game. We haven't quite reached that level of insanity yet, but it feels as if it's getting close.
Buck is on the brink of becoming Collins. Guillorme played last night and when Buck pinch hit him for Vientos the other night, I was irate. Down one run, Vientos has the ability to tie it up with one swing. Buck's man crush on Luis is mind boggling to me
Reese,
What Buck is doing makes little sense, if any. He is continuing to insert players into his starting lineup who cannot hit and sometimes look less than competent in the field. The team is closer to last place than to 2nd place (which would presently qualify for the last W/C). Why not give the young 'uns a chance. Play Vientos, Baty and Mauricio almost everyday. It has gotten to the point where if you don't learn from your mistakes, your team spirals downward, more and more.
Nevertheless, somehow, there is something that tells me that this is not Buck's doing. I fully believe that Eppler and his staff of stat nerds are behind the daily lineup construction. Although Buck is loyal and has always been loyal to his vets, I believe that he wants to win and knows "when to hold them, and when to fold them". So, in essence, the present lineup philosophy seems very "un-Buck-like" to me.
Best,
Lyle
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