Reese Kaplan -- What Roster Changes to Make Next Month

As the All Star Break approaches next month it’s the unofficial halfway point to the season.  For folks who are the glass half empty types, there are holes in the Mets offense and pitching which accounts for their more-or-less .500 record.  For the glass-half-full types, the club is still within single digit reach of first place and they’re doing it without a lot of contributions from hitters and hurlers. 

The question facing Billy Eppler is who belongs here and who does not going forward as the club still is within reach of a pennant if they can start firing on all cylinders.  Some of the decisions are easy.  Some are much more difficult.

Let’s get the “Keep ‘em!” list out of the way first.  There should be no surprises here.  You have Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo and yes, even while not contributing much other than stolen bases, Starling Marte. 

On the starting pitching side you have Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga and somewhat surprisingly Carlos Carrasco.  If the club was ready to throw in the towel on the season then a single year obligation to Carrasco might have been marketable, but his last few starts have shown what he is capable of doing and it’s not as if the minor leaguers behind him are beating down the door.

Then there is the bullpen which as been more leaky than the Titanic.  Obviously no one is going to replace Edwin Diaz directly, but save for his Saturday clunker, David Robertson has been very close.  Adam Ottavino was too good last year to push the panic button.   Drew Smith and Jeff Brigham have been mostly good this year.  The rest of the relievers, however, are fungible and if improvements are available on the open market then Eppler had better be prepared to make appropriate moves. 

Now where it gets real interesting concerns the rookies and the yet to be promoted rookie.  Right now Francisco Alvarez looks like he has leapfrogged over recovering Omar Narvaez as the number one catcher.  Brett Baty has slumped a bit but looks as if he’s taken over for Eduardo Escobar.  Mark Vientos isn’t playing often enough to draw conclusions one way or another as he only starts about twice a week.  Then there’s the defensively versatile (by mandate if not ability) Ronny Mauricio.  These four folks seem to be a part of the future.

The flip side are the hitters not getting it done.  Count the two halves of the DH equation, Daniel Vogelbach and Tommy Pham.  Eduardo Escobar has played some other positions in a backup role but has yet to excel with the bat (again!)  Then there’s the recently revived Mark Canha.  As nice as it is to see him find a power stroke, the fact is he’s on a one year obligation as well and like Escobar may find suitors on other ballclubs.

What concerns Mets fans and media types are the horrific trades Eppler has made in the past overpaying for people who simply didn’t deliver.  This time around, however, if the goal is to make the Mets into a contending club with solid veterans and talented newcomers then some of the 30 year old and over players may not want to take out long term real estate obligations. 

Personally, I would be happy if Mauricio was force fed into the lineup at 2B or LF with Jeff McNeil taking over the other position.  Then let Canha DH the remainder of the way while Baty slots into 3B on a daily basis.  It can’t be any worse that what hasn’t worked thus far.