Mike's Mets - Turn the Page

 

By Mike Steffanos

The Mets turning their focus to the future was the only logical move left. But the future depends on getting better at developing some kids into major league ballplayers.

As someone who has endured his share of ups and downs over the years, I've had experience with what comes next after a big disappointment. The hardest part is understanding that you've put a lot of effort into something that won't reward that hard work. Trying harder won't repair what has proven to be unfixable. It's time to coldly assess what went wrong and then decide what's next. It's all too easy, if ultimately completely useless, to fall into the "what if" trap, or simply wallow in self-pity until you get disgusted enough with yourself to get back out into the world and chart a new direction. It can be a bit liberating to finally admit that something that has been going south for a while is finally a lost cause, but it's also quite a blow to be around at the death of an enterprise into which you placed your hard work and greatest hopes. Therefore, I can't help but feel some empathy for Billy Eppler and his front office as midnight has fallen on the 2023 season that began with great hopes and massive outlays of the owner's cash.

It's been clear for a while that the New York Mets aren't good enough to fight their way back into a Wild Card slot. Every tease where the club showed signs that they just might be able to get back on track has been followed immediately by conclusive evidence that they can't. In May, they won the last two games of the series against a Rays team that was still playing really well, then swept the Cleveland Guardians with their offense finally seeming to click into high gear. But this was followed immediately by a road trip that saw the Mets lose 2 of 3 to both the Cubs and the Rockies. Since then, this brief boom followed by deflating bust scenario has played out repeatedly. With 60 games left in the season and still 6 games south of .500, it was time for Steve Cohen, Billy Eppler, and everyone else in a decision-making role to make the only logical decision left to be made.

David Robertson was clearly the most valuable piece the Mets had to sell: a proven late-inning reliever enjoying a good season who was on an expiring contract. Last year, Robertson was dealt from the Cubs to the Phillies for Ben Brown, a minor-league starting pitcher in High-A at the time of the deal. The Cubs promoted Brown to Double-A immediately. After dominating at that level early this year, Brown was promoted to Triple-A, where he has been a bit up and down, while still considered a top prospect for Chicago. There has been a perception that the Mets might see a similar return for Robertson: an attractive prospect relatively close to the majors.

Then late Thursday night, while the Mets were in the midst of a lengthy rain delay with the Nationals, the word came out that the Mets had traded Robinson for two rookie-level position prospects. One of the two, an 18-year-old infielder named Marco Vargas, is considered an exciting prospect with some real potential. The other, 19-year-old catcher Ronald Hernandez, has some promise but will likely slot in a bit lower on Mets prospects lists. Still, any young player in the complex league is miles away from seeing a big league field, with the potential that plenty can go wrong and he might never make it.

To finish reading this article on Mike's Mets, please click here.