Reese Kaplan -- Mets Need to Take Bold Steps, Not Baby Steps

People are feeling some adrenaline surge from the Mets' early July output on the diamond.  They are starting to get wild eyed dreams of an impossible comeback, first to a .500 record and then into post season contention.  They are thinking that the Mets need to add a few pieces and all will be right within the Citifield world.

Sorry, ladies and gents, but the team itself is seriously flawed.  I looked down the lineup for the upcoming Arizona Diamondbacks game and saw Brandon Nimmo and Tommy Pham hitting over .280.  Then came the rest.  It was an ugly read.  Yes, there is home run power and run production from the well-below-.250 trio of Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor and Francisco Alvarez, but there's not a whole lot coming from Daniel Vogelbach, Jeff McNeil, Brett Baty and Starling Marte.  Of that latter quartet I would offer up leniency to McNeil and Marte based upon what they have done in the past, as well as to rookie Baty who is still refining his game at the Major League level.  Changes can be made, but you have to give to get.  No one is sending you a top notch prospect for Vogelbach any more than they would for even the hot hitting Pham nor for the mostly benched Mark Canha.

On the pitching side it's not much better.  Understand that stellar production players being traded in the final year of their deals is the way to fortify a suspect farm system yet the grossly optimistic types still think October baseball is a future Mets reality.

Having been a loyal Mets fan since my age was measured in single digits, I have lived through the rare good times and the frequent bad ones.  I am willing to tolerate some losses again if it seems there is a plan in place to make that output a temporary one.  For now it doesn't appear that way.

Yes, they did find a taker for Eduardo Escobar who was barely playing anymore but that only happened when the Mets paid down his salary.  Expect more of the same for the fringe players with batting averages perilously close to the Mendoza line or pitchers whose WHIPs suggest the concept of keeping runners off base is indeed an alien concept.  Making these types of trades can't hurt, but aren't likely to help very much unless your return is an 18 year old barely starting in pro ball who might miraculously develop someday into an All Star.

No, the way to recover more quickly as I've said before is to parlay your soon-to-be-vanishing quality players on the final years of their contracts into real returns who could help now or in the very near future.  Understand the reality that there's no guarantee the 2024 team would include Carlos Carrasco, Justin Verlander and could even be without Max Scherzer.  David Robertson and Adam Ottavino are in the same valuable boat whose engine to zoom away at waterskiing speed is being serviced for a November opportunity to do so.  No one is banking on multiple QOs resulting in the same quality returns that could be brought on board before August 1st if they have the courage to swallow hard and admit the plan for 2023 simply didn't work.

I've suggested in the past that Billy Eppler is probably operating under a temporary protective coating until the Shoehei Ohtani contract situation is resolved with the Angels or he hits free agency.  Other than that single player prospective transaction I'd have to admit being highly suspect of Eppler's abilities to evaluate talent and to take corrective measures when necessary.  Of course, if the Mets indeed land a head of baseball operations or whatever the title turns out to be, Steve Cohen may allow that person to make Eppler walk the plank as his first official order of business.  

It's getting harder and harder to watch this club.  It's almost as if you root for failure to motivate change.  Minor success might just instead motivate inertia and doing nothing is never a formula for success.