Reese Kaplan -- Arguably the Best Way to Add Offense to the Mets

Fairly soon the Mets should be naming a new manager who may or may not be named Counsell.  That much we know is on the immediate agenda and if for some reason Craig decides to return to Milwaukee or venture out to another city offering greater proximity to his family and out of the national spotlight, then David Stearns will have a whale of job to assess and name an alternative manager.

Less high on the task list is the need for a Billy Eppler replacement at general manager.  The new GM is not nearly as much of a rush as Stearns has had experience doing that very same job and could wear that hat as well as the slick fedora of a President of Baseball Operations until the time and candidate is ripe to join the organization.

So thinking now about the roster, it would seem that the Mets need to fish or cut bait on Mr. Pete Alonso.  In the best of all possible worlds Stearns will sit down with Alonso and his hired shark Scott Boras and work out that Met-For-Life deal that will keep his home run bat and home grown folkloric history alive as they were previously unable to do with Tom Seaver, Doc Gooden, Darryl Strawberry and others.  

David Wright was the lone exception and if injuries hadn't curtailed his career he would be held in even higher esteem by the fans who pretty much already worship the ground on which he walks.

The other option is to let the 2024 season play out and then go full bore after Pete Alonso.  This approach allows you to ascertain if he is a .250+ hitter with prodigious power or if he's morphing into a Dave Kingman type who either hits it over the wall or goes down swinging with little else happening.  That strategy might be prudent in terms of a business' bottom line but it could seriously escalate the price tag you'll pay for 2025 and beyond.

The third option is to start the team rebuild by parlaying Pete Alonso's final year into an off season type of deal like was seen midyear with Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.  The danger here, of course, is that picking up prospects in return for the veteran slugger means you are rolling the dice that one or more of them becomes an All Star caliber player to make the cost savings and multipositional roster change somewhat justifiable.

Perhaps, though, the as yet unmentioned 4th option is the right approach to take.  If you decide to go with Plan B by not extending Alonso this year, then you need a complementary piece who can help both now and in the future.  

While many people think that a prospective Juan Soto trade is the way to go, remember he's also in a walk year and getting the Padres to put him on jet plane to the other coast will require an awful lot of talent flying west.  He'll carry the same danger as a walk year Pete Alonso with no guarantee he will ink that kind of long term deal that the Mets have not yet made with Alonso.  If you give up the house to get Soto and face the prospect that both he and Alonso hit the road for 2025, David Stearns will have a whole Easter worth of egg on his face.

So instead of doing that, what about simply waiting for 2024's offseason and then bid just money without player resources to secure the services of Juan Soto?  Remember, if he stays in San Diego or goes to another ballclub he is not under contract beyond 2024.  Given the fact that selling to the highest bidder can only happen if you declare free agency, it is a pretty safe bet that Soto will exercise that option.

Consequently, instead of giving away all of the better prospects in the farm system to beef up the offense and provide a Pete Alonso fallback position, perhaps instead free agent acquisition is the better way to go.  

While all eyes are on Shohei Ohtani for what he can do with his bat (which may or may not be ready for the start of 2024), there's the added bonus of providing number 2 starting pitcher talent as well.  He's rumored to be a $500 million man and while you can certainly make the case he's worth it, there are alternatives to consider.

The one player who was on top of the world, fell off the baseball map for multiple years and then roared back with a vengeance in 2023 is former Dodger and now soon to be former Cub Cody Bellinger.  A quick glance at his stat sheet shows the then 21 year old was the National League Rookie of the Year and followed it up just two years later with a Silver Slugger, Gold Glove and the MVP award.  Wow!

Then his world came crashing down.  Between the 2020 shortened season, injuries and slumps he made the equivalent of two full seasons over the 2020 through 2022 period.  While the numbers are not nearly award worthy, they were not completely awful.  He would have averaged 21 HRs and 67 RBIs.  That's not great by any means, but it is productive.  

The scary part, however, was his batting average over this period dropped to just .203.  Ouch!  It is understandable when the Dodgers let him walk as a free agent.  

The Cubs took something of a gamble on him not knowing which Bellinger would show up to Wrigley Field.  Apparently it was more of the earlier career version.  In his 2023 season he hit .307, slugged 26 HRs, drove in 97 and stole 20 bases.  He continued to play stellar defense in the outfield and at first base.  For these efforts he produced a WAR rating of 4.4 which would be worth over $30 million but he was paid a much more modest $17.5 million.  

This time around his salary will jump considerably, but that three year gap between his first three seasons and 2023 will suppress the amount somewhat.  

So adding a lefty hitting player of Bellinger's caliber is an interesting notion.  First of all, he's younger than Alonso.  Second, he plays Gold Glove caliber defense.  Third, he can steal bases.  Fourth, even with that three year lost period on his resume, his career batting average is still .258.  If you take it off the stat sheet, then his career batting average is well over .280.  

If you could lock him up for say 5 years at $25 million per season, that's a relatively low price tag and provide you with someone who could slide over to first base or remain in the outfield if Pete Alonso heads down the yellow brick road in search of riches when the 2024 season ends.  If he does not, then you have a lefty/righty slugging combo in the middle of the order to join the two Franciscos.  

There are other free agent options who are either significantly older or not regarded as power hitters of note.  Bellinger appears to address the power need, defense and speed while offering up a higher batting average which the Mets definitely needed from anyone in 2023.  

The only other name of note would be somewhat unknown 25 year old Korean import Jung Hoo Lee. He premiered at the tender age of 18 and up through his closing 2023 season at age 24 he is hitting .340 for his career.  His best run production came in 2022 when he slugged 23 HRs and drove in 113 but it was his .349 batting average and stellar outfield defense that really catch your eye.  

He would be a little more expensive than many other Asian rookies coming to the major leagues given his age and resume, but he's not a huge base stealer nor a bonafide slugger, so it might be well tempered compared to someone like Shohei Ohtani who has done it in the MLB market as well as he did back in Japan.

What do you all think?