Reese Kaplan -- Where the Dust Settles After a Manic Monday

They say timing is everything.  First I wrote on Monday about the Mets' quest for a new manager and what alternatives existed if it turned out not to be Craig Counsell.  In that article I suggested a newly minted manager taking the helm for the first time is not necessarily without risk and despite his solid resume no one was doing cartwheels about the prospect of Carlos Mendoza taking the role with the Mets if he turned out to be the consolation prize.

The surprising development was not that Counsell turned down the Mets to return to Milwaukee or chose to replace Tito Francona in Cleveland after his long tenure there and retirement.  No, the surprise was the Wrigley Field folks coming from seemingly out of nowhere to offer Counsell a $40 million deal for 5 years at $8 million per year.  While the dollar figure is slightly higher than the $7 million per year being discussed, it wasn't the money for sure.  It was the ability to move into a major market yet retain proximity to his roots and family.  There's no way the Mets could do that.  All they could do was wave more money.

So the general consensus after the initial shock wore off is that Mendoza is a great baseball man who has worked as a solid minor league manager, fielding instructor, is fully bilingual and brings with him 15 years of experience with a despised but still respected baseball organization in the Bronx.  There will be some learning curve time as Mendoza takes the lineup pencil in the big leagues for more than a few innings here and there subbing for Aaron Boone after his many rejections by umpires, but the talking point being repeated ad nauseum is that Stearns is hoping to craft his own Craig Counsell by taking one of the brightest and most respected baseball minds and handing him the reins to make the on-the-field decisions effectively.

While there were a number of "Don't hire that smalltown skipper" types who were quite vociferous in their opinion about who should not be the next Mets manager, none of them have yet come out of the woodwork to smirk, "I told you so!"  The fans in general are pretty much following the media reaction...surprise, unenthusiastic and still needing some time to grasp the potential future without a former Brewers manager now donning orange and blue.  It was such a strong assumption that Counsell would follow David Stearns to New York people are already suggesting Stearns' first big act was a failure. 

One little detail about this sequence of events is timing.  Apparently the Mets made the offer to Mendoza PRIOR TO Counsell accepting the opportunity in Chicago.  If that is indeed accurate (and reported in a few places already) then it was the Mets who controlled this decision and it was not Mendoza as a second choice Hail Mary after losing out on Counsell.  The Mets chose not to have Counsell and to bring in Mendoza.  Whether or not that turns out to be good or bad is still up in the air. 

Personally, I'm of the wait and see attitude.  Yes, Counsell would have brought excellent managerial experience to the team, but as they recently saw with Buck Showalter who is on a Cooperstown path for his managerial career, having the best manager is not a guarantee of success.  From a business perspective, the much less expensive choice of rookie Carlos Mendoza suggests he will be molded somewhat by David Stearns and that might indeed be a very good thing.

It became a bit of a manic Monday on other fronts as well.  Word came down that Adam Ottavino decided he was not being renegotiated into the kind of contract he desired, so he's now hitting free agency to sell himself to the highest bidder.  That decision is somewhat understandable given his success in particular during the second half of 2023 and all of 2022 in the biggest market in baseball.  Now with the return of Edwin Diaz pushing Ottavino out of the closer role and back into 7th or 8th inning duty, his future earning potential would be somewhat constrained.  There is a possibility he returns to the Mets after not finding the great payday nor contract term he dsires, but it's also possible he burned a familiar bridge.

Also taking place Monday was the revelation of both Bryce Montes de Oca and Peyton Battenfield cleared waivers and were assigned to AAA during their periods of recovery.  The other minor leaguers opted out of their future in Syracuse and are now free agents in quest of employment elsewhere.  Dedicated pinch runner Tim Locastro was among that group.

Finally, the Mets went off in waiver wire plucking and secured the services of now former Detroit Tigers "I'll play anywhere" utility magician Zack Short.  While the versatility he provides from the infield, outfield and even as a spare pitcher are interesting, what he does with his bat is not.  My thinking here is that he's an insurance policy if the Mets choose to package Luis Guillorme to play elsewhere in 2024 or simply choose not to renew his deal.  A sub Mendoza hitter is never going to get your blood pumping in a good way, but Short is now the 33 man roster allows the Mets to fill seven spots from outside the organization via free agency or as yet to be consummated trades.

While these news items may not exactly have turned out as expected by the media and fans, the fact is that the new David Stearns-led Mets are not going to be boring nor predictable.  The GM meetings are taking place this week and there will be an awful lot of things needing to be done to prepare for the first Stearns/Mendoza led season in New York.