Kevin Parada
Yeah, I know…
Kevin Parada is not ready for the major leagues yet.
Barely got to AA in 2023. Tough go of it at the dish in Arizona Fall ball, too.
He probably won’t be ready for the Mets for most, if not all, of 2024.
Nonetheless, you don’t trade a power hitting catcher in a DH era, when catchers, given their treacherous position behind the plate, are more injury prone than players at other positions. If you have two fine offensive catchers, and Parada will be one, one of them can simply DH when the other catches.
Interestingly, I looked up games played by catchers as catchers in 2024. Iron Man JT Realmuto played 132 games. Four more catchers were in the mid 120s in games played as catchers. Every other catcher? Under 120 games caught.
In fact, only 13 catchers caught more than 100 games in 2023 (Francisco Alvarez being one of them, at 107 games).
With the DH, there are Mets at bats that could be allocated between Alvarez and Parada when both are sufficiently strong at hitting to deserve playing at the DH. Alvarez already is, and Parada will be.
For the Braves, Sean Murphy caught in 102 games, and Travis d’Arnaud, caught in 64 games, emphasizing my point. They got awesome collective offense from that duo while they were catching.
The Mets’ catching tandem of Omar and Nido in 2023 hit abysmally. Look it up, friend, if you’ve already blanked it out of your memory banks.
You can’t have a drop off of a severe nature in your catcher hitting offense when you get away from your number 1 catcher.
The Braves again are a case in point.
Atlanta’s Murphy hit fabulously, but when he didn’t catch, Travis hit quite well as his back up. That is exactly what a winning team needs to get to the playoffs in order to have a chance to be the next Diamondbacks.
It is so much harder to get to the playoffs when you get severe under-production from the likes of Omar and Nido for a large chunk of games. Alvarez may catch more games in 2024, but he only caught 65% of them in 2023.
So here’s my advice: don’t trade KP…you keep Parada as a catcher, so hopefully by 2025, you have 162 games of hitting by Mets catchers that mirrors the tremendous hitting that the Braves got from their catchers in 2023.
By 2025, it will be more clear whether Julio Zayas or Ronald Hernandez (both very young, but both had great short seasons) might be getting closer to being a viable major league backup catcher, at which point the Mets could potentially consider moving Kevin Parada for pitching.
(Just to be clear, if they do in fact eventually rise to the big leagues, don’t expect to see Hernandez before late 2025 or 2026, or the 17 year old Zayas until 2027. And no other catchers in the Mets system give me enough assurance they could someday hit even as poorly as Omar and Nido).
I think to trade Parada before you have a viable back up runs the risk that you’ll have 50 (or possibly many more) games caught by underwhelming offensive players like Omar and Nido.
Remember when the Mets had d’Arnaud and he went down with a long term TJS injury in early April several years back, and caught very few games, which is kind of like what happened to Omar in April 2023?
Catcher injuries happen, a lot, so you better have a REAL Plan B.
You don’t go into a season with 5 good starting pitchers, but no Plan B, do you? The Mets opening day planned rotation (Justin, Max, Cookie, Kodai, and Quintana) started 97 games for the Mets in 2023, with 40% started by others. Back ups that are viable matter much.
What do you think? Am I catching onto something here?
CARLOS MENDOZA AS NEW METS MANAGER?
There you go, clearly the obvious first(?) choice…
Today is Election Day, so vote: What thinketh ye of Mendoza?
Me? If he tells his pitchers that it is up to them whether to retaliate, but your fellow Mets hitters would sure love a little “protection”, sure love knowing you’ve got their backs, then I am pro-Mendoza.
Let me recap the impact of the passive Buck:
1) Early September 2022, because other teams never expected HBP retaliation from Mets hurlers, Mets star Starling Marte received a broken bone on a pitch; he was replaced by the memorable Darin Ruf, the Braves ended up with the same 101 wins as the Mets, winning the division in a tie-breaker, and the Mets disappeared after a too-brief Wild Card loss.
2) In early June 2023, Pete Alonso was drilled and injured by a Braves pitcher. Pete had 22 HRs in his first 61 games, a Ruthian 59 HR pace. He missed 10 days, then went a miserable 12 for 91 with 4 HRs. The sputtering season capsized during that miserable 6 week stretch for Pete, the result of a damaging HBP from their arch-rivals. The Mets slipped far enough out of the Wild Card chase in those 6 weeks to trigger the decision to dismantle the team.
Two seasons damaged badly by the passive Buck, who liked the bucks but passed the buck.
OH HAPPY DAY
Bryce Montes de Oca retained and assigned to AAA. Me very happy. Me like 102 MPH heaters.
The only question now seems to be which decade the frail hulking giant will finally rejoin the Mets’ pen. I’m pencilling in 2030, buy hoping for late 2024.
20 comments:
Tom I agree with your on KP. If we sign Otani then that plan has no real Avenue to come to fruition. It just depends on who sterns decides on being the offensive addition and if they are a DH or true defensive position option. Soto could play the OF for the next 5 years and then a KP / Alvarez pairing would work great
Eddie
Eddie, I do not disagree on Soto in the mix. Disagree on Ohtani, only simply because he will be healed from Tommy John by late 2024, which is the optimistic arrival timeframe of Parada. Then Shohei can play the field. Of course, if he return to pitching, you are correct. The DH is owned by Shohei on days he does not pitch.
There was absolutely NO reason to think that Councell was “THE GUY” and could handle NY better than Mendoza will. And that is the hardest part about managing the Mets. The easy parts: sounds like Mendoza is great with the players, and is sharp with baseball experience. He is bi-lingual, and a New Yorker, and spent time in a dugout in NY for the last 4 years. And, it is said, has been tough on Skankees, when called for. There has not been one bad word said about this guy, by anyone. If Uncle Steve and DB are satisfied, then I’m satisfied.
Nickel, that and a willingness to retaliate, and even intimidate a bit here and there to dissuade impish enemy pitchers, and count me in.
Now, Stearns mus expunge the roster of sub-Mendoza hitters.
The Mets were very shrewd w Bryce Montes de Oca risky waiver.
While teams were trying to clear 40-man rosters for Rule 5 additions,
FAs, and guys being added back off the IL-60, in order to make a claim
on Bryce, a team would have had to carry him on their 40-man the entire off
season, until they could put him on the IL-60 in 2024. So it didn't happen.
Meanwhile, the Mets, who are in the same position, have to carry Murfee and Short
on the 40-man, as well as any additions. Good thing they have so much dead wood
they can lose to make space. Glad Bryce remains.
My spin on Parada
Alvarez has shown a remarkable improvement in his defensive game. So far, Parada has not.
In fact his defensive game was worse than Alvarez even before Alvy started improving.
A pro starting catcher has to do three things correctly to keep his job...hit... hit with power... and play at least a good defensive game
A backup has to do one thing... play all aspects of a defensive game well.
Catch... throw... and have a good relationship with the pitcher on the mound
Parada has a long way to go in all aspects needed to make the majors
My spin on Mendoza
I know nothing about him so I reserve an opinion.
I question reports on what happened first. Don't expect the Mets will ever publicly straighten out the whole chicken or the egg thingy.
Love the amount spent here. Leaves more money for future players
Will be interesting if he helps pluck some ex Yanks in the off season
Wouldn't Mendoza have worked with Eric Chavez at Skankees?
Wonder if he will keep him. I'm concerned about the rest of the coaching staff
getting locked down...whoever they will be. I presume FO will tell Mendoza that
Hefner (who many team desire to poach) will remain. I would sure love for them to
re-sign Joey Cora...then let Mendoza choose the rest.
Don't you think that has to happen immediately? While they chase FAs in parallel
effort.
Mack, hopefully he can bring one or two winning Yanks with him.
I still would give Mendoza Carte Blanche to make sweeping changes here
I like your thinking with the two catchers. The analogies are right on.
Maybe you should be the new GM. :)
This guy Short is a .174 MLB career hitter and .236 minors hitter. Short reply: NO!
Parada needs to go home, regroup, and work his keister off this off season. It can get late early.
A suggestion? Perhaps the righty throwing, lefty hitting JT Schwartz should contemplate a switch to catcher. Having a lefty hitting catcher with a functional bat would be interesting. Of course, he may hit no better than lefty hitting Pat Mazeika in the long run.
Paul, how is Schwartz’s arm? Could he catch? Need a strong arm to do that.
I agree on keeping Parada, and hope he works hard to improve at both sides of the plate.
But I also think Nido deserves more respect than he's go/en. Though he hasn't hit for power, he's hit safely above the Mendoza line while generally been highly regarded behind the plate.
At the start of this season, he was seriously impaired by a severe eye condition, and hit around .100 both here and upstate. But once that cleared up, he hit very well in 'Cuse and greatly helped our young pitchers with his D.
I'd be very comfortable with him as backup if we can trade Narvaez.
Tom good article. I’ve been saying that for months. Why trade a top C prospect when you have the DH. To have Alvarez and Parada batting 162 games at the C position is a no brainer. People who are down on Parada need to remember this is his first full season of Minor League Ball. Give him a year or two to hone his game. He just turned 22. With Navarez and Nido there next year he’s not needed in 2024. Let’s see where he’s at this time next year.
As for Mendoza I don’t know much. I just hope Stearns doesn’t take this approach with FA’s. If we settle for the Maeda’s and Giolito’s instead of the Yamamato’s and Montgomery’s we’re in trouble. I don’t want reclamation projects I want the top FA’s like Cohen can buy. Hope he remembers he’s running the big market Mets and not the small market Brewers. A little worried about the next month and a half.
Like your thinking on Schwartz. He might surprise us all. How about that DH hole.
Bill, Nido had 14 RBIs in Syracuse. He never saw a baserunner he wanted to drive in.
Amazin Z, I agree.
But going into the Arizona All Star break, Parada had fanned 27 times for 70 plate appearances, which is extremely high. Half that rate would be good. But, yes, I cut him slack on that as of this early date.
It’s early but you have to worry a little about Parada. He is a little like Vientos,if catching doesn’t improve,no position,Ks too much.
I give Parada most of 2024 before I start to worry, but the K level does concern me. I hope it is just an adjustment after rapid promotion.
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