Tick...tick...tick...
It's now December 18th and thus far the Mets have not signed a single starting caliber player who doesn't have either a lackluster track record of accomplishment or major questions concerning whether or not his health will make the decision to have him join the Mets will be money thrown away. In the interim we've seen both trades and free agent signings from other clubs that seem to recognize you don't make it to October baseball by sitting still and doing nothing.
Going into the offseason the Mets needed multiple starting pitchers, multiple relief pitchers to support Edwin Diaz, some outfielders as only Brandon Nimmo is healthy and proven in that role, and a DH who isn't a laughingstock. It's now been six weeks since the off season began and the Mets stillneed, well, why type the same list again? What's true back then is still true right now.
While everyone heard the line about 2024 being a transition year, no one truly believed that it would indeed be taking place. Folks expected at least lip service towards club improvement. Thus far they have not been in on any of the personnel who have changed uniforms.
While the most blindly optimistic among us will assert that the lack of noise out of the front office is a good thing rather than drowning in a lot of leaks to the media, the more cynical (or dare I say realistic) among us will instead offer the refrain that no news is bad news.
It's understandable if the team was working on some double secret and ultra stealthy maneuver to address the team's openings, but as on-the-field solutions become a dwindling commodity that silence is making a deafening roar.
.jpg)
We've all lived through Payson and Wilpon eras when the Mets dug deep down into the castoff barrels to come up with third tier quality grape juice they tried to pass off as Dom Perignon. We were all pretty confident that with the Steve Cohen ownership the days of the likes of Omar Quintanilla, Rick Ankiel and the like as starting players was well behind us.
Don't get me wrong. While we would always want to field an All Star at all 9 starting offensive positions, all five starting pitchers and the top three relief pitchers, no single club can claim to have done that. Cincinnati came close during their Big Red Machine days (at least from the offensive side).
Even last year with two multi Cy Young Award winning starting pitchers, multiple All Star veteran players on offense and a Hall of Fame bound manager no one could have envisioned the kind of season that unfolded in 2023.
It's also possible that David Stearns has a high quality Plan A, a suitable Plan B and a treading water Plan C and a just-make-the-best-of-it Plan D. We all know that reinforcements from mostly Binghamton and Syracuse will arrive in 2025 (or later). That long range thinking is a part of the future but the problem right now is still what is going to happen in the present.
Going into this coming season the projected starting lineup is still a huge mystery. Assuming none of the above are traded away, you would have to figure on the following come April of 2024 for Opening Day:
Starters
- 1B -- Pete Alonso
- 2B -- Jeff McNeil
- SS -- Francisco Lindor
- 3B -- Brett Baty (theoretically)
- C -- Francisco Alvarez
- LF -- Unknown
- CF -- Brandon Nimmo
- RF -- Starling Marte (if healthy)
- DH -- Mark Vientos (theoretically)
Reserves
- Omar Narvaez
- Joey Wendle
- D.J. Stewart
- Unknown
Starting Pitchers
- Kodai Senga
- Jose Quintana
- Luis Severino
- Tylor Megill or Jose Butto or Joey Lucchesi
- Tylor Megill or Jose Butto or Joey Lucchesi
Relief Pitchers
- Edwin Diaz
- Brooks Raley
- Drew Smith
- Unknown
- Unknown
- Unknown
- Unknown
.jpg)
Go back to paragraph 2 and reread the needs and the solutions for a third time. The Mets still need a lot. The front office has not addressed the front line needs at all unless Luis Severino can replicate his occasionally dominating self. There are no outfielders. There is no DH. There are no solid solutions to support the bullpen. They still need at minimum two more solid starting pitchers.
Tick...tick...tick...
14 comments:
I'd rather have one year of Plan D, followed by a normal competitive club in 2025 and beyond, than a perennially rebuilding team with major cap and draft position issues. Don't make moves this off season just to apply band aids.
It certainly is looking as if Plan D (for Disaster) is the way they are planning to go unless they miraculously pull off a Yamamoto contract.
Yes, Stearns has not made major pickups, concentrating on the Moto outcome. But with 2 weeks remaining in 2023 my patience is still holding.
There are many FAs out there who can be had. I feel that he has Plans A & B ready. He will either build around Moto or fill in without him, and Moto's decision will decide which plan goes into action.
At this point there's no rush. I'd rather plan carefully than panic.
I don't believe Yamamoto will be a Met
No men on earth are more a gentleman than the Japanese
I see this home cook at Steve's as nothing more than a gentlemanly sayonara
So the whole off-season revolves around Yamamoto,heck the. Whole 2024 revolves around Yamamoto.
SOURCE
Yamamoto signs 800mil deal with newly funded Saudi Arabia LIV-BASEBALL league
I'm really curious to see what sort of roster Stearns puts together for 2024, especially if Yamamoto signs elsewhere.
This team as constructed above with filling in the Pen spots with Stearns AAAA and reclamation projects makes us probably one of the 5 worst teams in Baseball. Cohen and Stearns did say the plan is more for 2025 and 2026 but they would put a very competitive team on the field in 2024. If he signs Yama and another good SP and 2 RP to replace Ottavino and Robertson that makes us a little better than last year. Better SP and Pen as we have Diaz for the entire season. Lineup would basically still be the same. And me saying this is probably the most Stearns will do. That would be acceptable but anything less is not.
If it’s about 2025 and saying being competitive in 2024 is to just sell tickets that’s BS. And not right to the fans. Also if it’s about 2025 and beyond trade Pete now, get back some close to ready top prospects, and try to resign him in 2025. Why keep him all year when you know this team will be as bad as last year. Hell if it’s about 2025 trade Quintana (he’s only got 1 year left on his deal) and get a top 5 prospect back and let Luchessi, Megill, Butto, or Vasil fill out the last 3 spots in the rotation. This half assing it by Stearns doesn’t fly with me.
The Saudi’s might be the only ones who have more money than Cohen. With LIV they throw around $300 M deals like bottles of water. I think they also signed Renaldo for like $500 M to play in their Soccer league.
There are several appeals to Yamamoto going to the Mets. He can be the man! He will be their clear #1 guy and a pioneer in the consistency of their winning ways. That’s means alot to a 25 year old that wants to build his own legacy and not be a piece of someone else’s. Seems like none of us can remember how ambitious we were at 25, and we all like sure things now. I think the Mets have appeal to the young ace. They have spent and obviously will spend. His buddy pitched there last year and liked it. Why is everyone so negative?
I'm not talking about this guy until he signs somewhere
He's dead to me
Who?Yamamoto,Pete?
Hey would you trade one of Mets top prospects for Quintana?a
Never Fear, Johan Rodriguez is here. The Scrub of the day.
Just follow the headlines:
The Mets have interest in Justin Turner.
The Mets have interest in Snell as a backup plan.
The Mets have interest in Jung Hoo Lee.
The Mets have interest in Yamamoto.
The Mets have interest in Shota Imanaga.
The Mets have interest in Montgomery
Mets talking to Bartolo Colon in case they don't get Yamamoto.
Steve Cohen to invite Yamamoto back to his house as he will dress up as Santa and sit Yamamoto in his lap while having an open suitcase full of money next to him.
Post a Comment