Obviously it all starts with the WBC injury to closer Edwin Diaz. That development kind of set the Mets season off on a dark path heading closer to the cellar than to the ceiling. There's no point in rehashing what happened and how the team addressed it. Just know that there was no significant action taken to address this horrific loss.
Free agent addition David Robertson was meant to be an 8th inning setup guy but was pressed into closer duty to compensate for the loss of Diaz. No one can criticize the wonderful work he did when flipped into team closer out of necessity. Nor can anyone place blame for the Mets trying to get something for him at the July trade deadline as he was on a one-year contract and the team was going nowhere fast.
Adam Ottavino had returned to help the relief corps and he was pretty solid for the club as well. After a "one for the books" 2022 season in which he finished with a 2.06 ERA, Ottavino was a bit over a run worse, but 3.21 was still highly commendable.
The other newcomer, Brooks Raley, was even better. The southpaw finished the season with a 2.80 ERA and turned an awful lot of "Who is this guy?" fans into "Yeah! He's our guy!" fans by year's end.
After that the bullpen was a shambles. Let me recite some names without statistics to spare your digestive system and heart the agony of defeat...Drew Smith, Grant Hartwig, Jeff Brigham, Trevor Gott, Stephen Nogosek, Tommy Hunter, John Curtiss, Denyi Reyes, Jimmy Yacabonis, Reed Garrett, Sean Reid-Foley, Phil Bickford, Sam Coonrod and a host of others. Even Danny Mendick took the mound. Ugh!
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So everyone was certain when the Mets brought in top-of-the-heap baseball executive David Stearns to fix this mess all would be right with the world. Well, it's January, pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in a month and here's what's been done. Take a look at the following ERAs of the cavalry hired by David Stearns to battle opposing hitters after the starters leave the game:
- Austin Adams -- 5.71 last season, 4.17 for his career
- Jorge Lopez -- 5.95 last season, 5.51 for his career
- Yohan Ramirez -- 4.23 last season, 3.99 for his career
That relief corp makes you all warm and fuzzy, right? Wait, there are returning soldiers, too:
- Phil Bickford -- 4.95 last season, 4.43 for his career
- Reed Garrett -- 6.41 last season, 7.11 for his career
- Grant Hartwig -- 4.84 in his rookie season last year
- Sean Reid-Foley --3.52 last season, 4.58 for his career
- Josh Walker -- 8.10 in his rookie season last year
Well, it's not as if there is any way to fix this problem right? It's not like there are any decent pitchers still readily available. That must be it.
Wait, it would appear that the following baseball players are still unemployed:
- David Robertson
- Adam Ottavino
- Aroldis Chapman
- Josh Hader
- Hector Neris
- Matt Moore
- Aaron Loup
Oh yeah...a whole slew of others, too.
If only the team wasn't controlled by the penny pinching Wilpons. A real team would spend the money necessary to improve the roster, right...right...right???
Oh wait, they are now owned by a billionaire named Steve Cohen but Jorge Lopez is their best effort?
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I need a drink!
I see the glass as being half full. Think they will add at least one solid arm to the pen. Don't really know what we have until ST to see who emerges
ReplyDeleteI still say open up the season with both Butto and Lucchese be in the pen, and let Hamel and Vasel be SP1 and 2 in Syracuse
ReplyDeleteAnd Megill and Peterson when he returns
DeleteDiaz
DeleteRaley
Megill
Butto
Lucchesi
Peterson
Lavender
This would be a great pen
IMO it's too soon to give up on Smith. He was bad in '23, but promising until then.
DeleteI can’t understand why so many reclamation projects. That lab must be a transformation place. Pumpkins go in, chariots come out.
ReplyDeleteReese spot on. This Pen as constructed is worse than last year. I know Stearns has done well with reclamation projects for his
ReplyDeletePen in Milwaukee but you can’t rely on that. He needs to replace the loss of Ottavino and Robertson with proven quality arms. Brent Suter is a similar arm to the RP’s you mentioned above and got a $3M deal. If Stearns has $10M+ for the Pen. He should be able to get 2 good RP’s on 1 year deals (possibly with a 1 year option) with that money or a little more. Also don’t forget Stephenson and Mendoza. If the Mets are bad and these RP’s on short term contracts are having good seasons they can easily be moved at the deadline for Prospects. Like the good trade for Robertson last year.
I also believe Lavender deserves his shot to be in this Pen. He’ll be 24 in a week and has nothing more to prove in the Minors. Also adds another Lefty to the Pen.
With a starting rotation skewing towards question marks and health concerns, the ‘pen will likely need to eat a lot of innings this season. And a rough year out there could quickly take the team from treading water to drowning. While I do think that Stearns will bring in a couple more pieces, I also think their plan is to shuffle through the very long list of maybes and hopefuls, starting in ST, with an eye toward finding a couple of gems to keep around for ‘25 and beyond. Stearns’ history, plus the guys they’ve brought in on the development side and the investment they’ve made in a “pitching lab” (I have strange imaginings of what that actually is) says that this could work. But yeah, we should all probably have the antacids and our coping mechanism of choice ready to help get through that process.
ReplyDeleteI said a while back that if you put all the money together that has been spend on all these hail Mary relievers, you would have had enough to sign a good one or two.
ReplyDeleteOur newly minted GM should understand that its not just quantity but quality that counts.
The relievers are there for just money. Why couldn't the Mets bring back Ottavino and Robertson at the very least?. Stearns released a bunch of marginal players to get a lot of space in the 40 man roster and then filled it back up with other marginal players. Duh.
I want to give him the benefit that he has a plan. I just can't see it at this point because its kind of a in-between process. Is not a rebuilt and is not an upgrade.
But if we go by history, its the Mets being Mets.
Viper, on the surface, I know where where you are coming from. But, when Stearns first signed in the be PoBO for the Mets, one of the articles called him a GM from the Branch Rickey school of GM’ing. Meaning, he’d rather get rid of a player a year too early, than a year too late. Believe me, that makes huge sense in business. So, I’m kind of surprised he is keeping Alonso unless the plan is to actually try to resign him. Besides, the offers I’ve seen from people whose opinion I respect (Britton, not Bowden) make the return less than appetizing. So, signing a fading Ottavino and a Robertson that has been off and on from year to year makes it less than a sure thing. The Mets were very, very fortunate with what they got out of their Robertson investment last year! I could see him coming back before Ottavino. Ottavino opted out.
DeleteLook at what Robertson on a 1 year deal brought us back last year. Our current #8 and #20 Prospects. I have no issues signing a Robertson, Moore, Edward’s Jr, Peralta, or a Brebbia on a 1 year deal (with an option if needed). If we’re good they help on our playoff run. If not we can move them and get back returns like last year’s Robertson trade. If they’re bad it’s a 1 year deal and you buy out the Option.
DeleteMack, Tom here. Also in the AAA rotation? Joander Suarez, the guy with the 1.98 ERA in AA after June last year.
ReplyDeleteToo early
DeleteNeeds to prove this wasn't a fluke stat line this year in Syracuse
Texas,
ReplyDeleteIs the direction that I am confused with. Lets say that the Mets were successful in signing Yamamoto, would they had stayed put after that?. I don't think so because it would have been a waste of talent. I do give them credit for the effort and the money they were willing to pay Yamamoto.
But they didn't sign Yamamoto and most of the players signed are reclamation projects and hope for the best types. That is a plan if you are looking to have a team that wins 75/80 games which gets you a nothing. The Mets can achieve this without Alonso.
I guess I am having problems with the fact that Stearns / Cohen are not coming clean with the fan base. I think a lot of us would accept a down year to get the finances in order if we knew that after that, Cohen's wallet will be open again.
How clean can they come without telling the whole world what they are thinking? Further, if they say that they aren’t going after expensive free agents openly, the MLBPA and even fans will throw a fit.
DeleteNone of those names of "still unemployed" pitchers fits with the theme of a youth movement. All are up there in age, with their best years probably behind them. Yes, there are some on the list that you could believe still have a good year or two in them, but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteWe will discover this spring whether there really is a commitment to youth, and if the team is really going to make it a season of trials, getting pitchers with a year or two left in them only stands in the way.
I have a thought: if they resign Alonso at a palatable deal, and sign Burnes and Fried… then, with all the position players coming up, pass on Soto to maintain some flexibility…. What y’all think?
ReplyDeleteSoto will resign with the Yankees for an Ohtani-like contract. I have no problem with that. No single player is worth that kind of money no matter what the other clubs are doing.
ReplyDeleteBring Bach Zack Wheeler
ReplyDeleteVier, as far as your "...if you put all the money together that has been spend on all these hail Mary relievers, you would have had enough to sign a good one or two", my brother Steve would agree with you 100% - so would I.
ReplyDeleteReese my brother Steve's #1 priority for 2025? SOTO. A Hall of Fame talent.