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1/6/24

Reese Kaplan -- Tick Tock...the Roster Still Has Vacancies


In a rebuild year you tend to try things out, see who rises to the challenge and who should no longer be a part of your future winning baseball plans.  We've heard ever since the July 2023 trades of frontline starting pitchers that the front office considered the 2024 season as a transition year leading into 2025 when a lot of money comes off the books and there is a much more appealing group of free agent options.  


Thus far in David Stearns' short tenure in charge of baseball operations it would appear as if that plan is actually going to take place.  It is now well into the first week of January and the biggest acquisitions are oft-injured Luis Severino, former Brewers Adrian Houser and Tyrone Taylor, Harrison Bader, then an assortment of what we'll charitable deem bullpen depth pieces, plus a few infielders in Joey Wendle and Zack Short.  Based upon these modest roster additions it would appear what they told Max Scherzer to get him to agree to be traded might actually have been true.  Maybe he's a fan of Otis Redding.


Pardon a sidebar for a moment, but HARRISON BADER?  There are three possible reasons for this acquisition.  He is a premier defender.  He can steal bases.  He was a former teammate of one Pete Alonso while they were in school together.  

Now consider what Bader provides with his bat.  To be charitable, he has had a fair share of injuries.  However, there's no way to slice and dice the numbers to understand this acquisition at all.  He's a career .243 hitter who if capable of being on the field for a rare 162 game full season would add 15 HRs and steal 20 bases.  

Compare that to the last famous all-glove/no-bat outfielder Juan Lagares.  His one solid year with the bat in 2014 when he hit .281 raised his career average to .250, but he didn't even have the power nor speed of Bader.  Yet somehow in his final year as a Met he earned nearly as much, $9 million in 2019.  

I suppose given that poor deal would suggest $10.5 million for Bader isn't that far afield from what a questionable addition to the roster should earn, but wow...there is no one other than Pete Alonso who is visibly happy about this transaction.  Well, Bader himself likely is overjoyed to have a job at all, let alone one paying him more than a great many better players.


So what does it mean for the Mets if the season started today?  

Well, they are planning to take a long, hard look at Brett Baty.  He was a top prospect in the system prior to the 2023 purge of starting players and despite his rough rookie campaign they do feel that he is indeed a real talent who needs to regroup and do what he did in the past.  Having Eric Chavez become a hitting mentor should help and not looking over his shoulder to see Ronny Mauricio nor Mark Vientos gunning for his third base job also has to help.  Joey Wendle will be the new Luis Guillorme (with a better stick) but he's not exactly starting caliber on a postseason aspiring team.


Getting back to Mark Vientos, he is likely going to get opportunities to DH from day one and to spell Pete Alonso at first base when he needs a breather.  Yes, D.J. Stewart is still here as is Tyrone Taylor, but the potential for solid offensive output is higher with Vientos than the other two.  Besides, the team is so light on outfielders right now that no one knows who will man left field on Opening Day.  Vientos is a bat-first type of player as we saw in September after his niggling injuries subsided and he actually got regular at-bats.  

There are still three vacancies on the 40-man roster if you believe the published list so it would suggest that there is still some player acquisition to be made.  The aforementioned left field vacancy is one of them as is the starting rotation and the 8th inning bullpen assignment.  Whether or not they fork over money for 38 year old (or older) veteran DH options is still unknown but again how would you know what the younger players can do if you make them ride the bench?  


As of right now the world is still patiently waiting for some upper tier player arrivals via free agency or trade.  Even the popular if not always respected NY Post ran a recent article agreeing with the assessment that folks are running out of patience watching other teams improve significantly while the Mets are behaving as if the Wilpons were still the owners.  

Now that last statement isn't quite fair as they have done a bang-up job rather quickly with ancillary management and development types, but the fact remains that the fans care more about the won/loss record than they do lower level mentors whose results won't be seen for 2 or more years.  Towards that end the fact is there's a LOT of work to do and no one is really sure how the Mets will respond to these obvious unaddressed needs.  

14 comments:

  1. Well, still a lot of players out there. I think the question is when do they stop the spending?

    Bader, I imagine, has a 4th proponent - he played under Mendoza. Maybe he is happy with the deal, if told that was all the years and dollars they were willing to spend right now to fill that hole. My brother, though, said it won't take long for Mets fans to become unhappy with him.

    No one said it would be easy. I wish we had a dome for weather control - might make the team more attractive, and certainly would get more butts in seats. I'd be far more willing to sit inside on a 45 degree windy day, where it's 70 and calm inside.

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    1. Tom

      I see this differently

      I'm not sure if top tier players want to make highly taxed salaries in a crime riddled city

      They can get the same money somewhere else not having the NY reporters trashing their every human move

      Plus family environment

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  2. Did anyone hear the Trevor Bauer interview yesterday on WFAN? He sounds quite contrite and humbled over his indiscretions. Moreover, he claims to be committed to be a positive force on any MLB team who signs him. Bauer is no doubt talented as well as a student of the game. He is very bright. Should he be given a 2nd chance? Would Uncle Stevie and Cousin David feel bold enough to sign Bauer and thereafter face the liberal-minded NY media?

    I'm not a very forgiving person. But I have to admit that Bauer had me believing after yesterday's interview. BTW, he was not a problem at all in Japan last year and word has it that his teammates really liked him. He also pitched quite well. He would be a top of the rotation starter for the Mets. I'd offer him a 1-Yr prove-it plus a mutual 2nd year option.

    BTW, not thrilled with the Bader signing. He is really a fourth outfielder and late inning replacement. Mets need to fortify the #5 slot with a masher in their lineup; Bader, should he start is a #9 hitter (although he does hit LHP well).

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  3. Someone tell Roy what my plans are if Bauer is signed by the Mets

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  4. Mack, that too, absolutely.

    Jack Bauer as manager would have this team fixed in 24 Hours. He's not as efficient as Rick Peterson.

    Saw this - should the Mets have gone after Ray?

    "The Giants and Mariners have completed a trade, per announcements from both clubs, that will send left-hander Robbie Ray to the Giants, with outfielder Mitch Haniger, right-hander Anthony DeSclafani and cash considerations going to the Mariners. It’s an out-of-nowhere trade involving significant pieces going in both directions. Per Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic, it’s approximately $6MM going to Seattle." Ray is going to miss much of 2024, but did recently win a Cy Young award.

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  5. For better or worse, and I think (and hope) it’s for the better, no GM in the game has more job security than Stearns (please David, no drinking and driving). And being a born and bred NYC kid, he’s unlikely to be bullied or frightened by the media into signing guys to make the fans and the blogs and the WFAN idiots and the beat reporters happy. The one year deals make it very clear… this is the year to see if they can resurrect a high upside reclamation project or two, and take a long look at both the kids AND the adults on the roster in order to build a plan and a sustainable org going forward. I’m good with that and hoping that guys like Gilbert and Acuña and Williams and Scott and Vasil and Hamel aquit themselves well enough early to get a good long look up here in ‘24.

    As to Bauer, not a chance. I don’t care how contrite he sounds now, begging for his MLB life. Multiple women have accused the guy of stuff that, if he did it to my daughter, I’d be out for blood. If he’s going to get another chance in MLB, let him go somewhere where the 24/7 media won’t compound the mistake of signing him by making the whole thing a giant distraction to the team. And somewhere I don’t feel the need to shower every time I cheer for the team with him on the mound.

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  6. Trevor Bauer? a year with 2 options? cheap? sure.
    Would the NY media go crazy? yes. Will Trevor hear it from the fans? yeah. Would he be compared to Hunter Biden? probably. But if he pitches well, and becomes a good citizen, goes to charities events, NY fans will probably like him eventually.

    But he will get the royal treatment at every USA and Canada ballpark. Does he have the skin for it?

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  7. I agree with Adam Smith. Bauer may be talking like a repentant sinner, but he is bad to the bone. He will say what people want to hear to get another chance, then with some security he will revert to his inner self. It wasn't only his issue with women (though that's a big problem) - he was a controversial guy with a very loud mouth that will create clubhouse problems that would cost the team much more than a bargain salary.

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  8. I will offer up a brand new idea that I have not seen in print: Sign Tim Anderson to a one year 'show me that last year was caused by injury' pillow contract to play second base. The outfielders are now Nimmo, McNeil, Bader, and Marte. The infield is Alonso, Anderson, Lindor, and Baty. The DH is Vientos.

    The only thing left is the bullpen and potentially one additional startiing pitcher. I don't understand why I haven't seen "Mets" and "Jordan Hicks" in the same sentence.

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  9. Rosario or Anderson? Cost about the same, Rosario will be better.

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  10. Rosario,Hoskins and Hicks would be good.

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