It almost always seems that a key injury occurs when the club seems unprepared with backup plans in place when necessary to have someone covering for whomever it is that is healing. In this case the issue, of course, is the Kodai Senga "arm fatigue" which at this point appears to be a non-surgical injury that requires rest and therapy.
Now the situation is quite a bit different when it comes to starting pitchers. While the Mets did make a weak effort to land Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the great letdown when their first free agent starting pitcher acquisition was a man with a 6.35 ERA for the Yankees in 2023.
He was then followed by Adrian Houser and Sean Manaea. Of that trio, only Manaea was welcomed to the rotation even if he was not quite the caliber of still available starting pitchers like Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery or Trevor Bauer.
So when the subject of how the Mets are planning to deal with the uncertainty and severity of Senga's injury arose during a David Stearns press event, to pretty much no one's surprise was the explicit message that the club has in-house resources available to fill in.
While any of these three are adequate for a rainout-caused doubleheader or a series of games without any off-days between them, none were immediately thought to be on par with the likes of Senga, Quintana, Manaea. Houser or even Severino.
Right now it is prudent for Stearns to state that the club has adequate in-house pitching alternatives (including untested rookies in camp), but you'd at least expect him to be evaluating options available via trade, free agency or last minute cutting by teams towards the end of Spring Training.
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And as a reminder, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery and Trevor Bauer are all still looking for jobs...given the injury history of Luis Severino it may not be that foolish an idea to grab hold of another solid and proven arm who at worst could help form a 6-man rotation if all are healthy and productive. That's a very nice problem to have.
What is the penalties if the Mets sign Snell? I believe they lose their 2nd and 5th draft picks and $1 million in international pool money. In addition they pay a penalty at 110% on that salary. Is Snell worth the cost? My answer is positively no.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of free agency, I thought Montgomery would have been a great sign at the right dollars. Because he is unsigned, I assume his asking are not right dollars for any team yet. Remember the 110 percent tax.
Bauer has the other personal issues. He might be an acceptable mid rotational pitcher if you want the PR situation
Finally, I believe that the 2024 team is to be "competitive". Find out what the kids have. Evaluate what you have and what you need to become a long-term competitive team starting in 2025. Don't sign free agents that will clog the pipeline.
Granted, we have waited a long time. I believe that I need to wait through 2024 again. But over the next 5 plus years? The setback with Santa will effect the season. But truly by how much? With or without the above four, do we believe playing the end of October was the ultimate goal?
Senga, not Santa
ReplyDeleteAre you sure? He brought us lots of gifts last year, didn't he?
DeleteI still think Megill’s addition of that splitter will make him a quality MLB starter. Possibly even an SP1 or SP2 level. Look what that splitter did for Senga in 2023.
ReplyDeleteToday was actually the first time I watched the video of Edwin Diaz’s injury. Sickening. This franchise is cursed. Someone in 1986. struck a deal with the devil then to secure that crown. I wish they’d told us they did that, I would have dropped the Mets and done something more productive.
Unconvinced? What about the death of Brian Cole, who easily could have been the Mets best offensive player ever, as this 2013 SI headline indicates:
THE BEST PLAYER YOU NEVER SAW
IN CLUBHOUSES FROM CLASS A TO THE MAJORS, EVEN SUPERSTARS SUCH AS ALBERT PUJOLS STILL SPEAK IN AWE OF THE PROMISE OF BRIAN COLE
SMH
Cole was incredible
DeleteA true HOF future star in the making.
Attention boys and girls... buckle up
I remember that his cousin was sitting next to him, but wore his seat belt. Walked away from the crash uninjured.
DeleteStearns must be smokin one of those sticks my old friend Jonny Lowe smoked after both singing and playing guitars at Duffy's
ReplyDeleteI took 3 puffs and the guitar solos seemed like an hour long
DeleteRIP my good friend
Noah Syndergard,come on down!
ReplyDeletePlay the kids period because there's no big FA signing in our near future. Because there was a glitch on Toms post this morning this is my post for his article. Tom don't forget 69' when you talk about miracles as they don't come any bigger and I was old enough to enjoy it but of course at 22 thought this was just the beginning oh the naivete of youth. Just saw an article about Aaron Rodgers recovering from a torn left Achilles hiking with RFK and wonder what Woody and Co. think of that this morning while sipping their Starbucks?
ReplyDeleteI am in the camp that thinks Megill will step up to the challenge.
ReplyDeleteSo am I. He's the player that I will watch most closely this Spring
DeleteMegill needs to step up and Vientos and Baty too. If they do playoffs are a possibility.
ReplyDeleteI'm closely watching all 3, but my #1 watchee is Megill. He has "make us or break us" potential.
ReplyDeleteThe Mets made a "weak effort to sign Yamamoto"? They went to Japan to recruit him, invited him to dinner at Steve's house, and offered him well over $300 MILLION dollars.
ReplyDeleteIf that's "weak", what would a mediocre offer have been?
Syndergard gard would be a good depth signing.
ReplyDelete