When the Mets won with a come-from-behind effort against the Diamondbacks on Thursday, it felt almost as if a scriptwriter was hired to develop a feel-good story led by veritable team captain Francisco Lindor with a 4-4 performance, single-handedly driving in two thirds of their runs.
Now that game was made doubly important with a strong but not dominant pitching performance by rookie Christian Scott who gave up 2 runs over his five inning stint as the starter. The now down on its luck bullpen was then tasked to keep the game from spiraling completely out of control as the club needed to claw its way back to even the score.
Not only did the trio of summoned relievers == Adrian Houser, emergency newcomer Danny Young and Reed Garrett — hold the Snakes shutout over their combined 4 innings pitched, but the heretofore uneven DH J.D. Martinez in fact tied the game with one swing of the bat with a long ball flying over the center field wall. That result pushed the Mets into an eighth inning comeback where injured Pete Alonso doubled to right field and was driven home by Lindor’s final at-bat with a two-out hit to right field.
Wow!
As great as it felt finally to be on the right side of a close game comeback, after the dust settled it again brought to mind the question about the roster composition and what to do by the July trade deadline. Bear in mind that with the win the Mets were still a full 10 games under .500 and only sporting a record better than the Marlins, Rockies and Reds. Yeah, the current squad is not destined for October baseball. An 11-game winning streak would not propel the Mets into contention but only show that they are capable of losing as many games as they win.
So here we go again...another peek at the blow it up process. We shall attempt to be brief but direct. First come the hitters.
- Pete Alonso needs to go now for a good return on investment instead of a draft pick.
- Jeff McNeil needs to go, too. You probably have to pay down his salary.
- Give Brett Baty the rest of the year at 3B allowing him to prove what he can or can’t do.
- J.D. Martinez needs to go simply because you don’t need to bring back a 38 year old DH looking for a huge raise after the 2024 season ends. Get a good return on your investment.
- Starling Marte should also be on the prospective trade list but he would need to rally to get a reasonable return for the rest of his 2024 contributions as well as his 2025 contract end. A pay-down may be needed here as well.
- Harrison Bader pleasantly surprised many with more productivity out of his bat than was expected. Please cash in on it.
- Others that need to go won’t net anything in return. Omar Narvaez is on a much smaller scale who become the functional equivalent free agent signing somewhere between Jason Bay and Jed Lowrie. Good riddance.
- D.J. Stewart is hitting below .190. Players that can’t hit the equivalent of their own body weight don’t belong on your roster. He can’t run, can’t field and apparently can’t hit. Buh-bye.
Then you have the pitching to revisit. We shall head off Monday morning with a look at how the Mets future starting and relief corps will look once the great tear down finally begins.
12 comments:
Well, look at me writing in advance of them demoting Baty. I think it's temporary until they resolve openings that will exist when they likely trade J.D. Martinez and Pete Alonso.
One problem they create for themselves is the long term contract which does not penalize later years. Jeff McNeil's contract is a perfect example. In a contract averaging $11MM(?) per year, his last 2 years of the 5 years, he gets $15.75 million. So it is backloaded...so even if you trade him, you won't get nearly the value back and thus less cap relief. Say, if some team trades for him but is only willing to pay him $8 million for those 2 seasons, not $31.5. The Mets eat the rest. THEY REALLY NEED JEFF TO GET RED HOT BETWEEN NOW AND THE DEADLINE, so if they did try to trade him, they'd get more for him.
I think after last night's win, they need to try to see if they can get back in it - but not for long. It is time to win at least 10 of their next 15 to provide hope. Otherwise, strongly consider to start the selling. They do have 105(?) games to go, and with the recent additions of Scott, the new Megill, and the new Peterson, and hopefully a returning quality Diaz, and finally giving Vientos (.327) a real shot and to stop quibbling over his defense (hitting is contagious to the team), there is a chance for an abrupt turn around.
Also, without looking at it, the schedule HAS to be getting easier somewhere for them soon. Mostly good teams faced so far. Had they lost the last 2 games, and not won them, the hole would have deepened and a climb back much harder. So, based on the last 2, I think they've won a reprieve.
Garrett, of course, has suddenly gone from killer to scary bad, so Dedniel has a perfect opportunity here to cement himself. He faced 2 and fanned 2 last night.
One possibility, of course, is to trade the whole team and call up the FCL Mets, who had 19 hits and 10 walks and 14 runs yesterday!
But don't call up Brooklyn, which fanned 19 times last night. I don't think Nolan Ryan was on the mound.
I do agree with Tom, they should get more rope. I do agree with Reese’s take on what they should get if they trade, but, if they are worth what we think they are worth, why are they 10 under .500? I still think Alonso and Marte should switch lineup spots and stop treating Alonso like he is equal to Aaron Judge or Soto.
As I've written before, as of the end of the June 2nd games, the Phillies had 25 Ws. As of this morning, the Mets have 24 with 2 games to play by June 2nd.
The Phillies not only came back to a little over .500, but they won 90 games.
As Tom pointed out, very few of our games to date have been vs teams with under-.500 records, and we've played without help from Diaz, Alvy, Megill, and Peterson.
I'm not predicting that the Mets will turn things around and be over .500 by July, but I'm definitely not ready to raise the white flag of surrender either. YGB!
Gotta get the BP squared away. We would be 4 and 1 over the last 5 games with a BP. Now while I agree with the sell off it is still early so let it ride for a couple of weeks then pull the trigger. Interesting article on the fact Soto would be crazy to come here for all the reasons we know well but money talks right?
IMO JD and Stewart should be moved to make room for Baty. Need to figure out what he has to offer and is he the viable option for 2025.
I want Baty to play everyday so I'm fine with him in AAA. When JD and/or Pete are moved, he'll be back to play 3rd for the rest of the year to see if he can turn it around. Vientos will be your DH or 1st baseman
I think, absent an injury necessitating a call up, Baty should remain in AAA for all of June unless he is hitting close to .400, then make it sooner.
One thing that has impressed me lately even more than before is how smart Carlos Mendoza is. Now I understand why his wife, who was a dentist in Venezuela, had the courage to leave her job and practice behind and follow him. Good for him. And good for her. This guy is sharp. Just give him time, and leave him alone.
Guess you see a sign of Mendoza that the rest of us are missing.
I'm with Gus! Giving up on a guy respected all over MLB after a quarter of a season is premature at best and foolish at worst.
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