SAVAGE VIEWS – FEELING GROOVY
Life is great. After 23 games we are 16-7 and among the top four teams in MLB. Even the most optimistic of us never could have predicted we would be doing so well, especially without McNeil, Alvarez. Manaea and Montas in the early season.
What bothers me
a little bit is the nitpicking that has been going on among our readers. While
no team is perfect and every team has room for improvement, let’s stop and
smell the roses and recognize that we are on the right path. Here are some of
the things on my 84-year-old mind.
ODD
MAN OUT
With the imminent return of McNeil there has been speculation that either Acuna or Baty will be farmed out to Syracuse. If any player on the current roster needs to be moved, may I suggest Starling Marte. He is currently the least valuable player on the roster.
The outfield is currently manned by Nimmo, Taylor and Soto so there is
no chance for him to play the field. The best outcome for Marte and the team is
to trade him to a team that offers him the opportunity to play full-time. He’s
been a good Met, but it’s time for him to move on.
LuisAngel
Acuna is a keeper who plays solid defense, does not embarrass you with his bat
and will steal a ton of bases. It’s about time to give him a shot in CF and DFA
Seri with his .050 BA.
Recently
Brett Baty has come alive. Coming into this weekend he had more games with
extra base hits than Soto. If a decision is made to demote him, I’d suggest
that he be traded to a team that is willing to give him a shot. I really don’t care
for Mendoza batting him in the eighth slot.
BRANDON
NIMMO
It’s clear
to me that Nimmo is not cleanup material. His most productive seasons have been
as a leadoff hitter. His ability in that role in which he had a high OBP and a
tendency to work a pitcher was advantageous to the hitters that followed. It
really is OK to bat Lindor second, Soto third and Alonso cleanup. Nimmo’s
talent is being wasted in the middle of the lineup.
THE
BULLPEN
Seems we have this discussion every year when at least one member of the pen is misused. Sunday’s game was going well until for some inexplicable reason Danny Young was inserted into the game to protect a two-run lead. The outcome was predictable. This move comes under the heading “what was he thinking”. It’s nice that we won the game, but it was a concerning move.
With the upcoming warmer weather, we should expect
more length from our starters to relieve some of the pressure on the pen.
WHO GOES?
Within the
next few weeks, Manaea, Montas and Blackburn will be ready to join the team. I
would guess Young is the odd man out with the question of who else. I find it
hard to imagine Blackburn making the team unless there is an injury. A good problem
to have, I guess. A move that I would suggest making is trading one or more of
our talented relievers for a top-notch lefty.
Ray
April 22,
2025
11 comments:
Ray,
I agree that Nimmo was a much better hitter when he was leading off. Not sure what the solution here is , but he is not doing well as a clean-up hitter.
My plan -
DFA Baty when McNeil returns
Start Jeff in right
Move Nimmo to center
Start Acuña on second
Activate Alvarez
Return Senga to Syracuse
That was me
Hope anonymous meant to keep Soto in right. Otherwise, I tend to agree with the Savage View that Baty should not be demoted. Keep him on the MLB roster or trade him, but moving him back to Syracuse would not be productive for the team or the player. Senga's last outing was a gem. What would Syracuse do for him??! Maybe the comment was aimed at Siri. Ray suggested Acuna in CF, and that is something I would like to see tried, though I think his greatest value is at 2B.
Senger, not Senga, of course, Mack. Baty had-a mild hot streak, steps in for Vientos, and goes 0 for 6. He might be ready at age 40.
I like the possibility of experimenting Acuña in center, but experimentation is for spring training
Keep the kid where he excels
This is an interesting discussion - from the top of the article to the comments. I will add even at the risk of not staying interesting:
(1) Marte - I agree that he has the least value of all the players that are talked about that could go when McNeil returns. The logistics of it make it very difficult with his contract. There is no team out there that will trade for him to be a full time hitter for his contract. Can they just DFA him and eat all the $$? That would be a tough one.
(2) At this point, I think Acuna belongs at 2nd base, not CF.
(3) I get that Siri is now 1 for 20 and he will never be Tony Gwynn at the plate, but the man is gold on the basepaths. He has scored as many runs as he has hits and walks combined (5). I love the get on first, steal, move up on a grounder and score on another. He is an extremely valuable late innings player and probably has more bat than he has shown so far. If he could hit even close to .200, he has a lot of speed value.
(4) Baty. Geez, I just don't know. Some days I see his swings and he looks like he gets it; other days it looks like he never will. I agree with Ray that batting him #8 isn't doing him any favors. Maybe it would make sense to trade him to Cleveland for Triston McKenzie who they just DFA'ed and send McKenzie to the pitching lab. (although Cleveland doesn't need a third baseman) I have always been a Baty fan but am having trouble pegging the right role for him on the Mets.
(5) Nimmo. 100% agree that cleanup is not the right place for him. I think his best spot is the #2 hole behind Lindor and ahead of Soto and Alonso. His job is to move Lindor around and set the table for the big guys. If he hits 15 occasional homers, great, but his goal is close to a .400 OBP. (With Lindor hitting lead-off homers every night, the #2 hole in the Mets lineup is simply another leadoff man anyway). But do not move Francisco down .. he should be #1.
(6) The Sunday game issue was not that Danny Young was inserted into it, it was that he was take out of it. It is true that Young gave up a single and a walk, but sandwiched two strikeouts in there, including one to the last batter he faced on three pitches, the last one a called strike. The two runs that scored (on Young) were the double that Butto gave up. After he just struck out a guy on 3 pitches for the second out, why not let him clean it up and get out of it? Pulling him at that point shows no confidence. He was throwing well.
Agree that Mendoza still does not know how about to manage the pen.
How about Nimmo 9th ahead of Lindor and get back to taking walks and extending the counts. Alvy and McNeil can fill the middle.
I too was surprised when Youg was taken out for Butto. Had bad feelings.
I'm pretty sure it was a pre-planned lefty-righty switch - Young had just fanned a lefty with the right handed batter coming up, so Mendoza went with his right handed guy instead of leaving the lefty Young in there for the seemingly worse match-up. I don't have the match-up analytics behind all that from the batter perspective, but that had to be what was going on. Young actually was pitching pretty well.
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