Reese Kaplan -- Roster Rumblings Started But Not a Major Shakeup

One of the more fervent arguments you can have with various Mets fans is getting to the root of the current trapdoor that’s opened towards the division cellar.  Don’t get me wrong.  It’s not that being in second place just a piddling margin out of first is the same as in being a bottom feeder, but when you’re lost 9 of 10 games it sure feels that way.

I’m not going to retread the various pitching woes by performance numbers and injuries that have occurred which have made winning seemingly insurmountable.  

Even in the less-than-welcome announcement of Paul Blackburn taking the mound to start off against the Braves.  As bad as he’s been, his less than 5 inning performance which resulted in a 3-run deficit was positively stellar given what the club has seen from the former Oakland starter since his midyear arrival last season.

No, the issue again today is the same one that has plagued the club since the 2025 season began.  The Mets are good at hitting the long ball but not quite so much when it comes to driving in runs any other way. 

Now manager Carlos Mendoza has gone on record citing the difficulty plaguing the bottom of the order.  Well, to be fair, if not for Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, most-of-the-time Pete Alonso and sometimes Brandon Nimmo, it’s been pretty much everyone else.

To be fair, the club finally took some steps to address the offensive woes this week when Francisco Alvarez was sent packing (at least a month too late) in order to get out of the day-to-day spotlight to work on becoming the player who has shown flashes of brilliance in the past but not at all this year.  

Hayden Senger and Luis Torrens are both very solid defensively which is a positive thing for the pitchers, but neither is going to contribute much when asked to hit.

Then came the other long overdue announcement when Luisangel Acuna was told to return his slumping ways to Syracuse.  Obviously earlier in the season he was a spark plug whenever and wherever he played, but for now seemingly 4-6 weeks he’s been in offensive free fall.  His return to AAA is the hope of addition by subtraction. 

Unfortunately, the bat being brought up to replace Acuna is not exactly Ty Cobb.  Travis Jankowski is a solid defensive player with good base running speed, but whether you look at his short stay with the Mets in the past or his entire major league career he’s just a .236 hitter.  Consider him the left handed version of Tyrone Taylor with a bit more speed and quite a bit less power. 

The “be patient” crowd feels that it’s just a coincidental bit of timing during which the Mets have been slumping.  They’re quick to point out the Won/Loss record and the position in the standings.  The fact is that while others in the league reach out to obtain All Star level players in trades like Rafael Devers, the Mets are still working on the DFA/AAAA scrap heap hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.  

Over the coming weeks there are two important factors the club needs to consider.  Players on the IL will eventually heal and the team needs to make roster decisions when rehab stints have run their course.  Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga, Max Kranick and Brooks Raley are all future options in-house.

What’s not quite so abundantly clear is the offensive side of the ledger.  Mark Vientos is playing regularly again and they will need to make a decision about where he fits with neither Ronny Mauricio nor Brett Baty tearing the cover off the ball.  Jesse Winker is a better platoon player than regular daily hitter and he will at some point be healed sufficiently, too. 

The end result is that the Mets might bring themselves back to the offense that struggled badly in the early part of 2025.  Is that enough to make it into October baseball?

As part of these roster decisions the Mets need to look beyond the August and September results of this particular season.  They have too many middle infielders who are not performing at the level they would like but even if they were there is not enough room for all of them.  They don’t have enough middle of the order threats in the outfield and missing out on Jose Siri’s bat wouldn’t change that evaluation. 

Then they have veteran players who they need to decide upon roles for 2025 and beyond.  Obviously expiring contracts like Starling Marte are easy to put into the “Trade Bait” category, but what about Jeff McNeil or Brandon Nimmo?  Yes, seeing them traded away would give fans a sting, but in business you have to remember that in order to get you’ve also got to give.

That same approach might be taken with the various Mets starting pitchers in abundance.  Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn and non-premier AAA players should all be on the trading block, but bear in mind that the stellar prospects are the ones that would garner the most return. 

As it is, the Mets offense needs a major jolt right now and Starling Marte plus, say, Ronny Mauricio are not going to bring back a star quality hitter.  However, if the offer was to include someone other teams would covet like a “he’s still young” Brandon Sproat, well, then the likelihood of addressing current needs jumps up quite a bit. 

For now Steve Cohen, David Stearns, Carlos Mendoza and the various non-playing team employees need to double down on analytics to figure out who would help and to ascertain the cost of acquisition.  No one here is anxiously awaiting the offensive equivalent of the next Dicky Lovelady.