Reese Kaplan -- Deja Vu is Not Always a Good Thing, Mets Fans

Back in the de Roulet days and the Wilpon days the Mets fans became readily conditioned to the club bypassing legitimate baseball stars who commanded at least an average salary and instead spent their time sifting through the DFA-dumping and unwanted players without contracts always hoping to catch lightning in a bottle from a minimum wage roster addition.  We can peruse a long list of AAAA type ballplayers the Mets chose to employ back then instead of filling holes with established major league quality players.  There were a lot of losing years as a result.

Fast forward to the present and you now see the team is in the hands of Steve Cohen, arguably the richest owner in baseball.  Things just have to be different.  You couldn’t imagine the club going into a $765 million contract for the best available players back in those dark days.  Nor could you foresee them paying over $30 million for a first baseman who apparently had no other takers.  Yes, indeed, things are indeed going to be different for Mets fans from now on!

Or not...

Today a headline came out that David Stearns and his front office personnel are looking at the ongoing myriad of injuries and poor performers.  Instead of engineering a trade for someone who could help right the ship, instead the club went after former Mariners dumpee who was supposed to give pop to the Mets lineup.  Wait, no, that’s his name, Zach Pop. 

So what kind of a player is the latest AAAA acquisition?  Well, he does throw hard — 96 or more at times.  Unfortunately speed alone doesn’t get it done.  In the five years he’s been around the majors with the Marlins, Blue Jays and Mariners he does own a winning record of 8-5 over an aggregate of 162 games averaging 7 strikeouts and over 3 walks per 9 innings pitched.  It is a bit alarming that in 161 innings he’s given up 161 hits and his WHIP of 1.342 suggests he’s having trouble keeping folks off base.

With the Mariners this year he had a few decent appearances before a disastrous 7 run inning that drove his ERA up to 13.50 for the 2025 season.  That’s bad even by his past historical standards, but a pitcher with a career 4.75 ERA is at best a middle innings arm when someone is knocked out early, not someone you’d entrust to preserve a victory.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m hoping Mr. Pop embraces the Jeremy Hefner advice and somehow turns it around, but history suggests it won’t happen.  Before you call me a negative nellie, take a look at the others the Mets have put on their payroll this year:

• Austin Warren
• Colin Poche
• Dicky Lovelady
• Jose Castillo
• Chris Devenski
• Justin Garza
• Ty Adcock
• Jose Urena

Then there is another list of people from within the Mets farm system.  Did it include the cream of the pitching crop.  Well...

• Brandon Wadell
• Blade Tidwell
• Genesis Cabrera
• Justin Hagenman
• Jonathan Pintaro
• Tyler Zuber
• Rico Garcia

Do you know who’s not on either of these lists?  Nolan McLean.  Brandon Sproat.  Jonah Tong.  You know, pitchers who might have a major league future beyond being a 30+ year old who spends as much time in the minors as he does struggling to make the majors.

Do you know who else is not on either of these lists?  There are no solid opening day roster caliber pitchers from other teams that would require making a trade.  Just because the summer trading deadline occurs at the end of July that doesn’t necessitate waiting around until then to take action to improve the club.  Already the Mets have faced injuries to:

• Kodai Senga
• Sean Manaea
• Frankie Montas
• Paul Blackburn (twice)
• Max Kranick
• Griffin Canning
• A.J. Minter
• Danny Young
• Dedniel Nunez

Now many of us (myself included) sometimes have the delusion that a front office’s job to improve the roster is easier said than done.  Still, hoping to find a diamond in the rough often results in moderately well polished cubic zirconias instead.  That’s not how you attempt to win a pennant.