Morning
This is the last subject I should be
writing about during a baseball game with only six more regular games to play.
FOCUS.
Things should be razor sharp at this
point in the season. Sure, others may do things that eventually beat you but,
in late September, you should never do things to beat yourself. So, how do the
Mets start off this crucial game? Sharp as a tack, right? Well, you must have
been watching another game. Instead... a Francisco Lindor error... then one by Pete Alonso. That raised the error
total in this series to five.
Add to this another Cedric Mullens brain fart (stopping on
the basepaths while a ball was free next to an injured Daylen Lile) and…
FOCUS
But no sweat… the deadly Mets bats were
facing a starter that had lost his last eight decisions. Jake Parker’s last win
was in July. And, add to this, only one qualified starter in the majors had a
worse ERA than this stud. Piece of cake, right?
The first seven Mets bats… Lindor, Juan Soto, Brandon Nimmo, Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Mark Vientos, Brett Baty… would go a combined 5-25
(.200), producing only one run batted in.
Look, you can't keep playing this way
and expect good results. That's not focus. Not with seven games to go. Cincinnati
knows what focus is. Their 1-0 shutout over the Cubs was epic. Arizona knows what
focus is. They destroyed Philly pitching. The Mets… here’s a new statement you
haven’t heard me write this year… they need help.
The rewards will go to the winner, who
will have...
FOCUS
Syracuse finished their season strong.
The important thing here is not how under par Jett Williams, Ryan Clifford, and Carson Benge have played at the AAA
level. The important thing they all ended the season going yard.
In the case of Williams, he may not have
an impressive batting average in Syracuse (.209), but he did have seven home
runs in the short time he was there and he needs to be evaluated using his
entire AA/AAA stats:
2025
AA/AAA: 572-PA, 131-K, 127-H, 17-HR,
52-RBI, 34-SB, .261/.363/.465/.828
Clifford was promoted to Syracuse the same
day Williams was promoted. He hit a little better there (.219), while hitting
only 5-HR in 142-PA, but, combined with his AA numbers, he hit 29-HR and drove
in 93 runs.
Benge played at three levels. He hit
well at both Brooklyn (.302) and Binghamton (.317), but had a real tough time in
his debut at the AAA level (.178). Combined for the three levels: 15-HR, 73-RBI, 22-SB, .281.
THIS is your next wave for the Mets, but
none should be pushed. Nor should they play winter ball. Give them time off for
the holidays… organize a training plan they can follow through those holidays,
and bring them to Clover Park in January to start hanging around the batting
lab.
All three need time, but, on my team,
they will be my second baseman, DH/1B, and centerfielder in the second half of
2026.
ONE LAST THING...
Thinking ahead, please let me know what you would like us writers to write about in the off-season.
Also... REGARDING DEEP DIVES...
please let me know what minor league players you would like me to do a deep dive on.
My plans going forward include posting the end of the season top producing prospect list of 2025... and I will continue to post top 2026 draft information...
But we all need some direction some time...
Let me know what you want and I will alert the team here
Mack
15 comments:
Mack For me, there is plenty of talk on the top 12 prospects... we need more talk on 12-25... I personally would like to know about the guys who get traded down the road... At the deadline we trade 12 minor leaguers but we can only comment on about 5... I like knowing about all of them because I definitely like looking back (years from now) to see who may have been our next Nelson Cruz...
Sounds like a Tom project
I’d love to see (actually, it would be cringe-inducing) an analysis of Mendy’s game management, but that would take a 3-volume set. He is, in my opinion, one of the worst game managers the Mets have ever employed, and that’s saying something. Nevertheless, Heyman reports that Stearns told him this week that Mendy as done “a very good job” and is not in trouble. I could maybe live with the bad decisions every night if the team looked otherwise sharp and on point, but alas. I’m not sure what team Stearns has been watching. I’m guessing that Stearns is going to keep him around so they have someone to throw under the bus if they get off to a slow start next year to keep the heat off the FO.
Adam
Sounds like a great.project that seems impossible to do
Eddie
If Tommy Boy doesn't do this I will
I would like to do something simpler:
I’d like to see the contract signings, trades and extensions from each winter for the last twelve years and see how they worked out. I’d like to analyze the player and his signing age.
For example: in my opinion, the Sterling Marte deal didn’t work. We all knew he was a player that took time off during the season every year. He had a pretty good 2022 as a 32 year old, took the next two years off, and came back as a partial player at 36 years old trying to act like he was an important player. This is why I don’t want Diaz back, ans if Soto opts out at age 30, I hug him and wish him well.
On a bigger scale, we can look at the makeup of each team in the playoffs thw last couple of years and I would suspect that most of their WAR came from organizational growth rather than signings.
I don’t mean guys the teams necessarily drafted, maybe they traded for a player as a minor leaguer or first year player…
Tell ya what
I'll do it
What trades?
Mullens, Rogers, Helsley
Any more?
Mack,
During the winter I am interested in:
1. Who is on the 40 man roster and who may be left off. Rule 5 draft.
2. Possible Mets trade acquisitions.
3. The January 15, 2026 DSL signings.
4. Winter meetings.
Thanks
Thanks
Mack, how about a segment something like:
1. If I were GM, discussing possible moves. How to better the team.
2. A Hot Stove Report: any rumors, etc.
3. Minor League recaps are always good. You guys do a great job with that all year.
My head swims. I may throttle back this winter, friends, but I will do a top 30 (maybe 40) in several segments this winter.
Hint tohitters: If you whiff like a stiff, you won’t get a whiff on my list. Every high-whiff Mets hitter that’s been in the minors over the past 20 years has NOT made the majors.
Noted
Noted
Curious if we could tease out how Mets hitters perform vs visiting hitters relative to each other & Thor annualized performance for the April/may period. Every year we start off hitting so poorly at th beginning of the year, it takes months to catch up.
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