Reese Kaplan -- Now it's Time to Examine What's Gone Wrong

Sit down with your fellow Mets fan friends and crack open the beverage of your choice.  It won’t take long for opinions (often loud and boisterous ones) to surface regarding what the Mets can or should be doing to change their now record setting losing streak direction.  Some are valid, some are creative and some are merely hostile.  The fact is however, there is one thing 99.99% of the fans are in agreement about.  Doing nothing doesn’t solve the problem!

Now there are a precious few who will recite that the team is a mere 25 or so games into the season and there is ample time for natural course correction to occur.  While the club has not yet been mathematically eliminated from post season baseball, the fact is that sitting and waiting instead of having a plan and taking action isn’t likely the best course to right the ship that has been taking on water for over two weeks.  It’s like seeing a building on fire and instead of evacuating or extinguishing the flames you merely sit and wait for it to burn itself out.  Yes, eventually it will but then there is nothing left once the last flame disappears.

Some folks are harboring the “tear it all down” perspective which suggests that save for 3 or 4 players the rest are ill suited to be a part of the team.  This suggestion is not without merit though how much is certainly up for debate.  Many people questioned specific actions and inactions from the front office since the 2025 season mercifully ended and now it would appear a number of them are looking somewhat prophetic. 

Take the matter of Jorge Polanco who was signed to play a position that was brand new to him at first base.  That alone was adding risk to the evaluation equation butt the other neer really discussed before offering him a lucrative contract was his history of injuries that kept him off the playing field for a great many games each season.  When healthy he is a solid and credible player but in a new position and chronically facing injuries that keep him off the field this decision certainly is a valid one for concern and criticism.

Other players brought in had questions about injuries and productivity.  Sometimes these gambles work out and other times you find out why the player in question was available in trade.  Luis Robert started off surprisingly well given his previous seasons of poor production and long term injuries hampering his output, but quickly he has joined the great many players responsible for the losing streak.  His AVG is below league average and he’s striking out at a prodigious rate.  Granted, this early in the season it’s too soon to declare it a totally bad move, but the whispers are becoming audible.

In terms of trades, you need to ponder both who was obtained and who was given up.  At the time the deal was made David Stearns stood pretty much alone in his faith that veteran Marcus Semien would in any way replace the productivity provided by popular hitter Brandon Nimmo.  Having begun the season below the Mendoza line, his recent surge to the .230s is welcome but hardly comparable to what was sacrificed in tis deal.  Yes, the Mets will save money given the salary still due to Nimmo vs. the shorter term obligation to Semien but again there are not a parade of excited fans cheering for this deal any more now than there were then when it was first announced. 

While many were excited to see rookie Carson Benge get an opportunity to play regularly after a terrfic spring  during which he demonstrated with his bat, his glove his arm and his legs that he was indeed a player around whom the club could build for the future.  There were some folks hinting that is inability to match up against AAA pitching suggested that major league hurlers might be overwhelming, but I (and others) were shouted down about being negative.  He’s still well under the Mendoza line and while the defense and baserunning have been excellent, thus far he’s seeming to be unable to tackle this level of pitching.

It’s way too easy to pile on when it comes to the duo of Mark Vientos and Brett Baty but fans are now realizing that 2024 was a long time ago for the former and 2025 may be the non sustainable high water mark for the latter.  Neither has minor league options left so you either live with them or make them part of the bench instead of the starting lineup.  Unfortunately with the soon returning Juan Soto you still find the outfield stretched thin having lost others to injury as well.  It is possible they may want Soto to DH instead of playing the field to ease him back into full health, so that likely keeps Baty a part of the outfield.  With Polanco gone and no sign of Ryan Clifford advancing to the majors, Mark Vientos remains your everyday first baseman.

For today we won’t delve into the pitching woes but suffice to say that David Peterson, Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga are already on thin ice with Devin Williams soon joining them. 

Through it all fans and media are certainly left wondering what is David Stearns doing to address these problems?  It sure doesn’t seem like much of anything. A single win after a dozen humiliating losses doesn't mean everything is coming up roses.  It's still more like the stench of fertilizer.