Well, we’ve all had a few days to digest the blame shifting termination of Carlos Mendoza’s employment as skipper of the Mets. The last time I looked Mendoza didn’t hit the ball, field the ball, steal bases, throw pitches nor do anything else on the field necessary to win ballgames. Still, the club needed to make a tangible gesture to indicate they acknowledge that the David Stearns 2026 plan has gone completely off the rails but self accountability for a horrific roster construction is not apparently part of the current mindset.
Andy Green was a reasonable interim choice given his experience (albeit mediocre) as a former major league manager. Many folks are already reading a lot into this move with an eye towards next season since this one is pretty much out post season competition for the folks who call Citifield home. Having him holding the lineup pencil and making the day to day decisions is a safe albeit very much temporary choice to hold down the already pillaged fort while the club regroups for the future.
Already names are being bandied about for leadership that would be headline grabbing if not necessarily correct. One name already surfacing in multiple places is Albert Pujols as a rookie manager. No one is going to take anything away from the superstar status Pujols had during his long and very productive career as a hitter, but if you look at the best of the best in managerial history it’s not riddled with household name nor Hall of Fame level talents. Was Earl Weaver a superstar as a player?
Going into the Mets minor league organization there are no current Luis Rojas replacement types readily deserving promotion to the big chair. Carlos Beltran’s name will obviously come up again and despite having a long association with the Mets, he has the same lack of experience in the dugout that Pujols would suffer. What makes Beltran a bit more interesting is his all around skill defensively, offensively and on the basepaths. Still, to correct what’s gone wrong has more to do with the guys in uniform who take the field than it does with whomever is making the defensive alignments and the stolen base decisions.
Putting aside the managerial quandary for a moment, the other big issue for the Mets is figuring out who has a future here or as a trade chip. Both Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing have already demonstrated enough talent that they are already written in ink for next season. Many of the other minor league and fringe major league players are a whole lot less certain. Nearly everyone has tired of the long failed experiments with Brett Baty and Mark Vientos. Less clear is the potential for major league productivity for Ronny Mauricio whose injury history has undercut his ability to establish himself. With Marcus Semien’s injury it is indeed reasonable to expect to see Mauricio 5 out of every 7 games until the expensive former Ranger returns.
On the pitching side the David Peterson deal is long overdue as it was transparent that the southpaw has made very little of his major league career in a Mets uniform. Until Clay Holmes is ready to take the major league mount again, you need to see how Nolan McLean, Christian Scott and any other fill-ins (like the up and down Zach Thornton) can do. Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga have totally worn out their welcomes and it’s entirely possible that one or both could find themselves in the bullpen for most of the rest of this wasted season. Freddy Peralta’s greatest value now is as a trade chip though his trade partner, Tobias Myers, is still very much in that Peterson/Megill fringe space that has not yet suggested he is solid going forward either.
Right now the Mets need to figure out who can possibly help in the future. It is good news that Jorge Polanco finally hit a rehab assignment in Syracuse, but the word from nearly everyone associated with the club is that he’s prepping to be the new DH upon his return. If that is indeed the case, then there is even less room for Baty or Vientos on the roster. Jared Young is still being considered the regular first baseman but at age 31 and never having established himself anywhere he’s played the team must know that he like since departed M.J. Melendez and still here Eric Wagaman are what they are — spare parts.
For now the upheaval has indeed started between Mendoza and Peterson, but it’s barely scratching the surface of long overdue changes that need to be made. Here’s hoping the front office understands that the dearth of talent in the minors suggests that a prospect influx is a better approach than the ongoing delusion that the cast of characters not getting it done are indispensable to climb out of last place into what — an aspiration for 4th?
1 comment:
It is sad in a game yesterday that there were just so many players who are not pulling their weight. It’s a series of pluses and minuses. Still too many minuses 14 men left on base. On the other side of town, the Red Sox, who are in a similar situation to the Mets, swept the Yankees and are now back on the edge of relevance. The Mets are outside the realm of relevance right now. They will probably mount some sort of a rally, but it’ll be too little too late.
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