Bring D'Arnaud to Queens for Opening Day

If Spring Training ended today and the Mets actually had some kind of commitment to winning (as opposed to pinching Fred’s pennies), then Travis D’Arnaud would be making the trip north to Queens to start the season.  It seems at times the Mets can’t figure out how to get out of their own way and always seem able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  This season alone brought the following storylines:

• ·         Trade for a quality outfielder (Justin Upton, for example)
• ·         Sign a quality outfielder (Michael Bourn)
• ·         Sign a second tier outfielder (Scott Hairston)
• ·         Jenrry Mejia being held up for identity confirmation
• ·         Shaun Marcum unable to pitch
• ·         Frank Francisco unable to pitch
• ·         Johan Santana not in “pitching condition”

The consistent thread here is that whatever the team does, it appears to be wrong.  Now they have the opportunity to make it right.  Consider a lineup with young Mr. D’Arnaud hitting 5 days a week:

• ·         Collin Cowgill
• ·         Daniel Murphy
• ·         David Wright
• ·         Ike Davis
• ·         Lucas Duda
• ·         Travis D’Arnaud
• ·         Marlon Byrd
• ·         Ruben Tejada

While not exactly Murderer’s Row, you could potentially withstand the less-than-stellar inclusions of people like Marlon Byrd and the intriguing but unrealized potential of Lucas Duda if you have another hitter capable of 20 HRs and a batting average north of league average.  Substitute John Buck’s name in there and while you won’t have much drop-off in power, there could potentially be 80 points in batting average sacrificed. 

The conventional wisdom has the Mets stalling D’Arnaud’s major league debut until after securing one more year of his service under low cost control by having him begin the year in Las Vegas.  OK, from a purely financial standpoint, there is some sense to be made with that decision.  However, for a team that keeps promising financial flexibility in the near future (but whose starting date for that future keeps getting pushed further and further out), here’s a low cost way to appease the fan base who is somewhere now between apathetic and downright hostile.  D’Arnaud would come onto the payroll at major league minimum and 3 years from now when he is arbitration eligible you will have to pony up what you’re not paying him now…but by then the Santana, Bay and other contracts will be long gone and hopefully by becoming a contender your gate, merchandise, television and other revenues will be correspondingly higher anyway. 

Some might suggest that if Zack Wheeler shows he is over his bumps and bruises and is pitching effectively, you have a decision to make about him as well.  The difference here is that your rotation is already set with Hefner penciled in as the 6^th starter.  However, it appears entirely possible that 40% of the starting quintet – namely Santana and Marcum – may start the season on the DL.  Who then becomes the extra starter – Collin McHugh?  Hey, I’m sure McHugh and Hefner are nice guys but bear in mind that Hefner was bounced from the 40 man roster once already and McHugh was eminently hittable after his brilliant debut.  If you are down one pitcher, I’d say tough it out.  If you’re down two then you have to give Wheeler some consideration.  The problem, of course (which is a nice one to have) is what if Wheeler is pitching well when both Marcum and Santana come back and are ready to pitch? 

Unlike D’Arnaud who has had the equivalent of three full seasons in the minors with nearly 500 games under his belt, Wheeler has been in just 68 games – about two full seasons’ worth of pitching.  He could probably benefit from starting the season in AAA, and if he’s dominating in the notoriously hitter-friendly PCL then he’ll come into the pitcher’s paradise of CitiField and should enjoy success.  I would advocate looking for other possibilities if it comes down to short term solutions to the Marcum and Santana injuries but would not be on the "promote Wheeler now" bandwagon.  Besides, if this team has any strength at all, the starting rotation would probably be most prominent.  The lineup is another matter entirely and there the infusion of a talented young hitter would make a greater immediate and long term impact.

Of course, if Wheeler is tearing it up in Las Vegas then come the All Star break you can see if you have takers for Marcum, Santana or even Dillon Gee to create the vacancy.  You’ll likely still be in search of outfielders since the only help in AAA are the left and right handed strikeout machines – Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Matt den Dekker.  There’s not much in the pipeline, either.  The other three people who probably shouldn’t sign long term leases are Daniel Murphy, Jordany Valdespin and Wilmer Flores.  With only one second base vacancy it seems obvious that one more could also go in quest of outfielders.  Then again, moves of this nature would require the senior management to have a commitment to winning sometime before Noah Syndergard’s next offensive tweet.  In other words, it's not happening.