Are such ideas madness? Heresy? Deranged?
Despite Sandy’s rose-colored 90 Win Met-world and David Wright’s hope for a playoff season. It’s a remote possibility, at best. Speaking of the captain, explore trading him too. I was absolutely against trading Wright a couple of years ago. Now I think , if the right deal presents itself, they should pull the trigger-maybe as soon as the trading deadline this year. Wright deserves a shot at the post-season before his mid-30s and it’s just not going to happen with the Metropolitans.
These may all seem like radical ideas but if you’re the Mets
you need to do something to excite the fanbase. C. Young and E. Young Jr. aren’t
going to do that. Neither are Bartolo Colon, Dice-K, Duda, Davis, Tejada, et
al. What will excite Mets fans is the opportunity to see the team's future on the
field today and the chance to invest emotionally in the careers of Flores, Lagares, Puello,
Syndegaard, Montero, etc… Let's be given the opportunity to watch and become fans of these guys as they learn to play the game on the
biggest stage.
At the very least you will see a team of young and hungry
players out on the field as they develop into a core of the franchise. Also,
these players will develop a rapport with each other, bonding as teammates on
and off the field. As the deGrom’s, Plawecki’s, Matz’s, Rosario’s, Smith’s,
Nimmo’s, and Ynoa’s arrive in future years they will joining a group who took
their lumps together and can become leader’s to these potential future Met
stars.
I could see the reasoning on going with the veteran’s like
TC wants to do if the team was on the cusp of playoff contention. They’re not
and won’t be for another couple of years. The FO should cut loose the likes of
Valverde and Farnsworth, and go with young arms like deGrom and Walters instead.
After jettisoning C. Young and Colon at the trading deadline the Mets should
have the goal of having one of the youngest teams in MLB.
I think that in 2014 the Mets are once again going to be floating in a sea of mediocrity. So why not have a young and exciting team as
opposed to one with been there, done that veterans-I’m obviously not including
Wright among them. He’s an important part of this team but as I stated above I
wouldn’t be against trading him either.
The 2014 Mets need to become a team built for the future. That future should start now.
What do you think-should the Mets youth movement begin this spring?
Yes? No? Why? Why Not?
5 comments:
New York City is a tough place to start a youth movement on Opening Day - too much pressure. But I agree with you philosophically - bring on the youth as quickly as possible - so I am all for no Farnsworth and Valverde to start the season. And move Chris Young, if he does not blossom, and Colon at the trading deadline, and get youth in here. 2015 should be a contention year, and that will only happen if the kids get a real break-in period in 2014.
Similarly, Mejia should be in rotation day 1 - if Dice pitches well, stick him in the pen as a back up starter, along with Torres.
Etc.
If someone told me the mets would win another 74 games with a lineup of:
Puello, Lagares and grandy in the outfield
Wright, Flores, murph and (whoever at first)
TDA catching
Rotation of:
Wheeler
Niese
Mejia
Thor
Montero
(With degrom replacing the inevitable injury bug)
I would not be that upset. .......because there would at least be excitement, potential and enthusiasm there.
I don't like screwing with people's heads, but I would let go most of the aging pitchers and turn the rotation over to the kids...
Wheeler, Niese, Gee, Mejia, Montero...
My pen would be Parnell, Familia, Black, Rice, Torres, and (the exception) John Lannon
Lineup: Duda or Davis, Murphy, Tejada, Wright, d'Naud (Flores, , Satin)
OF: Young, Young, Lagares, Grandy, (den dekker)
That's 23... youse guys take it from there...
Young & Hungry!
You've hit upon the key here. It's not necessarily only about winning and losing. It is about exciting vs. boring. The Mets under Collins have not only been boring but have morphed into irrelevant. How much excitement was there each time they brought a new player into the mix -- Harvey, Wheeler, Flores (before his ankles gave out last summer)?
I can understand (though not necessarily agree) with them wanting to see what they have with the Davis/Duda situation, but again they are not actively looking at a Plan B.
No one can explain the inertia on shortstop. Even if he made a pile of errors, I'd be a lot more interested in the team seeing what Flores could bring to the table there than the formerly steady glove of Tejada.
The 5th starter "competition" is an absolute joke. A career 4.52 guy pitching to a 4.50 ERA should not be trumping either of two pitchers who have been in AAA already with career sub 3.00 ERAs (Mejia and Montero). I know the rationale -- play a guy like Dice-K until June, flip him in trade for some A prospect and open the door for one of the new hurlers, but that means you're punting the first 10 weeks of the season.
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