We’re coming up on the one-year anniversary of the Mets subtle
but crucial change in philosophy when they DFA'd Rick Ankiel and rolled the
dice on Juan Lagares in CF.
It was a move long-overdue.
The signing and installation of Ankiel in May was a
head-scratcher. Less than a month later it was a moot point-Ankiel was gone-the
Mets were finally ready to take a step into the future.
You could argue that step came the first time Matt Harvey
took the hill at Citi Field but it was an isolated event. His call-up and
success didn’t initiate a change in direction for the franchise but the move of
Lagares into the starting line-up and his out of the box success there initiated
a series of moves that has culminated with the debuts of Jake deGrom and Rafael
Montero in 2014. I’m not saying that Lagares himself was the catalyst to the
change, but the realization-finally, I might add-that the team needed to start
taking chances with its youth led to an early call-up Wheeler and the August
debut of Wilmer Flores.
Instead of grabbing a AAAA-level vet or combing the waiver
wires for a “veteran presence” the organization went with its promising youth.
A year later the Mets line-up features Lagares (now on the DL) and part of the
time Flores. The back-end of the ‘pen is now held down with young power arms
like Familia, Black, and new closer Mejia. deGrom has been practically
unhittable while establishing himself as a force as the #5 starter. I don’t
think any of this would’ve occurred so soon if Ankiel hadn’t flamed out so
spectacularly-though unsurprisingly-as a Met. On the contrary if he had
succeeded it just would’ve justified their stance on going with experience
while taking it slow with prospect development.
Sure Wheeler probably would’ve debuted either way but possibly
not until around the All-Star break. Lagares dynamic play in CF seemed to open
up eyes in the Front Office into going with potential over probability. He wasn’t
even a top 10 prospect heading into 2013 so the thinking probably was, “if this
kid we kind of overlooked can do this imagine what one of our blue-chippers
like Wheeler or Flores could do. It took an injury to Wright for the Mets to
call up the latter player but calling up a then 20 year-old Flores up at all
just wouldn’t have happened earlier in the Alderson regime.
A year later the Mets enter June on a high note-after taking
4 of 5 from the dreaded Phils-sitting a click under .500 heading into the
friendly confines on Chicago’s North Side. A year ago the Mets were 10 games
under sinking faster than the Titanic in the NL East. Since Lagares took over
for Ankiel last June 5th ,however, the Mets are 79-83 –which seems
uninspiring until you consider this: from June 6th-June 5th
of 2012-2013 the team’s record was 66-97. In that context a 13 win improvement
is huge. The decision to start Lagares in CF last June didn’t start the youth
movement at Citi Field but it gave it legs and now a year later that long-needed
change in organization philosophy is an unqualified success.
By June of next year Harvey will be about a ten starts into
his comeback, Syndegaard will be 1/3 way into his fist full MLB season also
Nimmo and Plawecki won’t be too far behind. By June of 2016 (post Super Two of
course) names like Dilson Herrera, Dom Smith and Steven Matz could be gracing
Mets line-up cars as well. For Met fans the heavy lifting period is through, the days of enduring
retreads like Rick Ankiel because the pipeline down on the farm was dry are
coming to a close.There is light at the end of the tunnel-and no beleaguered Met fans it's not an oncoming #7.
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