Reese Kaplan -- BVW With More Wins than Losses

When people write their harangues about how BVW is in over his head, favoring his former clients and trading away the future, it’s hard to argue some of the points.  We’re not here today to rehash the youngsters he sent to Seattle or Toronto in the attempt to win now.  What I want to do instead is examine some of those folks who got away and whether that was good for the team or bad.

Free Agents Not Retained

No one was shedding a tear when Jose Reyes wasn’t offered another year nor was he ever picked up by another team.  I guess that one goes as a win in the book for the Mets.

Rafael Montero confounded the Mets with his dominance in the minors then his inability to throw strikes in the majors.  When he was out of options, they parted ways and he pitched in 22 games for the Texas Rangers last season, finishing with a 2-0 record, a 2.48 ERA and most surprisingly, a 6.80 to 1 K:BB ratio.  Yeah, that one stings a little, considering how poorly the people in the pen performed for the Mets.

Wilmer Flores was let go partially over fear of his prematurely arthritic knees but mostly due to his ever-increasing salary.  The Arizona Diamondbacks had no qualms picking him up for a one-year deal for $3.75 million.  For that he delivered a .317 batting average with 9 HRs and 37 RBIs in about a half season’s worth of playing time.  That one would hurt if not for the superior output provided by his minimum wage replacement, J.D. Davis, he, too, of the Michael Jackson conundrum of wearing one glove for no particular reason.

Jenrry Mejia was sent packing due to his ongoing PED problems, but the Boston Red Sox took a flyer on him and he served at three levels of their minors for him, finishing the year with a fugly 6.02 ERA.  Yeah, that’s another win for the Mets.

Warm Bodies Granted Free Agency, Traded or Released

• Cody Asche (one time starting player for the Phillies)
• Buddy Baumann (met him here in El Paso – seemed like a nice guy but with a bum arm)
• Jamie Callahan (part of that not-so-great pile o’relievers Sandy Alderson brought back in 2017)
• Christian Colon (saw him get thrown out of a game for instigating a fight in El Paso)
• Phil Evans (thought he’d be better but injuries took their toll)
• T.J. Rivera (ditto)
• Ezequiel Carrera (who?)
• Zac Grotz (who??)
• Cody Martin (who???)
• Matt Purke (remember when they thought he was a good signing in 2018?)
• Joey Terdoslavich (hit .308 for Binghamtom – an outlier year)
• Jack Reinheimer (Ruben Tejada lite)
• Jordan Patterson (Cincy actually wanted him)
• Adam Hill, Felix Valerio, Bobby Wahl (all went for the subsequently released Keon Broxton)
• Ross Adolph, Scott Manea, Luis Santana (all went for some scrub named J.D. Davis)
• Kevin Plawecki (hit his customary .222 without a sex toy in his locker in Cleveland)
• Kyle Dowdy (claimed by Rangers and pitched to an ERA north of 7.00)
• Neraldo Catalina (big “Who?” from most of you, but at 19 he pitched to a 2.14 ERA and we got Wilmer Font.  Ugh!)
• Eric Hanhold (claimed by Orioles)

Granted Free Agency After the 2019 Season Ended

• Aaron Altherr
• Tim Peterson
• Brooks Pounders
• Luis Avilan
• Brad Brach
• Rajai Davis
• Todd Frazier
• Joe Panik
• Rene Rivera
• Zack Wheeler
• Juan Lagares
• Donnie Hart
• Ruben Tejada
• Arismendy Alcantara
• Gregor Blanco
• Danny Espinosa
• Rymer Liriano
• Ervin Santana
• Travis Taijeron

Most of the rest of the players the Mets allowed to leave or who were traded away didn’t amount to much, so BVW’s legacy stands with one highly questionable trade, two highly questionable free agent signings (Jeurys Familia and Jed Lowrie), and one highly questionable managerial hire.  It’s too soon to say how a Luis Avilan or Brad Brach or Juan Lagares or Todd Frazier will fare on the free agent market.  The only one that will sting is Zack Wheeler, but there are $20 million reasons why they let him walk.