Reese Kaplan -- How Right is the Current Roster?

One of the most repeated cliches among sports fans is that "We're just one player away from being a champion!"  It's not exclusive to football, baseball, basketball, hockey or any other game of chance.  It's that time of the year again and now we're hearing that same tired refrain yet we can't seem to unify on what that single player need is.  

Some say it's a quality centerfielder.  Some say it's a better 5th starting pitcher.  Some maintain the injury-recovering bullpen is not as good as it could be.  Others question playing existing roster members who have failed in the past based both on the size of their paychecks and their past reputations.  No single player short of Mike Trout is going to propel the team over the top, but there are clear arguments to be made for maintaining each point of view.

Outfield Situation

The New York Mets have a surplus of players capable of performing at the major league level.  Among those folks who swung the bat any number of innings during 2019.  Among this active list were Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, J.D. Davis, Brandon Nimmo, Dom Smith and Jake Marisnick.  Throw in the rehab ward folks like Yoenis Cespedes and the Mets seem to have quite a few folks capable of handling the bat and/or glove.  

What they don't seem to have is the right combination of factors that make a person worthy of starting.  No one questions the bats of several but then they seem to fall short on the leather side of the game (or the throwing arm).  Others can pick it with the best (like Marisnick) but struggle to hit their weight.  Some are good but not great on both sides of the diamond, hence the constant chatter about a "real" centerfielder.

Starting Pitching Situation

While no one in his or her right mind would question the top four starters of Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman and Steve Matz, it's that vacancy for the fifth starting position that leads to the most frequent debates.  

The Mets have obtained two reasonably quality starting pitchers to fill that vacancy in Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha.  Most folks are way higher on Porcello than Wacha given his deep pocket paycheck for a usually contending ballclub.  He immediately signed a four-year contract extension upon arriving in Beantown for more than $20 million per year.  You can argue either way whether or not he was worth the investment, but in 2016 he won the Cy Young Award when he went 22-4 with a 3.15 ERA which is pretty impressive for a hitters' bandbox like Fenway Park.  Unfortunately, that was his sole exceptional year, having registered ERAs approaching or exceeding 5.00 in all of the others.  

Oh yeah...the Sox surrendered a package of players to Detroit for Rick, including an oft-injured Cuban outfielder who rides horses and hikes recklessly around his ranch.  Apparently folks felt Porcello was overpaid and his new deal with the Mets is for less than half the average of the last one. 

Wacha is more familiar to National League hitters than is the former Cy Young Award winner.  On that basis alone, many folks are willing to write him off as more of the same rather than someone/something different.  

If you dig a little deeper, between his frequent injuries he actually has achieve a higher winning percentage and lower ERA than his wealthy new teammate.  Health is always a big "if".  Consequently whether or not this investment was a good one is still to be determined, but a guy whose pitching is superior than Porcello's for less than 1/3 the size of his new paycheck gets my vote if he looks good in Spring Training.  However, right now most pundits have him penciled in to the bullpen as a backup starter in the case of trade or injury to the others.

Bullpen Situation

To read the media coverage, the sole action the Mets took to improve their horrific bullpen was the addition of former Yankee Dellin Betances.  That's hardly an insignificant augmentation given his setup role All Star caliber career.  For his major league lifetime Betances is a seemingly unimpressive 21-22 but matches that with 36 saves, a 1.031 WHIP, a 2.36 ERA and nearly 2 strikeouts per inning pitched.  Once again health is the variable that will determine whether or not this deal was a prudent one, but if he's 75% of the pitcher he once was, that's a huge boost to the awful performances the Mets got post-starters.  

Lost somewhat in the bluster of the comeback of Betances was the addition of a few other potential support pieces who showed precious little or nothing for the Mets last season.  Brad Brach is back.  Then there were the additions of Steven Gonsalves via Rule V draft and hopefully TJS-recovered Drew Smith.  After that is mostly the kerosene squad that contributed more to losing than winning, though it's expected big names Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia have to be significantly better.

Roster Situation

No team cannot stand improvement, but some get far too complacent in their 40-man roster by retaining or promoting the services of people who have not done anything of significance to deserve it.  On the Mets there are a number of questionable spots occupied by people of dubious quality, including Tyler Bashlor, Walker Lockett, Corey Oswalt, Jacob Rhame, Paul Sewald and Daniel Zamora, whose value is in their arms, as well as Ali Sanchez and Tomas Nido as backup catcher.  

Others have been added due to the number of years they've spent in the minors and the prospect of losing them to other teams, including Jordan Humphrey, Franklyn Kilome and Thomas Szapucki. Those folks are solid members for the future.  However, a quick glance suggests there is room for at least eight improvements.