2/19/20

Reese Kaplan -- Is It Time To Cut Your Losses?



It’s always interesting to see the miscellaneous feedback that emanates from Spring Training which often contradicts what you’ve heard or read elsewhere.  Some of it is the usual, “Player X is hitting line drives no matter who pitches” or “Player Y looked foolish as the breaking pitch buckled his knees.”  Those types of lines are expected year after year with various players taking the roles of A and B. 


This year the unexpected and contradictory stories are a bit more specific with 2019’s walking wounded squad.  Specifically, we all saw many videos of the enlarged but seemingly healthy Yoenis Cespedes demonstrating what he’s capable of doing with the bat in his hands (and even occasionally running to prove he can).  Everyone started up their hypothetical “what if” conversations regarding the roster conundrum should Cespedes surprisingly break camp with the club.  After all, his contract restructuring has major financial incentives for Cespedes personally should he fly north at the end of Spring Training.


Then there was the seemingly horrific news of Jed Lowrie showing up to camp wearing a brace that looked as if he was recovering from some kind of skiing accident, extending from his thigh to his calf.  After having missed all of 2019 except for 7 unproductive pinch hitting appearances in September, this revelation had everyone firing their anti-Brodie Van Wagenen shots for having squandered $20 million on a guy not even capable of taking the field.

Imagine everyone’s surprise come Tuesday to hear from the General Manager contradicting both of these notions.  From Brodie Van Wagenen comes the announcement that Jed Lowrie is fit to play but not to count on Yoenis Cespedes just yet. 

Huh?

The cynic in most of us would think that since it was Van Wagenen who made the curious decision to ink the elder statesman in Lowrie and got nothing in return, he’s going to be painting as rosy a picture as possible to help justify his now-apparently poor decision making. 

Conversely, Van Wagenen had no input whatsoever on Sandy Alderson’s blunder bidding against himself on Yoenis Cespedes, so the only face he can save here is to delay Yo’s progress to the big club in order to save payroll dollars and keeping the already crowded outfield from becoming even more difficult to manage.  After all, if Cespedes comes north and you’re paying him the major bucks, that would mean guys like JD Davis and/or Brandon Nimmo would have to sit to make room for him. 


There are some folks who maintain that other clubs are actually actively soliciting a deal for Yoenis Cespedes.  If that was indeed true, you would think the Mets would be hell bent on making sure he plays as soon as possible in order to increase the likelihood of it happening.  As it is, a Cespedes trade would kind of be like the old “To get Mike Hampton you have to take Derek Bell, too” transaction prior to the 2000 season.  If the Mets want someone to pay full bore for Cespedes, expect to see Andres Gimenez, Ronny Mauricio, Thomas Szapucki or someone of that ilk attached to the deal.   

As the season opens, there is really no room for Jed Lowrie with Luis Guillorme being a more gifted defender and significantly less expensive.  Similarly, if they are serious about converting both JD Davis and Dom Smith to left field, Michael Conforto stays in right field, then they need a place to play Brandon Nimmo.  Where does Yo go?  I personally think in both cases they have, through health and salary, played themselves out of future plans for the Mets and the club would benefit from any minor league fodder their salary relief could bring. 

13 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

The fan in me still wants a revived Cespedes batting behind Alonso. I'm not giving up on that just yet.

Remember1969 said...

Tom, I don't disagree with that vision of Cespedes adding thump to the already strong line-up, but I guess the Mets fan in me would like to see Cespedes traded to an AL team like the Rangers for a couple of prospects.

My thinking .. (1) Cespedes's presence seems like it will be a frustrating circus all year and not conducive to the team approach - "I won't talk to the media". This team seems like it got things together in 2H2019. I'd like to see a continuation of that this year without the sideshow.
(2) J.D. Davis earned some playing time last year. Obviously we haven't seen if he has been able to work on and improve his left field defense over the winter, but he has had a ton of minor league success with the bat and given some solid opportunity last year, showed that he can perform at the MLB level as well. Let's give him the job he has earned.

Will that cut into their depth? maybe a bit, but not much.

bill metsiac said...

I'm with Tom. Imagine a revived and incentivized Yo having one of his typical seasons elsewhere while our inexperienced LFers struggle.

Then the "cynic in most of us" would have a field day jumping all over Brodie for making a huge blunder to save a few dollars. AND giving up a top prospect to boot. 🤬

Tom Brennan said...

Remember 1969, I agree except for one thing:

Guys get hurt. McNeil missed nearly 30 games, Cano missed a bunch, Nimmo missed a boatload.

If we lost that much starting player time again, Cespedes should have a pretty easy time racking up plate appearances.

If not, trade him in July?

Reese Kaplan said...

If lowering payroll helps get the Wilpons a buyer, then let BVW do his job.

Mike Freire said...

I think part of it is posturing, so that BVW can maximize each player's trade value.

Looking at the roster, as you said, there is very little room for either player and if it weren't for the massive
contract(s), they would be toast.

If they cannot be traded and they cannot play, I would explore an injury settlement and move on.

Mack Ade said...

I still think we should offer a package of Cespedes, Cano (we pay half of his remaining years) and Lowrie in return for Arenado.

They would save a big sum of money, plus get 3 players that might help them this year thru their rebuilding plan.

Remember1969 said...

Just a couple of follow-ups - I understand the injury thing. If Davis were to be hurt for any length of time, Cespedes would be nice to have.

It is one thing to stand in the batter's box for a bit taking swings, it is another to stand in left field for the better part of two hours and perhaps have to run hard 80 or 90 feet for fly balls a few times a game, and perhaps slide into base several times a week .. how are his feet going to react. If we had the DH, I would say yes, without it, I am leery of what he actually brings to the table. It is a real stretch to believe he will be able to move well enough to not be a big defensive liability.

Bob W. said...

What good is Lowrie hitting if he can't run the bases at all.

Mack. And the Rockies do that trade why? As much as they may feel the need to trade Arenado, he is their marquee player. I doubt they take three lousy contracts off the Mets hands in exchange.

Mack Ade said...

Bob-

1. Lowrie can be an effective late inning power pinch hitter who, once he gets on base, can be pinch run for.

2. Rockies have stated many times they want to dump Arenado's contract.

bill metsiac said...

If the current payroll turns off a buyer, that buyer is not someone I want. NO-how!

bill metsiac said...

If the Rockies are deriously interested in moving NA, there will be a lot of serious bidders out there who will be offering a lot more than aging salary dumps.
I'm fine with Squirrel at 3B.Teams like the Phillies and Braves don't seem to be as satisfied.

At the very least, the Rockies would want (and probably get) young, controllable ML talent PLUS at least 2 top prospects.

Bob W. said...

Exactly my point, Bill. Just look at the Yankees. They could "dump" Miguel Andujar and Clint Frazier, and it would be a much better deal than Lowrie/Cano/Cespdees at this point.