One of the stated goals of the Mets new regime is to "Upgrade player development.”
Steve Cohen, Sandy Alderson and Zack Scott - if you want to upgrade player development, then it is time to bring back the
best Mets Manager (Major or Minor) I have seen since Gil Hodges
passed away.
It is time
to bring back Edgardo
Alfonzo to a coaching, instructional, or managing role with the Mets.
Yes, Mets Legend
Edgardo Alfonzo, one of their greatest Mets infielders of all time, and the Manager
of the 2019 NY Penn League Champions, the Brooklyn Cyclones.
More than the fact that Fonzie
won, it was the way he won, how the team played, the emphasis on fundamentals,
the emphasis on defense, the emphasis on the running game and the emphasis on
manufacturing runs. They scored runs on
outs time and time again. The 2019
Cyclones were a flat-out exciting team.
They hit
against the shift. Took extra bases when
the other teams’ shift had players out of position and bases uncovered. Scored from third if the ball got by the
catcher. Even when they were thrown out
by being a little too aggressive, it was great to watch.
It was the
type of baseball that helped the Royals beat the Mets in the 2015 World Series
and those Cardinal teams in the 80’s beat the great Mets teams though those
80’s Mets were much more talented on paper.
Fonzie developed players like Wilmer
Reyes and Yoel
Romero to excel at multiple positions.
Wilmer
Reyes - Shortstop (38 games), Second Base (2 games), Third Base (10 games),
First Base (2 games); Yoel
Romero - Shortstop (23 games), Second Base (7 games), Third Base (19
games), Left Field (1 game).
Fonzie
was able to win despite the fact that the 2019 Brooklyn team was not a team
with many top 20 Mets prospects. Only when 2019 draft picks Matthew Allan and Brett Baty were added at the end
of the year for the playoffs, did they have any. The team they beat for the championship, the
Lowell Spinners, were better on paper.
According to Sox Prospects.com, 10 of the Red Sox top 20
prospects were on the Lowell roster.
Fonzie had
the team working on fundamentals and defense everyday including daily bunting
drills.
In 2018 Mickey
Callaway was asked why he didn’t have Dom Smith
bunt in a given situation and Mickey answered something like “I don’t think Dom
has ever bunted before”.
In Brooklyn
last year, they all could bunt. Even
catcher Jake
Ortega was able to bunt. In the
ninth inning of the deciding game in the first playoff round, Jake bunted over
what proved to be the winning run.
They played
hard. They played baseball the right
way.
Remember
when much heralded Mets prospect Fernando
Martinez came up to the Majors, hit a pop up near home plate that ended up
landing in fair territory and he didn’t run?
He was tagged out by the catcher.
In the
first Brooklyn playoff game in 2019, first baseman Joe
Genord (not a speedster) hit a pop up to the infield that the Hudson Valley
catcher did not handle and it landed in fair territory. When it did land, Genord was standing on
second like he should have been. He
later scored on a single.
Could the
Mets use Fonzie in Queens? Yes. However, they could use him in Syracuse,
Binghamton, St. Lucie, or back in Brooklyn.
More importantly the style of play we saw in Brooklyn in 2019, and the fundamentals
that Fonzie emphasized needs to become the norm for the Mets, not the
exception.
That style
of play. The emphasis on defense and
fundamentals is the right choice for the organization. The right way to develop players.
Time to make
the right call. Time to bring back
Fonzie.
11 comments:
Bring back Fonzie!
A potent argument presented.
I particularly like the multi-position use of guys and working on bunts - and hustling.
One wonders what the disconnect was that caused him to be let go under the old regime.
Who will Porter and Sandy want?
They want guys who develop guys well.
No one knows who Porter has in mind.
We'll see if that includes Fonzie.
They brought back Sandy. They brought back Stroman. They brought back Jauss. It's not a new idea to bring back what worked and was rejected for whatever ego or other reasons ($$$) by the previous regime. I have said all along that I used to win regularly at fantasy baseball by picking many, many 20 HR/80 RBI players rather than bankrupting myself on one or two key hitters and then scrap heap picking the rest. The aggregate total is what matters, not the All Star credentials of just one or two.
Perfect! Baseball the way it oughta be!
Let's hope it happens. Would love to see him here in Binghamton.
Thank you John
John, which of the 4 minor league teams' managerial spots are undecided right now for 2021? If you'd care to, and you were the new Mets GM, which minors franchise do you think he would take over as manager in 2021?
Tom - I would have Fonzie be a roving instructor or even be the Farm Director and have him work with Jared and Sandy to establish the type of baseball they want played at all levels. This will need to start as low as the DSL and work its way up.
If you look at the rosters posted, there are managers for Syracuse, Binghamton, Brooklyn - none for St. Lucie - but still one for Columbia which is still listed a s a Mets affiliate on their site but will soon belong to the Royals. So not sure there are any openings.
Reese - agree 100% Don't bankrupt yourself on stars. Quality depth is much more important.
John, sounds like a good plan, we'll see if Jared Porter agrees.
I thought I'm the one who "loves reunions", while you're more focused on Asian first-timers.
Anyway, I'm glad you're seeing the light. 😏 I agree with you now. 👍
I've been looking for Fonzie for a while, and wondering if he's somewhere in the Witness Protection Program under another name.
When we have a ML team sadly and sorely lacking in fundamentals, and a guy (essentially a FA) who has done a great job teaching that, it's too obvious a match to miss.
I'm certainly not proficient in tweeting, but I'm sure others here are. Uncle Stevie is active on Twitter, and wants to hear from fans.
Can anyone here send this great argument to him?
I agree with all your points here, but I notice you included Stro in the "brought-back"list.
Since he never left, despite sitting out 2020, he was not" brought back". He was retained via QO.
Bill,
I tweeted this to Mr. Cohen yesterday in response to his "News Flash - need to build a farm" post. I got one like. Oh well.
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