Reese Kaplan -- Tick, Tick, Tick...Time's Running Out

It’s getting closer and closer to the opening of the Spring Training period during which teams make decisions on who comes north with the team, who remains behind in a developmental situation at a different level and who must consider whether or not they’ve reached the end of the line as a professional baseball player.  For the Mets, there are several role players, bench players and one dimensional starters who excel at offense, defense, baserunning, control or strikeouts, but there are also several who have been on the fringes of prominence for long enough that you have to say to yourself, “That’s all there is.” 

Consider for a moment the case of pitcher Brad Brach.  He’s a guy who put up some highly respectable numbers earlier in his career, including his stellar 2016 season which was rewarded with an All Star Game appearance after putting together a 10-4 record with a 2.05 ERA as a middle reliever for the Baltimore Orioles.  His saves total later went as high as 18, but his ERA and control were all over the place.  If you look at his lifetime stats he’s got just a 3.39 ERA over a total of 496 games with 9.6 Ks per 9 IP.  Unfortunately, he also walked 4.2 per the same 9 IP.  The Mets bumped him from the 40-man roster and then designated him for assignment, releasing him to find work with another club.  At age 35 this year it’s possible there’s some gasoline left in the tank, but it does appear his better days are indeed behind him.

On the offensive side you have similar cases with players like Guillermo Heredia, Jose Martinez and others who would show occasional flashes of productivity, but never put together enough consistency to last in a prominent role elsewhere.  You wonder how players like Jonathan Villar and Kevin Pillar will manage as they get towards the middle and latter stages of their careers when no one was beating down the door to sign them. 

A lot of folks are waiting for the Mets to make one more significant transaction to improve the team dramatically.  Whether it’s a third baseman like Kris Bryant or Eugenio Suarez or Matt Chapman, a starting pitcher like Jake Odorizzi or Taijuan Walker or Julio Teheran, or top notch relivers like Trevor Rosenthal or Tony Watson or Jeremy Jeffress, there are still people out there for whom the only obstacle is money and not existing New York Mets organization resources.

Others are content with the modifications made to the roster and look instead to improving the minor league organization by unloading some unwanted or unneeded players currently under contract.  Whether it’s the big salaries like Jeurys Familia or Dellin Betances, mid tiered salary guys like Brandon Nimmo, or perhaps even opening up first base entirely to Dom Smith or Pete Alonso by trading the other one.  These types of deals could bring immediate help but could also be exercised to fortify the somewhat moribund minor league system. 

For fans, there is frustration after seeing the club miss out on some key names in free agency and only one significant trade having been made.  Show us something more.  Don’t just do a Sandy Alderson waiting out the market while the market continues to pass you by.