Reese Kaplan -- Step Down to Enjoy Baseball Once Again

Many writers on this site are what in business we call SMEs -- Subject Matter Experts -- when it comes to the state of the Mets minor leagues.  I do not count myself as one of them.  I’ve spent my life concentrating on the big leagues while barely acknowledging that there was a less glamorous but more enthusiastic crop of future MLB ballplayers who would run through a fence or engage in a full blown mano-a-mano bench clearing brawl when circumstances arise that demand it.  

With the Mets having rapidly spiraled out of contention there are fans advocating a mass promotion of these youngsters to play for the major league version of the Mets.  The feeling is that the constant struggle for offense and other Mets woes have become just too much and people want something new.  I’m not quite sure how they think it would work...do they advocate benching the current starters, releasing them or employing them to hawk overpriced hot dogs in the stadium?  

I can understand the sentiment.  Fresh faces on young folks who actually want to show off what they can do at a higher level would be infinitely more interesting than the sleepwalking regulars who are proving that Starbucks must have stopped serving during the pandemic.  How could every one of the players struggle to achieve even mediocrity? 

Look up and down the lineup and the only clear winners with offensive stats are Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo.  J.D. Davis has produced offensively but fans and media go apoplectic if he’s out there attempting to play defense. You have had moments from many others but there are no bat swinging All Stars to be found on Steve Cohen’s Mets team.  

I’m not going to rehash the pros and cons of trying to retain high priced so-called hitters like Michael Conforto and Javy Baez.  The contract for Francisco Lindor is done and you just have to swallow hard and hope he rebounds to approach earning it.  So perhaps that means you have three players whose names are written in ink for the 2022 team.  That would suggest there is plenty of room for improvement. 

Now there are any number of interesting prospect players in the Mets minor leagues both on the field and on the mound.  The problem is there are none of them in AAA.  Someone once advised me that a good team will use the one step down from the majors not to develop players nor to win ball games, but simply to have AAAA types of veteran players available to summon up to the majors to fill in for injured members of the roster.  That would explain seeing folks like Vance Worley, Josh Reddick, Wilfredo Tovar and Arodys Vizcaino.  

No, the ones the folks want to see are some of the younger high flyers in AA and A that are suggesting they have a future as regulars in the major leagues.  You already know many of the names like Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Carlos Cortes and maybe even Jake Mangum.  

Behind them comes Ronny Mauricio who is currently in A ball in Brooklyn.  His best teammates include Francisco Alvarez behind the plate and Jose Peroza wherever he’s allowed to play.  I’m not going to cite pitchers at any level since the Mets are struggling far more swinging the bat than they are keeping opponents from doing the same.  

I vividly remember the first few times I went to minor league games.  Beyond the smaller stadium sizes and sometimes unimpressive conditions of the ballparks, you immediately notice that people are smiling, laughing and having a good time.  There are usually contests and t-shirt guns between innings, advertisers on the billboards are for local businesses and not just multinational chains, and prices for everything from parking to refreshments to souvenirs won’t have a family of four considering college funds for their children vs. a night of fun.  Maybe what some of us fans need to do for the rest of the season is to focus on the Mets minors to recharge our enthusiasm for the game we love.