Remember's Ramblings: What to Do for '22 - Part One of ?

 

Unfortunately, remembering 1969 seems like a lot better idea than remembering 2021 at this point. 

It seems wrong to have the discussion of next year when  this year still has 40 games left, but the Mets recent tailspin does not provide much hope for the ending to 2021 that we all anticipated and hoped for. 

There has been a lot of chatter recently on text chats, various opinion writings and posted comments concerning what needs to happen - either now or at the end of the season.   The following is another piece with some broad-brush opinions about the future. 

The Management:     A better baseball structure needs to be put in place with a head of Baseball Operations and a permanent general manager.    Sandy Alderson should have a much reduced role in the player decisions.     A more experienced and 'name' general manager is needed.   Finally, Luis Rojas is not the guy to manage this team forward.   Yes, he doesn't hit or pitch, but this team has had poor fundamentals, base running, and strategic in-game decisions now all year.  Rojas need to be accountable. 

Along with the personnel itself, the Mets must figure out what type of a team they really want to be moving forward.   

I am still pretty old-school when it comes to the game, and the new 'analytics' push has passed me by very quickly. While I am a systems/data analyst by profession, I admit that I do not understand the use of and application of all this meta-data in the baseball world.   I do not know whether it has helped or hurt the New York Mets or baseball in general over the past few years.  I would hope that by the end of 2021, somebody in the system would be able to correlate some data to the results and make the appropriate changes.   From an outsider looking in, it feels like the push has come to hit a home run in every at bat in any situation.    It seems like with the hitting woes in their home ballpark, they would try to tailor the system to try to play a little more 'small ball' and approach the game with the mentality that several singles and doubles are better than strikeouts and groundouts caused by over-swinging.     I assume that all these analytics guys they have hired over the last couple years are going to do something with the data they are collecting and make good use of it.     Getting back to the basics of 'see the ball, hit the ball', and the more base runners the better seems to be a better strategy. 

Next, the player decisions.

The Free Agents:    There are several key players who will be free agents at year end.   Decisions will need to be made on all of them.

(1)  Michael Conforto:   This is one of the several very difficult discussions.   He has had a terrible year overall.   He is eligible for a qualifying offer and yes, he has Scott Boras as an agent.    What to do:    There are not many better options out there.  I still believe that this guy is not as bad as 2021 and not as good as 2020, but can be a solid contributor.     If not for Boras, I believe he would accept a qualifying offer, if made.   With Boras as his agent, he probably would not.    I would put the offer out there for him and see what happens.  

(2)  NoahSyndergaard:    Also eligible for the qualifying offer, but hasn't pitched in two years.  It is very difficult to tell what his market value is at this point.    I might put the $18M (or so) offer out there for him for a one year trial, before spending big bucks, although good pitching is such a valuable commodity, that a Q.O would most likely be rejected.  It is hard to see that there wouldn't be some team out there that would offer him a Wheeler-like contract of $120M or more.   Should it be the Mets?     There is a good case that 'Thor' is the guy ahead of all other free agents to spend the money on.

(3)  MarcusStroman:   No longer eligible for a qualifying offer, he has been the Mets most durable pitcher this year, while pitching to an unlucky 8-12 record to date.  His sub-3.00 ERA is the better number to look at.    I would talk to this guy early about an extension and try to lock him up for at least another couple years.  

(4)  Javy Baez:   Recent acquisition from the Cubs, it is unfortunate that the Mets have not really seen him yet.  Perhaps he can come back healthy in September and they can see exactly what they have, particularly when he and Lindor can play together.    At best he is an exciting player that can be a spectacular fielder and base runner, has plenty of power at the plate and generally is a guy that 'makes things happen'.   The flip side is that he is an unselective hitter who strikes out way too much, does not walk enough and has had two particularly down years in a row.   Would playing next to his buddy Lindor bring him back to his fine 2018 season?    Let's see what September brings, but I would reach out to him early, make him feel wanted and see what it would take.   I would not be opposed to a 4 year deal and watch Baez/Lindor play some of the best infield defense the Mets have ever had.   

The rest:  Loup, Familia and Betances.   Aaron Loup has been a very solid member of the bullpen and a great signing.  If at all possible, keep him for another year or two.  Familia really hasn't had a bad year overall, but I am not sure he is the best choice for the bullpen going forward.    Probably let him walk.   He will catch on somewhere.      Betances is done.  There will be much better bullpen options.

Villar and Pillar.   Kevin Pillar has had some big hits, but not enough.    He does have a player option for 2022, and it would be hard to see him not take that one.   Villar has been much more of an everyday player and has provided much more production than anyone expected.  After bouncing around several teams over the previous couple years, I would re-sign him to another year as a valuable bench player.  

Rich Hill, Jerad Eickhoff.   Nope.  'nuf said. 

That will do it for today.   A subsequent rambling will discuss some of the key players on the team and what to do with that core.