SAVAGE VIEWS – OLD AND GRUMPY

   

March 23, 2023

I want it to be understood very early.  I am old, very old in fact. And I am grumpy beyond anything you can imagine.  But, I am the smartest guy in the room and if you have any doubts, all you have to do is ask.

As we head into the 2023 season I am not feeling very optimistic that the Mets are play-offs bound and I felt this way before the Diaz injury.  At this stage, both the Braves and the Phillies are better teams.  Both have explosive lineups and pitching staffs that measure up to the Mets trio of Verlander, Scherzer and Senga.  All indications are the Mets starting line-up will be pretty similar to the one that closed 2022 and we know how well that turned out.

The Mets core line-up of Alonzo, Lindor, McNeil, Marte and Nimmo match up well with the better teams in baseball.  However, there is valid concern whether both Marte and Nimmo will participate in more than 120-125 games each.  I don’t see Nimmo coming close to the 151 games he played in last year and Marte is likely to require a fair amount of rest.  It looks like the balance of the line-up will consist of Nido behind the plate, Canha in LF, Escobar at 3B with Vogelbach and Ruf splitting the DH duties.  The bench would include Narvaez, Guillorme, and Pham.

It looks as though they will begin the season with Brett Baty and Mark Vientos in Syracuse.  That would be beyond insane.  Whatever happened to the mantra of having the best players on your team regardless of age or experience.  It’s been an absolute pleasure watching Baty this spring.  This guy has a major league bat, kind of reminds me of Freddie Freeman.  

His glove is adequate and will get better over time.  There is nothing to be gained by sending him down for more seasoning.  His time is now.  He may encounter some growing pains but let’s experience them now rather than later.

Mark Vientos is another who appears to be major league ready.  He’s already spent a year in AAA and does not need further seasoning.  He should be made the full time DH as he has shown the ability to demolish both lefties and righties.  There seems to be a sizeable contingent who thinks he should be traded. 

My question to those folks is what would you expect to get in return for a top prospect such as Vientos.  If you consider the likely openings over the next two seasons, there are few.  I forecast Baty and Mauricio as our future third baseman and left fielder replacing Escobar and Canha.  Alex Ramírez could be ready to take over CF in 2024 replacing Marte on the roster. The need is for someone to take over the DH role and looks like the best option.

The reality is that Baty and Vientos will be taking on major roles this year.  Let’s start the clock sooner rather than later.  Also, it’s a matter of time before Alvarez is ready to contribute.  Once all these pieces are in place our line-up would be dynamite.  Until then, expect a bunch of low scoring games early in the year that we will lose because our bullpen will not measure up.

Ray