Reese Kaplan -- The 5-Year Plan to Contention Is Very Slow

It's a question of perspective that people in business, in family life and in baseball face time and time again.  

Some baseball folks are of the opinion that you pull out all stops and do whatever you can no matter what the cost to ensure to the world you're all in for your fight to win a division, the league and then the World Series.  There is some truth to that based upon the postseason success of the New York Yankees, the postseason regular appearances of the Los Angeles Dodgers and a slew of other teams who have flown high using that very approach.

Then there is the other extreme, perhaps best identified with the Houston Astros and to a lesser extent the Tampa Bay Rays.  Here you build a young core of your own players, make judicious trades for more young talent, then supplement with free agents from near and far to take your unassuming team much further along the path to success than anyone could have imagined.  

Then there are the Mets.  I won't rehash the entire Wilpon era as it is now ancient history, but know that taking half measures and sometimes making trades you didn't initially intend to make can occasionally provide dividends, but more often results in a slew of AAAA players and has beens dragging the franchise into the also rans and sometimes even the second division.

During the Steve Cohen era the team has been much more like the first example of doing whatever you can to ensure a winning record even if it means payroll soars, penalty fees are assessed, but the end result is a winning team.  

That formula didn't work so well during year one with a carry over of the Wilpon regime personnel, but once Cohen's team shook off the dust, hired a real manager and an experienced (if uneven) general manager, it appeared that they were embracing the old George Steinbrenner approach of letting the chips fall where they may for OTHER teams while ensuring that THIS team would spend its way into contention.

Of course, you can't buy health and it became apparent during the Cohen era that injuries do play a major part in whether or not a team succeeds.  We've gone through the slew of injuries that this year alone the Mets are facing and at this juncture a .500 level team is a good treading water place to be until some folks recover and contribute as was expected of them.

The long term plan seemed to be identifying who in the farm system was a keeper and could contribute towards winning while nursing them along at a snail's pace unless injuries to others forced the team's hand.  After all, who here expected Francisco Alvarez to be the first of the minor minions to make his way into a semi-regular role?  One way of looking at the Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos assignments to Syracuse was that the club needs to shake off some of the expiring contracts before they have vacancies for the big club where the future stars could fit in.  

Of course, a cynical sort might say that the Syracuse squad is not about preparation for winning but more about inflating performance numbers to increase future trade value.  While it does appear they have a plan for Brett Baty to be a Met, the fact they keep Mauricio playing a position where he's blocked by Francisco Lindor and they push Vientos to try a position currently held by Pete Alonso doesn't seem as if they are serious about their eventual promotions.  

The other issue with the Steinbrenneresque style is refusal to accept mediocrity no matter the cost.  Folks in New York applauded loudly when Cohen and Eppler decided to swallow the expensive pill to rid themselves of Robinson Cano who not coincidentally has been unable to stick anywhere else.  

The flip side, however, was the whole Darin Ruf situation where it was apparent both last year and in preseason that the man is not likely a major league caliber player anymore.  Instead of seeking out any of the formidable bats available in free agency or pushing one of the youngsters into the DH role or to be part of the DH platoon, nothing was done.  As a result the club left itself woefully thin in the outfield and at DH.  

So if the plan is to improve in the future to be on the promised five-year plan to respectability and contention, you'd have to say they're taking a slower journey than would satisfy the fans, yet at the same time there is some rationale given the needs already addressed and the prospect of youngsters being the fodder to improve the roster via future trades.  For now, however, it is a frustrating thing being a Mets fan and that is not likely what was intended by the first three years' actions.