This was supposed to be a transitional year where the Mets were generally expected to finish below .500. Clearly, they exceeded most expectations. They proved to be a resilient team and wound up as one of the top four teams in baseball. Actually, they probably finished top three because I don’t consider the Guardians to be a top tier team.
Here are some of my thoughts now that the season is
behind us.
Carlos Mendoza – The Good and The
Bad
It’s likely
that Mendoza will garner a lot of well-deserved votes for Manager of the Year.
He led the team to the post-season and is deserving of recognition. In all probability
Pat Murphy of the Brewers will win the award. That’s not to diminish the
accomplishments the team under Mendoza’s leadership. The one area that garnered
most criticism during the regular season was his handling of the bullpen.
In my previous post I declared that if the Mets starting pitching could go deep in games, the Mets would win. On the other hand, if we had to rely on the pen, we would lose. There were a couple of instances when I thought he was too quick to yank a starter. He was under the misguided impression that he had a solid pen.
I’m still at a loss to understand why Phil Maton was brought into a game with
the season on the line. What could he possibly be thinking? Also, the decision
to play JD Martinez in games 3&4 over Winker defies explanation. Loyalty is
great but in a best of seven series your best guys should be playing every day.
I’m glad Mendoza has established himself as a credible manager for the long
term and hopefully the experience he gained serves him well next year and into
the future.
MATURING YOUNG PLAYERS
It was
exciting to capture the growth of Mark Vientos and Fransisco Alvarez. Mark was
clearly the most prolific Met throughout the post-season. His performance under
pressure looms well for the future. We saw Alvarez become the player we thought
he would be. His future was always bright and now he looks as though he will be
an impact player for years to come.
Brett Baty
The typical
Met fan seems to want to move from Baty much as they did with Vientos. Compare
his first two years status against JD Martinez’ career after three years. JD
did not hit his stride until his fourth year. I’ve always been a believer in
Baty and expect a breakout year in 2025.
THE ALONS0 QUANDRY
As a
long-term Mets fan, I love the Polar Bear and wish it was possible for him to
end his career here. However, his contract demands may be so exorbitant that he
might be better off signing elsewhere. If the Mets were able to sign either
Soto or some other big bat to complement Pete, I’d be ok bringing him back.
THE MVP VOTE
The argument
has been that Lindor deserves MVP consideration over Ohani since his fielding
expertise and leadership qualities were essential for the Mets to make the
post-season. However, I must concede that Ohani is from another planet. He
ranks among the best players ever to play the sport.
CHANGES ARE COMING
Next year’s
team should look markedly different from this year’s product.
-
The
bullpen requires a complete overhaul. It’s remarkable the team lasted as long
as they did with a mediocre pen. Time to start learning from the successes of
other teams, i.e. The Yanks and Dodgers.
-
Rony
Mauricio should be penciled in as the starting second baseman, if he is
healthy.
-
The
starting pitching needs upgrading. Of our free agents, I’d bring back Manaea
and let Severino and Quintana walk. I’d like to see Fried or Burnes signed to
complement Senga and Peterson.
-
Iglesias
gave us a nice run, but if faced with a choice of Acuna or Jose, I’d go with
the younger talent.
-
It’s
going to be Baty time with Vientos either becoming the new first baseman, assuming
Pete walks or the full time DH.
That’s it
for me. I’ll not be watching the World Series because I’d prefer if neither wins.
Ray
October 22,
2024
9 comments:
Ray, good points.
The series may have been lost regardless, but I think Mendoza made a big mistake by putting cold defense-first hitters in the line up. Winker and McNeil should have been in there every game. If you can't stop a team with your pitching, you have to put your best offense on the field every game to try to fight fire with fire.
Alvarez learned a lot. I think it will transfer over well to 2025.
I think if you are hoping to count on Acuna and Mauricio as two key offensive pieces in 2025, you will lose. They both have to adjust. And I really would like to see Acuna playing a lot of 2B and Mauricio in the OF, not the other way around. We need to objectively see that Mauricio is an error-prone infielder throughout his career to date. That would be a step backwards.
Senga's nearly season-long absence, along with that of Dedniel and Scott starting in August, resulted in a worn-out staff. The Dodgers pounced.
Why is Pat Murphy going to be manager of the year over Mendosa I don't get it? The Brewers were expected to go deep in the playoffs we were expected to have a transitional year and we beat them unless its that NY/Cohen thing. Also why can't the MVP be split like they did in 79' with Keith and Willie? No one is more deserving than Lindy a guy who checks all the boxes and for the most important one which is team leader. I've never read anything about Ohtani's leadership abilities and frankly the lack of respect for a guy who plays everyday is just crazy.
I agree with you on the use of Maton in such a critical situation. Misguided trust at the wrong time. To me, all arms should have been available because you don't win game 6, there is no game 7. As such, I would have brought in Severino to relieve Manaea to try and keep the game close knowing that Severino could go all out for 3 innings or so.
2025 is going to have a lot of questions that need to be answered. What do you have in Mauricio, Acuna and is there any future in Baty?.
If Alonso is willing to take a contract no longer than 4 years, he should be back, otherwise, so long.
Somehow I don't think the Mets, even using a crowbar, are going to be able to pry Soto away from the Yankees.
Rotation? Senga (fragile) Manaea, Peterson, etc. Burnes would be nice but we would have to get him and if we do, Severino is a better #5 than everything else the Mets have.
For the DH I would use Marte to keep him healthy and McNeil takes over at RF. Nimmo moves back to CF and that opens up LF for Mauricio and 2B for Acuna. If Pete is gone, Baty 3B, Vientos 1B.
Acuna, Lindor, Nimmo, Vientos, McNeil, Marte, Alvarez, Baty, Mauricio. Yikes, fast team but lacks serious power and has lots of question marks.
Stearns is going to have to be very creative, very.
Several good points in Ray’s piece and the comments. I think Mendoza did a great job this year but also agree that he over-trusted two players, Maton and Martinez. Both will not likely be back although I would love to see JD return as a hitting instructor.
I was very impressed with how quickly Acuna adjusted. He was undaunted by the pressure when he had to fill for Lindor. I expect a full season from him next year. My thoughts on Mauricio appear in my Thursday piece.
I tend to almost always agree with Ray - good insight and good writing. I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I would take the bet that Mendoza will get the Manager of the Year award. Murphy did a great job with that team, considering everybody thought Counsell (sp?) jumping to the Cubs would sink the Brewers into the second division, but Mendoza seemed to be the glue that took the Mets to the NLCS.
One other nit - I think Cleveland is definitely one of the top clubs. Their pitching, particularly their bullpen was top-notch this year.
You are not going to hear from me for the next 4 weeks. Going on a Viking cruise to France with one of my sons.
Viper no crowbar just lots of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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