For Mets fans, it was a sight for sore eyes to watch Juan Soto bat second for the NL squad and pick up the first of just three total hits for the senior circuit. In a lost season that has already seen the front office trade away one of its pitchers, Soto has been one of the lone bright spots for New York. Although it should not be a surprise to anyone, no one else represented the Mets in Philadelphia.
The Mets were among one of four National League teams to only have one representative. Having solely one person doesn’t necessarily mean you have a bad team, as the Chicago Cubs also only had one player on the roster (ironically a former Met in Pete Crow-Armstrong). Yes, you have players like Carson Benge and Luke Weaver, who have come on strong since the first month of the season, but there never seemed to be a serious debate or conversation that the Mets would have a second all-star.
When the initial rosters were released, arguably the biggest talking point were the snubs, even over the players that actually made the team. Guys like Wilson Contreras, Foster Griffin, Nick Martinez and Justin Wrobleski were all left off of the initial roster when it was announced.
Everyone knew that at least some of the most notable snubs would make the team after other players couldn’t participate for one reason or another. Even when each roster was finalized, a lot of deserving names still failed to make the cut including Michael Harris II, Luis Garcia Jr. and Sonny Gray. Of course, these are not the only snubs. One can make a strong argument that Luke Weaver should have been included on this list, maybe over fellow relief pitcher Riley O’Brien.
We can nitpick if the Mets should have had a second player on the squad, but the lack of representation to go along with the lack of snubs serves as a perfect explanation as to why New York finds itself at the bottom of the NL East and the league as a whole. It hasn’t helped that Jorge Polanco and Francisco Lindor missed significant time this year with injuries, but when you look around the diamond, how many players are in the top 10 at their position solely in the NL?
Nobody on the Mets deserved to make it at first base. In fact, one of teams that also had just one representative, the Colorado Rockies, could have argued that underrated rookie T. J. Rumfield was a snub and had a strong case to snag a spot. Marcus Semien was nowhere close to making it at second base, especially considering the NL team didn’t even have room for guys like Brandon Lowe and Brice Turang. Although it has a lot to do with injuries, Lindor wasn’t on the short list of backup options at shortstop in case CJ Abrams or Otto Lopez couldn’t give it a go.
Bo Bichette has been a disappointment after the front office pivoted to him after losing out on Kyle Tucker. The hot corner was the weakest position in the NL (Sal Stewart made it as the backup), but someone like Curtis Mead, who the Washington Nationals got for cheap, has completely outperformed the Mets’ $42 million per year man. Francisco Alvarez had a nice start to the season, but he also spent a lot of time on the injured list. Finally, the outfield.
Soto was a very deserving starter among a plethora of options. If the teams weren't divided by the AL and NL, all six starting outfield spots would have gone to the National League. Benge is having an impressive rookie year after a slow start, but he was never in serious contention of being named to the midsummer classic.
Despite the AL surrendering only three hits on Tuesday night, the NL has been the better and deeper league through the middle of July. Seeing the number of all-stars each team has is typically a good representation of the overall strength of the roster. This isn’t always the case, as each team needs at least one representative and the fan vote can cause some chaos (sorry, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. should not have been an All-Star this year).
That’s why you need to look one or two levels deeper to see who just missed the cut. That can speak to a team’s depth and overall talent. It even feels like an All-Snub team would form quite the strong bunch, but if that team did come to fruition, how many Mets would even be on that list? Benge might have a solid case, but it might not be clearcut. Weaver would most likely make it as a reliever as the sole Met.
The lack of conversations surrounding who, if anyone, was snubbed from the Mets roster is a great example of what has gone wrong for the franchise this season. It shows how much of a failure David Stearns’ plan turned out to be.
Stearns is still a smart executive, who I would have no problem keeping around, but the roster construction for 2026 has fallen flat on its face. In order to really get the full picture, don’t just look at the names who did make it to the city of brotherly love but also the men who just missed the cut.
6 comments:
The choice of only one Met was correct
Very interesting piece. Using the All Star team and snubs as a metric of talent depth can be misleading, however, since it most likely reveals the depth of very top performers at particular positions on a team's roster. Still if you put this piece together with mine from Tuesday that claims that at best there are only 14 players on the Mets roster who would qualify as sound pieces on a truly competitive roster, you get a pretty clear picture of just how bad the roster really is. You can afford to have a few marginal players on a roster, but not half of the roster.
I can remember for too many years where the Mets had just won All-Star representative. It’s simply incredible. I do think that Benge and Ewing could be all star candidates next year.
Holmes might have made it were it not for his freak injury.
Trade deadline season is upon us. I read today that the Astros are still interested in a left handed bat, and while there isn't much in their minor leagues, it could be a landing spot for Baty. B
I may have to remove Christian Walker as my #2 preferred short term 1st baseman for next year as he has managed only 8 homers, 26 RBI and and OBP of .303
Oy. We have enough of those type of players.
How about that other Walker (Jordan)? He has a first baseman's length and certainly showed the world that he has power during this week's home run derby.
Tonight the Mets start a righty against a left hand dominant lineup in that band box in Philly. Scott is talented and so is McLean and so is Holmes. But it is sad that the Mets don't have a premier lefty starting pitcher to compete in this division.
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