If you want to open up a protracted debate among fellow Mets fans ask them what is the plan for 2027?
On the one hand, you have the folks anxious to see the club return to transition as quickly as possible. After Andy Green took over for Carlos Mendoza and had the team playing an eyelash over .500 this group has begun to foster “true believer” vibes. It is indeed exciting to see stars like Francisco Lindor and Bo Bichette starting to play as everyone had come to expect of them. Juan Soto is another massive bat who will be back at some point as well. Then add in the bats of Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing to the mix and you can see where some of this optimism took root.
On the pitching side of the ledger the Mets had flat out awful performances from starting pitchers Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Sean Manaea, Tobias Meyers and others. When your club wasn’t hitting at all and your starting staff handing over insurmountable leads via hits and walks it became increasingly understandable why the Mets sat firmly alone in the NL East cellar.
Then the bullpen was gutted along with starting pitchers Freddy Peralta and Clay Holmes shipped out of town. Everyone figured that the team was throwing in the towel on 2026 and the hope was that one or two of the multitude of newly acquired prospects could turn themselves into at least average quality major leaguers.
Unforeseen by pretty much anyone was the turnaround by the starting rotation and the reworked bullpen stepping things up big time. Everyone expected quality out of Nolan McLean and Christian Scott. They were less certain about Zac Thornton. No one was ready for Sean Manaea to begin to pitch like a sub 4.00 ERA pitcher. The final slot has temporarily been given to retread Robert Stock and no one is really sure which version of him will take the mound every fifth day.
Now the bullpen is where everyone expected them to arrive into the games spraying kerosene and gasoline on whatever fires were already burning things down. Instead they have been rather commendable.. With Devin Williams out with shoulder issues (which MIGHT account for his less than stellar past couple of seasons), Kodai Senga has by necessity been moved into a closer’s role and has looked better than he had as a starter. Newcomers Nate Lavender, Daniel Duarte, Jonathan Pintaro and Jefry Yan have all of the sudden given the team some surprisingly capable arms while others out there continue to struggle.
The flip side of the go for it in 2027 approach is the long view of folks mostly in AA or recently promoted to AAA who likely are not ready to begin next season in Queens. This group would instead live with guys like Jared Young, Marcus Semien and Jorge Polanco while treading water in anticipation of the youngsters who will follow to reinforce the club. This group wants some obvious reinforcements to the daily roster, rotation and pen, but they are not expecting next year’s Mets team to be playing in October. 2028 and beyond, however, is definitely a part of that vision. Expect mid tier free agent interest as well as trade packages proposed for regular players not necessarily of the All Star level. Again, this approach is about the long term, not winning it all in 2027.
Where do you stand?
15 comments:
Yan did surrender the game-winning HR last night. The White Sox leapt for joy. Can’t win them all.
Morning all
I expect a fair amount. Not everything. Just growth.
I expect the same POBO. Cohen has a man crush here.
I expect a new manager. My hopes it's Beltran.
I expect one additional great starter that comes from outside the organization. You know who I want here.
I expect McLean, Scott, and Thornton to remain three valuable members of the rotation.
I expect whoever gets their act together will be given the opportunity to be the fifth rotation piece
I expect Tong's string to remain long while both the Mets and he try to figure out what to do with his God given talent.
I expect Senga to close
I expect dead wood, both at the major and minor league level, to be continued to be jettisoned.
I expect the outfield of Benge, Soto, and Ewing to remain intact.
I expect Alvarez and Torrens to remain the combo behind the plate... however... if Parada continues to show his bat has returned, I expect him to replace Alvarez, who will become full-time DH
I expect a lot of minor talent to arrive by the break, but only Morabito as a utility outfielder
I expect the Mets to make the playoffs
I expect they won't go far
Vargas
0-4
3-K
Suero
14th error
Throw
Jenkins
1.0-IP
0-R
1.29
Clones
16 runs
20 hits
Smith III - .583/BA
Meggers - 3-5, .313
Isler & Banks
27.00-ERA each
I think we are all left very confused by the 2026 team, which makes it very difficult to project into 2027. When they were supposed to be good, they were awful. When they were supposed to fold, they outperformed expectations. The big names failed, the small names succeeded. I think the key indicator for 2027 is that this year's revolving door of players has never slowed. That means that they have still not figured out the right mix. Expect more uneven results in 2027 until they achieve a mix they can stick with.
My thinking is pretty straight forward whether one agrees with it or not. There is no grounds for excitement in 2028 without laying additional foundation in 2027. That includes the usual two kinds of additions; addition by addition and addition by subtraction.
Start where it matters most. Starting pitchers. Manaea is gone after 2027. So we need two or more pitchers in the SR for 2027: one to head the rotation, and one to replace Manaea's loss which may well come at the trade deadline in 2027 but certainly will in 2028 OD.
Back of bullpen is next: Senga has to earn his spot which is what he is doing a good job of now -- but this is a very modest sample size. We need to see what he does when he doesn't have his best stuff, which in his case invariably means he puts traffic on the bases. I think Lavender has shown a lot in a short time and so has Duarte, but we will be much stronger in 2028 if they are not asked to carry a back of bullpen role in 2027. Nothing beats success like success; so to me; they should not be asked to carry a load in 2027. If Williams is healthy, he's part of the back of the bullpen plan. They need someone else to come in for that role on a 2-3 year contract:.
Stearns has used eventual starters in the bullpen when introducing them to the majors: I view Tong as that person on the Mets now; maybe Santucci as well. We can find that out in 2027.
Outfield needs help, but not a star. We need someone who can play every day if someone gets injured and that has to be a RH bat.who isn't Pham or Robert or even Taylor frankly. But Taylor could work as we wait and see on Robbins. Ewing has been struggling big time right now. We will see more of what he is in 2027. Is Morabito ready in 2027 in a transition role?
Don't know. He is about as fast as Ewing and maybe they split some time in the OF next year. Certainly one vet is needed, because while there are lots of infielders in the minors some of whom will be ready in 2028, that is less clear now about the OF.
Now for the subtractions. Don't throw good money after bad. and lost opportunities are forms of good money. If Polanco doesn't come back relatively strongly, DFA him and see if there is a trade of any sort for him. Have to replace him 2028 anyway.
And am I the only one who has noticed that while the Mets are winning more than their share of games now, they aren't doing so with their bats (I don't think I am). This is a team that needs much more offense than it has. Playing semien and polanco next year is not a holding pattern for 2028 and god knows its not part of adding building blocks.
I can I point out for the millionth time. Just one word: Alvarez. He is striking out more than Clifford does and producing about the same amount of offense when he isn't. If he does make SIGNIFICANT mechanical changes, please everyone stop imagining him as something different than he is. He's not the catcher of the future. we all believe that. Why would anyone think he could even be a plausible DH at his current pace.
Polanco may be a full subtraction.
Semien should be pulled at some point from the starting lineup.
The only person on the infield other than Lindor who is a bridge to 2028 is Young. We need to supplement at 1B, not replace, as the potential 1B in the minors sort themselves out. Bichette is here for next year but probably gone thereafter.
Mack, I agree with you. I would really like to see Carlos Beltran manage this team in 2027. Nobody in this organization can impart more baseball knowledge to the young core than Beltran.
On another note, (if we have a season, next year) "Who's On First"?
And don't tell me that it's Young... He's a role player, at best. We need someone to seriously replace Alonso's bat behind Soto @ 1B!!! Is Sato the answer???
At present, there is very little hitting talent available in next year's FA pool.
Jared Young over the last 2 months? .303. Aberration, or his new normal?
Parada 17 for his last 41, 4 walks. Something’s really changed.
53 for last .200 (.265) after playing polar ice cap April ball and first 3 games of May.
I remember writing about Jerry Grote totally changing his hitting approach to become a much higher average hitter with limited power. And mentioning that Parada should consider that. Maybe he did, whether he read my article or not. And so, maybe he does have an MLB future.
Mr. Young
2028 - Amick or Soto
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