Logan VerrettOver the weekend, the Mets acquired Addison Reed in an effort to shore up their bullpen. To create room on the 25-man roster, they sent Logan Verrett to the minors. Verrett did absolutely nothing to merit this demotion. Instead, it’s another example of how the team is run on the seniority and hope school of team building.

Verrett will in all likelihood return to the majors in 10 days, the earliest he’s available to return from the minors without an injury to someone else on the 25-man roster. Most people see this, shrug their shoulders and don’t give it another thought. And that stinks.

The Mets are involved in both a race for the division title and the possibility of having home field advantage in the first (real) round of the playoffs. And they’re willing to play with inferior players for 10 days because heaven forbid the team not have a LOOGY for one day before rosters expand. The Mets thought enough of Verrett to bring him into back-to-back games in high leverage situations, even though he had just pitched eight innings a few days previously.

And they thought so little of the useless, nameless LOOGY that only once in 11 appearances have they allowed him to enter a game with an above-average leverage situation. He entered the 8/25 game against the Phillies with a gmLI of 1.32 and, well, he stunk up the joint. He faced three batters and allowed hits to two of them. When he left, the leverage jumped up to 3.11 and he logged a (-0.11) WPA for his results.

And if they had rightly DFAd the useless, nameless one, they still could have satisfied their LOOGY fetish by promoting Dario Alvarez on September 1 when rosters expanded. Alvarez didn’t impress last year in a brief trial in the majors but he’s done a solid job this year splitting time between Double and Triple-A and would likely be able to at least match a 12.86 ERA and a 2.286 WHIP. My confidence level in Alvarez is not high; my confidence in the nameless one is less than zero.

But let’s say you’re the dogmatic type. Let’s say that despite all evidence to the contrary the past five years under the Sandy Alderson-Terry Collins regime, you still feel that a reliever of this type, so extremely limited in his utility, has value to the club. And let’s say that the season will be a dismal failure if the Mets go one more game this season without a LOOGY on the roster. If you’re this guy, answer one question:

Would you rather see Hansel Robles than Logan Verrett?

I ask that as a Robles supporter, a guy who likes relievers who can dial it up to 97 mph. My opinion is that Robles has value to the team. However, if the choice comes down to Robles or Verrett, my preference is for the latter.

Robles has outings where he looks absolutely dominating. And he has others where his control abandons him and he serves up gopher balls. The most discouraging thing is that he’s come into the game with 25 inherited runners this year and 12 of those have scored. So 48 percent of the runners on base when he enters the game come around to score. The National League average is 27 percent.

Robles can get strikeouts and he can go multiple innings. But he shouldn’t come into a game with runners on base unless absolutely necessary. If given the choice between a rested Robles and a rested Verrett, my money would be on Verrett.

The bottom line is this: If the Mets were interested in stocking their team with the most-worthy players, there’s no way that the useless LOOGY would be on the squad today. And even considering the team’s blind fealty to the LOOGY strategy, it’s difficult to make the case for Robles over Verrett, unless you’re swayed by the fact that Robles has spent more days on the active roster.

The only silver lining is that Verrett is still eligible for the post-season roster. Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal explained last year that a rule change was made that allows anyone on the 40-man roster as of Aug. 31 to be eligible for the playoff roster. And even if Verrett isn’t on the initial playoff roster, he can still be added as an injury replacement, if the Mets place someone on the roster who is on the disabled list. Adjustments can be made right up until the day of the first game of a playoff series.

17 comments on “Logan Verrett screwed by the Mets

  • DED

    I don’t think Verrett got screwed. He has no say over Mets personnel decisions.

    I do think that the Mets made the wrong decision.

    • Brian Joura

      You don’t need to have a say in something to get screwed.

  • MetsRealist

    Not sure how this screws over Verrett exactly.

    Sure, it’s a bum deal, but he has options and he’ll be back in 10 days. If they want him to spot start, they should let him start in Vegas so he’ll be ready rather than waiting and pitching an inning here or there.

  • acoustic567

    You’re missing something here. One reason Verrett is being sent down is that he is being considered to give a start in place of Syndergaard in September just as he did for Harvey. Going to Las Vegas will them a chance to stretch him out once more for a start.

    As bad as O’Flaherty has been, I don’t see what’s so terrible about Verrett having to spend 10 days in Las Vegas as opposed to DFA’ing O’Flaherty and possibly losing him altogether. O’Flaherty’s numbers against LH hitters prior to coming to the Mets were quite good and it’s not out of the question that he could pick it up against lefties before too long.

    • Brian Joura

      What’s so bad? Have the lessons of Friday night been lost already?

      Losing that guy would be the classic case of addition by subtraction.

  • Chris F

    On a funny note. Steve Phillips today on the radio said that if he saw Collins heading to the mound to insert Oh No, he woul run onto the field and tackle him, then tie down his oeft hand so he couldnt raise it!!!!

  • Kevin Buckley

    Sandy Alderson has amazed us all with his recent moves so we have to adopt a “wait and see” on this one.

    O’Flaherty was great with the Braves but that was a while ago. I don’t recall the exact details but when Verrett was brought in the other night, my thought was “Oh, no! How much rest did he have?” Same thing was true with Torres as the Mets announcers were saying it was a good move because Torres thrives on work. Minutes later we were on the way for a loss.

    Let’s just see what happens.

  • James Preller

    I believe Verrett is slated to get a spot start in 10 days — a big responsibility — and they figured he could get a start in AAA to keep sharp.

    Likewise, Sandy Alderson almost never opts to lose players unless his hand is absolutely forced. This way, he keeps O’Flaherty as a LOOGY, a “slot” that they see has entirely different from a RH reliever. Reinforcements should be up in a day or two.

    For whatever reason, they have not worked Verrett as a reliever this season since his unfortunate demotion in June.

    It’s not so much a bias against young players as the cold, hard facts of player options vs. veterans who would be otherwise lost entirely.

    All that said: I’m not a fan of O’Flaherty, personally, but I don’t think the thought process is without reason.

    • Brian Joura

      Verrett just pitched 8 innings and spent most of July and August as a starter in the minors. If Matt Harvey can go two weeks without starting then so can Verrett, especially while continuing to get work as a long man in the pen.

      My opinion is that the front office is using this line of thinking (that Verrett needs to be stretched out) as an after-the-fact justification to satisfy their LOOGY fascination.

  • Eraff

    I was of the impression that Verrett was in line for another start or two—one for Syndy and One for DeGrom.

    Is O’Fer a PTBNL. or did they surrender real talent?…. seems like a major position on a guy who just hasn;t produced recently—-2-3 years recently!!!

    • Brian Joura

      The Mets sent Darwin Frias to complete the trade.

  • JC

    I don’t think Verrett got screwed at all. I think they sent him down to get him on rotation to spot start for Thor in ATL. Plus this is simple roster management get the kid ready and have a lefty available tonight.

  • Joe Gomes

    The Mets should have just DFA’d O’Flagerty who is useless. But since our in-house genius traded for him, he won’t do it because he can’t admit to having traded for another stiff.

    Editor’s Note – Please do not capitalize words in your post, as that is a violation of our Comment Policy.

    • Joe Gomes

      “Editor’s Note – Please do not capitalize words in your post, as that is a violation of our Comment Policy.”

      Noted. Thanks.

  • Metsense

    O’Flaherty should have been DFA. He has done nothing positive to remain on the roster. The Mets picked up Reed for the 7th inning and hopefully he will solve the problem. Bringing in a LOOGY in the 7th inning would only srcrew up the relief rotation and an ineffective one would screw up everything. IMO I would never pitch O’Flaherty in a pressure situation so he has zero value.
    Verrett should have remained because he can give multiple innings, not just a batter or two. He may get a spot start but I thought that was going to be Matz job. It has been said by Alderson that Matz, because of his past health issues, will not be considered for relief. Verrett would serve the team better this September in the bullpen with an eye on him for a playoff roster spot in that role.

  • Pete

    It’s going to come back and bite them in their collective butts. And they damn well deserve it. So frustrating to watch! Does this fetish belong to Alderson or Collins? My bet would be TC. If they falter because of their infatuation with their LOOGY’S then Collins has to go. Everything has fallen into place this season.You never know if the Met’s get another opportunity like this. The Nat’s are inconsistent and the Phillies, Braves & Marlins are awful. The division is their for the taking and as you so well pointed out home field advantage in the first round as well.

  • Matty Mets

    O’Flaherty might be effective as a LOOGY. The problem is, Collins doesn’t use him that way. If he were to be brought in to face one or two lefty batters, he might succeed, but Collins keeps leaving him in until he gives up several runs – usually due to his lack of ability to get out righties. The players seem to like Terry, they’re playing hard for him and we seem to be getting the breaks that a winning team gets right now, but Terry’s in-game decision making is really questionable.

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