In this age of free agency major league baseball teams do not return the same group of 25 players from year to year. There is always some turnover. In many cases there is a major upheaval and influx of new players. In some cases there are not as many new faces but new roles thrust on some players make it look like a whole lot has changed.
So it is with what we will be seeing in March and beyond with the next edition of the New York Mets. And this can be said despite the fact that we all know a few more pieces need to be added and will be. Likely there will be an outfielder capable of playing centerfield sharing the position with – or taking the position from – Juan Lagares.
There will be one or more relief pitchers added to the mix. One might be somewhat of a returnee, Jerry Blevins.
Also a player might be added to more ably fill the Michael Cuddyer role at a tiny fraction of the cost. One name bandied about recently is that of Ryan Raburn. RR can play the outfield corners and first base. He traditionally has hit lefties quite well. My only qualm with adding him is that the same exact thing was said about John Mayberry, Jr. a year ago and how did that work out?
Perhaps the biggest difference between the 2016 club and the defending NL champs (still feels good to call them that) will be the absence of Daniel Murphy. Now Murph is a polarizing character. Just like Howard Cosell decades ago and Donald Trump right now (OK, Hillary too) there aren’t many people who say, “I can take him/her or leave him/her.” You are very much for that individual or you are not.
The middle infield will feel different if indeed most games have Neil Walker at 2B and Asdrubal Cabrera at SS. Frankly this may not be an improved infield when it comes to range. But Walker is a legitimate second baseman and Asdrubal has played many years at short. They will make the routine plays and turn the double plays that are supposed to be turned. One can expect a lot fewer instances when we fans will be pounding our respective foreheads with our palms because Murphy pulled a Murphy or Wilmer Flores spiked another throw to first in front of Duda.
The new role for Wilmer Flores will likely fit his skill set better. He very possibly will be an almost super utility player. Why the “almost”? Because the true super utility guy is the guy whose bat you want in the lineup most days. That’s not Wilmer’s. Instead he well could be the first sub at every infield position and because David Wright’s next injury could be a long one or a permanent one it would not surprise but it may disappoint us if Flores gets 400 or more at bats in the coming season.
Juan Lagares’ situation has also changed. Whereas a year ago he was counted on to be the everyday center fielder it looks like he will enter a time share at the position. Meanwhile we have no idea with whom he will be doing that sharing. Plus it could be worse for Juan if the Mets sign Denard Span or Dexter Fowler. In that case Lagares becomes a defensive replacement for Michael Conforto while allowing Curtis Granderson an occasional day off against a tough southpaw.
This team will definitely have a different feel to it. We can only hope that the new mix can achieve at least as much as the 2015 squad did.
A quick update to the article. Since it was written Jerry Blevins has resigned with the team and will resume his role as the team’s LOOGY.
Every year the team looks different with free agency turning baseball players into mercenaries. Compared to a beloved 2015 team that went to the World f**king Series, the 2016 doesn’t stand a chance with the fans out of the gates.
IMHO, the biggest difference will be not having Murphy. Cespedes was a nice piece for the stretch run before he collapsed in the playoffs, but Murphy has been a Met for life and it’ll take some getting used to with Walker at the keystone.
The good news is most of the starting pitching (minus Niese) and Familia are still around, as well as most of the position players.
I like the Raburn idea, though I don’t know the player well nor the cost. Mayberry was the right idea — the thinking was correct, in general — but it didn’t work out. They went very cheap and maybe didn’t scout properly. The Mets could really use a RH bat vs. LHP. I also do not like Flores at 1b, because I think he should play 2B vs. LHP. Flores at 1B scares me, because it suggests the team
Will be too cheap to get Raburn, or a similar player.
An article on what Cespedes on the open market:
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/putting-a-value-on-the-future-of-yoenis-cespedes/
He’d be a nice addition to the lineup, and if their cost forecasts are accurate, I would go a bit above the annual average and give four years: Hence 4/68, more than what Granny got, more than Bay.
Read the fang raps piece and sabermetrics continue to drive me nuts. Many of baseball’s all time greatest have low BABIP relative to BA, yet this writer suggests a falling BABIP is bad. Yogi, Aaron, Ted Williams and Vladimir Guerrero had lower career BABIP than BA. On Cespedes, he can’t hit a 95 mph fastball, so average stats mean nothing. On the money, if Jeff Samardzija can get what he got, I don’t disagree, and anyone can get anything, but Cespedes has been exposed. 2 hrs in his last 32 games and a .220 BA? No thanks.
The biggest difference of all is that we’re going into the season with a healthy and more experienced Harvey, deGrom, Syndergaard and Matz with no innings restrictions! That is something to be excited about. And, this just in…Big Bart is comin back!
Matt, the innings restrictions were not really a hinderance overall. The biggest problem was the lack of offense for two and a half months. If the eleven game winning streak were taken away, the Mets were under .500 until they got Uribe and Johnson. That’s pretty sad.
Injuries took a big toll after that 11 game streak
True, that’s why the reinforcements “helped right the ship”. However, the same players are coming back, and these players are still injury prone. If you are expecting Wright and TDA to stay healthy all year, I would be surprised. Further, Granny hasn’t had an injury in three years: he’s due. Duda also is due. Don’t want to be negative but just trying to plan ahead.
I want to puke. Bartolo fucking Colon back to the Mets. Not on a minor league deal, not for a few mil. Seven point two five million What the fuck!
I knew that long scoreless inning streak would come back to bite us in the ass.
Sandy is so boring and uncreative it’s just maddening. The only players he targets are either players who have played for the Mets or the A’s.
Well, at the very least Sandy is consistent. That is, consistently bad. He continues his 0 fer streak in Free Agency and extension (which is just Lagares to this point). Guy hasn’t made one solid deal since he arrived.
Classy.
You don’t count Curtis Granderson, Latroy Hawkins, Jason Isringhausen, or Marlon Byrd to be successful signings?
Grow up. I’m not a big Alderson supporter, but c’mon
Hawkins, Izzy, and Bryd. All 3 were signed for no risk minor league deals so they don’t count. Picking guys off the scrap heap is not a sign of Free Agency skill. Every team and GM has their successes and failures in that area.
Granderson is the one guy who can make the “win” list i suppose. At the very least he’s not a total loser like the other signings have been. Passable in his first year, though not worth his salary. Excellent in his second year. I can see optimism for the 3rd year, but i’m not a believer. The real question is going to be his 4th year though (which no other team wanted to give him).
If you decide to give him the benefit of the doubt (which i’m not) you have like 1 win in 8-10 guys, which is still pathetic even in baseball context
Name, this time I am fully on your side and when I read this news, you were the one who came to mind. Two years ago, they needed Colon so I was ok with it. Now however, I don’t get it; wanted that money invested in the lineup.
I understand that Gilmartin, Montero, and Verrett are unknown quantities, but if you can’t give one of your kids half a year of being the #5 starter, how do you expect to implement them into your team? Very, very disappointed.
Maybe Alderson doesn’t have as much faith in his own minor league system as even we have.
Granderson? Walker for Niese?
Let’s be honest here. Sandy missed the winter meetings due to his cancer issue. He probably had the final say, but if i were betting man, i’d say the his assistants, Ricco/DePodesta/Riccardi, probably did 95% of the groundwork/details. If Sandy were fully healthy, i’d doubt the trade would have gone down.
Name, you preferred to keep Niese? I would rather trade his declining stats for one year of Walker and a possible first rounder than Niese…
I thought the trade was fair but would have kept Niese had I been running things. The guy I’d be trading in a heartbeat is Wheeler, as many of you know I think he’s done as a useful starter
You do not think he will recover or do you doubt his abilities?
The lengths this front office will go to in order to avoid giving a shot to a rookie at the beginning of the year…
Ridiculous. As I said above Brian, maybe they don’t value their system too highly…
We needed to dump Niese’s salary and a one year Walker term leaves the spot open for Herrera who hopefully will tear up AAA pitching again and force his way on to the big league roster. Walker’s bat is similar to Murphy, who I will miss, but his glove is far superior. Bringing Bart back for what is almost considered chump change these days nicely fills the #5 spot until Wheeler is ready and he easily can come out of the pen and throw strikes when needed. I’ll bet another team makes a play for him at the trade deadline despite his enormous age and size.
All spring last year and through most of the first half I implored the Mets to add bats. When they did at the deadline we took off. If we don’t add a bat like Cespedes or Cargo at the start we just might find ourselves ten games out at the break. I get the fear of long-term contracts but our big opponents for the NL crown have improved more than we have. The fans are coming back and there is money to spend in the right guy to make all our hitters better. It has been a good offseason thus far. Don’t stop now Sandy!!
Thanks for the comment. I am surprised at how many Mets fans think that the team should try to trade for Carlos Gonzalez. These same fans know that Conforto and Granderson will be in LF and RF respectively. CarGo has never shown any ability (and to my knowledge any interest) to play CF. Cespedes, Parra, Span, maybe Venable are reasonable options or even trading with Colo for Blackmon. But CarGo, IMHO, is a NoGo.
Thanks for the Cespedes link, Gus. A very good article.
The Mets upgraded at SS and 2B and now should look to trade Tejada.
Blevins fills the LH reliever role but I hope they use him more than a LOOGY.
The Mets should upgrade center field with either Cespedes or Span. This would make Lagares the 4th outfielder. Lagares bat was always weak but the real concern is his arm. Without his arm the man is not a starting center fielder.
The Colon signing was unnecessary today but if one of the big four get injured it will look like a solid move this spring.
Campbell is not the solution as the back up for Duda. Flores, Wright, TDA are viable experiments though.
Enjoyed the article Larry and the feeling so far is that the team will be better than 2015 after they upgrade centerfield.
+1, on all points. My pleasure.