Our starting third baseman, first baseman and catcher are all on the DL at the same time. None of the three were having very good seasons prior to their injuries, we have experienced backups in place, and they should all be back by the All-Star break at latest. Surely the drop off from David Wright–Lucas Duda-Travis d’Arnaud to Wilmer Flores–James Loney–Kevin Plawecki isn’t that precipitous. We could just wait it out, right?
Well, that very optimistic view point provides one solution, but here are 10 others that might just make more sense given this team’s current offensive struggles.
- Call up Dilson Hererra (currently hitting .287 in AAA Las Vegas) to play second, shift Neil Walker to third, and return Flores to the super sub role.
- Trade for a second baseman (Brandon Phillips, Jean Segura, Brian Dozier, DJ LeMahieu, et al) and make the same corresponding moves.
- Call up Gavin Cecchini (currently hitting .316 in AAA Las Vegas) to play shortstop, shift Asdrubal Cabrera over to third, and return Flores to the super sub role.
- Trade for a shortstop (Marcus Semien, Jean Segura, Freddy Galvis, Alexei Ramirez, Erick Aybar, Brad Miller, Jonathan Villar, Zack Cozart, Jed Lowrie, et al) and make the same corresponding moves.
- Give TJ Rivera (currently hitting .365 in AAA Las Vegas) to a shot at third base and return Flores to the super sub role.
- Trade for a third baseman (Juan Uribe, Trevor Plouffe, Martin Prado, et al) and return Flores to the super sub role.
- Trade for a first baseman (Edwin Encarnacion, Will Myers, Chris Carter, Mike Napoli, et al) and cut bait with James Loney.
- Make a blockbuster trade with Cincinnati to bring in Phillips and Joey Votto. The Reds would be very flexible given the chance to get out from under those contracts. We’d have to include a pitcher and a prospect and they’d have to be willing to eat half of Votto’s contract. It’s a stretch.
- Trade for Jonathan Lucroy who would be a huge upgrade at catcher. He can also play first base. He won’t come cheap, but he could be a difference maker. Would d’Arnaud plus a prospect get it done?
- Trade for a utility infielder (Kelly Johnson, Juan Uribe, Mike Aviles, Alexi Amarsta) and keep the current infield as is.
The truth is, the biggest cause of the Mets’ offensive woes is not the three injuries, but rather the three slumps. If Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Conforto, and Curtis Granderson were all playing well, we’d be able to score enough runs to win, particularly now that all five of our starting pitchers seem to, at last, be firing on all cylinders.
d’Arnaud wasn’t hitting a lick or throwing out any baserunners prior to his injury. Wright was in and out of the lineup and striking out and making throwing errors most games he was in the lineup. Duda wasn’t doing a whole lot for us, taking strikes and swinging at balls, while playing a mediocre first base. It appears that between Loney, Flores and a combination of Plawecki and Rene Rivera, there’s not a big drop off. However, over the next few weeks, as the trade discussions heat up, we need to see if either Ty Kelly or TJ Rivera (let’s call him up already) can fill that important reserve role. If not, at least a trade to bring back Uribe or Johnson would make a lot of sense. And given the impact it could make, it’s worth a call to the Brewers to see what it would take to get Lucroy.
As for number 9. if d’Arnaud wasn’t playing well and should be considered by now injury prone, I cannot see how Milwaukee gives the Mets Lucroy without receiving equal value in return. If Lucroy as you say may be a difference maker then you’re going to have to ante up a helluva lot more than a walking wounded catcher and a prospect.
#3 is tempting to see what he can do. But I have a feeling Cecchini has a future as a Quad-A player and that’s not what we need. #9 would be good but I wouldn’t take away from the major league roster for Lucroy. Votto, however, would be well worth it.
#10 happened after I wrote this. Johnson is an upgrade over Campbell basically, but we need more. That Flores, Granderson, Conforto and Cespedes all seem to be emerging from their slumps at the same time bodes well, but it’s also a bit bizarre that they all seem to be on the same cycle like a house full of women.
Love that analogy!
#1 should have been done prior to acquiring Johnson.That would take care of third.
#5 should have been done prior to promoting Kelly or Reynolds.That adds depth to bench.
#9 obtaining LuCroy (or any quality catcher) only if TDA can’t throw after rehab ( insert snarky comment here about TDA’s throwing) Catcher may be the greatest need this summer.
#10 It is always good to add veteran back ups that are better than the players the Mets had.
#11 I think you correctly identified the Mets problem in the next sentence after #10.
#1 and #5 are the only proposals I can see happening. Also, how about acquiring Escobar or Aaron Hill for 3B? They both are FAs in 2017 so cost wouldn’t be that high.
What intrigues me is the idea of not focusing on plugging a hole with a decent veteran, but making a big trade to land a real bat. You can have a James Loney or equivalent player in the lineup, but you can’t have 3 or 4 of them and expect to win. I think Sandy needs to look beyond positions and find a hitter who can be a difference maker.
My thought is that the Mets are going to ride what they have now until close to the trade deadline. Hopefully by then they’ll have an idea if Duda and/or Wright will be able to contribute down the stretch and act accordingly.
Thru July 24 they have an equal number of games against the bottom teams that they do the top teams. Right now they’re 7 games over .500 and if they get to 7/24 10 games over, I’ll call it a win.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-trade-lucroy-means-giving-wheeler