Please use this thread all week to discuss any Mets-specific topic you wish.
Here are the OPS numbers for Mets’ hitters in the second half of the season:
.921 – Pete Alonso (324 PA)
.876 – Javier Baez (184)
.813 – Francisco Lindor (158)
.810 – Brandon Nimmo (260)
.792 – Michael Conforto (274)
.760 – Kevin Pillar (144)
.731 – J.D. Davis (162)
.724 – Jonathan Villar (271)
.662 – Jeff McNeil (238)
.583 – Dominic Smith (177)
.563 – James McCann (154)
.402 – Patrick Mazeika (60)
Conforto, McNeil and Smith take the brunt of the blame for the team’s shortcomings on offense this year. But McCann deserves a spot on that team, too. It’s almost bad enough to wish we kept Wilson Ramos.
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I believe Conforto will take the QO. Just like Stroman last year, he would be coming off of a season of question marks and no team will want to give up draft choices to sign question marks that call .792 their better half. Both Thor and Conforto will be back. So, what to do in LF? Put Conforto there and get a right fielder. Not Smith, not McNeil, not Davis, but a real right fielder. If the Hiroshima Carp do post Suzuki, he needs to be a Met. Five tools, can play CF but plays RF. I like Canha from the A’s as a backup plan, but Nimmo, Conforto, Suzuki is a nice start. Plus, it leaves LF for one of the kids for 2023.
As for Marte, where did this 4.7 WAR come from and who expects it ever again?
Conforto (if he accepts a QO) can stay in RF, Marte could play CF, with Nimmo shifting to LF.
Marte’s 4.7 WAR is not too out of line with those in his past, starting in 2013: 5.1, 4.5, 5.0, 4.8, 1.2 (77 games), 4.0, 2.9, 1.6 (61 games), 4.7.
18 million for Conforto? Doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. Prefer Schawber,Bryant or even Marte.
Schwarber has a career average 119+ and 2.2 bWAR and Conforto has a 124+ and 3.4 bWAR. Conforto is the better player. The object should be to improve RF not diminish RF.
Should the Mets be rooting for a work stoppage?
It would theoretically give them more time to get their FO structure in place without having to worry about signing players with the hot stove being put on hold. (Can players be traded without a new cba?)
Why was Nido (.416 OPS) left off the list and Mazieka included? Can’t use the PA or GP argument because Nido had 22 games and 63 PA in the 2nd half which is more than Mazieka. I smell an agenda here…
Nido should be a slam dunk non-tender candidate. He has a career .566 OPS which is good for a 54 OPS+! I don’t know what anyone sees in him.
With McCann essentially proving what should have been obvious to any competent GM that he is not a starter and at best a 50/50 time share guy, we should really look to get a competent backup to compliment McCann. Or Sandy needs to swallow his pride (or be fired and have his replacement) relegate him to a pure backup role and sign/trade a decent catcher.
By no means am I opposed to a Marte FA signing, but the we might as well refer to Nimmo as Rodney Dangerfield at this point. Yes, he does have some injury issues. By virtually every metric he outperformed Marte defensively in CF last season. He is 4 hears younger and likely to hold those defensive improvements for a couple of seasons at least. Offensively, he had a better OPS+ that Marte’s huge 2021 season, and career-wise it’s 131 vs 116, far better. Nimmo beats him in wRC+. Nimmo has elite on base skills. Nimmo sprints to 1B on walks. Nimmo helps old ladies across the street. Nimmo has done all this in the crucible of NY sports. CF is not our problem.
I don’t understand the Marte love. People must think it’s 2015 all over again or forget that he’s 33 and will be going downhill over the contract.
Or forget that he’s a freaking scum cheater just like Cano and frankly should have been banned for life from MLB.
Didn’t know that. Forget this “scum cheater”! Thanks, Name!
Pillar, JD and Villar would be a positive on the bench and Villar and JD would also sufficient as a place holder for Batty. Baez would solidify the keystone. The 29 year old Conforto is not washed up. If he doesn’t take the QO the try to extend him but he gets too expensive in his demands then pivot to Bryant who is the better player and averages 1.9 bWAR a year more and have more versatile Bryant in RF.
McNeil and Smith have played their way onto the bench. McCann is a bust but he can control the running game. Let’s hope Alvarez will continue his rise.
Get a hitter to help Pete. Bryant and Schawber won’t cost a draft pick. Second tier hitters like Escobar,Peterson,Duvall, and Garcia might help.
Escobar is a no-brainer at 3B, can play 2B or even 1B. Hits from both sides, and hits. Great clubhouse guy.
McCann bottomed out offensively… maybe we see improvement next season. I much prefer his terrible hitting to Ramos’ terrible defense (how many putouts did the Mets get at home plate with Ramos?) Ramos could not come up with the throws, would miss tags, and never threw out base-runners. After a torrid first two weeks in Detroit, he woke up and dropped like a balloon and was gone.
Nido has frustrated me as well. But I get the feeling if he could stay healthy, he could hit enough to warrant a decent backup catching role. I would not object to getting a new guy, otherwise it’s McCann and Nido splitting the duties until one or the other establish himself as the 60% guy. Very few teams have the catching positions figured out.
Call me crazy, but I doubt Bryant would ever sign here… I don’t don’t see him seeing himself in a Mets uniform.
If we cave on Baez, he becomes the defect leader of the team, even with Lindor. He might thrive, max out, even change the culture of the team (hard play, daring base-running, unpredictable dynamics). But that would not be likely… I fear he would sag and sulk after a contract and if things started to turn difficult. Just me.
Nimmo is the top of the list on team positives. He got better at everything despite the injuries. If he can stay on the field, he might continue to rise in the league… worth locking up. He can also play all three OF positions adequately. Bad arm, best in LF.
Marte is coveted because of speed. A guy who can run just picks the team up. I’d like to see the Mets become a speed oriented team. I was disappointed in Lindor in that regard… he is not particularly fast. Go get two outfielders who can run, steal bases. My wish list.
Wobbit, agree with lots of your stuff. May not agree on Marte but I understand the logic. I like Escobar, but how many years are you giving?
What evidence is there that Bryant wouldn’t sign with the Mets? If Cohen wants to spend, and the Mets offer the most $$ for him, why wouldn’t he sign with us?
McNeil, Smith and McCann will rebound. Mazieka is not an MLB ready player. They need to sign Baez and say goodbye to JD Davis who will go with some prospects to snag a front line starter. They need to sign a quality 3B and let Villar go back to the bench as a super sub. They need to extend Alonso and Nimmo. They need to fire their trainers and hire people who know what they are doing.
Since this is a Catch-All, let me switch gears. How stunning is it that Matt Arnold withdrew his name? My first reaction was, “what an idiot! Do POBO grow on trees?” Then, I said why would he do this? Either he was given a boatload of money by Attanacio (doubtful) or more likely, the Mets are going somewhere else so he pulled out to save face. That’s what these guys do, they pull out before they get rejected.
I kind of liked Josh Byrnes from the beginning: previous experience, Dodgers pedigree, still quite young. I’m hoping that’s the guy. Get him in here already!
Gus,
I think there are multiple reasons for the long “list” of prospective execs that have “passed” on the Met POBO. I don’t think the “Alderson effect” is much if anything. First, with regards to the Brewers’ owner, and likely other clubs, they see the executive teams as perhaps the primary way that they can compete against the big money teams. Why would they let another team “talk” to their talent under contract? I mean, did the Indians let the Mets “talk” to Lindor last year because it would be a jump into a bigger market? Everyone knows these titles POBO, GM, etc. mean nothing, except a way to talk to another team’s employee under contract. I cannot blame any team for saying no or wanting major compensation. Second, I think the NY factor is part of it. This young generation of execs, the guys the Mets are looking for, have settled into a very well paying job, in places in the country where their salary lets them live like kings. Many have young families that would have to be moved…this generation takes that into consideration much more than prior generations. Then, if they come to NYC, they’ll be under the microscope, something that non-NY bred folks don’t know first hand and may fear more than necessary. These are the reasons why I liked Stearns for the job – has had success, is in his prime, is from NYC and worked for the Mets…
There is never a perfect candidate…Byrnes makes a ton of sense…maybe pairing him with an internal guy like Tanous could make sense as well.
I would not lump McCann into this group. Catcher is a defense first position and, behind the plate, he was a vast improvement over Ramos, blocking pitches, controlling the running game, etc. He works well with pitchers. While he’s no Johnny Bench, McCann is not the reason we finished in third place. I’m fine with him and Nido at catcher. There is no Johnny Bench in MLB right now. Realmuto has been anointed the “best catcher in baseball” by default because the future HOFs – Molina, Posey – are on the back nine. Otherwise, most MLB backstops are good hitters or good catchers. Unless you have Mike Piazza, the latter is more important.
More critical to the success of this team is not having players at offense first positions like left and right field hitting like 1960s shortstops.
Valuation/advanced metrics would strongly disagree with you.
Ramos was 0.3 bWAR last year and McCann was -0.2 bWAR this year.
Don’t like bWAR?
Ramos was 0.2 fWAR (in 32 games) last year and McCann was 0.5 fWAR (in 120 games). So prorated Ramos wins again.
Don’t like WAR?
Bref’s defensive metric had Ramos at 0 defensive runs saved while Mccann at -4 defensive runs saved.
Fangraphs fielding bible has McCann at -5 DRS this year and Ramos at -1 last year (in about half the innings)
I’m with Name and the metrics on this. Both McCann’s offense and his visible defense were disappointing. Game calling, pitcher fondness, that we can’t really tell. However, this was one season of McCann, and relative to Ramos, he is the better bet going forward as the Buffalo may be about done and is certainly physically broken down. I think it is reasonable to expect some improvement out of McCann next year, not 2020ish, but a bump up, which would make him serviceable. It would also be wise to look around for a Nido upgrade, although that may be hard to find given the lack of catching depth. In any event, these guys are just a bridge to Alvarez, who may or may not be the real deal, but most certainly will get a chance to prove it. And, while you always want full value, small time overpay mistakes like McCann may wind up being should be no issue with the new ownership.
Anyone who watched the games and thinks Ramos warranted any positives for his defense is somehow unhinged. He was an awful defensive catcher. And his slowness afoot made his offense highly dubious. I mean, it was almost better for him to strike out than to get on base and clog things up… it took three hits to get him in, which almost never happened.
Does anyone have any insight into why the Mets aren’t interested in Sabean? Seems like he’s open to the idea of running the team.
Bob Melvin going to manage the Padres.
The Alderson stink has no apparent limit.
Mets have become synonymous with failure… best thing Cohen could do is blow it up, start over. Fire Alderston, hire ummm, errrrr … me or Chris F.