TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Two roads diverged in Flushing, and I’m not talking about 126th St. and Roosevelt Ave. The Mets are faced with two futures. They cannot manage to have both, all they can do is look down the paths and see which option seems better. What might seem better now, may not be better later. Either way, the paths seem to head towards our final destination. So, in this metaphoric quandary, which path do the Mets choose?
The first path bends the Mets and hitchers our cart to a familiar star. The Mets can re-sign David Wright and make the statement, “This is David’s team.” Win or lose, he’s our man, face and brand. He’ll be the cornerstone of the organization for years and the Mets will look towards a World Series with him leading the offense by 2013-14. It’s not outrageous to think the Mets could do it. The Mets have some hitters: David Wright, Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy who can get things done with their bats. Adding in a player like: Mike Napoli or some other offensive boost could go a long way. The Mets have some pitching: Matt Harvey, R.A. Dickey, Jon Niese, Johan Santana, Josh Edgin, and a host of minor leaguers. The Mets sign a safety net starter and perhaps a reliever or two and they could be pretty set.
Let’s Say The Mets Took This Path:
- Resign David Wright Long-Term
- Sign A Few Free Agents
- Trade Prospect Wilmer Flores
- Compete With Washington in the NL East in 2013
- Make World Series Run in 2014 (Behind: David Wright, Ike Davis, Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler)
The second path is darker and misty. We can’t truly see our way, but we try our best and stumble on. On this path the Mets trade David Wright, the face of the franchise, to a contender in need of immediate help at 3rd base. They look to receive 2-4 prospects with at least one in the elite level of prospect-hood. Let us argue that the Mets make this trade and that elite player they receive plays the outfield and hits righty. The Mets then look at Lutz for the first half of 2013, until Wilmer Flores proves he’s ready. The Mets promote Flores and, for good measure, Matt Den Dekker. The Mets are still built from within in terms of pitching, with limited need for acquisitions there. In 2014 the Mets re-evaluate their needs in terms of free agency based on how their young team progressed the previous year.
Let’s Say The Mets Took This Path:
- Use Option/Trade David Wright
- Promote From Within
- Wait For 2014 To Make Any Signings
- Compete With Washington and Atlanta in 2014 and 2015
- Make World Series Run in 2015 or 2016 (Behind: Wilmer Flores, Ike Davis, Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and the mystery man we traded Wright for)
Both of these paths get the Mets towards fielding a World Series contending team in the next 3 years. One takes a little longer but might have the bigger reward and potential for an extended run of NL dominance. One focuses on what we have and tries to use it without sacrificing our future. Sadly… the Mets might take a different path altogether.
The Road Less Traveled: Wilpon Blvd
The Mets don’t sign Wright long-term… They don’t trade him… They play out a mediocre 2013 with some promising hopeful moments and then… Watch David Wright hop off to a division rival… OR THE YANKEES! The Mets promote all their young players but don’t have the surrounding cast of characters to carry a true contending team. Met fans watch as the team they love flounders in neutral because their ownership chose the path less traveled… NOT MOVING AT ALL.
Here’s The Point: Trade Wright… Don’t Trade Wright… I don’t care anymore. Make a plan and follow through with it or sell the team to an ownership group that can make these decisions and live with the consequences.
I’m with you, David. Make a plan! Better yet, SELL THE TEAM!
It’s easy for us to say, but it’s not something I see happening.
It’s really, really hard to tell who is calling the shots right now… and is that a bad thing? A lot of people want to know exactly what the Mets are going to do, and exactly when they are going to do it. But are we overstepping our boundaries as fans? Shouldn’t our sole responsibility just be to root for the team no matter what (unless something egregious is done by management/ownership of course).
Look. It’s great to make a plan and all, but nearly nothing turns out the way they seem. Take this year for example: The Tigers and Angels were Buyers in the offseason, yet they are struggling to even get a wild card spot. The Atheletics and White Sox were considered huge sellers, giving away multiple players, and yet both of them have good shots to make it into the postseason.
What i’m saying is, with David or without David, there’s always a possibility that we can win and so it shouldn’t be that big of deal whether he stays or not… at least for me.
The worst thing that can happen for ownership is for the fans not to care. That we are questioning what the team is going to do shows that we are invested. I would hope/expect that to be good for the people in charge.
Love the optimism!
Flores should not be traded! He has a good shot at being the Mets 2B for the next decade. If you want to trade a prospect in a deal for a major league bat, Aderlin Rodriguez should be the one to go. I’d sell him to an AL team, promising them he’ll be their DH for the next 15 years.
Aderlin Rodriguez is 20 and by far the Mets best power prospect. I don’t see the value in trading him. These controllable hitters are serious assets.
If Ike Davis can better his average next year and beyond combined with 25-30 HRs a year and the Mets resign Wright long term, there is no place to play Aderlin on this team. In reality, he really is just a 1B because many scouts say he won’t be able to stick at 3B. I love Aderlin Rodriguez(check out my Hype Files about him on this website), but if the Mets decide to trade Flores or Aderlin in a deal in the future, I rather see A-Rod go since he is more expendable to the team. Flores could round out an infield of Davis, Tejada, and Wright for years to come. Aderlin only has a spot on this team if Davis becomes a bust which doesn’t look very likely after his second half this year.
Just one more point: If an AL team in desperate need of a bat in a few years offers up an ace and the center piece of the deal is Rodriguez, Sandy would have to pull the trigger if the infield is set with Davis, Flores, Tejada, and Wright and they are all living up to their hype.
Here is my opinion on Flores and positions.
Flores will never be a “Good” 2B. He may be a passable 2B with a different group of issues than Murphy, but he’s not going to be a gold glover. He can man the position well enough but not necessarily well enough for us to be happy.
Flores could be a “Good” 3B. He’s not there yet, but his tools lend themselves to the position and he seems to be handling that role best.
No question, Aderlin Rodriguez is worth less to the Mets but he’s also worth less in trade. If the Mets are going to make a trade for a position that they need help in, and get someone REALLY good, I’m saying they need to trade Wilmer.
I’m not sure this is totally a Met decision. Wright may not want to come back.“We’ve taken a baby step in the right direction and I still think there’s a long way to go before you can say that we’ve kind of turned that corner where I think that we will,” he said to Mike Puma on 8/12/12 in reference to being on a winning team. If they get past the winning obstacle then the Mets have to decide to spend the money.
So would Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman agreeing to a six-year, $100 million extension during spring training on top of the combined $26 million he was due to earn between this season and 2013 be the baseline comp for a Wright deal? Will the Mets pay it? This needs to be resolved this winter because the Mets need to bring in some major league ready players if they decide to trade Wright. The Reyes debacle can’t be repeated.
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