After the double-header sweep yesterday, including the fantastic debut of Zack Wheeler, the future of the Mets starting rotation is well under way.
Now, it seems that Sandy Alderson’s focus is on retooling this lineup that has had its share of struggles. Late last night, news broke that the Mets had traded Collin McHugh to the Rockies for OF Eric Young Jr. Young Jr. has been a guy Alderson has had on his radar for a while now. The addition of Young isn’t expected to fix this lineup, but it shows that Alderson is shifting his focus to a lineup in need.
Over the past couple of months, Alderson has gone on radio, talked to reporters and fans and has spoken about what the plan is over the next six months going forward. One of those things was adding bats into the lineup, the product of being able to have $40 million dollars next season to spend on free agency. Alderson has also stated that the Mets will be very active at the trade deadline.
Speculation has begun to circulate as to who Sandy Alderson will target at the deadline. Names from Giancarlo Stanton to Andre Either have been thrown out as possible acquisitions for the Mets.
One of the bigger names talked about is Rockies OF Carlos Gonzalez, who would fill two needs the Mets have. Cargo plays the outfield and is a power hitter. Both would immediately be upgraded dramatically.
The main concern people have had with Gonzalez is his struggles to hit away from Coors Field. At home, Cargo has a .333/.392/.610 career line with 74 HRs and 264 RBIs, while on the road his has a .266/.322/.322 line with 45 HRs and 141 RBIs. The numbers are night and day for him away from Coors Field. But this year, it has been a different story for the 27 year old, as he has a .333/.397/667 line on the road in 31 games.
He is the type of acquisition that right away would breathe some life into this fanbase about the future that is underway.
Alderson will have his phones ringing come the deadline and will be active. Many fans will want him to make the big deal and get a big name like Stanton or Cargo. It seems as if he is going to lean towards getting the middle-average type player while re-tooling the minor league positional system. The sentiment is that Alderson is more inclined to get the big names during free agency than unload his prospects to get a big time superstar.
It’s an interesting balance he has to try to find, as the Mets team is starting to hit the point where the pitching is filling out and now the lineup is the concern. By spring training next year, Alderson will have had to make some sort of move to make this Mets’ team and its lineup better.
What Alderson will end-up doing this deadline will probably be dumping the likes of Marlon Byrd and John Buck and getting prospects to re-tool the system, while getting ready to add guys during the off-season.
This again? Man, another big Met dreamer.
I know this is going to sound silly coming from (the ultimate Lagares fan-boy), but … I really like what happened yesterday after the game.
Brown and Young easily could add 150 to 200 OPS points *each* to the lineup we fielded yesterday by unseating both Cowgill and Lagares. Imagine any team adding 375 OPS points in a few days.
That might be a condemnation of who we are, but at least it’s a sign we are honestly looking for improvement now. We can move from Brown/Young up another 150 OPS points later.
Yes JG that is the way to improve a team .A good point and a sign of forward progress.
Chris, why so anxious to trade Byrd or Buck? What are you going to get? Minor League roster fill? Both could actually be good 2014 bench players and both are playing about NL average for their positions this year.
Davis unfortunately may have taken care of the who to trade Davis or Duda debate with his poor play decreasing his value.
The next big decision will be Murphy or Flores at 2B.
Right now, if possible, do the Mets trade one of their starters? I say only for major league help.
The future appears to have arrived last Tuesday, and it is time to start acting as if the Mets are going to win the game. That is a change in culture that the Mets must embrace. It is time to start fixing the team on the field, not the one in Vegas or Bingotown.
If the Mets add Cargo it won’t be until the season is over. Colorado is still in the playoff hunt.
I’m happy with the little moves made yesterday. Between that, our burgeoning farm system, and the FA OF market (I’m looking at you, Choo), we could go into 2014 a hell of a lot stronger than we entered 2013. I also think Choo’s ours to lose – I think he really wants to come to NY after seeing the Korean fan support when the Reds visited Citi a few weeks ago. The downside there would be a lost pick and the salary but the upside is a fantastic player who will help the team win fans by a) helping us win games and b) tapping into a large, affluent and mostly Mets-indifferent fanbase with a huuuuge population just minutes from the stadium.
I also think that we should go in hard on Chase Headley – yeah, we have a 3B but Headley can definitely play LF and probably pull off second. He’s having a down year offensively due to his thumb injury, the Padres may not be able to afford him moving forward, and Alderson has the Padres connection. He’d likely be cheaper than Carlos González as he’s not tied to a long-term contract and he’s having a pretty awful year by his standards offensively.
A d’Arnaud, Duda, Murphy (might have to be included in that trade), Tejada/Quintanilla, Wright, Choo, Lagares/________/Puello, Headley going into ASB 2014 would be a pretty solid lineup….and would require literally one major trade from where we are right now and one major FA signing. We have the pieces to make that happen.
Interesting thought on Headley, I had forgotten that he could play LF too. While I like the idea, I’m hesitant to give too much up for him because he’s really only had one season where he hit for any kind of power.
With Tulowitzki being injured and not playing the Rockies need CarGo’s bat. Add the fact that they are in a race for a wild card it doesn’t make sense to move him. Just wishful thinking on a Met fan blog. Trading Marcum. Byrd and Buck at the trade deadline to stockpile the minors is the way to go and Sandy probably will choose that route.