Roundtable: Expectations for the Mets in the second half

Now that the All-Star break is over, I reached out to my friends in the Mets blogosphere and asked the following question:

What are your expectations for the Mets in the second half?

These people all do great work and their names are hyperlinked to their blogs so please go ahead and click on them to check out their real stuff.

Chris Walendin – A Dedicated Follower of Fashion (and roster moves)

Over the season’s final two and a half months, I expect many things out of these Mets. But above all else, I expect them to begin shaping their 2014 identity in earnest. Central to that objective is figuring out what they’re going to do with Ike Davis going forward. At this point, I could see him being the Mets’ first baseman on Opening Day 2014. I could also see him being non-tendered in December. I don’t envy the Front Office on that one, but I do expect there to be no more question as to their direction on that front by the time their season winds down on September 30th. I also expect to see Wilmer Flores, Travis d’Arnaud, Jacob deGrom, and maybe even Cesar Puello to make their Queens debuts in September (or earlier). I expect there to be more than a few frustrating 2-0, 3-1 losses, but also plenty of enjoyable Harvey Days. I expect to watch Zack Wheeler take his early lumps on the path to becoming an effective frontline starter. But reading the tea leaves, I don’t expect the Mets to trade Bobby Parnell or Marlon Byrd (despite the fact that I’d be interested in moving both of them, though Parnell only for a very nice return). Boring predictions are boring, right? With that in mind, I’ll go off book, embrace my starry-eyed optimism & say that the Mets are going to be a winning team over their final 71 games, going 36-35.

Jason Fry – Watches Mets games All Day and All of the Night

Regarding the rest of 2013, I’ll be foolishly positive and say the Mets’ good pitching and generally crisper play continues and this time they avoid a second-half slalom off the cliff, going 38-33 the rest of the way to finish 79-83. Which isn’t particularly inspiring, perhaps, but is better than we would have thought not so long ago, and a place to build from.

What are my expectations? They’re all about the future. I want to see if Jeremy Hefner can keep up his inspiring run of good performances, and if Dillon Gee is healthy and can keep contributing. I want to see Zack Wheeler continue to learn and improve, while understanding there will be bumps and bruises. I want to see if the Mets can get anything out of their young relievers, or if next year will need to be more spaghetti against a wall bullpen-wise.

For the bats, I think it’s time to make a decision about Ike Davis, Lucas Duda and Ruben Tejada, three guys whose failure to make strides essentially doomed this season. I hope we at least get a cameo from Travis d’Arnaud, and we’ll have to cross our fingers about his health going forward. Most of all, I want to see the young guys play, whether it’s in New York or Las Vegas. Jordany Valdespin had all sorts of problems, but leaving him on the bench to rot wasn’t the solution to any of them.

The biggest thing to watch, though, won’t really come into view until the offseason. This fanbase needs and deserves some clarity about the Mets’ financial state and the future. If trades are made, do they position the Mets better for 2014, or are they just salary dumps? What signals are we getting from the front office and ownership about future payroll and — as is always important with this team — do we believe them? These are really winter questions, but then this winter looms as one of the most important periods for the Mets in years.

Oh, and I expect to just enjoy Matt Harvey and David Wright. They’re special players. Baseball’s always fun, but it’s more fun when you get to watch guys like that go to work.

Jon Springer – He just spends his life livin’ in a Rock-n-Roll Fantasy

At the risk of being replaced by Omar Minaya in next month’s roundtable I’m not ruling out “meaningful games in September,” not because I think the Mets are destined for them necessarily but because I’ve seen what the National League East has to offer this year, and it’s hard to make a case for any of them. The Mets at least are looking competitive most nights, and I’m optimistic that they can win another 41 games, 82-80. Second place!

Michael Geus – Thinks we can’t lose, Acute Schizophrenia Blues

The hope would be that we finally show a commitment to winning and make a few moves designed with the roster in mind. Trading Byrd is high on that list, this idea that only high-level prospects matter is annoying to me. Look how much Young and Satin have helped this team since they arrived, and Hefner all year. Identify someone that you can get for Byrd who can possibly help in 2014 and get him. If he never makes it, so be it. So far we have willingly traded away players that would have helped us but made a high salary (K-Rod, Beltran, Dickey) but never do trade when they have an affordable contract (Capuano, Hairston, Byrd.) Keeping these guys every year is slowing down the rebuild, and New York fans are way too smart to go to one or two more games because we kept Scott Hairston or Marlon Byrd. Byrd has been great, now he has to go.

Better yet would be a small signal from ownership that they are solvent again, some type of deal where we take on salary. Do these things and you can start to turn your fanbase, who have rightfully become fed up. Revenue matters!

My expectation is we do neither of those things. Perhaps we are posturing, but I don’t believe so, the spin cycle has been on for a couple of weeks now. Sigh. Hopefully they at least get d’Arnaud up here ASAP.

For a prediction, I believe we can go about three of four under with this roster in the second half. I think Harvey will continue along, he is having a “zone” season. I predict he is shut down before the season ends, which is so inconsistent with holding on to Byrd it is laughable. Wheeler will be a little up-and-down but will show enough improvement to excite us until he gets shut down. Niese doesn’t make it through the year. Wright continues to be fantastic.

We will show enough so it is clear that with a commited ownership we can finally compete every night in 2014.

Greg Prince – What else, he’s the Prince of the Punks and he’s finally made it!

The Mets may not rise into contention, but I don’t expect another total collapse. There’ll probably be a letdown post-break, with Terry Collins blaming the travel, the weather, the All-Star Game and everything else, but there appears to be too much pitching to fall apart. Would love to see a Satin-Duda platoon at first, but it’s hard to imagine Davis won’t get every conceivable shot to regain his stroke.

The Mets will finish one game off last year’s pace, at 73-89, but that’s OK given where they were as late as mid-June. Besides, that was their record in 1968, and we know what happened next.

Howard Megdal – A Well Respected Man about town

My belief is that the team will use the second half to determine, as conclusively as it can, what Ike Davis can provide at first base, Ruben Tejada can give them at shortstop, how real Eric Young Jr. and Jeremy Hefner are, and ideally, whether Zack Wheeler can pitch and Travis d’Arnaud can catch regularly in the major leagues. Accordingly, these six will likely determine, to a large extent, second-half success or failure.

*****

Me – A Face in the Crowd

My expectations are for the team to make no big moves and continue with business as usual, both in the dugout and front office. I’d like to see them give Duda a real shot at first base and Matt den Dekker a real shot in center field. I wish they would DFA Chris Schwinden and call up Jacob deGrom, instead. And it would be wonderful if they used their seven best relievers, instead of insisting on carrying two lefties. Oh well, maybe next year. In their final 71 games, I see them above .500 if Duda plays and Ike sits and under .500 otherwise. Let’s say 37-34 or 34-37.

*****

I’d like to thank Chris, Jason, Jon, Michael, Greg and Howard for participating.