The Mets front office has set some pretty lofty expectations for 2014. Sandy Alderson and other members of his staff have stated that they think the Mets can win 90 games this year.
As expected, it didn’t go over to well with the media and with the public. Columnists, reports and fans laughed at the idea that this Mets team could win 90 games. This is the same team that doesn’t have a regular at first base or shortstop, is missing Matt Harvey and is still really young.
But still, the comments were made and now they are the talking point of the season. If Alderson wants the Mets and his comments to be taken seriously, then steps need to be taken in order for that to happen.
Let’s face facts; the Mets have been the laughing-stock of New York baseball for the past eight seasons. From collapses to a certain Luis Castillo incident in the Bronx to Jason Bay and everything in between, the Mets have been on the wrong side of history.
The new front office has breathed some life and enthusiasm to a fan base that needed something to cheer about.
Now it’s time to put a good product out on the field. And that starts with the rotation. Without Harvey, the Mets went out and signed Bartolo Colon. Including that addition the Mets have four locks for the rotation: Colon, Jonathon Niese, Zack Wheeler and Dillon Gee. The fifth spot has been a battle between lefty John Lannan, Jenrry Mejia and Daisuke Matsuzaka.
The entire spring, rhetoric from manager Terry Collins suggested that it was a two-person race, Lannan and Matsuzaka.
Jenrry Mejia should have that fifth spot, if the Mets want to be taken seriously in their aspirations of winning 90 games.
Mejia has always been a question mark. Injuries have kept him off the field and have hindered his ability to take that next step. This spring however not only has Mejia stayed healthy; he has also looked very sharp in his appearances.
Mejia is the better pitcher of the three. Every scout and commentator agrees with that. It has always been the health of Mejia that has kept people skeptical of his ability to help a big league club.
With only two weeks remaining before the season begins, it’s time for Sandy Alderson to show the Mets are serious about 2014. Make Mejia the fifth starter, put Lannan in the bullpen and have Dice-K as some insurance in case of another injury (like Niese). Although, Rafael Montero and Jacob deGrom may be next in line for a shot and Noah Syndergaard is right behind them.
The Mets have strength in pitching, and they should exploit that and put a good product out on the field. Winning 90 games should be laughable anymore; it should be a realistic goal. And this is the start of that transition. It starts with Jenrry Mejia.
Mejia has the better stuff these days, but his action against competing teams has been limited to 4.1 innings this spring according to the Mets website, and he’s walked more guys than he’s struck out (including a HBP). I’d love to see more from him these last two weeks, but it appears Dice K has won Terry’s love, despite a bad showing the other day. Mejia will probably start in AAA and be up in May. I can’t stand watching Dice K, but I can personally wait 1.5 months for Mejia to be back up here. It will probably feel longer though with that gyroball on the mound.
To me this is a no brainer Dice K is not part of their future Mejia is! Mejia is 24 yrs old and Dice K is in his mid to late 30’s and Mejia might have the best stuff on the current staff(not including Harvey and Syndergaard) Flores at SS, murphy to first, EY to 2nd Lagares in CF, and Mejia as your 5th starter and maybe the mets will have at least a 500 year with 90 wins a possibility?
I’d heard somewhere that Dice K can leave if he’s not on the major league roster by May 1. Not sure if that’s a great loss, but it does explain some concern about Mejia’s injury history.
“The new front office has breathed some life and enthusiasm to a fan base that needed something to cheer about.”
I don’t agree. Alderson is heading into a season with no shortstop depth, the same Duda/Davis dilemma at first base, no established veteran presence in the bullpen allowing the one he had walk off for 2.5M, and two offensive holes in the lineup and no high OBP lead off batter. This fan does not feel enthusiasm but is observing stagnation and indecision.
If the Mets have no faith in their young pitching then why didn’t they sign Santana for 1 year/14M. They could have added Cruz for 1 year/8M and plug Drew in for 2 years/ 22M and then maybe the Mets are a 90 win team in 2014 without the future being mortgaged in 2015. Oh, they don’t have money to be competitive? Then sell the team.
if you sign Cruz, who is sitting? Are you going to take the best defensive CFer in baseball (arguably), in order to play a butcher, with five predominantly flyball starters?
TC was leaning toward EY Jr over Lagares because he believes EY Jr is a better offensive player and catalyst. Therefore I would think TC would play Cruz over EY Jr. Both of us don’t agree with TC but he is making the line up card.
Poor defense can sabotage good pitching.
It’s the same old story every year. Bring in the cheap retreads and see which falls off the rubber first. They promised Mejia a starting job, they lied, they didn’t even give him a fair chance. If they send Mejia down they will have a better starting staff in Vegas than in New York. I sorry Chris, the management don’t give a damn what the fans think. They claimed they had a plan at the end of last year. What was that plan, to have no shortstop this season, weaken the pitching staff. They “might” have improved the outfield. Chris Young this spring has shown he might be a good pick up. But he’s here for one season. While den Decker, Brown, Campbell and Nuenhauis have showed dramatic improvement. One person on this site said, the Mets were offered Franklin straight up for Davis. They were both No. 1 picks. Why didn’t the Mets jump on it? 90 Wins, huh! lets see?
How about starting for the Dbax?
Make Mejia the number 5 starter. If he does not work out send him to Las Vegas as a reliever. We have Dice K and other options.
Okay its obvious Mejia isn’t going to make the team. He hasn’t been pitching at all in any games. He probably was no in “the plan” like a lot of other good young talent. Let’s get over it. If you try to get a straight answer “What the Met’s plans for Mejia are? You will never find out, until it happens. They are going into the season basically like they did in the last 3 years. I expect “90 wins,” that’s what the GM said. If the season is over by early August, I expect Sandy and company to be fired. But since I’m just a just a fan, what do I count? I do think Dice-K is young enough (at 33) to have several good years, but I have my doubts on Valverde, Farnsworth, and Colon. Lannan never had a good enough career to make a comeback. but he might still have something in the tank, and the Mets need another lefthander even if Niese is healthy. Spring training really means very little. Let’s see what happens in April when things count. The Mets have a pretty tough month ahead of them. I think the outfield will be okay. But if Tajeda, Davis and Duda don’t get off to a reasonable start they get rid of them.