All year long, we give you our opinions on what the Mets should do. Now it’s your turn to share your thoughts. Please answer the following eight questions, with only one answer allowed for each.
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What should the starting OF for the Mets be?
Platoon Lagares and Den Dekker
Who is the better long term outfielder – Puello, or MDD?
That’s certainly an interesting question but not sure it’s a good poll question. Given his youth advantage, I’d probably say Puello. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous about him repeating his big offensive season from a year ago. And not just the raw numbers, since LVG will inflate his stats.
I’m a Fan of Den Decker on this Roster— has some pop/speed…LH Bat….. I’d also think of Brown on the Roster and At 1 Base(in a Platoon w Duda or davis) instead of Satin…Brown has extensive Minor League 1b experience. He can run a bit…play some of….has power. Flores would take the “Turner Role”—- without the pies. It’s 250-300 ab’s.
That balances the bench w LH and RH bats….. it makes your late inning switches and double switches more do-able. Sadly, it leaves Satin out.
I would like to see MDD on the roster as well, and I noticed Brown has some experience at 1B too. But then you still have three guys vying for time at one position, so I’d rather keep Brown as an outfielder if possible, and only use him at 1B in case of injury. I like using Flores around the diamond, but I’d like him to get some reps at SS in the minors for a few weeks. It’s actually nice to see Sandy and Terry not being totally trounced in these polls.
Sacrificing a lot of nuance in responding to the choices provided!
That’s what the comments section is for!
Its time to consider trading d’Arnaud and make Anthony Recker our number 1 until Plawecki arrives. If d’Arnaud brings good tidings at 1B or SS, then I sacrifice him.
I think that TDA’s trade value is not that high right now and Sandy would be selling low. He’s in that purgatory area where he doesn’t carry the big prospect hype anymore, but he’s also not a true Major leaguer yet.
I would have liked to see a poll question on how fans feel about ownership.
There’s not much point in asking a poll question you already know the answer to. Is there anybody who’s happy with ownership?
Fred and Jeff would disagree. And since they’re the only ones who really count(fans don’t in their eyes) we’re stuck with them. Maybe one day we’ll be standing in line for play off tickets. Until then all we can do is smile and suffer.
My perception of the team really doesn’t matter. We still have financial constraints for the foreseeable future. It’s a shame that we as Met fans have had to endure such hypocrisy for such an extended period. The 2014 Mets have just as many questions as the 2013 version. And for this we are complacent and grateful to SA. Yes things are headed in the right direction. But then again most teams in MLB are in that same boat. We’re happy to plug in platoon players instead of having bona fide stars. How sad that Met management has been able to lower our expectations and we have succumb to their empty promises.
Alderson should have addressed first base this offseason. The Mets needed a RF and a high OBP player such as Aoki and the Brewers needed a first baseman. Something should have happened. Joyce from the Rays for Davis was also a possibility.
Shortstop depth needed to be addressed and it wasn’t. There is a quality free agent SS available and the Mets pass. It is the biggest concern.
Mejia should be the 5th starter with Montero the next starting pitcher. Dice-k and Lannan should be thought of as insurance
But Collins likes vets over rookies. I find this maddening. I have philosophical difference with TC concerning bullpen use and platooning so I wasn’t happy to see him back. I am beginning to dislike Alderson’s take on many things also but I can see some logic to it and he has done some positive things.
Lagares over EY but in all likelihood there is room for both.
Re hiring TC was another stagnant move by Alderson. Alderson really needs to show improvement in the record this year. I think 3 years is fair enough time. I think he did only 1/2 the job this winter. Was that because the money was never there? If so, then the Wilpon’s should sell.
So I hope for a .500 season but reality has me believing this is not a 75 win team.
I am disappointed with the offseason because I thought so much more should have been accomplished. LGM
With payroll today sitting at about 75 million what ever happened to SA’s remarks about the purse strings being loosened? After adding 13 minimum salaries the payroll is still 10 million less than last years.
Do yourself a favor and pay zero attention to whatever management/ownership says about payroll. They’ve been misdirecting/lying about that for at least as long as Alderson has been around and there’s no reason to expect that to change anytime soon.
Love all the talk about payroll and spending. Just curious, when the Met organization went thru some hard times with the Bernie Madoff issue, would any of you, if you owned the Mets, spend the ridiculous amounts of money on free agents ? If it was YOUR money ? A Josh Hamilton, Albert ,AROD ? We’ve already had our foolish spending with Perez, Bay and Santana contracts.
jmhammer,
It’s not necessarily the actual spending (though that’s still an issue with many) but the “misdirecting/lying” as Brian Joura stated that has rubbed salt into the wound.
Without the Madoff fountain, the Wilpons needed to realize that they wouldn’t/couldn’t properly fund a NY franchise. Their refusal to deal with this issue has led the team to fiscally function as a small market venture.
Also, let’s not condemn all spending as “foolish.” While there are many examples of poor spending, there are others where spending money has paid off.
Hey Norm,
Pretty sure you can count the good ones on 1 hand. If you can pass five Norm I will take a bow. With regards to Madoff is it your belief that the spending for fa’s like Santana and Bay came directly from funds earned thru Madoff ?
Not sure I will agree with you on that. I’m leaning toward that unique idea of developing players from within, keeping them 5-6 years and then trade or pick up draft choices and refurbish the farm system.
jm I like your thinking about moving players after 5 or 6 years. Long term expensive free agent contracts seem risky. Short term expensive free agent contracts make more sense because you can fill an immediate need. How much you spend depends on how much you need in order to be a playoff team. Tampa has a good model when it comes to moving players and Boston did a good job of free agents last year. A hybrid of the two would work in such a large market like NY.
If the powers that be don’t want to start Mejia, why settle for Matsuzaka when 14.1 M/1 year gets you Santana?
Shortstop can be resolved with a 2 year contract to Drew. A veteran relief presence was theirs for the taking with Hawkins at 2.5M. Those three additions and maybe the Mets are making a playoff run in 2014. All were short term with no committment. If they would just spend the money and let the farm develop.
Ervin Santana has a higher career FIP than Dillon Gee, who many consider to be a #5 pitcher and #3 at best and he was given away for free by the Angels just 1 year ago… and his inconsistency has be known to drive people crazy. I can’t wait to see him get pummeled by the NL east!
Thank you Metsense for the kind remarks and yes, I would hope there’s more of us who believe in the 6 year strategy. I would agree with you and go with Mejia. I remember Niese followed by Gee getting there “MLB” on the job training, seems that worked out well.Somewhere in that 6 year plan, if they player has had 2-3 good years, I would offer a deal, similar to the one Reyes and Wright got, giving the Mets almost 10 years of reasonable salary and playing time with the team.
Baseball is cyclic in its trends. No doubt now, we are in the value youth over anything mode. I think that partly comes from the draft compensation situation with qualifying offer FAs. From what I hear on the radio, the players hate it, and I expect the new CBA to have a different model. The trend is to younger and younger players and locking them up for arb years and then a couple FA years. Of course its an economically more favorable approach. The recent moves in ATL have showed this done perfectly. Also see the Paul Goldschmidt and Evan Longoria contracts. I think its a great plan too. The thing is jm, the developing players from within part is key. You seem to be advocating for the Tampa Bay model, and it works best when player development is fantastic.
How would this really work for the Mets? I just dont think we are that deep despite all the hootin and hollerin. Once this crop of arms hits the bigs this year, Im not at all too confident what is coming up and their ability to impact the big club (Plawecki and Dom Smith) substantially.
I like the hybrid model, because a team needs veteran leadership whether thats a lifer like Wright or an import like Grandy. The big benefit of the 6-yr plan is that you pay for the production your team gets rather than paying for the hope of continued production from a player who racked up numbers for a different team. But lets be clear, there is not one way to the ring…just ask the Yankees!
Hey Chris,
Years ago teams like the Giants and Dodgers had a huge farm system that produced players like Aaron, Mays, Clemente etc. Your probably right about cycles. If the Mets are lacking in player development, then by all means we need to improve on that area. For example, having someone in the wings ready for 1B or SS at a time like now.
Since most strategies don’t always pan out as planned, it’s best to have some options ready. I say this because Ike struggled 2 years in a row, but no viable option down on the farm.
I am a Davis fan, I do hope he will rebound his year, if not, Alderson will look to deal by the All Star break. To best answer you, I will go with the hybrid approach as each unique situation develops.
jmhammer,
If your point is that most big money fa signings don’t work out in the long run I’d agree with you. But, if you are contending that a team should avoid fa signings and concentrate solely on development from within I’d disagree. A sharp gm and a willing owner will use development of draft choices, trades and fa signings.
As for the Madoff money, I’ll stand by my belief that the Wilpons had more money to spend due to their friend Bernie. With that money stream cut off they have cut the budget sharply. What’s worse is that they keep breaking their word about increasing that budget each year. This year’s budget will be about the same as last year despite the sharp increase in national tv money.
Not to avoid fa signings. The right mix of veterans with young players. The vet that is looking for the ring, the vet that is a team player, the vet that will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Add those guys ( usually short term contracts ) to the mix.
As far as the Madoff issue, I feel its time to put that to rest. Not that the Wilpons weren’t to blame, just tired of the badmouthing. Time to move on.