At 15-12 (this post was written prior to Friday night’s game against Colorado), the Mets have been more than keeping their heads above water and are off to a start that most of us did not expect.
Will they keep it up? Can they keep it up?
Because if they can, it will inevitably lead to questions involving whether or not Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson should be aggressive on the trade market leading up to the deadline. This time there should no hesitation. This is the year to call to action.
As clear as day, everybody and their grandmother knows the Mets needs offense. With the Mets having a glut of quality pitching and a dearth of consistent hitting, Alderson should engage in some heavy trade discussions leading up to the trade deadline.
Break it down this way. When you think ahead to 2015, the Mets conceivably have 10 worthy pitchers who could be part of the starting staff. Now, clearly there is a preferred pecking order, but the following pitchers here are all solid-to-excellent options:
Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Bartolo Colon, Dillon Gee, Jonathon Niese, Jenrry Mejia, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Rafael Montero and Jeremy Hefner.
Obviously, you can never have too much pitching, but with this surplus, they can afford to shop at least two-to-three pitchers (and even some high-end ones at that) to bolster an inconsistent and meager offense.
To his credit, Alderson did address some offensive issues in the offseason with the additions of Chris Young and Curtis Granderson. But between injuries and general under-performance, they have not exactly lit it up. Granted, it’s very early and most people should feel comfortable that they will bounce back—especially Granderson. Even if they do, though, the Mets should definitely look to add more prolific bats.
We all know the Mets can use help at shortstop, as Ruben Tejada is not likely the solution. So, will the Mets swing for the fences and try to trade for a guy like Troy Tulowitzki, who the Mets are seeing close up this weekend? Trading for Tulowitzki would likely command a king’s ransom, though. If they want to go a cheaper route (at least when it comes to trading prospects) they can call up the White Sox and inquire about Alexi Ramirez, who is off to a fantastic start. Or perhaps call the other Chicago team and ask about the always-dangled Starlin Castro, who is also off to a fine start.
And of course, there’s always Stephen Drew.
What about first base? Are the Mets really set with relying on Lucas Duda for the foreseeable future? Maybe the Mets will try to make a blockbuster trade at that position. How about going back to Toronto and seeing what they want for Edwin Encarnacion?
And hey, there is always Kendrys Morales.
The Mets have to be very diligent and, of course, I’m putting the cart before the horse here. But if the Mets keep up their winning ways by July, they should be aggressive near the deadline, as they have the pieces (read, pitching) to make something significant happen. This is not time to stay status quo.
Again, yes it’s early, but even if the Mets fall behind in the standings, you still have to think ahead and realize the 2015 squad is where the club can take the next step. So, the Mets should stay ahead of the curve and explore all possible trade options while also thinking about the future.
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Dan, I think you are spot on that if the Mets stay in the hunt until July they should look to trade their strength to improve their weaknesses. In the meantime, they should try to assure themselves that they are in that position come July. Two immediate improvements would be to sign Drew now and promote deGrom and Montero for the bullpen.
The Mets are ripe for a team altering trade , like the Brooks for Carter trade, that will set the tone for the next 5 years.
Food for thought: Oakland is 16-2 when their top three pitchers start, 2-9 when anyone else does. Oakland is looking for pitching.
Ya think they want Colon back?
Not sure they could give us any offensive pieces though. We could use Lowrie, but he’s only under contract this year, but unless they think Addison Russell is ready for the big leagues (is he hurt right now?) they have 0 options. And unless we plan to swap some OF’s, it probably would be counter producctive to bring in another.
At this point, i’d settle for a Jim Johnson-Colon swap. Colon gets to go back to where he thrived, we take a chance on Johnson revival. Both are making 10 million this year and we don’t have to worry about paying Colon 10 mil next year.
I have very mixed feelings about this. How about if the mets are 10-15 over .500 and in a battle for first place. Then I could be sold. In my eyes a few over .500 would not even be close. Those kinds of aggressive moves are for teams on the cusp, like PIT dealing for Byrd and Buck. The number of events that would need to occur before entertaining a big dip in dealing what might be real long term positives fort he team.
Is virtually everyone wrong in seeing the Mets project at best to .500? I doubt it.
“Is virtually everyone wrong in seeing the Mets project at best to .500?”
Yes. Take a look at various projection sites for the last couple of years.
Here is the one for ESPN: http://espn.go.com/mlb/preview13/story/_/page/13expertpicks/espn-expert-team-predictions-2013-baseball-season
Virtually everyone had the Blue Jays and Nationals winning the East divisions. The Angels were also a very popular pick. No reason to trust pre-season projections.
Not Las Vegas, who has been dead on with the over/under on the. Mets.
On the whole, they’re track record is just as spotty as the “analysts”
Pretty sure there are many Vegas odds, here’s one i found: http://www.sbnation.com/2013/2/14/3986584/mlb-over-under-odds-2013-GAMBLOR
The only team that they got dead on was the Mets. In addition, there were 5 within 2 games and 3 within 3 games. That’s 9 teams out of 30 that they got within 3 games.
That’s a pretty awful percentage to me and I surely wouldn’t rely on them.
The trade market should be aggressively pursued weather they stay above .500 or not. The issue at SS and 1B are still there regardless of what the overall record is. They have several pitchers that are very young with very bright futures under team control and should be traded for similar players that address our needs.
As we think of First Base:
in 12 games, Ike Davis gave us .208 with 1 home run and 5 RBI’s.
in 12 games, Ike has given Pittsburg: .189 with 1 home run and 5 RBI’s.
Lucas has 4 HRs and 13 ribbies, with about .250 average. He may end up with 20 homers.
As to SS, is Stephen Drew looking any better?? It appears that Wilmer is not going to play SS at the Major League level.
SS should be the absolute priority. 1B has options should Duda flounder.
Screw Drew….Get Chris Owings quick!