It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma…
That is a famous quote by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, made in 1939. He was trying to forecast what Russia would do in the face of confrontation with Hitler’s Germany, but he may as well have been talking about the 2015 off-season for the New York Mets. It’s no secret, no riddle what the Mets need. How will those needs get filled? What resources does GM Sandy Alderson have at his disposal? In those questions lies the mystery.
We’ve all heard the refrain since the season started: the Mets have terrific young pitching, but their offense is not up to standard. The positions that stand out as most needy are shortstop and left field. As 2014 wore on, it became clear that Ruben Tejada will never be the answer, unless the question is “With whom did the Mets attempt to replace Jose Reyes?” Tejada clearly does not possess the offensive skill set necessary for a modern major league shortstop – gone are the days when 100+ win teams could carry a Mark Belanger or a Rafael Santana, solely for their defense. And Tejada wasn’t about to win any Gold Gloves there, either. Left field was even more problematic. The players were nearly interchangeable: there was very little to differentiate Eric Young, Jr., Matt den Dekker, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Chris Young. Young got the bulk of the playing time in the early-going, mainly due to the fact that Alderson sank seven-and-a-half million of the Wilpons’ dollars in him. All that served to do was drive down his trade value and stoke the fans’ ire. Really, it is remarkable that the Mets managed to win the 79 games they did.
So how to go about plugging those holes? And whom do you subtract in a trade? There are all kinds of names flying around right now, from Yoenis Cespedes to Carlos Gonzales to Jose Bautista to contemporary October heroes such as Asdrubal Cabrera, Nelson Cruz, Matt Kemp and J.J. Hardy. To the seasoned Met fan, this stirs up competing emotions: you’d like to believe the team has the wherewithal to bring in one of these big-names, yet you feel deep down that it’ll never happen. At the same time, it’s tough to choose which young arm should be sent packing. Unless the team favors a total fan revolt, it can be assumed that Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom will be staying put. After those two? Who knows. Do they bail out on Zack Wheeler? Do they shuttle Noah Syndergaard away before he ever breathes New York air? Can they rely on Steven Matz to be the lefty and trade Jon Niese? Such is life when no one – including the general manager – knows how much money will be available to stage a successful off-season, despite what some of our colleagues may think. Meanwhile, all we can do is enjoy the incredibly entertaining post-season currently unfolding in front of us and wait for the maneuvering to begin in earnest.
And try not to be disappointed.
Follow me on Twitter @CharlieHangley.
The Mets will not make any moves of significance this offseason
I believe that Alderson will find a move worth making to better this team. I doubt it will be earth shattering, but hopefully it will be smart for the long-term.
I’d trade Niese, Colon (probably have to eat-no pun- part of his salary) one of the young pitchers (Mejia?) and Murphy for Bautista in a heart beat. But I’m not sure the Blue Jays will bite. The Mets cannot take on additional salaries. So the only way it works is for Sandy to trade comparable salaries. Bautista will only make 14 million next season with a million dollar option for 2016.
Scratch JJ Hardy off the list. O’s re-signed him for 3/40.
The new qualifying offer of 15.3 million is already having an immediate impact. We haven’t even concluded the playoffs and the Orioles rather than make a qualifying offer to Hardy gave him 3 years. Can’t wait for this off season and see how this plays out. .