Across Major League Baseball, we have seen an influx of young talent come into the league. The Mets have showcased two impressive starters in Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard, but have not had any major pieces added offensively. Dilson Herrera will have a promising future in the big leagues, but he only hit .195 in 93 plate appearances. He has been tearing it up in the minors, as his average in Triple-A Las Vegas is .340, so he may be making an appearance towards the end of the season to give Wilmer Flores a day off. Kevin Plawecki has had to play quite a bit because of injuries to Travis d’Arnaud, and he has hit .238 with an OBP below .300. There is one piece that could be brought up, and the move could provide a huge addition to the team.
Michael Conforto was taken in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the Mets. He was selected 10th overall and scouts have been praising Conforto’s offensive prowess. Earlier this year, the Mets promoted their prospect from Single-A Port St. Lucie to Double-A Binghamton. In Double-A, Conforto has been producing great numbers, as he is hitting .322, has five homers, 24 RBIs, and an OBP of .401 in 40 games. His approach is solid, and he seems to drive the ball when he gets his pitch. So why is this team hesitant to call up their young outfielder?
Money may play a big role in the decision. Michael Cuddyer was signed for two years, and is getting paid $21 million over that span. The common thought throughout baseball is that if you are paying a player a good chunk of money, he should be played, and maybe the player will produce. Cuddyer has not produced this season, and he is battling a knee injury. He had a good game yesterday, going 3-5 while hitting a homerun, but if he struggles to produce, the Mets have to call up Conforto.
Exposing Conforto could be a worry for the Mets. If he gets called up and struggles in the majors, it could rattle his confidence. Paul DePodesta told Matt Ehalt of NorthJersey.com that “you put guys in positions where they are challenged and so they can grow, but we don’t want them to be so challenged that they can’t be successful.” This statement shows that the front office fears pushing Conforto too much, but he could surprise everyone and produce at a high level once he is called up. He has succeeded quickly at every minor league level, and he would make adjustments to stick around with the Mets.
Promoting Conforto would keep Cuddyer refreshed, plus it would save the Mets from starting Kirk Nieuwenhuis in left field. Kirk bought himself a couple more games with his three homers against the Arizona Diamondbacks and two hits against the Cardinals, but he strikes out quite a bit. If the Mets kept Kirk up in the big leagues, he could fill in for Juan Lagares in centerfield, as Lagares has been battling injuries this season.
The Mets need to make an attempt for the postseason. They are over .500, and are in contention for a wild card spot. Alderson’s hands are tied if he does not have any money to spend, therefore Conforto’s promotion to the big leagues could provide a spark to the lineup, while giving fans something to watch. It is getting tiring to watch a lackluster offense waste away a starting pitcher’s performance, and Conforto’s addition should help. If it does not work out, he goes back to the minors and has some big league experience under his belt. What is there to lose?
What is there to lose? A potential superstar’s confidence and the 2015 season. Conforto should not be brought up until September. The problem isn’t Conforto himself- it’s us. The fans and the media. If Conforto struggles for more than a week, people will call for his head.
I get that his production cannot be much worse than Cuddyer’s or Duda’s, but what if it is? Then the Mets present and future is boarderline ruined.
I don’t believe for one second that the fans would be after Conforto’s head if he struggles.
Flip around all the negative nellie thinking and ask yourself: What if he hits?
Michael Conforto will not be ruined by playing baseball in NY. If he struggles, if he pulls a Herrera, oh well.
The time to do this was yesterday, as it would inform any decision regarding trades. This season I believe there are at least 4-5 players who have successfully made the jump from AA to the MLB. What’s more, look at Las Vegas and the numbers there. What could Conforto possibly gain by playing in that environment, dry air, rock-hard infields, insane heat, poor pitching? He doesn’t belong there and I hope he never plays a single game there.
Name a player who was ruined by being called up too early the Major Leagues. by all the mentions we read about it all over the web, the repeated worries about doing damage to this player, one would guess that we could easily come up with a list of a dozen players whose careers have been hurt by a premature call-up. Yet I can’t think of any.
David Clyde
Ruined is a hard standard. But if you go instead for negatively impacted development, it would be easy to name guys. It’s easy to imagine the careers of Gregg Jeffries, Jose Oquendo, Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez and Amos Otis turning out better for the Mets in an alternative universe.
Now, some of these you can point to a bad clubhouse playing a part, which if you want to argue is different, I’ll accept that. But perhaps an older, more experienced individual would handle it better.
To me, the bottom line is you make a decision on whether the guy is ready to handle both major league pitching and major league life. And once you make that decision, the only thing that affects that is if you were wrong on the decision – not if the player has an ill-timed slump. If Conforto comes up and can’t hit a breaking ball or if he’s out partying in Manhattan until 4 a.m. — those are reasons to send him down.
The G.M. talks about panic city. With some of his moves he need only to look in the mirror for confirmation of that.
I like your thinking James. Conforto should have been called up the same day that Cuddyer should have been placed on the DL. It would have given the Mets an evaluation period on Conforto and Cuddyer a chance to recover .I will just mark it off as another mismanagement and lost opportunity by Sandy. If Sandy doesn’t pull off a trade today, then he should disable Cuddyer and bring up Conforto. I still would prefer a veteran 4th outfielder today. The Brewers are willing, have the necessary pieces for us and we have a stocked farm system to satisfy them. Does Sandy ever make a timely decision?
If they bring Conforto up that means the Wilpons won’t spend money via trade
It’s one or the other or the Mets will get slammed
Cuddyer and Lagares are having down offensive years and are playing banged up. The Mets need offensive help and should obtain a solid veteran fourth outfielder to add to the mix. Parra, Zobrist, Upton or Victorino should be added before the Mets consider promoting Conforto. I think Conforto would hit better than the 2015 Cuddyer or Lagares but if I wanted to compete in a playoff race then I would prefer a more veteran presence. What do you have to lose by promoting Conforto ? Maybe a playoff spot.
I would rather have a veteran presence too, but who knows what the Mets are planning to do in the next few weeks. The Mets haven’t had a playoff spot to begin with, so they wouldn’t necessarily lose it, although your point is fair. The offense is not producing, so they are losing their spot as we currently speak, so why not try Conforto out?
If Cuddyer is playing hurt now, what’s going to happen in games 130-162? He hasn’t played in over 100 games since when? If his body is breaking down now what makes anyone think he will be able to contribute the last quarter of the season? Bad signing with the expectations being way too high for a 36 year old who continues his downward spiral. Great signing Sandy. Can’t wait until next year with his contract will be an even bigger albatross around your neck. I just don’t see Alderson making any major moves (Upton). It’s not his modus operandi.
I hate seeing prospects labeled saviors. It’s bad.
David, I haven’t seen anyone use that label on Conforto. Savior? Nope. But he might be able to help.
The alternative is that the Mets are going to trade away guys like Nimmo & Fulmer without ever giving Conforto a shot. I am personally not all sure that Upton would give the Mets more over two months than Michael Conforto.
There’s talk about ruining young players. Well, as far as the Mets are concerned, the day they make these trades they will effectively “ruin” those former prospects as Mets for good.
I’m not against trading prospects by any means. But I simply don’t understand why they refuse to try Conforto. I have to suspect that this indicates he’ll be a Super 2 guy next season.
Don’t we as Mets fans label every promising prospect as a savior? The same could be said when Harvey, Wheeler, Syndergaard, and Matz were brought up. We get excited and hope prospects can produce, but I wouldn’t want to label Conforto as a savior.