My fandom of the New York Mets comes honestly, as my parents are fans of the team themselves. My father grew up a hop, skip and a jump away from Shea Stadium, and has imparted his passion and wisdom of the club upon me. On that note, and given that it was just Father’s Day, I thought that there is no better figure in my life than him to survey the current status of the team. My father has had some pretty remarkable takes over the years, albeit many questionable takes as well. Most notable in recent memory, he touted during Matt Harvey’s early rise to stardom that he should be traded, citing his off-field antics as cause for concern. We argued vividly about a straight swap of Harvey for Joey Votto – with me arguing against it. Look how wrong you can be.
My father isn’t entirely modernized in present day thinking of how to construct and win baseball games, but he’s got a keen eye for the game and has learned from many of the past mistakes that management has made. Here is a series of questions to him, with his responses (noted as ‘DB’) and and also include are my retroactively added perspectives to the matters. He managed to inspire a thought that perhaps Amed Rosario is a viable candidate as a trade piece come the deadline.
Q: What is your biggest concern about the current construction of the team?
DB: The starting pitching, mostly Zack Wheeler, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz. For years we have been told that this team will compete on the arms of the starters however every year there seems to be a different excuse to their inconsistent performance.
CB: Fair point pop, Met’s starters had a combined 19.5 fWAR last year, including a Cy Young winner. In terms of managed expectations, the formidable five have failed to meet or exceed them so far this year. As much as fans can rip apart the bullpen performance, the starting pitchers have not necessarily put the Mets in a position to succeed with a 4.18 ERA on the season
Q: What is your favorite part of the 2019 Mets?
DB: Dominic Smith because when Pete Alonso gets on base, Smith is the first person at the top of the dugout clapping and cheering for the guy who is his direct competitor. To see what he’s done in the matter of a year has been incredible and he has won me over as contributor to this team.
CB: Many other fans would share the same sentiment. Smith has quietly worked his way into a more regular role, is striking out at a reduced rate and walking at a greater rate. He is playing a serviceable outfield as well. When it comes to beloved underdog stories (which is strange to say for a former first round pick), Smith makes us wonder who Wilmer Flores even is.
Q: Will Mickey Callaway be fired by the end of the year?
DB: Absolutely. The manager is always the first to go and will ultimately bear the blame for poor performance. That’s part of the business, especially in New York. Sometimes it’s unfortunate but ownership will be more apt to giving the GM a longer leash than the manager.
CB: Perhaps we all collectively failed to manage our expectations when a former pitching coach, of which his counterparts have not particularly fared well, was hired for the job. Callaway seems overmatched for the National League, New York City, and leadership at all.
Q: Who is a trade deadline candidate that you’d like to see go?
DB: I think that we have seen enough of Rosario to get a sense of what he can provide. Maybe the club’s internal scouts know more than we can see, but Rosario hasn’t shown all five tools in full swing. Besides, there’s also that prospect in AA who can field better than he can who is waiting in his shadows.
CB: My dad brings up a fair point here. While it’s difficult to grasp the idea that a team can go from “Come and get us” to “Come and check out our clearance rack”, it’s important to consider the full depth of potential assets that can be moved. Trading someone like Rosario, who has clear prospects behind him waiting to contribute in Andres Gimenez and Ronny Mauricio, could make sense at a certain point. I for one, was in favor of moving Rosario for J.T. Realmuto in the offseason and would not be against moving the young shortstop for more assets.
Gimenez, who is the Mets number one rated prospect according to MLB.com, is having a down year in Binghamton after a trip to the All-Star Futures game last year. He has recently come off the Injured List hot, going 4 for 9 with a triple, two doubles and a stolen base since his return. Met fans surely remember the hype around Lastings Milledge, who was mentioned in potential trades that could have landed the Mets a superstar but ended up petering out after a few years with the major league club. If the right deal, say for high profile pitching prospect or center fielder, came along then I would not be against moving Rosario while the iron is still hot.
Great interaction, and thanks fro sharing.
Pertaining to your last thought: Im just curious, we see Rosario as essentially the worst SS in baseball, and the thought is to trade him, and possibly for someone good…exactly what team do you think wakes up and says we want literally the worst player in baseball at a key position and then follow with, here’s who we would offer in return? What kind of player do you expect in return?
On the flip side you have a couple people with some value that for various reasons are expendable.
Smith. He’s the puppy dog feel good Wilmer Flores guy, but that wont win you anything. If some team would be willing to get you a decent prospect, then you gotta move him. He cannot play OF at a major league level. He will never play 1B. He’s tying up a roster spot for a talent set we dont have a need for. Its sad that the reply will be, we need anyone that can hit. We should get players that belong in a position *and* can hit. So the trade partner comes back and says, you want *who* for a bench player that you are not even playing in the only position he knows?
Wheeler. Im not sure there is a lot of meat on the bones for a Wheeler trade either, but he could get a decent prospect for a team thinking he can help win regular season games as a rental, but he’s no Verlander. And I wouldnt expect much in return.
Syndergaard. Possibility he can bring back something nifty after the hammy heals and he has a couple string starts. Theres enough time to do that before 31 July.
Then there is the corpses available:
Frazier and Ramos. I think we’d be lucky to get someone to take the contract money on either, although I doubt even that. If we ate half, maybe you get a prospect buried in someone’s system. Frazier would be cheap so someone might grab for a depth choice. For a team to eat the Ramos contract it might take losing a prospect, which would be a mistake.
Cano, Familia, Nimmo, Rosario, Lagares, Gomez, Nido have zero trade value.
I would not trade McNeil, Alonso, Conforto, Lugo, deGrom.
I’ll admit that I’m not tuned in to other teams farm systems but I’d imagine that there’s another guy out there in a similar position as Rosario. Former top prospect who needs some mechanic changes and maybe a change of scenery. If that match exists, I say go for it bc Giminez and Mauricio are there in the background.
I wonder what the effect of being mentored by Reyes and Cano has had on Rosario’s career arc.
I think that Reyes in particular was terrible for Rosario. He’s got a lot of bad habits that a mentor like Reyes never helped with, and maybe some just bad habits that he picked up from Reyes. Cano is clearly not helping. The one thing about committing to Gimenez or Mauricio is that you are now talking rebuild, as neither are MLB ready by a stretch. Sure you might entice a change of scenery deal with someone, but Rosario isnt getting back anyone obviously good.
Well said.
Cano picked up where Reyes left off.
Trying to be flashy has quite a downside.
Thanks for sharing your father’s thoughts. Rosario has some pop and can drive in some runs, but his weaknesses outweigh his value, especially at shortstop.
He has lousy defense and he has no command of the plate which destroys his on base percentage.
He is not going to change. With that kind of production at the plate, I would rather have a shortstop who can field. There is not much demand for this type of player.
The pop is there but the discipline at the plate is scary bad. And the errors were initially pegged as growing pains, now they’re concerns.
He’s clearly a smooth defender and has the ability to complete these plays. Which is why I think a team out there will value him and would be willing to take a shot.
Interesting format of interviewing dad about the team.
Two points though. The first is/was Miami OK with a Rosario-Realmuto swap?
The second is dad’s gut feeling about Rosario having “bad baseball instincts.” Knowing that he’s only 23 years old owning power numbers bringing him close to 20 HRs still gives me the shakes.
The only way a contender makes a move for the infielder is if their starter goes down on July 27 and the emergency move is made.
You have a very smart father. Every question that you asked him he answered correctly. He also was spot-on when he addressed the Rosario situation when he showed his wisdom and past experience in matters like this.
What a fascinating article for baseball fans and legacy!
I love the old school talk. I soo wanted you to ask your dad about Broadie…from personality to Cano.
It would have been interesting.
My dad has been gone for years, now, and this article brought me back to some memories of fascinating discussions.
Thanks.
Perhaps a Part Two?
Thanks Peter! I appreciate the feedback and would definitely be interested in a part two, perhaps for his birthday.
Re: the old school talk. There is a lot of content I didn’t include where he completely bashes Familia and Diaz. Most of it would not have passed our writing guidelines ha!
Amed Rosario is the second worst SS according to WAR in all of baseball.
He has no value except he is young.