With the way that this year’s edition of the New York Mets were constructed, and the hype that surrounded the team, it has become quite easy to play the “what if?” game with this team. There are so many “what if” scenarios that surround this team, especially when you dive into the Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz trade. The biggest “what if” involves the bullpen of the Mets however. Especially when you ask the question, “What if the bullpen was as productive as it has been lately, all season?” In short, the Mets could potentially be looking at buying pieces at this deadline rather than being a seller before July 31st deadline.
Since the end of the All-Star break, the bullpen of the Mets has been significantly better than it was leading up to it. Outside of the series that saw a lot of bullpen overuse in San Francisco, the bullpen has been a breath of fresh air. Before the All-Star break, the collective ERA for the Mets relievers was 5.21, a mark that shows just truly how awful the bullpen was. In save situations this season, thanks to that awful first half from the bullpen, the ERA of the relievers in save situations is 6.22, and the opponent’s batting average was .306. To give an idea on how bad that is, the ERA for the relievers of the Yankees in a save situation is 2.53, and the opponent’s batting average is .188.
Sure, no one could have predicted the outcome of Edwin Diaz having major struggles in his transition to the Mets. Say however, that the Mets don’t pull the trigger on the Cano and Diaz trade, and instead hit the free agency market for relief help. By not pulling the trigger, the Mets have saved themselves from acquiring a contract that will not exactly age kindly. They will pay Cano $19 million for the 2019 season, according to Spotrac.com. With that money saved by not acquiring Cano, the Mets could have invested in better relief pitching. Adam Ottavino was a sought after reliever this past offseason after having a fantastic season prior in Colorado. The Mets seemed to have had interest in Ottavino, but missed the bus on signing him.
All Ottavino has done for the Yankees is pitch to a 1.60 ERA while striking out 63 in 45 innings pitched. All of this has been done on an affordable 3-year, $27 million dollar contract. Another reliever who the Mets were apparently interested in but couldn’t reel in was Andrew Miller. While Miller has not had the same type of elite season that Ottavino has had, he has still thrown to a respectable 3.74 ERA, which is more than most of the Mets relievers can say for themselves. Miller’s contract is worth $12.5 million for this season, which is understandable given his past as one of the league’s elite relievers.
Not pulling the trigger would also have given the Mets more flexibility in the field. Rather than being stuck with having to put Cano at second, the Mets could have simply put Jeff McNeil at second, keeping him from having to play out of position. While it is too late to go back on the trade, it is safe to say at this point in time that the Mets could have put themselves in a better position to compete this season by not trading for Cano and Diaz, and allocating their resources somewhere else.
This article is exactly why I am scared shhhtless about BVW trading Thor. Does he know how to pick prospects ? Sure knows how to trade them !
They would need to get like 4 players back, including one SP. Can they do this, or maybe BVW “Can-O” do this and the Mets fans just lose someone for a bag of chips that they love and look forward to seeing every 5 days. Mad Dog Russo was right 100% on his show. Trading Thor for several pieces could restock the Mets, sign back Wheeler, and with Thor in SD, Mets would see him 1x, 2x a year tops. Playing in MLB obscure SD is certainly not like trading him to the Yanks or the Braves for that matter . Thor’s value is high now with 2 years of control still. One thing is certain is that the Mets won’t be paying him $30Mish when his contract is up and have 2 pitchers on the payroll at that level. Sadly, I think he is gone, but one can understand why. Just pray the Mets get the package they need to restock and still be competitive. Resigning Wheeler takes some of the sting away from any Thor trade. Just no trust of BVW makes this a roll of the dice. Not an easy call.Nothing about being a Mets fan is EZ.
Granted picking up Cano had as much to do about picking up a young and controllable Diaz as it did about rescuing former BVW client Cano. Trades often take time to materialize their value except Cano’s age should have been a warning sign. I recall those who fretted about giving up Michael Fulmer for Yoenis Cespedes and while Fulmer started off with a bang it turned into a whimper and then an injury. The Mets entire season hinges on their ineffective bullpen and not their defense or players playing out of position, or strange moves by Callaway. On paper they left SP as contenders. 20 plus blown saves is the story of the year. Don’t believe a total rebuild is necessary. No issue in trading Thor but the return should be better after the season as contending teams will part with more MLB players as part of a deal then now when they are trying to make the playoffs. It makes sense to trade off expiring contracts as long as our scouting has identified bonafide prospects who are really not far off from the big show and not some A ball hopeful. Wheeler showed he can be a force so he could bring back a high level prospect from a team close to playoff contention. We could always sign him back as a free agent. Remember we got him trading Beltran to the Giants. In the meantime let’s take game 2 against the Bucs.
McNeil establishes himself and they go out and get Cano and Lowrie. 35 million a year to fill a position that was already solid. Total stupidity. Mariners ate BVW’s lunch and laughed. BVW should have stuck to being an agent because clearly believes his former clients are worth far more than they really are….he is a true believer in his own bullshit. He did not recognize what he had in Dunn/Kelenic, Swarzak (who has been arguably better than Diaz), Bruce (who has been much better than Cano) and pulled the trigger pointed in the wrong direction, loaded with the wrong ammo and shot his own team in the foot where it will remained hobbled with a huge contract for years. Disaster move that made no sense at the time and even less sense in hindsight
Early this year, when Diaz wanted $1MM after leading the league in saves and the Mets gave him minimum, he said that they will regret it. Think it’s him that’s saying he won’t pitch more than an inning?
The Cano deal was a whopper of a mistake, no reason to mince words. However, Jeurys Familia has been a colossal failure. Even if Diaz was shaky, Familia should have been able to spell him or at least give him more chances. Instead we have a setup man who doesn’t look like a Major League ballplayer.
What if the Mets hired a real GM like Chaim Bloom.
Mike, I was thinking about that last night, and here are the pros/cons: Bloom may have been more careful, but he doesn’t make the Front Office moves that got the Mets three #1’s in the draft, nor does he take Boston’s two top scouting guys and Kansas City Royals’ assistant GM. Plus, Bloom probably trades JdG for prospects rather than re-signs him. But, he also doesn’t ever make the Cano deal, nor the Lowrie deal, nor the JD Davis deal, nor the Broxton deal. He would sign Familia to close, Martin Maldonado is our catcher and Alonso starts the year in Syracuse. While in retrospect, we all look at Bloom as “the one who got away”, he is still technically available but I wonder as well…
What do you think it will take for the Cano deal to be forgiven by fans?
Have to move on from it. It is what it is and we are where we are.
This team is a repeat of last year. Time to shake it up. I am just terrified to see Syndergaard traded for A ball players by BVW.
But, we wont have to worry about. BVW is probably close to trading Thor for Albert Pujols.
And next season. And next season. And next season until Cano is gone.
See you in 2023