Friend of the site John Coppinger was among the many who weighed in on the Matt Adams signing yesterday. Here’s what he said:
The Mets made a curious “Friday news dump” depth signing, as they have added first baseman Matt Adams on a minor league deal.
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So they can stash Smith on the roster much like they did at the beginning of last season as a lefty bat and part time OF/1B. After that, they can give Pete Alonso some rest at DH and give Smith plenty of time at first.
As for Adams, he’ll look good in a Syracuse uniform until Alonso gets exposed to the Coronavirus when the Mets medical staff runs out of funding for surgical masks.
Adams has been in the majors since 2012 and he’s been a quality player. But he’s one of those guys whose reputation far exceeds his actual production. How many times do you think he’s amassed 500 PA in a season? He only did it once, back in 2014. Since then, he’s been between 186 and 367 PA.
He’s a lefty hitter whose teams try hard to give him the platoon advantage as often as possible. How many times has he had a 120 OPS+ with his PA stacked with the platoon advantage? Once, back in 2013. Last year his OPS+ was 83.
He’s not a good defensive player and he’s an even worse baserunner. All of his value is tied up in his bat. If the Mets were going to use the new 26th roster spot on a hitter, he’s the type of guy who would make some sense. But smart money has that spot going to a relief pitcher, which means Adams will be enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of Syracuse.
So barring any spring injuries, the pitching staff is pretty set:
deGrom, Syndergaard, Stroman, Matz, Porcello
Diaz, Lugo, Betances, Familia, Wilson, Brach, Gsellman, Wacha
The starting 8 position players are
Ramos, Alonso, Cano, McNeil, Rosario, Davis, Nimmo, Conforto
So the bench looks like:
Smith, Lowrie, Nido, Marisnick, Guillorme
That makes 26, if everybody is healthy or a trade is not made.
Cespedes is a wildcard. Not sure who goes if he is healthy – Lowrie, I would guess/hope. He is pretty much spare parts – useful as a switch hitter and multi-positional player, but there is a lot of backup all over the place even without him.
It is scary to me to think they’ll trade Smith for minor league depth (or prospects). I am a Dom Smith fan – his presence makes that bench the deepest in the division .. without him, it is pretty weak.
I can’t see any scenario without trading Smith where Adams gets an MLB at-bat with the Mets.
I would like to see them get a better back-up catcher, altho I believe I heard Nido does not have any minor league options.
Little chance to bring him into the fold now, but another AAA 1b option would have been to sign Duda. He might be thinking about hanging it up though.
Can anyone explain to me why we would pick up Matt Adams? This may be the dumbest move he has made yet, Pete’s going to play almost every game and Dom can fill in and be the left-hand back of the bench to relieve Pete in our year by the way Don plays better defense than Pete or Adams and showed last year he looks like he’s ready to break out and where else are you gonna play in the outfield that we have that’s already loaded this makes no sense whatsoever do you want to make a move see if you can get a better back up catcher
Syracuse needs to play someone at 1B
Last year, Quad-A lifer Travis Taijeron led the way with 78 games at first for Syracuse. And no one played more than 53 games at 1B for Double-A Binghamton. And that guy was Pat Mazeika, another minor league lifer who at best is a C-1B.
The only sense it makes for Adams to get the 26th spot is to put a potential HR bat on the bench. They really don’t have anyone another team will fear can tie a game with one swing. That would mean Guillorme starts at AAA. The bigger question is if Ces is ready to play than neither of those guys head north to Citifield. If healthy, and that’s a big if, this is an improved team from the 86 win team of 2019. Lots to look forward to.
It’s simple. If some team has something we can trade Smith for, now you are covered. Smith will never be an every day player on the Mets, which is literally killing his long term value. If he can be traded for a key piece or a solid upgrade, then trade Smith. He has zero future in Queens, unless everyone that thinks so highly of him also believes his best position is “bench”.
Also a Smith fan and wish they gave him a shot before bringing in adrian Gonzalez. Curious how he would do at third.
He throws left handed so third is out.
Dom Smith is still young-enough, positive attitude enough, and is minor-league optionable enough to keep him on the roster. If anything happens to Peter Alonso, then Smith is our best option. I’d say, keep him and let him continue to gain attention. Otherwise, this has the makings of another Kevin Mitchell scenario.