If you’re like MattyMets, you probably squealed like a school girl when the Mets signed Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha, and Starling Marte in the span of 48 hours. And when they announced that Max Scherzer was coming to Queens to join Jacob deGrom and form the best 1-2 punch in the Majors, you shouted “Drago!” from the top of the mountain. And you may have been disappointed we settled on Adam Ottavino and Chasen Shreve instead of going after a big gun reliever like Kenley Jansen. However, the off-season decision that brought the biggest smile to MattyMets’ face (what, you thought only Rickey Henderson could speak about himself in the third person?) was the decision to not move any of our currently undervalued trade chips.
Heading into hot stove season, we all speculated about who among Jeff McNeil, J.D. Davis, and Dominic Smith would be back for 2022. Many of us felt like it was inevitable that at least two of these spare parts would get dealt. Whether it was to fill a need, save payroll or just shuffle the deck it seemed inevitable that at least one of them wouldn’t be on the roster by opening day. Yet, here we are, and all three players figure to suit up in blue and orange come April 7. And, at least in one informed fan’s opinion, this was the best possible outcome.
The baseball gods smiled upon us when they let a multi-billionaire and lifelong Mets fan take ownership of our team. One of the immediate perks of having the wealthiest owner in the game was being able to plug all of our holes through free agency without a second thought about payroll caps and luxury tax penalties. This is the new Mets. Get used to it.
Our roster may not be perfect, but we’re ready to rock with a deep and talented roster devoid of any glaring weaknesses that should give us a fighting chance. And by hanging on to our trade chips, we have the added luxury of being able to make some noise at the mid-season trade deadline to bolster our playoff chances. After all, Steve Cohen’s money won’t help us in July when the best way to add talent is via trade.
The first half of the season will give Buck Showalter and the front office a chance to sort out the puzzle pieces. Does Robinson Cano have anything left? Was McNeill’s off-year just an outlier? Can Smith and Davis rebuild trade value or does one of them make sense to keep around as a DH or rotation player? How healthy is the starting staff? Is rookie-to-be Mark Vientos ready to step up and replace a traded player?
Thank goodness we’ll have the trade chips to fix what needs fixing when the time comes. In all likelihood, the bullpen, stacked with righties in their walk years, will need reinforcements and someone important will inevitably get injured. At the same time, some other contender is going to need a first baseman or a slugging righty DH and they’ll know to call the Mets.
Meanwhile, let’s see how this puzzle comes together and, to paraphrase a line from Rounders, let’s play some @#$%& ball.
The Mets didn’t trade Davis or Smith because they couldn’t get value for them. If they traded either one of them then they should have gotten a rounded 4th outfield or a good second baseman . If it was a second baseman then McNeil would be the fourth outfielder . If they traded McNeil then they would have to get a good second baseman back that could hit and field to replace him. This trade criteria obviously wasn’t available. That said, I’m satisfied with the position players on the roster.
Bassitt it was a very good addition. I was disappointed that they didn’t sign Loup or another premium lefty for the bullpen.
For what it’s worth, the team looks good in spring training.
Metsense, Bassit is not only a quality addition, but he’s fun to watch pitch with that delivery that falls somewhere between Juan Marichal and Tim Lincecum. Don’t like that he’s in his walk year though. Other than Scherzer, all of our best pitchers can hit FA after this season. Gonna be interesting.
I’m not worried about the 2023 rotation.
Bassitt it will be a free agent but if he pitches good Eppler will sign him.
DeGrom said he was opting out. Cohen will give him $45-50M annual salary. If he has a repeat injury season he would probably not opt out.
Carrasco has a team option.
Walker has a player option. It is only worrisome if has a poor 2021 season because they’ll stuck with him.
I think the front office have flexibility in 2023 regarding the rotation and that is a good thing.
I agree! Bassitt could be extended now instead of going to arbitration with him. The probable 2023 starting rotation of deGrom, Scherzer, Bassitt, Walker and Carrasco or McGill would be fine.
A very reasonable article. We are all hoping the the Cano/McNeil/Smith/Davis logjam will yield some good options.
Cano: best case scenario, he starts off solid and stays productive, then some pennant hopeful takes him mid-summer for a few million, thereby saving the team that minuscule monies and the ordeal of his imminent demise. (I’m looking for .270/ .750 OPS)
McNeil: still quite valuable as long as his “potential” is still on the table. An adequate and versatile fielder, if his hitting improves this season, and really how can it not, he will obviously have been worth keeping.
If he skyrockets, like some of his fantasy team hopefuls predict, he will have been a windfall. (hoping: .280/ .760)
Smith: Probably in his last season as an unknown. He will either produce and prove that the shortened-season success he enjoyed was indicative, or slump again and lose all credibility. I think he is the most likely player of the group to be traded. (can he do: .265 / .750 ?)
Davis: the most valuable member of the group for his bat alone. Now a pure DH, he will have many suitors if he has anything close to his best season. I believe it all comes down to enough ABs… hitting behind Alonso (and Escobar too, hopefully), he should get chances to drive in runs. He might also become a keeper, but getting an even more valuable roster chip would more than warrant moving him… I like two-way players best… especially if Pete is destined to inherent the RH DH role. (I’m thinking .280 / .800)
Cano is untradeable. If he bounces back he’s the DH. If he doesn’t he platoons with Davis and backs up McNeil at second. Next year he’s gone if he doesn’t produce
My worry is not that he can’t hit nor field, but the he can’t run. The first time he has to sprint hard to take an extra base, he’ll probably be lost for two months. Anyway you look at it, Cano is being paid for nothing.
As I said, best case scenario is he hits well and somebody takes him for 2-3M, we pay 38 to be done with him.
Hmmm,save 2,3 million if he is hitting! This ain’t the Wilpons Mets,Cohen isn’t looking to regain 2, 3 million especially if Cano is hitting. The guy was a border line Hall of Farmer, let’s see if he has anything left
Matt, we heard they were trying hard to move one of these players (probably Davis) but they were not being offered anything worthwhile, so they held.
The other “best move of the offseason that they didn’t make” was Javier Baez. Signing him instead of Escobar would either create a Domino effect of having to trade someone and take less than value or putting McNeil at 3B. It’s a shame they gave away PCA (who is 20 y.o. today) for nothing but at least they recognized that this player was not what this team needed. It was a dumb trade, but they did not double down on it.
I do have a sneaky bad feeling that there will be a trade before the end of spring training, and if I had to pick I would say Dom Smith would go.
Gus,
Agree on the Baez non-move. I wasn’t thrilled with the deal at the time, but I’ll admit he showed me a little more than expected. But…even with Uncle Stevie’s bankroll, they need to allocate that chuck of funds more appropriately. Ditto for Conforto. I’d rather invest in a Nimmo, Alonso, and pitching.
Great to have bench depth. Smith, Davis, McNeil etc are great bench depth. And winning teams have it in spades. The main question is whether the prime 9 are really all up to the task. The team has improved in the field, but its not like a juggernaut, relative to the braves.
Bassit was a great win-now move.
I’m relieved we didn’t sign Baez. We needed to move on from streaky hitters like him and Conforto. Now we have a lot more high OBP players. Guys like Nimmo, Canha and Marte don’t have slumps as deep because they draw walks and put the ball in play. Ground outs, fly outs and occasional errors advance runners. Strikeouts and pop ups do nothing. This was part of the secret sauce that allowed the Royals to beat us in 2015. Put the ball in play and good things happen.