From the comfort of my office chair, here are the moves I’d like to see the Mets make today:
1. Send down Brett Baty, DFA Joey Wendle and call up Jose Iglesias and Mark Vientos to the majors. It’s far from certain to me that either Iglesias or Vientos are roster-worthy. But it’s pretty clear that Baty and Wendle are not. My thought coming into the season was that Baty should get around 150 PA to show that he deserved more. While he’s only had 135 PA, there’s little reason to think that 15 more would change the calculus. In his last 25 games, Baty has a .176/.256/.270 line, with a 27.7 K%.
As for Wendle, he’s been less-than-advertised with the glove and his 54 OPS+ is barely better than last year’s dismal 49 mark. And for the kicker, he wasn’t even able to get down a sacrifice bunt. If you’re one of the last guys on the roster, you simply can’t botch bunt attempts. Especially when you stink in every other facet.
2. Make Harrison Bader a defensive replacement and a guy to start no more than once a week, if that much. By UZR/150, Bader has bounced back defensively, as he’s posted his best fielding numbers since 2021. It’s nice to have his arm in center field. But it’s really hard to give meaningful playing time to a guy with a .053 ISO. And what happens when the hits stop falling in? Bader has a .349 BABIP, compared to a lifetime .302 mark in the category. Overall, 20% of his hits have been infield singles. And he barely walks. Overall, it’s just a dreadful batting profile.
In his place, the club can run a platoon of DJ Stewart and Tyrone Taylor. Stewart has provided the XBH that were missing at the end of last year and in Spring Training. Combined with his ability to draw walks, he’s a solid addition to the lineup. Taylor hasn’t been hitting much here lately but is still an average offensive player overall. And he can play center field, giving Nimmo more time in left.
3. Promote Reed Garrett to the main setup guy. Garrett has been terrific in every role which he’s been used so far this season. It’s tempting to let him be the Swiss Army knife, to be deployed however the club needs on a particular day. Yet somehow it feels like he’s destined for a bigger, more-secure role in the pen. Adam Ottavino has been good; it’s just that Reed has been better. And if somehow Edwin Diaz needs to be temporarily replaced, Garrett could fill in as closer
*****
And while it doesn’t need to be done immediately, Starling Marte, Jeff McNeil and Jose Quintana need to be put on notice that if things don’t improve soon that they’re subject to have their roles cut. It looked like Marte was back to the 2022 version of himself earlier this year. But he’s been pretty awful since a couple of days before he went on the bereavement list. McNeil looks completely lost at the plate. It’s so bad even Ron Darling was commenting on it. And Quintana has been terrible in three of his last four starts.
Hear hear
Agree on every single point!
Iglesias will improve the fielding and hitting—and I’m sure that he can bunt better than Wendle!
While Baty has improved his fielding, he is lost at the plate. Enough is enough.
I predicted that McNeil would be traded this year, but that was thinking that he might have more value—and that Acuna or Jett Williams would be ready (they’re not). But Iglesias can play 2B! Give him a shot while McNeil works things out (if possible).
McNeil has had 200 games between this year and lsst to get on track. Hasnt gotten it done.
I was pretty ticked off to see Butto get sent down and Quintana and his consistent terrible pitching stay in the rotation.
Baty looks like a bust. I read an article on him saying that he has good bat speed but makes terribly weak contact. So, here we go again. He will get sent back to AAA where he will play great. Then he will yoyo back up where he will stink. If Vientos cant do it with this chance, the Mets will have to find a real third baseman. Where is our Austin Riley? I would say Bregman, but he has had a terrible season so far.
1. In Syracuse, Vientos has a 876 OPS with 6 HR and Iglesias has a 794 OPS with 6 HR. Iglesias should platoon with McNeil and has a career 756 OPS and 116 OPS+ against LHP.
2. Platoon Stewart and Bader. Marte has a 604 OPS for the last 28 days. Taylor has an OPS vs RHP of 864 in 52 PA. Marte has an OPS vs LHP of 871. Begin with an unconventional platoon. It was a mistake when Mendoza cut Taylor’s playing time.
3. Pecking Order : Diaz , Ottavino, Garrett, SRF, Lopez, Diekman, Quintana, Houser . Megill replaces Quintana in the rotation. Ramirez is DFA.
Metsense, I knew Taylor was screwed when Mendoza earlier this week in an interview said that Taylor can sit a week and step in and be great because his preparation is so good. Why isn’t that rewarded? Instead a weaker player cries to the press and gets playing time? If the Mets had a meritocracy, they would be in better shape.
Apparently Vientos and Lucchesi are joining the team in Philadelphia. Don’t know what the corresponding moves will be. I expect Iglesias to be joining the team soon also. If so, say goodbye to Wendle for sure.
GM Mr. J goes 1 for 2, or maybe it’s 2 for 4. Wendle and Ramirez will go. Vientos and Lucchesi will join.
Lucchesi got blasted in his first start. Awesome.