It wasn’t too long ago that Mets fans had World Series aspirations for the 2017 season, and why wouldn’t they? We had arguably the best rotation in baseball with elite arms such as flame-throwing youngster Noah Syndergaard, the consistently dominant Jacob deGrom, a finally healthy Matt Harvey, young phenom Steven Matz, another young star finally coming back from two-years missed from TJ surgery in Zack Wheeler, and a few low level prospects coming off great 2016 seasons in Rafael Montero, Robert Gsellman, and Seth Lugo. Our bullpen looked very solid also, with Jeurys Familia, the reigning MLB saves leader as the closer, Addison Reed who established himself as a lights out set-up man, and solid middle relievers such as Jerry Blevins who was re-signed for two years, Hansel Robles, and Fernando Salas returning. But the Mets have a long history of great pitching, what stood out to fans was the lineup. For the first time since the 2006 season, the Mets had a lineup to be excited about and one that could produce in a variety of ways. Travis d’Arnaud would start at catcher who all fans were hoping would finally come into his own and establish himself as the elite catcher scouts thought he would be, Lucas Duda would start at first although many fans would not expect him to do much and just hold down the fort for one more season until top prospect Domonic Smith is ready, Neil Walker would come back from season ending surgery after signing the Qualifying offer to remain with the Mets for another year at second base. Asdrubal Cabrera showed elite fielding at his old age at shortstop and his bat was tremendous second half of 2016 and fans expected much of the same. Third base would be platooned by Jose Reyes, the Mets legend who resurrected his career by re-signing with the club after being waived from Colorado last summer, T.J. Rivera, and Wilmer Flores. But the outfield is what excited everyone, going into the season the Mets had five starting outfielders for only three spots. Yoenis Cespedes had just re-signed to a four-year extension and was ready to stay with the club and become the face of the franchise, after establishing himself as an elite player during his playoff performance in 2015 and superb season in 2016 with the Mets. Michael Conforto was ready to put his sophomore slump behind him and contribute to the lineup with his stellar bat. Curtis Granderson entered his final year of his contract and was seen as possibly the odd man out. Jay Bruce was ready to contribute in his contract season after doing next to nothing with New York after being traded from Cincinnati in the second half of 2016. And Juan Lagares, the ex-gold glove winner would be the defensive sub late in games and get starts against left-handed pitching.
This is what the hopes were for at the end of March, now it is the end of June and the team is looking to sell after falling 12 games back behind the Nationals in the NL East. But how could this have happened? The season didn’t start off smooth and it never got better, before the season even started, the captain David Wright, Steven Matz, Seth Lugo, Juan Lagares, and Brandon Nimmo would all start the season on the DL. After this the injury bug just kept biting, Noah Syndergaard hit the DL on May 1 with a torn lat after deciding to skip an MRI and nearly blowing out his arm on his next outing against the Nationals, he won’t return until August or September. Yoenis Cespedes missed the entire month of May after hurting his hamstring during batting practice and manager Terry Collins had the bright idea to start him anyways and make matters worse. On May 11, closer Jeurys Familia hit the DL with a blood clot and could miss the entire season. Now let’s stop it right there, having your ace, dynamic closer, and best hitter all injured for long periods of time can destroy any team, but that’s not even close to where it all ends. Starters Matt Harvey and Robert Gsellman have pitched horrible all season and the once stellar Harvey has seemed as though he has lost all faith in what he used to be dominant at. He also hit the DL a week ago and will miss an extended amount of time. Zack Wheeler has had a very up-and-down return to the rotation after missing all of 2015 and 2016 and once things start to get better, he gets bombed two straight outings and is currently on the DL as well. Seth Lugo and Steven Matz have both pitched solid but missed the first two and a half months of the season before finally returning. On the bright side, Jacob deGrom has established himself as the most consistent pitcher in this rotation and is once again putting up great stats with no injuries. And for the bullpen, well the bullpen has been an extreme disaster as well. Hansel Robles was looking tremendous with an ERA under 1 for a period of time. Then Milwaukee, Arizona, and Anaheim happened. On May 13, Robles gave up 4 earned runs in 1 inning pitched in Milwaukee. His next outing on May 15, he gave up 5 earned runs in two-thirds of an inning pitcher in Arizona. And the last time he pitched on May 21, he gave up 3 earned runs in 1 inning pitched. He was immediately sent to AAA Las Vegas where he has pitched to an 8.76 ERA over 12.1 innings. Fernando Salas who looked sharp for a few outings has been overused by manager Terry Collins all season and his ERA is up to 6.00. Paul Sewald also seemed great until he started getting overused as well and now has an ERA of 5.14 for the season. Oh yeah, and Josh Smoker, who was looking sharp all season seemed to be getting into a groove. Now let’s make one thing clear, he is not a long reliever but manager Terry Collins seems to think so. On May 30, he pitched 3 innings and gave up no runs against Milwaukee not too bad for a guy who should not even be pitching three innings. But for some reason they begin to overuse him as he pitches on June 2, June 4, and June 6, giving up 5 earned runs over 4 innings. Than instead of giving him a few days off, he gets a week off and pitched 4 innings on June 13 against the Cubs, giving up 3 earned runs and immediately hits the DL afterward with a strained left shoulder. The inconsistency in this bullpen is ridiculous but it doesn’t help when you pitch 4 games in 7 days than get an entire week off and throw almost 80 pitches in one game as a middle reliever.
Now those issues could be enough to completely derail a team and immediately put them in a losing lifestyle. Now no Met fan can completely complain on the offense’s productivity this season because it has actually been very good. It seems like we can consistently score 4 or more runs every game but when your starting pitching has over a 5 ERA combined for the season, you can’t really do much about it. The main problem with the offense has been the injuries more than anything. A few players cannot be blamed at all such as Jay Bruce who has completely turned it around and is having an all-star season this year, Michael Conforto who was batting above .330 most of the season and looked like he was finally coming into his own as a middle of the order hitter has slumped a little bit as of late and has saw his average drop down to .280. Still he is not the issue. Wilmer Flores has also consistently been tearing up LHP and has had a very good season. Rene Rivera, to everyone’s surprise was the most clutch hitter on the team for a while and for a guy who bats .210 for his career, we got some great use out of for a while. Now for everyone else. Travis d’Arnaud still can’t hit consistently and missed time for a bruise on his finger, yes a bruise on his finger. Lucas Duda also took a stint on the DL and went through the normal Duda inconsistency where he looked amazing for about a week and got cold again. Curtis Granderson and Jose Reyes have both stayed healthy but can barely get their averages over .200. Neil Walker looked great until that June 14 night at Citi Field when it seemed like nothing could get any worse. Walker laid down a beautiful bunt which he could’ve beat out with ease when halfway to first he grabbed his hamstring in agony and has been on the DL since. Asdrubal Cabrera has looked solid with his bat but is not the defender he was last year. From dropping infield flyballs to overthrowing routine outs he has been a liability on defense. Oh yeah and he’s been on the DL twice now in the first half of this season. Third base has been platooned since nobody knows when or if David Wright will come back. Reyes has played some third but once again can’t hit enough to stay in the lineup, T.J. Rivera has played some third and has hit great but has zero range at third base, and Wilmer Flores has played but is a better second baseman. And for our star player, Yoenis Cespedes, who when playing has been great once again missed a whole month of this short season.
And where do we stand now? The Mets are 31-41 after getting swept and humiliated in a four-game series in LA against the Dodgers. They sit in fourth place in the NL East 12 games behind the Nats, 3 games behind the Braves, and 1.5 games behind the Marlins. Our 10 Day DL consists of Matt Harvey who is a few weeks away to a month, Neil Walker who has the same timetable, Juan Lagares who just had thumb surgery and can miss up to a few months, Josh Smoker who might have blown out his arm (Thanks Terry!) and will miss some time and Zack Wheeler who can miss some more time with soreness. Our 60 day DL now consists of our ace Noah Syndergaard who probably won’t return until end of August, early September, our closer Jeurys Familia who might miss the whole season or possibly return in September, our captain David Wright who might miss the rest of the season and also might never play again, and Tommy Milone (honestly nobody cares enough about him to even wonder why he’s on the 60-day DL).
Now here is what I’m thinking about the future of this team, with all these injuries and inproductivity, there is no chance we make a World Series push and a slim chance we even find a way to the playoffs. Our ace and closer won’t be back for a while and Harvey and Gsellman have done a horrible job trying to compliment deGrom in the rotation. I think we need to start shopping and make room for our young guys down in AAA. Asdrubal Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, Lucas Duda, possibly Neil Walker, and possibly Jay Bruce are all guys who need to be shopped to contenders. Now it is time for our top prospect and the borderline best prospect in baseball to come up and take over shortstop this year and hopefully for years to come, Amed Rosario. Deal Lucas Duda, his inconsistency is driving every Met fan crazy and his expiring contract will be good to get rid of and let’s bring up our other top prospect Domonic Smith to take over the reigns at first base. If Walker is moved, let’s start experimenting at second and third, we have a few options in Gavin Cecchini, T.J. Rivera, and Wilmer Flores who could become every days at one of those two positions. Or maybe in a package for these guys we are selling we can get a top second base or third base prospect. It’s also time to start facing facts that it doesn’t seem like either Travis d’Arnaud or Kevin Plawecki will ever amount to what they could have been and were projected to be. We have catching prospect Tomas Nido in AA so maybe start getting him ready to make a pursuit to the big leagues or trade for an already established catcher (it turned out pretty well with Mike Piazza). Cespedes and Conforto need to play everyday and establish themselves as two of the three outfielders for years to come. For the other outfielder, maybe it’ll be Brandon Nimmo, maybe it’ll be Juan Lagares, maybe it’ll be Wuilmer Becerra who is currently in AA, who knows? I do like Jay Bruce a lot and would love to see him stay in New York as a veteran bat in a lineup that will soon be filled with youngsters. But who do I want to keep and not trade on offense? that would be: Yoenis Cespedes (untouchable), Michael Conforto (untouchable), Jay Bruce, Jose Reyes (utility), T.J. Rivera, Gavin Cecchini, Wilmer Flores, Juan Lagares, and Rene Rivera (great backup defensive catcher). Anyone else who is in the majors currently I would be fine with being packaged.
As for the pitching, this is a tough case to handle. First off Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz, Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman should be untouchable right now and need to stay on this team. Matt Harvey has been a complete disappointment and looks like a shell of his former self. He doesn’t have the same dominance, velocity, or confidence he did when he was the NL All Star Starter in 2013. His free agency will begin after next season and he already doesn’t seem like a long term Met in my eyes. If he has any worth, and comes back and pitches decent the rest of this season than trading him this offseason should not be out of the question. I believe in the next few years we need to lock up Syndergaard, deGrom and Matz to long term deals and start using the money that will be taken off the books from expiring contracts. Seth Lugo has been consistent and seems like he can be a fifth starter for years to come and I like what I have seen. I also believe the Mets should try Robert Gsellman as a 7th or 8th inning guy because his stuff is so nasty but has trouble performing late into outings. Addison Reed also needs to be locked up as the setup man and backup closer and give him a similar contract to that of Jerry Blevins. A Gsellman, Reed, Familia back of the bullpen can be dynamic for years to come. As for the other bullpen pitchers, some should stick around and we need to sign some solid middle reliever guys. Jerry Blevins has been superb, Josh Smoker and Josh Edgin have shown some up side, Paul Sewald has also been solid and I would like to see these guys around a little longer. And then theres the other guys. Fernando Salas has not been great this year and to his defense he has been overused all season, Hansel Robles needs to figure out his game in AAA before he can step foot on a big league mound again, Rafael Montero has been extremely inconsistent and never turned into the star he was projected to be, Tyler Pill has shown some potential but needs some more time in AAA if he’ll ever pan out to anything, and Neil Ramirez I don’t even understand why he is still on the roster (Oh yeah that’s right, everyones hurt). Some young prospects such as Marcos Molina, Chris Flexin, Chase Bradford, and P.J. Conlon can all have potential to be good bullpen pitchers and maybe even sneak into the rotation.
The management also has to be held accountable for this downfall and GM Sandy Alderson needs to penalize it. This season Manager Terry Collins has become the longest tenured manager in Mets history as he has been in the position since 2011. Terry always seemed like a decent manager of teams that were never very good and as the Mets got better, Collins got worse. His poor bullpen choices have lead to injuries and overuse throughout the last two seasons. They have also cost the Mets many games and have made things difficult in upcoming games when players aren’t active. Whether it’s overusing Salas and Blevins all season, pitching Smoker to the point of muscle strain, or keeping Cespedes in the lineup although he clearly tweaked his hamstring during batting practice leading to a month long DL stint, enough is enough. Whether it’s during this season or this offseason Terry Collins has to be fired and we need to move on with a better manager. It worked well for Washington, after firing Matt Williams and hiring Dusty Baker in 2015 the team has completely turned it around. Another thing that has to be looked at is the training staff because we are now going onto back-to-back seasons where injuries have killed any playoff aspirations. Now I know some of these injuries are just bad luck but it seems like there are too many for this to all just be a coincidence. Yoenis has had a nagging thigh since we got him in 2015, Harvey, Wheeler, Matz, and Syndergaard all have had tightness issues this year on their pitching arms, and many other issues. The front office also has to start opening their wallets and bringing in some more established players. Along with these great prospects, it will be easier to win games by bringing established players who you know will perform. This past offseason the Mets signed nobody new to a major league contract just a few re-signings, they were the only team in baseball to do that. I would like to see them extend Jay Bruce and keep him in the outfield with Cespedes and Conforto but if this doesn’t happen they should look at signing an established outfielder. Established stars like J.D. Martinez, Lorenzo Cain, and Carlos Gonzalez will all be unrestricted free agents and the Mets should go after one to be the third outfielder. As for the infield players, Mike Moustakas, Eduardo Nunez, and Todd Frazier will all hit the market and the Mets could consider signing one to take over third base. As for the bullpen it can always help to add a couple of veterans. Addison Reed needs to be re-signed and players like Pat Neshek, Fernando Rodney, and Yusmeiro Petit should be considered. It’s time to start realizing that the Mets have some extreme talent and have the ability to make a real World Series push over the next few years if we can add the right pieces and get the best productivity from each player and have the best managing that we can get.
Now on the optimistic side, it is only June and although the Mets season seems in shambles it is far from over. If we can get all of our players back and stay away from injuries and get some productivity that is expected from everybody than anything could be possible. This is just truly what I believe needs to happen to better the team and hopefully bring a World Series back to Flushing in 2018 or 2019. If this team can wake up than you never know what will happen but there is no doubt this sweep in Los Angeles has woken a lot of people up to the fact it might be time for change. We’ll just have to see what happens and continue to hope for the best with this club because at the end of the day Ya Gotta Believe!
The Sports World According To Paul 