The emotion may strike the Mets for more that guides us all. They’ve got a good offseason in hand. Let it be. A new harvest can come in July.
Compared to the Mets last offseason, the current one has been dynamic. We think, and we believe there is always a need and want for more. That is our nature. But sometimes, as in this case with the Mets, less is more.
Some fans might look at the current Mets active roster and say, “Wait a sec, you mean to tell me Brandon Nimmo, Jed Lowrie, and Dominic Smith are still here? They were supposed to be traded day one…”.
You betcha they’re still here, and they’re right where they belong.
Can Brodie Van Wagenen deal them, and even Edwin Diaz and Jeff McNeil if he wanted to make a trade? Of course, he could – in a New York minute – although he’d need to work a bit harder on Lowrie.
I’m in a poetic mood today, so I might as well cite Pete Seeger’s classic song with the lyrics “A time to plant, a time to reap.”
That’s because the Mets have completed their planting with the additions of Dellin Betances, Rick Porcello, and Michael Wacha to their pitching staff.
The Mets have renegotiated the upside-down contract of Yoenis Cespedes, so it’s more in their favor – where it should be.
The Mets searched wide and finally found the man they are charging to lead the team – Carlos Beltran.
Even the scorned Wilpons entered the picture with the announcement. Lo and behold, they are selling the team to a (reportedly) free-spending billionaire who has run out of toys in his backyard.
Mets: No subtractions, only additions
All well and good. But more significantly, unlike the last offseason, the Mets haven’t given a thing (as in players) to get what they have now.
And to boot, they still have the core of their team in Jacob deGrom, Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Noah Syndergaard, and Michael Conforto coming back for a better taste of what nearly was last season.
Are not the Mets a better team with Smith, Lowrie, and Nimmo – are we to believe Beltran can’t find a way for each to contribute?
Imagine, for instance, Lowrie being healthy and only one year removed from 23 home runs and 99 RBI.
Or Dominic Smith, a natural professional hitter, getting 450 at-bats in 2020. Pete Alonso was utterly drained at the end last year, and it’s a good thing the Mets didn’t make the playoffs in that respect.
With more and regular rest given to Alonso, plus the Interleague Games where he can DH, it’s more than possible Beltran can squeeze those at-bats from Smith.
Mets: See ya in July
So, the message from the Mets should be – “We like our club as it is, so please check back with us in July when it may or may not be necessary to make a few tweaks.”
Some will say Porcello and Wacha are coming off the scrap bin – same ole same Mets.
Don’t buy-in. Both have something to prove this year – for next year and the year after that.
There’s nothing better from a GM’s perspective than a one-year contract, and to his credit, Van Wagenen made it happen.
None of this, however, is to say that if a trade walks into the lap of the Mets – you know the kind – an offer they can’t refuse – they shouldn’t leap.
But as far as Brodie Van Wagenen working the phones 24/7, there isn’t a need. Not for now and until the season gets underway.
The conversation can be continued in July…
And just in case anyone needs a reminder, here’s Dominic Smith in his first at-bat in months on the final day of the 2019 season…
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
