The Mets face a number of challenges during the offseason, which will go a long way to determining the strength of the team in 2018. But no decision is more intriguing than the question of what the organization does with the fallen ace of yore.
The Mets have an opportunity during the offseason to rehaul the composition of their team. Whether through trades or additions through the free agent market, the Mets need, above all else, a new “look”.
But before that can happen, it’s incumbent on the organization to realize that what was isn’t anymore. The Mets no longer have the most envied starting staff in baseball. That staff has crumbled amidst a rash of injuries and wayward assessments of just how good the staff really was.
The fact of the matter is that their once-future ace, Matt Harvey, has a career record of 34-35 with a 3.51 ERA in the major leagues after 100 starts. There’s something wrong with that picture and the Mets have been blind to it for far too long.
Harvey will enter the 2018 season in the final year of the Mets control of his services. After that, he will join the likes of Bryce Harper and Manny Machado in what is destined to be the free agent sweepstakes of all time. His value is now at an all-time low during his tenure with the Mets, and even the Yankees who were thought to be his ultimate destination will have to think twice about taking on this enigmatic former hero.
In addition to his woes on the mound, Harvey has had his share of, shall we say ups and downs in the Big Apple, stretching the patience of both the Mets and their fans, as seen here in one of his many apologies for poor and imature behavior:
The likelihood the organization will not enter the market for his services, except for an obligatory offer to satisfy a portion of their fanbase is non-existent. All of which sets up an intriguing question for the Mets – what do they do with Matt Harvey now?
The way baseball is these days suggests there is a team out there (somewhere) who sees the upside in Harvey and will, talk trade with Sandy Alderson. The question, though, is whether Alderson will field the calls and get engaged to trade Harvey, as well as Jacob deGrom who, together, can bring a haul of young talent the Mets desperately need to restock their depleted farm system.
Despite what you’ll hear from them, the Mets are in a rebuilding mode. They have a zero chance of challenging the Nationals, or even the up and coming Phillies and Marlins in the NL East.
But the inability of this organization to face reality has been the bane of this team for how long- since 2015 when they went all-in sacrificing the best staff in the big leagues?
And somebody has to figure out what to do with “pretty boy” Yoenis Cespedes, who pretty much told the Mets when he was fit to play and when he was not this season. And we’ll know more about that when the Mets announce their replacement manager for Terry Collins, and whether they’re going for the guy that’s needed to take control of the clubhouse where the inmates run the asylum.
But the immediate concern is Harvey and how the organization can answer their fans if he’s still on the team when Spring Training rolls around.
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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.
