Count me in as a sucker. I thought that the Mets, loaded with impressive young arms, would be serious contenders to dethrone the Cubs . Home run power, veteran leadership, what could go wrong?
As it turns out, plenty. Other than deGrom, no Met pitcher has been reliable other than in spurts. Matz and Harvey have all had moments of greatness, but not on a consistent basis. Syndergaard has achieved dominance after some early career bouts of wildness, but even he has regressed. Lugo and Gsellman were unanticipated heroes last September, only to prove vulnerable this season when thrust into larger roles. Wheeler hasn’t been available enough to make a determination, but his record is spotty so far when healthy.
In short, we all overestimated how good the pitching was. Guilty as charged. Allowing a steady innings eater like Colon to depart seemed no big deal, borne out by his struggles with Atlanta this year. And injuries have taken their toll. Can’t avoid those, right?
But Walker was coming off back surgery. Duda missed most of last year with similar problems. Cespedes is always one jog away from pulling a leg muscle. Travis can’t stay on the field. Lagares lives on the DL. Matz and Wheeler likewise. The list goes on and on.
As I posted a while ago, it’s time to back up the truck. Trades this early are difficult and you hate to tell your fans that the season has become irrelevant, but at double digits away from even a wild card, this year is lost. And sadly, as noted earlier, they have no chips to trade that will net them much. No Beltrans, Millers or Chapmans that other teams will give up the farm for.
Sandy Alderson was hailed as a baseball genius in a book in 2015, when the Mets surprised everyone and made the World Series. But two big errors haunt him. The first and most obvious was letting Murphy walk for MLB chump change. Likewise Justin Turner, although that was more understandable, since he projected as just a nice utility player.
Going forward, Rosario and Smith are hope for the future, and maybe Conforto if he can sustain his fine play over a full season. But they are weak at third, catcher, second, and center next year, even if the kids come through. Contrast that with the Yankees, who have all star quality at catcher, short, right and DH and above average competence in center, left and second base. First and third have been problems, but Bird and Torres will heal eventually and if not, the big wallet will open again. Pitching is the problem, but there is help on the farm, and the Yanks do have desirable trade chips.
The Bombers have been bad of late and perhaps are regressing to the norm. Maybe even Judge can’t save them. But their future looks bright. The Mets’ future is clouded with many question marks, including a general manager who has put together a win-now team that isn’t winning. 6/23/17
