It seems that while we credit Stearns for being a great judge of talent and the king of reclamation projects, in the end, some of these part-time players do start playing like the back of their baseball cards. And that becomes the big issue as they try to make some of these players into starters. Some players are simply bound to be back ups or late inning defensive replacements, or pinch runners at a time when speed is of the essence.
Johnson and Uribe did not significantly add to the 2015 offense but were solid back ups, served well in those roles and were strong clubhouse personalities. Of course the big floor raiser that year was Yoenis Cespedes. Even with the first five in the order playing well, they could use a jolt to the offense like a Mullins from the Orioles to replace the CF merry-go-round. He’s a rental and could be had for some prospects and then maybe they could sign him to a deal. Love Taylor’s glove, but his bat by and large stinks. And still trying to figure out Jared Young and his .167 batting average and .675 OPS is on an MLB roster, even with his HR last night. It’s the poor hitting of those you mentioned at the bottom of the order that are by and large killing this team, including Alvarez, even with his HR last night when the team had already scored 10 runs.
So please Mr. Stearns - Raise the floor while we wait for pitching reinforcements to arrive.
My opinion is that it's a better idea to raise the ceiling.
If they're going to add, I want to see someone who's an SP1 or 2 or a CF who can bat at the top of the order or a RP who can shut down the 8th inning and/or close when Diaz is unavailable.
I am both happy and surprised that Alvy was optioned to Syracuse. Torrens isn’t a slugger but he’s much more reliable and far less of a defensive liability. One has to believe that coaches have talked to him about waving his backhand at balls in the dirt yet he persists. He’s surely had talks about leveling his swing, yet that uppercut remains. His lack of progress is distressing. He’s been an untouchable in my book, but I’d say that if he can help bring in reinforcements via a trade, he’s on the table.
MLB has some surprising trade candidates on their theoretical list. Emmanuel Clase would be a massive upgrade to the pen and a worthy backup for when Diaz has one of his inevitable slumps. Ditto for Duran. Suarez from the D-Backs might be a good 3B rental and Bregman is also mentioned. Hard to imagine Boston would part with Bregman after dealing Devers, but MLB puts forth at least plausible rationale.
Ideally, Vientos comes back next week, ready to rake. That solves 3B. Drop Young and let Marte/Baty DH. If they could get average production from 3B and DH, then Taylor’s mediocre bat can be managed. His defense has been hugely valuable. I don’t know how many points of OPS+ that’s worth. 20 points? He’s at 84 today. If they could get a CF at 105 who played average defense, would that be a good tradeoff? I don’t think I’d opt for that if Vientos comes back slugging like ‘24 and Baty could produce a bit at DH, at least until Winker gets back.
Given Manaea’s gem in Syracuse, he’s gonna be a great asset for the SP. I don’t think that’s an area of concern. Bullpen and bottom of the order reinformcents are needed.
If they can raise the ceiling without sacrificing prospects, that would be fantastic. The untouchables, in my view, are Tong, Williams, McLean, Sproat, and Beng, roughly in that order but I would not want to trade any of them right now. Mauricio, Baty, Acuna, and Alvarez can all be packaged up if they help close a deal. Ditto for Scott and Tidwell.
Alvarez needs this option desperately. He needs to be reprogrammed almost entirely - and I hope that someone in the Mets system is capable of fixing all the problems. First he needs to stop the overconfidence, which has been completely exposed. He needs to slow down all the hype and focus only on being a catcher. Every catcher needs to be solid behind the plate, and Alvarez needs substantial work. He is a flagrant lazy backhanding catcher instead of turning his hand over and moving to block pitches. Ive read that the on-the-knee stance is part of the problem, which loses mobility range behind the dish. Unfortunately it means a bouncing ball goes right up the glove and arm and ejects to the backstop. His following JD Martinez plan was a massive fail because he does not have the arm length, hitting instinct, or bat speed to be JD Mart. His issues are systemic on both sides of the ball. What the hell is Eric Chavez doing?
I feel the team needs to raise the floor *and* raise the ceiling. The pen is overworked. There’s not enough quality in the starters, and the bottom of the line up is so bad. It literally took one little event with Pete exposing Senga to injury and that was the tipping point, like a jenga tower standing tall until that one last piece. We dont even know if this bad stretch is behind us. Yes, a win was great, but get away days and. A4-set with the braves leaves a lot of space to keep falling.
It seems that while we credit Stearns for being a great judge of talent and the king of reclamation projects, in the end, some of these part-time players do start playing like the back of their baseball cards. And that becomes the big issue as they try to make some of these players into starters. Some players are simply bound to be back ups or late inning defensive replacements, or pinch runners at a time when speed is of the essence.
Johnson and Uribe did not significantly add to the 2015 offense but were solid back ups, served well in those roles and were strong clubhouse personalities. Of course the big floor raiser that year was Yoenis Cespedes. Even with the first five in the order playing well, they could use a jolt to the offense like a Mullins from the Orioles to replace the CF merry-go-round. He’s a rental and could be had for some prospects and then maybe they could sign him to a deal. Love Taylor’s glove, but his bat by and large stinks. And still trying to figure out Jared Young and his .167 batting average and .675 OPS is on an MLB roster, even with his HR last night. It’s the poor hitting of those you mentioned at the bottom of the order that are by and large killing this team, including Alvarez, even with his HR last night when the team had already scored 10 runs.
So please Mr. Stearns - Raise the floor while we wait for pitching reinforcements to arrive.
My opinion is that it's a better idea to raise the ceiling.
If they're going to add, I want to see someone who's an SP1 or 2 or a CF who can bat at the top of the order or a RP who can shut down the 8th inning and/or close when Diaz is unavailable.
All of those will be expensive but that's okay.
I am both happy and surprised that Alvy was optioned to Syracuse. Torrens isn’t a slugger but he’s much more reliable and far less of a defensive liability. One has to believe that coaches have talked to him about waving his backhand at balls in the dirt yet he persists. He’s surely had talks about leveling his swing, yet that uppercut remains. His lack of progress is distressing. He’s been an untouchable in my book, but I’d say that if he can help bring in reinforcements via a trade, he’s on the table.
MLB has some surprising trade candidates on their theoretical list. Emmanuel Clase would be a massive upgrade to the pen and a worthy backup for when Diaz has one of his inevitable slumps. Ditto for Duran. Suarez from the D-Backs might be a good 3B rental and Bregman is also mentioned. Hard to imagine Boston would part with Bregman after dealing Devers, but MLB puts forth at least plausible rationale.
Ideally, Vientos comes back next week, ready to rake. That solves 3B. Drop Young and let Marte/Baty DH. If they could get average production from 3B and DH, then Taylor’s mediocre bat can be managed. His defense has been hugely valuable. I don’t know how many points of OPS+ that’s worth. 20 points? He’s at 84 today. If they could get a CF at 105 who played average defense, would that be a good tradeoff? I don’t think I’d opt for that if Vientos comes back slugging like ‘24 and Baty could produce a bit at DH, at least until Winker gets back.
Given Manaea’s gem in Syracuse, he’s gonna be a great asset for the SP. I don’t think that’s an area of concern. Bullpen and bottom of the order reinformcents are needed.
If they can raise the ceiling without sacrificing prospects, that would be fantastic. The untouchables, in my view, are Tong, Williams, McLean, Sproat, and Beng, roughly in that order but I would not want to trade any of them right now. Mauricio, Baty, Acuna, and Alvarez can all be packaged up if they help close a deal. Ditto for Scott and Tidwell.
How long to wait on Vientos,Baty,Mauricio,Acuna. And Alvarez? Alvarez is gone but s
Senga can’t hit either? Do you package some of the Baby Mets with a pitching prospect and get a DH, a
3B,CFer or pitchers? They need a lot and they’re going to have to give up a lot.
Alvarez needs this option desperately. He needs to be reprogrammed almost entirely - and I hope that someone in the Mets system is capable of fixing all the problems. First he needs to stop the overconfidence, which has been completely exposed. He needs to slow down all the hype and focus only on being a catcher. Every catcher needs to be solid behind the plate, and Alvarez needs substantial work. He is a flagrant lazy backhanding catcher instead of turning his hand over and moving to block pitches. Ive read that the on-the-knee stance is part of the problem, which loses mobility range behind the dish. Unfortunately it means a bouncing ball goes right up the glove and arm and ejects to the backstop. His following JD Martinez plan was a massive fail because he does not have the arm length, hitting instinct, or bat speed to be JD Mart. His issues are systemic on both sides of the ball. What the hell is Eric Chavez doing?
I feel the team needs to raise the floor *and* raise the ceiling. The pen is overworked. There’s not enough quality in the starters, and the bottom of the line up is so bad. It literally took one little event with Pete exposing Senga to injury and that was the tipping point, like a jenga tower standing tall until that one last piece. We dont even know if this bad stretch is behind us. Yes, a win was great, but get away days and. A4-set with the braves leaves a lot of space to keep falling.