Brodie Van Wagenen Is Comically Bad
Last night, Travis d’Arnaud was 3-for-4 with five RBI. Three of those five RBI came on an eighth inning double which put the Braves ahead 11-10. This was the same d’Arnaud he rage released last year.
Since d’Arnaud was released he outplayed Wilson Ramos. That was readily apparent when Ramos’ framing, if you can call it that, cost Seth Lugo a strike in that fateful d’Arnaud at-bat.
You couldn’t help but notice the same game d’Arnaud won, the .208/.269/.250 hitting Ramos flew out with the tying run on second to end the game.
Ramos’ failures go beyond his offense. He can’t frame and his game calling has been poor. It’s one of the reasons Edwin Diaz has struggled in a Mets uniform.
Case-in-point, Ramos called six outside pitches when Marcell Ozuna was up last week, and on a 3-2 pitch, he called the same pitch Ozuna struck out on the previous day. Short of using a megaphone, Ramos couldn’t have made the pitch type and location any more obvious.
This is normally where we go to Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn. On that note, the Mets called up Brian Dozier despite his bit really fully preparing for the season and his not taking part in summer camp.
By hastily starting an ill-prepared Dozier, the Mets have admitted Cano is no more than a platoon player making that trade somehow worse.
On the topic of the platoon, you know who was a really good right-handed platoon option? Wilmer Flores.
However, the Mets non-tendered Flores partially because of a knee condition he never actually had. Instead, they replaced him with Jed Lowrie, a player who actually had a knee injury.
That knee injury is the invented condition of PCL laxity. Even better than the conjured up diagnosis was it taking nearly a year-and-a-half to get a second opinion.
On the topic of the IL, Jake Marisnick landed on it. The Mets could’ve just signed a player like Juan Lagares for cheaper, but instead, they chose to trade Marisnick.
While the Mets are getting nothing from the impending free agent Marisnick, and their bullpen has been struggling Blake Taylor has been terrific out of the Houston Astros bullpen.
The list with Van Wagenen goes on and on. He told us he was replacing Zack Wheeler with Marcus Stroman, who was in the same rotation. He then let Wheeler walk and actually replaced him with Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha while trying to tell us the pitching improved.
Don’t forget his continuously telling us he wasn’t going to fire Carlos Beltran only to fire Beltran before he managed a game.
It’s like Van Wagenen is George Costanza. Every instinct is wrought with failure. The key difference is Costanza was the assistant to the traveling secretary, and Van Wagenen is the GM.
The other difference is Van Wagenen is real. He’s all too real.
Since the trade for Cano and Diaz I think BVW has done very well. The problem is this trade never stops reverberating. I think Cano will be fine, he had a nice game last night, and his bat speed is still there.
Now to senor Diaz. This guy is over. He doesnt have any guts and when he misses he misses up in the zone. Bad combo. I dont care what he did in 2018, it is the outlier. His control is terrible and he can tell you anything he wants, he is pitching scared. The only solution at this point is to give him 6th and 7th inning work, you cant have him near the end of the game.
No one is more angry than me today, last night was an atrocity. But once you start thinking rationally you realize they will be OK.
Van Wagenen has been a disaster.
Van Wagenen has been comically bad since day one. Perhaps reeling in the best pitcher in the league can cost a lot.. Like hiring the best pitcher in the league’s former agent. I could imagine the Wilpon’s thinking “Hey, how could it possibly hurt? We’ve basically guaranteed he’ll be back, now. Everyone will want to play for us!”. If bringing in Van Wagenen didn’t smell a little bit like a conflict of interest at first, I can understand. It was the first thing I thought when I heard about his hiring, but I brushed it off. At this point, if you don’t notice it, I can’t help you. This is the same guy who publicly “challenged” other MLB GMs to a home run contest his first year as a GM.
Are you actually suggesting that firing Beltran was a bad move? That’s one of the better moves the Mets have ever made.
Yes, firing Beltran while keeping Marisnick and JD was a bad move. Either cheating is an issue, or it isn’t.
Then you are insane. I thought it was a stupid move to begin with. The best players turned coaches are generally utility guys. They know what it takes to play multiple positions and have seen how dugouts are supposed to operate. Beltran’s experience consisted of what? One year as a special advisor to Brian Cashman after his playing career? I could not have been happier to have him replaced by Rojas.
Beltran was extremely vocal about the sign stealing rumors from the get-go. Maybe if he had kept his mouth shut, things could have been different (Although, I seriously doubt that). Personally, the sanctimonious comments from ball players and the individual threats and actions they have taken towards the Astros makes me want to vomit. I’m convinced that every team cheats when they have the opportunity (Like the Yankees who not only avoided punishment, but it was barely made public).
Beltran made his choice to speak up the moment the rumors were made public. Having him coach would have been a PR nightmare. He would have also been a terrible manager.