Musings
Make no mistake, Carlos Beltran was screwed. He wasn’t allowed to manage for the New York Mets because of his implication in the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal.
The Mets didn’t release J.D. Davis. After the scandal was public knowledge, the Mets actually traded for Jake Marisnick. Since the scandal broke, Alex Cora was re-hired by the Boston Red Sox, and A.J. Hinch got another opportunity to manage.
Meanwhile, Beltran has been out of baseball making him the only Astros truly punished. Worse yet, he’s had no opportunity for redemption.
Certainly, that seems absurd in a world where Alex Rodriguez is broadcasting Sunday Night Baseball. He’s also part of the Fox Studio show which once included Pete Rose.
There should be a path back for Beltran. With Luis Rojas being fired, many are pushing the narrative the Mets need to right the wrong and bring back Beltran as manager.
It’s a bad idea.
One of the reasons why Rojas is gone was he was deemed still too raw to manage at the Major League level. Fair or not, that’s the criticism. Keep in mind, this is a well respected minor league manager who helped developed nearly every player in that clubhouse. We also know this is a manager with the respect of that clubhouse.
It’s bizarre to go from Rojas to a manager with even less experience. In fact, the entirety of Beltran’s coaching and managerial career is the roughly two months he was the manager of the Mets.
At that time, the Mets didn’t have a complete roster. He hasn’t met with all of his players. He didn’t make it to Spring Training let alone manage a game. This makes him a complete unknown as to his ability to handle any aspect of managing a Major League team.
Does he go by the gut, or does he rely on data? Will he follow the front office script or trust his eyes? How does he handle player conflict? How will he manage the daily interactions with the press? Can he handle a WFAN spot or a crisis?
Literally, no one knows the answer to any of these questions. Really, the only argument for Beltran is a sense of nostalgia and perhaps justice. That’s simply not a good reason to hire a manager.
The Mets fancy themselves as World Series contenders, or at least have the intention of being that after this offseason. How can they build a roster and hand the keys to someone who hasn’t even learned to ride a bicycle yet?
It’s complete and utter nonsense, and that’s even allowing for the possibility Beltran could be good. That’s the thing no one knows.
It’s time to just put an end to this nonsense. The Mets need to hire a real president of baseball operations and allow him to his manager. It’s a decision which needs to be made with no sentimentality. It’s simply a decision to hire the best and most qualified man for the job.
That’s not Beltran. The Mets can and probably should bring him back in some capacity – just not as manager. That should go to someone qualified.
It was never set up for Luis Rojas to succeed as the manager of the New York Mets. With his firing, which is what happened when the Mets didn’t pick up his option, it was deemed Rojas did not succeed.
In 2020, he took over a team after Carlos Beltran was forced out without managing a game. He had to take over a team in Spring Training with a coaching staff he didn’t assemble, and by the way, a once in a century pandemic hit.
That season didn’t go as hoped. Noah Syndergaard needing Tommy John and Marcus Stroman opting out probably ended that season before it began.
Entering this season, there were massive expectations, and understandably so given the ownership change and Francisco Lindor trade. That said, the cards would be stacked against Rojas a bit.
Unless you count his two late September appearances as an opener, Syndergaard didn’t start a game. Carlos Carrasco didn’t pitch until July 30, and he was rushed.
The injuries really were the story and the problem. Of course, the biggest injury was Jacob deGrom. In the midst of what was his best year, he went down.
Michael Conforto had COVID, got hurt, and faltered. Lindor struggled to adjust, and when he did, he got hurt. At one point, there were so many injures, James McCann had to play first base for a stretch.
Keep in mind, the Mets entered the season without a third baseman or left fielder. Dominic Smith can hit (when he wasn’t playing through injuries like he did all year) and he can play a terrific first, but he’s just not a left fielder.
This was the year where ReplaceMets were a thing. Patrick Mazeika and Brandon Drury were getting plate appearances in big spots (because there was no other options), and they were delivering.
Eventually, the replacements to the replacements got hurt. Eventually, the dam had to break.
Despite everything, Rojas had the Mets in first place at the trade deadline by 3.5 games. At various times, even if it was just in passing, he was mentioned as a potential Manager of the Year.
The pitching was on fumes, and the best the Mets could do at the trade deadline was Trevor Williams. The Mets thought so highly of him, he was immediately assigned to Syracuse.
Eventually, the magic touch wore off, but then again, when Albert Almora is on your bench, you don’t need magic; you need a miracle. There were no miracles forthcoming.
We saw the cracks in the team. The offense who shifted from Chili Davis to Hugh Quattlebaum never clicked. The barren upper levels of the minors leagues left behind by Brodie Van Wagenen haunted the team. Ultimately, there were just too many injuries which probably should’ve been expected a year after the 2020 COVID impacted season.
There were embarrassments like the first Mets GM Jared Porter being fired for harassment. The next, Zack Scott, took a leave of absence after his DUI arrest during the season. While not of the same vein, there was the Javier Báez-Lindor thumbs down drama.
At some point, the team we all thought would win the World Series became a flat out bad team. They’d set a record by being in first place for as long as they did only to finish under .500.
Yes, during this time, Rojas made some bizarre moves. While the focus was on that, his successes were overlooked, downplayed, or not acknowledged. That’s unfortunate.
What’s also unfortunate was after what was only one full season, Rojas was fired. He never got the opportunity to learn and grow as a manager. He didn’t get to build on the things he did well.
Instead, he’s out as manager.
With the collapse, this was obviously coming. After all, Sandy Alderson wasn’t going to fire himself for punting the trade deadline and having his big time hires blow up in his face.
Between the need for a fall guy and the Mets pursuing a new president of baseball operations, Rojas was as good as gone. After all, the new POBO would want his own guy as manager.
The end result was Rojas losing his job as manager. It’s unfortunate because he never really had a chance. It’s very likely he will get that chance somewhere else, and he will very likely do well.
Until then, it’s incumbent on the Mets to prove they did the right thing. If Rojas’ all too brief tenure is any lesson, that stats and ends with building your roster because no manager, no matter how good, is going to be able to win without two regular players, shallow pitching depth, and all those injuries.
In what may be the last time Michael Conforto plays at Citi Field as a member of the New York Mets, he would have a night to remember. He was 3-for-5 with a run, double, and two RBI. That double came in his final at-bat of the night:
Michael Conforto puts a cap on his day with a ground-rule double! 3 hits on the night! pic.twitter.com/nCyZEOc6k7
— SNY (@SNYtv) October 1, 2021
This night was the type of night we always expected from Conforto. He had clutch hits and terrific defensive plays in right field. The fans serenaded him and begged him to stay. It was just an emotional night with him at center stage:
Michael Conforto gets his ovation ? pic.twitter.com/XubI2SAWlr
— SNY (@SNYtv) October 1, 2021
If we look at just last night, it was a fitting end to Conforto’s time in New York, at least the Citi Field portion. However, expanding it out, it just doesn’t feel like Conforto would be leaving the right way. There is just too much unfinished business for him here.
When Conforto was first called up, we saw a superstar. In his rookie year, he certainly delivered on that. Yes, we will always go back to the two home runs in Game Four of the 205 World Series, but it was much more than that. As an aside, the fact we don’t call that Conforto Corner is our collective failure.
He’d homer in Game 2 of the NLDS. He had a sacrifice fly in Game 1 of the World Series. In a moment forever burned in my memory, Conforto came up to bat in the bottom of the 12th inning in Game Five. The Mets were down 7-2, there were two outs, and he was down in the count 1-2 to Wade Davis. Conforto didn’t give up. In fact, he would single.
In many ways, that is what should truly define Conforto’s tenure with the New York Mets – He didn’t give up.
After that rookie season, he would come out and establish himself as the best player on the Mets at the start of the 2016 season. That was until he got hurt. Between the injury and changing positions, Conforto fought it all year long. Instead of acknowledging the impact of the injury, an unfair narrative emerged. They put the label on him he couldn’t hit left-handed pitching and that Madison Bumgarner broke him.
It seems dumb in retrospect, but Conforto wasn’t quite guaranteed a starting job in 2017. Conforto would force his way into the lineup, and he would emerge as a new style of lead-off hitter. He would become an All-Star. At the time, it seemed like the first of many. Unfortunately, partially because of a devastating shoulder injury, to date, it would be Conforto’s only appearance.
It was a downright miracle Conforto was ready for Opening Day in 2018. Actually, it was a miracle and downright malpractice by the Mets organization. Instead of giving him the time he really needed, they pushed him forward. He struggled early on leaving many to wonder if he would ever fulfill his promise; if the injury robbed him of his career.
Conforto would have a strong second half in 2018, and he would carry that forward into 2019. He’d do that while moving to right field to help the team, and he would do it while being a leader. Early on, the Mets knew Conforto was a true leader. It wasn’t that the Wilpons saw and pushed it like they did with David Wright. Rather, it was what the clubhouse themselves saw.
Players like Jay Bruce, Michael Cuddyer, and Curtis Granderson would take Conforto under their wing and help guide him. This would pay dividends later as Conforto would emerge as the true leader in the clubhouse. He was always front and center answering questions, and he made sure to quash any problems which could emerge in the Mets clubhouse as a result of the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal.
In the disaster that was the 2020 season, Conforto was one of the best players in all of baseball. While the Mets did falter, Conforto was truly great. By OPS+, it was his best year at the plate. He was that .300 hitter we all knew he could be one day. If there was an All-Star team, he would’ve been one. This is where his career should have springboarded.
With Conforto’s Job like luck, he’d get COVID entering Spring Training. Then, he’d suffer a hamstring injury. This really robbed him of the chance to get get up to game shape and speed. Like in 2016 and 2018, he would struggle. But this is Michael Conforto, he just wouldn’t give up.
Starting in August, we saw the real Conforto again. Over his final 57 games of the season (with three still to go), he hit .266/.367/.441 with 10 doubles, seven homers, and 28 RBI. That’s in a year where he had every reason to never recover or put up any good numbers. As discussed above, he would have one final great moment at Citi Field in a Mets uniform.
Now, Conforto is heading into free agency. Between the Mets front office in flux, his agent being Scott Boras, and the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, no one knows what this means for Conforto and his time on the New York Mets. In many ways, it would be unfair to him and the fans to see it end like this.
Conforto has more in him, and he has a destiny to fulfill here. Conforto deserves a World Series, and he deserves it with the Mets. If he stays, it can and will happen. After all, as we’ve seen throughout his Mets career, he just doesn’t give up, and he will keep coming back and doing great things. The Mets need to just keep him around longer to let him do that in right field in Citi Field where he hit the two homers in Game Four.
New York Mets starter Taijuan Walker went from only having one free agent offer to being a first time All-Star. Overall, this proved to be an important year in his career.
The splits on Walker tell two stories. In that first half, he was 7-3 with a 2.66 ERA, 1.056 WHIP, and a 9.0 K/9. His velocity was up to the 95 MPH it was earlier in his career.
At that point, Walker had thrown 94.2 innings. That’s more innings than he had thrown in the shortened 2020 season. It was more than he threw in his injury shortened 2018 and 2019 seasons.
In fact, over that three year span, Walker threw just 67.1 innings. Walker blew well past that in the first half. To that end, his second half stumble should’ve been predictable.
Unfortunately, he did struggle. One of the issues was as he tired, he lost a tick on his velocity, and he got the ball up a bit leading to a home run barrage.
Despite that, Walker showed signs of turning it around here and there. Even with him fighting it, he came up huge a number of times.
He allowed three earned over six against the Philadelphia Phillies. Against, he vaunted Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants lineups, he allowed just seven earned over 18.2 innings.
In that stretch, Walker showed us something important. He showed big game ability. He showed the ability to raise his game when the situation and opponent demanded it. He did it at a point where he was arguably on fumes.
Walker in true dramatic fashion saved his best for last. In his last start of the season, he’d pitch into the eighth inning for the first time all year. In fact, it was his first time doing it since April 27, 2017.
That speaks to how special and important a year this was for Walker. It’s not just that he was an All-Star. It’s that he made it to the finish line, and he had a strong finish.
Walker tied a career high in starts. It was a career high if you treat his picking up a suspended game in the first inning as a start and not a relief appearance.
He threw the second most innings he ever threw with his second highest strikeout total. Some of the peripherals faltered with the second half dip, but that should not mar this season.
Walker re-established himself as a bona fide Major League starter. He showed he can be a top of the rotation type starter. For a team with World Series aspirations, he showed big game ability.
Overall, this was a great year for Walker. It was great not just for what he did accomplish, but perhaps more importantly, for showing what we can do next year.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Noah Syndergaard took the mound pitching just one scoreless inning. While it was Syndergaard, it wasn’t exactly as we knew him.
His fastball topped out at 96 MPH, not 100. He was only allowed to throw fastballs and change-ups. He only pitched one inning.
And yet, he still struck out two of the three batters he faced. He showed good command throwing nine of his 10 pitches for strikes. In all, even a shadow of Syndergaard was extraordinarily effective.
First time on the mound in two years. ⚡️ @Noahsyndergaard | @SIRIUSXM pic.twitter.com/J6SinH4Kws
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 29, 2021
The start, stunt or not, was just part of the process back from Tommy John surgery. While you’d hope he’d be further along, he’s not. That doesn’t make him an outlier. In fact, it’s just the way Tommy John rehab seems to go with Mets pitchers.
Zack Wheeler immediately comes to mind. He missed two seasons due to his surgery. He was ineffective the first half of his first season back. Since then, he’s been pitching at an ace level, and he’s in the mix for the Cy Young this season.
If Wheeler had his way, he’d be doing it with the Mets. He didn’t get that chance because Jeff Wilpon and Brodie Van Wagenen are idiots who have no sense of loyalty. Fortunately, they’re gone and are not in a position to handle Syndergaard and his desire to return:
Noah Syndergaard said the thought of pitching for the last time as a Met at Citi Field entered his mind tonight
"I'm fairly confident that we'll reach an agreement and I'll be pitching here next year…New York has a special place in my heart and always will be" pic.twitter.com/qcNRSqgYHO
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 29, 2021
The lesson here is Wheeler. We also saw this season with Marcus Stroman the benefit of bringing back a very good pitcher on the qualifying offer despite a year of inactivity.
When you have the wallet, and Steve Cohen has the biggest one in baseball, you keep talent. You keep talent who wants to be here. You keep Noah Syndergaard.
When Syndergaard is healthy, he’s an ace. He’s a big game pitcher. This is a pitcher built for New York. He’s a pitcher who can get you to the World Series.
In all honesty, there’s zero arguments to not offer him the qualifying offer, which he would presumably accept. Seriously, there are none. Worst case scenario is he can be an effective pitcher in whatever the role.
The upside is he’s the ace he is. You don’t turn that down for what would be a one year deal. That’s Wilpon level stupidity. We’re past that.
The Mets must keep Syndergaard.
In what might’ve been his last start of the season, Chris Flexen picked up his 14th win of the year. Now, there are better ways to adjudge pitchers, but those 14 wins is good for fifth best in all of baseball.
Overall, he had a good year. In 30 starts, he was 14-6 with a 3.67 ERA, 1.250 WHIP, 2.0 BB/9, and a 6.4 K/9. He averaged 5.2 innings per start with a 114 ERA+ and a 3.82 FIP.
Overall, Flexen had a very good year, and he appears poised to build on this. With his being under team control through 2026, the Seattle Mariners have a solid rotation arm as they emerge from this rebuild.
The Mariners also have a closer. Paul Sewald has been a great closer for the Mariners. In 58 appearances, he is 9-3 with 11 saves, a 2.83 ERA, 1.011 WHIP, 3.1 BB/9, and a 14.6 K/9.
Flexen and Sewald are a big reason why the Mariners are in the postseason picture. Frankly, they are two pitchers who would help any of the 30 Major League teams make the postseason.
The Mariners were smart to pounce on the opportunity to sign them. They look like geniuses for taking former low round picks and got the most out of their talent.
The Mets? Well, again, they look bad here.
The Mets had Flexen and Sewald, and they just gave them away for nothing. They sent Flexen to Korea. Sewald was a straight DFA making him a free agent.
Flexen was unnecessarily rushed to the majors after just seven Double-A starts. He was bounced between the minors and majors and starting and relieving. He’d make an emergency relief appearance not long after a start and then not pitch for nearly two weeks.
Unlike Flexen, Sewald had occasional flashes of brilliance. That was his downfall in the Terry Collins ride the hot hand guide to managing.
One day, he’d be in a pressure spot. In another, he’d pitch three innings in long relief. He’d pitch multiple days in a row and then struggle. Then, he’d be punished and benched.
Mostly due to their usage and how their development wasn’t prioritized, Flexen and Sewald never had a chance with the Mets. No one could really succeed with how they were treated, and as a result, they failed.
Notably, this season especially, Mets pitchers are thriving elsewhere. Steven Matz is also having a good year. While his struggles were different in nature, they were similarly something which could’ve been rectified with the Mets.
You see, far too often, people want to brush players succeeding elsewhere as they couldn’t handle New York. Certainly, this is something which does occur, but it happens far less frequently than people believe.
This isn’t can succeed in New York. It’s can’t succeed with the Mets. That’s a Mets problem and not a player problem.
Some of the culprits are gone from the organization. Jeremy Hefner appears well poised to put the Mets in position to not allow these mistakes to happen again.
As the Mets organization continues to overturn and build, they need an eye towards how to build the best possible organization for players to thrive. Part of that is adapting new practices learned from other places.
Seeing Flexen and Sewald, it’s also taking a look at the Mets previous regime. They need to learn how the Mets were so successful locating these overlooked talents and getting them to the majors. They also need to see how they can make sure they have this success in Flushing.
One day, you’re in first place, and you’re a potential NL Manager of the Year. The next, your team is eliminated from postseason contention with no hope of having a .500 record.
That’s the type of year it has been for Luis Rojas and the New York Mets. As is standard, when a team falls short, the manager faces scrutiny.
It comes with the territory. Obviously, Rojas hasn’t been perfect. Assuredly, he’s made bad decisions, and there are times you wonder what in the world he’s doing.
Go pinpoint your most maddening moment. Make it out to be more than it is. Throw a few more moments on there. Magnify that.
Guess what? That’s not the reason the 2021 Mets didn’t make the postseason. It’s far from it.
In fact, for a while, Rojas was one of the things ruse was right about the Mets. At least, that was the narrative. In the end, blaming or crediting Rojas was just that – narrative.
The truth of the matter is it all fell apart. It wasn’t all at once, but rather in pieces. Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker were the only two starters to last the year with Stroman the only one to have sustained success into the second half.
Offensively, the Mets went with Chili Davis only to utilize advanced data which runs counter-intuitive to what Davis does. We saw the offense have a big letdown.
Francisco Lindor had a slow start. Michael Conforto dealt with COVID and a career worst year. That’s the tip of the iceberg with everyone not named Brandon Nimmo and maybe Pete Alonso having poor to flat out bad years.
Speaking of Nimmo, there were just so many injuries. So, so, so many injuries. When players like Jose Peraza and Jordan Yamamoto were injured, you saw the backups to the backups get hurt.
For his part, Rojas listened to the workload management rules. The front office specifically said it was the player’s fault they got hurt.
That brings us in a roundabout way to a big part of the issue. With last year being a COVID impacted year, depth was more important than ever. For some reason, the front office was cavalier with it.
Steven Matz was traded for two relievers who had little impact and another flipped for the poor performing Khalil Lee. They also made odds unforced errors like designating Johneshwy Fargas for assignment. For our mental health, we probably should’ve dwell too much on Jerad Eickhoff pitching in five games.
Fact of that matter is if Jacob deGrom was healthy, much of this season goes much differently. If the Mets hitters were just a reasonable facsimile of their career stats, the season is far different.
For that matter, if the front office looked at the roster problems and attacked them at the trade deadline, things go differently. At the end of the day, this was a first place team at the trade deadline, and the organization opted to fight another day.
In what way is all of this Rojas’ fault? The simple truth is it isn’t.
We can and should have the debate over whether Rojas is the right man for the job. Realistically speaking, he’s only had one year at the helm, and in that time, he’s shown good and bad.
The issue for any pure novice manager is whether he can grow. No one knows that yet. No one.
What we do know is the Mets shown they can win and fall apart with Rojas at the helm. Both instances were entirely tied to the strength of the roster. That brings us to the front office.
In the end, feel however you want about Rojas. It doesn’t matter because he’s not the reason the Mets disappointed this year. He may eventually be the fall guy but things aren’t magically improving because there’s another manager. The only way that happens is if the roster improves.
In what should be his last start of the season, Tylor Megill struggled against the Milwaukee Brewers. In 4.0 innings, he allowed a career high three homers while allowing four earned on five hits.
With the New York Mets 5-1, loss and the surging St. Louis Cardinals win, the Mets were officially eliminated from the Wild Card race. It’s only a matter of time before they’re mathematically eliminated from the NL East race.
Given that this once promising season is all but over, and really has been for some time now, it begs the question why Megill is even pitching. His previous career high in innings as a professional was 71.2.
That came back in 2019 before COVID changed everything. Instead of taking a step forward in 2020, Megill threw zero innings. Yes, there were workouts, but that’s not really the same.
When Megill was a somewhat surprising call-up, he had already thrown 40.1 innings. Shockingly, he’s thrown 84.2 innings in the majors alone. That’s 125.0 innings!
That puts him a staggering 53.2 innings above his career high. Again, that came two years ago. This is an extraordinary taxing of a promising pitcher’s arm. It’s no wonder we’ve seen him take a step back.
Through Megill’s first seven starts, he was 1-0 with a 2.04 ERA, 1.104 WHIP, and a 9.9 K/9. Through that point in his season, he had thrown 75.2 innings between the minors and the Mets.
That was roughly the equivalent of being one start past his career high in innings. Since that time, Megill has looked like a completely different pitcher.
Since that July 28 start, he’s made 10 additional starts to diminishing returns. Over this stretch, he’s 2-6 with a 6.75 ERA, 1.450 WHIP, and a 9.9 K/9. Batters are hitting .299/.349/.599.
Pennant race or not, his arm is done for the year. The only thing pitching him more frequently is stressing his arm thereby putting it in harm for a significant injury.
This was supposedly the reason why the Mets added Trevor Williams at the trade deadline. He was a depth arm to help get the Mets to the end of the year. Instead of taking Megill’s spot, he’s in the bullpen.
There’s no sugar coating this. What the Mets are doing is highly irresponsible. In fact, it’s flat out dumb. They’re risking injury for a young pitcher to not make the postseason.
Tylor Megill needs to be shut down now. The Mets can figure out what they need to figure out. Whatever the case, Megill can’t throw another inning this season.
This offseason, the New York Mets have a number of holes to fill in free agency. Chief among them is third base as the Mets have not had a third baseman since 2014 when David Wright was yet to be diagnosed with spinal stenosis. Since then, the Mets have better filling around the edges and singing players like Todd Frazier, who struggled to stay on the field.
Looking at the free agent landscape, it appears the two best options are going to be Carlos Correa and Kris Bryant. While Correa is a shortstop, he has indicated his willingness to change positions like Alex Rodriguez once did. With that being the case, Correa instantly becomes the top third base option available.
Correa just turned 27, and he is on pace to have his best ever season as a Major Leaguer. Currently, he has a 6.9 WAR, and he should meet or surpass the 7.0 he had in 2016. Notably, with Correa having three seasons of 6.7 WAR or better, we are talking about a future Hall of Famer.
The reason is Correa does not have a real hole in his game. This year, he has a 135 wRC+. This will mark the fourth time in his seven year career he has had a 135 wRC+ or better. Putting aside the 60 game 2020, he has always been above league average at the plate, and only one time has he registered a wRC+ below 123.
In the field, Correa is a great defensive shortstop. After his struggles in his rookie season, Correa has a a 47 OAA and a 62 DRS at shortstop. That puts him at a Gold Glove level at the position.
All told, Correa is a Silver Slugger level hitter at the plate and a Gold Glover in the field. He could be a right-handed balance to the Mets heavy left-handed hitting lineup, solve the eternal third base woes, and add yet another MVP caliber player to the roster.
Despite all of that, many are hand wringing over the likelihood Correa would have a qualifying offer attached thereby putting the Mets in a position to forfeit a first round pick. In the alternative, they suggest Kris Bryant.
Unlike Correa, Bryant has actually won an MVP award, and like Bryant, he has a World Series ring. While the Mets would be better for adding Bryant, he is not the same caliber of player as Correa, and he probably doesn’t solve the Mets third base question.
After being traded to the San Francisco Giants, Bryant has split time between third base and the outfield. That is much akin to what he did in Chicago. Part of the reason is Bryant is a versatile player which is a bonus. However, it is also the result of his not being a very good third baseman.
Since 2017, Bryant has not posted a positive OAA at third accumulating a -9 OAA. Over that time, he also has a -2 DRS. In the outfield, he has posted better numbers in left field with a 2 OAA and a 6 DRS. Looking at the numbers and the trajectory, you could argue Bryant is really a LF at this point in his career.
Now, you could try him at third for a while, especially if your confident in your shifting, but Bryant doesn’t quite have the bat he used to have which allowed him to offset his poor defense. Keep in mind, he is still a terrific hitter, just now the 144 wRC+ he was over the first three years of his career. In fact, since 2018, Bryant has been a 126 wRC+ hitter.
That is largely why we have seen Bryant fall from being an MVP caliber player to being “merely” an All-Star caliber player. After posting an 18.3 WAR over his first three seasons, Bryant has posted a 10.5 WAR over his next four seasons (with the 2020 season caveat). While Bryant has had strong seasons, and he has a 3.3 WAR so far this year, he’s just not the caliber of player Correa has.
We should note that disparity is likely only going to grow. Next year, Correa will be 27, and Bryant will be 30. Bryant is nearing the end of his prime as Correa is just entering it. As a result, you are likely going to get far better production from Correa over the course of their respective contracts. Indeed, Correa is better now and will very likely remain better.
If you’re a Mets team with not much help on the way from the minors and the impending free agency of players like Carlos Carrasco, Jacob deGrom (player option), Edwin Diaz, Seth Lugo, Brandon Nimmo, and Taijuan Walker coupled with Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, and Dominic Smith being arbitration eligible, you are a franchise very much set on expanding this window. That goes double with Javier Baez, Michael Conforto, Aaron Loup, Marcus Stroman, and Noah Syndergaard as free agents this offseason.
This is a Mets team which needs to focus on winning in 2022 or tearing it down to rebuild. If you are really focused on winning now, Correa is the far better option than Bryant regardless of the qualifying offer being attached. The Mets should not be overthinking it. Go get the far better player and make this Mets roster the best it can possibly be.
After Taijuan Walker got knocked out by the Boston Red Sox, you knew it was going to be another long night for the New York Mets. When you’re as bad as the Mets are, that’s just the case.
Since the trade deadline, the Mets are 17-31. Since the All-Star Break, they’re 25 -39. They can’t beat good teams or much of anyone.
Seeing all the one run losses and same mistakes over and over again, it’s as if this is Groundhog Day. Time just stands still.
As it turns out, it basically is. As Mark Simon of Sports Info Solutions points out, the Mets have played 10 straight games exceeding three hours 30 minutes.
10 in a row!
Oy vey https://t.co/uYLJb0xFXg
— Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) September 23, 2021
To make matters worse, the Mets are 2-8. In that time we’ve seen the Mets postseason hopes go from plausible to needing an act of God to essentially dead. It’s now at the point where even Pete Alonso admits defeat.
The Mets are not a good team right now. They’re uninteresting. Worse yet, they’re borderline unwatchable. Aside from Gary, Keith, and Ron, it’s hard to find a reason to hang on in for a blowout loss taking nearly four hours.
Each and every one of these games are long and drawn out. It’s punishment for the fans. It’s just a long drawn out funeral while we try to figure out what went wrong.