Amed Rosario
It is highly doubtful that 30 games played in an Instructional League in the month of October will have a far reaching impact on a player’s career. Still, Gavin Cecchini‘s time in the Arizona Fall League appears to be a bit of a missed opportunity.
It became very apparent this year that Cecchini’s future with the New York Mets will be at second base.
That first became apparent because Cecchini has struggled defensively at the position. While fielding percentage can be an overrated and flawed stat, Cecchini’s .933 fielding percentage in AAA, and his minor league career .944 fielding percentage cannot be ignored. His stats show he’s not capable of playing short. It is strange because he has the tools to be a good defender there, but he just can’t put it together.
This begs the question why do the Mets want him to put it together? With Amed Rosario having established himself as the much better defensive shortstop, the much better prospect, and arguably the better offensive player, Rosario, not Cecchini, is the shortstop of the future. If you still like Cecchini as a player, and you believe he is a major league caliber player, he needs to transition to second base.
And the process has begun. He worked on second base on the side during the AAA season. He even got into two games there before being called-up to the Mets. Given the fact that the transition presumably began, it has been surprising to see Cecchini play so much shortstop in the Arizona Fall League. It’s shocking when Mets first base coach, Tom Goodwin, is Cecchini’s manager. It’s downright stupefying when the Scorpions are carrying one second baseman and three shortstops on their roster.
It leads one to search for some logic behind what seems to be an illogical decision. Upon further review, there appears to be a couple of good reasons why the Mets have Cecchini playing a lot of shortstop in the Arizona Fall League.
The first and obvious answer is this is all much ado about nothing. While it would be preferable for Cecchini to play second base, it is more important for him to play everyday to see how he stacks up against the best prospects in the game. The Mets may just want him to focus on his hitting to see if his bat could translate against some of the better pitching prospects in baseball. Note, in a 30 game context, this does not just mean results, it also is his approach and whether or not he appears over-matched. If Cecchini does prove he can hit better pitching, his future would be further solidified with the Mets.
Second, there may be a real issue going forward with Asdrubal Cabrera and his knees (even with him not needing knee surgery). While Terry Collins’ first choice would be to move Jose Reyes to short in Cabrera’s absence, he may not have that luxury as Reyes may be playing third base for David Wright, or Reyes could start next season as the starting second baseman depending on what the Mets are able to do this offseason. Also keep in mind that Reyes has proven himself to be an injury prone player at times in his career.
If any of the aforementioned players are injured, the options at short would be Cecchini or Matt Reynolds. In the short term, the Mets may go to Reynolds who has played in the major leagues, is the better defender, and has had some success at the big league level. Moreover, Reynolds has been transitioning to being a utility player meaning he may be more accustomed to not playing everyday. In the event there is an injury that will require someone to take over for a month or so, Cecchini might get the call. While the Mets may be loathed to use him for a two week stretch, they may be inclined to run him out there everyday for a month or so to see how the better regarded prospect can handle being an everyday player.
Finally, the Mets may not be moving Cecchini from shortstop because you can never have too much depth. Rosario could regress, suffer an injury, or the Mets could be presented with a trade offer where they would include their untouchable prospect. In any of these scenarios, the Mets are going to need another shortstop. That shortstop should be Cecchini as he is currently the best non-Rosario middle infield prospect.
There may be other reasons why the Mets are playing Cecchini at shortstop in the Arizona Fall League rather than capitalizing on an opportunity to transition one of their best prospects to the position he is destined to play. Whatever the case, the hope needs to be the Mets are making decisions based upon sound principles that are in both their own and Cecchini’s best interests.
Editor’s Note: Cecchini left last week’s Arizona Fall League game after fouling a ball off his foot. Despite the injury, he is hitting .258/.359/.419 with two doubles, a homer, and six RBI in nine games. He is part of fan voting to select the final two players for the Arizona Fall League roster.
Like the Mets, the minor league affiliates’ seasons are long over, and over at Mets Minors, organizational leaderboards are being compiled, and awards are being handed out:
Full Season Batting Leaders – statistically speaking Brandon Nimmo might’ve had the best year especially with him missing out on the Pacific League batting title by .001 points and him having the top OBP in the farm system.
Short Season Batting Leaders – Despite having had the shortest season, Peter Alonso might’ve had the biggest impact
Minor League Best Starting Pitchers – Statistically speaking, the Mets best minor league pitchers were P.J. Conlon, Thomas Szapucki, Harol Gonzalez, Ricky Knapp, and Andrew Church.
Full Season Pitching Leaders – Naturally, the above-referenced pitchers were listed throughout.
Short Season Pitching Leaders – Gonzalez and Gary Cornish dominated for the Brooklyn Cyclones while Szapucki continued to show why he is becoming a big time prospect.
Here is how all the 2015 draft picks fared with Alonso and Justin Dunn as standouts. And nowadays, you would be remiss without mentioning the fact that Tim Tebow homered in his first professional at-bat.
However, here are the bigger awards everyone is most curious about:
Position Player of the Year – Amed Rosario with honorable mention to Dominic Smith
Pitcher of the Year – P.J. Conlon
Reliever of the Year – David Roseboom
As you saw this season, there were major contributors from the Mets minor league system this year. If not for Seth Lugo, Robert Gsellman, Josh Smoker, T.J. Rivera, and others, the Mets may not make the postseason this year. It is not only good to know the Mets minor league system has been this beneficial, but also that there is a significant amount of talent behind the players we have already seen contribute.
The Arizona Fall League is a showcase league where Major League teams have the opportunity to not only allow some of their prospects to refine their skills, but also to play in front of other team’s front office personnel. There are six teams total and teams play a 30 game schedule. Here is an in-depth look at who the Mets have assigned to the Scottsdale Scorpions:
Goodwin has been the Mets first base coach since the 2012 season. Goodwin is also responsible for the Mets outfielders and base running instruction.
Goodwin was named as the Scottsdale Scorpions manager leading a team comprised of Mets, Angels, Giants, Phillies, and Yankees minor leaguers.
The 22-year old Cecchini was the Mets 2012 First Round draft pick and is Mets Minors sixth ranked Mets prospect.
Cecchini was recently added to the Mets 40 man roster, and he was a September call-up.
With the emergence of Amed Rosario, Asdrubal Cabrera having another year on his contract, and Cecchini having defensive issues at shortstop, Cecchini started the transition to second base late in the AAA season. Presumably, Cecchini should see the bulk of his playing time at second base at the Arizona Fall League.
At the plate, Cecchini is a gap-to-gap line drive hitter who has steadily improved and hit for more power at each stop of his minor league career. Last season, his first season in AAA, Cecchini hit .325/.390/.448 with 27 doubles, two triples, eight homers, and 55 RBI.
In his brief playing time with the Mets, we saw a player who was ready to hit major league pitching with the ability to drive the ball into the gap. As he ages and continues to fill-out some of his doubles may eventually turn into home runs.
The 21-year old Molina was signed by the Mets in 2011 as a 17 year old international free agent out of the Dominican Republic. If he is not added to the 40-man roster, Molina will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft.
When Molina takes the mound for the Scorpions, he will be throwing his first pitch in the 2016 season. After a rough start to the 2015 season, which was in part due to a torn UCL in his pitching elbow. Molina initially tried rest to deal with the injury. However, after three ill-fated and ill-advised outings in August, he would be shut down for the season, and he would undergo Tommy John surgery on October 31st.
Like with any pitcher returning from Tommy John, it is difficult to ascertain what he will be when he finally takes the mound. Prior to his injury, Molina was a pitcher with poor mechanics, which may or may not have attributed to his injury.
When healthy, he had a mid 90’s fastball with an advanced changeup and slider for his age. As noted, his mechanics are still raw, and a result, he has a tendency to change his arm angles on each pitch, which would obviously telegraph the pitch to more experienced hitters.
In his last healthy, season, he dominated in the New York Penn League making 12 starts going 7-3 with a 1.77 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, and 10.7 K/9. For a comparison, he had the type of year Harol Gonzalez had this year with similar stuff at a similar age. However, Gonzalez doesn’t have the mechanical issues Molina did.
The 25 year old Oberste was the Mets 2013 seventh round draft pick. If he is not added to the 40-man roster, Oberste will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft.
Oberste is coming off a mediocre season for AA Binghamton. While he had appeared to make strides offensively and defensively last year in St. Lucie, he seemed to regress this season in both aspects. In the field, he does not have the range or the arm for third base. With that in mind, he is best suited for first base, where he has shown himself to be an adequate defender. The main issue there is Oberste does not have the bat to play first base.
In his four year professional career, Oberste has not hit for power as evidenced by his career .399 slugging percentage. While he has averaged 22 doubles over the past three years, he has yet to hit double digit homers. Oberste’s bat could justifiably play in the majors at second or a utility position. However, Oberste hasn’t shown the range to prove he could effectively handle either role.
On the bright side, Oberste did have a strong finish to his 2016 campaign. Over July and August, Oberste hit .305/.376/.455 with six doubles, two triples, five homers, and 28 RBI. Overall, Oberste hit .283/.340/.409 with 21 doubles, two triples, nine homers, and 54 RBI for the 2016 season. Obviously, he did most of his damage in July and August. He needs to carry forward what he did those two months into the Arizona Fall League and beyond.
Unlike the other Mets prospect, Nido is a taxi squad player meaning he is only available to play on Wednesday and Saturday. The 22-year old Nido was the Mets 2012 eighth round draft pick. If he is not added to the 40-man roster, Nido will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft.
No one made a bigger leap in the Mets organization this season than Nido. When drafted, Nido was seen as a good defensive catcher with a strong arm. While he was seen as a player with some offensive promise with some power, that did not prove to be true in his first four major league seasons.
This year Nido put the full package together winning the Florida State League batting title. In 90 games, Nido hit .320/.357/.459 with 23 doubles, two triples, seven homers, and 46 RBI. Behind the plate, he continued to be a good receiver who threw out 42% of base stealers. Nido has a bright future ahead of him, and he appears to be the catcher of the future.
The 23-year old Oswalt was the Mets 2012 7th round draft pick. If he is not added to the 40-man roster, Oswalt will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft.
Oswalt is a right-handed pitcher that once projected to be back-end rotation starter. However, Oswalt is being hampered by his mechanics and his inability to repeat his delivery. He was also hampered by his needing knee surgery back in 2013 which has slowed the former high school pitcher’s development. Another issue is Oswalt still has not developed his slider of changeup to the point where they can be an effective pitch for him.
Mostly, Oswalt relies upon a low 90s four-seam fastball and a high 80s two-seam fastball. With him mostly relying on those pitches, he made 13 starts and one relief appearance for St. Lucie going 4-2 with a 4.12 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and a 9.0 K/9. If Oswalt is unable to develop his other pitches, he may be best suited to moving to the bullpen to see how well he could pitch putting maximum effort on his fastballs for an inning or two.
The 24-year old Roseboom was the Mets 2014 17th round draft pick. He was named Mets Minors Reliever of the Year.
The collegiate starter was immediately made a bullpen arm by the Mets organization despite his low 90s fastball. However, Roseboom was able to make a name for himself this season by not only combining that fastball with an effective slider and changeup, but also trust his stuff and pounding the strike zone.
Given his success, trades, and promotions, Roseboom found himself as the Binghamton Mets closer. As the B-Mets closer, Roseboom made 26 appearances converting 14 out of 15 saves. In that stretch, Roseboom had a 0.92 ERA and a 0.68 WHIP. Batters were only hitting .110 off of him. All season long, he showed the ability to get both righties and lefties out with righties hitting .189 off of him and lefties hitting .141 off of him. Ultimately, he is a platoon neutral left-hander who has the ability to pitch in high pressure and high leverage situations.
The 23-year old Stuart was the Mets 2013 sixth round draft pick. Another player that has to be added to the 40 this offseason to protect from the Rule 5 draft.
Stuart is an elite defensive outfielder that has speed on the bases as evidenced by him stealing 40 this season. The issue with Stuart is that he is a maddening offensive player. He went from hitting .265/.347/.407 in 71 games for Advanced A St. Lucie to hitting .201/.264/.261 in 43 games for AA Binghamton.
While Stuart has tremendous speed, he has not been able to use that speed to get extra base hits. This was the first season he has ever had double digit doubles, and he only had 12. While he has speed, he is still unable to take full advantage of it as he doesn’t hit the ball hard enough to turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples. Ultimately, while the Mets should be fully willing to see how far Stuart’s speed and glove will carry him, if he does not start hitting, he may never make it to the major leagues.
Taylor was the Mets 2015 17th round draft pick.
Taylor was a dominant collegiate reliever, and he has proven to be a dominant reliever in the low levels of the minor leagues. Taylor does it with a low 90s fastball and a still developing slider. Basically, he is your prototype of what you think is a Mets pitcher. While he has been working to develop a changeup, it is not yet at the point where it is a reliable pitch for him in games.
Taylor is successful because he uses his fastball to generate an almost inordinate amount of groundballs. In his minor league career, he has a 1.92 ground ball out to fly ball out ratio. Taylor used this pitch to help him have a successful season as the St. Lucie Mets closer. In 45 games, Taylor converted 20 out of 23 save opportunities. Overall, Taylor was 4-5 with a 1.87 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.
Tim Tebow
As many people know, Tebow was signed by the Mets after he put on a showcase for major league teams. At the showcase, the one skill Tebow showed more than anything else was he had natural power. Everyone saw that power in effect when he hit a home run in his first ever professional at-bat in the Instructional Leagues.
Both Tebow’s proponents and detractors will say he is in the Arizona Fall League to boost attendance and revenues for the Arizona Fall League. As we have seen in Tebow’s NFL and very short baseball career, he attracts a crowd, and assuredly, much like Michael Jordan did back in 1994, he will bring record numbers to the ballpark.
If you are a proponent, you point out how this is a good thing because more revenue and attention is always good for baseball. Furthermore, it is a good thing because it will bring more attention to the players who are playing in the games.
If you are a detractor, you believe this is a bad thing because it is merely a distraction which creates a circus like atmosphere that is not conducive to the true intentions of the Arizona Fall League which is prospect development.
One way Tebow fuels his detractors is that he will get playing time that should have gone to another prospect. However, those 30 games isn’t going to change a team’s opinion on a player. Whether or not Tebow deserves to be on the roster, he is there.
In his short duration in the Instructional Leagues, he did show some ability to play baseball. Given his profile and, yes his marketability, the Mets have every interest in seeing how far he could go as a professional baseball player. The Arizona Fall League will help them in that assessment.
Tebow and the other Mets get their chance starting today as the Scottsdale Scorpions visit the Glendale Desert Dogs at 2:35 PM. Tebow will indeed be in the lineup today to make his AFL debut.
As of right now, there is no published TV schedule for any of the Arizona Fall League games.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on Mets Minors
The MiLBYs are the minor league equivalent of the ESPYs where fans get to vote for the best players and best plays from over the course of the 2016 minor league season. In the voting, Mets fans can come out and vote for their favorite player:
No, it is not what most Mets fans think with Campbell, the player Mets fans love to hate. Campbell hit a ball that went more than halfway to the dugout, and then spun back in play:
I guess we can now spin rate joins hard hit percentage as the uncanny skills Campbell has.
Other players you can vote for are Amed Rosario as the Breakout Prospect and P.J. Conlon as the Top Starting Pitcher.
Rosario split time between St. Lucie and Binghamton, he hit .324/.374/.459 with 24 doubles, 13 triples, five homers, and 71 RBI. Each and every one of those statistics was a career best for Rosario. He did that while also being an elite defensive shortstop.
Conlon split time between Columbia and St. Lucie, he made 24 starts and one relief appearance pitching 142.0 innings. Colon would finish the year with a 12-2 record with a 1.65 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and a 4.67 K/BB ratio. Conlon’s combined 1.65 ERA was the best ERA at any level of professional baseball for qualified starters. In the Mets minor league system, Conlon would finish first in WHIP and K/BB ratio.
The Brooklyn Cyclones were nominated for Game of the Year for their season opener that lasted 20 innings. The Cyclones had to use two position players to pitch in a game they lost to the Staten Island Yankees and had to use two position players to pitch.
The Columbia Fireflies were nominated for Promo of the Year when they wore purple jerseys and launching purple fireworks to honor what would’ve been Prince’s 58th Birthday.
Because when else are you going to see @DavidWThompson8 throwing someone out dressed as Prince? #PurpleGame pic.twitter.com/zj0Nt2lzs9
— Columbia Fireflies (@ColaFireflies) June 13, 2016
The Las Vegas 51s and the Brooklyn Cyclones were nominated for Photo of the Year.
Voting ends on October 25th, and the winners will be announced from October 26 – November 4th. Please make sure you go out and vote for your favorite Mets prospects and teams.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on Mets Minors
The Mets who were long said to have organizational pitching depth are once again at the point where they are pitching Rafael Montero in a pennant race. Worse yet, the Mets are pitching Montero in this spot because Jon Niese cannot make the start because he had knee surgery. With that said, it’s Montero who his making the start in place of the injured Jacob deGrom.
Keep in mind this is the same Montero who the Mets were apparently done with Montero this season.
The Mets were disgusted with him last year because they wanted him to pitch because there was a fundamental disagreement between him and the team regarding whether his shoulder was injured enough to pitch. After pitching horribly in his first Spring Training start, he was one of the first players sent down to minor league Spring Training. The Mets called him up briefly in April to help a struggling bullpen, but Collins almost refused to pitch him. After being put on the shelf for a week, he struggled. Montero then struggled in AAA when he was sent back down leading to his demotion to AA. With important prospects like Amed Rosario needing to be added to the 40 man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft, it appeared Montero’s days in the Mets organization were coming to an end.
Now, with a rash of injuries, the Mets turn again to Montero to make a critical start during a pennant race. Once again, the Mets hope Montero can be the pitcher they always thought he would be.
In Montero’s first start of the season, he pitched five shutout innings against a Marlins team that was ahead of the Mets in the Wild Card standings. In those five shutout innings, he gave the Mets a chance to at least outlast Jose Fernandez and get into the Marlins bullpen to eke out a victory. On the glass half-empty side, you see a pitcher who allowed six walks and was constantly on the brink of disaster. He was a pitcher who needed 100 pitches to get through those five innings helping tax the Mets bullpen. On the glass half-full side, you see a pitcher who, despite getting squeezed by the home plate umpire, battled his way and kept his team in the game. You finally saw Montero persevere.
Tonight, we’re going to find out once again if the glass is half-empty or half-full. Montero is pitching against a bad Reds team in a hitter’s ballpark. The glass half-full Montero beats a team that he needs to beat. The glass half-empty Montero struggles in a hitter’s park. So far, the glass has been half-empty with Montero, but there is still time to change that.
Last night, the Mets received some devastating news when it was discovered that Neil Walker was going to miss the rest of the season due to a herniated disc that is going to require surgery. With Walker done for the year, the Mets are missing not only a good defender, but also a good bat. Someway, somehow the Mets are going to have to replace Walker’s .282/.347/.476 batting line and his 23 homers. It is no easy task.
The obvious solution is a Wilmer Flores – Kelly Johnson platoon. That tandem should be able to replicate Walker’s production as both are incredibly hot at the plate. Flores hit .306/.346/.542 in August with five homers and 19 RBI. Better yet, he is hitting .340/.386/.691 with 10 homers and 26 RBI off lefties this season. For his part, Johnson is hitting .289/.353/.511 with eight homers and 20 RBI in 60 games for the Mets. Over the last month, he is hitting .288/.348/.576 with five homers and 14 RBI. Johnson also had that game winning bases clearing RBI double last night that helped the Mets win the game.
If second base were the only issue, that would be fine. However, the Mets have issues at first base and shortstop that needs to be addressed.
At first base, the Mets have a floundering James Loney. In the month of August, he hit .213/.222/.447 with just one extra base hit. Worse yet, these numbers were with Terry Collins shielding him against left-handed pitching. As we saw last night, Collins is going to be forced to play Flores at first and Johnson at second. When you couple that with Asdrubal Cabrera dealing with a knee injury, the Mets do not have much margin for error.
Even with the rosters expanding today, that remains to be true as the players on the 40 man roster leave a lot to be desired as an everyday replacement.
the 40 man roster, the Mets have enigmatic options.
Eric Campbell is once again dominating AAA hitting .297/.396/.428 with 13 doubles, four triples, five homers, and 40 RBI. Yes, four triples. However, this follows a stint where he didn’t hit in the majors going .159/.270/.222.
Ty Kelly is coming off a decent stint in the majors where Collins shielded the switch-hitter against left-handed pitching. Since his demotion Kelly is hitting .258/.314/.290 with only one extra base hit in the extremely hitter friendly Pacific Coast League.
Finally, there is Matt Reynolds who hit .211/.231/.382 in 37 games with the Mets. After the AAA All Star Break, Reynolds has been hitting .255/.333/.294 with only four doubles in 102 at bats.
Keep in mind, T.J. Rivera is not an option at the moment as he needs to remain in the minors until next week because he was sent down to make room for Rafael Montero‘s spot start. This means that even though the Mets have warm bodies available to play the middle infield, they do not have players who can play everyday at the major league level.
With these three not hitting or having established they are not capable of hitting at the major league level, the Mets need to turn in another direction for help. With that in mind, the Mets best option is their 2012 first round draft pick Gavin Cecchini.
While playing shortstop this season, Cecchini has been hitting .327/.388/.449 with 27 doubles, two triples, seven homers, and 53 RBI. Over the past month, Cecchini is hitting .358/.378/.480 with nine doubles, two homers, and 12 RBI. While many have knocked his defense as he has a woeful .929 fielding percentage, it is notable that Cecchini has gone his last 14 games without an error.
For what it is worth, Cecchini has only played one game at secondin his minor league career, and that was Thursday. It should be noted with the rise of Amed Rosario and the trade of Dilson Herrera, Cecchini’s future will be second base. Given the fact that Collins had no issue throwing Reynolds into left field in a game without him having ever played there before, the concerns about him not being a second baseman are a bit overblown.
In reality, the only thing preventing the Mets from calling up Cecchini right now is the fact that he’s not on the 40 man roster. However, with the Jon Niese and Neil Walker injuries, the Mets have the opportunity to move either of them to the 60 day disabled list freeing up a spot for Cecchini. Keep in mind, the Mets are going to have to add Cecchini this offseason anyway to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.
With the Mets needing to patch things together on the right side of their infield, they need as many options as possible. They also need some insurance for Cabrera’s knee. They could use another shortstop who could take over for Cabrera late in games to allow him to rest his knee. Furthermore, given the Mets team speed, they could use someone who could be available to pinch run late in games.
Cecchini could fulfill each of these roles quite well. Furthermore, if given the opportunity, he might just prove more valuable than that. At this point, there is really no good reason to keep Cecchini in AAA. He needs to be up in the majors now helping the Mets return to the postseason.
Editor’s Note: this article also appeared on Mets Minors
It’s hard to think of a time when there was so much riding on one game not just for a team, but also for the team’s starting pitcher.
For the Mets, the largeness of the situation is obvious. The Mets are entering a four game set against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field. The Mets are currently one game behind the Marlins in the race for the second Wild Card, and they are 2.5 games back (three in the loss column) of the St. Louis Cardinals. By winning three out of four, the Mets will go from one game back of the Marlins to going two games ahead of them in the Wild Card race. The hope is also that the Mets make up some ground against the Cardinals and Pirates as well.
For Rafael Montero, there is so much more at stake. For Montero, his future with the entire Mets organization could very well be coming to an end. The Mets have notable prospects like Amed Rosario, Gavin Cecchini, and Marcos Molina who will need to be added to the 40 man roster or be exposed to the Rule 5 Draft. Given Montero’s failures at the major league level, and the fact that the team has been frustrated with him for well over a season now, Montero’s future with the Mets looks bleak.
It never looked bleaker than when he was demoted to AA earlier this season. However, something strange happened there. For the first time in his career, Montero responded to adversity. In eight starts, Montero has gone 4-2 with a 1.70 ERA and a 1.091 WHIP. It is clearly the best Montero has ever pitched in his entire career. Part of the reason why is because Montero’s command is much better in AA, and his changeup has been better. Given his repetoire, both were always a necessity for him in order to succeed. Another possibility for Montero’s success was his facing presumably weaker batters in AA. This has all lead to him having more confidence on the mound, and him returning to the type of pitcher that once was regarded as a better prospect than Jacob deGrom.
The Mets need that Montero tonight against a Marlins team that has a habit of breaking the Mets’ hearts. It’s a Marlins team that is sending their ace, Jose Fernandez, to the mound tonight. Not only is Fernandez an ace, but he has dominated the Mets in his young career. In seven starts against the Mets, he is 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA, 0.951 WHIP, and an 11.9 K/9. He has limited the Mets’ batters to a .181/.247/.236 batting line. The Mets are going to need Montero to be lights out in order to keep them in the game.
If he is, Montero will not only help the Mets postseason chances, he will also help himself. He can change what the Mets perception of him will be. He can once again find himself a part of the Mets future instead of being a guy who may very well be on his way out the door.
Coming into the season, the Mets were high on Dilson Herrera, and they viewed him as the second baseman of the near future. It is why the Mets let postseason hero Daniel Murphy walk, and they eschewed other long term free agent options to trade for Neil Walker who was a year away from free agency. However, the Mets made it perfectly clear they were willing to forego Herrera as the second baseman of the future if the right player came along. That is why the Mets doggedly pursued Ben Zobrist in the offseason. For the right piece or for the right price, the Mets were going to move on from Herrera to make the team better.
It is just hard to believe that player was Jay Bruce.
There is a lot to like about Bruce. He is a traditional slugger who is leading the league in RBI. He has a very affordable team option. He is insurance against Yoenis Cespedes missing an extended period of time this year, and quite possibly insurance against him leaving in free agency. He also helps with a sluggish Mets offense and with the Mets inability to hit with runners for scoring position. He is also more of the same.
This is a Mets team full of low OBP, high slugging outfielders – Bruce, Cespedes, Curtis Granderson, and Michael Conforto. With the exception of Cespedes, all of the Mets current outfield options are left-handed batters. What this team doesn’t have is a center fielder. Currently, the best defensive center fielder on the team is Alejandro De Aza. While he is the team’s hottest hitter and best defender, it is hard to imagine he is going to be an everyday player while the team sits one of Granderson or Conforto everyday. In sum, Bruce is a nice offensive upgrade, but he doesn’t solve the teams problems. With that in mind, it seems like Herrera was a steep price to pay for someone that doesn’t solve what ails the team.
It’s also selling low on Herrera in what has been a tough year for him. Herrera has gone from a .327/.382/.511 hitter to a .276/.327/.462 hitter in AAA this year. He has had nagging shoulder issues, and he has fallen into some bad habits at the plate. It has been the first time the 22 year old has struggled at the minor league level. However, given the fact that he is still young for his level, and the fact that his struggles are closely associated with an injury, there is every reason to believe Herrera will rebound and become the All Star second baseman the Mets envisioned he would become. That is a steep price to pay for a duplicative player that does not solve the Mets problems.
We are just seeing it now with Michael Fulmer in Detroit. Fulmer was the big time prospect the Mets traded last year. He is the leading Rookie of the Year contender, and he is certainly in the Cy Young conversation with him going 9-2 with a 2.50 ERA and a 1.089 WHIP. With each and every dominant start, it is a stark reminder how much the Mets need him this year with Matt Harvey‘s season ending surgery and Zack Wheeler being well behind schedule to return to the rotation. Overall, the idea behind trading Fulmer was to trade from depth to acquire a missing piece . . . a missing piece that was an imperfect fit. As we see last year, the Mets supposed depth was an allusion.
Now, the Mets did trade from depth with Herrera. Gavin Cecchini could move from shortstop to second, which now seems to be his destiny with the meteoric rise of Amed Rosario. Wilmer Flores could move over there next year. The Mets could always re-sign Neil Walker or another free agent or make another trade. Depending on David Wright‘s health, Jose Reyes could move from third to second. There are any number of factors at play, but as we see again this year, the Mets can never have enough depth as this team seems more snakebitten than any other team in the majors. With that in mind, the Mets are now less deep at second base, and they are quite possibly without their best second base option for next year.
The Mets traded away another big time prospect for another slugging corner outfielder. Hopefully, Bruce will have a similar effect on the Mets as Cespedes did last year. The Mets are going to need that type of performance to help them get back to the postseason. They are going to need that type of performance to help Mets fans forget about the player they gave away in Herrera.