Jacob deGrom
As part of the COVID19 measures, Major League teams have a player pool of 60 players. Those are the players a team can call up and utilize over the course of the 2020 season. One of the players in the Seattle Mariners’ pool is Jarred Kelenic.
This isn’t too surprising as many teams are carrying top prospects. This will help them develop their top guys instead of those players losing a full year of development. However, with Kelenic, we were reminded again today he could make an impact this year.
So a source sent me the video of Jarred Kelenic’s swing on the homer in live BP. The sound … pic.twitter.com/82RG82id4t
— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) July 7, 2020
Last year, in his first full pro season, Kelenic made it all the way to Double-A. This was someone who graduated high school in 2018, and now, he’s on the cusp of making it to the Majors.
That should be contrasted against the ever changing narrative behind trading him. First, it was the Mets had to keep Edwin Diaz away from the Phillies.
When Diaz faltered, and Robinson Cano looked every bit the 36 year old coming off a PED suspension, the narrative was that Kelenic wasn’t going to help anyone for five years, and the Mets are a win-now team.
With Kelenic bursting through to Double-A and the Mets not actually winning now, Brodie Van Wagenen now wants to sell he felt comfortable making the deal (and other deals) because he had his super aggressive draft strategy in mind. Honestly, that seems far more post hoc justification with Van Wagenen trying to lean into the one aspect of the GM job he’s ultimately done well.
Fact is, Van Wagenen knew his former client Cano wanted to come back to New York. His first act as the Mets GM was to try to make that happen.
As inexcusable that conflict of interest was, that’s not the worst part of this deal. Remember, Van Wagenen was an agent trying to get Cano to New York and get an extension or trade for Jacob deGrom. He wasn’t out there scouting and watching Appalachian and Gulf Coast League games.
That’s right. A novice GM with zero front office experience traded a once in a lifetime prospect in exchange for a former client. He traded one of the best regarded prospects in the game despite never actually taking the time to scout him. It’s beyond absurd.
In the end, the Mets better win soon with Cano and Diaz because the Mets are running out of justifications for this trade, and it’s very likely they will all be gone when Kelenic is in the majors.
Judging from last year and his place in the 60 man pool, that day is coming much sooner rather than later. Certainly, it’s going to be much sooner than the bogus five year selling point.
But to be fair to Van Wagenen, how could he have possibly known? After all, he would’ve actually had to scout and watch Kelenic in action.
(1) David Wright – The franchise leader in nearly every offensive category and is widely considered to be the best position player in franchise history. Only homegrown Met to be named team captain. Dubbed Captain America for his exploits in the World Baseball Classic. Once named by Bill James as the perfect baseball player. Seven time All-Star, two time Gold Glove winner, and two time Silver Slugger. Hit the first Mets homer in Citi Field, and he hit the first ever World Series homer in Citi Field. Had perhaps the most emotional good-bye game we have ever seen a player in sports history ever have. A lifetime Met who had a hand in helping ensure Jacob deGrom does the same.
(13) Wilmer Flores – Player who loved being a Mets player so much, he cried on the field when he thought he was being traded. Came back to hit a walk-off homer to beat the Nationals. That was one of many walk-off hits, and he would become the Mets all-time leader in that category. Handled shortstop well defensively after Chase Utley tackled and broke Ruben Tejada‘s leg. Joined Edgardo Alfonzo as the only Mets players to go 6-for-6 in a game. Played all four infield positions in effort to do whatever team asked of him to help them win.
(2) Edgardo Alfonzo – Best second baseman in Mets history in addition to being one of the best third baseman. Part of the best defensive infield in history. First Mets player to ever go 6-for-6. Homered in the first inning of the Mets first ever NLDS game, and he hit a grand slam off Bobby Chouinard in that game to give the Mets the victory. All-Star in 2000. Hit .444/.565/.611 in the 2000 NLCS. Last Mets player to ever record a World Series base hit in Shea Stadium. Led the 2019 Brooklyn Cyclones to their first ever outright New York-Penn League title.
(3) Al Leiter – Was a 1 or 1A during most of his Mets tenure, and he gave his all battling tough when the Mets needed him most. Had arguably the single greatest pitching performance in team history with his two hit shut out of the Reds in the Wild Card play-in game. Won the Roberto Clemente Award in 2000. Became the first ever pitcher to beat all 30 teams. Wore the caps for each and every first reponder agency during his complete game on the one-year anniversary of 9/11. Trails only Tom Seaver and Jacob deGrom in ERA+ among Mets pitchers with at least 1,000 innings arguably making him the best left-handed pitcher in team history.
We must be getting to baseball season because Yankees fans are going out of their way to tell everyone Aaron Judge is better than Pete Alonso. Clearly, you can see Alonso winning the Home Run Derby and breaking Judge’s rookie home run record is bothering that fan base. As we have seen, they do not like sharing the spotlight.
We’ve seen them talk about how there was a juiced ball last year, which there was. Of note, there was also a juiced ball in Judge’s rookie year of 2017. Of course, 2017 was also the year the Yankees were fined for sign stealing, and they’re fighting tooth and nail to keep what they’ve done secret.
Aside from all that, Alonso broke Judge’s record, and that doesn’t sit well with some Yankees fans. It also apparently doesn’t sit well with them how Alonso is grabbing all of the attention as well he should.
In addition, to setting the rookie home run record, he’s shown himself to be a great person. Instead of starting off on the wrong foot with Dominic Smith, a player he was purportedly battling with for the first base job, he reached out to Smith, and the two became good friend. Really, anyone who has ever played with Alonso will tell you he’s a great teammate.
When Alonso won the Home Run Derby, he donated $50,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project and $50,000 to Tunnel to Towers. Later in the season, when MLB again refused to allow Mets players to wear the caps, Alonso, on his own accord, got first responder cleats for his teammates.
Because of all of this, and what the future holds, Mets fans rightfully adore Alonso. It’s the same thing with Yankees fans, they rightfully adore Judge.
Here’s the thing. Judge is a better baseball player. Alonso had a 5.2 WAR last year. In his three full seasons, Judge has not posted lower than a 5.5 WAR.
Notably, that 5.5 WAR was last year as injuries would limit Judge to just 102 games. That’s after a year he had a 5.7 WAR after injuries limited him to 112 games. Putting up WAR to that level in those few games is an astonishing feat. Make no mistake, Judge is a truly great player.
He’s also an increasingly injured one. In 2018, he was hit by a pitch and missed time with a broken wrist. In 2019, he missed time with an oblique strain. If the 2020 season had started on time, there’s a legitimate question whether he’d been playing right now as he’s been dealing with a stress fracture in his ribs. In fact, it’s still not clear whether he’ll be ready for this new Opening Day.
Instead of Yankees fans comparing Alonso to Judge, they should really be concerned about whether Judge can play again. The Yankees will certainly need him in this shortened season which will feature far too many AL/NL East matchups.
When and if Judge plays, and if he’s at full health, he will likely be better than Alonso. Still, Alonso should put up the better numbers as he’ll be fully healthy and ready to go from Opening Day. If both are healthy and ready Opening Day, it may be fun to watch them battle all season long.
No matter what the result one thing needs to be perfectly clear. Even if Judge is far better than Alonso, he will still fall well short of being the best baseball player in New York. That honor goes to Jacob deGrom, and in those comparisons just like in 31.6% of his plate appearances, Judge strikes out.