Luisangel Acuna
Heading into 2024, the New York Mets made it clear they weren’t rebuilding. It was a retooling. Even in that reset, they expected to make the postseason.
The decision made sense. They were paying for contracts like Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. There were young players they needed to get a real look at the Major League level to see if they were part of the future.
Even if the Mets did not make the postseason, the 2024 season should’ve been considered successful because they found out a lot about their team.
Brett Baty wasn’t the third baseman of the present, and now, he won’t be the third baseman of the future. Thats fine because Mark Vientos was, and he was the best hitter at the position at the Major League level.
David Peterson finally emerged to be the starter the Mets thought he could be. Jose Butto and Dedniel Núñez emerged as very good relievers.
Even though he needed Tommy John and will be lost for 2025, Christian Scott looks like a real rotation piece in the future.
That’s similar to what happened to Ronny Mauricio. He went from 2024 second baseman to a man potentially without a spot. For the Mets, they saw something in him and have interest to see if it’s still there.
Speaking of second base, Luisangel Acuña helped save the Mets season when Francisco Lindor injured his back. Is he the Opening Day second baseman? He did enough to put himself in the mix.
Of course, Acuña has defensive versatility. He could be in the mix at center or third depending on a number of Mets offseason moves. He’s not the only player with defensive versatility.
Jett Williams is the Mets best prospect. He could be the second baseman, shortstop, or center fielder of the future. He might’ve gotten a look last year if not for injuries, and we may well see him in 2025.
The same can be said for Drew Gilbert. He was arguably the prize of the 2023 trade deadline. If not for injuries, he might’ve been up last year.
He’s one of several knocking on the door at Syracuse. Dom Hamel, Blade Tidwell, and Mike Vasil are awaiting their chances to see if they’re the next Butto or Peterson.
That’s nothing to say of the Double-A talent. For years, the Mets kept trying to draft Brandon Sproat, and when they finally got him, we all saw why they desperately wanted him. His battery mate, Kevin Parada, has struggled, but you never know when he finally figures it out.
There is a lot of young talent here waiting to help lead the Mets like we just saw Vientos do. That makes David Stearns job all the more challenging.
Who is the player you trade to try to get that big pitcher like Garrett Crochet? Who is untouchable? Who do you try at all costs not to block at the Major League level?
Certainly, none of these players impact the decisions on Juan Soto or bringing Pete Alonso back. However, there are other quality free agents out there who could forever block a Gilbert or a Vasil.
When making those decision, the Mets better be right. This is why this is still a retool and reset than need to go all-in.
The Mets already have enough. There is so much on the way. They don’t need a lot of help. They just need the right help.
Old friend, Michael Mayer of MMO and MMN, reports the New York Mets have reached out to Willy Adames to see if he would switch to third base for the New York Mets. For his part, Adames seems amenable to the switch.
Adames, 29, is in the prime of his career. Over the past four seasons, he’s been a 3+ WAR player, and he’s had a 119 wRC+ or better in three of the past five years.
Looking deeper at the stats at Baseball Savant, his strikeout rate has been steadily decreasing while his walk rate has been improving. His exit velocities and barrels are consistent with his sweet spot rates improving.
Defensively, he can still play short. Thats important because as we saw with Francisco Lindor’s back, it’s good to have a real backup shortstop option. Being fair, Luisangel Acuña did a great job, but if he’s going to be an everyday player for the Mets, he’s obviously going to need a position change.
That said, we did see Adames go from a 10 and 16 OAA at SS to a 1 in 2024. That was more in line with the negative OAAs he posted with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Looking at the whole picture, he has a strong arm and moves well to his right. That would allow Lindor to play up the middle more to compensate for his not moving as well up the middle and his weaker arm for the position.
Having Adames and Lindor on the left side of the infield promises to be the Mets best left side of the infield since it was manned by Rey Ordoñez and Robin Ventura. This helps with run prevention and makes their pitching staff stronger.
This also improves the defense by moving Mark Vientos from third to first. Even with Vientos’ defensive strides, he was still a -5 OAA there. Truth is, long term, he needs to move to first.
Yes, this would all hurt because it means losing Pete Alonso. However, when all is said and done, the Mets infield and team is better with Adames over Alonso. That’s not said with any enthusiasm, and it’s still true even if it will be a deeply unpopular opinion.
Again, if you want to blame someone here, blame the Wilpons. Alonso should’ve been a Met in 2025.
Stearns is going to value run prevention. Adames does that far better than Alonso. Adames’ 119 wRC+ will offset losing Alonso’s 122. Truth is, Adames is the better and more complete player.
The Mets should forward and sign Adames because it makes the Mets better. It moves them closer to winning the World Series. Adames is the better option as much as it hurts to admit.
The New York Mets have a lot of decisions to make at the trade deadline. With Kodai Senga out for the season and Christian Scott dealing with a UCL issue, they have to decide just how much they can go in on this season.
There are some big options available that could change the dynamics of the Mets this year and the ensuing years. We see former Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell on the market, and Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skrubal potentially available.
For players like Skrubal, you have to open the farm and make a trade that hurts. Looking at the Mets farm system, they do have one top prospect who can be dealt more than others.
That is Drew Gilbert.
Keep in mind what this is, and what this isn’t. Nowhere is this saying trade Gilbert, and this is not suggesting he’s a bust. Rather, looking at the Mets future plans, he may be an odd man out.
Brandon Nimmo will be in left (or right) field through the 2030 season. Center field and second will likely be split somehow between Luisangel Acuña and Jett Williams. That would leave right field for Gilbert.
Maybe.
The Mets are already rumored to be going hard after Juan Soto this coming offseason. If that doesn’t pan out, they could keep Jesse Winker for a few years while other top prospects in Ryan Clifford make their way to the majors.
There’s also the matter of what to do with Jeff McNeil and Ronny Mauricio. Each of them could be a stopgap to buy time for other prospects. For all we know, Mauricio can claim the right field job outright.
Again, this is not saying these are better options than what Gilbert could provide. Only Soto would definitively be better. Rather, this is saying the Mets could make him available in the right trade and be able to successfully pivot.
For Skrubal, the Mets should be comfortable giving Gilbert plus. For Snell, it’s an overpay the Mets probably don’t want to pay for an ace on a bad season. There may be other options.
The Mets can change the franchise for the better at this trade deadline. They did that in trading away their aces last year to get a crop of prospects like Gilbert. Now, the question is how does Gilbert now best help this franchise.
From a New York Mets perspective, signing Max Scherzer was a good move for the organization. He was a very good pitcher and team leader for a team that won 101 games. He was not as good in 2023, but the Mets were able to trade him to the Texas Rangers for top prospect Luisangel Acuña.
The positive impact of Scherzer is going to hopefully last for many seasons to come. When you sign a free agent, especially an ace to a lucrative contract, that is always the goal. Of course, this is not how the Mets originally intended it to work, but it worked nevertheless.
For the Texas Rangers, the value of Scherzer is solely wrapped up in his ability to get them the first World Series in team history. So far, Scherzer hasn’t delivered on that promise, and it has been for the same reasons that marred part of his Mets career.
Scherzer was good enough in the regular season for the Rangers. Over eight starts, he was 4-2 with a 3.20 ERA (140 ERA+), but he would go on the IL with a strain of his right teres major muscle. That kept him out of the Wild Card Series and ALDS.
Scherzer returned for Game 3 of the ALCS. The Rangers took the first two on the road, and Scherzer was on the mound with a chance to effectively end the series. Instead, Scherzer let the Houston Astros back into the series,
He allowed five earned over four innings. He did get through the first unscathed, but he loaded the bases in the second. He’d throw a wild pitch and then allow a two run RBI single to Martin Maldonado (a 66 OPS+ hitter). He then allowed runs in each of the subsequent two innings before having to be removed from the game after just 63 pitches.
This wasn’t as bad as his NL Wild Card Series start for the Mets where he allowed seven runs over 4.2 innings, but it was bad. Truth be told, for as great as Scherzer is, he has not really been a big time postseason starter.
That said, he has had some big time starts. If he was one in Game 7, the Rangers win the pennant. If not, Rangers fans are left where Mets fans were in 2023 wondering if the future Hall of Fame ace cost them their chance of winning a World Series.
For the Rangers organization, the wisdom of trading Acuña for Scherzer will forever be judged by this moment. If he wins, the Rangers won the trade (that is not to say the Mets lost). If he loses, then, the trade may forever be known as folly. There is a less interesting gray zone.
In the end, this isn’t the biggest start of Scherzer’s career. However, it just might be the last big start of his storied career. With that, this start means everything for him. Perhaps, it means more for the entire Rangers organization.
When the New York Mets signed Max Scherzer, there were visions of at least one World Series title. Scherzer leaves without so much as an NLDS appearance, and he has his share of the blame there.
Still, the Scherzer signing was great for the Mets.
Early on and for most of 2022, Scherzer was exactly the co-ace the Mets thought they were getting. Actually, he was their sole ace as Jacob deGrom missed most of that season.
In 23 starts, he was 11-5 with a 2.29 ERA, 0.908 WHIP, 1.5 BB/9, and a 10.7 K/9. He had a 167 ERA+ and a 2.62 FIP. These are terrific numbers.
However, we didn’t exactly see it as such. Part of the reason was the usually durable Scherzer was nicked up all season and battled an oblique injury. The other was how he finished the year.
When the Mets needed him against the Braves to help them win the NL East, he took the loss after allowing four over 5 2/3. That game and the sweep pushed the Mets into hosting the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card Series.
Scherzer got the ball in Game 1, and he was terrible. The Padres were up 3-0 after two, and Scherzer would impose in the fifth. All told. He allowed seven over 4 2/3.
The belief is Scherzer was hurt but was pitching through it. Whatever the result, he was ineffective in his two biggest starts. That said, he was a driving force for the Mets winning 101 games.
The 2023 season didn’t work out for him. He again dealt with injuries despite taking steps to try to avoid it. There was also the nonsense suspension for “using sticky substances.”
Through 19 starts, he was 9-4 with a 4.01 ERA, 1.189 WHIP, 2.5 BB/9, and a 10.1 K/9. He allowed more homers than ever. He mostly struggled.
In 2022, he was a driving force for that postseason team. In 2023, Scherzer was a reason why the Mets faltered. Despite that, he wanted to talk to the team about his and the team’s future.
Whether or not the conversation ever took place, Scherzer was traded to the Texas Rangers. In exchange, the Mets received prospect Luisangel Acuña, the younger brother of Ronald Acuña, Jr.
Acuña is a top 100 prospect, who is closer to top 50. He is probably the Mets top prospect, and he should reach the majors next year. It’s an incredible get.
At this point, we can say Scherzer’s Mets career was disappointing. He didn’t help the Mets win a World Series, and Scherzer had his share of the blame by failing in his two biggest starts.
However, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good signing. In fact, it was a great signing.
Because the Mets signed Scherzer, they got an ace in 2022 who helped lead them to 101 wins and the top Wild Card spot. The following season, they were able to flip him for a top 100 prospect while freeing up nearly $20 million towards the 2024 payroll.
Put another way, the Mets are far better off as an organization for signing Scherzer. They made the postseason in 2022, and they flipped him for a top prospect.
The Scherzer signing made the Mets better. We all wanted better, but it didn’t. Instead they got a playoff run and a top prospect. In the end, that’s what maker this a great signing