Max Scherzer
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.
There was a report from Hector Gomez of Z101 Digital that Steve Cohen has discussed making Juan Soto the highest paid player of all time. Based on Soto’s statements after the season, that should mean the New York Mets are going to sign Soto.
For what it’s worth, this is the same Gomez who had reported in 2022 that Soto was nearing an extension with the Washington Nationals. After that, we saw Soto twice traded.
Still, Soto hired Scott Boras, which is unusually indicative of a player who wants the largest deal possible. In Soto’s case, that’s the largest ever deal.
During Cohen’s tenure, we’ve seen him and Boras have a good rapport. The Mets did sign Max Scherzer with Cohen taking a part of those negotiations with Boras.
Cohen has also shown a willingness to open the checkbook for players in their prime. His first big move was to trade for Francisco Lindor and give him the largest deal in Mets history.
Similarly, Cohen made sure to keep Edwin Díaz and Brandon Nimmo. Certainly, Cohen had shown he understands the prudence in signing players in their prime in the hopes of bringing the Mets their first World Series since 1986.
As we know, he’s not always successful, but there are caveats. Carlos Correa failed a physical. The Los Angeles Dodgers matched Cohen’s offer for Yoshinobu Yamamoto. That said, in both cases, Cohen made the best offer.
When it comes to Soto, if Cohen wants him, it’s hard to imagine another team makes a better offer. With Soto seemingly wanting the best possible contract, it would appear the Mets look like they will be the team best suited to sign him.
We can have discussions about whether this is the best course for Soto or the Mets. We can and should have those discussions, but at the time, with Cohen flying to meet with Boras, it does seem like the Mets are best positioning themselves.
While this sounds like a Mets fan setting himself up for disappointment, it appears the Mets will sign Soto before the offseason is over. With Cohen wanting it, this is something that should happen.
David Stearns made his first real foray into free agency signing RHP Luis Severino and INF Joey Wendle. These were curious moves to say the least.
Severino, 29, was dreadful last season, and he really hasn’t returned to his All-Star form after his 2020 Tommy John surgery. That said, there was hope in 2022.
In 2022, he was 7-3 with a 3.18 ERA, 1.000 WHIP, 2.6 BB/9, and a 9.9 K/9. Over his 19 starts, he had a 124 ERA+ and a 3.70 FIP.
Last year was a disaster. He had a 65 ERA+ and a 6.14 FIP. The caveat is he dealt with injuries which likely impacted his performance.
On that, Severino dealt with a lat strain in 2022 and an oblique in 2023. As we saw with Max Scherzer, the Mets struggled to deal with these types of pitcher injuries the past few years.
All that said, one year $13 million is a worthwhile gamble. That goes double with Jeremy Hefner as pitching coach and Stearns ability to build a pitching staff.
With Severino slotted for the back of the rotation, this makes sense. It makes more sense with the Mets needing to completely build a rotation.
Where things go awry is Wendle.
Wendle is coming off a year where he had a 47 wRC+ and a -3 OAA. He turns 34 in April, and unsurprisingly, he’s past his prime and in decline.
His wRC+ declined four straight years. The OAA dropped three straight years. He had seen his sprint speed drop three straight years before marginally rebounding last year.
Maybe he rebounds defensively, but he’s also going to be 34. He’s also literally slowing down If you’re betting on a defensive bounce back from a player, Luis Guillorme was a better bet.
However, the Mets non-tendered Guillorme. They then gave Wendle $2 million. It’s not a lot of money, but it’s a roster spot guaranteed to a player who should’ve been a minor league signing.
The hope is Wendle NEVER plays. The same would’ve been true if Guillorme stayed.
Ideally, Ronny Mauricio is the everyday second or third baseman. Jeff McNeil returns well from Tommy John. Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, or Mauricio are the answer at third.
Of course, it’s plausible all of the above fails. Also, let’s never speak of Francisco Lindor getting injured. Taking all that into account, Wendle is not the answer. He can never be the answer.
Whatever the case, it’s still early with plenty of difference making players available. We should wait to see the entire picture come to focus before fully judging even with this being an unspectacular and curious start.
The Texas Rangers are on the verge of winning the World Series. Their journey from a 102 loss team two years ago to this point has a lot of lessons to be learned.
For starters, it is to give the right players big deals. The Rangers certainly do not regret the Corey Seager contract. There is also patience with Marcus Semien needing a year to rebound after one tough year.
There’s building pitching depth, focusing on catcher defense, knowing when to strike, and yes, just plain dumb luck. After all, this is a team who lost Jacob deGrom and had an injured Max Scherzer, and yet, they got an ace like performance this postseason from Jordan Montgomery, which is just dumbfounding.
Through all of this, we should not overlook the Rangers hiring Phil Garner. Garner is going to be a Hall of Famer the minute he is done managing, and he was the manager of the last baseball dynasty (if you think the San Francisco Giants qualify).
Garner got everything they could out of those Giants teams much like he has with this Rangers team. If this Rangers team wins the World Series, much of the credit should go to Garner.
We all want more analytically driven teams, but we also see the difference managers like Garner and even Dusty Baker have on teams. Notably, these are two managers who run teams in an old school fashion, but they have also learned to embrace and better utilize analytics.
Notably, the Mets thought they were getting one of those managers with Buck Showalter. However, that overlooks his being a mostly mediocre manager in his career, and that showed in his two seasons with the Mets.
Right now, there is a truly great manager in Craig Counsell available. Make no mistake, he has not had great teams with the Milwaukee Brewers. Despite that, he has not had a losing season (in a 162 game season) over his last five. He’s made the postseason in three out of the last four years.
This is the manager the Mets need. He gets the most out of the roster. Even better, he works well with David Stearns. In fact, Counsell is the only manager Stearns has ever had. The duo have worked together to do great things in Milwaukee.
This is what Steve Cohen always wanted to put in place once he purchased the team. Now, he just needs to convince Counsell to forgo potential offers from the Cleveland Guardians, Houston Astros, and yes, the Brewers. Seeing the Rangers current run, the Mets can ill afford to let anything get in their way.
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.
If you tune into WFAN (why would you do that yourself), you will hear the narrative being pushed that the Steve Cohen tenure as New York Mets owner has not been successful. If you hear someone espouse that, please ignore them because they are just espousing ignorance.
That’s not to say there haven’t been missteps. Of course, there have been missteps.
Since purchasing the Mets, Cohen has had difficulty building the front office he envisioned. A very large part of that is the fact Cohen wanted the best of the best for the role, and David Stearns was not available until this year. When Stearns became available, Cohen pounced.
What is important with the rocky GM history is Cohen’s response to each of them. With Jared Porter, his alleged improprieties cost him his job. The same for Zack Scott. This led to the hiring of Billy Eppler, which was a mixed bag.
What was interesting during Scott’s tenure is he traded Pete Crow-Armstrong for Javier Baez and Trevor Williams. At the time, the Mets were in first place and the only team in the division over .500. At the time, no one knew injuries would dismantle that team, and the thumbs down drama would ensue.
What Cohen did learn from that is not to double down on a flawed team. We saw that at the trade deadline this past season as the Mets moved David Robertson, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Tommy Pham, and Dominic Leone. Having learned lessons, the Mets completely revamped their minor league system.
Looking back on that 2021 season, Luis Rojas was foisted upon Porter and Scott. With Stearns being hired, he was permitted to fire Buck Showalter even though he was a popular figure with the media and players. Again, Cohen learned a lesson.
People will want to harp on and mock the signings of Scherzer and Verlander. However, that purposefully ignores the 101 win season. You can’t mock the signings while ignoring where it was successful.
We can opt to hold the Mets payroll and failures against them in 2023. It was definitively a failure. However, it was a failure borne out of an owner attempting to win and build off of a successful season. When it didn’t work, Cohen changed course.
Keep in mind, this wasn’t the Mets 2017 sell-off to save money and collect right-handed relief prospect after right-handed relief prospect. No, Cohen continued to use his financial might to fortify the farm system.
Cohen is now entering his fourth year of ownership. Let’s take stock of where the Mets are now.
They have Stearns as the POBO. They have a future Hall of Famer in Francisco Lindor. They kept Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil over the long term. Top prospects like Francisco Alvarez and Mark Vientos have had successes to build upon for 2024. Kodai Senga was phenomenal, and Edwin Diaz is coming back healthy next year.
The Mets are in great shape to build a competitor in 2024, and they have what they need to make the Mets contenders year-in and year-out. If you don’t think this has been a success, you’re a fool.
As had been detailed here when the Mets fired Luis Rojas, Buck Showalter was never the right man to manage the New York Mets. When you’re looking to overall your organization top to bottom to be more analytically driven like the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Tampa Bay Rays, you can’t hire someone who never was willing to adapt his style of managing to suit the modern game.
Assuredly, there were people who loved him. He talked a good game. He kept the media in check even despite the Mets collapse of yesteryear. A lesser respected manager would have routinely mocked for the way he handled the Joe Musgrove glistening ear situation in the deciding game three.
Perhaps, that was also the result of low expectations and an unwillingness to recognize just how good and deep the 2022 Mets roster was. Certainly, that was a driving force behind his winning Manager of the Year.
As for this year, he and the Mets were a bit snake bit. Edwin Díaz was injured during the World Baseball Classic. José Quintana had a cancer scare and bone graft surgery. Starling Marte never fully healed from offseason surgery. Justin Verlander was injured to start the season.
There was the Mets inability to adapt to the new rules right away. Max Scherzer had difficulty adapting to the old rules. The list goes on and on with that article from The Athletic doing him no favors in terms of just how ill suited he was for the job this season.
That’s not to say Showalter is too old to adjust. That’s unfair and unwarranted. He still has a sharp mind, and he knows what he knows. The issue is he was taught to manage a certain way, and that worked wonders for decades. He has just been unwilling to change.
Part of the issue is his apparent loyalty and affinity for older players. In the case of Tommy Pham, the Mets were better for it as Pham had a good year, and it led to a great trade at the deadline. However, in the case of Daniel Vogelbach, it severely damaged the team in the short term and the long term.
Maybe the Mets were always going to hire David Stearns. Certainly, it didn’t seem like an accident Craig Counsell‘s contract was up the same time as Stearns’, and Counsell wasn’t looking to sign a contract extension with the Milwaukee Brewers.
To that end, it does seem like Showalter was hired for two years with a chance to force himself upon Stearns. Certainly, if Showalter was more like Dusty Baker in his willingness to balance his strengths while accepting the analytics more, perhaps we would have seen Showalter remain on the job.
However, for better or worse, Showalter wanted to manage this team like he wanted to manage. In the case of players like Francisco Lindor, they loved him for it. Perhaps, they would’ve loved him more if he changed even a little bit, and the Mets won the World Series.
All this said, Showalter does deserve respect for taking this job and not embarrassing the Mets organization in the process. He did come at a time when things were going sideways, and he did in fact restore some public credibility, and he did keep the media pressure off in ways Bobby Valentine and Willie Randolph (two better Mets managers) ever could.
He deserved the dignity of being able to end it publicly on his terms. He earned the respect of his players, and he does deserve some gratitude from the fans, especially with all the damage that had been done to the organization since Brodie Van Wagenen and Mickey Callaway did, and the shadow it cast until Showalter’s hiring.
In all honesty, hopefully, we will see Showalter get one more crack at managing. Hopefully, like Baker, he will accept the game has changed, and we can see his strenghts carry him to that elusive World Series title. With that, he may eventually get into the Hall of Fame.
In 2022, Jose Butto was pressed into action by the New York Mets, and the results weren’t good to say the least. In his one start, he allowed seven runs in four innings against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The start generated a number of reactions from fans. For the most part, the general reaction from Mets fans was that Butto was not a real prospect, and he was never going to make it.
Now, Butto seemed to solidify the case of the naysayers while pitching with Triple-A Syracuse this season. Over 19 starts, he was 3-7 with a 5.93 ERA. One of the key reasons was his 4.8 BB/9 and his inability to develop a third pitch.
However, something funny happened with Butto. With the trades of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander along with the season (perhaps career) ending injury to Carlos Carrasco, Butto was pressed into action.
While Butto’s stats didn’t merit the opportunity, he got the opportunity because this was a lost season for the Mets. In many ways, it was for him as well. However, now, you cannot say the same for Butto. He got his chance, and he has put himself into the conversation for 2024.
Over his past three starts, Butto has pitched very well. While you may want to discount the start against the also ran Washington Nationals, the recent starts against the Arizona Diamondbacks and Miami Marlins deserve real attention with both teams fighting tooth-and-nail for the Wild Card.
https://x.com/PitchingNinja/status/1703906548550922527?s=20
He earned his first career win limiting the Diamondbacks to one run over five innings. He followed that up with an even more impressive performance. He struck out seven Marlins while limiting them one run over six innings.
Suddenly, there is talk about Butto being a part of the Mets rotation in 2024, or more likely, his being a part of the pitching staff.
What we are learning is his fastball/change-up will play at the Major League level. That combination was what powered a strong 2021 season, had him added to the 40 man roster (to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft), and put him on the Mets top prospect lists.
Now, that isn’t generating a big strikeout rate, but it is helping him avoid barrels. He’s holding opposing batters to a .274 SLG. Part of the reason is he has a high spin rate on his fastball. Another factor at play is his work with Jeremy Hefner, who has helped pitchers with similar stuff succeed with both the Mets and Minnesota Twins.
Now, there is nothing to say that Butto can repeat this success next year or even the rest of this season. Moreover, there is still a real question whether Butto can stick in the rotation or would need to move to the bullpen at the Major League level.
What we can say is the belief Butto was a prospect who could succeed in the majors was not in error. We are now seeing it. Having now seen it, we should be mindful that prospects take time and sometimes need to be beaten up and demoted before they succeed. That is true for Butto, and it will be true for many prospects which come after him.