3 UP

1. Mets Snap 17 Series Winless Streak

With the Mets taking the final two games of the series, the team has finally taken a series from an opponent.  Consider in the time frame the Mets last won a series, the team was 24-19 and just 3.5 games back of first place. The Mets are now 42-57 and 13.5 games back of first place in the National League East.

At that time, Adrian Gonzalez was the first baseman. Jose Bautista was a free agent. Jose Reyes was a bench player, and Yoenis Cespedes had two functioning heels (or so we were led to believe).

All that losing can wear on you as a fan, especially with the circus which is currently surrounding the team. Despite it all, it’s nice to be able to turn on the television and see the Mets play competitive baseball with an actual chance to win a game.

2.  Future Does Look Bright

Believe it or not, one thing that stood out during this series was just how much better the Mets future looks than many will lead you to believe.

Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, and Corey Oswalt combined to allow just six earned runs over 20.0 innings pitched (2.70 ERA).

Michael Conforto was 4-for-11 with a homer and two RBI.  Amed Rosario was 3-for-12 with a triple, two RBI, a walk, and a stolen base.  Jeff McNeil was called-up to the majors, and he is a perfect 1-for-1 with a walk to start his professional career.

Unless the Mets make a move, all of these players will be a part of the Mets next season.  Looking at them as well as players like Noah Syndergaard, Brandon Nimmo, Seth Lugo, and Robert Gsellman, you see the pieces who could play a role on a good 2019 Mets team.

3. Money to Spend

One of the refrains we hear is how the Mets are limited financially to the point where they are unable to make significant moves like similarly situated big market teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and the Nationals.  Well, with all that has happened, the Mets will have money to spend.

With Jeurys Familia gone, the team is able to sock away the $3 million he was due this year as part of taking his $7.925 million off the books.  We will see if Asdrubal Cabrera and Jerry Blevins get traded, but their combined $15.25 million is coming off the books. Same goes for Devin Mesoraco, who is presumed to be paid the prorated portion of the $5.625 million the Mets were previously paying Matt Harvey.

Due to his injury, AJ Ramos will not be traded, but his $9.225 million will be gone from the books.

Additionally, with insurance paying 75% of David Wright‘s 2019 salary and approximately 50% of Yoenis Cespedes‘ 2019 salary, the Mets will have $25.75 million being paid by insurance.

All told, the Mets will see $63.775 million come off of what was an already under-market payroll.  With that money, the team could sign both Manny Machado and Bryce Harper with money left to spare.  That goes double when you consider Wright’s, Cespedes’, Jason Vargas‘, Anthony Swarzak‘s, and Jay Bruce‘s over-inflated contracts will be gone after the 2020 season.

If we’re being honest, this Mets team has money to spend in what could be the most consequential free agent class in Major League history. All the team needs is an investment from ownership.

3 DOWN

1.  Mets Handling of Cespedes’ Injury

In Pedro Martinez‘s eponymous entitled book Pedro, he detailed how Jeff Wilpon pressured him to pitch in a meaningless series against the Marlins because the organization was expecting a large gate with the Marlins pitching Dontrelle Willis.

Back in 2010, days after Omar Minaya wished him well in his surgery, the Mets acted shocked Carlos Beltran would undergo career saving knee surgery recommended by his doctors after Mets doctors effectively threw their hands up and said there was nothing that could be done for the injury.  A well executed PR assault of Beltran and his character would ensue.

Now, we’re at Cespedes.  In recent days, we’ve discovered the team knew about this heel issue as far back as 2015 when the team traded Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa for him.

They knew about it when they signed him to two different contracts, and yet when the issue first emerged, they pretended to be blindsided about this. Much like with Beltran, team doctors didn’t have a solution leaving Cespedes to find his own doctors to find answer to help save his career.

Like with Pedro, Cespedes was rushed back for a meaningless game. Really, the Mets brought out Cespedes to play in the Subway Series, which really has no meaning at this point to anyone but the Wilpons.

This is complete and utter nonsense. The Mets actions accelerated the end of Pedro’s career, could have done the same with Beltran, and who knows what will happen with Cespedes?

This is needs to stop, and it needs to stop now.

2.  Reyes Playing Over McNeil

It was one thing for Jose Reyes to play over Jeff McNeil when McNeil was in Triple-A.  It’s a whole other thing when McNeil is promoted to the majors, gets a base hit on the first pitch he saw in the majors.

This is a joke, and the fact the decision to play Reyes over McNeil on the same day the Mets announced Cespedes would finally undergo surgery sums up this entire organization perfectly.

3. Mets Keep Wasting DeGrom’s Brilliance 

With deGrom getting saddled with the loss after an outing where he allowed just two earned over eight innings, his record dropped to 5-5.  That’s not just embarrassing; it’s record setting.

No pitcher in MLB history has had an ERA below 2.00 and had fewer than seven wins 20 starts into a season until this year.

During this season, deGrom has nine starts where he has allowed two earned or less in seven inning or more and not walked away with the win.  The next closest on the list is Max Scherzer and Reynaldo Lopez with four such starts.

Overall, the Mets record is 14-18 when their starting pitcher allows two earned or less over at least six innings pitched.

Seeing great pitching efforts and a deGrom season for the ages go by the wayside like this is just plain criminal.