3 UP
1. Jake Locked Up
Since he was called up in 2014, Jacob deGrom has not only emerged as the team’s ace, with last year’s Cy Young season, he is now arguably among the top three starting pitchers in Mets history. He has been a favorite among the players and the fans, and he is here to stay after signing a five year contract extension with the Mets. This has created excitement among the fans, and it is sure to create a good feeling heading into the 2019 season.
2. Taking Advantage of Opportunities
With the way this roster was constructed and with the injuries which have occurred during Spring Training, there were expected and unexpected opportunities present for young Mets players to make their case why they should be on the Opening Day roster. The young Mets made their case:
Pete Alonso .352/.387/.620
Jeff McNeil .352/.375/.630
Luis Guillorme .342/.444/.526
Dominic Smith .321/.367/.464
J.D. Davis .309/.367/.491
With these performances, the Mets are likely going to carry all of the aforementioned players on the Opening Day roster, and they are all going to have an opportunity to prove themselves at the Major League level.
With the addition of Amed Rosario who hit .356/.442/.556 with improved plate discipline, the Mets now appear to have a young core of position players who can help buttress this pitching staff. This creates a clear path towards returning to the postseason.
3. 41 Seaver Way
Since Citi Field was opened, Mets fans have been rightfully irritated how the team’s history has not been honored. The autograph wall which was supposed to materialize after Dwight Gooden innocently signed a wall never materialized. The team’s Hall of Fame has been overrun by the team store. The retired numbers went from the outfield wall to hanging above the ballpark.
Perhaps the biggest gripe of them all is how the team failed to properly honor the greatest player in their history. There was really nothing in the ballpark to properly honor Tom Seaver. The team has finally taken the right steps in renaming the road by the ballpark 41 Seaver Way, and it appears after long last the team will build that Seaver statue. This is a great start, and it goes a long way to build good will among the fans.
3 DOWN
1. Still Talking About The Same Problems
Heading into the 2019 season, the Mets will be without Todd Frazier and Jed Lowrie for an unspecified amount of time as both are trying to return from injuries. Drew Smith went from competing for a bullpen spot to Tommy John surgery.
On the financial front, the New York Post reported the Mets are highly leveraged and are pushed against MLB’s debt limit rules, and the team’s current valuation is around $1.5 billion. To put that into perspective, the ineptly ran Marlins sold for $1.2 billion.
The New York Daily News reported due to budgetary restrictions, the Dome, a non-baseball facility, will not have all it needs to conduct a Major League caliber workout, and that is two days prior to the 2019 season.
It should also be noted despite all the bravado from the Mets about going all-in, according to Spotrac, the Mets 2019 payroll is only $2.4 million higher than it was last year. Keep in mind, that takes into account David Wright‘s full $15 million salary. When you remove that from the payroll, the Mets are yet again outside the top 10.
Overall, the Mets have changed their general manager and have promoted a more energetic message, and yet despite that, they have not really changed much.
2. Didn’t Extend Far Enough
Even though it took too long and it sowed the seeds of discord in the clubhouse, the Mets did well extending deGrom. However, at a time when teams were taking advantage of the down market to lock up their stars, the Mets did not go far enough.
Zack Wheeler will be a free agent after the 2019 season. Michael Conforto, Steven Matz, and Noah Syndergaard will be free agents after the 2021 season. Brandon Nimmo and Seth Lugo will be a free agent after the 2022 season. Along with deGrom, these players make up the Mets core, and their free agency will be here before you know it.
By not locking up these players now, the Mets are missing the tide, and the longer the Mets wait here, the more expensive these players will become as the team will no longer have arbitration years to use as leverage to keep the cost of each player down. Ultimately, there was a real missed opportunity here.
3. Team Discord
Recently, Syndergaard has been vocal about his issues with the team. These issues include the team having not yet locking up deGrom, and the team’s trip to Syracuse. According to him, that trip was not well thought out, and it was not conducive to the team building a winner. His rationale was instead of the team getting their lives together to prepare for a 162 game season, a season which begins with a lot of travel early in the year, they were going to an ill-equipped Dome to stage a workout.
The issues with the Syracuse trip were only amplified by last night’s flight from Sarasota being delayed. As Mike Puma of the New York Post reported, the Mets players were angry over the flight delay yesterday.
Right now, the hope is deGrom receiving his extension and the team getting back to playing games should ease much of the tension which has been building over the last few weeks of Spring Training. Certainly, getting off to a good start will make all of this ancient history.
