By Tim Ryder

The 2019 New York Mets had an abysmal season on the defensive side of the chalk. Their dire situation appeared to improve marginally over the second half of the season, but a National League-worst -93 defensive runs saved and -0.8 ultimate zone rating per 150 games (19th in MLB) simply won’t get the job done.

Considering the high level of starting pitching this organization has been built around, putting the most defensively-capable team behind them seems like a wise course of action.

Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen has to take this line of thinking into account as the offseason picks up steam in the coming weeks.

Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, and Marcus Stroman have the potential to be elite as a group next season. Why put them in a less-than-optimal position to succeed with spotty defense positioned behind them?

An oft-blamed culprit, Amed Rosario‘s -16 DRS and -0.6 UZR/150 ranked second-to-last and 13th, respectively, among qualified MLB shortstops last season.

In comparison, Trea Turner of the NL champion Nationals logged -10 DRS and -8.8 UZR/150 in 2019. Maybe we’ve been a bit hard on Rosie, huh?

The 23-year-old’s bat broke out in a big way in 2019 (.287/.323/.432, 100 wRC+, 2.7 fWAR) and, by all accounts, he’s going to be here for the foreseeable future, so consistent improvements on defense are going to be imperative.

Pete Alonso had the worst DRS (-6) among qualified MLB first basemen in his rookie season, but also had a higher UZR/150 (1.4) than Joey Votto (1.0 UZR/150) and Freddie Freeman (-3.4), so there’s promise there.

Jeff McNeil‘s glove is solid wherever he plays (let’s pencil him in at third for now; 4 DRS, 20.8 UZR/150 in 170 career innings there), as is Robinson Cano‘s at second base (-6 DRS, -1.5 UZR/150 last season; OK, maybe he’s slipping).

But for a player like, say, Wilson Ramos, whose -13 DRS was worst in the majors among qualified MLB catchers last year and -7.6 framing runs above average was third-to-last among the same group, the Mets have options.

If Brewers backstop Yasmani Grandal — a player the Mets had extensive contract talks with last winter and who led the majors with 17 FRM in 2019 — chooses to opt-out of his mutual option with Milwaukee for 2020, Van Wagenen would be hard-pressed not to consider trading Ramos and going after Grandal.

If the Mets want to accentuate their strong stable of arms in the aforementioned starters, Seth Lugo, Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia, Justin Wilson, and others, what better way than to add an offensively talented and defensively elite player behind the dish?

Dollars to donuts there won’t be a catching controversy with Grandal back there.

Ramos, 32, had a solid debut season in Queens, slashing .288/.351/.416 with 14 homers, 73 RBIs, and a 105 wRC+, but, as noted, was a huge defensive liability.

If Van Wagenen can find a taker on the Venezuelan native’s reasonable $10 million 2020 salary (and 2021 club option) with Grandal’s services waiting in the wings, the extra funds allocated to Grandal ($15 million per seems like a bare minimum) could be money spent wisely.

The Mets’ outfield as a group didn’t fare exceptionally well in the field last season (-21 DRS, -4.9 UZR/150) and could use a shot in the arm — but not necessarily a roster change.

Whether the team sees Yoenis Cespedes return in 2020 — and at what level — is to be determined. And despite J.D. Davis‘ impressive display at the plate over his first full MLB season (.307/.369/.527, 22 HR, 22 2B, 136 wRC+, 2.4 fWAR) his play in the outfield (-11 DRS, -13.9 UZR/150 over 585.1 innings) has not proven to be serviceable as of yet.

McNeil was the only regular Mets outfielder to post a positive DRS last season (two; -2.3 UZR/150). Michael Conforto‘s season was respectable enough (-3 DRS, -1.4 UZR/150), as was Brandon Nimmo‘s in a small sample size (-1 DRS, -3.1 UZR/150 over 481 innings), but there is room for improvement, no doubt.

Barring any unforeseen, major shake-ups, this group — Davis and, hopefully, Cespedes included — will man the Mets’ outfield in 2020.  It’s possible the best way for the Mets to draw the most value out of this group could be by putting a new set of eyes on them.

In last week’s MMO profile of managerial interviewee Skip Schumaker, currently the Padres’ first-base coach with an additional focus on the team’s outfield play, we outlined the work he’s done with two players, specifically, that should entice the current regime to pry Schumaker away from sunny San Diego and into Flushing.

Hunter Renfroe saw his defensive metrics increase substantially during his time under Schumaker’s wing (-1 DRS, -7.9 UZR/150 in 2017; 5 DRS, -1.1 UZR/150 in 2018, Schumaker’s first season; 22 DRS, 13.1 UZR/150 in 2019), as did Manuel Margot‘s, albeit to a lesser extent considering he’s been an above-average fielder since making his debut in 2016 (27 DRS, 5.9 UZR/150 over 3,175.2 career outfield innings).

If Schumaker was to be added to [insert new skipper’s name here]’s staff — which could conceivably be the reason the Mets interviewed him with no managerial experience and just two years on Andy Green‘s bench — the Mets’ outfield could be a much more competitive one, defensively, next season and beyond.