Brandon Nimmo: Selected 13th overall in the 2011 Draft, Nimmo was the first signature move of the new Mets front office.
Before we all split for the Holidays, I polled our writers on a number of different Mets issues that are facing the team. We discussed payroll and spending, the Dickey trade, the offseason so far, and also what we felt about the overall direction of the team and the confidence in this front office.
How confident are you in the front office and the direction of the team?
Matt Strachman – Sandy Alderson is a stoic genius and I couldn’t be happier with the direction the Mets are headed. We have locked up three of the scarcest positions with Wright, Tejada, and d’Arnaud and stocked up on young arms. The bullpen is still a bit of a mess, but we have time to see what pans out and can easily overhaul it with $ in the bank. I am not trying to simplify the process of building a championship team, but the nuts and bolts are there and Sandy will supply the glue. Good times are on the horizon my friends.
Rob (Tie Dyed) – Not at all. This entire organization is going down faster than the Titanic.
XtreemIcon – I’ve always been confident in the front office and the direction of the team, and they’ve done nothing to change my opinion. Snagging d’Arnaud even strengthens that opinion. What goes on in the press or what’s said in interviews seems to be very important to some people, but I just care about winning and building a sustainable winner, and that’s the direction the team is moving in.
Jessica – It might be a shaky ride, but we’re heading in the right direction. Sandy Alderson may have made the deal of his career in being to acquire two of the Blue Jays top prospects for Dickey. We filled a hole that has needed to be filled since, well, Paul Lo Duca left. But as with any ride, the train can derail rather quickly, and I fear that may happen if the Mets refuse to address other needs.
Gregg Hopps – Sandy Alderson is a baseball man, who has had success in the past. There is no reason to believe Sandy will not have success here. I don’t like the Wilpon’s, but I agree with them when they say the free agent route hasn’t really worked for them. Sandy, along with Terry Collins have done a decent job here so far. The NL East is a tough division with the emergence of Washington, and long time winners Atlanta. The Phillies are going to be interesting, and the Fish will be in the cellar. IF the Mets can win some games against Atlanta and Washington, I think we could see a fun year. So yeah, I like the direction this team is heading in.
Drew – Last year at this time I was very confident especially after scoring Wheeler for Beltran even though we didn’t do much else. I was okay with letting Jose Reyes walk and excited to see what we would select with the two draft picks last June. The first pick Kevin Plawecki was disappointing and now with d’Arnaud on board it’s actually negated or at best he’s a backup which what many scouts said he was in the first place. We only signed one second round pick of the two we had and the one we let go was one of the most highly regarded right-handers in the draft. I become even more skeptical when we didn’t trade Jon Rauch or Scott Hairston even though it was clear the team were not buyers and neither would be coming back anyway. Trading Dickey but keeping Wright is not an indication of any direction. It seems like the front office is clueless as to whether we are rebuilding or not. I was giving them three offseasons all along to get things righted, and so far it seems like 2013 could be our fifth straight losing season and it could go as high as seven straight before we see results at the major league level. That would tie the longest losing stretch in franchise history set by the Lovable Losers between 1962-1968.
Satish – If I had to put a number on it, I feel 50/50 about the way the team is going. I know that we aren’t going to contend in 2013. And we at least have enough potential in the prospects to make me feel a little confident about the future. But leading the league in potential doesn’t get you anything. In addition to that, if we continue the trend at not improving the major league roster, or not locking up players that aren’t Wright, we are going to become a pretty hard team to keep liking. And no, signing David Wright does not count as improving the MLB roster, it counts as keeping it the same. This is not a bad thing, but it’s just a matter of building on it.
Jim Mancari – I guess I will say I’m confident in the direction of the team and the front office because I really have no control over it. I’ve placed my trust in the front office to improve the team. If trading R.A. Dickey means getting back a few pieces for the future that work out, then terrific. No matter what product the team puts on the field, I will follow. I’ve been indebted to the Mets for so long that I could never change my allegiance.
Joe D. – Yesterday, I was surprised to see Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals levy some open criticism on his front office complaining about the many years and years of collecting prospects and draft picks with no end game in sight. He applauded the trade for James Shields and felt it was about time the team added some major league muscle to the team even if it cost the team some good prospects. In some ways, that’s my gripe with this front office. They fail to keep established major league talent and value “hit or miss” prospects more than “proven and established” star players. Prospects are nice, especially when you do your due diligence and draft your own. I’m not thrilled with our drafts nor do I support trading proven commodities for other team’s prospects because of a lack of confidence in your own selection and scouting process. We were not in a position to waste our top picks on longterm projects who were never can’t miss, blue chip talents. But that’s exactly what we did. This was a team that needed an immediate infusion of high level, near MLB ready talent, talent which we left on the table in the form of Jose Fernandez in 2011 and Courtney Hawkins in 2012. When you want to embark upon a bright and new future direction for the team, it begins and ends with your own scouting, drafting and development. Words spoken by and lived by former GM Frank Cashen. I can hardly disagree. So far, thanks to some nice valuable trade chips inherited from the last regime, coupled with the growth of players like Matt Harvey, Jon Niese, Ruben Tejada and Ike Davis, I liked the direction we were already on. But it would be nice to see the new front office supplement that direction with some draft picks that would hit the ground running rather than projects that were 4-5 years away at minimum with a higher risk for failure than for success.
