To open up the second half of their utterly disappointing season, Mets’ first-year general manager Brodie Van Wagenen publicly addressed that the team will be sellers at the July 31 trade deadline. During his pregame presser at Marlins Park yesterday afternoon, the executive explained that the focus will be on moving expiring contracts. He expects Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom to remain Mets, per Tim Healey of Newsday.
On January 16, Van Wagenen confidently asked the NL East to “Come get us.”
On July 12, with the Mets’ holding the second-to-lowest record in the National League, the general manager was forced to admit defeat. “They came and got us,” he said. “In the second half of the year, I think we have low expectations for what we can be… We are incredibly disappointed.”
Leading up to the trade deadline, the front office will concentrate on dealing players who are impending free agents like Zack Wheeler, Todd Frazier, and Jason Vargas-who has a team option/buyout for 2020.
On July 8, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the Mets have engaged in talks with the Red Sox about trading Wheeler and that as many as 10 teams have inquired about the 29-year-old righty.
By mentioning that the team expects to keep Syndergaard, deGrom, and other players under team control, Van Wagenen has indicated that the Mets plan to try and contend in 2020.
Thus far, Brodie’s moves as GM have been discouraging. His offseason acquisitions have fallen exceedingly short of preseason expectations and have arguably been more harmful than beneficial.
Signed on a two-year, $19-million-dollar deal, Wilson Ramos is slashing .273/.351/.407 with questionable defense, allowing nine passed balls this season. deGrom and Syndergaard have both requested to use his backup Tomas Nido as their personal catcher.
35-year-old utility man, Jed Lowrie, signed a two-year, $20-million-dollar contract in January and has been rehabbing several injuries since the start of spring training. He has yet to make a major league appearance for the Amazins’.
To add pitching depth, Van Wagenen resigned New York’s former closer Jeurys Familia-this time to take on a setup role- on a three-year, $30-million-dollar deal. Familia currently owns a career-worst 7.50 ERA with a 1.833 WHIP in 30 innings pitched.
31-year-old southpaw, Justin Wilson, was added on a two-year, $10-million-dollar contract this past winter and has pitched just 10 2/3 innings since. The lefty has been sidelined for most of 2019 with lingering elbow issues.
A strong argument can be made for the case that Van Wagenen’s worst move as general manager to date was trading top prospects Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn in a deal to obtain closer Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano from the Mariners. Diaz has gone 1-6 with a 5.50 ERA and four blown saves in 23 chances. 36-year-old Cano is coming off a season where he was suspended 80 games for performance-enhancing drugs and is hitting .240/.286./.358 with increasingly limited range at second base.
Newsday reported that while admitting the Cano and Diaz trade has evidently been a bust, the general manager feels the pair can still turn it around, stating that “both players have 72 games in front of them to change the narrative.”
Early on, the bullpen was projected to be a team strength but with a volatile closer and his unreliable counterparts, relief pitching has been dubbed the team’s Achilles heel-further imputing to the disappointment. They lead all of baseball with 21 blown saves.
With a 40-51 record on July 13, Brodie accepts the blame for the team’s unanticipated failures.
“I think any time a team struggles, it’s on the organization,” he said, later adding, “I accept my responsibility.”
It is refreshing to finally see someone being held accountable for the mess that is the 2019 New York Mets. Just last week after losing their final game before the All-Star break 8-3 to the Phillies, manager Mickey Callaway told media that he “feel(s) like these guys are turning it around and that they “can make a run at this thing.”
With last night’s 8-4 loss to Miami in their first game back after the Midsummer Classic, the team sits 11 games under .500, 14.5 games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves in NL East, and seven games removed from a wildcard berth. Contrary to Callaway’s comments, the Mets’ chances of making “a run” at contention anytime soon are highly improbable.
The team does not plan to rebuild the entire roster, but to make tweaks and build around the young core of Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and possibly even Dominic Smith.
“We feel like we have a core going forward, just maybe a different core,” the GM clarified-referring to the idea that the team would be led by their strong rotation going forward- a proposal that was proven fickle in 2019.
If the Mets are able to move players like Wheeler, Frazier, and Vargas before the deadline, the talent coming back will be in Brodie Van Wagenen’s hands. After the offseason from hell that has seemingly fostered more damage than improvement, it’s hard not to be uneasy when pondering the return Van Wagenen will get from dealing away talented players- during a critical time when the club’s small window to contend appears to be shrinking exponentially with each regrettable transaction.
