My daughter and I have this running joke involving the Mets… I tell her they’re going to be great next year and when next year comes around she makes fun of me and the Mets. You see she’s not a huge baseball fan, but by extension she probably knows more than most Midwestern 17 year old girls, and she’s acutely aware of me and her brother’s pipe dreams of the Mets in the post season, which doesn’t help.
Every year she points out how bad they are and every year it’s the same refrain, “just wait, you’ll see.” Sadly, the “better days are just around the corner” mantra has gotten so stale it’s begun to reek like a forgotten take-out carton that has developed a life of its own in the back of your fridge.
The other day she pointed out that the Mets have a losing record and are mired in 4th place. I immediately retorted with several handy tidbits about our rejuvenated farm system. Now for those of you who have raised teenage girls, there’s this thing they do where they roll their eyes and dismiss you with a wave of their hand… she’s got that thing down pat.
“But, but, you don’t understand. This time they really do have a shot at being competitive … they’re getting Matt Harvey back next year.”
“Uh huh … whatever dad.”
Not much you can say to that. It occurred to me after this exchange that it is starting to get old. She was like 9 the last time the Mets made it to the post season. In kid time that’s like a thousand years ago. But honestly, there comes a point when you simply have to cash out whether you are ahead or not and admit that it isn’t happening.
I’ve been a staunch supporter of Sandy Alderson throughout this rebuilding or restructuring or whatever you want to call it. As a fellow jarhead I thought it my moral obligation to support him, “esprit de corps, Semper Fi, oooh rah.” But at the end of the day when it comes to my Mets I feel like I’d like to know whether there’s some light at the end of the tunnel. I really, really need to know.
Our farm system has been overhauled to be sure. Our minor league affiliates are thriving and are loaded with talent, particularly on the pitching end. We have a budding crop of position players with real promise nearing their harvest dates and everyone loves Nimmo (I have rights to the sitcom). The farm isn’t the problem. Paul DePodesta isn’t the problem — as the man in charge of amateur and minor league scouting he’s done an outstanding job and deserves a ton of credit.
On the major league side the track record isn’t as promising. This past winter we signed two outfielders, Curtis Granderson and Chris Young. Our return on the $22 million those two made this year has been a combined .2 WAR (!), with Chris Young coming in dead last on the team (-0.6). That’s not good, in fact it’s about as nauseating as a whiff of that take-out carton.
In 2013 we signed a kid named Cowgill who was tabbed as our starting center fielder only to flame out faster than the human torch doing the ice bucket challenge. Later that season we traded for Eric Young, a move that was roundly praised at the time, only a year later what we’ve learned is that Eric Young is indeed the 4th outfielder/pinch runner type everyone said he was, and the guy we gave up? He is pitching to a 2.89 era with a 1.09 whip with well over a strikeout per inning. Collin McHugh has been lighting up the American League West while Eric Young rides the pine.
So, the question remains, where is the accountability when it comes to scouting the majors? With the exception of Marlon Byrd, who was (at the time) a wild coin toss if ever there was one, our track record for scouting outfielders has been abysmal. The fascinating thing is that it doesn’t end with Sandy Alderson’s tenure. The Mets as an organization have always struggled to find outfielders. Oh there’ve been a few notable good ones. Straw and Mookie and Dykstra, and Omar Minaya did sign Carlos Beltran, the best of the lot. But as an organization the Mets have struggled to consistently draft, develop, sign, or even trade for outfielders.
Not counting the 2014 draft, the Mets have drafted 72 outfielders in the first 5 rounds during the 49 year history of the MLB draft. Of those 72, 18 made it to the majors. Of those 18, only five have become major league regulars. That’s roughly one every 10 years or so. You can read more about that here.
When we have made attempts at filling holes with reclamation projects or less than complete yet serviceable major league free agents, the results have been disastrous almost across the board. From George Foster to Bobby Bonilla, and Chris Young to Gary Mathews Jr, and Jason Bay to Curtis Granderson, Flushing is the place where once-excellent outfielders come to die.
Now clearly you’ve got to have an outfield if you want to compete … there’s no doubt about that. Sandy Alderson needs to address the issue of his coin toss track record signing free agents (actually he’d probably have landed better players over the past few years had he actually tossed coins). You can’t expect to win if you are categorically incapable of signing a decent major league free agent.
Then again …
As my daughter was about to walk away I said,
“Wait wait, hold on a second … take a look at this.” I pulled out my handy new iPad and clicked on a Juan Lagares highlight reel. She couln’t help glance at it (the resolution is amazing) … After pretending to sort of watch the first catch her attention was fixed.
“Wow … who is that?” She said.
“That my dear is Juan Lagares,” I said my chest swelling with pride … “The best center fielder in baseball.”
“You see,” I said. “He is a product of our farm system.”
“Hmm … “ she said and walked away without her customary disparaging zinger (which incidentally gave me an immeasurable dose of hope — again you have to know teenagers to understand why).
Free agents? Eh, who needs them.
Now if we could only land a halfway decent free agent (or two) this off-season, well, maybe… maybe we’d have something.
