On Saturday, we posted something about the article in the New York Times by Tim Rohan about some of the Mets players that were going to the strength and conditioning camp in Michigan run by Mets adviser, Mike Barwis.
The training program was voluntary, but it was the Mets who suggested to Ruben Tejada and Wilmer Flores that they go before the end of last season. Juan Lagares, Lucas Duda and prospects Dominic Smith, Patrick Biondi and Phillip Evans also ended up attending once they heard about it.
What I thought was very odd, was this part of the article:
The program was voluntary, the cost split between the organization and each player.
Now maybe this is common practice, but I found it odd that the Mets didn’t completely fund this for each player. Especially in the cases of Tejada and Flores who probably knew if they declined to go that the media would have been leaked some negative info and before you know it they would make a hail storm out of it. You know it’s true…
The Mets’ lack of an ideal leadoff candidate has everyone in a tizzy lately, the least of which is the Mets’ own manager Terry Collins who recently said over the weekend that Eric Young is his primary leadoff candidate.
Of course that’s code for Eric Young will play everyday and Juan Lagares will likely be hitting the pine in Flushing or the sand in Vegas.
What I find odd is how quickly this front office has run from their Moneyball roots, especially when it comes to how they viewed hitters with high strikeout totals and low on-base percentages. Once thought of as a bad thing, they’ve become less important, while home runs and stolen bases are back on the featured menu.
Four Winters ago, I became hooked on the concept that at it’s most rudimentary level, the game depended on avoiding outs. I never looked at it that way before, but it made complete sense. As did having your best OBP guys at the top of your lineup. The reason being that you want those who are the best at getting on base to get the most playing time AKA at-bats. That made a lot of sense to me too.
But apparently, those things are not so important anymore. Young may not excel at getting on base, but he can steal bases, so…
Four Winters ago, Sandy Alderson downplayed Jose Reyes‘ speed saying that a stolen base was just a footnote when it comes to winning games.
Boy, how things have changed…
The truth is that this team has not been able to find anyone to replace Reyes both at the shortstop position or at the top of the order. I guess some players are irreplaceable after all…
