Brodie Van Wagenen has been busy in his first offseason as general manager of the New York Mets. Between the additions he’s made and the core that was in place when he signed on, 2019 has the potential to be quite the season.
When the former agent and first-time executive took the Mets GM job, he famously declared a new age in Queens, decreeing a win-now mentality with the supposed green light from ownership to make the necessary upgrades to bring this team into the conversation in the NL East and — hopefully — beyond.
So far, things have been going swimmingly. Van Wagenen added Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz in a trade with Seattle, signed Jeurys Familia and Wilson Ramos to extremely team-friendly deals, and added Rajai Davis, Kyle Dowdy, and Gregor Blanco to the roster as depth options with, presumably, more moves to come.
Bryce Harper remains the primary target of the fans. Let’s see if Brodie has his ear to the pavement in Roosevelt Ave. and makes a run at the 26-year-old superstar. But besides the moves already made and the ones that still need to be made this offseason, there’s still a lot to look forward to for the Mets in 2019.
The continued development of the Mets’ young positional core of Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, Amed Rosario, and Jeff McNeil should benefit well from the presence of proven veteran hitters like Cano and Ramos.
Todd Frazier has a lot to prove in his second and final season of a two-year deal he signed before the 2017 season. Dominic Smith figures to either sink or swim with this organization over the next 12 months, if not sooner. Juan Lagares has reached the point in his Mets tenure where if his bat doesn’t show up in a big way, his glove may no longer justify his roster spot. Of course for the latter, health will also play a major role in determining his fate.
There is certainly a fair share of question marks surrounding this team, but there’s a facet of the New York Mets that — barring the unforeseen — will be the driving force behind the success of the 2019 Metropolitans.
The Mets’ starting rotation that will include reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, the resurrected Zack Wheeler, and Steven Matz, along with either Jason Vargas or another potential addition, will serve as the backbone for this team.
As long as setbacks are avoided, progress continues to be made from the front four, and Vargas can replicate (or come darn close) to his strong showing in the second half, the Mets could very well be all set in this department. Here’s hoping Dave Eiland can keep working his magic with this group.
The Mets have already strengthened their relief corps considerably with the additions of Diaz and Familia. These two at the back-end of the ‘pen with Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman leading into them should prove to be mighty entertaining. The development of young arms in Drew Smith and Daniel Zamora should be a fun subplot, as well.
Bringing in an Adam Ottavino, Cody Allen, David Robertson, or Kelvin Herrera would catapult this group from good to great in a hurry, but whether that’s on Van Wagenen’s docket remains to be seen.
Whatever additions or subtractions are made before — or after — things get underway in late-March, there’s an air of excitement around this organization that hasn’t been there in a while. Bringing this roster (and payroll) up to respectable levels doesn’t seem as far-fetched an idea as it was just a year ago.
As things stand now, we should be in store for a fun season in Flushing. If Brodie Van Wagenen sticks to his guns and keeps making this team better, we could be in store for even more.
