There’s an old adage in baseball: you can never have enough good pitching. There’s another adage in life: you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.
Beat both in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy and you’ve got something resembling the 2013 New York Mets.
In case none of that makes any sense, consider someone like Carlos Torres. In his last two starts, he’s gone 11 IP allowing 12 hits, two walks, two earned runs and striking out 11. He’s 1-0 over those two games—a quality candidate for long relief later on.
Also look no further than Jenrry Mejia. In Mejia’s debut he pitched seven scoreless innings, gave up seven hits, struck out seven, didn’t surrender a walk and earned the win.
Torres and Mejia are just a few of the productive commodities the Mets have stashed on their roster.
Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “Okay, if that’s the case, then why has the team been so mediocre? If the Mets have all this talent on the team, why can’t they put it together?”
That’s where the second ingredient comes into play. Terry Collins can sit in the dugout and watch young or talented or both players all season. That doesn’t mean he’s going to play them. Sandy Alderson can watch his dumpster dive players over-perform. That doesn’t mean he’s going to flip them.
I believe that most teams can make the postseason. It’s about whether you put the right combination of players out there. Making the right organizational moves can assist that endeavor. It’s taken too long for that to happen. It took too long and an injury to get Omar Quintanilla to play every day at shortstop. It took too long to decide to platoon Ike Davis. Juan Lagares is finally getting a chance to play every day.
Yes, Shaun Marcum was a failure. Yes, Brandon Lyon was a failure. There are players on this roster that can fill those voids though. Some of them aren’t pitchers. A player like Marlon Byrd can net pitching—something you can never have enough. I’m not saying he can bring back a top pitching prospect, but I don’t see a problem with trading him for a bullpen arm.
If the Mets are striving to follow the San Francisco Giants mold, they must keep solidifying their pitching.
I don’t think you trade a good player in the middle of a winning season. I also think you don’t keep a 35-year-old outfielder when you’re in the middle of a rebuilding year. You’re 11 games out of the wild card spot and you’d need to pull off one of the most miraculous second half’s in team history. I’m sorry. I’m just being realistic. The Mets have a better chance of competing for the next few years with another bullpen arm than they do of making a run with Byrd this season.
This isn’t to discredit what Byrd’s been doing. He’s been good for the locker room, good on the field and good for this organization. That only adds credence to the idea that some team will be interested in acquiring him for something the Mets could always use more pitching.
Trade Byrd. Keep Bobby Parnell.
What do you think the Mets should do by the trade deadline?
