An MMO Fan Shot by Matthew Brownstein
What a difference a matter of months makes for the New York Mets to finally have depth behind their starting position players. Terry Collins might have been better off pulling a Billy Martin, and drawing names from a hat for his batting order the way things were going during the first few months of the 2015 season.
Lest we forget July 23rd, a mere eight days from Major League Baseball’s trade deadline when the Mets used John Mayberry Jr. in the cleanup spot, and Eric Campbell batting fifth. This was at a juncture when Travis d’Arnaud and David Wright were still rehabbing, and Michael Conforto had yet to make his Major League debut. But still, it was ugly to behold.
Even with the paltry lineup, the Mets remained only three games behind the Washington Nationals in the division, their starting pitching being the major reason they stayed so close. Some MLB insiders felt Collins deployed that putrid lineup to send a message to ownership that he needed offensive weapons and fast. Fans started a Go Fund me page online, in order to help ownership bring in a power bat.
As fate would have it, Mets brass finally felt that the team was in contention late enough in the season, and allowed GM Sandy Alderson to finally make the necessary moves. Alderson struck a deal with the Atlanta Braves two days after the Mayberry game, acquiring veterans Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson to help their bench. See you later John Mayberry Jr. Then on July 31st, the Mets made their signature deal, acquiring Yoenis Cespedes from the Detroit Tigers.
With the returns of d’Arnaud and Wright, along with the call-up of top prospect Michael Conforto, Collins could now mix and match his lineups based on matchups and situations. A refreshing and new idea for Collins in his Met tenure.
Fast forward to present day, where the Mets are primed and ready, and packing their gear for Port St. Lucie in a couple of weeks. The Mets are heading into 2016 with a strong blend of talent backing up their starters. Starting with Wilmer Flores, who in 2015 was seesawing between shortstop and second, he now becomes the super utility man in the infield. His over .700 OPS and double digit home run power will be a welcome addition to the Mets bench.
The Mets will also have shortstop Ruben Tejada as the third option behind new arrival Asdrubal Cabrera and Wilmer Flores. Tejada can provide late inning defensive insurance, and provides an above average OBP.
Also, starting the year in Las Vegas for the team’s Triple A affiliate, the Mets will have Dilson Herrera and Gavin Cecchini gearing up to contribute come as early as this summer. Cecchini had a strong offensive campaign for Binghamton last year, slashing .317/.377/.442. Depending on how Cabrera is faring in the middle of the season, Cecchini might be afforded the chance to play in Queens down the stretch.
In the outfield, the Mets have the ability to substitute strong defenders in the late innings. With the Mets re-signing Cespedes to his 3-year pact, their intentions are to use Conforto in left field, Curtis Granderson in right, and Cespedes in center. Cespedes had a tough go of it in center last season, posting negative numbers in UZR. With the addition of Alejandro De Aza and Juan Lagares now in a platoon, the Mets could move Cespedes to left field, and insert one of the aforementioned players in late innings.
Lagares will also be given plenty of starts in center against left-handed pitching. His splits from last year illustrate the difference: .771 OPS vs LHP and .599 OPS vs RHP. Lagares looks to rebound from a tough year at the plate, one in which saw his OBP and OPS drop. His strikeout rate did drop from ’14 to ’15, but so did his walk rate. I believe Lagares could be the ’14 offensive player, with an OPS around .720. The Mets could also look to trade Lagares mid-season to a team looking for a young controllable outfielder, possibly for relief help.
And with De Aza available against RHP (career .756 OPS), the Mets are afforded the luxury to play guys in spots where they can best perform. A stark difference from early last season when the Mets had no choice but to play whoever they could at the time.
I would’ve liked the Mets to have brought in a veteran catcher to provide guidance and leadership to d’Arnaud, while allowing more time for Kevin Plawecki to develop in Las Vegas. I think Plawecki has the chance to be a good power bat at catcher for the Mets. While his conventional stats were underwhelming, his average launch speed of batted balls was higher than MLB average (89.62 to 89.28) and 81.3% of his balls in play were hit with either medium or hard speed. Plawecki has a good chance to be a contributor for this club, and has strong minor league career numbers which resemble d’Arnaud’s stats closely.
Fans that attend games next year at Citi Field can go with full confidence that names like John Mayberry Jr., Darrell Ceciliani, Omar Quintanilla, and Rick Ankiel won’t be appearing in the lineup. The Mets finally have offensive firepower to be able to properly rest guys (Wright, d’Arnaud) use splits to their advantage (Lagares, De Aza) and offer the prospects of a 90 plus win team. A lot has changed, and fans should be awfully excited.
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This Fan Shot was contributed by Matthew Brownstein. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 30,000 Met fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to [email protected]. Or ask us about becoming a regular contributor.
