Are the Mets as close as Sandy Alderson says we are, and will the Mets be in the post season in 2015? That is the big question.
This upcoming off-season is very crucial. There’s no reason that this team shouldn’t be a legitimate contender in 2015. And incremental moves could be key to getting the Mets over the hump.
I´m quite confident that 85 wins is highly likely barring any significant injury issues. But the difference between 85-86 wins and 90-91 wins is meaningful games in September vs. meaningful games in October.
The front office has to put the best possible 25-man roster on the field and put together a roster that meshes together well and doesn´t feature three first basemen or six outfielders, but no backup infielder at the same time.
Also, the F.O. should not underestimate the importance of defense up the middle. A Daniel Murphy and Wilmer Flores combo at second base and shortstop is absurd and would easily qualify as the worst middle infield tandem in the majors. It’d be a worst case scenario for our young pitching staff and totally counter to our effort to keep pitch counts down.
While Murphy has been a steady and solid contributor, and Flores has also shown promise, there’s no way that these two should play together frequently in 2015.
And while Matt den Dekker and Kirk Nieuwenhuis could be solid 4th outfielders each, the Mets can´t hold a tryout camp at the corner outfield spot, but instead need to bring in a solid veteran corner outfielder with contact skills and some pop to bridge the gap until Brandon Nimmo and/or Michael Conforto arrive in 2016.
Michael Cuddyer probably is the best free agent fit out there. He likely won’t receive a qualifying offer from the Rockies so the Mets wouldn’t have to sacrifice their first round pick.
Considering that he’ll turn 36, he won´t be looking at more than a 2-year contract max, if that. Overall, this sort of aligns well with Nimmo and Conforto arriving a year or so from now and wouldn´t even block den Dekker from getting into the lineup more frequently if he performs above expectations.
Cuddyer is a professional hitter who averaged an .800 OPS on the ROAD from 2011 through 2013 and who is a very solid bat outside of Coors Field. A professional hitter with some pop who is not an easy out and who would lengthen the lineup.
That he´s also very good friends with David Wright also shouldn’t hurt. And while his defense is rather mediocre, you may ignore the metrics that get skewed due to the Coors Field factor which turns any outfielder there into a liability.
World Series titles really are impossible to plan. But over the next half a dozen years, I’d pretty much bet all I have on the Mets making the playoffs more often than the Yankees.
Anything below 3-4 playoff qualifying seasons would be massively disappointing for the Mets over that span and I don’t expect that to happen.
In closing, with a few small and effective moves, this current Mets team is in line for a run of sustainable success such as they’ve never experienced before, and infinitely better than making the playoffs just three times in the last 25 years.
