Ed Delany, MMO
On Sept. 1, the New York Mets promoted right-handed pitchers Tim Peterson and Eric Hanhold (the latter having his contract purchased), and two days later recalled first base prospect Dominic Smith, utility infielder Jack Reinheimer, and starting pitcher Drew Gagnon. With the rosters having expanded from 25 to 40 active players, the Mets were perfectly situated to make these decisions, and in fact had nine spots left open.
Technically, this would look more like six or seven, given the possibilities that Bobby Wahl and David Wright return to the field at some point this year, as well as the impending activation of Anthony Swarzak.
Wright, who has been battling shoulder, neck, and back issues across the last two seasons, would be the only such player to come off the 60-day disabled list. Nobody else that is currently injured (AJ Ramos, Rafael Montero, Travis d’Arnaud, Philip Evans, TJ Rivera, Juan Lagares, and Yoenis Cespedes) occupies a spot on the 40-man roster, meaning the Mets have all the wiggle room they could possibly need to select and purchase a contract from the minors if they so desired.
By the time these men have been activated, five of the six necessary slots will have opened as we likely bid adieu to Ramos, Jerry Blevins, Devin Mesoraco, Jose Reyes, and Austin Jackson. And there’s always the chance that Wright – especially if he culminates his journey back onto a big-league diamond – steps away from the game.
This is not a breakdown of the team’s current roster. Rather, it’s a (hopefully) coherent attempt to outline and articulate the fact that the Mets had practically no reason not to fill their roster if it was on the agenda.
Apparently – and regrettably – it was not.
Among a laundry list of names that have been bandied about during Spring Training and the incessant roster crunches of June and July, Gerson Bautista, P.J. Conlon, Kevin McGowan, Kyle Regnault, Corey Taylor, Peter Alonso, Luis Guillorme, Zach Borenstein, Bryce Brentz, and Kevin Kaczmarski all boasted either the minor-league credentials or recognition as rising young talent to warrant a September promotion. None of them were given the chance.
As a matter of fact, nobody was given a chance. The only player to go anywhere, in fact, was Patrick Kivlehan, who hit 12 homers in August and ended his season with a .902 OPS before being sold to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Mets were essentially handed an opportunity to add young players with varying levels of potential, in a lost season, no less. Unless any of these players carried fleas or joined forces to cruelly prank team executives, there was literally nothing standing in their way of a big-league uniform, a chance to impress, and if all else failed, exposure to a clubhouse and environment that they would need a feel for in order to (even remotely) succeed.
Peter Alonso is a special case that may have simply been given the tentative hand in the boardroom. And considering the concern the organization had regarding Dominic Smith’s weight entering 2017 and the cruel, sad aftermath he and the team continue to marinate in, giving Alonso more time to polish his defense may not have been the most egregious decision. If the endgame in New York is to promote and hand the reins off to a potential star, then Alonso shouldn’t be rushed.
Unfortunately, while the team may have put together their roster this past offseason with a misguided, but ultimately well-meaning desire to win, it’s hard to see the same energy with the front office essentially denying the team an opportunity to grow.
P.J. Conlon posted a 1.21 WHIP against left-handed hitters this year while Kyle Regnault struck out 82 batters in 60.1 innings – and with Blevins a foot out the door, the Mets are going to need as much left-handed help as they can get.
Corey Taylor allowed just two home runs and 17 walks in 66.1 innings with Las Vegas this year and throws a mid-to-high 90s fastball. He is 25 years old and has already spent four years in the Mets’ minors system. Zach Borenstein had 25 homers, 90 RBI, and a .354 OBP. He’s 28 years old and has been toiling in the minor leagues since 2011.
Luis Guillorme limped to a -0.3 dWAR and .523 OPS in his first taste of the bigs, but struck out just three times in 74 plate appearances, zero over his last 52. He’s not Felix Millan, but he has shown glimpses of tolerable baseball that most teams would bank on with expanded September rosters. It should go without saying what a team that is 13 games below .500, lacking youth in its lineup, and desperately trying to finish on a high note would do.
Perhaps the most damning aspect of this whole operation (or lack thereof) is that of the 31 players on the current roster, 12 currently have negative WAR (five position players and seven pitchers). The already one-dimensional, complacent argument that the team has everything it already needs could not be further from the truth.
It’s already bonkers to think that young talent would take a backseat to conveniently-plucked, defective misfit toys like Jack Reinheimer, Jose Reyes, and Jacob Rhame that the team acquired and refuses to step down from. This isn’t even akin to shoving talent into the backseat, however. This is the executive equivalent to seeing an empty backseat, seeing an important package that would definitely fit, and knowingly driving off without it, and the Mets should be ashamed.
