Dysfunctional Mets At A Crossroads Once Again

Pity the poor Mets fan. Not only do they have to deal with their Yankee fan counterparts (“Oh man almost all of our line-up is on the DL and we’re still in first place?”), they have the year-in and year-out tease that only a Mets fan truly understands. (OK, Indians and Mariners fans, you’re a close second.)

Judging from the overhaul both the front office and the team underwent this off-season, there was some optimism that the Mets had turned over a new leaf, that they had figured something out and were committing to winning. And not one of those re-build types of winning, but a “let’s do this,” now’s-the-time type of winning. 

With new agent-turned-GM Brodie Van Wagenen at the helm, they traded top prospects for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz, and signed former All-Stars Jed Lowrie and Wilson Ramos. 

And then nothing.

That was basically it. 

“All-in” was replaced by just wading in waist-high.

The Wilpon family’s inability to loosen the purse strings and allow their GM to legitimately go after another arm (can you imagine a deGrom/Syndergaard/Keuchel trio?) or another bat (just saying, Machado and Harper were available for a looooong time) have left Mets fans wondering what could’ve been. 

So far this season, this belief that the Mets made decent, but probably not enough, moves has played out worse than expected. For example:

• Robinson Cano:It was always going to be a risk with the 36 year old. The suspicion that his past success had something to do with his PED suspension last year was somewhat allayed after he came back and hit well when it was over. But he’s a year older, and the numbers aren’t looking good, with a .245 BA and only three home runs. One other number that doesn’t look good: over $20 million a year for the next four years. 
• Jed Lowrie: Their big free agent signing was injured at the start of Spring Training, and then re-injured himself two weeks ago during a rehab start in AAA. Another risky signing, as Lowrie is 35, but as the Mets so often do, it was much more cost-effective than guaranteeing a younger star more money over more years.
• Wilson Ramos: Another former All-Star, Ramos’ signing fits the Mets pattern perfectly. After a half-hearted pursuit of Marlins J.T. Realmuto, the Mets signed the 31 year-old Ramos to a low-risk two year contract hoping he can avoid injuries and platoon with whatever other catcher the Mets plan to use. (Thanks for the memories Travis d’Arnaud.) You know it’s not a great fit when one of your star pitchers (deGrom) states that he’s rather pitch to the other guy.

But let’s stop acting like such Mets fans and look on the bright side, shall we? The team is around .500, so something’s gone right, hasn’t it? And it’s only a third of the way through the season! Some highlights so far:

• Really Good Young Guys:
  • Jeff McNeil is third in the NL in hitting at .333. 
  • Pete Alonso is third in the NL in home runs and sixth in RBIs.
  • Michael Conforto is sixth in the NL in OBP.
  • If Amed Rosario can cut down on his fielding mistakes (10 errors already in 2019), he’s a solid batter, hitting .262 with 6 HRs and 29 RBIs.
  • Zach Wheeler is sixth in the NL in strikeouts.
• Edwin Diaz: Forget the two blown saves (especially that 4 run debacle Wednesday against the Dodgers.) Diaz has done exactly what’s been expected, with 13 saves and providing a sense of stability where once there was none.
• Yoenis Cespedes: OK, not a highlight, but still, what the heck is up with that injury?

The opportunity is there. The Braves aren’t playing as well as everyone thought, and the Nationals bullpen has destroyed their chances on competing so far. The Phillies are good but not great, and the Mets are only 5.5 games back of them. So what has to happen to turn this beast around? Two words: deGrom and Syndergaard.

With career ERAs of 2.74 and 3.18, and now paired with a reliable closer, this was supposed to be the year the powerful tandem broke out and battled each other to be not just the best pitcher on the team, but in the league. 

Unfortunately, the highlight so far has been amazing first start from deGrom, when he went 9 innings for a 2-0 Opening Day win over the Nationals. Syndergaard has shown flashes of his old self recently, with longer outings (including a complete game shutout of the Reds at the beginning of May.) But both have been inconsistent and at times right-out bad. 

If the two studs can get it together, and combine with Wheeler, Matz and Vargas for a dangerous group of starters, the pitching can become as dominant as it should be. Add in a return to form from Cano (the good form, not the one who doesn’t run out of the batters box), as well as the introduction of a healthy Lowrie to the mix, and, hey, things are looking good.

How good? 

At +650 to win the NL East, and +1400 to win the NL, it could be very good indeed.

Then again, they’re the Mets, and odds are better that it all turns into a dumpster fire.