Atlanta Braves rival check: how the Mets have done this off-season

The third of four posts to assess where the Braves’ NL East rivals are at this point of the off-season, this one being dedicated to the Metropolitans.

In Chipper Jones‘ heyday, the Atlanta Braves owned the New York Mets. Even GM-turned-radio-broadcaster Steve Phillips suggested on-air recently about how humiliating it was that Chipper named one of his sons after his stadium.

This last decade or two was supposed to be a renaissance of sorts for the “other” New York city franchise, a rebound based on the strength of pitching. There were glimmers of hope, but that promise has largely failed.

In 2006, the Mets won the NL East at 97-65, losing in the seventh game of the NLCS., but bounced in the 2nd-4th range in the division for the next several years.

In 2015, they overachieved (my belief) and reached the World Series after winning the division again. Pitching indeed led the way.

In 2016, the Mets were a Wild Card team and the first signs of a pitching breakdown emerged with only 2 starters able to muster 150 innings. In 2017, the wheels simply fell off as only Jacob deGrom surpassed 120 innings.

Noah Syndergaard managed only 30. Matt Harvey threw 93, and was faring poorly when he did throw (6.70 ERA).

Meanwhile, the rest of their roster was either bad or hurt or sometimes both, leading to a club that mostly mailed in the second half of the season. David Wright is chronically hurt. Michael Conforto nearly destroyed a shoulder during a swing. Yoenis Cespedes could keep his legs going.

After game 80 in 2017, the Mets were just 4 games under .500 (38-42). They were 5 under (45-50)after July 22nd. They finished up 22 games under at 70-92, punctuated by an 11-0 loss on October 1st.

Oh, and the Amazin’s have a new manager: Mickey Callaway – the former pitching coach of the Indians. Good luck Mickey… you’re gonna need it.

Looking forward and downward

The current problem with the Mets is twofold:

injuries
lack of spending to add key players or depth

It seems that the Bernie Madoff scam has spooked owner Fred Wilpon. He spends what he has to, but after losing a significant part of his fortune thanks to Bernie Madoff – whether directly or indirectly – he has withheld a lor of necessary spending on the team.

While Wilpon’s net worth still is said to stand at $500 million (2012 figures), that’s not all cash, as his wealth is based in real estate. Thus he likely stands as one of the least liquid of the owners in major league baseball.

In the years since that scandal broke, the Mets’ spending has been reduced, though has risen again in recent years (COTS figures):

2009 $149.4 million
2010 $126.5 million
2011 $142.8 million
2012 $94.5 million
2013 $93.7 million
2014 $85.0 million
2015 $101.3 million
2016 $135.1 million
2017 $154.4 million

Based on COTS estimates, the Mets are currently looking at an opening day payroll of $125.4 million for 2018.

Here’s the rub: they have several gaping holes to fill and only $10 million to use in filling those holes. Bullpen, second base (or third base), starting pitcher, a “real” center fielder, first base, catcher.

Good luck with that.

So with that as the backdrop… here’s what they’ve already done this off-season. It will be short:

New York Mets

SIGNINGS:

RHP Anthony Swarak; 2 years, $14 million.
C Jose Lobaton (minor league deal; Spring invite)

TRADES:

RHP Burch Smith to KC Royals for Future Considerations (after claiming his the same day from the Durham Bulls via Rule 5 draft)

DEPARTURES:

OF Jay Bruce (in-season trade)
LHP Tommy Milone
OF Norichika Aoki (released)
SS Jose Reyes

OTHER:

While they need a “real” center fielder, Juan Lagares is on the trading block. Except that he’s not seen as an everyday player. And he’s still on a contract that owes him $15.5 million. And the Mets don’t really wish to buy that down to get rid of him.
Bartolo Colon has expressed interest in rejoining the Mets. The reaction has been tepid at best.
Adrian Gonzalez has been of interest to the Mets since he’d be a major league minimum deal.
OF Michael Conforto is already doubtful for opening day.

BOTTOM LINE

“There’s still a lot of work to do… and money won’t be enough to solve their problems.” I said the exact same thing for Philadelphia, but the difference here is that the Mets truly won’t use money to even try and solve their problems.

What’s more, they can’t use their farm system either, with exactly zero Top 100 talents available to tap into for trades. (Of note: BaseballAmerica counts Amed Rosario as #4 overall and 1B Dominic Smith as 50th; technically neither counts as a prospect any longer, and Smith struggled mightily in the majors).

Next: The Pest Report

I don’t see a lot of hope for the Mets – except that they’re playing in the NL East. But with all of these holes, it’s hard to pick New York better than 4th in 2018.

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