Polls Closed: How to Rebuild Mets
So you may have noticed I’ve been running polls, which one loyal reader called “stupid,” over the past few weeks about who you think the Mets should trade. Well, the polling is done so now it is time to render a verdict.
You are overwhelmingly against trading Ike Davis, Jonathon Niese and R.A. Dickey. You are split on Daniel Murphy and want to show Lucas Duda the door.
I agree with most of you. Trading Davis would just be asinine — who else on the team can hit 30+ home runs? Duda? There is no guarantee there. Duda has shown time and time again that he is not an outfielder. He needs to play first base, and since that won’t happen in Flushing, he needs to go.
Even though the Mets have strength in young starting pitching, dealing Niese makes no sense. Unlike the other young pitchers, Niese has proven that he can succeed at the big league level. You can’t give that up.
However, I think the Mets should trade Murphy. His best position is first or third base, and he is blocked at both of those positions with the Mets. He made strides at second this season, but he is just not a second baseman. Murphy can hit and has value that could bring promising players in return.
Now to Dickey — as hard as it is to write, I would trade him. I don’t like the idea of committing big dollars to players over 35 years old, even if they are knuckleballers who can allegedly pitch forever. I think Dickey can bring back at least two major league-ready players from a team which thinks it is one pitcher away from a championship.
The Mat Latos deal is one the Mets should emulate. The Reds sent a solid major league pitcher (Edinson Volquez), two very promising prospects who contributed this season and look like the real deal (Yonder Alonso and Yasmani Grandal) and another player to the Padres. The trade worked for both teams — Latos helped lead the Reds to the NL Central crown and the Padres filled several holes with quality players.
The Mets won’t get the same haul because Dickey is nearly 38 and Latos is 24, but they can still get a couple of good players.
Dealing from strength, I would also trade either Jenrry Mejia or Jeurys Familia. There really is not room on the Mets for all of their young starters, so why not trade one of them to improve the rest of the team? I would also consider trading Bobby Parnell in the right deal.
I think if the Mets trade Dickey, Murphy, Duda and one of the pitchers, they will be able to get two corner outfielders, a catcher and at least a couple of relievers, solving multiple problems on the team. Jordany Valdespin takes over at second and Kirk Nieuwenhuis roams center field. There will be growing pains with both of them, but they both showed that that they have plenty of pop in their bats and can play the field.
As far as the starting rotation, it should be Johan Santana, Niese, Matt Harvey, Dillion Gee and Zack Wheeler. The Mets seem inclined to start Wheeler in Triple-A, but if he pitches well in spring training he should make the team. I’d like to see the Mets get one of two more starters just to add depth in the likely event that one or more of the starters falters or gets injured.
The bullpen needs help, as always. Unlike last off season, the Mets do have some young arms who look promising (Josh Edgin, Robert Carson), but a couple of veterans should be added to round out the pen.
So overall, the Mets need help in virtually every area. They might have to give up some fan favorites in order to make the team better. Standing pat the last couple of years didn’t work — it’s time to make some bold moves.
overall i agree the mets need to improve in basically every area, and some of the trades are very plausible. i think if the mets found a good catcher, a couple bullpen arms, and an outfielder, then filled the couple remaining holes next offseason with all the money coming off the books, then they truly are set up to contend in 2014. i’m still looking to see if they can improve on their first half this year throughout all of next year, especially if ike has a more consistent season. just imagine where the mets could have been had ike started as well as he finished, and the mets finished as well as they had started. the team’s slowly coming together and there will obviously be some disappointment now, but i think we’re watching a good mets team starting to come together.
also, i think the polls being described as stupid were more because there wasn’t too much else being posted with them, although there isn’t too much going on in mets world now anyway
I don’t see them breaking camp with Wheeler no matter how well he pitches. Has to do with arbitration rules. I’m not sure exactly what the rules are but I think it has to do with when a player breaks into the majors. If a player comes out later in the season, the franchise can put off his arbitration eligibility by a year. Thus the financially strapped Mets can put off paying the extra cash to a young player by a year, which will allow them to still make their Bobby Bonillia and Bret Saberhagen payments.
I called the polls “stupid” because I’m so sick of listening to uninformed fans usher up ridiculous trade scenarios on talk radio that this just seemed more of the same. However, you explained your reasons and I see where you’re coming from. (Does that qualify as an apology?)
I don’t think the Mets are going anywhere until they start pouring money into their scouting operations, etc.. BUffalo couldn’t wait to dump them and move on to a more stable franchise. Might be a good topic to look into???
No need to apologize, JJ. You’re allowed to think some of the stuff that I do is stupid. My girlfriend thinks everything I do is stupid and she never apologizes!
This blog is a great find on my part. Met fans talking Mets in the off season. I’m sure the Mets want to show growth as a team in 2013 but isn’t 2014 the year the Mets really believe that they’ll be contenders? They get rid of a lot of money on the books next off season. (Santana, Bay). The teams young palyers will further develope and some real money should be available to hit the free agent market or trade market with. Den Deker was lousy in Buffalo but he was a stick in Binghamton. They have quite a few prospects to build with. I know I’m rambling but I’m pumped reading this stuff. Finally, I live in cental New York and am familiar with Buffalo and Binghamton. I was bummed that the Mets got tossed from Buffalo but the Blue Jays match was inevitable. Plus, the Blue Jays were in Syracuse for years and that is the most boring organization in sports. Two years the Mets minor league team will be very good and they’ll come home to Rochester. Buffalo good luck but if they had stuck with the Mets they would have seen some real talent over the next few years.