Ike Davis, Ruben Tejada Ruin Mets
It is widely known that several years ago Sandy Alderson’s circled 2014 on his extended calendar as the year he would bring the Mets back into contention. His thinking had some merit; after all, the bad contracts would be gone. He just did not count on Ike Davis and Ruden Tejada. Actually, he did count on them, and that is now a huge problem.
You could just imagine Alderson’s thought process — most of the young pitching would be ready, the infield would be set, I’ll just have to get a couple of outfielders and a couple of bullpen arms and we’ll be good to go.
It made sense then, but now half of that Mets infield that was supposed to be a certainty is anything but. Because Davis and Tejada have faltered, Alderson has to spend precious time and money to replace Tejada and probably trade Davis. At the same time, he has to hope and pray that Lucas Duda can somehow turn his career around and live up to his early potential as Davis’s replacement.
Alderson was basically working without a net, hoping that the infield of Davis, Daniel Murphy, Tejada and David Wright would stay strong so he could concentrate on other areas of the team. But that did not happen, and now Alderson does not have enough money to fill all of the holes on the team. That does not even include replacing Matt Harvey. His injury was not in the plan, either.
So instead of having a complete ballclub, the 2014 Mets will once again be a team with glaring weaknesses. I predict that Alderson will get a shortstop and one outfielder, leaving the team to scramble at one outfield position and with a very questionable player at first base.
It was not supposed to be this way. And it is all the fault of Ike Davis and Ruden Tejada.
Mark – I know I’ve mentioned this in other posts but I think the Mets best bet is to trade for a masher at first. Mark Trumbo immediately comes to mind. He has a decent glove – looks like Keith Hernandez compared to Lucas Duda – and will hit 30 homers and drive in 90. He does strikeout a lot but he is GOOD for 30 and 90.
The main goal is to provide some protection for David Wright and lengthen the batting order. That being said, I would be okay with them entering the season with Young in LF and Lagares in RF and then some sort of platoon in RF or grab someone off the cheap during spring trainning. (Those guys will win games with their gloves and Lagares has huge upside.)
The Mets need to design a team around their home ballpark CitiField. Pitching and Defense! I agree with your last post regarding Jhonny Peralta. I’d rather see them strong up the middle and would opt for a defensive SS, whom they could bring up from their system. Next year 2015 will have numerous SS on the free agent market. I think the Mets should wait.
BUT!!! And this is a HUGE BUT!!! What would/do the Angels want in return for Trumbo? And this is why Hot Stove is fun for fans…..
I also like Trumbo — he’s a 30 home run guy, and that’s exactly what the Mets need. The Angels need established pitching, so Trumbo would at least cost Niese or Gee. I think the Mets would have to consider such a deal.