TdA goes down and Backman fixes his approach at the plate. Flores goes down and Backman fixes his approach at the plate.
The Mets actually have the opportunity to vie for a WC spot this year. I still think we are 2 big moves away from this happening, but we are close.
1 - A powerful left field bat. We need another Granderson. A guy who is a power hitter in the lineup who will mash up on pitchers in the middle of the order. Duda would be an ideal 6 hitter. At 4, he grounds into FAR too many momentum killing double plays. But at 6? He provides a legitimate power threat. Focus on finding a powerful LF. Chris Young completely shot himself in the foot playing as poorly as he did.
2 - Trade Colon. Get a good prospect in return. Trading him frees up 11 million to spend next year, to go along with the 7 that CY opens up. I think we also have like another 20 million to spend, as Bay's buyout was deferred to this year. Part of that goes to giving Murphy an extension. The rest goes for (perhaps) a SS, a powerful LF, and 1 veteran bullpen guy who can stabilize a pen and not be a reclamation project.
FWIW, I think we may already have our SS solution in AAA. Matt Reynolds. He changed his batting approach this year. He tried to be a power slugger, now focuses on getting on base and average. He's batting .350 in AAA. That means I think that the Mets can save their money on that position while finding a better solution at SS. (Also Ruben has been playing very adequately as of late... something to monitor).
The big problem I see is our LF. Conforto is still about 2 years away, if he even develops. Nimmo is about 2 years away, if he continues to progress. Syndergaard is listed as Baseball Prospectus' #9 prospect in their mid-season top 50. He is #18 in Baseball America's mid-season top 50. Keith Law says that Confronto is a better prospect... That's exciting. But we should, hypothetically, be ready to compete next year.
Harvey, Wheeler, Niese, Gee, deGrom... Then you have Syndergaard in the wings. What about Steven Matz who this organization is as high on as i've ever seen (possibly higher than Syndergaard himself). Montero, who was a pre-season top 100 prospect... Jeremy Heffner who had finally figured it out before he had to get Tommy John?
This team is loaded in its rotation. I'd even guess that we go to a 6 man rotation around June, so that Harvey can pitch into September and maybe October if we get that far. Meaning Syndergaard will get his cup of coffee.
And then the young pen. Mejia, Familia, Parnell, Torres, Edjin. Parnell will struggle early, but I struggle to believe that he won't be able to return to his old form. The year off will allow his neck to heal from the surgery before the TJ. I predict he has several blown game opportunities in the beginning of the season and comes back to pitch formidably around May.
Finally the batting, which again as I'm stressing, desperately needs a LF. Conforto, or not, they need one soon. I don't know if Carlos Gonzalez would be my guy, he seems to be a product of his field... but there needs to be someone.
I'd love to get a prospect like Joc Pederson in here, but by all accounts he seems nearly unmovable. Don't know who else would be available. None of the OF free agents fit that requirement. Markakis and Rios are the best 2 available and neither are power hitting outfielders.
Alderson needs to find a solution. Hell, I'd ship Colon out for the best available prospect and package that guy w/ two more of our own to get a legit OF. We need someone.
