When Steve Cohen purchased the Mets two years ago, he spoke about winning a championship in five years. This was the goal he set for long-suffering Mets fans like himself.
Two years removed from acquiring ownership, he’s had a losing season and a winning season that included a playoff berth, which the Mets lost to the San Diego Padres in three games after the team blew a 10 ½ game lead in the NL East that had them playing in the Wild-Card round. He still has three years to go.
Cohen increased the Mets’ viability in the Tri-State area with his willingness to spend and to create a culture to build a winning team. He hired a competent manager in Buck Showalter to complete the task, and he spent money on players such as Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, David Robertson, Jose Quintana, Kodai Senga and Francisco Lindor (the Mets acquired the Indians shortstop and signed him to a 10-year extension worth $341 million). The Mets payroll is $382 million and spent $364 million this offseason to improve from last year.
Here’s the question: Is this team any different from last year?
Right now, the answer has to be no. The Mets have many question marks and there are better teams in the NL East. One would be the Atlanta Braves. Shoot, they may not be any better than the Philadelphia Phillies. There’s no guarantee they are a Wild-Card team with so many good teams they have to compete with to get one of the two wild cards.
The Mets have questions to answer with their starting rotation, their bullpen and their lineup.
The average age of the starting rotation is 35.6. Verlander is 40 years old and Scherzer is 38 years old. Can the starting rotation hold up for a long season? This remains to be seen.
Remember Scherzer was twice placed on the injured list last year with oblique strains, and who knows if he was really healthy after he gave up nine hits, two home runs and four runs over 5 ⅔ innings in his final regular-season start against the Braves and four home runs in the Mets’ 7-1 loss to the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of the Wild-Card series. The 36-year-old Carlos Carrasco missed time with left-side tightness. Already, Quintana is out for three months after suffering a stress fracture in the fifth rib on his left side.
There is a reason why Showalter may use a six-man rotation at times throughout the 2023 season. He needs to make sure his starters stay healthy and productive for the postseason. In other words, get ready for load management for Scherzer and Verlander.
The bullpen should be good, but remember bullpens tend to fluctuate year in and year out. It could be good one year and awful another year. As good as the bullpen looked last season, it could go the other way this year. There’s no guarantee Adam Ottavino will be great this season, especially if he is going to handle more of a load as a setup guy.
Robertson should be efficient enough to close since he saved 20 games last season from his time with the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. He pitched in this market before as a Yankee. He has pitched for 14 years in the majors. He can make a seamless transition from a setup guy to a closer after the Mets lost Edwin Diaz for the season from tearing his right patellar tendon during a World Baseball Classic celebration after a save.
But again the bridge to Robertson may not be easy. There are many questions to be answered by guys like Drew Smith, Brooks Raley, Elieser Hernandez, Stephen Nogosek and Stephen Ridings, among others.
The relievers will be valued more than ever this year because it’s hard to believe the starters are going deep in games, as Showalter is trying to keep this starting rotation healthy all season.
Then, there’s the lineup. The Mets have some reliable hitters in Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso and Lindor. Then, there is a drop-off after them. In other words, pitchers can pitch around this lineup. It does not elicit fear in pitchers on the mound like the Braves, Padres and Phillies lineups do.
The lineup struggled to get a big hit down the stretch against the Braves and in the playoff series against the Padres last year. It was the Mets’ downfall during their collapse.
There was a reason Cohen wanted to get Carlos Correa. He knew the Mets needed another bopper to protect Alonso, but he and the Mets front office got scared off by Correa’s physical concerning a surgically repaired lower right leg, so they decided to void their deal with the Twins shortstop.
The Mets do not have a player that can fill the designated hitter role. A great team always has a productive player in that role. This is a problem for this team. Sorry, but Daniel Vogelbach, Darin Ruf and Tommy Pham are not the solutions as designated hitters. Vogelbach and Pham are nice hitters that can be good utility players, while Ruf is coming off a spring training where he only .167.
It’s mind-boggling why the Mets decided to send Mark Vientos down to Triple-A Syracuse. He would have been an upgrade as a designated hitter compared to the current players filling that role.
Brett Baty being sent down makes since since he needs to play every day at third. It would be counterproductive for him to play in the majors without a position while Eduardo Escobar is manning the hot corner. Baty needs to work on playing third base, so he needs to get reps every day, which is why playing at Syracuse benefits him more than being a bench player with the Mets at his stage.
Besides, Baty will likely be called up this summer and the Mets can relegate Escobar to the bench. But Vientos has done enough in the minors to show he can play in the majors. He had a good spring training, producing a .278/.310/.481 slash line with two homers and 11 RBIs this spring. How can he be any worse than Vogelbach and Ruf?
There’s no reason for Ruf to be on the roster. Once he has lost the fanbase, there was no getting them back again. Ask any Mets players who failed.
Can things go right? Sure. That’s the beauty of a 162-game season. Everything will be answered. Maybe the Mets get the right answers from Baty and Vientos to make the lineup diversified and better. Maybe the starting rotation does hold up or maybe Tylor Megill or David Peterson steps up and is a valuable starter this season.
It would be nice if the Mets were a sure thing like the Braves and Phillies. Right now, they are not.
Too many questions should make anyone hesitant to buy stock in the Mets at this time.
You can read Leslie's Jersey Sporting News columns on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
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