The Boston Red Sox finished off the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6
Wednesday night to take the 2013 World Series crown. In doing so, the
once-cursed team won their third title in ten seasons, or one more than
the Mets have won in 52 seasons.
What will the Mets have to do to win that coveted third championship?
That’s something Sandy Alderson and his Merry Men will have to address
during the Hot Stove season, which is now officially underway. It
should be the most important offseason the Mets
have had in nearly a decade.
The Mets need help. Okay, let’s be honest. They need lots of help.
They need as much help as
Jaime Escalante’s students needed to master
“cal-cool-us”.
First base? According to Little Jeffy Wilpon,
the Mets have a glut at first base. Not a glut of talent at first base. Just a glut. I guess
the next time Webster’s dictionary is updated, the word glut will be
defined as “a hybrid of
Lucas Duda and Ike Davis” or “the roadblock that prevents a team from
pursuing a highly coveted Cuban talent”.
Second base? Well, that’s Daniel Murphy’s position for the time being.
But now there is talk about moving Gold Glove finalist Eric Young, Jr.
to second base. For the record, Young was considered for a Gold Glove
for his defensive excellence
in left field, not second base.
Shortstop? Will Ruben Tejada ever get another shot to be a starter
there? Probably not. The Mets will have to consider trading for a
shortstop that can play the position effectively on a daily basis.
Otherwise, we might see Justin Turner
more than we should there. For all I care, the Mets can trade him to
the World Champion Red Sox. His beard would fit right in.
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Sorry, Justin. Mike Napoli is not impressed.
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Third base? The Captain. Let’s move on.
Left field? If Eric Young doesn’t move to second base (he better not),
he’ll probably stay in left to entertain the drunken Party City
dwellers. But he might be better served as a fourth outfielder, a la
Endy Chavez. The Mets need to
add some pop to the lineup, and left field is one of the positions that
could use some. Lucas Duda need not apply.
Center field? That belongs to the smooth-as-silk Juan Lagares. Lagares
proved he can handle the position, making superb catch after super
catch and showing off his strong, accurate arm every time an opposing
player was foolish enough
to test him. You know who else was foolish? The people who made
Andrew McCutchen and Denard Span finalists for the Gold Glove in center
field over Lagares.
Right field? Give me Choo or give me someone who’s better than whomever
the Mets trotted out there last year after Byrd became the word in
Pittsburgh. Obviously, acquiring Shin-soo Choo would prove the Mets are indeed down with OBP, as
his .423 on-base percentage
was second in the league to teammate Joey Votto. Choo also posted his third career 20/20 season, hitting 21 homers and stealing 20
bases. If Eric Young, Jr. loses playing time, the Mets will have to
find steals from someone other than the National
League stolen base king. Byrd was the word in 2013. Choo should do in
2014.
Catcher? Like it or not, the position belongs to Travis d’Arnaud.
He’ll have to perform better if he wants to be known for something other
than being the Met with a large P on his back. To back up d’Arnaud,
the Mets should probably bring
in a veteran player. But if they don’t, Anthony Recker isn’t a
terrible option.
Starting pitchers? Zack Wheeler, Jonathon Niese and Dillon Gee form the
top three. The bottom two is where the Mets will have to be creative.
Although Rafael Montero has already made 16 starts at the Triple-A
level, he will probably
not get called up until June at the earliest. And Noah Syndergaard has
yet to face Triple-A hitters, so don’t expect to see him at Citi Field
before the All-Star Break. With Jenrry Mejia coming off an injury, as well as
Jeremy Hefner and that Harvey guy recovering
from major surgery, the Mets will need at least one and perhaps two
veteran stopgaps in the rotation. Aaron Harang did okay in his
late-season tryout and so did Daisuke Matsuzaka. If I had Wilpon blood
running through my veins, I’d bring back Dice-K. After
all, how would the Mets ever sell their glut (there’s that word again)
of Matsuzaka T-shirts that are left in the team store?
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| Dice-K's shirt is almost outselling the Sandy Koufax Brooklyn Dodgers jersey in the Mets Team Store. |
Relief pitchers? Bobby Parnell, LaTroy Hawkins and Scott Rice should
stay. Scott Atchison could also stay unless the
Senior League reforms
and takes him as their No. 1 overall pick. Everyone else can fade away
or join the Phillies, like
every other former Met eventually does, except for Frank Francisco.
He’ll be taking advantage of his soon-to-be unemployment by petitioning
the Olympic committee to add
chair tossing as a medal event.
Bench? The Mets need a well-balanced bench. It can’t be full of .260
hitters with little power and no speed. (The fact that Justin Turner has hit exactly .260 in his career with little power and no speed should be viewed as a
coincidence. It does not
reflect my personal distaste for the pie-chucker. Supposedly.) The
non-starters should be split evenly between left-handed and right-handed
hitters, with at least one speedster that can be brought in to
pinch-run, one power bat, one contact bat, one utility
player and one late-inning defensive replacement. If a player can
combine two of those talents, the Mets will have a better chance to
compete when they eventually play another 20-inning game.
With Matt Harvey out for the 2014 campaign and many positions still up
for grabs, the Mets enter the hot stove season with many pieces needed
to complete what should be an interesting puzzle. If
Papa Smirk and
Little Jeffy aren’t willing
to keep their promise of spending money this offseason, the only thing
Mets fans will have to look forward to in 2014 is not having to subject
themselves to Tim McCarver’s analysis (he put the
“anal” in analysis)
during Saturday FOX telecasts. As much as
a Timmy-less Saturday pleases a plethora of Mets fans, we’d like a
little more than that to make us not want to jump off the Shea Bridge in
a Lime-A-Rita-fueled stupor. Besides, we won’t have Frank Francisco to
break our fall this year.
Let’s get cracking, Sandy! Put some logs in the hot stove and see if
you can fire up the fan base. End this five-year fizzle by making Citi
Field sizzle. The Red Sox shouldn’t have to have all the fun in
October.
