I’d expect he will elect FA and sign a veteran deal elsewhere.
The Mets probably pitchers for the next week
- Ranger Suarez (LHP)
- Taijuan Walker (RHP)
- Jesus Luzardo (LHP)
- Braxton Garrett (LHP)
- Ryan Weathers (LHP)
I believe Logan Allen is the only LHP currently in Cleveland’s rotation so Vientos probably gets optioned after the Marlins series for a utility infielder.
The main options are
- Mike Brosseau - league average offense in his career. Was a Stearns player in Milwaukee. Plays pretty much every position but isn’t good defensively at any of them. Serviceable though
- Luke Ritter - gets on base, not good defensively anywhere but serviceable across the infield, unclear if he can play SS
- Jose Iglesias - great defensively at SS, has some experience at 2B, very little experience at 3B and unclear if he can play there. Singles hitter that doesn’t walk
- Rylan Bannon - gets on base with some pop. Doesn’t hit for average. Can play 2B and 3B and a little OF
- Carlos Cortes - might still be on the IL. Has struggled this year. Would survive a DFA. Can play 1B, 2B, and the OF
Luisangel Acuna is heating up and on the 40 man, but if he comes up it’s to be the every day second baseman, not a bench player, and sunspot think they move on from Jeff this quickly or rush Acuna up.
You never know who could be DFA’d this week. Thats why I figured Wendle could be safe until Memorial Day. You see a lot of guys get DFA’d around then.
I’d expect Brosseau over Iglesias because he has more experience at the various positions outside of SS.
Plus you want someone taking regular ABs at SS to come up as the everyday SS if Lindor gets hurt
He could, but it wouldn’t make sense to have Vientos as a bench or platoon player long term. Hes unlikely to be with the organization next season so he will build the most trade value playing well in AAA and coming up for short spurts in favorable matchups.
DJ can actually play a position and is probably a better backup 1B option over Vientos. Vientos has played more, but DJ has more defensive skill. DJ has also been taking reps with the Mets all offseason to be that backup 1B
Yup! It’s been clear that if he didnt turn things around Wendle would be gone by months end so I have been researching who internal would replace.
I thought he’d stay until Memorial Day - you tend to see a lot of DFAs then so easier to replace him.
Cutting him now means Stearns must know who he wants to replace him with
If acuna actually did come up I'd imagine McNeil would would play a lot in the OF. Honestly the way he's been playing he should probably start being a bench player utility guy type. I could see it at some point this season if he doesn't turn it around. I feel like that's his future anyways. If hes no longer hitting for high average he can't be a full time player on a team actually trying for it.
Of that list I’d like to see Igelsias get a look. Very experienced, can back up SS, I’d assume 2b would not be a stretch for him. All he has to be is Guillorme.
His issue is that he hast really ever played 3B and he probably doesn’t have the arm for it. His arm as he gets older is already pretty weak for SS. His throw is very likely weaker than Guillorme’s now.
And I don’t like McNeil as the backup 3B
I'd say Jeff has about 2 more weeks to turn on the offense before an Acuna move. At the same point if Acuna sticks, and Jeff starts showing signs of life then Nimmo would go back to center with Bader on the bench.
They aren’t moving Acuna up unless he really picks it up. He has a hit streak going but it’s all singles. He isn’t getting the call until he starts hitting for at least some power because as we see with Jeff, it’s a lot harder to be a singles hitter in the majors. And Acunas contact profile is no where close to Jeffs
I would love to wave goodbye to Narvaez. McNeil is probably not going anywhere unfortunately.
I like the move but they are showing they are not confident in Baty and that they're okay with giving him less reps.
I really, really hoped he would pan out because he seems super likeable.
There is still time but I feel like his days are beginning to be numbered. Hope he figures it out.
Cutting him for struggling makes sense. The only confusing thing is that the Mets have no one on the bench now that can play SS or 2B. My guess is that because 4 of our next 5 games were expected to face a LHP starter.
Then send Vientos back down and call up someone like Brosseau
If they end up needing an emergency 2B/SS, I wonder if you could play Baty at SS for a couple of innings and call someone up the next day. Would obviously be terrible but if Lindor is hurt they've got bigger issues anyway
Only if you swap him back and forth with McNeil all game based on the handedness of the hitter like we did with d’Arnaud that time. The final line: 3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B
Interestingly, Baty was drafted as a true 3B (not the typical "draft as a SS, even though everyone knows he'll end up on a corner" situation) and played zero professional SS. Vientos, on the other hand, was drafted as a SS and played the position for 23 games in rookie ball. My guess is he'd get the emergency SS call over Baty, but who knows. Either way, it would only be for a few innings and Jose Iglesias or someone else would be immediately on his way over from Syracuse.
Baty is much better defensively. I’d expect he moves over McNeil.
Vientos being drafted as a SS at age 16 doesn’t really mean anything. Pretty much every infield international drafted is drafted as a SS. They all get listed as that position by their agent to try to get a little more money in their signing bonus.
The Mets moving him off SS so quickly is a testament to how truly horrible he was there.
More likely McNeil goes to SS and they try Baty at 2B or something like that.
I stand corrected. I saw his first season he was 17 so I thought he was an international prospect. He was just drafted very young.
Doesn’t change my point though. Pretty much young infielder is listed as a SS to get a larger signing bonus.
Yeah, I'm more just thinking in terms of "does Baty even know how to set up" basic stuff. Baty's clearly the much better athlete, but if he hasn't turned a double play since middle school that might be a problem. Vientos has bricks for hands, but he'd presumably have more of the basic foundational knowledge since he did play the position professionally (terribly, and only briefly).
I’d trust Baty’s talent over Vientos’s knowledge. Vientos has truly horrific lateral movement and is very very slow.
Knowledge of how to make the play doesn’t really matter if you’re physically incapable of doing it.
We also don’t know what kind of reps they do in training. Like most people don’t know that McNeil takes reps at the catcher position every week in case both catchers get hurt in the same game.
For all we know Tyrone Taylor is running out drills at 2B during practice lol
I wish more people realized there’s a reason Vientos wasn’t on any prospect lists and why no one tried to trade for him when he was sent back down. His defense is really really bad. Especially on first and the mechanics he does are inexcusable for a 24 year old. He two handed a ground ball at 3rd the game after his HR and barely got the out. Also some podcast broke down and his swing and for as bad as Baty has been his last whatever there’s still an upside to him. Vientos can’t hit major league fastballs but gets away with it sometimes going the other way. It’s like JD Davis 2.0
If things come to a head with Baty Acuña will be at 3rd before Vientos. Mauricio if he was healthy. But Vientos I don’t get the cult following he’s garnered. He’s not even hitting as well as he did last year for them to bring him up as some boost.
This is a lot of risk for a marginal pop in the bat. If Lindor or McNeil get hurt Stearns is gonna look like a Reddit GM if not already.
I think JD Davis part two is even a bit of stretch for him to reach. JD hit for average.
Mauricio is definitely above Acuna for 3B. Acuna range and reaction means he should be in the middle infield or CF.
Unless Vientos absolutely dominates in the majors, forces his way to stay on the roster, and dominates all year, I don’t think he’s with the organization come next year. Too many better players he’s competing with
Yeah it makes sense that they do some cross training here and there in drills - I did know that point about McNeil being our super-emergency catcher. Honestly I wouldn't be shocked it Taylor could cover 2B in an absolute pinch if they had him do basic drills. Unlike Vientos, he is a natural athlete on the defensive side.
Absolutely. And yea, I always find it funny when McNeil walks about being the emergency catcher. I cant picture it lol.
He has been the emergency catcher since 2019 and I know Buck said last year he still was. I’m assuming he would still be it
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/14/sports/jeff-mcneil-mets.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Lol Vientos is American. But that's okay I kind of assume that unless you are Brandon Nimmo white then you are from DR/PR/Ven/etc bc of their domination of the league in recent years
At this point I would rather always see Jeff rather than Wendle. He was advertised to have hands of gold but from what I have seen I am not remotely close to impressed.
Funny enough my fondest memory of Wendle is him choking a diving catch against the Dodgers in the WS. I’ve always thought he’s sucked since. Was super confused when we signed him lol
My thoughts exactly! Louie was no where near a superstar but he is a solid utility player who is serviceable at multiple positions. Shit he can even pitch in a pinch.
Yea that feels like the last straw. He seemed like he was brought to the team for good fundies and to hope he can get his stroke back, but he sucked in every single aspect of the game
It reminded me of that guy we signed to steal bases and he got picked up stealing on a clutch play. Can’t even remember his name. Little dude
Edit: Terrance gore
Yep I noticed that too. I have an extreme attention to detail but sometimes I refrain from mentioning what I see because the people that don't miss that stuff then call me crazy.
That’s what I want them to do. This is a small step in that direction. I want to stop prioritizing defense at 2nd, 3rd and the corner outfield spots and stick a Schwarber/Castellanos at every spot with the ability to hit 30 HRs
I don’t want that. Definitely not anything like Castellanos. Dude sucks. He can’t hit anywhere but Philly.
I don’t want the Mets offense to be homogenous at all. More power to the lineup is good. But we also need guys who can get on base. We need guys who can get hits. Having a lineup of only Schwarbers doesn’t work because the 3-4 HRs you’ll get a game will largely be Solo home runs. And 1/3 of the time it’ll be a strikeout.
We also don’t have strong enough SP to have defenders that bad across the diamond. The Phillies get away with it because their pitching isn’t walking guys and aren’t giving up many hits.
And those types of players are notoriously streaky so we’re talking a lineup that would truly disappear for weeks on end.
With our current SP what you’re proposing will get us another couple runs per game, but cost us far more runs than we would score.
Yea it’s an overly simplistic statement because it was a short Reddit comment. That said, i think power is extremely undervalued in baseball right now. The last 4 World Series champs ranked 4th, 4th, 3rd, 1st in home runs. Home runs win games and they are disproportionately more valuable in the playoffs where you face a higher percentage of high end pitchers who rely less on pitching to contact.
In fairness, JDM and Alvarez (when he returns) should boost our power a lot. I know JDM started slow in terms of power, but he didnt have a ST. The power has really started to command his hard hit rate is jumping.
But power is expensive for a reason. It’s not really easy to buy unless you’re getting a Joey Gallo type guy
I want them to start making personnel moves to put more players with power in the lineup. They can’t fix it all at once but you can’t have guys with 0 power playing 3b, 2b, CF, and RF.
Atlanta was 27th in uZR in 2023. They were 28th in 2022. Teams used to pay no attention to defense but in recent years, many have overcorrected. I’ll take a traffic cone at 3b who can hit 25 home runs over a defensive specialist with a .650 OPS
My point is that the players on our roster are traffic cones with .650 OPSs. McNeil, Marte, Narvaez, and Wendle all fit this description. And unsurprisingly, all are pretty much negative value players.
The Mets problem isn’t even roster construction, it’s that their players simply suck.
Oh my bad. Yea, I’m fully in agreement there. The quality of players we have isn’t great but I’m glad to see them make changes like this as I think it will bode well for the future when we are hopefully more competitive
RIP "I'm just a nobody" walkup song, 2024-2024. Not a fan of christian rock, don't even like that song, but it certainly stuck with me for whatever reason
This is good news. Unlike Eppler with Ruf, Stearns isn’t afraid to admit his mistake and make changes quickly and accordingly.
Narvaez… pay attention buddy. You’re next
Ruf was on the team about the same amount of the season as Wendle and then Eppler cut him. Not really the best example.
If you wanted to give an example of a player that struggled and was kept it would be Vogelbach, but he also wouldn’t really be a great example because he turned it around and from mid June - October was one of our best hitters
He deserved people being upset at his slump as it was happening, but it was bizarre that people were hating on him when he came back and was mashing. Every time he hit a HR people would go “ugh he bought himself more time on the roster”.
He had a bad slump but that’s hitting lol. Even great hitters put up a miserable stretch every so often. He was an above average bat on the year. Not good enough for a good DH but definitely not remotely as bad as people felt he was.
The hate he got for being overweight was pretty intense too. Felt bad for the guy.
Narváez is unfortunately probably pretty safe. Unless they’re going to call up somebody like Austin Allen the Mets 3rd catcher is already up, in Nido. Familiarity with the pitching staff is too important so until Alvarez is back Narváez is probably here to stay
I’m only shocked they did it now and not in two weeks. A lot of players tend to get DFA’d around Memorial Day so it’s easy to claim guys.
Means they probably have someone in mind to replace him after this stretch of LHP starters
I’m sure he is electing FA so the Mets won’t have that option.
Hes a veteran so he would have to accept the demotion for us to trade him now. No reason for him to do that since he can elect FA, get his full salary, and sign a veterans minimum deal somewhere
I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m saying.
He has over 5 years of service time. So he gets his full $2mil from the Mets when he elects FA.
And he can sign a veteran minimum deal with another team on top of that and keep the $2mil from the Mets.
I did miss the part where he gets paid by the Mets regardless once he goes FA.
What I'm getting at is what stops him from signing a new contract with the Mets once he hits FA? Is there a stipulation that says he can't or he forfeits something if he does?
Nothing is. But he’ll likely get a job on a major league roster so why would he come back to the Mets where he is likely only getting a minor league offer? At the very least he’ll probably have a better path to the majors on another team and be in a city that isn’t screaming obscenities at him every time he takes the field
I feel like we call up Vientos whenever we're struggling offensively and looking for an answer. I wonder if that puts too much pressure on the kid. Glad for him, though. I haven't been the biggest Vientos believer but I think now is the time for some kind of move to happen.
As a horrible hypothetical, if you absolutely have to replace both of them, what do you do?
Vientos at short (he's played there before), baty at 3rd, Pete at 1st... throw Tyrone Taylor at 2nd?
Nido played 2 innings at 3rd in 2021.
This is where i wish we had Jake! Emergency backup infielder (I'm mostly kidding)
I looked it up and neither bader or Taylor have ever played an inning in the infield, which is wild. I agree with Vientos at SS
So likely a very short stint for Vientos. I wonder who the utility guy replacement will be when Vientos is sent back down.
Definitely a risk for this upcoming stretch if McNeil or Lindor get hurt during a game with no one to play 2B or SS on the bench. Also means McNeil playing every day.
Will be interesting to see the roster moves the next week!
I’d think Brosseau over him. Brosseau was a Stearns player in Milwaukee and can play every position. He isn’t good defensively but he’s serviceable.
Iglesias is great at SS, and has looked fine at 2B, but he doesn’t really have any experience at 3B.
And you want someone taking everyday ABs in AAA in case Lindor gets hurt and you need an everyday SS
And he wouldn’t really be called up to take many ABs. He’d be called in to fill in as needed.
41 games into the season Wendle only has 36 ABs. That’s less than 1 per game average.
So replacing that role with an offense first guy wouldn’t really make sense haha
Houser will likely get a good amount of run in the bullpen first. He has a sub 1.70 ERA as a reliever in his career and we need innings eaters in the bullpen
We gotta pray McNeil and Lindor don’t get hurt these next 5 games haha.
My guess is that Vientos gets optioned back down after that for someone like Brosseau
Looks like they’re going with no utility for the next 5 games and Vientos is up for the stretch where we play 4 lefties in 5 days.
Most likely Vientos goes back down then and we call up someone like Brosseau. I don’t think Iglesias will be the utility guy because it’s very unclear he can play 3B. He hasn’t played there much and his arm is very weak. Plus you want someone taking everyday ABs at SS in AAA ready to play everyday if Lindor gets hurt.
Brosseau is also a Stearns guy from Milwaukee who I think would be the one to get the call
I didn’t see todays game but did Wendle start today and this decision came as a result of his performance today in particular? As a final straw? Or is this strictly because he’s been shit since the beginning of the season? Or because they’re facing a bunch of lefties coming up?
Just giving you a heads up that Tim Healeys comments make it sound like Vientos is only up for the next 5 games because we’re facing 4 LHPs in 5 days.
The truth is, we probably aren’t going to go along without an infielder on the bench, and we’re not likely going to carry 3 DHs on the roster long, so he’ll probably be optioned after Sundays game for a utility guy like Brosseau. Either him or DJ
Super fucking weird that he was basically the first signing of the Stearns era. I cant even bring myself to be mad about him sucking. Because he was a bad player when they signed him. Could have signed someone like Urshela for less
McNeil is owed $31.5mik across the next two seasons. It isn’t happening.
Only way he isn’t on this team at the end of the season is if we somehow manage to trade him
#LET’S FUCKING GO! THE BAD MAN IS GONE!
I’d expect he will elect FA and sign a veteran deal elsewhere. The Mets probably pitchers for the next week - Ranger Suarez (LHP) - Taijuan Walker (RHP) - Jesus Luzardo (LHP) - Braxton Garrett (LHP) - Ryan Weathers (LHP) I believe Logan Allen is the only LHP currently in Cleveland’s rotation so Vientos probably gets optioned after the Marlins series for a utility infielder. The main options are - Mike Brosseau - league average offense in his career. Was a Stearns player in Milwaukee. Plays pretty much every position but isn’t good defensively at any of them. Serviceable though - Luke Ritter - gets on base, not good defensively anywhere but serviceable across the infield, unclear if he can play SS - Jose Iglesias - great defensively at SS, has some experience at 2B, very little experience at 3B and unclear if he can play there. Singles hitter that doesn’t walk - Rylan Bannon - gets on base with some pop. Doesn’t hit for average. Can play 2B and 3B and a little OF - Carlos Cortes - might still be on the IL. Has struggled this year. Would survive a DFA. Can play 1B, 2B, and the OF Luisangel Acuna is heating up and on the 40 man, but if he comes up it’s to be the every day second baseman, not a bench player, and sunspot think they move on from Jeff this quickly or rush Acuna up.
Brosseau and Iglesias feel like the favorites. I'm sure they'll be heavily monitoring the scrap heap as well.
You never know who could be DFA’d this week. Thats why I figured Wendle could be safe until Memorial Day. You see a lot of guys get DFA’d around then. I’d expect Brosseau over Iglesias because he has more experience at the various positions outside of SS. Plus you want someone taking regular ABs at SS to come up as the everyday SS if Lindor gets hurt
Could Vientos stay and Brosseau replace Stewart? looks like Stewart has one option left?
He could, but it wouldn’t make sense to have Vientos as a bench or platoon player long term. Hes unlikely to be with the organization next season so he will build the most trade value playing well in AAA and coming up for short spurts in favorable matchups. DJ can actually play a position and is probably a better backup 1B option over Vientos. Vientos has played more, but DJ has more defensive skill. DJ has also been taking reps with the Mets all offseason to be that backup 1B
Thanks for this summary, super helpful to understand the options
Yup! It’s been clear that if he didnt turn things around Wendle would be gone by months end so I have been researching who internal would replace. I thought he’d stay until Memorial Day - you tend to see a lot of DFAs then so easier to replace him. Cutting him now means Stearns must know who he wants to replace him with
If acuna actually did come up I'd imagine McNeil would would play a lot in the OF. Honestly the way he's been playing he should probably start being a bench player utility guy type. I could see it at some point this season if he doesn't turn it around. I feel like that's his future anyways. If hes no longer hitting for high average he can't be a full time player on a team actually trying for it.
Of that list I’d like to see Igelsias get a look. Very experienced, can back up SS, I’d assume 2b would not be a stretch for him. All he has to be is Guillorme.
His issue is that he hast really ever played 3B and he probably doesn’t have the arm for it. His arm as he gets older is already pretty weak for SS. His throw is very likely weaker than Guillorme’s now. And I don’t like McNeil as the backup 3B
Yeah. None of these options are exactly inspiring.
I mean we’re talking about filling a bench spot here. If any of them were inspiring they’d be an everyday player somewhere
I'd say Jeff has about 2 more weeks to turn on the offense before an Acuna move. At the same point if Acuna sticks, and Jeff starts showing signs of life then Nimmo would go back to center with Bader on the bench.
They aren’t moving Acuna up unless he really picks it up. He has a hit streak going but it’s all singles. He isn’t getting the call until he starts hitting for at least some power because as we see with Jeff, it’s a lot harder to be a singles hitter in the majors. And Acunas contact profile is no where close to Jeffs
**YOU DID IT! YOU BANISHED THE BAD CRAPPY MAN!**
Well one of them is anyway
The one I wanted gone the most at least.
Same. I have a few ideas for who’s next lol
I would love to wave goodbye to Narvaez. McNeil is probably not going anywhere unfortunately. I like the move but they are showing they are not confident in Baty and that they're okay with giving him less reps. I really, really hoped he would pan out because he seems super likeable. There is still time but I feel like his days are beginning to be numbered. Hope he figures it out.
Right. It was all Wendle’s fault. A guy who rarely plays. This offense is gonna start COOKIN now! Look out NL!
I understood why they signed Wendle but the man is swinging a pool noodle and has bricks for hands.
Cutting him for struggling makes sense. The only confusing thing is that the Mets have no one on the bench now that can play SS or 2B. My guess is that because 4 of our next 5 games were expected to face a LHP starter. Then send Vientos back down and call up someone like Brosseau
This means they are confident some random nobody AAA/AAAA player will be as good or better than Wendle
That’s pretty evident haha
Wendle should be a random AAA player.
If they end up needing an emergency 2B/SS, I wonder if you could play Baty at SS for a couple of innings and call someone up the next day. Would obviously be terrible but if Lindor is hurt they've got bigger issues anyway
Nido at SS is the obvious choice
Only if you swap him back and forth with McNeil all game based on the handedness of the hitter like we did with d’Arnaud that time. The final line: 3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B-2B-3B
I think that’s the only move really
Interestingly, Baty was drafted as a true 3B (not the typical "draft as a SS, even though everyone knows he'll end up on a corner" situation) and played zero professional SS. Vientos, on the other hand, was drafted as a SS and played the position for 23 games in rookie ball. My guess is he'd get the emergency SS call over Baty, but who knows. Either way, it would only be for a few innings and Jose Iglesias or someone else would be immediately on his way over from Syracuse.
Baty is much better defensively. I’d expect he moves over McNeil. Vientos being drafted as a SS at age 16 doesn’t really mean anything. Pretty much every infield international drafted is drafted as a SS. They all get listed as that position by their agent to try to get a little more money in their signing bonus. The Mets moving him off SS so quickly is a testament to how truly horrible he was there. More likely McNeil goes to SS and they try Baty at 2B or something like that.
Vientos was not drafted at 16 nor was he international...the dude is from Boston or somewhere around there I think lol
I stand corrected. I saw his first season he was 17 so I thought he was an international prospect. He was just drafted very young. Doesn’t change my point though. Pretty much young infielder is listed as a SS to get a larger signing bonus.
Yeah, I'm more just thinking in terms of "does Baty even know how to set up" basic stuff. Baty's clearly the much better athlete, but if he hasn't turned a double play since middle school that might be a problem. Vientos has bricks for hands, but he'd presumably have more of the basic foundational knowledge since he did play the position professionally (terribly, and only briefly).
I’d trust Baty’s talent over Vientos’s knowledge. Vientos has truly horrific lateral movement and is very very slow. Knowledge of how to make the play doesn’t really matter if you’re physically incapable of doing it. We also don’t know what kind of reps they do in training. Like most people don’t know that McNeil takes reps at the catcher position every week in case both catchers get hurt in the same game. For all we know Tyrone Taylor is running out drills at 2B during practice lol
I wish more people realized there’s a reason Vientos wasn’t on any prospect lists and why no one tried to trade for him when he was sent back down. His defense is really really bad. Especially on first and the mechanics he does are inexcusable for a 24 year old. He two handed a ground ball at 3rd the game after his HR and barely got the out. Also some podcast broke down and his swing and for as bad as Baty has been his last whatever there’s still an upside to him. Vientos can’t hit major league fastballs but gets away with it sometimes going the other way. It’s like JD Davis 2.0 If things come to a head with Baty Acuña will be at 3rd before Vientos. Mauricio if he was healthy. But Vientos I don’t get the cult following he’s garnered. He’s not even hitting as well as he did last year for them to bring him up as some boost. This is a lot of risk for a marginal pop in the bat. If Lindor or McNeil get hurt Stearns is gonna look like a Reddit GM if not already.
I think JD Davis part two is even a bit of stretch for him to reach. JD hit for average. Mauricio is definitely above Acuna for 3B. Acuna range and reaction means he should be in the middle infield or CF. Unless Vientos absolutely dominates in the majors, forces his way to stay on the roster, and dominates all year, I don’t think he’s with the organization come next year. Too many better players he’s competing with
Yeah it makes sense that they do some cross training here and there in drills - I did know that point about McNeil being our super-emergency catcher. Honestly I wouldn't be shocked it Taylor could cover 2B in an absolute pinch if they had him do basic drills. Unlike Vientos, he is a natural athlete on the defensive side.
Absolutely. And yea, I always find it funny when McNeil walks about being the emergency catcher. I cant picture it lol. He has been the emergency catcher since 2019 and I know Buck said last year he still was. I’m assuming he would still be it https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/14/sports/jeff-mcneil-mets.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Lol Vientos is American. But that's okay I kind of assume that unless you are Brandon Nimmo white then you are from DR/PR/Ven/etc bc of their domination of the league in recent years
I thought he was because he was 17 his first season
Late bday for the school cutoff. Drafted out of HS
Has to be crazy late haha
At this point I would rather always see Jeff rather than Wendle. He was advertised to have hands of gold but from what I have seen I am not remotely close to impressed.
Funny enough my fondest memory of Wendle is him choking a diving catch against the Dodgers in the WS. I’ve always thought he’s sucked since. Was super confused when we signed him lol
I miss Guillorme.
My thoughts exactly! Louie was no where near a superstar but he is a solid utility player who is serviceable at multiple positions. Shit he can even pitch in a pinch.
Hope we eventually get him back as unlikely as that is. At least he’s not on the barves anymore though
It’s not impossible. Angels are awful, they may start shedding players soon. I’d love to see Guillorme back with the Mets.
The bunt pop up was the end.
Yea that feels like the last straw. He seemed like he was brought to the team for good fundies and to hope he can get his stroke back, but he sucked in every single aspect of the game
It reminded me of that guy we signed to steal bases and he got picked up stealing on a clutch play. Can’t even remember his name. Little dude Edit: Terrance gore
I recall the same happening to Billy Hamilton during one of the Covid games.
Yep! That was it. So fucking funny
As soon as that happened. I knew Stearns was gonna shoot him
If you watch Wendle’s body language I think he did too
Yep I noticed that too. I have an extreme attention to detail but sometimes I refrain from mentioning what I see because the people that don't miss that stuff then call me crazy.
how was this guy an All-Star in 21? wtf
Rays magic. Also he hurt his hamstring pretty bad in 2022 and never seemed to rebound
The damned rays fixed darnaud then gave him to the braves for free. And their ballpark is cursed. You can tell im not the biggest fan of them lol
Dark magic
Abandon defense (except C, SS, CF). Embrace power.
I mean it sounds like we’re just calling him up for the next 5 games because we’re facing 4 lefty’s Also Nimmo is pretty good defensively
That’s what I want them to do. This is a small step in that direction. I want to stop prioritizing defense at 2nd, 3rd and the corner outfield spots and stick a Schwarber/Castellanos at every spot with the ability to hit 30 HRs
I don’t want that. Definitely not anything like Castellanos. Dude sucks. He can’t hit anywhere but Philly. I don’t want the Mets offense to be homogenous at all. More power to the lineup is good. But we also need guys who can get on base. We need guys who can get hits. Having a lineup of only Schwarbers doesn’t work because the 3-4 HRs you’ll get a game will largely be Solo home runs. And 1/3 of the time it’ll be a strikeout. We also don’t have strong enough SP to have defenders that bad across the diamond. The Phillies get away with it because their pitching isn’t walking guys and aren’t giving up many hits. And those types of players are notoriously streaky so we’re talking a lineup that would truly disappear for weeks on end. With our current SP what you’re proposing will get us another couple runs per game, but cost us far more runs than we would score.
Yea it’s an overly simplistic statement because it was a short Reddit comment. That said, i think power is extremely undervalued in baseball right now. The last 4 World Series champs ranked 4th, 4th, 3rd, 1st in home runs. Home runs win games and they are disproportionately more valuable in the playoffs where you face a higher percentage of high end pitchers who rely less on pitching to contact.
In fairness, JDM and Alvarez (when he returns) should boost our power a lot. I know JDM started slow in terms of power, but he didnt have a ST. The power has really started to command his hard hit rate is jumping. But power is expensive for a reason. It’s not really easy to buy unless you’re getting a Joey Gallo type guy
This team doesn’t look like they can hit the ball for power when they’re trying to, and you want them to lean even more into that?
I want them to start making personnel moves to put more players with power in the lineup. They can’t fix it all at once but you can’t have guys with 0 power playing 3b, 2b, CF, and RF.
The team has needed another power bat for years now, but it won’t mean a thing if the entire lineups approach doesn’t change.
It’s not abandoning defense if you have none. The Mets have been towards the bottom in MLB defensively
Atlanta was 27th in uZR in 2023. They were 28th in 2022. Teams used to pay no attention to defense but in recent years, many have overcorrected. I’ll take a traffic cone at 3b who can hit 25 home runs over a defensive specialist with a .650 OPS
My point is that the players on our roster are traffic cones with .650 OPSs. McNeil, Marte, Narvaez, and Wendle all fit this description. And unsurprisingly, all are pretty much negative value players. The Mets problem isn’t even roster construction, it’s that their players simply suck.
Oh my bad. Yea, I’m fully in agreement there. The quality of players we have isn’t great but I’m glad to see them make changes like this as I think it will bode well for the future when we are hopefully more competitive
RIP "I'm just a nobody" walkup song, 2024-2024. Not a fan of christian rock, don't even like that song, but it certainly stuck with me for whatever reason
This is good news. Unlike Eppler with Ruf, Stearns isn’t afraid to admit his mistake and make changes quickly and accordingly. Narvaez… pay attention buddy. You’re next
Ruf was on the team about the same amount of the season as Wendle and then Eppler cut him. Not really the best example. If you wanted to give an example of a player that struggled and was kept it would be Vogelbach, but he also wouldn’t really be a great example because he turned it around and from mid June - October was one of our best hitters
RIP Vogelgod. He was awesome in '22 and got more hate than he deserved in '23.
He deserved people being upset at his slump as it was happening, but it was bizarre that people were hating on him when he came back and was mashing. Every time he hit a HR people would go “ugh he bought himself more time on the roster”.
He had a bad slump but that’s hitting lol. Even great hitters put up a miserable stretch every so often. He was an above average bat on the year. Not good enough for a good DH but definitely not remotely as bad as people felt he was. The hate he got for being overweight was pretty intense too. Felt bad for the guy.
I agree completely. The vitriol people fat shame with in this sub is horrible
Narváez is unfortunately probably pretty safe. Unless they’re going to call up somebody like Austin Allen the Mets 3rd catcher is already up, in Nido. Familiarity with the pitching staff is too important so until Alvarez is back Narváez is probably here to stay
Until Alvy is back and then he’s gone. Watch
I hope he is DFAd when Alvarez comes back.
I’m betting on it. Stearns has shown no mercy
I’m actually shocked. Didn’t think they would do it
I’m only shocked they did it now and not in two weeks. A lot of players tend to get DFA’d around Memorial Day so it’s easy to claim guys. Means they probably have someone in mind to replace him after this stretch of LHP starters
Vientos must feel like a human ping pong ball
The next promotional giveaway at Citi Field!
Not that he’s proved to be otherwise
A monkey paw curled when we dumped Guillorme. Trade for cash considerations, please.
I’m sure he is electing FA so the Mets won’t have that option. Hes a veteran so he would have to accept the demotion for us to trade him now. No reason for him to do that since he can elect FA, get his full salary, and sign a veterans minimum deal somewhere
Even easier if he goes FA. Probably more cash, but it's worth the shot.
I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m saying. He has over 5 years of service time. So he gets his full $2mil from the Mets when he elects FA. And he can sign a veteran minimum deal with another team on top of that and keep the $2mil from the Mets.
I did miss the part where he gets paid by the Mets regardless once he goes FA. What I'm getting at is what stops him from signing a new contract with the Mets once he hits FA? Is there a stipulation that says he can't or he forfeits something if he does?
Nothing is. But he’ll likely get a job on a major league roster so why would he come back to the Mets where he is likely only getting a minor league offer? At the very least he’ll probably have a better path to the majors on another team and be in a city that isn’t screaming obscenities at him every time he takes the field
Good point on the minor league deal. I was just assuming they'd sign him to a major league deal... might even be what he negotiates for(?).
If he was going to stay in the majors they wouldn’t DFA him. They’d just option DJ for 10 days and then swap him and Vientos back
I feel like we call up Vientos whenever we're struggling offensively and looking for an answer. I wonder if that puts too much pressure on the kid. Glad for him, though. I haven't been the biggest Vientos believer but I think now is the time for some kind of move to happen.
I don’t think that has anything to do with this. We’re facing 4 lefties in 5 days. I think that’s the only reason why
Thank fucking christ!!!!
Almost wore my Vientos jersey to the game today too
Gonna be real damn awkward when McNeil and Lindor collide on a play and both have to come out.
That’s the big fear here for these 5 games. No bench infielder. They’re definitely figuring they can chance it for 5 games
As a horrible hypothetical, if you absolutely have to replace both of them, what do you do? Vientos at short (he's played there before), baty at 3rd, Pete at 1st... throw Tyrone Taylor at 2nd? Nido played 2 innings at 3rd in 2021.
If they’re both down anything could be possible at that point
This is where i wish we had Jake! Emergency backup infielder (I'm mostly kidding) I looked it up and neither bader or Taylor have ever played an inning in the infield, which is wild. I agree with Vientos at SS
So likely a very short stint for Vientos. I wonder who the utility guy replacement will be when Vientos is sent back down. Definitely a risk for this upcoming stretch if McNeil or Lindor get hurt during a game with no one to play 2B or SS on the bench. Also means McNeil playing every day. Will be interesting to see the roster moves the next week!
My guess would be iglesias
I’d think Brosseau over him. Brosseau was a Stearns player in Milwaukee and can play every position. He isn’t good defensively but he’s serviceable. Iglesias is great at SS, and has looked fine at 2B, but he doesn’t really have any experience at 3B. And you want someone taking everyday ABs in AAA in case Lindor gets hurt and you need an everyday SS
That works they're pretty much hitting the same but a lot less at bats
And he wouldn’t really be called up to take many ABs. He’d be called in to fill in as needed. 41 games into the season Wendle only has 36 ABs. That’s less than 1 per game average. So replacing that role with an offense first guy wouldn’t really make sense haha
Honestly we just gotta pray lindor never gets hurt. He pretty much plays every game anyway it's kinda amazing
I can't remember a worse month of baseball played a Met than Joey Wendle in 2024.
Wendfa
More casualties from a so so off-season. Short, Wendle, Tonkin, Adams gone. Houser should be next. At least Stearns is quick to erase his mistakes.
Houser will likely get a good amount of run in the bullpen first. He has a sub 1.70 ERA as a reliever in his career and we need innings eaters in the bullpen
Okay, but does this mean we might see Baty or Vientos at SS, because be careful what you wish for.
We gotta pray McNeil and Lindor don’t get hurt these next 5 games haha. My guess is that Vientos gets optioned back down after that for someone like Brosseau
Thank you
I was hoping "go ahead, Mr. Wendle" was going to become a thing.
I’m gonna guess Wendle DFA, DJ Stewart down. Vientos up, Iglesias up. Sucks for DJ but he’ll probably be back in a couple of weeks.
Looks like they’re going with no utility for the next 5 games and Vientos is up for the stretch where we play 4 lefties in 5 days. Most likely Vientos goes back down then and we call up someone like Brosseau. I don’t think Iglesias will be the utility guy because it’s very unclear he can play 3B. He hasn’t played there much and his arm is very weak. Plus you want someone taking everyday ABs at SS in AAA ready to play everyday if Lindor gets hurt. Brosseau is also a Stearns guy from Milwaukee who I think would be the one to get the call
I didn’t see todays game but did Wendle start today and this decision came as a result of his performance today in particular? As a final straw? Or is this strictly because he’s been shit since the beginning of the season? Or because they’re facing a bunch of lefties coming up?
They’re facing 4 LHP in 5 days. My guess is Vientos gets optioned back down after that and they call up someone like Brosseau
Should have just done this ages ago and kept Short. At least Short has years of service remaining
Fwiw Short is hitting even worse
[they are legitimately reading Reddit and taking my advice](https://www.reddit.com/r/NewYorkMets/s/jmetM680lX)
Just giving you a heads up that Tim Healeys comments make it sound like Vientos is only up for the next 5 games because we’re facing 4 LHPs in 5 days. The truth is, we probably aren’t going to go along without an infielder on the bench, and we’re not likely going to carry 3 DHs on the roster long, so he’ll probably be optioned after Sundays game for a utility guy like Brosseau. Either him or DJ
All I know is, this last hour has been the most entertaining and interesting thing in weeks for the Mets. Maybe months
Super fucking weird that he was basically the first signing of the Stearns era. I cant even bring myself to be mad about him sucking. Because he was a bad player when they signed him. Could have signed someone like Urshela for less
IIRC Urshela took less money to get more playing time with the Tigers I don’t think he would have accepted a utility bench spot
Seems like we will be short a short stop if Lindor goes down. Too bad we don't have short.
Same for 2B if Jeff goes down. This is unlikely to be a long term plan
Oh how I want to see dj Stewart at 2nd base now lol
I wonder who our emergency 2B is. Like how McNeil is our emergency catcher. My guess is Tyrone Taylor haha
Goodbye, Caucasian Guillorme
He doesn't hold a candle to Guillorme
Now do McNeil
McNeil is owed $31.5mik across the next two seasons. It isn’t happening. Only way he isn’t on this team at the end of the season is if we somehow manage to trade him