I know most people don't like seeing pitchers hit but this last game showed why I still like the NL rules. There is much more strategy about when to pull your pitchers what sort of substitutions do you make in your line up than there is with the DH.
Not really… you pull your tiring or erratic pitcher when their spot comes up in the lineup (especially if its 3rd time through the lineup). If the pitchers spot is coming up next inning, and you possibly want your incoming pitcher to pitch longer, you double switch. That’s the strategy. As opposed to the AL… where you actually have to know when your pitcher has it, doesn’t have it, how long you want to leave him in for. The epitome of needing to watch pitchers AB happened three times tonight… Tucker Davidson is 0-7 with 7K’s, Minter was never going to swing and doesn’t know how to bunt. Gravemann also was never going to swing… and still somehow got to a 3-2 count. In the end, the only purported “strategy” in a no DH league is how good can your pitchers hit. And given how half the player base puts no emphasis on pitchers hitting (and players switch leagues all the time now), they need to go with one set of rules.
Of course if Tucker or Alvarez are open to extensions that the team thinks are an excellent value then they should do that, but I don’t think extensions should be a priority over replacing Correa’s bat and improving the top of the rotation and back of the bullpen for the next 2-3 seasons. While the returning roster will be quite good (projecting for something like 85-95 wins), it will not be on par with the WS teams from the past and it won’t be on the same level as other contenders. I am good with saving top prospects (Pena, Lee, Leon) for the future but I think the financial resources should be focused on maintaining a championship level roster in the short term. I also don’t think Tucker or Alvarez (both of whom got huge bonuses as amateurs and are on the brink of arbitration) will be open to team friendly extensions. I’ve been spending more time analyzing off-season options and I am beginning to think that the better option might be to add a good bat they think can play CF (Bryant, S. Marte, Conforto, Pham, or Canha) to replace Correa’s offense, for several reasons: Pena is an elite prospect they shouldn’t block. I expect those CF options to be far cheaper than the top SS options. The trade value of Meyers/McCormick/Siri might be at its peak. Going into free agency for a CF (Marte?) and SP (Gausman?), then using the surplus of young CF and AAA SP to acquire an elite RP (Rogers?) sounds like the best plan for now.
I've come around to thinking we should prioritize Bryant and use him as a super utility option. I don't fully trust Bregman's health at this point, Brantley has frankly stayed a lot healthier than most have expected, and Yuli could probably use a few more off days. Bryant can play CF, but I'd also expect he could log good time at 3rd and left. He also provides flexibilty if both Leon and Pena hit - he can move to about any position other than SS/C. Since we traded Toro, our only backup 3B (and really 1B too) option is Diaz right now. Diaz can barely stay healthy for that matter. Regarding your CF comment - Click's move of Straw looks brilliant in hindsight. Not only for Maton, but for the 3 other basically equal options in system. I'd agree with moving 1-2 of them if you can get another good arm or more flexible utility piece.
I agree your take, I am just not sure how pricey Bryant will be. There are rumors he wants to be on the West Coast. I would be willing to go up to $200M for him. If they did sign a good bat who can be playable in CF it would give them a year to further vet their long term CF options (Meyers, McCormick, Siri, Leon) to see if they think one of them will be a 3+ win/yr player, and whoever they sign can move over to LF to take over for Brantley once he reaches free agency (or move to 1B if they don’t have a better option).
I am content to go into next season with Meyers in CF and Pena at SS. I am not interested in pursuing free agents not on the current roster till an agreement with the players union is in place.
Jeff Luhnow coming back with the Mets new ownership would break the league. Queens would become the new Yankees within three years.
As much as I would love to see the Mets take over new york, I really dont want to see Luhnow lead any other franchise, for the simple fact of me being selfish. Luhnow >>>> anybody.
At some point, he has to get another shot… ruthless culture be damned, he oversaw construction of a super-team on a mid-market budget and that team is still in position to contend for the next 3-5 years. Most of the “pushing the envelope” moves he instilled at the time are common practice for all teams… whether its draft slot manipulation, service time manipulation, or taking a hard line with pre-draft physicals/imaging, . At the very least, he could easily rebuild any team’s farm system which would feed enough talent to the big leagues for production or trades that would make any GM or baseball operations president look like a genius.
Luhnow was the best GM in baseball. 5 lcs and 3 world series despite losing stars like cole, springer, and verlander.
Managed to trade for Verlander, Cole, and Grenkie and the best player we gave up in those three trades was Joe Musgrove. Mets need to fire Sandy Alderson already, anyone good who wants to run that organization wants full control, not working under that clown.
The Astros need an elite or close to elite pitcher. They were running out guys that went 3-5 innings in a lot of cases. That can be Verlander, someone one in trade or free agency. It is going to be harder without Strom working with them. There are plenty of #2-3 type starter guys but not a #1 on this team. That would go a long way. If Graveman is reasonably priced, he would be a good guy to return as well.
