Being a fan of the New York Mets in recent years has been nothing short of painful. Having arguably the best pitching staff in the National League and surrounding them with old, washed up hitters is nothing short of embarrassing. The front office, time and time again has proven to know nothing about how the game works today, and how the Mets should have been in a “win now” mentality.
With that being said, I believe there are a few key tasks that can put the New York Mets in the right direction, even though they will still be far away from being relevant. The first thing the Mets need to accomplish is find a General Manager who is not only a good drafter, but who is up to date in analytical knowledge of the game, and can use that to the team’s advantage. I believe Jared Porter is the perfect fit for this position. His knowledge on the new style of baseball is directly correlated to his work with Theo Epstein. He is well experienced in prospect analysis, which will work well with Omar Minaya, an already highly regarded talent locator in regards to prospects (in my opinion). Porter is also well respected throughout the baseball community, which gives him an advantage when talking to free agents, other general managers, or prospects. I believe a man like Jared Porter should be the Mets’ number one priority for beginning this successful rebuilding period.
With that being said, the Mets have already made a decision to hire Brodie Van Wagenen as their general manager. To be quite honest, I despise this signing. He has no front office experience and represents Jacob Degrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Yoenis Cespedes. This means that the Mets will resign all 3 to ridiculously high contracts that they do not deserve, lessening their chances to win tenfold. To continue, he is an advocate of the Mets “winning now,” something I believe the Mets should not do. They are too far behind the curve in offensive categories, and they do not have the prospect depth to trade away any assets. I see no benefits to this hiring, but being a Mets fan, I hope somehow it works out.
Furthermore, the New York Mets must, and I mean must, invest in their minor league system. After not pursuing the “win now” attitude after the 2015 and even the 2016 seasons, it is time for the Mets to start rebuilding. According to Bleacher Report, the Mets have the 23rd best minor league system in the major leagues. For a team that is in no shape to win, a farm system in the bottom third of baseball is unacceptable. In my opinion, the Mets should trade away some of their “assets” for whatever they can get, and invest heavily in the draft. Improving the farm system comes with a good general manager, in which I mentioned before, and good scouts. Scouts for the New York Mets must be looking for the best prospects, as well as the most underrated prospects. I understand that with the pieces they have at the moment, the Mets can’t get many, if any, top prospects. But if they can find prospects with high ceilings, it will put the Mets in a better position to succeed and stay successful.
Finally, the Mets can do nothing with the Wilpons as their owners. I understand this is a stretch, but the Wilpons must sell. No progress can be made if the Wilpons continue to hire outdated and washed up players and staff, and pocketing money to pay off their debt. Do I see this happening? Unfortunately, I do not, but it is imperative that the Wilpons get out of office, because they value personal gain rather than the Mets’ success. Only when the Wilpons sell the franchise, will things start to get better.
There are many ways the Mets can be “successful” in this offseason, but with the poor hiring of general manager, the awful ownership, and terrible players, it is a long and treacherous road ahead for the New York Mets.
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