The Mets took another hit on Monday when Marcus Stroman announced he was retiring. Stroman mentioned a number of things that worried him – the obvious one is the game of chicken that every ballplayer plays to try to prevent the virus, the direct one was the upcoming trip from Mets to Miami, the geographical symbol of MLB’s fight against COVID thanks to the Marlins.
And even if there were other concerns – Stroman is a free agent at the end of the year; There is probably not much to gain and much to lose in what would probably have meant an eight-start season for him – choosing his right. Unlike the Yoenis Cespedes farce that played in Atlanta last week, player and team treated this the right way.
But losing Stroman is not something Mets fans should be concerned about.
It’s what’s going on right now that scares her. Well, his absence will not help. It means that the projected no. 2 and 3 starters of the Mets, Stroman and Noah Syndergaard, in 2020 will not throw up a combination. It means that the old Mets concern about six viable starters seems particularly nostalgic and hilarious, given the fact that Michael Wacha’s shoulder has him now on the IL.
But of greater concern is what this will do to the inside of Brodie Van Wagenen’s fertile imagination. Not only is the trade that pulled the Mets general manager on the deadline last year, now on the clock for an epic failure, suddenly the three weeks that connect Monday afternoon and the August 31 trading deadline are shaking as a potential dream painting for Van Wagenen – and a possible nightmare scape for the team.
Because if there’s one thing we’ve learned so far about this short season, it’s this: with 53.3 percent of the 30 teams qualifying for the playoffs this year, it’s going to be almost impossible to play yourself out of controversy. Even the Mets, who worked on a losing streak of five games last week, woke up on Monday to discover they were tied at 7-9 for the second and final NL wild card.
(… And wouldn’t that be a huge 2020 development, though the band-breakers would have to switch between two 29-31 teams to identify the No. 8 seed?)
It means no matter how low the Mets are and how hesitant the ground on which they run might be, Van Wagenen – along with his lame-duck bosses – would be motivated to improve the club between now and the deadline – and yes, given his track record, “improve” should now be absolutely inserted in quotation marks. But he will actually be extra motivated.
It’s no secret that the Mets are almost certain to be ruled by another ownership group by the time the new year arrives. And whether that’s Steve Cohen or Alex Rodriguez or the guys who have the Devils and the Sixers, that means there will be zero pre-existing loyalty to anyone who is currently in the service of the Mets.
So if Van Wagenen likes to keep his office at Citi Field, he will have to present the new property with a compelling reason to keep him. And given the first 21 months of his tenure, the one thing that argument might seem reasonable to deliver is to hand over a team that is gone after the playoffs this year – preferably for more than a two-game como.
Else? Van Wagenen will have to answer for a few things. The continuing adventures of Edwin Diaz and the suddenly impossible-to-keep-on-the-field version of Robinson Cano’s late 30s are a mortal sin that Van Wagenen must explain away for a good 12 or 15 years, assumed that Jarred Kelenic is himself a fraction of the player everyone believes him to be breathing.
And the sum total of Stroman – purchased at the deadline of last year when the whole world believed the Mets were sellers, not buyers – this is likely to be: 11 starts, four wins, two losses and a 3.76 ERA for what turned out to be a third-place team.
Expensive because the Mets chased out former first-round pick Anthony Kay (from a strong start in Toronto: 1-0, 1.13 ERA, .750 WHIP) and Simeon Woods Richardson (a second-round pick who loves scouts) in the trade at a time when they should have built up young arms, did not reject them. And costly, because it probably closed the door on bringing back Zack Wheeler (one of the only bright spots in Philly so far, 2-0 and 2.08) – or, if important, dealing with Wheeler and / or Syndergaard at the deadline to listen in a haul of perspectives, an equally cautious option.
Now, we could go on with some other odd choices (let Travis d’Arnaud run for nothing), and for the sake of fairness we should also mention that the JD Davis trade seems to be a steal, and Van Wagenen the sector of the sector bipolar by letting both Pete Alonso in 2019 and Andres Gimenez start the season in the majors in 2020, instead of fining their tenure (although these choices may well return to burn the Mets eventually).
See, this is not about Van Wagenen being fired today: under normal circumstances he should not. But this is not a normal time, and Van Wagenen is sitting on a clock holding the hand of a future boss whose identity he does not know. It should try him all at this point.
And it needs the men who still have the Mets – who are probably, and faithfully, right now – who have the hell agendas – to make sure this does not happen.
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