Mets need more offensive help than David Stearns is letting on
Mark Vientos of the Mets strikes out during the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Could Monday’s promotion of Francisco Alvarez end up being the Mets’ biggest trade deadline upgrade?
If president of baseball ops David Stearns is to be believed, that might be the case, from a position-player perspective anyway. And that feels like an enormous leap of faith in the Mets’ current roster, especially at a few key spots, namely third base and centerfield.
Stearns didn’t sound like he was bluffing Monday during a 22-minute session with reporters that touched on a variety of trade-related topics. While Stearns was blunt about the Mets’ need to acquire bullpen help in the days leading up to the July 31 deadline — expect that box to be checked, perhaps multiple times — he didn’t express much concern about the struggling lineup, or any urgency to seek outside improvements.
“I look at our position-player grouping,” Stearns said, “and for the most part, I’m pretty pleased with where we are.”
We’d say that’s overly optimistic, but the Mets rallied to Stearns’ defense Monday night in a 7-5 comeback victory over the Angels. It was Alvarez’s eighth-inning double that triggered the game-winning rally, and Brett Baty paired his second homer in three games with a nifty defensive play that cut down a potential run at the plate.
“It’s super-important,” Alvarez said of his strong all-around return, “because we got the win.”
Stearns is banking on a reversal of his team’s recent trends. Before Monday, the Mets’ .677 OPS ranked as the fifth-worst in the majors since June 13 and they also had scored the fifth-fewest runs (116) while losing 20 of their last 31 games over that span.
There’s nothing Stearns can really do about the top part of the lineup. If Steve Cohen’s “Fab Four” — Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo — don’t perform up to their projections, the Mets are cooked regardless. But Stearns’ reliance on a revolving door of youngsters at third, along with splitting centerfield between Tyrone Taylor and Jeff McNeil, is a risky gamble for a World Series-or-Bust roster carrying a $325 million payroll.
Heading into Monday night, the Mets’ .635 OPS from third base was 26th overall, with a 0.5 WAR (according to FanGraphs) sitting at 23rd. Centerfield had generated a .608 OPS (25th) and 0.7 WAR (22nd). From the catcher’s position, they had a .599 OPS (25th) and 1.5 WAR (16th), the latter thanks to Luis Torrens’ superb defense.
Ideally, Alvarez quickly boosts those catching numbers after hitting 11 homers with a 1.027 OPS in 19 games at Triple-A Syracuse. He arrived in Flushing just in time, as the Mets had just scored a total of nine runs in three games to narrowly avoid a sweep by the Reds.
“We need him,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
No sense in wasting all those homers at Syracuse. And there’s no cost to calling up Alvarez, other than worrying if his development is indeed trending in the right direction. The Mets’ other trouble spots, however, aren’t as easily fortified, which is why Stearns was hesitant to suggest he could solve them through deadline deals.
Stearns flat-out admitted that the centerfield position was not performing up to his expectations — hardly a shocking revelation — but he also questioned whether he could fix that in the trade market. With Monday being a full 10 days before the deadline, Stearns still wasn’t sure who would be available. Cedric Mullins, Luis Robert Jr. and Harrison Bader could be had, but given the Red Sox’s July rebound, what about Jarren Duran?
“I think for me, at least, the bar to improve centerfield has probably risen over the past, let’s say, two weeks,” Stearns said, “because of Jeff’s comfort level a little bit more out there and also continuing to recognize the secondary skills that Tyrone can provide.
“I’m certain we’re going to be engaged. But we got to clear a bar that we actually think makes us better, given the price that I think these things are going to cost.”
With the market in flux, and plenty of potential sellers still hanging on the playoff bubble, Stearns will have a flexible mindset. These are negotiations, after all. And the same goes for third base, where Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos have shown promise, but also a frustrating lack of consistency.
Stearns insists that he’s fine operating on a “timeshare” basis at a number of positions — throw Luisangel Acuna and second base in this mix as well — but that’s only because none of these highly-regarded prospects have displayed the talent to seize the everyday job for themselves. This scenario is begging for the stability of a reliable veteran, although it’s unlikely Stearns has the appetite to go head-to-head with the Yankees in a third-base competition that could burn considerable prospect capital.
In fact, when Stearns was asked if he anticipated sticking with his current third-base grouping for the remainder of the season, he replied, “That would be my expectation.”
Again, these viewpoints are subject to change, along with the circumstances (an injury or two flips the script in a New York minute). But Stearns sounds intent on using his trade chips for pitching, and primarily bullpen help, while being somewhat bearish on this year’s market so far.
“I try not to look at the size of the splash,” Stearns said. “I think that can get a little dangerous this time of year if we focus too much on the size of the splash. I also don’t know how many big-splash players are actually getting traded at this deadline. I think that remains to be seen.”
One thing that’s indisputable: these Mets need help. Does Stearns fully realize just how much?
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
