Ending With Dignity, Mets Style

 

I think, just generally, the Mets look a little closer to a good team than they did during the heat of this season. Now, granted, that doesn't mean they're an actual good team, but...it means it's no longer embarrassing. 

It's funny, I was in New York on Saturday midday, and I was headed to the shuttle between times square and grand central, as one does, and I did see some Mets fans heading back from the 7. It was bobblehead day. That's always cool. I was at Pete Alonso bobblehead day in Baltimore earlier this year, that was 100% the place to be. I just looked up who the bobblehead at Citifield was of on Saturday. It was a special U.S. Open themed Mrs. Met bobblehead.

So let's recap. Prior to the season, the Mets bring on Freddy Peralta, Luis Robert, Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien, Bo Bichette and rookie Carson Benge, and by September, all they can muster is a bobblehead of their mascot to commemorate a sporting event that happens next door every year anyway? Or maybe it was one of Peralta, Robert or Weaver, and the pre-made bobbleheads are already being melted down and made into next year's bound-for-the-resale-market Luis Torrens bobblehead giveaway. I was in a Greenwich, CT thrift store earlier this year, which is a lot like a McDonalds in a sports stadium I reckon, and they had a Mark Vientos Mets bobblehead, from weeks earlier, there for 15 dollars. And even if Swaggy V would rebound in May...15 was still asking way too much for Vientos. 15 would honestly be asking too much for a Bo one too.

Anyhow, the Mets are beginning to turn things around by installing the next phases of the rebuild, which is working a lot better than all those contracts did. Jonah Tong was on the mound today, and seemed to silence the Marlins pretty well. He might be a little more ready than he was on prior MLB call-ups. If he's good for the long haul, then he, Nolan McLean, Christian Scott and Zac Thornton might be sneakily becoming a nightmare waiting to happen. Thornton is putting up perfectly fine numbers as a four man, a 3.53 ERA, a 1.191 WHIP and a 1.5 WAR, but that's how guys like Wheeler and Matz started as well. McLean has looked a ton better in weeks' past, and is looking to end the season with his ERA around 3. Christian Scott is looking insanely durable since TJ surgery, and has a full season of strong work under his belt. Sean Manaea has one more year left on the deal, and hopefully his 2027 is way better than his last two seasons. But that young core could be the next step to legitimacy, and certainly has been lately. Also, Nate Lavender's been incredible as a bullpen piece, and arguably so was Jefry Yan. 

The idea for 2027 will be finding what from this shipwreck of a team is salvageable going forward. Obviously the outfield's staying as it is- Soto-Ewing-Benge is a working model that's been very successful this year, and will be going forward. Obviously shortstop is non-negotiable, and the catching platoon I assume isn't going anywhere either. Semien is signed for another 2 years, so either they trade that or they eat it and DH him. Bichette's gonna get low-balled in free agency, and I'm not sure if New York's the answer for him right now. Polanco is expected to stick around but I guess he'll be a DH/part time guy. And then Jared Young worked this year but he's 31 and very much a replacement-level option so I don't think he's the long-term solution for the Pete Alonso problem. This is where a successful Ronny Mauricio would have helped, but alas. Vientos and Baty SHOULD be holding up the corners but they keep refusing to!

I think the Mets should ride out the mess for one more year, let a few guys leave in free agency, let this core sail and allow for successors at 1st, 2nd and 3rd to materialize, and hope it gets them somewhere higher than fifth. A lot works about this team, there was just this inescapable sag this year, and hopefully in 2027 they'll outrun it.

Coming Tomorrow- A relief specialist who probably didn't expect to be staring down an October berth this year. 

The Jays Roar Back

 

It happened in an instant. The Orioles lost 6 straight, the Blue Jays won 4 straight [and then failed to hit Randy Dobnak] and suddenly the Jays have slipped into the spot the O's were supposed to have. How about that? Whole season of not really being too impressive and now they're going for it. How very Toronto Blue Jays of them.

I questioned, at the time, why the Jays would buy AND sell, knowing the small probability of making a run, but they clearly knew what they were doing. Josh Smith became a relatively wise depth infielder choice, he's got an .890 OPS through 17 games. Jose Soriano's been excellent in 6 Toronto starts, with 2 wins, 24 Ks and a 4 ERA. Paul Sewald has been a surprise hit in Toronto, without letting any runs go by in 7 innings. Ricky Tiedemann is being used in relief and has been pretty effective so far. The only real weak spot has been Spencer Arrighetti, who got walloped by Kansas City yesterday, but at least they got him away from the Astros. 

Trading Daulton Varsho was the odd part, because that's some centerfield stability with great power perks. This just hasn't been his season, as the Astros are currently finding out. But in exchange for Kevin Gausman, the Jays got Brett Bateman, a 24-year-old Iowa Cub who'd been waiting to make a debut but couldn't break into the stuffed Cubs OF picture [much like Owen Caissie last year]. So the Jays traded for him and slotted him into center in front of Myles Straw, and...almost immediately a star was born. In 24 games, Bateman has hit .327 with some amazing contact work, despite only 7 RBIs and 5 extra base hits. Bateman's a really strong hitter with a lot of versatility, and the team seems to know what they have. Of course, since Bateman's come on board, the Jays have reentered the playoff picture and are now chasing that third wild card spot.

A few things that I should probably mention that could still make competition difficult for the Jays. First of all, a rookie tearing things up in August has happened before. Davis Schneider did this, Will Wagner did this. Both died down eventually. I'm not saying Bateman's destined to fail, I'm just saying the fans should temper their expectations. The other thing is that beyond Dylan Cease, who looks to pry a Cy Young award from Cam Schlittler's young hands later this year, the Blue Jays' starting pitching is...scattered. Yesavage and Bieber are hurt. Jameson Taillon was doing okay, then he got hurt. The plan is Cease, Max Scherzer and his slowly-gaining momentum, Soriano, Arrighetti, opener game succeeded by Michael Lorenzen. That's...not sustainable. The hope is Yesavage is back for the playoffs but if they're gonna make a run, they need an actual arsenal back there, and they don't have it yet. Soriano is good but he was better in May. Scherzer as a postseason starter could go either way at this point. This could succeed, especially if Guerrero is going to start hitting, but it could also fail miserably. You're thinking that seed would play the winner of the AL Central, and those aren't easy wins no matter which of the two you get. You're pitching to either Munetaka Murakami or to Jose Ramirez. Good luck either way.

The Jays could still happen this year, somehow, and they could shock the world, but I don't see the practicality of it from a roster depth standpoint. They got to a World Series last year on extreme depth, and they don't have that right now. So they're gonna need to build some very soon.

Coming Tonight: The Mets just announced Jonah Tong's coming back to start, and it's odd to me that he's been displaced in the depth chart by another rookie pitcher who wasn't even around last fall. 

Room at the Bottom

 

The Rockies recently became the first team officially eliminated from the playoffs, and they did so with a marginally better record than the Angels, who haven't been eliminated yet but will be in the next 24 hours. Both teams have an outside chance of reaching 100 losses, but it's not guaranteed yet. 

I mean, first of all, let's step back for a moment and think about the fact that there's probably more of a chance of the Brewers reaching 100 wins than the Angels reaching 100 losses. Both may happen but it's nice that there won't be discourse about there being more 100 loss teams than 100 win teams [or any at all]. 

The Angels are probably more likely to reach the mark first because they're up to their ears in replacement-level guys. The number of guys that only hit well against the Yankees has grown to two, as Vaughn Grissom has joined Christian Moore as an in-house Yankee killer without doing much else against the other 28 teams. Grissom is hitting .249 with 10 homers and 59 RBIs as a baseline infield fill-in guy, far from where he thought he'd be about four years ago. Inches from succeeding Dansby Swanson in Atlanta, he was passed over for Orlando Arcia, traded for Chris Sale and never achieved any sense of MLB stability...until this year, where he's an everyday guy for a last place Angels team. The Angels tried a lot of gambits for roster roles this year [Nick Madrigal, Jeimer Candelario, Trey Mancini, Alek Manoah, Michael Fulmer] but Grissom might be the most successful. I don't think this means he'll have a true rebound, but if the Angels continue at this very worrying pace, he could be a good placeholder piece. 

Then again I am seeing a lot of those the more I look around this Angels team. I do think Denzer Guzman is a placeholder guy, as he's not hitting much at all despite having third base, but...he's also 22. Same with Moises Ballesteros, who's shown none of his Cubs-era finesse and is limping along, hitting .179 with barely any offensive production. Christian Moore isn't doing much else, he's hitting .162 in 19 games. The idea is for these guys to inherit the team. Y'know, like Caden Dana was supposed to. Eventually something is going to work, but I still think that timeline is a-ways off. They'll go ahead with Schanuel, Meckler, Urena, Joyce and, I'm guessing, Mike Trout, but I don't think they'll actually be intimidating again while Trout is still here.

The Rockies, meanwhile, do have some solid bats to work with, which is why the 100 loss mark isn't a guarantee just yet. Hunter Goodman, Cole Carrigg, Jake McCarthy, T.J. Rumfield, Zac Even, Troy Johnston and somehow Connor Norby and Adael Amador have continued the relatively decent upward momentum of the Rockies lineup. Goodman's at 36 homers, and he could hit 40. Carrigg's very much at home in the majors, and has an .808 OPS. Johnston is the ideal slap contact guy, even with only 48 RBIs; he's on-point, relatively consistent, and does what he's supposed to. Same with Norby almost. Filling the bench with contact guys is a very nice way to get further towards competition, and assuming Johnston and Norby stick around, they could pad the roster while Carrigg, Karros, Rumfield, Goodman and Even get the everyday glory. It's also very refreshing that Adael Amador has finally learned to hit at the MLB level. He'd be very useful as an everyday second baseman, and moreso now that Willi Castro's gotten hurt.

Pitching is obviously going to be an issue going forward. Ryan Feltner, Gabriel Hughes, Mason Adams and Chase Dollander will be the main starting options, as I'm assuming Sugano will find a better environment for his craftsmanship and the Freeland contract will finally be over. To be honest...you could do worse with a homegrown base. Hughes has a 6.19 ERA, but surprisingly he's got a 3.81 ERA at Coors. Half his starts have been home starts, and they're not bad at all. You get a Feltner or a Lorenzen who's equally bad both home and away, but having young, impressive guys like Hughes, Adams and Dollander who could potentially carry the rotation is...a start. They just need to come into their own without pressure, which I think next year could be good for. I'd recommend grabbing one cheap free agent to pad things [Chris Bassitt? Miles Mikolas? Jordan Montgomery?], but letting those kids go could be a nice start.

I don't think either team will compete as soon as next year, but the Rockies might do so sooner than the Angels. Not White Sox rebuild levels of turnaround but...the seeds have been planted, and you never know when that team will take off.

Coming Tomorrow- A rookie who was traded at the deadline, made his debut and might be making the playoffs anyway.

Was This Trip Really Necessary?

 

Remember a couple years ago, the Reds were lifting up, the Royals were lifting up, and they decided to trade Jonathan India for Brady Singer, and it made sense at the time because it honestly helped both clubs equally, and then India got hurt and became a .199 hitter with no defense, Singer became a routine fifth starter and now both teams are in last?

This is why...you vet your trades. Do you NEED pitching help? Do you NEED infield depth? Do you WANT to risk trading Brady Singer to a team that already has like 8 starters bobbing around waiting for the other 7 to get hurt? 

I'm not saying this is the only reason both the Reds and the Royals have struggled, I mean injuries are more the point. But I go back to that deal and while the Reds did make the playoffs last year, they don't look like they're on the way up, and neither do the Royals. Both teams might need to rebuild, which is an odd thing to say when one of them has Bobby Witt Jr. on it. 

I think the Royals were just unlucky this year, not only that a lot of key pieces got hurt, but that even healthy they probably wouldn't have been able to catch the Guardians or White Sox. Most of the goodwill this team has was made up in the last few months, thanks to Nick Loftin, Tyler Tolbert, Carter Jensen, Noah Cameron and Michael Massey getting more starting time. Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino, Kyle Isbel and Bobby Witt missed large swaths of the season, and the team suffered. Pasquantino in particular has been such a factor in whenever this team succeeds or fails. The 2024 team needed his bat coming off the IL, but even then he's a relatively average power hitter. He's got 9 homers and 42 RBIs in 94 games, which is kind of underwhelming. Last year he had a 30-homer/100-RBI year and even that felt like something of a letdown honestly. I'm not sure if the Royals have a 30 homer guy this year, and I say that knowing Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone are at 23.

I'm very happy with Noah Cameron making up for lost time though, he's got his ERA down to 4, has 9 wins, 138 Ks, and his last few starts have been incredible. If he'd been that good from the start, this Royals team would be alright, but like last year, he needed to wait a while to come into his own. The Royals have two guys who pitched complete game shutouts and neither have been that dominant the whole year. Otherwise, an average Seth Lugo season, another lost Cole Ragans year, and Randy Dobnak saving the day with craftsmanship. What a way to rake 'em in.

The Reds have much less going on, and the lineup is essentially Elly de la Cruz, Sal Stewart and a prayer at this point. Stewart already crossed 30 homers and 100 RBIs, and is a lock for Rookie of the Year at this point. Elly's having a much lighter season than usual production wise, but he's still got a 4 WAR and 24 steals, so he's doing his thing. Hector Rodriguez has burst onto the scene, he's got 5 homers and 11 RBIs, so he could be fun to watch going forward. Plus, Eugenio Suarez has started hitting again, and all it took was getting naturalized. 

With the injury merry-go-round that is this team, though, it's never gonna be especially pretty all of the time. They have landed on 6 guys who are healthy, which is nice, but Brandon Williamson's still not 100%. Lodolo and Abbott are both having down years, and Brady Singer, despite having some nice recent starts, leads the league in losses with 13. Without Chase Burns, I really don't know what to say about this group. Hunter Greene was supposed to be the start of a nice lineage of young, homegrown flamethrowers, and literally none of them have stayed healthy. So we're sort of back to where we were.

I don't expect either team to compete next year, and if anything I expect the Reds to really go all in on the rebuild effort. The Royals will be okay if not passable, though they could catch fire if the others aren't careful. And hopefully neither team makes a weird trade they regret in 2 years.

Coming Tonight [?]: A guy who was rejected by a dynasty for a fluke season, bounced around, and now starts for a team with no better options. And he just took the Yankees deep earlier this week. 

Unarmed and Dangerous

 

Here's a fun stat about the Nationals, and it has nothing to do with all those home runs they've hit. Their pitching staff has a cumulative 4.2 WAR. 3.3 of that is from Foster Griffin, who now plays for the Cleveland Guardians. So everybody else combines for like...0.9 WAR. That's how good the Nats' pitching is. Beyond Cade Cavalli...eesh. Andrew Alvarez is doing better, Jake Irvin is at least finishing starts, and Jackson Kent is on the way up, but this pen, as people have mentioned, is alarmingly bad. The one guy who was actually keeping runs down, P.J. Poulin, just got hurt, and it's not looking great otherwise.

That's really how simple this Nats team was, because they could absolutely outhit people. They missed James Wood for a bit, but he's still got a 30 homer year and he's looking to top 75 RBIs. C.J. Abrams is right behind with 23, and an MVP-vote-garnering year for sure. There's also a lot of nice 'nuts and bolts' style guys, like Jacob Young, a winning centerfielder with a nice contact edge, or Nasim Nunez and his stolen bases. Daylen Lile quietly built up an 80 RBI/20 homer season while no one was looking, with an extra 6 triples to add. 

And so now the formula's clear. The pieces for this team to compete are intact, and now Harry Ford, Abimelec Ortiz and Yohandy Morales are all along for the ride, and they can all hit. This is a sustainable, working lineup model that can last a while. But...if there's no pitching behind it, there's no point. You hope Jackson Kent can develop into something great, but Alvarez and Cavalli are 27, and who's coming after? Is D.J. Herz ever gonna come back? Is Josiah Gray? Unless the Nats do what the A's do and bring in some mid-level free agents to lead things until some decent guys come in. And remember, they tried that this year with Griffin, Zack Littell and Miles Mikolas, and it did not work at all. If they can find people that actively want to come to Washington and rally behind James Wood, C.J. Abrams and Daylen Lile for a while, they might be okay.

But if not...people might start leaving. C.J. Abrams was nearly traded this deadline, and they could try and trade him again. The Nats could suddenly decide this isn't the way and alienate people. So it's really down to this specific offseason. I think they go all in, try and pick people up, really try to coast upwards. Or just rebalance the rotation around some young, homegrown guys who are ready. I say this like it's a foreign concept, but since 2021 it kind of has been. They had a rotation schematic and it didn't work at all, which is why they couldn't do anything this year. I genuinely believe they can get close, but...they're practically starting from zero, especially with how glass armed Cade Cavalli might honestly be.

You hate to see a team this powerful waste its moment, which is why I hope the Nats turn things around soon.

Coming Tomorrow- For such a fun nickname, you'd think the guy would be able to put it together for a longer amount of time.

Got Milk?

 

Colton Cowser's been having a really nice week. Not only is he now among the top 5 WAR leaders on the Orioles, and not only are the Orioles closer to the pack in the wild card race than they ever have been this year...but, I'm not sure if you saw...he had this rather nice catch. Leaping catch at the wall at Coors. Saved the game in the bottom of the ninth. Even Andrew Kittredge couldn't believe it. 99% of other cases, that's not a catch, that blows the game, Rox win. Cowser made a very rare leaping catch that kept the Orioles' hopes alive. Now, granted, they lost the other two games. And now they have to play the Red Sox. But the eyes are finally on the O's, as they should be.

I got to see these guys in Baltimore a couple weeks ago. To be honest, the offense wasn't really the takeaway. As I was leaving, Samuel Basallo hit a moonshot to tie it and after I left, Dylan Beavers walked it off with some great contact work off of Bryan Baker, but while I was there these guys sort of chugged along. There were some great defensive plays, some good contact work, and enough of an effort against Shane McClanahan, but I wasn't wowed. After that, the fun really began, and they're now 69-71, a couple games back from the AL West contingency and with a decent enough shot at a surprise playoff experience. They just need to keep moving.

At this present moment, I think they've got enough to stay on this pace. The rotation is very solid, and consists of five guys that are trustworthy, can go deep into games and are taking care of themselves. Chris Bassitt's been improving since he got back. Brandon Young's having an excellent year, he's 9-3. Shane Baz and Kyle Bradish, despite 4 ERAs, are very dominant choices and are doing a lot of strong work. Trevor Rogers had a season high 11 Ks yesterday, bringing his total to 132. In addition, this team has Rico Garcia and Yennier Cano doing great setup work, Andrew Kittredge in the ninth, Alex Hoppe being lights-out as a return for Taylor Ward, and the very intriguing Luis De Leon. Pitching wise they haven't had this much security in a while, which is rare in a year without Felix Bautista.

As for the lineup, well...this team has three very cool choices at third base. The everyday guy is Christian Encarnacion Strand, and he's got 28 RBIs in 37 games. The fans already love him. The lefty platoon guy is Coby Mayo, and he has 19 homers and 55 RBIs, even if it isn't always pretty. And the recently-returning Blaze Alexander, now playing outfield more I think, is still an excellent contact bat, hitting .300 with 4 homers and 29 RBIs. This team has turned into a cavalcade of really cool options, ranging from Dylan Beavers and his clutch ability, Jackson Holliday and his slowly-forming all-purpose assets, Samuel Basallo and his walk-offs, Gunnar Henderson and his literally everything, and the already-beloved Pete Alonso. Alonso has 32 homers, 91 RBIs, and already is an Orioles hero. Plus, I hear this outfielder guy just showed up, this Luis Robert Jr. character. He's sure to be an added explosive element if this team can squeak into a playoff spot.

I don't know if this can happen. It takes both the Orioles withstanding the competition and being able to lap both AL West teams ahead of them, and right now I'm not sure how possible that is. But if it does happen, it'd be the coolest damn thing. I'd be all for it. They just need to keep this pace, and avoid losses like yesterday's. This Sox series will be a pretty important turning point for them. 

Coming Tonight: Another fun centerfielder from nearby actually.

Pacific Grim

 

The Giants and A's don't play too close to each other anymore, but they still feel like kindred spirits. They both went through colossal rebuilds, they both have a well-liked former player in a management position, they both have a god-tier home run hitter in their midst, and they both absolutely shat the bed this year. 

It's funny, I'm writing this on a night where both teams honestly have a lot to be happy about. The A's absolutely bodied the Rangers earlier today, and got homers from Jonah Heim, Alika Williams and, twice, Henry Bolte. Bolte is not exactly known for his power, he's a pretty fun defense-heavy outfield guy, he hits for contact, does his thing. He's a very handy guy to have around, and this game proved it. Meanwhile, the Giants' offense has been going wild recently thanks to the Pirates' pitching, with a Rafael Devers homer continuing the job from the 12-run loss [!!!]. Devers now has 32, and continues to be a very reliable power hitter with some obvious faults.

It's nice that these offenses have picked up, because otherwise there really isn't much left for either team to do.

We've reached the point in the Giants' season where Logan Webb is looking pretty cooked. Fundamentally he's still an excellent pitcher, and this isn't a concerning downturn, but after such a strong return from May on, resulting in an ASG nod, his ERA's back at 4.20, he's 8-8 and has been on the losing side his last three starts. The Pirates got 9 runs out of him yesterday, which is very concerning if you just blind yourself to how many Paul Skenes has been giving up. Without his better numbers, it's really down to Landen Roupp as a proper starting option, and...for many reasons that's just not a ship that fans wanna sail down. The Giants have thankfully been using a ton of rookies in starts recently, and both Anthony Molina and Yunior Marte look like really solid options. I also think Cesar Perdomo could start at some point, he's not too shabby either. Blade Tidwell getting starts I'm not very convinced about. You leave a guy named Blade for the eighth, don't trot him out in the 1st. No wonder the division rivals have killed him recently. 

Not a ton going on in the lineup either with a lot of people hurt. Devers is basically the draw right now. Bryce Eldridge had a decent month but is pedestrian again. Drew Gilbert is warming up now, he's got 8 homers and 36 RBIs this year, and even though he'll be 26 next year he's still looking like a future option. Begs the question, do the Mets *know* these downturns are coming when they trade these guys away? We thought they were fools for trading Kelenic, they weren't, and now 'OH WHY TRADE DREW GILBERT', well because he's hitting .236. Brandon Sproat's ERA was around 5 this year as well. What I'm saying is, Jett Williams, you are on notice.

There are some other amusing contributors, like surprise everyday catcher Drew Cavanaugh, wunderkind centerfield prospect Jonah Cox, depth outfielder Turner Hill who's hitting .350 pretty much, and erstwhile minor leaguer Oselvis Basabe trying to stay afloat given the roster vacancies, but there's really not much this team can do without so many viable pieces. 

Similarly, the A's are without Nick Kurtz, Tyler Soderstrom, Jacob Wilson, Shea Langeliers and Brent Rooker, and we're very much as the 'there's no point' stage of hitting. Who is left in this lineup that can hit. Zack Gelof I suppose. Jonah Heim, cheesily. Lawrence Butler, when he feels like it. Henry Bolte in lieu of all else. But there's just a lot of empty space, and a lot of dull non-hitting. When you have all that positive offensive energy sitting on the IL, it's even more obvious. Denzel Clarke just came off the IL, and that's wonderful, but...again, Denzel Clarke is not exactly known for his offense. The A's basically feel like a minor league team at this point. I know they can't help it cause so many people got hurt, but it's just very depressing, especially considering how they were about to turn the corner in May and June.

I think the good news is that going forward, this team can rely on J.T. Ginn, Jacob Lopez and Gage Jump as a pitching backbone. I'm still waiting for more actual homegrown starters to lock into place, but maybe this is a step towards that happening.

Anyway, the Giants and A's are doing what they can to keep things interesting but they know it's kind of meaningless at this point, and at least a lot of guys who wouldn't otherwise be up in the majors are getting some nice reps in.

Coming Tomorrow- A guy that leapt and made the news.