Palladino: Mets Are Doing The Right Thing By Sticking With Syndergaard
By Ernie Palladino
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A look at the Mets' offseason through one prism shows Sandy Alderson being his old, cautious self, refusing to give up strength to fill a weakness.
Still in need of more power in the lineup after acquiring only two free agents, Michael Cuddyer and John Mayberry, Jr., he appears ready to go to the mat with top pitching prospect Noah Syndergaard. Even though Syndergaard might immediately grease the cogs of a trade with, say, the Nationals for shortstop Ian Desmond, it appears Syndergaard isn't going anywhere.
Let the teeth gnashing begin. Wouldn't Desmond's 24 homers and 91 RBIs look awfully nice in that lineup compared to the dozen or so that projected starter Wilmer Flores might provide over the course of a whole season? Isn't getting rid of a prospect who has yet to prove anything on the major-league level worth even a one-year rental of pending free agent Desmond -- or even the investment of a multi-year contract to some other shortstop talent -- for a pitching-rich team desperate to break an eight-year postseason drought?
It seems elementary. Of course you give up your minor leaguer for the established star.
But see it through the eyes of COO Jeff Wilpon and things look a little different.
"I know everybody wanted Sandy to do this or do that to get something," Wilpon told the New York Post at the owners meetings last week. "But keeping your strength is important as well."
And that is the reason that Wilpon, who with his father, Fred, forms an ownership that usually sits on the back end of baseball logic, might just be right this time, in this one instance.
They need Syndergaard, if only for insurance purposes.
Think about it. The five-man rotation currently goes like this: Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jon Niese, Bartolo Colon and Jacob deGrom, with Dillon Gee competing to squeeze out one of them. Chances are that won't be an issue given reports that the Giants, Padres and Rockies -- plus an unnamed AL team -- might have interest in exchanging a minor leaguer for the right-handed Gee.
Unloading Gee would still leave a closed field for Syndergaard. He would at least start the year in Triple-A Las Vegas, where nothing he did would impact the Mets' early and necessary progress toward a playoff spot.
But consider this: Harvey is coming off Tommy John surgery. Colon is 41. And something always seems to crop up with the left-handed Niese.
What if something goes pop in Harvey's valuable right arm during training camp? What if Colon breaks down, as quadragenarians are known to do on occasion?
They're going to need Syndergaard to plug in. Bet that if somebody goes down early, Alderson will overlook the growing pains that led to a 9-7, 4.60 mark over 133 innings in his first Triple-A season and stick him directly into the rotation. It's either him or Rafael Montero, who pitched to a lukewarm 1-3, 4.06 mark in eight major league starts last year.
It is surprisingly easy for a team to go from riches to rags in any position. Happens all the time. One day a logjam, the next day a key injury or two, and suddenly a manager is calling up some middling minor leaguer.
Syndergaard is not one of those people. He's the No. 1 prospect. And with Gee probably on the move, he'll be next in line for a major league starting spot.
This is not about finances, even though swapping Syndergaard for Desmond's $11 million contract would vault the penny-foolish Mets over the dreaded $100 million payroll plateau, and nearly $30 million more than the three-year payroll average the Wilpons went to great lengths with disastrous effects to attain. This is about building a winning team and preserving a proven strength.
Sometimes the correct approach is the right one, even for a team so desperate to regain even a smidgeon of relevance.
For a franchise in the wrong so many times over the last eight years, the Mets have picked the proper path in this one.
Give them some credit.
