Our dueling experts disagree on the decision to send Brett Baty and Mark Vientos to AAA
John Coppinger: I’m guessing a lot of fans aren’t going to be happy with the news that Brett Baty and Mark Vientos are starting the season in AAA. Personally, I’m okay with it. We’re not too far away from Omar Minaya’s philosophy that prospects should be rushed up the system so that they can be challenged. That didn’t work out so well for guys like Lastings Milledge and Fernando Martinez. So if the Mets are erring on the side of caution with players who will potentially be starters for 7-12 seasons, I’m okay with that.
A.J. Carter: I think at least one should have made the team. This wouldn’t be rushing them like Milledge and Martinez were – Baty was good enough to be called up to the big club last year before he got hurt and it feels like Vientos has been around forever. It seems cold and cruel, but sometimes you have to face facts and cut ties with the veterans who no longer can live up to the back of their baseball cards. And I think Darin Ruf is Exhibit A.
John Coppinger: I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Darin Ruf is Mike Piazza in Mike Glavine’s clothing. But there’s no reason not to give Ruf a month to see if he’s really fried or not. He’s not going to be a regular starter. If he gets 30 AB’s it’ll be a lot. If he produces closer to his numbers with the Giants last year, great. If not, he’s an easy cut for either Baty or Vientos, or whoever you want to bring up. At this point, another month of consistent at-bats won’t hurt as much as irregular play up in the majors might.
A.J. Carter: I’m concerned about the message farming them out sends. With all the hoopla about those two and Francisco Alvarez and Ronny Mauricio being the Mets future, it always appears there is no room for the future. I don’t like that this Mets team is very old, top to bottom. This is not the way to win this year, and not the way to achieve the sustainability Billy Eppler and Steve Cohen say they want. Look at the Braves: They seem to find room for at least one homegrown product a year, and they keep on winning the division. Buck Showalter is a smart enough manager to find playing time for those who deserve it. And both Baty and Vientos showed this spring that they deserve it.
John Coppinger: Agreed. But remember that the Braves have been sticking to this plan for 30 years, and they’ve done it out of necessity because they keep their payroll low. The Mets really haven’t had a consistent plan until this regime got here. So to expect the Mets to be the Braves all in one shot isn’t fair. I’m happy that for the first time in their history, they have a group of good young hitters to draw from, and it’s because they’ve been patient. Under the former regime, half of these guys would have been traded long ago. This regime has been very patient with all these prospects, and changing that game plan because they don’t want to see Darin Ruf get AB’s off the bench for a month would be foolish, in my eyes.
A.J. Carter: Just don’t come crying to me in October if they lose the division by one game because Darin Ruf went 0-for-April, with Tommy Pham not far behind. When you keep digging in the scrap heap, sometimes you come up with splinters.