Our experts explore whether the Mets' general manager has followed his promised course
A.J. Carter: As the Mets’ slide continues, it’s time to hold Billy Eppler accountable for his words. Ever since he was hired, he has kept using the word “sustainable” in describing how he wanted to build the team. This is what he said as recently as this January: “What we are looking to accomplish, vision-wise, is to be able to have a sustainable organization. The blueprint for that is having players who contribute at a championship-caliber level for the major league team. The more players we can bring into the organization that serve that and hold onto those players, the healthier the team will be over a longer time period.” Tell me how any of the moves he made in the offseason can be described as fostering sustainability.
John Coppinger: It’s not just about the offseason. Yes, the pitchers that the Mets acquired were on the older side, and they paid a premium to get them. But there aren’t any pitching prospects close to major league ready. So Eppler had two choices: Pay in free agency or trade prospects for pitchers. Trading the prospects is what the last ownership group did, and that certainly isn’t sustainable. Paying money to bridge the gap now means the Mets can keep the prospects they have, and draft more. That creates sustainability. It may hurt now because those players aren’t performing or are injured (in many cases, both). But in the long run, it means the Mets will be sustainable.
A.J. Carter: Allow me my skepticism. The franchise has a history, going back to the original expansion draft, of pursuing aging stars in the belief that star power is what is needed to put fans in the seats. Think not only of the 1962 Mets and GM George Weiss, but the signings of players such as Eddie Murray and Mo Vaughn. It’s not only baseball -- the Jets and Knicks haven’t done so well with those types of acquisitions, either. Is there some type of disease that New York general managers contract while GMs in other cities are immune. Is it the water?
John Coppinger: The key word here is “history”. Yes, you’re right. The Mets have had a history of going after “names” and “stars." But the Steve Cohen regime deserves to be judged on its own merit because the timeline of history was broken and started anew when he took over. I’m not sure what other course of action the Mets could have taken with the starting rotation than to do what they did. When I start seeing the Mets plug holes in the rotation by dealing guys like Brett Baty, Francisco Alvarez, Mark Vientos etc., then I’ll judge a little more harshly. But these guys are being called up, and in the case of Baty and Alvarez, they’re producing. Those players will make this plan sustainable. The rest just simply have to do their jobs.
A.J. Carter: We agree that Baty and Alvarez have been improvements over what was there, and Vientos has to be an improvement over Tommy Pham. I’m happy to see them here and hope they thrive. I also see that Kumar Rocker, whom the Mets drafted but did not sign, is out with Tommy John surgery; concerns about his physical condition caused them to shy away from the 1st-round pick. But what pitchers are in the pipeline? And when can we see them? This team has been bad in so many phases of the game that they are almost unwatchable.
John Coppinger: Blake Tidwell is their highest ranked pitching prospect according to MLB dot com, and they just drafted him last season. The rest aren’t expected to come up until at least next season. So there's really no pitcher on the near horizon, especially with Matt Allen having a second elbow surgery. Hence the older pitchers that were signed as bridges. I’m starting to wonder if there’s a college pitcher available in this year’s draft that could be ready to contribute right away. That’s how dire the situation is. But that’s what happens when you punt an entire draft to draft one pitcher, who is currently recovering from UCL revision surgery after previously undergoing TJS. (Thanks, Brodie.)
A.J. Carter: I’d be more optimistic if it weren’t for Eppler’s resume. I look at some of the moves he’s made, and I worry that the team is in danger of becoming the New York Mets of Anaheim. The west coast version always seems to have a great offseason, but doesn’t produce wins in the spring and summer -- even with the two best players in baseball on the roster.
John Coppinger: Eppler’s resume in Anaheim is, in part, Arte Moreno’s resume. As we know, sometimes a team’s problems go above the executive board and into the owner’s suite. That’s why I’m not going to hold a lot of Anaheim against Eppler because who knows what moves Arte pushed for and didn’t. At least when Steve Cohen makes a move that doesn’t work out, he’s smart enough to listen to his people and move off it (Carlos Correa.) Eppler still has work to do, for sure. But he’s been the GM two seasons now with a 101 win team on his resume. A 20 game stretch in May isn’t going to kill that for me … yet.
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