| For the second time ever the Mets went to the postseason two years in a row. For the first time ever the Mets were dumped without winning a postseason game, much less a series. One-game Wild Card play-in game, or whatever you wanted to call it, you had your chance to woo me that this was a great way to start the postseason. I’d still rather see a best-of-three Wild Card to give teams a taste to the way the schedule is for six months, or, to be honest, I’d rather see one Wild Card instead of two. Does not matter much now.
That Mets-Giants game was a spectacular game for eight innings. And if that had been a single or a double instead of a home run by Conor Gillaspie—the Bucky Dent (or Brian Doyle) of a new generation—there may be a different vibe to the post mortem. I have taken a few days for perspective’s sake, but I am not going to tarnish what was a really impressive season. I like the youth movement. If there are players that are not healthy or out of the price range, they need to move on. They have so much pitching that they actually need to trade some because they cannot all make it (or stay healthy). And I think the Mets are at that point where getting a postseason veteran or two in the lineup can help. A Mike Napoli type or Keith Hernandez Jr., if such a person existed. But this is the team the Mets had to play with this year. Some of these names were as obscure as Mr. Gillaspie was until the top of the ninth inning, but they were part of a winning formula. And while these grades are individual, I traditionally grade the team based on number of wins. That is 87 in my marking book, and an 87 is a B+. Pretty good considering the best students in the class were home schooled for the last semester. As for who qualifies for grades, I went with 50 ABs, 25 IP, though I have painstakingly listed everyone who appeared at all for the 2016 Mets on this report card. Now let’s get these grades handed out. Final 2014 Grades 1H 2H Final Notes Noah Syndergaard A A A Start here because there is no triumph in 2016 if this stud is not healthy all year. He is the leader of staff. Jeurys Familia A A- A Mets achieve nothing without club record-shattering 51 saves; 94 saves since ’15 more than McGraw Mets career. Bartolo Colon B+ A- B+ He is the Thornton Mellon of the Mets: Back to School Bartolo can do anything, including clinching Wild Card spot. Addison Reed B+ A- B+ You wonder if Reeder can possibly be this good again. Despite overwork, .181 BA at home, 1.15 ERA on road. Yoenis Cespedes A B B+ When hot, Yo is as good as any Mets hitter in history. Backbone of lineup. Hurt in second half but still a warrior. Asdrubel Cabrera B A- B+ Speaking of warriors, this guy was glue to infield while playing on one leg. Had biggest HR of year. A real leader. Jacob deGrom B B- B It’s hard to give a guy who was pitching hard a bad grade for second half. Had losing record but ERA under 3.00. Steven Matz B B- B Like deGrom, hard to give a bad grade to a guy pitching hurt. And the rook pitched well mostly with 3.40 ERA. Neil Walker C+ B+ B May be back. Had 6 HR and .389/.450/.667 in August when he went down for year. Weird: 23 HR and 9 2B. Wilmer Flores B- B B Hit .340 vs. lefties (.232 vs. RHP). Versatile, homegrown, and very much missed down stretch and in WC game. Jerry Blevins B B- B Lefty not as good as first half, but healthy all year, 52 K’s in 42 innings, and earned 2 saves in big spots. Curtis Granderson C B B- Curtis the Magician. Slightly lower numbers in 2H than 1H but was stud down stretch: 30 HR and hit .302 in Sept. James Loney B- B- B- Not as good in second half, but came up so big in final week he earns B-. Fit in well with team and solid glove. Kelly Johnson B C+ B- Slow finish, but big July & August: .286, 6 HR, 17 RBI. Mets struggled vs. Atlanta, but K.J. had 2 game-winners. Hansel Robles B C+ B- Still could have big future with club. Can’t spell Robles without Roles. Staggered a little in 2H, but came out OK. Rene Rivera C- B- C+ Not as good in second half, but came up so big in final week he earns B-. Fit in well with team and solid glove. Michael Conforto C C- C Off year all way around, but too young with too much upside to give up on. Exiled in minors far too long in ’16. Jim Henderson C+ D C Didn’t serve much purpose in 2H. His 7.71 ERA in August made sure 1.80 Sept. ERA came in one-sided games. Travis d’Arnaud C D C- Caught every inning last postseason. This year lost job to journeyman. Was more useless then hurt in 2H. Alejandro De Aza F C+ D+ Absolute waste in 1H; absolutely essential in 2H. Hit .255 as PH, .365 in July, and had .333 OBP in 2H. Logan Verrett C- F D Wonder if Mets might have contended with Nationals if they split his 12 starts between Lugo & Gsellman. Eric Campbell F C- D Soup was of more use in September than rest of year. Made contact plus a few nice plays at 1B. Kevin Plawecki D D D Close as to whether should be INC for 2H, but served as third string for last month. No longer a prospect. Only Appeared in One Half as Met 1H 2H Notes T.J. Rivera B+ PCL batting champ comes to NY and hits .333 when starting 2B goes down. Hard hitting and hard nosed. Jose Reyes B Most controversial move of year turned out to be one of the best. Only speed on team and most energy. Seth Lugo B Postseason impossible without Lugo coming out of nowhere to be solid starter: 5-2 with 2.67 ERA. Robert Gsellman B Ditto on Gsellman. Showed poise of veteran with hair that fits right behind Noah and deGrom—at stylist. Brandon Nimmo C+ Didn’t qualify for grade in 1H, but showed good bat and eye. Went 6 for 12 as PH. Fast but had no steals. Jay Bruce C With Mets, you get bonus points if you excel in final week of season. Hope he comes around in 2017. David Wright C Hope we will see him on field again sometime. He had to feel pretty lousy that Mets rallied without him. Lucas Duda C Inc Lost season for Duda. Back issues, then ineffective after return so 2H mark incomplete. Just 7 HRs all year. Juan Lagares C Inc Same for Juan; was mostly defensive replacement. Hit .222 as starter and .294 as sub. Only 5 PA after injury. Matt Harvey C- Best game was 1-0 loss in duel vs. late Jose Fernandez. Makes whining over Harvey seem inconsequential. Ty Kelly C- Amazin’ this guy got 80 plate appearances and AB in WC game. Hustle guy: versatile with good patience. Eric Goeddel C- Didn’t pitch enough for first half grade, though turned out had much better 1H. And way better at home. Antonio Bastardo D- That they got out of 2-year contract for him and brought back live body yet another Sandy steal. Not Enough Time Served for Grade Jon Niese Inc Of course, guy Mets got for Bastardo was old pal Jon. Biggest contribution was making Mets use Gsellman. Fernando Salas Inc Never knew what to expect, but usually meant a clean seventh. Walked none in 17.1 IP with 2.08 ERA. Josh Smoker Inc Lefty pitched 20 times, but missed innings limit for inclusion. Good arm, attitude, mustache, and name. Justin Ruggiano Inc Not sure why this guy was on team, but would someone with grand slam off Bumgarner has some merit. Gabriel Ynoa Inc Don’t know if he has talent, but he has nerve. Debut ended losing streak and kept Mets in game in starts. Rafael Montero Inc Mets needed a starter and Montero made 3 starts, only 1 of them bad. Not all prospects are prospects. Gavin Cecchini Inc Played very sparingly in Sept. Did have 2 2Bs and 2 RBI in 6 AB. Could be him or Wilmer in future. Sean Gilmartin Inc Did not pitch enough for grade, but know what we have here. Even 17.2 IP can’t hide 7.13 ERA. Josh Edgin Inc Still left-handed but not much else. Specialty was Sept. special: T.C.’s 5th and 6th inning lefty reliever. Management Terry Collins B A- B+ Tough loss in WC game, but came up with big wins down stretch. Manager of the Year in this grade book. Sandy Alderson B+ B+ B+ He had magic touch this year. Though Jay Bruce struggled, getting him showed Sandy knows time is now! |
| October 4, 2016 |