Why? Because they're the Mets, that's why. They had to beat out the Dodgers who, truth be told, are a lot closer to winning a World Series than the Flushing Orange and Blue. So when Los Angeles offered Scherzer $40 million per year, Steve Cohen had to up the ante to $43.3 mill to close the deal.
Was he worth it? That depends on whether Cohen's offseason spending splurge is over or whether it's just getting started. Because even with a starting rotation that features Jacob deGrom and Scherzer at the top, there are still plenty of question marks for this organization.
For starters, who's going to be the closer? Edwin Diaz has one more year left on his contract and has yet to establish himself as a reliable closer with this team. At times he's been light's out; at others he's been lit up like a Christmas tree. No matter how great your starting rotation is, if your bullpen can't protect the lead, you're not going to be successful. And it's not just Diaz that is a cause of concern. The middle relievers by the end of the season had clearly been overworked. If the starters can't pitch into at least the 7th inning, the Mets are going to find themselves in the same predicament as last season.
And speaking of starters, the Mets still don't know what they can expect from Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker and David Peterson. Carrasco was on the IL most of last season, and when he wasn't he was hardly what you would call major league caliber. Walker had an outstanding first half of the season, then crashed and burned the second half. And Peterson is still a work in progress. With Noah Syndergaard defecting to the Los Angeles Angels for $23 mill and Marcus Stroman practically out the door himself, this is very top heavy rotation. And keep in mind, we still don't know if the physical ailments that plagued deGrom most of last season will return in 2022. If they do, Scherzer might be the only legit starter on this staff.
Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha are all quality signings and represent upgrades over the players the Mets had at those positions, but none are what could be considered elite. Marte was once viewed as one of the best center fielders in the game not that long ago. And while his numbers have tailed off a bit since his days with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he managed to hit 12 homers, drive in 55 runs and bat over .300 with the Miami Marlins and the Oakland A's last season. If he can replicate that performance this season in Queens, the Mets will be very happy with him.
With Javier Baez signing with the Detroit Tigers, second base is now up for grabs. Do the Mets go with a tandem of Jeff McNeil and Robinson Cano, or do they buy out Cano's contract, trade McNeil and sign a replacement? And with Michael Conforto turning down their qualifying offer to become a free agent, the Mets will also need a new right fielder. In other words, don't put that check book away just yet, Stevie.
And we still don't know who's going to manage this team. New GM Billy Eppler, who in his five years with the Angels did not have a single winning season, will be tasked with finding someone who can take this team to the next level. Good luck with that. Quality managers don't grow on trees.
So, yes, the Scherzer signing was huge and well worth it. Kudos to Cohen for ponying up the big bucks. But there's a lot more work that needs to be done before this team is ready to contend for the National League East, let alone the World Series.
No comments:
Post a Comment