Port St. Lucy – After a surprising run at NLC last season, there is Mets Camp, the largest contract owner in professional sports history, with some injuries and expectations of the sky being “pretty standard” and “normal”.
Those were the happy words of David Stearns, who listed the relatively dullness of the team as a positive development.
“Maybe it was a surprise: it was calm,” the Mets president of the baseball business said Thursday as he spoke at the midpoint of spring training.
There are concerns about Sean Manaea (Oblique) and Frankie Montas (LAT). Stearns remains on the original timetable, but has not yet resumed throwing after closing, but otherwise it is generally looming as the biggest problem in camps that are generally free of charge.
Other thoughts from Stearns are that there are first days of less than three weeks:
No way, Joe's
This week, Stearns saw Jose Iglesias land and the Padres and Jose Quintana signed with the Brewers.
The Mets are down the backup infielder (it could be that Nick Madrigal lost the season) and two starting pitchers.
Is there any rethinking about not being interested in keeping the two popular players who became major contributors last year?
“No,” Stearns said. “We feel really good about the team. We prepare for injuries. We feel deep and we are excited to see what some of the other players, including young players, can do on the occasion.”
The last list spot
Iglesias landed elsewhere as he couldn't choose an option for the minor leagues.
The Mets have booked one utility spot for the competition, including Brett Batty, Louis Sangel Ackna and non-roster invitees Luis de Los Santos and Donovan Walton.
Everything except Walton can be given options to minors (and if Walton wins the job and doesn't perform, he will likely be DFA'd).
Baty played best in the group in the spring, but Acuña and De Los Santos may be most defensively flexible due to their abilities at shortstops.
The key question the Mets face is whether they're okay with Batty or Aknya. Both have strong prospects.
Stearns admitted his concern, but it could give Delos Santos or Walton an advantage.
“[Prospect playing time is] It's always a consideration for us, and we talk a lot about it,” Stearns said. “I think it is important for younger players to make an impact, especially in positions with important talent to reach the top of the minor league levels, and have space on the roster throughout the year.
“We feel we have a lot of young talented infielders and we need them to play.”
The final spinning spot
The injuries to Montas and Mania resulted in two passes to rotation in the three-man competition. Tyler Megill, Griffin Canning, and Paul Blackburn.
Megill touched 98 mph at the start of the first spring. The back arm with the Angels, but full of talent, canned food added a cutter to his mix. Blackburn is playing with the sinker again.
“I think we're built to withstand this [injury rash]Stearns said. “The rest of us throw the ball very well. … And now let's keep the rest of us healthy. Let's enter the season.”
Next arm wave
The healthy rotation members looked fine. Their hopeful future rotation members looked even more promising.
Impressed again on Thursday, Brandon Sprout looked ready for the majors. Blade Tidwell attracted some attention by pitching the perfect innings with outstanding performance.
The pitching development system was a camping star.
“I think we're beginning to see this wave of leads starting to reach the top levels of minor leagues, but the next step is to have to move them well into the big leagues,” Stearns said.
Juan Reiner
At his first camp, awarded the $765 million award, Stearns was not surprised by Soto's work ethic or the quality of his at-bats.
It was Soto's sense of humor that opened his eyes.
“He's a funny guy,” Stearns said. “I think he takes his craft very seriously when you look at him across the field. That's what I met at our meeting with him is how seriously he takes his craft. …I think he interacts with his teammates every day, interacts with staff every day, when he's in the cage, it's business, when he gets back there, it's business.
“That's cool to watch.”
