PORT STREET LUCIE — A new collection of weapons arrived this winter, along with some gloves, making goal prevention a focus of the Mets’ competitive plans this season.
Of the 13 new players added to the team’s 40-man roster by President of Baseball Operations David Stearns since the end of last season, none are considered immediate offensive contributors.
Seven are pitchers, and four are major league veterans whose defense is valued more than their offensive ability.
The other two players are almost certain to start the season in the minor leagues.
Daniel Vogelbach and Luis Guillaume were among the players not tendered by the club, creating space for Harrison Bader, Joey Wendle, and Tyron Taylor.
New pitchers include Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, and Adrian Hauser in the rotation, and Jake Diekman and Shintaro Fujinami in the bullpen.
If the club had succeeded in signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto, this offseason might have been a different atmosphere.
In exchange, the Japanese ace received a $325 million contract from the Dodgers (the same amount the Mets were offering), and Kodai Chiga will be the frontrunner in the Queens’ rotation.
It’s hard to imagine the Mets playing against the low-ranking Braves in their bid to win the National League East.
However, any hope of finishing above .500 and competing for a wild card spot will depend on the return of a familiar offensive line (Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Francisco Alvarez) and the Mets. It all depends on what we can get from third base. Brett Batty and Mark Vientos are competing for the job.
But that doesn’t mean much unless the Mets have the pitching and defense to support that lineup.
“[Bader] “Depending on where they want Wendle to be, he could improve defense in center field,” the major league talent evaluator said. “But my concern is at the top of the rotation. I love Chiga, but we have to reshape the starting rotation around him and have a six-man starting rotation around him. If so, that’s a concern for me.”
As a rookie, Chiga will most likely be given an extra day of rest between starts, and Mets officials believe he will be playing a similar schedule to his previous one, at least on a part-time basis. We have been considering personnel rotation. in Japan.
Behind a rotation of Senga, Severino, Manaea, Quintana and Hauser, the Mets have a cast that includes Tyler Megill, Joey Lucchesi and Jose Butto, who could compete for the sixth starter spot.
Another possibility, David Peterson, is expected to miss at least two months of the season as he rehabs from offseason hip surgery.
“I’m just concerned about their pitching depth,” the talent evaluator said. “Other than Chiga, there are no top players in the rotation. You should be more concerned about that than the lineup. If you compare them to the Braves and Phillies, their pitching depth is far inferior to the other two teams. It looks like that.”
Bader, another former Yankees player who is close to Carlos Mendoza (the new Mets manager spent four seasons as Aaron Boone’s bench coach in the Bronx), joins on a $10.5 million, one-year contract and is a Gold Glove candidate. will be brought to center field.
Last season, Bader was in the 95th percentile in MLB with nine outs above average as a center fielder, according to Statcast.
The addition of Bader will allow Nimmo to become a left fielder, giving him more coverage for Starling Marte, who struggled to defend on the right side last season when returning from core surgery last winter.
Taylor, who joined Hauser in a trade with the Brewers, is another glove that can cover all three outfield positions. Mets officials see Wendle, who can play second, third and shortstop, as a defensive upgrade over Guillaume.
The formula for preventing runs also depends on improving at third base, where Batty and Vientos compete for playing time.
Batty struggled as a rookie last season, and evaluators are looking at Vientos as a first baseman or DH.
“Bati still has upside, but he needs to get better at routine plays,” the talent evaluator said. “He doesn’t always make routine plays. He has to do that in the big leagues.”
