Nimmo Conforto Lagares

[ashie62]

Is that our starting OF? Who am I missing and who are the 4 and 5 of's

We need an OF big bat

[Edgy MD]

Four and five at the moment are something akin to Kevin Kaczmarski and T.J. Rivera. Non-roster players such as Gregor Blanco, Rajai Davis, and Braxton Lee hope to displace them.

The Mets let go of (or didn't re-sign) of a LOT of upper-level outfielders in the offseason. A lot will change, but as it currently sits, opening day should look something like:

New York
Brandon Nimmo*
Michael Conforto*
T.J. Rivera
Yoenis Céspedes (injured)
Kevin Kaczmarski*
Juan Lagares

Syracuse
Gregor Blanco*
Tim Tebow*
Braxton Lee*
Rajai Davis
Patrick Biondi*

Binghamton
Matt Winaker*
Quinn Brodey*
Desmond Lindsay
Raphael Gladu*
Jacob Zanon

St. Lucie
Walter Rasquin
Ross Adolph
=#0000FF]Tucker Tharp (looks like he's retired)
Zach Rheams
José (Miguel) Medina
David Miranda

Columbia
Wagner LaGrange
Anthony Dirocie
Raul Beracierta
Guillermo Granadillo
Ranfy Adon

[Lefty Specialist]

Hm. Not a whole lot of depth. TJ's not really an outfielder and Blanco/Davis/Lee are cannon fodder. If Tebow sees more than a few ML at bats, there's Trouble in River City.

How far away is Lindsay?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Did Matt den Dekker leave the organization again?

[Edgy MD]

Matt dD. is currently a free agent.

[Centerfield]

I might be completely crazy, but I wonder if the Mets really are secretly going after someone big like Harper. I mean, they talked so big. I can't imagine "going for it" with this type of lineup. Brodie mentioned that they still have "substantial" money to spend. Plus his last few moves came out of nowhere. Familia wasn't on anyone's radar. So you never know!

But then I guess big free agents like Harper aren't just signed out of nowhere. There are stadium visits and wining and dining. Who knows.

[Benjamin Grimm]

On Mets Hot Stove last week, Anthony DiComo started shouting that the Mets should sign Harper. He said that if Brodie really wants the Mets to be the team to beat, SIGN BRYCE HARPER! He said that would hands down make them the best team in the NL East.

He also said, in his column on MLB.com the other day, that the Mets have a payroll number that they will not go above. He didn't say, and probably doesn't know, what that number is, but it appears that he knows that there's a fixed ceiling. Maybe if the Mets can unload the contracts of Lagares and Frazier they can fit Harper? I wish I knew. I just agree that Harper is the kind of game-changer that could very well put them over the top, and it's frustrating that they don't seem to be in on him.

[Centerfield]

Yeah. I feel like they are not appreciating how difficult it is to get this close. Harper, a strong lefty reliever, and a decent back end starter puts this team at 95 wins.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I like to think they are stealth in on Harper. It would take a lot of shuffling things around, like, Zimmo or Conforto go away, but no reason not to. it would be a marketing home run, they'd sell more tickets than they had since 09, and the club would be interesting and more dangerous every day.

Machado at third base would be easier but wouldn't come with as much dramatic flair.

Harper would be Brodie's Pedro if you will

[Benjamin Grimm]

Speaking of that...

The four prominent players that Brodie has brought to the Mets are Cano, Diaz, Familia, and Ramos. And yet nobody is raising the "alarm" (as we saw with Omar in the 2004-05 offseason) that there's a nefarious plan to make the Mets more Hispanic.

Are people more tolerant now? Or just more likely to be suspicious of the motives of a brown-skinned GM than a Mr. Whitebread like Brodie Van Wagenen?

[smg58]

Hopefully people have figured out by now that Beltran and Martinez were the best players available, who just happened to also be Latino.

I wouldn't be in on Harper, at the money he is likely to get. He had fewer WAR than Nimmo last year, and only half a WAR more than Conforto in 2017 in 50 more plate appearances. If I have those kind of resources to spend, I want the upgrade to be unequivocal -- which it would be if Machado were replacing Frazier, for example.

[Edgy MD]

The real alarmism with Omar Minaya's signing of Latinos really began when Beltran was asked, and answered, his first press question in Spanish.

But yeah, Minaya's Dominican background made him a suspect right out of the gate.

[ashie62]

Not concerned about latinos

Am concerned about lack of depth. I am not confident Lagares can provide much of anything to the offense or stay healthy

BVG make this Harper thing happen. Pleez!