Let's Build the 2019 SHaMs

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Well the FHaMs for all they have going for them are a huge disappointment, so let's help em become the SHaMs.



As I see it the FHaMs have 5 problems, the solutions aren't all realistic but might be fun to see



1. Defense is poor.

--Trade Ramos to a contender, make Nido the starter

--Try Rosario in center

--make Heck the SS starter...for now

--Make Rosario play beardless till he starts making the plays



2. Fundies suck

--Fire Mickey, hire Showalter

--Blunt Cano's influence with a different veteran "who plays the game the right way," like maybe, Lowrie?



3. Bullpen sucks

--"Demote" Diaz till his results improve in noncritical situations, or trade him at a loss

-- Conduct a short-term experiment to see whether Fammy improves emotionally by giving him the closer's job back, we're already paying him like one

-- Make Gselly the closer, for now

-- Make Matz a reliever

-- Make Syndergaard the closer



4. Team Going Nowhere in the Standings

--Trade Ramos, Frazier, Wheeler, Vargas, Matz, anyone in the bullpen including guys we like like Lugo, try to trade Cano

--Listen to offers for Smith, Syndergaard, Zimmo, Rosario

--Get back motherfuckers who can hit, starting pitchers, a good catcher if such a thing exists

--Find out what's up with Conforto



5. Starters are Underperforming

--Trade/redeploy up to 4 of them

[Edgy MD]

6. Lineup is sub-optimal for run production.

>> Bat Alonso fourth, and if workable (Nimmo somehow returns or Lowrie shows ability at the top of the lineup) McNeil third.

>> If you have to leave McNeil at leadoff, then bat Smitty third.

>> Drop Canó to seventh, and if he has half the character folks have been insisting he has, he'll welcome the chance to hit his way back into the heart of the order. The reality check will be an important precedent for his demotion to pinch hitter next year.



Syndergaard the Closer would be an epic story.

[whippoorwill]

Rosario beardless is a good idea if only because he wouldn't look like a total doofus

[seawolf17]

Back up the truck.



Thanks For The Memories, But You're a Twin/Padre/Diamondback/Whatever Now:

Frazier

Wheeler

Gsellman

Lugo

Lagares

Vargas



No Real Trade Value Anyway, but Maybe:

Matz

Font

Wilson

Hechavarria



Not Going Anywhere, Even If We Want Them To, Because Contract:

Lowrie

Familia

Cano

Ramos



Not Going Anywhere, Because They're Good/Cheap/Young:

Diaz

Rosario

Davis

Nido



If You Trade Them, We March On Flushing:

deGrom

Syndergaard

Conforto

Nimmo

McNeil

Dom Smith

Alonso

[smg58]

Only McNeil, Alonso, and DeGrom are untouchable.



Smith is not hurting the team in left. Keep him in there, and play him every day.



If there is a taker for Ramos, let him go.



Rosario should get you value. Conforto would get you good value, if you are thinking long-term, and Smith makes him expendable. Same with Seth Lugo -- let somebody else overpay for a relief pitcher.



McNeil should be an infielder long-term. I'd have no problem playing Lowrie at short while giving Gimenez time to move forward. Lowrie would not be worse there than Rosario has been.



Obviously you take what you can get for your free agents.



I don't think they can afford to trade Diaz at the really, really big loss it would be right now. I'd be happy to part with Cano, but I'm afraid there is only one GM in the league who would willingly take his contract and he's already done that.



I'd look into Harrison Bader of the Cardinals. He hasn't done more than show flashes, but he's a superior centerfielder having some bad BABIP luck this year and the Cardinals don't seem to be patient with him. Plus they are fully capable of undervaluing their own -- what did they get for Tommy Pham and Luke Voit this time last year? And his floor is still quite a bit higher than Juan Lagares' floor.

[Centerfield]

All of this is great, but Wilpon and Brodie are still in charge and they shouldn't be trusted to trade dick.

[Edgy MD]

=whippoorwill post_id=15361 time=1562604049 user_id=79]
Rosario beardless is a good idea if only because he wouldn't look like a total doofus

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I'm real intrigued by moving him to center. It might take some learning on the job but that's what SHaM seasion is for (because the Mets sure as hell don't work out the tough stuff in Spring Training). My god what an unprepared-looking bunch they are.

[seawolf17]

Defensive metrics are what they are, but only Tim Anderson of the White Sox has more errors at short, and Anderson can at least hit, even if he walks *less* than Rosario does.

[Frayed Knot]

I don't know what to make of Rosario.



If you had asked me as late as the second half of last season if he was a legit ML SS I'd have said 'Yes' without hesitation. Maybe not top of the pile defensively but more than adequate.

But we've all seen what he's been this season. And it's not just that early spate of errors where he seemed totally lost, it's the plays not made -- borderline H/E plays that he doesn't

make plus he virtually never 'steals' an out -- and the ones he does make but which seem almost accidental if he gets all the parts (glove + transfer + throw) synched up at the same

time. We got so 'out-defenced' by the Phils in this past series that it wasn't close to funny and it's mostly NOT the makeshift OF that's been the problem (although that hasn't helped).



I'd be all for trying to morph him into a CF with Hech (or someone Hechie-like) as a bridge until Gimenez is (hopefully - he's not exactly burning down the park in Bingo) ready.

Might take some time, though, before you'd know if/how well it's going to work.

[Centerfield]

Why would we convert Rosario to CF? His bat barely plays at SS. He'd be Lagares in the OF. Without the defense.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Actually SSs hit better than CFs, on average, and Rosario, right this second, is an average NL CF hitter: 246/312/404/715 (he's 260/299/414/713)



On top of that he's 23 and in his second season and it's easy to imagine he'll improve, maybe a lotif he gets being a shitty SS off his plate.



The comparison to Lagares isn';t valid beyond both guys not walking enough. Larages is 30, and in decline offensively and defensively, and is a whole level worse than an ascendent Rosario now

[Vic Sage]

25-man roster (+ IR), tiered by disposability:



bad long-term contracts (trade if possible, but not likely):

Cano

Familia

*Cespedes



UFAs or 1-year contracts, with little to some value (trade):

Wheeler

Frazier

Vargas

Ramos

Wilson

*Lowrie



UFAs or minor-league options, with little to no value (trade or keep):

Hechavarria

Avilan

Lagares

Nido

Guillorme

Font

*Dw.Smith



2+ years team control, with little to some value (trade for value, or keep)

Rosario

Dm.Smith

Davis

Syndergaard

Matz

Diaz

Lugo

Gsellman

*Nimmo



2+ years team control, with great value (keep)

Alonzo

McNeil

Conforto

DeGrom





* dl list

[Frayed Knot]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: The comparison to Lagares isn';t valid beyond both guys not walking enough. Larages is 30, and in decline offensively and defensively, and is a whole level worse than an ascendent Rosario now

Yeah, it's easy to see Rosario, because we've been hearing about him for so long, as if he's been around forever and therefore should be a finished product by now.

Except that he's a year younger than Alonso, 2-1/2 younger than both Nimmo & Conforto, 3-1/2 younger than McNeil, etc. Not many guys have 1,000+ ABs on

their resumes a half year prior to turning 24. There's room for growth with him. Besides, who knows what he'll look like in CF, Lagares was a converted SS too

"stuck" behind Matt den Decker on the depth chart.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Edgy MD wrote: 6. Lineup is sub-optimal for run production. >> Drop Canó to seventh, and if he has half the character folks have been insisting he has, he'll welcome the chance to hit his way back into the heart of the order. The reality check will be an important precedent for his demotion to pinch hitter next year.

Yeah he's about the worst everyday player in the league, and definitely the worst in the lineup, and yet we hit him 3rd everyday. I'm wondering if I can blame him for the fact that Conforto for all his general production isn't really hitting enough.



What's the deal with Conforto do you think?

[Edgy MD]

I'm caught between "I'm just an alienated guy and there's always going to be a part of every season where I just emotionally check out" and "some days, my shoulder hurts so bad I want to scream."

[Edgy MD]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I'm real intrigued by moving him to center. It might take some learning on the job but that's what SHaM seasion is for (because the Mets sure as hell don't work out the tough stuff in Spring Training). My god what an unprepared-looking bunch they are.

That whole, "I'm not going to have Smith work out in the outfield at all this spring" plan was amazing since a second grader could have predicted he'd be needed there at some point.

[whippoorwill]

Okay as a woman and a mom I just have to say that syndergaard is freaking adorable.

We've all seen his family; it won't last.



But that kinda of appeal is always a keeper as long as he doesn't absolutely suck yet

[Fman99]

Coobs is the best, I love posts like this.



I'm a big SHaMs fan, every year. I believe this is when they turn it around and go on their 39-13 run to start the 2nd half. You wait, you watch, ya sumbitches.

[Centerfield]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Actually SSs hit better than CFs, on average, and Rosario, right this second, is an average NL CF hitter: 246/312/404/715 (he's 260/299/414/713) On top of that he's 23 and in his second season and it's easy to imagine he'll improve, maybe a lotif he gets being a shitty SS off his plate. The comparison to Lagares isn';t valid beyond both guys not walking enough. Larages is 30, and in decline offensively and defensively, and is a whole level worse than an ascendent Rosario now

That's crazy. I would never have guessed that. Thanks for sharing.

[Edgy MD]

Find a part-time role for Canó, move McNeil primarily to second. Call up Dilson and get him some reps. If you trade Frazier, there's room in the infield for evabody.



Call up Santana, experiment with a six-man rotation, using the starters liberally out of the pen on the day opposite their starts. Trash the six-man rotation when it fails, but delight in the success that it was all a pretext to turn Matz into a reliever.



Work out J.D. Davis as a pitcher and as a catcher. Give him a couple of September appearances at both and see if anything took.