Ethan and Andy Go to Citi
Ethan and Andy talk about all things New York Mets.
Ethan and Andy Go to Citi
Ethan and Andy Go to Citi Episode 9
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The trade deadline is past. Many players were traded and many prospects were received. And since the deadline, the Mets have won 5 out of their last 6 games. What does this mean for the future of the team?
Ethan and Andy Go to City. Hello, Andy. Hello, Ethan. How are you? I'm good. Good. It's been a while since we've done this. It has. But there are changes afoot. We're past the trade deadline. Absolutely. Some big stuff happening there.
SPEAKER_02Right. But we're here for another episode of Ethan. And Andy. Go to City.
SPEAKER_00Your thoughts on the deadline.
SPEAKER_02Well, uh, I think it remains to be seen. There are certainly some really good prospects like Jefferson Rojas and Sammy Staffura that we got, but a lot of the other ones are, you know, they seem to be talented, but we just don't know. A lot of these were expiring contracts, and you might as well get something for these people.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think the two that were not um weaver and and uh Brazzaban, um a little interesting that they decided to move on from them. But uh, you know, I they were they were trying to reload the the minor leagues, and I think they did that. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02So and I mean as good as the Weaver was this year, I mean, relievers are so uh interchangeable in some ways that you know he could have lost it next year. So maybe just sell when his value is at the highest.
SPEAKER_00And I think that that that makes some sense. I think that uh what's really interesting is except for uh Peralta and Taylor, everybody came, everybody else they traded came out of the bullpen, right? I think so. And the one strength this team had all year was its bullpen. Of course, they come out of the trade deadline and they're hitting like gangbusters, and they're except for yesterday, pitching like gangbusters. So um I'm I'm fine with the hall. I mean, I think it adds a little bit of intrigue and excitement to a season that had very little of it. So I, you know, there was no superstar prospect that came our way, but we were we were not trading from a hand of strength.
SPEAKER_02So exactly. And I think, you know, we'll see. And if this gives a chance for, you know, some people to be promoted from the minor leagues, and we'll see what you know how they do.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, look at the the the whole bullpen is new now. So that's interesting. Um what about uh Bruin Agbayani as a as a as a trading uh piece?
SPEAKER_02I loved his father, and it'll be it'll be fun to uh it'll be fun to have him. I mean, he seems to have some hitting ability. Yeah. So he's a kid, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So we don't really know who's the quintessential lottery ticket, but uh I just love seeing that name, and I was like, it has to be his kid, right? Right, and sure it was.
SPEAKER_02Um It is kind of funny though, I mean, because one of one of the knocks against turns is that he has no, like he doesn't like give into emotion, no sand mentality, but in some ways that is a perfect example of you know, he's talented, but the real reason you might get him is because of the connection to Met's history.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And that's the reason any of us really cares, to be honest.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Uh he's an infielder, which is interesting because his dad was an outfielder. And they don't, you know, I mean, uh Benny was was built like a fire hydrant, and his son seems to be longer and leaner, the totally different, um, similar to uh only in the opposite way of what Vlad Guerrero and Vlad Jr. are, but but uh but switching roles. So it was interesting because uh if you think about we traded Brandon Sprout and Jet Williams to get Freddie Peralta and um and uh Meyer, um Tobias Meyer. Tobias Meyers, thank you. And uh so now just several months later, we essentially traded Brandon Sprout and uh Jet Williams for um Tobias Meyer and Emilian Petra and Gary Gilhill and Aiden Smith. So it's you know it it became minor leaguers for minor leaguers, and it was two for four that way.
SPEAKER_02So and certainly Brandon Sproat and uh Jeff Williams are not having great seasons so far, so it's not like yeah, there's nothing nothing seriously lost there.
SPEAKER_00I mean, the thing about trading prospects is it's not always about oh, they didn't work out, it's did you get full value on their promise, right? Like, like um like when they traded Casmir all those years ago, it wouldn't have been so bad if they had gotten Carlos Zambrano at the time, but they didn't, they got Victor Zambrano, right? So that's really the key, is is is uh, and I don't know. I mean, I think that had Freddie Peralta been this year what he was last year, and it's really been for most of his career, nobody would be wringing their hands over trading um you know, Williams and and uh and sprout.
SPEAKER_02And yeah, but it is so you just never know because I I read somewhere there was a story that um there was a chance that it was, you know, two years ago it was gonna be Brandon Sproad and Jet Williams for Garrett Crochet, who then went to the Red Sox, um, who obviously would have been a lot better, but then of course it's hurt all this year. So I mean, you just you know there's so many variables.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there are so many, and that's why it's um much easier to Monday morning quarterback than it is to quarterbacks. Yeah. Um yeah, but I'm not I mean uh I wasn't wowed by it, but I do uh, you know, I follow uh I read Amazon Avenue, the uh Mets blog every morning, and I love looking forward to the to the um minor league report. And uh it's just been fun this whole week seeing a whole slew of new names in there.
SPEAKER_02Right. And all fairly highly ranked. I mean, which may say something more about where the Mets farm system is now since we promoted so many people, but still, you you needed to fill the system again.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think I you know, obviously not the year we wanted to have um, you know, I thought I thought back in 23 when they did that big fire sale, they did okay. But I think they I think they did better. Certainly they have more numbers, of course. They traded more people, but right, I think they did better this year, to be honest. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02No, and even there are people who say they didn't get enough back in 23, but at the time all those were, you know, potential uh people, you know, they had high upside, and so they didn't work out, but that's the way it is. That's why you have to keep on getting more and more people into the system.
SPEAKER_00That's right. And then the other thing, too, is that people forget it's not all these guys will make the major leagues, but not all these guys have to, because they just have a little promise, and then you trade them this offseason for major leaguers again, right? Um, so we'll see. That it's funny how people talk about um, you know, the Mets intend to compete and all that, but I don't even know if we're gonna have a 2027. So that's the other thing.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. And you know, and I think that's in the back of David Stern's mind and probably other GMs that you know they're gonna they don't want to like take on high contracts.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, in in that regard, the weaver trade makes a little bit more sense too. Like if he's not even gonna pitch for you in his last year of his contract because the season gets canceled, it's better to turn them into some kids who haven't even made it yet. Maybe we'll see. So then what do you make of them just like coming out sweeping the Guardians and then crushing Pittsburgh in their first in the first game of the season series? It's great. Where was this?
SPEAKER_02I know, but I mean it just shows, I mean, Carson Benge and AJ Ewing just, you know, are just taking off, and Francisco Lindor finally seems to have, you know, rounded a corner. And you know, it makes a difference.
SPEAKER_00It does, it really does. I I think um I you know, I think it goes back to that criticism of Stern's about changing too much too soon. And I really do believe that if you bring in a single star at a time, there's pressure on that guy, but he's already buttressed and buffered by others who are there. But when you bring in a bunch of people who are coming to a new team, coming to New York City, and on top of that, replacing beloved players, that's a lot of pressure. And I know these guys are professional and they get paid millions and millions of dollars, but at the end of the day, when they walk down the street in their street clothes, they're human beings. And I think I it I don't think it's a coincidence that at the trade deadline, which is officially waving the white flag, that suddenly the pressure's off and suddenly these guys are playing loosey-goosey. I mean, they were stealing bases on Friday night left and right. Where was that in in April, May, and June?
SPEAKER_02I know. And it's just, you know, and it takes a while. Like Bo Bachet is getting to a point where he's having an almost typical season, and but it took two or three months in order to get there. And you know, it's you know, too bad, but I also can understand it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Now, do you think he opts out? Do you think he sticks with that contract? It's a lot of money to walk away from.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and how does it work out with the lockout? I mean, if there's a lockout, does is the contract guaranteed? I don't know.
SPEAKER_00I don't think it is. I don't think those guys get paid. So um yeah, I don't but but the lockout doesn't happen until December. So but you have to file, you have to make your decision like what, a week after the World Series or something?
SPEAKER_02So he's he's I would think he would I would think he would uh opt in this year. I think so too. You know, and then maybe next year if he has a typical year, then he'll try to get a long-term contract. Right. Um I mean, because it's 40 million dollars. So that's like Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, he's still guaranteed with the Mets 84 million. Yeah, but they also pay him five million if he opts out. I mean, I don't understand that idea, but um, but I think you're right. Because if if he had to opt into these last two years, then I think there was a chance maybe he goes and looks someplace else. But since he has that second opt-out, I think he probably takes the 42 million this year, which he's not gonna beat next year, and then sees what happens after that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I do think, I mean, assuming there is a season, I think the Mets, I mean, I think the Mets will be better next year in a sense that the expectations will be so much lower that they'll be able to exceed them.
SPEAKER_00And you have all these guys who maybe struggle to adapt. They've done it now, right? Like, like I don't think Bachet's gonna have the year he had last year. I do think that they'll have to figure out at least a platoon with Semian at second, um, because he's killing you. Yeah. Even even though he's he's he's got okay power numbers, but um he's killing you. I I read this morning that his on-based percentage against right-handed pitchers is 250. So let him hit lefties and and and bring in a bring in a left-handed.
SPEAKER_02Well, that is the one thing like um, you know, at this point, I mean, you know, I'm I'm done with Fientos and Beatty, though I suppose Beatty is slightly better. But it does feel like that Ronnie Mauricio has never had a full shot, and he may he may flunk it, but at this point in the season, I would rather see him play second base for the rest of the season just to see if he has it.
SPEAKER_00Well, he also is terrible against lefties. He's exactly the opposite of what Semin is. That would actually be a smart platoon, just play him against against uh righty's left-handed. It's funny you bring up Mauricio, because I actually posted something this morning on the aforementioned Emason Avenue about how you know people were complaining that Mauricio doesn't seem to have gotten the same runway that those two did. But those two were third basemen, and that was a hole. To give him a runway, Mauricio over the last few years would have meant he was a shortstop, so you're not gonna displace Lindor and McNeil until you know kind of last year, they were still he was still a very productive ball player, um, inconsistent, but productive. So you weren't really gonna displace him. And on top of that, he lost a lot of development time when he blew out his knee. He lost more than a year, and that was he was a guy who could ill afford it, ill afford that. So, you know, sometimes these things, you know, this is the the hand you get dealt. Right. But I agree, bring him up now and let him let him let him play lefty platoon to Semian.
SPEAKER_02I think that's yeah, it makes sense to me. And we seem to, you know, with McLean, uh Scott, and Thornton, I mean, seeing the beginnings of a stable rotation.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, a young stable rotation. What I like about Thornton is I don't think he's this good, but he throws strikes. He's economic and economical in his in his pitches. So if he's never more than a four or five you know starter, so what? You need you need that, yeah. It just feels like stability for the first time in forever. How badly do you miss David Peterson? Like zero, right? Exactly. I know, but I guess he's doing okay with the Cubs. I don't know. That's all I know. I know. Yeah, I don't really know. I know that uh Peralta got shellaced first game out, but it was in Colorado, I believe. So we'll give him a little caveat. Um and also next year Tyler McGill comes back. I I think maybe they they should think about him as a bullpen arm. But if you if Senga proves that he's a bullpen arm, if you had Senga and McGill already in your bullpen, and obviously Williams at the end at the back end, you've already got some established arms, even with all the trades they made.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, no, that's definitely the beginnings of a good bullpen situation. No, I certainly hope. I mean, if Senga can really pull that off, he'll at least, and I guess it's only one more year on his contract.
SPEAKER_00So But he's I mean, the times they put him out there for one inning, he's looked great. I think Senga's just a head case because his stuff is great, but like, you know, his his mechanics fly out of whack all the time, and I think it's just because he's thinking too much out there. I see written on your pad there something we absolutely have to talk about. Jeffrey Young. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Which I mean, it's fun in the way he uh leaps up and down every time he strikes somebody out. It's fun because he's on our team, but how long is that gonna last before somebody either Yeah, throws a bat at him or something?
SPEAKER_00It's so funny you say because he's on our team, because like I thought if this guy was a brave, I would be screaming expletives at the TV because that is so obnoxious. So obnoxious. Um, I also worry that he's you know gonna like pull a groin muscle there with that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. But it's also it is quite a story that I mean he was you know been in the minors for 12 years and was it was a Korea or Japan for several years.
SPEAKER_00I mean, that he's still and he also left baseball altogether. He was like a roofer and a and a gardener or something for a while.
SPEAKER_02And now is still throwing 100 miles an hour.
SPEAKER_00I mean when did you stop throwing 100 miles an hour? Like at birth?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think so. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It is a cool story, and you gotta love those kinds of stories. I do, I do think he's gonna piss off the wrong person eventually with that that leap. Because every strikeout, I mean, you throw 100 and some odd miles an hour, you're supposed to strike people out. You know, there's that school of thought, like act like you've done it before. So we'll see. But I did like the hustle he shared when they on Friday, when they threw out the guy, he threw a wild pitch, and uh they threw out the guy at the plate. Jan was on was off the mound towards the plate in an instant, which is such a contrast to how people were playing earlier in this season. You remember there was was it Peterson failed to cover first base or back up first base or something, and or back up the plate, I guess it was. And um that was the kind of thing uh we even talked about it on this podcast, that finally made me say, okay, Mendoza's gotta go, because that kind of stuff just that just that has to you have to be held to account for that. So to see Jan just like jump off the the mound, tag the guy out, and again celebrate, that was that was fun to see.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. No, those things make a difference, and you know, and you know, nine times out of ten, maybe somebody else covers or you know, we get the out, but you know, it's running hard down to the first baseline or covering the right base. You know, it's not that hard to do. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00If you get up four times a game, that means you gotta run four times. Like that's not that hard to do. Yep. It's not that hard to do. So yeah. Uh anyway, yeah, I I think I think having I think having that fresh bullpen, I don't think they're all gonna, you know, be great, but um it's I know it's exciting, and they all have something to play for.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. No, and I mean I want to watch some of the uh the minor league games, I mean, now because all the prospects went to uh Brooklyn or Binghamton. Yeah, I know. And you and they seem to all be like their first games, like doing well.
SPEAKER_00They are, and uh, and then you've got Mitch Voigt down in Binghamton. Yeah. It's just like, I mean, he's hitting over 500 down there. It's crazy. He struggled to start the season. He was their first round pick last year. Was it did they miss the first? Yeah, he was in first round still. Um sluggish start in in Brooklyn this year, but I don't even know if he earned the promotion in Binghamton, but he got the promotion of Binghamton and just went on fire. Beautiful. That's and you could now you can start dreaming on him, you know.
SPEAKER_02No, it's gonna be, I mean, David Stearns is gonna have uh a tough job this offseason. I mean, both because of what would happen with the lockout, but I mean, he will have to sign some more relief pitchers, even if we have the beginnings of uh well for 2027. And I mean, I don't know. I mean, there don't seem to be many uh major first basemen available and free agents, but I mean, Jorge Polanco is not the answer.
SPEAKER_00No, I mean Young is holding down the job better than I ever imagine he would, but he's not the answer on a team with plans to be championship champions. They need to solve first, they need to solve second, because that's a problem. If Thornton is for real, then you've got three-fifths of the rotation in with kids, but I think you need at least it and and I I mean Minaya, I think, has been serviceable. So, but you probably need at least two more arms you can really depend on coming in. Outfield seems set now, yeah with you with uh ewing and bench and soda.
SPEAKER_02And soto, yeah. And yeah, you know, and it's it that is amazing. I mean, the the fact that Soto moved to left field became sort of just like a afterthought with everything else happening, but it was it's it's worked out well.
SPEAKER_00It really has worked out well, and it and it really opened up that outfield for for uh Benjamin for Ewing. And I'm I'm glad they stuck with Bench when he was struggling at the beginning of the year. He's he's looked great you know in the last uh month and a half or whatever. So uh so what else? I mean, it's been a while, but I think that was the highlight was the uh the the trade deadline and the better play since.
SPEAKER_02Right, yeah, and we'll just see. And um, you know, somebody said the uh you know the Red Sox have gone 35 and 7 in the last month, and theoretically, if the Mets went back, they would barely get at the playoffs.
SPEAKER_00This is exactly what being a Mets fan is all about. It's like Boston did Boston has had like a 12-game winning streak, and then they lost one, and then now they've got like a I think they lost the other night, but they had like another eight-game hit winning streak. It's like amazing, amazing. Uh, they must be going nuts up in Boston.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Which, I mean, I don't know. Exactly. I don't think it's gonna happen for the Mets, but it does go to show that it is possible.
SPEAKER_00Anything can happen. Yeah um, yeah. Wouldn't that be something? Wouldn't that be crazy? Yeah, yeah. Where's my calcium market? I'm gonna put my money on the Mets.
SPEAKER_02I had to think about could resign Clay Holmes in the offseason, but I don't know. And those things never work out when they say to let somebody go with resign them. Yeah, it never works.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they're always like in that moment, there's always like, oh yeah, I would sign with them again, but then there's like, you know, some sort of bitterness comes in or whatever. Um apparently they never even had the conversation with Holmes to extend, which seemed odd.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um but they got something for him. So that's the other that's the other part of the equation. Is it does it make sense to to sign him for next year, which is all up in the air anyway, or does it make sense to get a player for him?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and if you could sign him for the $12 million that his option is for, that would be one thing. But I mean he's gonna want $25. Like he's gonna want to like get bear at least Mania's contract, which look how that worked out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yes, yeah, yes. And that's another reason to maybe, you know, play it safe. I don't know, get get something of value out of him. Which who I'm trying to remember. That was the uh oh, that was the that was the Cubs trade. That's where they got Rojas.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's I mean he's becomes the Mets number one prospect.
SPEAKER_00So which is amazing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Says more about Jonah Tongs here than anything else, but yeah, it's amazing.
SPEAKER_02Well, it's been good talking to you again.
SPEAKER_00I'm glad we got back to do this again. It's been too long.
SPEAKER_02And we are uh, so I think this is the end of another episode of Ethan and Andy Go to City.