For the eighth straight season, the Mets will not be going to the postseason. The Amazin's were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Friday. Time to look back and review their season.
What went right
Quite a bit for a team on pace for their fourth consecutive losing season, actually. Lucas Duda broke out with 28 home runs (and counting), showing the Mets made the right decision in keeping him and trading Ike Davis. Daniel Murphy had a very strong season at second base (117 OPS+) and Juan Lagares was able to provide some offense (102 OPS+) in addition to his elite center field defense. Zack Wheeler's first full season in the rotation has been very promising and Jenrry Mejia took to the closer's role well after one last early-season try as a starter.
Then there are the rookies. Righty Jacob deGrom is the Rookie of the Year favorite thanks to his 2.68 ERA and 3.35 K/BB ratio in 21 starts and 134 1/3 innings. He's a little older than the typical Rookie of the Year candidate (age 26), but the results are undeniable. Catcher Travis d'Arnaud struggled early in the season, was sent to Triple-A for a few weeks, and has hit .274/.322/.480 with 10 home runs in 67 games since returning. Setup man Jeurys Familia quietly has a 2.30 ERA in 74 1/3 innings. Despite the disappointing year overall, the Mets had some very positive developments in 2014.
What went wrong
First and foremost, franchise player David Wright had a disaster year, hitting .269/.324/.374 (101 OPS+) with only eight home runs in 134 games. He was bothered by nagging shoulder trouble all summer and was shut down for good earlier this month. It was easily the worst season of his stellar career.
The Mets spent some real money in free agency for the first time in several years and both Curtis Granderson (100 OPS+) and Chris Young (80 OPS+) underwhelmed. Young was released at midseason. Bartolo Colon (86 ERA+) ate innings but that's pretty much it. Manager Terry Collins' infatuation with the speedy (29 steals) but otherwise not very good (80 OPS+) Eric Young Jr. cost Lagares playing time early in the season. Ruben Tejada also showed that no, he is not the shortstop of the future.
And, of course, Matt Harvey threw zero pitches in 2014. That was expected following his October 2013 Tommy John surgery. There were some minor controversies involving his rehab but nothing crazy. The fact that the Mets lost one of his dirt cheap pre-arbitration years really stings.
MVP: Omar Minaya, and I am only slightly trolling. The team's previous general manager drafted, signed or acquired most of their best players, including Duda, Murphy, Lagares, deGrom, Mejia and Familia (and Harvey). Current GM Sandy Alderson deserves credit for acquiring d'Arnaud and Wheeler in high-profile trades, but right now the core of this team was built by Minaya.
LVP: Wright and Granderson get the nod as co-LVPs. They hit a combined .245/.323/.375 (100 OPS+) in over 1,200 plate appearances while soaking up approximately 40 percent of the team's payroll. Ouch.
Free agents to be: RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka and OF Bobby Abreu
Gameplan heading into the offseason
The team's payroll dropped for the third straight season -- $143 million in 2011, $95 million in 2012, $94 million in 2013, $85 million in 2014 -- and Alderson has already indicated it will remain in the $85 million range next year. The Fred Wilpon-led ownership group has been having financial trouble for years, but, to be frank, an $85 million payroll for a New York team is embarrassing. It's a bottom third payroll in the game's largest market.
The Mets already have $54 million on the books next year with Duda, Murphy and Dillon Gee still owed considerable arbitration raises. Spending big on free agents again isn't possible without clearing salary, which could happen by trading Jon Niese, Colon or Murphy. The Mets have plenty of young pitching to replace Colon and/or Niese, and prospect Dilson Herrera's breakout year could make Murphy expendable.
If the Mets are going to spend money on a free agent this winter, it's a safe bet they will spend it on a shortstop. Tejeda isn't the answer and Wilmer Flores' defense leaves plenty to be desired. Hanley Ramirez, Jed Lowrie, J.J. Hardy, Asdrubal Cabrera and Stephen Drew are all set to be free agents this offseason, so they will have plenty of shortstop options to choose from.
If the club doesn't spend this offseason, Alderson & Co. will continue to move forward with their plan to build around young pitching, specifically some combination of Harvey, Wheeler, deGrom, Niese, Gee, Rafael Montero and top prospect Noah Syndergaard. One (or two) could be traded for a shortstop and/or a big left field bat, though Alderson has been hesitant to deal from his pitching surplus. There isn't much wiggle room to do anything more than minor tinkering without a salary-clearing trade or a payroll increase.
Ridiculously premature prediction for 2015
The Mets are a team on the rise thanks to their collection of productive young players like Harvey, Wheeler, deGrom, d'Arnaud, Duda and Lagares. These guys are big leaguers too. Not prospects. They still have some major lineup holes to address, which will be tough given their payroll situation. Still, the Mets are moving in the right direction and contending for a wild-card spot in 2015 is very possible. In fact, it's not completely out of the question that they will be the second best team in the NL East next year.
