A Mets Christmas Wish List…on a Budget

Acceptance

Perhaps the joy of the holiday season has quenched my furor over the Mets off-season. Sadly, reality has set in and I realize the Mets are constructed with a small market mentality. It would seem we should not expect anything substantial in terms of signings or trades. Maybe Jay Bruce, maybe not. Leave it to the Mets and Sandy Alderson to lower our expections before the Winter Meetings. It is what it is and I am trying to accept it.

I struggle when we trade away or lose a player to free agency…but I have become more callused. Sandy has my permission to deal away part of this roster. They can just as easily lose without them as they can with them. Those trades are not going to happen. At present, the 2018 roster will be made up of many of the same players from 2017. As we all know, the 2017 season was was a lost season in every sense by Memorial Day. This current team roster has the potential to be competitive if they remain healthy. Having said all that, here is my holiday wish list.

Visions of Sugar Plums…My Wish List for the Arms

Matt Harvey—Physical and mental health. Even on a bad day he can throw in the low 90’s. Make that work. If he would turn the corner, I think he could be our semi Max Scherzer. My wish is that he would learn to pitch within his limitations. He can still have that fire and desire to win and pitch effectively. Praying Mickey Callaway has a positive influence on Matt and….

Noah Syndergaard—Also physical and mental health. My wish is that Mickey can teach this young man to be Noah Syndergaard and not a comic book figure. He has what it takes to be Goodenesque and more.

Jacob DeGrom—Stay Awesome.

Jeurys Familia—A wish for him would be complete confidence in his stuff. Sometimes his body language is troublesome and elicits fear in the fans. Consistency with his command would help with that. He needs to be a bulldog and own his time in the game.

Steven Matz, Zach Wheeler, Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman. My wish for these guys would be a healthy and prosperous season. No elbow, shoulder, lat, hamstring, fatigue, oblique, or any other Metsian injury. (Valley fever is another). Please don’t shoot your eye out either.

Wish list continued

Wilmer Flores—I would like to see him get an every day job. The Mets have some kind of slanted logic that the more he plays the less productive he is. He is one of the guys that has heart and fight. This team needs that.

Juan lagares—He is working with a swing coach this off-season. He could be a difference maker for this team if his work pays dividends. We’ve been waiting on Juan. We all know what happens to Met players when they leave and hook up with a swing coach. This is a case where he is still a Met. Juan takes the game very seriously. Love that.

Travis D’arnaud and Kevin Plaweki—let hope one of these fellows reaches their potential right now. They need a catcher who can perform from behind the plate and at the plate. I have to believe that one of them will step up. They are Major League catchers in New York City…Run with it!

José Reyes—A wish for him, if signed, is that he will not fall into an abyss for the first two months. Start hitting right out of the gate.

Yoenis Cespedis—My wish for Yoenis would be a gift from him to US. He would takeaway the fear each and every one of us feel everytime we see him in motion.

Youth Movement

Michael Conforto—Keep doing what you’re doing. You were a pleasure to watch last year. Complete recovery from his dislocated shoulder would be a wish. Setbacks come easily with that injury. He is one cool dude.

Dominic Smith and Amed Rosario— Develop and mature into the ballplayers you are capable of. Met fans love homegrown Mets. My wish is for these guys to feel that dynamic.

Brandon Nimmo—Same as above but he is further ahead. He is so close to a breakout season. The Mets need to play him. This young man can hit. He makes the game fun.