Jake Marisnick

Predicting the New York Mets Bench Players

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For the first time in quite a few years, the New York Mets have the depth they can count on throughout their bench. It features some high profile contracts and critical acquisitions to bolster the team’s defensive depth late in games.

Rene Rivera

The backup catcher battle is going to be heated one throughout Spring Training quietly. Tomas Nido is out of minor league options and has not shown any hitting prowess during his career. There are plenty of choices similar to Nido in the minors, and Rene Rivera is a veteran the Mets have trusted with their pitching staff before. Rivera is still a great defensive catcher, and Noah Syndergaard will be happy to throw it to him throughout Spring Training.

Dominic Smith

Dominic Smith has survived the offseason trade rumors, but the ones in Spring Training may be a different story. Despite the Mets signing Matt Adams, Smith should make it out of camp with the team. He proved to be a valuable pinch hitter after Pete Alonso ran away with the first base job. The only way the Mets trade him is if he breaks out during Spring Training and the Mets deal him when his stock is high.

Luis Guillorme

This spot would belong to Jed Lowrie but his reality as a Met is dim. Either he will not be ready for Opening Day or the Mets will find a way to move him before the Spring ends. Luis Guillorme was a very useful player off the bench during the second half of 2019. He can play three out of the four infield spots well and can is useful in a bench role.

Jake Marisnick

The Mets traded for Jake Marisnick as a small upgrade to Juan Lagares. He will be a massive part of the Mets during the late innings due to his gold glove caliber defense in center field. Marisnick is not much of a hitter, but with all the outfield options the Mets have, hitting is not the reason why he is a Met. It would be no surprise to see him play in 120 games but only tally around 300 plate appearances as he did in 2019.

Yoenis Cespedes

The left-field competition between Yoenis Cespedes and J.D. Davis is a heavyweight prizefight that is going overlooked. By all accounts, Cespedes is healthy and ready to participate fully during Spring Training. Just three years ago, their roles differed. Cespedes was the stud hitter coming off a strong 2016, and Davis was trying to show he belonged on a major league roster. He has a huge chip on his shoulder and has set his expectations higher than ever.

The injuries and off-field stories make us forget how special an athlete Cespedes is. Despite turning 34, he still garners Ruth like power and a cannon for an arm. When healthy, the Mets win games, and if he is healthy, the production will follow, and he will see himself in the lineup often as the season progresses.

 

What Jake Marisnick will mean for the New York Mets’ Defense

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New York Mets trade for Jake Marisknick

The New York Mets‘ defense got a big boost when they traded for elite defender Jake Marisnick.

On Thursday, the New York Mets acquired one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball in Jake Marisnick. That’s a  huge deal for the Mets. They finished with -94 DRS in 2019, which was the second-worst in baseball. It’s also the second-worst all-time for a team with a winning record.

Adding Jake Marisnick is a huge step to changing that. Marisnick graded out as a top-10 defensive outfielder in baseball last season by OAA. That’s with only playing 733 innings in center field. When his innings match those of the leaders in OAA like Victor Robles and Kevin Kiermaier  he moves up to the third-best in baseball.

That’s a huge improvement for the Mets. They got negative defensive production out of Conforto, Nimmo, and Lagares in CF in 2019. So, having Marisnick patrolling CF alone is a huge improvement, but it’s not the only one. He also improves the defense by pushing both Nimmo and Conforto into full-time corner outfield roles.

Nimmo and Conforto may be negative defenders in CF, but they’re both above-average defenders in the corner outfield spots. An outfield of Nimmo, Marisnick, and Conforto could be one of the best defensive outfields in baseball. That’s a huge step up from an outfield that was one of the five worst in baseball in 2019.

This isn’t going to fix all the Mets’ defensive issues. Most of those issues revolve around the infield, where the Mets were the worst in baseball defensively. The Mets also have a stable of ground ball pitchers in their rotation, which lessens the effect of this signing.

However, it’s easy to forget how many hits, especially extra-base hits, could have been avoided with a good defensive outfielder, let alone an elite one. Marisnick coming in should limit damage done against the Mets on fly balls. That means less runners on and less runners in scoring position. That, in turn, means less pitches for the starters, which will limit the work the bullpen has to do.

No, Marisnick is not the most valuable player. He isn’t going to single handily fix the Mets’ defensive woes, or make the pitchers better. However, he puts everyone on the team in a better position to succeed. That’s all anyone can ever ask for from this kind of trade.

Marisnick trade paves way for Mets’ quest to acquire Josh Hader

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New York Yankees, Josha Hader

Heading into this offseason, two of the New York Mets’ major objectives were to find an everyday centerfielder and to work on fortifying their leaky bullpen.

Today, by adding CF Jake Marisnick in a trade with the Houston Astros for prospects they won’t miss, they’ve covered both needs. If Marisnick is going to be the primary centerfielder for the Mets in 2020, it means Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo will strictly be corner outfielders and J.D. Davis will likely be the odd man out.

That also clouds Jeff McNeil’s status as an outfielder. He will likely be a rover, playing outfield, second base and some third base which is nothing new to McNeil.

The addition of Marisnick gives the Mets the latitude and ammunition to trade for Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher Josh Hader, a former client of Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen during his days as an agent for CAA. Davis could be the piece that tilts the deal in the Mets’ favor.

The Mets will miss Davis but Marisnick gives them more of what they need in terms of being a total player plus, in Hader, the steady bullpen star they hoped they were getting with Edwin Diaz.  The 25-year old Hader has a 2.52 ERA over the past two seasons with 281 strikeouts over 157 innings.

It will likely take more than Davis to land Hader, however, but that won’t deter BVW. He has no qualms with trading away any of the Mets’ prospects who the previous regime invested in. He is building the organization with his own people od which Hader is one.