New York Mets: 5 Key Questions That Need Answering in Spring Training
It's been a quiet offseason for the New York Mets since they re-signed slugger Yoenis Cespedes.
Maybe too quiet.
Perhaps the biggest question this team will need to answer is whether the front office has done enough this winter.
That won't be the only question they face this spring, though.
Sorting out a crowded outfield and deciding what to do with the No. 5 starter spot will be the top priorities for manager Terry Collins.
There will also be plenty of attention on top prospect Amed Rosario as he pushes ever closer to being MLB ready.
Meanwhile, All-Star closer Jeurys Familia is facing a likely suspension for an offseason domestic violence incident, leaving the bullpen in a state of flux.
So with pitchers and catchers set to report in a matter of days, here's an in-depth look at the five key questions that the Mets will need to answer this spring.
Can Amed Rosario Force the Team's Hand?
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The New York Mets signed veteran Asdrubal Cabrera to a two-year deal that included a 2018 option last offseason in hopes he could bridge the gap to top prospect Amed Rosario.
It doesn't look like they'll be needing that option year.
To his credit, Cabrera proved to be a nice addition last season, posting an .810 OPS with 30 doubles, 23 home runs and 62 RBI.
But the 31-year-old won't stand in the way of someone who has rapidly become one of the game's truly elite prospects.
There has never been any question whether Rosario would stick as a long-term solution at shortstop, as he has all the requisite skills to be a Gold Glove-caliber defender.
It's his bat that lagged behind, and some of that had to do with how aggressively he was being moved through the minors.
Everything finally came together last season.
Splitting the year between High-A and Double-A, Rosario hit .324/.374/.459 with 42 extra-base hits and 19 stolen bases as he raised his OPS over 200 points from .631 to .833.
That breakout offensive performance was enough for him to earn the No. 5 spot on MLB.com's list of the top 100 prospects heading into 2017.
It's unlikely he'll be given any realistic chance of winning the shortstop job this spring, but a strong performance could lay the groundwork for a midseason promotion.
Where Does Michael Conforto Fit into the Short- and Long-Term Plans?
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What a difference a year can make.
Heading into spring training last year, Michael Conforto looked like a star in the making after a stellar rookie season in which he posted an .841 OPS with 23 extra-base hits in 194 plate appearances.
Now it appears he may be heading for the minors.
The 23-year-old began last season on fire, hitting .365/.442/.676 with 11 doubles and four home runs in April and quickly working his way into the No. 3 spot in the batting order.
However, that was followed by a disastrous .169/.242/.349 line in May, and by the middle of June, he had been optioned to the minors.
He returned a month later and saw semi-regular playing time the rest of the way, but overall, he hit just .174/.267/.330 with 19 extra-base hits in 262 plate appearances after that big first month.
With Yoenis Cespedes back in the fold and the team unable to find a suitable deal for Jay Bruce or Curtis Granderson on the trade market, Conforto is now without a clear path to playing time at the MLB level.
Defensive standout Juan Lagares will likely claim the fourth outfielder job and see time against left-handed pitching, meaning Conforto could actually be headed to Triple-A, where he can see regular at-bats.
Bruce will be a free agent after the season, and Conforto still has considerable upside. But his long-term outlook with the franchise has become somewhat cloudy.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Mets were open to the idea of trading him this offseason.
That could just be due diligence by the front office, but you have to assume if the conversation came up last winter that Conforto would have quickly been slapped with the untouchable tag.
So where do the Mets and Conforto go from here?
How Long Will Jeurys Familia Be Suspended?
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The league's investigation into a domestic violence incident involving Mets closer Jeurys Familia has moved at a snail's pace this offseason.
Bob Klapisch of NorthJersey.com explained why:
"Charges against the Mets' closer were dropped in December, leaving it to Rob Manfred's team to sort through the evidence. The obstacle has been the lack of cooperation from Familia's wife, Bianca Rivas, who refused to testify in court against her husband and has been similarly reluctant to assist MLB.
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The question at this point isn't whether Familia is going to be suspended.
The question is for how long.
Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reported back in December that the suspension would likely be at least 30 games, which lines up with the punishment handed down to Aroldis Chapman under similar circumstances last offseason.
The Mets already have their stand-in closer in place in standout setup man Addison Reed.
The 28-year-old posted a 1.97 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings in 80 appearances last season while leading the majors with 40 holds.
He has some closer experience from his time with the Chicago White Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks, with 106 career saves and a 40-save season in 2013 to his credit.
There's really not much the Mets can do but sit back and wait for the suspension to be handed down.
Some clarity would be nice, though.
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Where Does Zack Wheeler Fit?
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Zack Wheeler was supposed to be an ace in the hole for the New York Mets last season.
The 26-year-old was not ready for Opening Day as he continued his recovery from Tommy John surgery, but a midseason return to provide the rotation with a shot in the arm seemed like a realistic expectation.
Instead, he didn't make his first rehab appearance until Aug. 6 and he only made it 17 pitches before exiting with arm soreness. He was eventually diagnosed with a mild flexor tendon strain and shut down for the remainder of the season.
Expected to be back to 100 percent this spring, the question now is where he fits into the team's plans.
Wheeler went 11-11 with a 3.54 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 187 strikeouts in 185.1 innings back in 2014, and it looked like he'd be a key piece of the rotation for years to come.
However, there's been some talk of easing him back into the mix as a reliever.
Wheeler wants no part of that, as he told Kevin Kernan of the New York Post:
"I know I belong in the starting rotation, there's no question about that. I'm a starter. I want to be a starter. ...
I feel that guys that go to the bullpen get stuck in the bullpen, and I don't want to do that. Because either you are doing bad and you stay in the bullpen because you can't be a starter, or you are doing really good and they can't afford to move you out of the bullpen. So you are going to get stuck there, and that's why I'm trying to let everybody know that I'm not a bullpen guy, I'm a starter.
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The Mets have options, though.
The surprise emergence of Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo last season gives the team a pair of viable alternatives to fill out the rotation behind Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz.
Health will play a role as well.
Harvey (thoracic outlet surgery), deGrom (ulnar nerve surgery) and Matz (elbow bone spur removal) all underwent offseason surgery, so how to best utilize Wheeler isn't the only question the Mets face regarding their pitching staff.
It's just the most intriguing.
Did the Front Office Do Enough This Offseason?
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At least the Mets won't need name tags for the first few days of spring training.
A trio of non-roster invitee pitchers—Tom Gorzelanny, Adam Wilk and Ben Rowen—will be literally the only newcomers in camp.
Consider the following from Ken Davidoff of the New York Post:
"In re-signing Jerry Blevins and Fernando Salas last week, the Mets put the (apparently) finishing touches on what will go down as one of the odder offseasons in recent baseball history. To dumb it down:
1. They retained six players whom they could have jettisoned. They re-signed Blevins, Yoenis Cespedes and Salas as free agents; exercised team options on Jay Bruce and Jose Reyes; and extended a qualifying offer to Neil Walker, which the second baseman accepted.
2. They added zero players who provided value to another major league team in 2016. Tom Gorzelanny, whom they signed last week to a minor league deal, registered -0.5 wins above replacement for the Indians.
And so, barring a late import, the Mets will be embarking — unwittingly, for sure — on an intriguing experiment. They will be the first playoff team in the two-wild-card era (since 2012, in other words) to try to return to October without acquiring a single reinforcement of value from the outside.
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The question here is simple: Did they do enough this offseason to not only return to the playoffs but contend for a title?
So many key players dealt with injuries last season that it's not inconceivable to think they can be a vastly improved team if they simply avoid the injury bug.
On the other hand, we're talking about a team that ranked 25th in the league in runs scored not making a single notable addition to the lineup.
We might not know the answer to this one until October.
All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.com, unless otherwise noted. Contract information via Spotrac.
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