If it keeps on raining, levee’s going to break.
And the water gon’ come in and we’ll have no place to stay.
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“When The Levee Breaks”, Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy
Starling Marte was one of 4 Mets All-Star selections last year. None started, but the eventual National League HR champion (Pete Alonso), the NL Saves leader (Edwin Diaz) and MLB batting champion (Jeff McNeil) were all represented. Marte didn’t finish the season as a statistical leader, but was the glue of a Mets’ offense that powered the team to 101 wins.
The power was primarily supplied by the top four in the lineup. Brandon Nimmo, Marte, Francisco Lindor and Alonso were the spearheads; a foundation that was written in pen atop the lineup card. Marte asked Buck Showalter for a permanent spot and stayed No. 2 until a non-displaced fracture of his right middle finger that cost him the final four weeks of the regular season. It doesn’t matter that he played with oblique tightness suffered in Spring Training or that he felt left quadricep discomfort or groin tightness during the long 162-game season. When he returned for the Wild Card Series, he was expected to play at his All-Star level.
He didn’t and the team suffered. We didn’t know at the time that the finger fracture was the crack in the levee. The little separation that allowed Atlanta’s surging second half to find a home atop the NL East. A surging second half was quickly credited to the Mets’ rebound at the end of September and into the playoffs. That surge was led by Eduardo Escobar, who was praised for more weeks than he was ‘hot’. I’ll admit I was hopeful that the smiling infielder would return to form in 2023 and provide a solid glove at third base. Instead, he let his jalopy batting average get onto the interstate and rookie Brett Baty took his place.
Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling each made a point how veterans didn’t take kids under their arms back in the day, especially when the prospect of the moment was coming for their position. Escobar has been the exact opposite of that as he was reportedly friendly with Baty, helping him with the adjustment to becoming a major league ballplayer. Those lessons came to an end when Escobar was traded to Anaheim for a couple of minor league pitchers. And with that, the levee has cracked again.
Mean old levee, taught me to weep and moan.
It’s got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home.
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When The Levee Breaks, Led Zeppelin IV
I was already thinking about this phrase, this song and its history before the debacle that was Sunday’s series closer against the Phillies. Escobar is the break in the levee and I planned to compare the delayed lack of action in an area of the country I know better than most only because I lived there for a few years. It might have gotten around to the fact that nearly a century later, there’s little to show that Greenville, Mississippi wouldn’t be flooded should a similar natural disaster strike The Great River again.
There has been little depth in the Mets’ minor league system for a long time, but the volume and shine about the few top prospects has been loud enough to blind both fans and the media alike. Many might bring up the Top 5 That Never Was from 2015, but the only starter that survived was pitching yesterday for the opposition.
Zach Wheeler didn’t come up through Port St. Lucie and Brooklyn, but was a vital part of the Carlos Beltran trade at the deadline in 2012. The rest of those pitchers are injured, out of the league or headed in that direction. Steven Matz made a great debut at Citi Field, but spent this past weekend as a long reliever for the Cardinals getting shelled by the Chicago Cubs in London.
The system has been suspicious for years, but with the emergence of position players like Dominic Smith, Alonso, Nimmo and McNeil, we didn’t notice the lack of pitching prospects. When Steve Cohen purchased the team, he made a point that his first actions were to improve the minors and create more home-grown stars. After a spectacular season founded on the inherited core and free agent pitchers, the fan base blames GM Billy Eppler for a lack of inherited depth and expect miracles from the bottom of the Mississippi River.
Don’t it make you feel bad
when you’re trying to find your way home
and don’t know which way to go.
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When The Levee Breaks, Led Zeppelin IV
After one of the worst losses in recent history, I needed a moment before writing this. I know I’ll be watching this train wreck for the rest of the season, but what direction they should go isn’t clear. I’m certain the fire sale begins in earnest after five relievers, none of whom were in a Mets uniform in April, blew a three-run lead because Showalter was trying to save arms that helped get a win the day before. I went into a cocoon, not wanting to read reviews in hindsight when everyone is right and knows what should have been done at that moment.
At this moment and looking ahead, there are only a few players not on the trading block, and that’s mostly because no teams are willingly taking on their contracts. Escobar moved because Uncle Stevie was willing to eat the bulk of the money left on his deal. With that standard in place, the list includes the obvious (Carlos Carrasco, Omar Narvaez, Mark Cahna), the complicated (Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander) and a potential Herschel Walker type deal that upends the short and long-term fortunes of two organizations thanks to one player. You can take a wild guess who it is and that’s the truth.
Upcoming Series: Milwaukee Brewers at New York Mets
Monday, June 26 - 7:10 pm
Justin Verlander (2-4, 4.50 ERA) vs. Colin Rea (3-4, 4.88 ERA)
Tuesday, June 27 - 7:10 pm
David Peterson (1-6, 8.08 ERA) vs. Julio Tehran (2-2, 1.53 ERA)
Wednesday, June 28 - 7:10 pm
Kodai Senga (6-5, 3.52 ERA) vs. TBD
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