New York Mets final report card grades for the 2020 season

Luis Rojas

The first-year skipper certainly had his ups and downs. I thought his lineup construction in September was subpar. J.D. Davis was clearly struggling the entire month yet he hit third pretty much every night. I understand the point of this was to balance the righties and lefties, but when the lefties are hitting better against righties and lefties than the righties, there’s no reason to put a struggling hitter in the heart of the order.

Furthermore, Jeff McNeil hit .356 in September. He was hitting 7th most nights. Again, I get the righty lefty balance but a big part of the reason runners were left on base is because guys like Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis were leaving them on. In regards to the bullpen, I think the fact that nobody other than Jacob deGrom gave the Mets consistent length out of the bullpen, it was a pretty impossible job to do well. Arms were tired and options were low most nights. I think he did the best with what he had.

The players love Rojas, and I think he hasn’t done anything to lose this job yet. I think Brodie is the one to go when Steve Cohen takes over. If it were me, I give Rojas another year at least to see how he does with a competent General Manager and competent ownership.

Grade: B

Brodie Van Wagenen

Clearly not fit to be a General Manager. He doesn’t value any kind of minor league pitching depth. His statement of wanting to win now and in the future obviously meant just win now. His plans of winning now have not worked. While Cano and Diaz played much better this year, the Mets still got fleeced in that trade, and both players have their flaws.

The trades of young assets for one-dimensional center fielders, I will never understand. The Jake Marisnick, Keon Broxton, and Billy Hamilton trades all failed miserably. I understand the Wilpon’s didn’t want to re-sign Zack Wheeler, but the guys Brodie picked out in Porcello and Wacha to try and fill that gap were a disaster. The Marcus Stroman trade, while you can say it’s not completely his fault as Stroman opted out, backfired. The Mets likely traded two good prospects for a couple of months of average production from a starting pitcher who didn’t help them reach the playoffs.

The one move I can say worked was the J.D. Davis trade. Yet, even he did not play well this year. To sum up, I hope the Mets let Brodie go. I think they will, and that’s a very good thing. They should hire someone who has a front office background, preferably an analytical background, who can build this team right. The one positive from this year, is he didn’t sell the farm for anyone. The Chirinos trade made zero sense, the Frazier trade made little sense, and the Hamilton trade was just a disaster.

Grade: F

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