NY Mets minor league signing feels more valuable than your ordinary depth move

Maybe the most interesting player the New York Mets added this offseason isn’t a guy with a budding musical career, a future in politics, or a farm where he hunts wild boars. The honor of most interesting goes to Robert Stock, a 36-year-old journeyman rewriting what it means to be a jock.

Newsday’s Laura Albanese put together a story on Stock’s contributions so far in camp, describing how he offered Nolan McLean a solution to an analytical question.

Stock clarified on X that it wasn’t about the lack of knowledge of Mets coaches which had him helping out.

Exactly what is Stock is doing? He’s not just talking a big game. He’s out there collecting data and implementing it in a way baseball nerds, both players and fans, can appreciate. His site, Stockyard Baseball Co., is collecting data in an attempt to re-revolutionize how pitchers think. The A.I. driven system is one way to use the technology for good.

There’s no way the Mets signed Robert Stock just because of the way he performs on the field

There was a theme to many of the Mets offseason coaching hirings. They were very…how do we say this respectfully, nerdy. We know David Stearns knows what the inside of a locker looks like. He’s a baseball mind that can accept guidance from other free thinkers.

Bench coach Kai Correa was one of the more significant and well-known additions to the coaching staff. Going away from the experience of John Gibbons, the Mets have an analytic geek known for defensive coaching skills sitting beside Carlos Mendoza. Pitching coach Justin Willard is a young up-and-coming coach coming over from the Boston Red Sox. He’s not the grizzled ex-major leaguer speaking from life experience from the back of his baseball card. It’s about data.

Stock has only 75.1 innings of big league experience. 5 games came with the Mets in 2021. A high achiever in some recent seasons, notably in foreign leagues, he has come to the realization that he’ll never make it to Cooperstown but his love of baseball and expertise can be used in other ways.

Embracing what Stock can bring to the organization would have old-school, beer-guzzling, rub dirt on your torn rotator cuff baseball people spitting out their tobacco in disgust. Stock has proven where his ceiling lies. Could the Mets have actually brought him in this year with a greater mission in mind?

Stock certainly has a leg up on any data analyst who hasn’t pitched in the pros. His experience combined with the will to put it to good use is something the Mets can benefit from. It’s only a bad thing if you believe intuition is the only device a player or coach should ever use.

Usually we see veterans signed to minor league contracts for a couple of purposes. One is for playing ability. Another may be to provide expertise to fellow players. In Stock’s case, it feels like something much larger. A future MLB coach doesn’t quite seem to fit his endgame. An office gig sounds more appropriate.