A question for the NY Mets after their "why not?" promotion of Christopher Morel

Why not give Jefry Yan a chance in the majors? He was doing well in the minors. The New York Mets decided to make another “why not” move with a promotion for Christopher Morel.

Power has been the name of the game for Morel. Two seasons where he topped 20 home runs in the majors gives him some credibility. It’s the .220 batting average and increasingly poor strikeout percentage which left him in the minor leagues after the Miami Marlins released him. With a 38.4% K rate with them and 30.7% for his career, Morel is bound to see strike three calls in abundance if he gets regular hacks with the Mets.

So why did they call him up when the expectations shouldn’t be so superb? Somehow only 27, Morel’s 12 home runs in only 123 plate appearances for Syracuse was apparently enough. He hit .309 overall and with 28 strikeouts, he showed at least enough improvement in his plate discipline to have David Stearns saying “why not?”

If things go well with Christopher Morel, does he have a future with the Mets?

Able to play several positions and none of them particularly well, he spent most of this season at first base. Eureka! While he feels like a washed up journeyman, he’s not all that different from Mark Vientos. With his ability to play more positions, Morel has some added value. Vientos hasn’t even proven he can play first base well.

Under team control through 2028 if they chose to, he can’t be optioned to the minor leagues without first passing through waivers. He’s the kind of guy who, if put on waivers, would go unclaimed in most circumstances. The Mets might not hate the idea of simply stashing him in the minor leagues.

A major league roster spot, on the other hand, seems a bit inconceivable even if Morel hit well. It would take an extraordinary performance. Slugging home runs is the one tool he has shown in the majors. Becoming a platoon mate of Jared Young at first base would be one of the wilder twists of this season. Don’t count on it. Morel has had reverse splits in his major league career with only a .202 batting average against lefties vs. a .227 against right-handed pitchers. It’s a significant OPS difference as well, sitting at .672 against lefties and .715 when challenged by a righty.

The Mets have entered “let’s have fun mode” and what’s more fun than a random minor league free agent signing who just spent a month and a half in Triple-A making pitchers cry? We already have Robert Stock, Jack Weisenburger, and Cristian Pache playing around with ruining the MLB playoff picture. Morel is more than welcome to help play spoiler.

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