Latest NY Mets roster moves feel like a subtle attempt at repeating last year’s spark

At the end of May 2024, the New York Mets made a slew of roster moves that weren’t exactly on everyone’s radar. The decisions seemed to directly lead to a sudden surge for the team. The will he or won’t he saga with Brett Baty was put to a close. Jose Iglesias arrived and slowly injected some life and personality into a scuffling ball club.

On Monday, the Mets made the decision to shake things up a bit and it didn’t even include the return of Mark Vientos from the IL. This, on the heels of demoting Francisco Alvarez on Sunday, feels like an attempt of repeating the same spark they got during their end of May turmoil.

The Mets have injected a different kind of life and personality onto their roster

The Alvarez demotion is all baseball while the two additions on Monday might have other logic behind it—although subtle.

Travis Jankowski is back. A light-hitting and speedy, glove-first outfielder we enjoyed in 2022 for mostly his self-deprecating humor, the veteran outfielder replaced Luisangel Acuna on the roster. It was a somewhat surprising decision to make timing wise. Acuna hadn’t been playing much at all for the Mets and with the looming return of Vientos, there was going to be even less of an opportunity. 

Jankowski, meanwhile, seems ready to embrace the role thrown at him. 5 pinch running opportunities in a week with some late inning defense thrown in for good measure might be all he gets. Hailing from right around Amish country, he’s ready to embrace the work.

The other move sent Tyler Zuber back to the minors after one forgettable appearance. Replacing him is free agent signing Dicky Lovelady. Yes, he has matured enough to drop Richard and go straight for Dicky, at least personally.

Lovelady definitely feels like a gimmicky addition, but is he? A lifetime 5.26 ERA in 101 innings of work spread across parts of 6 major league seasons doesn’t signal that he’s one pitching lab visit away from greatness. Is it a coincidence he has one of the best names in baseball? It could be. If there’s one thing to connect him beyond just the fun of his given and chosen names, it’s how well he did with the Tampa Bay Rays last year.

Lovelady pitched to a 3.77 ERA in 28.2 innings. A 52.3% ground ball rate with home runs limited to 1.7% seemed to indicate his ability to adapt. David Stearns has regularly poached from the Rays, targeting players who had success there. Jake Diekman was an example last year that didn’t work. Oddly enough, he nearly has an equally lovable name. 

Expectations are much lower for Lovelady. The fact of him being an experienced big league lefty with a fun self-awareness makes him more notable. The same goes for Jankowski whose presence should hopefully bring a calmness as opposed to the pressing urgency Acuna likely felt. Two players added to the roster with character along with the addition of their new 'La Familia' sign all in one day seems like trying to get three players to do what Jose Iglesias did last season.

The Mets don’t need to climb out of a deep ditch. However, dirt is starting to drop behind their ears as they continues to go through a rough patch against the NL East’s best.