Unsolicited Mets mailbag: A question about an Eduardo Escobar prescription

Put anything on the internet and you open yourself up to all sorts of reactions. I had a friend, this was years ago before I realized the futility of them, who had a theory we were all much more accepting of each other because the internet has desensitized us to weirdness. This theory spawned a little too soon. Even commenting on something as innocent as the New York Mets can have strangers reaching out with unusually worded questions.

In an unofficial, might happen just one time, this doesn’t mean anyone wants to answer any other questions again approach, I’m opening up the unsolicited mailbag. We start with a question about Eduardo Escobar. The reader writes, “Is there any problem in the world for which your prescription wouldn’t be to get rid of Eduardo Escobar?”

Thanks for your question. And yes. The prescription for the problem with Blue Öyster Cult’s song (Don’t Fear) The Reaper is definitely more cowbell.

Let’s answer this question about the Mets and Eduardo Escobar for real

To the kind reader who sent this in, it’s definitely lonely right now to have any defense of Escobar. This is almost reminiscent of when someone else reached out to say Lorenzo Cedrola was having a great spring when he really wasn’t. He also only referred to him as “Lorenzo” so I could always be mistaken and this was really referring to MC Ren.

Does getting rid of Escobar actually cure the Mets at the moment? Not at all. His presence isn’t dragging them down through this early slump. It doesn’t change the fact that his role on the team has essentially turned into the right-handed half of a platoon with Brett Baty and not even a strict one either. We did see the Mets play him at second base over the weekend. Escobar’s ability to do more than sit on the bench and start twice a week at third base over one of the club’s hottest hitters right now does bring some value.

Eliminating Escobar from the Mets only makes them a better ball club if they replace him with a superior player. Right now, they do have a couple of guys on the farm hitting well. Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio, and Danny Mendick are all worthy of a closer look. 

Do you DFA Escobar this early on in the year to try one of them out? You only do that if Escobar doesn’t serve any purpose at all. You can justify he should stay a little longer and perhaps this new limited role benefits him at some point. So far, less playing time hasn’t livened up his bat. How much longer can we wait?

I’ll call in the prescription now. The cure for the slumping Mets is some sort of a change.