2 Mets offseason decisions that will pay off, 1 that will backfire

We know the New York Mets probably won’t win 101 games again. This doesn’t mean they can’t be a better team even if the record says differently. Championship rosters are built over 365 days. The offseason is a time to make some of the biggest changes all at once.

Fans are mostly happy with what the team has done this winter, as they should be. The Mets look good. At least two of their offseason decisions look like they will have a payoff. Unfortunately, it’s easy to see how another will backfire.

NY Mets offseason decision that will payoff: Loading up on starting pitcher depth

Rather than turn to Tylor Megill or David Peterson for one of the starting rotation spots, the Mets went out and replaced all three of their key pitching free agents. Justin Verlander replaces Jacob deGrom. In whatever way you want to match them up, Jose Quintana and Kodai Senga replace Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker.

There is a case to say the Mets rotation isn’t quite as good as it would have been at the start of last season with a healthy deGrom. Senga has some questions about durability. Quintana, before last year, had been sputtering in the major leagues. Eventually, Verlander is going to slow down.

Nevertheless, we should give props to the Mets front office for not settling for less. The ability to stash Megill and Peterson in the bullpen or minor leagues is valuable for a 162-game season. It takes more than five starters to get through a year. The Mets should be fine in this department.

It all began by picking up on the option on Carlos Carrasco. Yet another Mets pitcher whose performance in 2023 can vary greatly, at least the team has options.

NY Mets offseason decision that will backfire: Not making a drastic change at the DH spot

The Mets seem stuck in 2021 when it comes to the DH. They’re planning the position like a National League team when we all play by American League rules. This doesn’t mean they need to equip themselves with Nelson Cruz or J.D. Martinez although both were available this past offseason and never really seemed to become a realistic target of the team.

The Mets will, instead, move forward with Daniel Vogelbach as the DH. He’ll only start against right-handed pitchers which is a faux pas. When a player is a DH only, he needs to be able to hit against pitchers throwing with both hands, not one.

It’s nothing personal against Vogelbach, but to continue with such a limited player on the roster when there was a whole offseason to make a major change feels like a mistake. The Mets will try to pair some of their right-handed starters and Tommy Pham with him at the DH spot. The trouble here is Pham will need to go from playing every day to only starting versus lefties. Not every player can make the transition easily.

Although many teams don’t employ a single player to take on the majority of at-bats as the DH, the Mets could have used the Pham and Vogelbach roster spots more wisely. A single major upgrade in the outfield or third base would have been wise. Instead, the search for production continues. The team will be easy to plan against. We can only hope Vogelbach manages to finally figure out lefties in the minimal number of at-bats he’ll get against them.

We should already prepare for the Mets to spend assets at the trade deadline looking for some alternative options.