The Amed Rosario era has begun for the New York Mets and the initial returns are quite good. You have all the signs that he will continue to develop into the impact player that the Mets organization believes he can be. He is athletic, fast and the footwork and arm strength that he has shown from the shortstop position can be deemed downright special.
He should signify what should be some wholesale changes for the Mets this offseason as they will try and put a disappointing 2017 in the rearview mirror while getting back to their goal of postseason baseball and maybe even winning a World Series.
They certainly have to hope that 2018 will be a better year in terms of health. It is not just the amount of injuries that the Mets suffered, but they all seemed to hit significant players at the absolute wrong time.
Maybe they have to go back to the drawing board in terms of how their players train during the year or maybe they just have a wealth of players that have a penchant for getting hurt.
Yoenis Cespedes has already let it be known that he will train differently this offseason hoping to make those nagging leg injuries a thing of the past. But as we know, injuries are not just a Mets problem, they are a league-wide problem.
General manager Sandy Alderson needs to look at his team this offseason and learn from the missteps taken over the past two seasons. The Mets were “all in” this season and that should not change in 2018. But they need to get a little younger, a lot more athletic and better defensively moving forward.
Rosario is a start to improving the defense up the middle, but the Mets need to find an everyday catcher that is good with the bat and does not struggle defensively.
If you continue to rely on their starting rotation and they rightfully should, they need to get a lot better defensively. In order to bring a championship to Queens for the first time since 1986, I still believe defense plays a large factor.
First-base prospect Dom Smith is reportedly a gold-glove caliber player. He should help the infield defense with Lucas Duda now playing baseball down in Tampa for the Rays.
They need more power arms in the bullpen as well and I think that is why Alderson brought back three strong-armed relief prospects from the Boston Red Sox when sending off Addison Reed.
New York came into 2017 celebrated after having made the playoffs two-straight years with the expectations to finish the job in 2017. As we know, it did not work out that way and as the season progressed, we have witnessed the Yankees grab the city’s attention once again.
The Mets have to understand that the clock is ticking on their starting rotation as Matt Harvey will be entering a contract year next season. The window for them to win is still open and the pressure is on the GM Alderson to finish the job like never before. It is not just about making the playoffs, it is about winning in October.
