Hello there. Let’s talk about our shortstop, shall we?
Where do we even begin?
As baseball fans in 2019, we’ve learned to dig a little deeper. We don’t live and die by wins and batting average anymore.
The future is now.
Yet, a little more than a month into the season, the most stubborn anti – sabermetrics fan on earth could tell you there is a problem with Amed Rosario. They don’t have to look up his DRS or UZR. No need for DEF, RZR or TZ/TZL.
10 errors in 34 games?!
That’s goddamned awful!
That’s not even taking into account all the balls he should have been able to make a play on. That’s not taking into account the misplays that have been ruled as hits.
Where are the baseball instincts?
Rosario is easily one of the fastest players in the sport. Watching him leg out a triple is a sight for sore eyes. Poetry in motion. Watching him try and steal second will make you tear your hair out. Is there anyone alive who gets worse jumps off first base?
The offense is coming around. With league average defense he could easily be one of the best shortstops in the game. But right now, he’s a liability and it’s a very empty .280 batting average he’s sporting.
With that being said, I’m going down with the ship. I believe in Amed and I will die on this hill. I gotta be honest though. A little piece of me died the other night when Adeiny Hechavarría made two brilliant plays in the field. There is no way this 2019 version of Rosario makes both of those plays. No way.
It’s not enough for me just to watch the games. I need to log in and out of all my apps and Mets related group chats to discuss the games ad nauseum. In my travels I’ve met a ton of great and insightful fans. I was able to get some of them here together to discuss Amed.
I asked each of them what they would do about our shortstop going forward if they were in a position of power. Here is what they had to say.
Tuvia Davis: I think he’s as raw as the burger I got last night from Dave’s Bar and Grille. Seriously, he’s got all the skills to be a phenomenal player, I just think whoever coached/is coaching him is doing an awful job. That’s one half- the other half is the 7 inches between the ears. I think he’s all up in his head right now, and it’s really showing on the field. I’d send him down and get him fixed. Don’t think we have the resources or time to do it at the major league level.
Rey Brutal: For a team that is in “win-now” mode, I dont know if they can afford to run him at short like this. One alternative is to try to move him to a rebuilding team for a more established shortstop, like Andrelton Simmons or Elvis Andrus.
Another alternative would be to send him down to work on becoming a center fielder if they no longer believe in his ability as a shortstop. The problem with that is that it leaves us with a larger hole in the line-up.
Either way, there will be some sort of liability.
Kenny Goo: So let’s assume the team is trying to win this year (and it seems like they are), here’s what you gotta ask yourself as a couch GM:
Is Amed the best option at shortstop right now?
If the answer isn’t yes, then you need to demote him. Whether you’re fixing his bat, or defense, or both, or converting him to a CF, he can’t keep taking playing time if he isn’t the best option out there. This is a win now team (allegedly).
So let’s say you demote him under the assumption he isn’t the best option:
So who is?
Do you convert McNeil to a SS? Does Lowrie play there? Is Gimenez ready, and if not, when?
One of those solutions has to be it, otherwise you can’t demote Amed to create an even bigger hole.
Marissa Mets: Here’s my thoughts: assuming Andres Gimenez will be ready in 2020, I would prepare Amed to play center field over the offseason.
You’d hope he’d be able to kinda “progress to the mean” and not be this bad the entire year because his defense was never this bad. It wasn’t great but never this bad.
Adam Weinstein: The trade market for him would diminish if you start to transition him into center field. If you can get someone to buy on his potential at shortstop I think you still can move them in a package for an expensive but productive veteran.
An Elvis Andrus trade is basically buying Elvis. That’s the type of spending I would do. You are buying the known ROI of a contract. Like with the Verlander trade.
Rosario’s tremendous physical traits would be something a rebuilding team would love to acquire.
It’s the perfect win-win for two teams in two different directions.
As an example, the Yankees can play Andujar and his horror show defense at third base because their playoff odds are so high and he’s productive at the plate. Rosario reallly should not be on the diamond if the Mets are very serious about contending in 2019.
If they stay the course, I believe it would signal they aren’t all that serious. But this year I believe that’s not the case, and I believe the moves for Jed Lowrie and Hechavaria signaled that in the offseason.
Well, there you have it.
What do YOU think the Mets should do?