1B - Peter Alonso
a/o Sept. 4, 2017
Binghamton Rumble Ponies
New York Mets: There's Nothing To Gain By Exposing Peter Alonso To Parent Club's Dysfunction. For His Own Good, His Flushing Debut Must Wait Till Next Year.
Far be it from me to agree with anything John Ricco says - and I'm sure in this instance our respective reasoning differs greatly - but I absolutely support the Mets decision to not promote Peter Alonso during September call-ups.
Now 23-years old, the Mets select Alonso in the second round of the 2016 amateur draft. He finishes the summer at Brooklyn playing thirty games with the Cyclones, then skyrockets through Port St. Lucie and Binghamton over the next year and a half, until finally touching down at Las Vegas in mid June.
To date, Alonso has played in 251 games with just under 1,000 career at-bats. He wields a quadruple slash of .287/.379/.550/.929, with 56 career home runs and 197 RBI. The Mets promote him to (AAA)-Las Vegas this season after slashing .314/.440/.573, with 15 home runs and 52 RBI through 65 games at Binghamton.
With Las Vegas, he continues hitting for power evidenced by his 18 home runs and 61 RBI through 63 games. In fact, his overall line is quite prodigious: .278/.393/.561, with 29 doubles, 33 home runs and 113 RBI. However, since leaving Binghamton his batting average and OBP have fallen 68-points and 92-points respectively, while playing, ironically, in a notorious hitter friendly league. I simply suggest Peter Alonso needs more practical experience facing the expanded pitching repertoires offered up by AAA-level pitchers. His Las Vegas numbers indicate there are still adjustments to be made in his game. None of which should take place during a September call-up for the New York Mets.
And there's the rub ...
The Mets have created quite the untenable situation at first base. It's a position riddled with numerous and rather ponderous scenarios, none of which would serve Alonso well. An invitation to Flushing means little more than receiving woefully inconsistent and inconsequential playing time behind Wilmer Flores, Dominic Smith, and perhaps even Jay Bruce. Therefore it makes little sense asking a highly touted minor league prospect to dive head first into a quagmire of major league proportion.
Monitoring the organization's every move, waiting for any misstep (real or perceived) would have been the media, waiting to further fan this raging bonfire of front office folly.
On that note, I would argue Alonso's agent spoke too soon.
Be careful what you ask for ...
Because until ownership decides on a definitive course of action - which is right in line with getting a new executive in place - there's nothing to gain by exposing his client to such parent/club dysfunction. Therefore, it's probably in his best interest at the conclusion of this regular season that Peter Alonso just go home, reflect back on the season that was, and begin focusing on the season ahead. Hopefully by then, the Mets will have a competent executive in place that will better help his client carve out a more conducive path to the major leagues.
That may involve trading Wilmer Flores this coming off-season. If provided with a stable environment, I believe his best days as a hitter are still ahead. I'm sure there are general managers whom feel similarly. Any trade partner would also be receiving two years of valuable organizational control. If Flores can be packaged in a larger deal, even better. Then if Jay Bruce is relegated to playing right field, you've set up a spring training competition between Dom Smith and Peter Alonso, which then becomes a matter of may the better man win the starting job.
But that's all for the next executive to decide, and about getting this enterprise moving forward again.
And that's why Peter Alonso's debut can wait.
Now 23-years old, the Mets select Alonso in the second round of the 2016 amateur draft. He finishes the summer at Brooklyn playing thirty games with the Cyclones, then skyrockets through Port St. Lucie and Binghamton over the next year and a half, until finally touching down at Las Vegas in mid June.
To date, Alonso has played in 251 games with just under 1,000 career at-bats. He wields a quadruple slash of .287/.379/.550/.929, with 56 career home runs and 197 RBI. The Mets promote him to (AAA)-Las Vegas this season after slashing .314/.440/.573, with 15 home runs and 52 RBI through 65 games at Binghamton.
With Las Vegas, he continues hitting for power evidenced by his 18 home runs and 61 RBI through 63 games. In fact, his overall line is quite prodigious: .278/.393/.561, with 29 doubles, 33 home runs and 113 RBI. However, since leaving Binghamton his batting average and OBP have fallen 68-points and 92-points respectively, while playing, ironically, in a notorious hitter friendly league. I simply suggest Peter Alonso needs more practical experience facing the expanded pitching repertoires offered up by AAA-level pitchers. His Las Vegas numbers indicate there are still adjustments to be made in his game. None of which should take place during a September call-up for the New York Mets.
And there's the rub ...
The Mets have created quite the untenable situation at first base. It's a position riddled with numerous and rather ponderous scenarios, none of which would serve Alonso well. An invitation to Flushing means little more than receiving woefully inconsistent and inconsequential playing time behind Wilmer Flores, Dominic Smith, and perhaps even Jay Bruce. Therefore it makes little sense asking a highly touted minor league prospect to dive head first into a quagmire of major league proportion.
Monitoring the organization's every move, waiting for any misstep (real or perceived) would have been the media, waiting to further fan this raging bonfire of front office folly.
On that note, I would argue Alonso's agent spoke too soon.
Be careful what you ask for ...
Because until ownership decides on a definitive course of action - which is right in line with getting a new executive in place - there's nothing to gain by exposing his client to such parent/club dysfunction. Therefore, it's probably in his best interest at the conclusion of this regular season that Peter Alonso just go home, reflect back on the season that was, and begin focusing on the season ahead. Hopefully by then, the Mets will have a competent executive in place that will better help his client carve out a more conducive path to the major leagues.
That may involve trading Wilmer Flores this coming off-season. If provided with a stable environment, I believe his best days as a hitter are still ahead. I'm sure there are general managers whom feel similarly. Any trade partner would also be receiving two years of valuable organizational control. If Flores can be packaged in a larger deal, even better. Then if Jay Bruce is relegated to playing right field, you've set up a spring training competition between Dom Smith and Peter Alonso, which then becomes a matter of may the better man win the starting job.
But that's all for the next executive to decide, and about getting this enterprise moving forward again.
And that's why Peter Alonso's debut can wait.
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