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The New York Mets Conforto dilemma: let’s go already!

By Wayne Cavadi|

I don’t understand the New York Mets at all.

The Mets are a team that has — for at least the past few seasons — prided themselves on their homegrown talent. That talent has come by the busload on the mound with names like Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom, and includes Zack Wheeler and the small sample size we saw of Steven Matz before he went on the shelf for three weeks. 

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Throw in Noah Syndergaard who the Mets stole in the R.A. Dickey trade, and the Mets have a rotation that John Smotlz called more talented than the 1990s Braves rotation. Think about that. That rotation had three Hall of Famers, two 300 game winners, and a a guy that recorded 157 wins and a Cy Young Award and then 154 saves after converting to a reliever. Those guys were good.

And so are the Mets young stable of pitchers. The problem is that their offense is horrific. They literally have the worst offense in baseball with a .234/.300/.361 slash line. Now, they have an opportunity to call up one of the most exciting hitting prospects in the Minors for the injured Michael Cuddyer, and they have already announced that they won’t.

Michael Conforto can hit. It’s that simple. The 22-year old outfielder has done nothing but hit since being taken in the first round of last year’s draft out of Oregon State. You can very well make the argument that Conforto has been at his best since his promotion to Double-A, the highest level he has played at, and that’s impressive. Not impressive enough for the Mets apparently.

Conforto was the Eastern League Player of the Week this past week. He went 7-for-16 with four extra base hits (including two home runs) while scoring and driving in three. Conforto finished the week on a five game hitting streak with four of those being multi hit games.

What else does he need to do? Look at this video. First, it is important to note that the title is Conforto crushes a homer. Crushes! His swing is smooth and while he isn’t going to be the next Ken Griffey, Jr., he has some pop.

Conforto has handled every promotion well, so he seems to have the right mindset for a big league promotion. The question remains whether he needs time to develop at Triple-A or if the Mets throw him into the fire amid their playoff run. I think it’s safe to say that Mets fans and the Mets management see it differently.

Remember that Braves rotation Smoltz was part of and referenced? Remember how they called up this 19-year old kid who many questioned whether he was ready or not to play on the biggest stage? Remember when Andruw Jones hit two home runs in a World Series game in Yankees Stadium at the age of 19? Some people are simply made for this.

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And the thing about Conforto making the big leap is that he serves an immediate need. The Mets are struggling mightily offensively to the point that Harvey and Syndergaard may be their hottest hitters. Cuddyer is heading to the DL and when a 36-year old who was already struggling heads to the DL this late in the season, it’s often not good news.

Furthermore, the Mets are very much in the playoff hunt. They are playing noticeably more poorly than they were at the start of the season and they desperately need a spark to stay alive. Alderson seemingly won’t trade any of his young guns — even though he has too many — to bring in a big bat, so why not at the very least give Conforto a chance?

The Mets organization appears to need to do some soul searching. What direction do they want to go? If Smoltz is right, and there Big Three of the future are indeed as talented as that Braves staff, they are going to need some offense to shine. How the Mets are going to go about doing it is uncertain. What is certain is that Conforto has earned his shot, and the Mets are passing it up.

Next: Should the Jon Gray Era begin in Colorado?

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