Are the New York Mets making a mistake by waiting on Peter Alonso?
The New York Mets announced on Tuesday that they would not call up their top prospect, Peter Alonso, in September. Are they making a mistake?
Late Tuesday, the New York Mets announced that their top prospect, Peter Alonso, will not make his debut with the big league club in 2018. Alonso is considered to be one of the league’s best first base prospects and has had a career year to back up that evaluation.
Between Double-A/Triple-A, the Mets’ slugger has clubbed 33 home runs, drove in 111 runs and has slashed .277/.394/.561 over 126 games. These stats clearly show that Alonso’s bat is ready for Major League Baseball, why isn’t he getting the promotion to Queens?
The answer to that question may not be as simple as it seems…
While reports originally stated that Alonso’s defense would be the factor that kept him in the minors, Assistant General Manager, John Ricco, said otherwise in comments made shortly after the announcement on Tuesday(Metsblog).
“To have Pete come up and really just sit didn’t make a lot of sense,” Ricco said. “Right now the decision is that he will not be coming up. And he has been told that.”
With these comments, Ricco was referring to the issue of finding Alonso adequate playing time. The New York Mets still have Wilmer Flores and Jay Bruce on the roster, as Bruce is expected to receive most of the playing time down the stretch of 2018.
Management’s attitude towards playing Jay Bruce at first base seems to indicate a plan that would allow for Alonso to spend at least a portion of another season in the minor leagues to continue his development.
Alonso did not take this news well, per MLB.com.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s really disheartening and disappointing, because one of the things that people tell you is as long as you are successful, you’re going to be in the big leagues,” Alonso said, “It’s just one of those things where I understand it’s an organizational decision, and at the end of the day, I have to respect that. But it’s really disheartening because I feel like I’ve performed, and am deserving of a reward. At the end of the day when you look up, it’s like, what else can you do? I guess the answer is nothing.”
Mets fans share the same disappointment as Peter Alonso embodies the potential impact slugger that the Mets truly need. With all that said, we are left to wonder if the Mets are making a mistake by waiting on their slugging prospect.
From a psychological standpoint, keeping Alonso in Triple-A could be either a good or bad thing for the righty’s development. We could see this failed promotion light a spark under Alonso, motivating the first baseman to come back in 2019 as an even better player.
The situation could go the other way just as easily. Alonso could grow a disdain for the Mets organization as he, a capable slugger, continues to show off his talented bat in a level below where he belongs.
On the other hand, as an organization, I believe the New York Mets are making the right decision by not calling Alonso up to Queens in September. In my head, the deciding factor is service time. If the Mets do not bring up Alonso until mid-April of 2019, they will have another year of control over their star prospect.
The Mets are looking to compete in the immediate future, while this decision may not be popular in the short run, it could make a large difference in the future. I agree with this because the Mets have options to play at first base in 2019.
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Jay Bruce has hit 36 home runs as recently as 2017 and maybe forgotten prospect,
Smith, can add some value. This extra time to develop should allow Alonso to become even more of a future weapon.
Whether he can continue to develop on defense, or in his approach, Peter Alonso will benefit from the extra time in the minor leagues. Alonso has shown that he has the talent to be something special, with this extra time, maybe Peter Alonso could develop into the Mets’ next Hall of Famer.
The Amazins’ do not have much left to play for in 2018. The decision to play the service time game makes perfect sense, especially if Alonso has skills that need further development.
Next. Can McNeil handle 2B in 2019?. dark
Even if the team plans to play Jay Bruce at first base next season, I can easily see Peter Alonso pushing his way onto the New York Mets’ 2019 deph chart. The 23-year-old has shown that he is very adept at developing his skills. I would expect for the slugger to impress next spring and continue to make headlines.