Going into the 2019 Major League Baseball season, many expected the New York Mets to have a big year and be in the postseason picture. In the offseason, the Mets hired former baseball agent Brodie Van Wagenen to be their general manager. He made a flurry of moves, including signing former Phillies catcher Wilson Ramos and making a trade with the Mariners for All-Star closer Edwin Diaz and former Yankee Robinson Cano.
The Mets got off to a strong start in the season going 9-4 in their first 13 games. Since then, the Mets have struggled mightily. They currently have a record of 24-25 and are 5.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the National League East.
One of the reasons for the Mets losing record is the struggle of star players Jacob deGrom, Robinson Cano and Jeurys Familia. After winning the Cy Young award last season and signing a $137 million deal in the offseason, deGrom currently has an Earned Run Average of 3.72 which is far from his usual dominance. Familia has been arguably the biggest disappointment for the Mets this season as he currently has an ERA of 6.16. Familia was meant to be the setup man for Diaz as he signed a three-year 30 million dollar contract. Cano has also had a rough start currently hitting a .241 average and being heavily criticized by the media and fans recently for not running hard to first base. Cano spoke to the media this week about his mistake and tried to own up to it.
“I apologized, and I’m going to keep doing the leader role and lead by example,” Cano said to Newsday. “It’s a mistake, just move on.”
While fans seemed to be happy in the offseason with Van Wagenen being aggressive in his attempt to acquire more talent, it doesn’t seem to be paying off for the Mets. If the Mets don’t get things back on track and make a playoff run this season, it’s likely that Van Wagenen will have to completely retool the team in the offseason. One of the biggest decisions he is going to have to make at the end of the season is whether or not to keep manager Mickey Callaway. So far, Van Wagenen has said that Callaway is not going to be fired. However, that decision could change quickly if the Mets continue to struggle.