Read: Mets Need a Long Term Plan
In a recent report for Fox Sports, Bob Klapisch says the Mets need to decide whether to try and contend in 2010, or take a longer term approach and redevelop the farm system.
Klapisch says the Mets aren’t necessarily going to contend next season even if they acquire Matt Holliday or Roy Halladay, and the Mets should invest their money in themselves rather than spending it on the open market.
…i think if the Mets bring in the right group of players today, they can do both, but it doesn’t just stop there…they do need to improve the depth of their farm system but by doing that they need to teach and re-inforce the fundamentals at all levels, including the big league club…the Mets have played a combination of uninspiring and sloppy baseball for the better part of three seasons and that is evident in their veterans as well as any of the prospects that we have seen no matter how good they are on paper…if the organization intends to contend in any season they must play fundamentally sound baseball for 162 games, and getting a big time hitter or a premier starting pitcher won’t just fix that problem…
Klapisch believes that the Mets should take a longer term approach and rebuild over the next 2-3 years as he he says “they’re too top-heavy for any sustained run.”
…it’s hard to argue with that considering their minor league teams were abysmal in 2009 and it’s clear that the team has reacted to their failures as though they are one player away, which it is clear they are not…it’s not to say that getting their current group healthy and bringing in a couple of key players won’t make them better, but in doing that rather than developing and investing from within i think it limits the window the organization has to win…
…the Mets did such a great job developing Jose Reyes and David Wright and i feel the key to developing players is to simply be patient with them, which i think they should do with prospects such as Fernando Martinez, Ike Davis, Josh Thole, and Jenrry Mejia and i don’t think it’s good for the organization to trade them, even if it’s for talent like Roy Halladay for the reason that Klapisch points out…
For more, check out Klapisch’s report on Fox Sports here.
