The kids are all that’s left
So this is how the 2017 season ends, not with a playoff appearance, but with Travis Taijeron in the starting lineup… With the Mets effectively (if not mathematically) eliminated by the All-Star Game, a selloff was inevitable. After a slow July, August saw the departure of just about every healthy veteran on a seven figure contract without a no-trade clause. Except for Asdrubal “Trade Me” Cabrera. Irony is alive and well in the Mets’ clubhouse, if nothing else. Meanwhile, the remaining veterans saw their numbers thinned out by a rash of improbable injuries worthy of Homer at the Bat. Michael Conforto swung his arm out of its socket (shoulder surgery, 6 month recovery minimum), Wilmer Flores fouled a ball off his face (broken nose, out for the rest of the season), and Yoenis Cespedes, oh who the hell can keep track of it all? Let’s just go with the Springfield mystery spot.
On the plus side, the departures cleared room for top prospects Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith. And basically the rest of the 40-man roster or anyone due to be a minor league free agent. And Norichika Aoki? Eh, sure, why not? At least we can take comfort in the fact that the front office will make the necessary moves to bring the team back into contention in 2018. You can stop laughing now. Seriously, it wasn’t that funny. Watch out, you’re going to… Well, enjoy your time on the DL. You’ll have plenty of company.
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| Paul Sewald* | Adam Wilk | Tommy Milone | Neil Ramirez |
| 8 April 2017 | 7 May 2017 | 10 May 2017 | 20 May 2017 |
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| Tyler Pill* | Chasen Bradford* | Chris Flexen* | AJ Ramos |
| 27 May 2017 | 25 June 2017 | 27 July 2017 | 30 July 2017 |
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| Amed Rosario* | Dominic Smith* | Kevin McGowan* | Travis Taijeron* |
| 1 August 2017 | 11 August 2017 | 22 August 2017 | 26 August 2017 |
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| Jacob Rhame* | Jamie Callahan* | Norichika Aoki | Phillip Evans* |
| 2 September 2017 | 2 September 2017 | 2 September 2017 | 8 September 2017 |
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| Tomas Nido* | |||
| 13 September 2017 |
*MLB Debut
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Nothing to see here…
Three weeks into the season, most teams have seen a lot of new faces. Between offseason acquisitions, new players who made the team out of camp, and MLB-ready prospects who were held back for an extra year of team control, there’s always a lot of roster churn in the first weeks of the season. But not with the 2017 Mets. A combination of an injury-filled 2016 giving plenty of audition time to the AAA talent, a lot of players coming off the DL, and an offseason spent mainly bringing back the rest of the 2016 club has the Mets picking up right where they left off after the Wild Card game. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, unless you’re a relief pitcher on pace for triple digit appearances this season. But that’s why you have two arms, am I right? To date, the Mets have seen just one debut, Paul Sewald, who has since been sent back to Vegas. And who has yet to get a certified autograph card. So this page will remain blank for the time being.
Fun Fact: The last time the Mets went this far into the season with just one new face was back in 1989 when Don Aase was the team’s big offseason acquisition and came in for the save on Opening Day. And that was basically the highlight of his brief Mets career.
Who’s Tommy?
Coming into the 2017 season, the Mets could be assured of one thing: strong starting pitching, and lots of it. Seven starters were at the ready and the team felt comfortable letting go of Gabriel Ynoa for cash. A month into the season, three of the seven were on the DL and Rafael Montero was turning into a disaster as a replacement starter. Of the remainder, only Jacob deGrom lived up to expectations. And while it was expecting a lot for Matt Harvey to return to form coming off surgery, anything would be helpful at this point. And then the team announced that he would miss a start because of a 3-game suspension for violating team rules. In his place, we got Adam Wilk, straight off a redeye from Vegas. It did not go well. The team was in trouble and desperately needed a starter. Tommy Milone was available, so he’s now a Met. The Mets now have the worst rotation in baseball and reinforcements are still weeks away. Who’s Tommy Milone? He just might be the team’s only hope at this point.
Waiting for Amed
So, um, that didn’t work. After three increasingly awful starts for the Mets, Tommy Milone hit the DL and hasn’t been seen since. Meanwhile, the Mets brought in Neil Ramirez to, um, exist in the bullpen and called up Binghamton’s all-time wins leader Tyler Pill to be the sensitive alternative to Rafael Montero in the rotation (Montero would later return to the rotation…). With their season hanging by a thread and a gaping hole at shortstop, the Mets held off on calling up top prospect Amed Rosario. Even after the Super 2 deadline had certainly passed, the Mets held off on calling up top prospect Amed Rosario. With just one more new Met with an autograph card needed to bring the total number of Mets with certified autograph cards up to exactly half of the all-time player list, the Mets held off on calling up top prospect Amed Rosario. Instead, they called up Pill’s 2011 draft classmate Chasen Bradford. The reasons change, but the result is the same – Rosario is not in Queens or anywhere else the big league team goes. Maybe after the All-Star break? It’s hard to argue that he’s not ready when he seems bored in Las Vegas and being ready is part of his catchphrase. He’s ready, we’re waiting, and…
Back to Mets Debut Autographs
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