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Long-Term Value Of Mets Rookies Is Underestimated In This List
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- Long-Term Value Of Mets Rookies Is Underestimated In This List
Determining the value of a successful rookie is one of the toughest evaluation tasks in MLB, and the New York Mets had two of the most successful rookies in their recent history in starter Nolan McLean and outfielder Carson Benge.
Which is part of why it was very surprising that Benge and McLean they weren't ranked higher than 10th and 12th, respectively, in a list piece by Jim Callis of MLB.com that tackled the issue of long-term rookie value.
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Benge first, although you can make an argument that McLean should have ranked higher given that the pitcher is already so close to being an ace. Benge was supposed to be a defensively strong right fielder who could maybe hit for average if he progressed enough in his first season, but instead he stepped right into the role of current star, not future possibility.
The big shock came in the power department. Benge made history as he became one of just five NL rookies to post a 20-20 season, and he didn't seem fazed at all by the new requirements when the Mets dropped him to the middle of the lineup to take advantage of his growing skill set.
He's now a lineup staple on a team that needs power to back up outfielder Juan Soto in the middle of the order, and he plays hard and smart for a team that genuinely needs those qualities as well.
Callis definitely undersold McLean, stating that he had "more success as a slugger than a pitcher at Oklahoma State," but the Mets never gave a second thought to that part of McLean's game.
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Instead, they recognized the potential of McLean's diverse pitch arsenal and uncanny poise, and they got most of what they were looking for. McLean did go through stretches where he struggled with command and control, but he showed obvious ace potential, especially when he stopped hunting strikeouts and focused more on providing length in his starts.
Much of what he did statistically didn't matter much on a team that was unexpectedly bad, but the value of a controllable young pitcher at the top of the rotation is huge. The icing on the cake is that McLean just won the Mets' first Gold Glove in 12 years, per Callis, although the positional value of doing that as a pitcher is slightly dubious.
The point here isn't to criticize Callis for his choices, although that's certainly possible. But putting Benge and McLean at the back end of the top ten or out of it completely is ridiculous given what these two Mets stars achieved.
