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The Mets are in striking distance of a playoff spot thanks in large part to Pete Alonso.
Could you imagine if he had been left in the minors to start the season?
Rookie general manager Brodie Van Wagenen opted to put Alonso on the opening day roster rather than leave him in Triple-A for a few weeks in order to gain another year of team control of the first baseman.
Speaking to RADIO.COM's "Big Baseball Podcast" on Monday, Van Wagenen more or less patted himself on the back for that decision.
"We figured a playoff spot was going to potentially come down to one, two or three games, and that's where we are now," the Mets GM said. "And we think back to April, that had we not had Pete we could've lost a few more games than we did in April and be two, three, four, five games worse than where we are right now, and that would have a dramatic impact on our playoff odds."
Alonso has been stellar this season. He broke the National League rookie home run record and tied the Mets' single-season homer record with 41 round-trippers. He's hitting .265 with a .368 on-base percentage, .960 OPS and 100 RBIs.
Van Wagenen made some other offseason moves that are suddenly looking smarter now that the Mets have turned their season around. Eleven games below .500 just after the All-Star break, the Amazin's are now 67-63, just two games behind the Cubs -- whom they face at home this week -- for the second NL wild-card spot.
How does Van Wagenen explain the about-face? Easy. This version of the Mets is largely the one he envisioned last winter.
"I think a lot of it ... is related to what we tried to do in the offseason," the Mets GM said. "And I know there was a lot of talk about what we did and a lot of excitement. But the team was built on the backs of our starting pitching, and in the first half of the year, we had a little bit of inconsistency in the starting rotation. We also in the offseason set out to try to bolster the bullpen, and we certainly had inconsistency in the bullpen performance and some health issues with guys not being available in the first half. And then we wanted to create more length to the lineup.
"And now that we look back on it, the starting pitching has stabilized, to say the least. Justin Wilson coming back, Luis Avilan coming back in the bullpen have been two huge pieces to the puzzle. And then I think we made a bold move -- and not an easy move -- right before the break to restructure our coaching staff from a pitching perspective."
Van Wagenen also credited manager Mickey Callaway for not losing his clubhouse when times were tough.
"They get along with each other," Van Wagenen said of the players. "There's chemistry, from veterans to the young kids to the American-born players to the international players. There's been a unit that was created at spring training and was able to be sustained over the course of the season. And it's been fun to watch these guys get along, and I credit Mickey for being able to hold this group together and put us in the position that we are in now."