Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Mets are considering demoting Michael Conforto to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Conforto is hitting.219/.340/.365 on the year and has been slumping worsr than that lately, and Sherman says the team believes “that Conforto might benefit from a few weeks of steady Triple-A at-bats away from the Mets’ struggles.”
Nothing is imminent -- the Mets likely won’t have to make room on the roster until Yoenis Cespedes returns, and he just suffered a setback by aggravating his quad muscle in a rehab game, so that might still be a bit -- but it is rather remarkable that the Mets are considering demoting Conforto. Especially considering that (a) there are several other Mets hitting worse than he is; and (b) he, unlike most of them, represents the future of the Mets as opposed to a water-treading present. He’s the best hitting prospect the club has produced in years, yet every year he’s threatened with being sent down. And has actually been sent down.
Not that the Mets aren’t sensitive to players’ feelings. Jose Reyes, for example, is apparently allowed to work through whatever he’s working through and, if and when his services are no longer needed on the club, he’ll be sure to get a graceful exit.
