Your intrepid columnist may have just taken up residence in Panic City. To say this is a tough stretch for New York Mets right now might be the understatement of the year. They were just swept out of Washington, DC and while there’s little shame in falling three times to the current division leaders, the events that have brought the team to this point are disheartening at best. To wit: before hitting the Capitol, the Mets struggled to eke out a four game split against the lowly Braves in Atlanta. Many deemed this stretch of the year to be the most important to date: after beating the Pirates on a Thursday night, the Mets’ next 23 games leading into the All Star break would be against the Braves, the Nationals, the World Champion Kansas City Royals, the world-beating Chicago Cubs and the super-hot, super-young Miami Marlins. It was thought this would go a long way to determining the team’s fate going forward, and the confident among us could predict, say a 15-8 or 16-7 tally – two thirds of these games were to be against Atlanta, the worst team in the game and Washington, who the Mets beat into submission late last year. That won’t happen now. With the Mets having been swept at home by the Braves, then swept on the road by the Nationals, the record so far in this run is 4-8. They find themselves in third place, their record a mere three games over the .500 mark, six craven games behind Washington. It doesn’t look like it will get any better any time soon.
Every day. seemingly, a new injury – or at least an injury concern – pops up. This week we were treated to news that Steven Matz has a bone spur in his left elbow and that Noah Syndergaard may have the same in his right elbow. Prior the finale in Washington, Curtis Granderson was a late scratch, due to a sore calf muscle, though he did pinch-hit in the eighth inning. With David Wright out indefinitely, Lucas Duda having disappeared off the face of the Earth, Juan Lagares just beginning his rehab and Travis d’Arnaud just back from his own, this team is stretched to its thinnest, bearing little resemblance to that resilient bunch that rallied itself in August and September and came away with the NL Pennant. Alejandro De Aza leading off? James Loney in the cleanup spot? Kelly Johnson at third base? None of these guys were here last year and two of them weren’t here last month. It makes you wonder if somebody stole Jobu’s rum.
Meanwhile, Terry Collins is asked if the team can “change its style,” and play “small-ball.” The way this team is constructed, that won’t help either and Collins has grown testy over that reality. They never hit-and-run, they don’t steal bases, even the pitchers seem incapable of laying down a bunt. Let’s face it: this is a slew-footed bunch that needs to put the ball over the wall if it hopes to compete, similar to the slugging Boston Red Sox teams of the late-‘70s. And when the homers dry up, as they inevitably will at points during a long year, a team like that looks sludgy, dull and disinterested – the dreaded curse word “unwatchable.” Couple that with the fact that the pitching – for a variety of reasons – hasn’t been up to last year’s standards and this year’s billing. All this makes for a bitter stew for Collins and the rest of us to swallow.
They were supposed to be better than this.
Follow me on Twitter @CharlieHangley.
This is a very well written article. Everything was covered. Well,, in my opinion, almost everything. In my opinion, the current Mets swoon was inevitable because of the way they handled the off season. Yes, they lucked out landing Cespedes. However when a player like D Aza is your first player signed and then not aggressively pursuing Daniel Murphy, the NLCS MYP, the day after he turned down the QO was a big mistake and now the Mets are paying for that mistake. There is no guarantee that Dilson will ever play in the MLB sometime in the future like he is playing in the minors. DW has a chronic disease. Did they really expect the DW of 2004 to magically reappear and be a factor in repeating their 2015 campaign that won the NL pennant. So, in addition to the players you mention not contributing now we have DM on his way to an MVP season with the Nats who are playing the best NL baseball so far in 2016. The Mets have made many decisions in the past that made the FO look bad but not signing Murphy could prove to be the worst ever.
You gotta believe
I know it’s a tough stretch and that Collins is one of the oldest managers in the game but I didn’t know it had gotten that bad. Hopefully that picture was just the result of some bad lighting. But TC, baby, smoking is not a good look for you
No touch Jobu’s rum…
Seth Lugo up. Witness the weak farm system.
26 years old, 6.55 ERA.
And if you want to get really old-fashioned with the stats — I know that nobody cares about hits anymore — but he’s given up 97 hits in 68 IP.
Bring ’em up to NY for the Cubs series, by all means!
Big problem is minor league system is in shambles. Mets have no one of value to trade except for Wheeler, but have zero pitching depth in system, so can’t possibly trade Wheeler at this point (forget that they’d be selling 10 cents on the dollar because of the uncertain recovery from TJ surgery).
There are no chips in the system. None.
Of Baseball America’s top shortstop prospects, Rosario ranks 15th. In the NL East alone, our rivals have Crawford (#2, Phillies), Turner (#4, Nationals), and Swanson (#5, Braves). I like Rosario, I am hopeful, but let’s not pretend that he’s some kind of hot chip.
A strong minor league system should be the bedrock of any competitive team, especially one that dreams of “sustained success.” Remember that phrase?
One good note. Maybe the bloggers of the world haven’t figured out that the Mets system is a disaster, but Sandy finally has come to terms with it. Witness this year’s all-college draft. They know they need help now, and that there’s nothing in the pipeline but bit players.
I think the team we see now is basically the team we’ll see moving forward. There will be no big trades. Because: Nothing to trade.
When it comes to minors, I’m more into top-end prospects than depth, but let’s take a look:
Mets have 8 minor league teams, and only 2 of them are currently above .500. The best result is in AAA, the Vegas team, and we know they’ve got nothing. Binghamton is in a nose dive, the worst-performing level. St. Lucie is one game above .500. Overall, system has 15 more losses than wins.
I’m not seeing the rising stars, and I’m not seeing overall quality up and down the system. Sandy didn’t “fix” the system, he f***ed it.
JP, Overall I have to agree with you. The farm system had an anomalous blip when a slew of people were hanging on top prospect status but on the way up fast. Once Matz made it, the cupboards looked empty. Sustained excellence…that was the albatross. In terms of people finding, the SA/DePo et al crowd gets about a grade of D.
One thing I will disagree with you in is Rosario. He is gonna jump this year. I mean Dansby Swanson is great and all, but hasnt played a pro game yet. Trea Turner couldnt come close to unseating Danny Espinoza. Rosario has overperformed at every level, yet being years behind his age group. He landed in Bingo and already is a huge difference maker. Buckle your seat belts, I think Rosario is gonna be a well above avg-to-star level SS.
I agree with Chris here. I think BA is underselling Rosario. But their list was from March, and since then he’s made a successful transition to AA. I’ve got high hopes for him.
Of course, these last few years have shown that my level of optimism on some of these prospects was ultimately unjustified…
This is all worse than last year because of the expectations heading into it. I guess we should’ve known better? Mets fans, after all.
Maybe Lagares and Reyes can spark the team a bit? Maybe the Mets will splurge on Gourriel, but who knows how that would work out. Things are….well we’ll see how far this team can really fall in the next couple of weeks.
Don’t say I didn’t warn ya…
Bring up Backman!
+1+1+1+1…+1
We need a live chicken…
The biggest culprit of all, bigger than the injuries, bigger than Harvey’s slow start, is Michael Conforto. His free fall just killed the balance of this lineup.
For what it’s worth, the Mets finished that 23 game stretch 11-12, thanks in large part to an unlikely 4-game sweep of the Cubs at home.