If you thought things couldn’t possibly get worse for this floundering Mets team, here come the Yankees. Here we are at the misfit table in middle school. It’s not bad enough the cute girl saw us spill milk on our laps and we got picked last in gym class, but here comes Biff to give us a wedgie.

One of the hardest things about being a Mets fan (and probably a Mets player these days) is constantly having our crosstown rival waving victory flags in our faces. While Citi Field seems to have been built on an ancient indian burial ground (how else can you explain the endless string of misfortune?) the house that Ruth built seems to crown a new all-star every few months. Not only do the Yankees have more rings than a jewelry store, but they are a well run, and often lucky organization that always seems to come up with great young player after great young player.

Yes, the Yankees have unmatched resources and generous ownership that we can’t compete with. They can go after the top free agents and reel in players like Giancarlo Stanton. But how about seizing on the opportunity to trade pending free agent Aroldis Chapman for top prospect Gleyber Torres? They knew they were out of the playoff race and that the Cubs were desperate for a top closer to put them over the top. They pounced like a cat at this opportunity. Then they brought back Chapman as a free agent and developed Torres into the hottest rookie in the game. At last check he’s hitting .900 with 80 home runs, or something like that.

Aaron Judge was a big strong kid with a flawed swing. The Yankees, reportedly on the advice of Alex Rodriguez, worked hard to develop him into one of the best power hitters in the game. The Yankees don’t just sign big money free agents – though that’s an easy narrative to perpetuate. They make smart draft picks and shrewd trades and do a great job of developing talent and preparing prospects for the majors. The Mets do none of this.

The Mets sign second tier, past-their-prime free agents to plug holes. We draft hitters who can’t field and fielders who can’t hit. And clearly we put something in the water coolers that deteriorates elbow ligaments because every pitcher we draft, sign or trade for winds up needing Tommy John surgery.

This Mets team should have won a World Series by now behind a dominant Matt Harvey and an enviable brigade of power arms. David Wright should have been our third baseman and three-hole hitter these past four years on his way to the Hall of Fame. Instead he’s a sad, broken man rooting for his teammates from the dugout while we root for him to take the field one last time. At least that’s something worth cheering for. It beats clapping when the power hitting Jay Bruce emerges from a month long slump to bloop a bases empty single. It sure beats cheering for Brandon Nimmo when he beams from ear-to-ear because he reached base via another hit by pitch.

It’s hard to find humor in this organization when so much is going wrong. We’re a wounded team and a wounded fan base. And now here comes the @#$%& Yankees with the big salt shaker.

 

17 comments on “The Yankees are coming for our lunch money

  • Chris F

    My advice is find something to do this weekend and just read about it in the funny papers. Not only are they coming for our lunch money, but we’re gonna get beat up during recess and have our bikes stolen.

  • Pete

    Hey Matt! Don’t forget the Mets signed Alderson too! After an impressive off season I cannot wait for next years hot stove. Our future is as bright as a solar eclipse.

  • BK

    Nailed it. Unfortunately acting like a smart organization means the Mets must face reality and do the previously unthinkable – trade DeGrom for a boatload of prospects to refill the farm system. Losing to Baltimore means the Mets are done. DeGrom is approaching 30, will be a free agent at 32. FactorIng in normal aging curves for pitchers, his value may never be higher than it is right now. And we always seem to wait too long to trade players. We could get a haul for him and finish in 4th place in the East just as easily without him.

    • Pete In Iowa

      If they entertain offers for deGrom, they should also entertain offers for Syndergaard, Matz, Wheeler, Familia, Cabrera, Cespedes, Lugo, Swarzak, Frazier and Gsellman.
      Why stop at deGrom, when we might be able to receive a decent return for any or all of these guys?
      We suck so bad and in so many ways right now that just trading deGrom — even if he can bring back 3 or 4 really good pieces — simply isn’t enough.

    • David Klein

      I think deGrom is gonna age like Scherzer has, let’s remember that deGrom with a dip in velo due to an injury was still a 3 WAR pitcher in 2016. I would give him a four or five year extension.

  • Brian Joura

    JDG has gone from 100 to 109 to 115 to 116 pitches in his last four starts. My guess is that if he’s pitching well, he tops 120 tonight. I look forward to Yankees fans turning up the heat to acquire deGrom after he handles them tonight.

    Or Mets fans acting like they’re the most cursed franchise in the world if they lose tonight. There will be no middle ground.

  • Pete from NJ

    Here’s my middle ground: the good guys take 2 of 3 from the bullies and we all move forward from here.

    I’m not sure who stated that the high point of the season was in the 7th inning at home against the Nationals in April with the fans singing at Bryce Harper. So the low point was Wednesday’s game.

    Let’s regroup and talk about all this on Monday morning. And Chris F, I can not read about it in the sports section but feel every molecule dying or regenerating by the second.

  • Pete

    I can see Robles coming into a tied game to face Stanton or Judge. The ball just landed outside Yankee Stadium. End of game. End of hope, End of season.

  • Pete In Iowa

    Don’t know for sure what to make of these three games.
    On the one hand, I like very much that deGrom, Matz and Syndergaard are lined up.
    But, of course, that means we’d somehow have to score 2 or 3 runs in each game……

  • David Klein

    You can’t predict baseball, Susan. The 2004 Mets, who were dreadful swept the 2004 Yankees that posted infamously in the alcs. The pitching matchups beyond the Severino game is strongly in the Mets favor.

  • Pete

    Hey Pete in Iowa! Who’s bullpen do you trust more?
    Who’s closer Familia or Chapman?

    • Pete In Iowa

      I have had little trust in Familia since 2015. He started losing his command in 2016 and this year, he has been spotty at best.

  • Matt Netter

    I’ll watch every game this weekend, but with the lowest of expectations. Sure would be nice if Cespedes would play.

  • TexasGusCC

    Wow, a ThreePete!!!

    As for trading deGrom, due to his age and Borass agent, I’m ok. But I maintain, the Mets are not in rebuilding mode. Rebuilding involves not having youth. The Mets have several good young players and pitchers. The key is to add to those the right players. Jay Bruce, Adrian Gonzalez, and the “over the hill club” modus operandi is lazy work by the front office. If Alderson thinks fans will believe that players will just do what they did years ago, he not smart or smug, but rather the fool he is called more and more. He wasn’t like this years back, when he was scouring the systems and finding players like Hererra and Black while flipping extra pieces, but those things have stopped happening and redundancy has filled the roster.

    His work this winter and most often is lazy and backward. For example, the Seattle Mariners lose Cano. They are getting $12MM back due to Cano’s lost salary. So, they go to the Rays and say that they’ll take Span’s entire salary with Colome for a couple of prospects. That’s smart.

    Further, the Mets ownership not wanting to re-invest Wright’s salary is just bullshitting us. They also didn’t pick up the salaries of traded and written off players to save money. So, between Alderson’s weak efforts and the Coupons’ weak excuses, we support a failing franchise. Bottom line.

    • David Klein

      deGrom is not a Boras guy he’s representied by CAA

      • Mike Walczak

        Now we are Familia is on the DL.

  • Steevy

    And Thor will miss his start because of swelling of his finger.

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