In my recent 2024 grades column, Mets PoBO David Stearns received a B+ from me, which I thought was an aggressive grade. The piece closed with this bit – “In a way, the grades for Mendoza and Stearns were handled with kid-gloves. With a full – successful! – season under their belts, they’ll both be [...]
Sometimes you gotta tip your cap. It’s a common sports cliche that we’re all familiar with, particularly when it’s our team that’s on the short end of a game or match. In this context, however, it pertains to the Mets and their players unequivocally and in no uncertain terms forcing yours truly to firmly place [...]
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush leagues
Before the 2024 season started, my opinion was that the 2025 Opening Day payroll was going to depend on how the team did. If they met my expectations of an 80-82-win season, the payroll goal was going to be to get underneath the tax threshold that resulted in a draft-pick penalty, if not to get [...]
Here are the final grades for the unexpectedly fun 2024 regular season – not including playoffs - for the Mets. The goal is to incorporate actual production, along with preseason expectations, as well as the individual’s role on the club. This means not all grades that are the same are equal. In order to qualify [...]
If hope springs eternal on Opening Day, the day after the end of the baseball season is over is bittersweet. That describes what a good number of Mets fans are feeling today after the 10-5 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the decisive Game 6 of the National League Championship Series on Sunday. There’s [...]
Today’s a day for all Mets fans to look back at what was a very strong year for the club. Did any of us expect to be in the NLCS this year? Certainly not me. Anyway, today is Joe Vasile’s day to publish and hopefully he has a piece that will be published later tonight. [...]
Managing to win versus managing to avoid criticism
Making the NLCS, after a brutal opening to the season and at one point being 11 games under .500, is nothing for the New York Mets to sneer at. This Mets team, regardless of the final outcome or destination, has jolted the fan base and has them feeling hopeful that something special is finally starting [...]
After four games in the NLCS, the Dodgers have a +21-run differential and it seems like they are dominating the Mets. But as bad as it is now, it’s nowhere near the whupping behind the woodshed they laid on the Mets back in 2017. The Dodgers authored a 7-0 sweep of the Mets that season, [...]
After J.D. Martinez walked in the second inning in Game 3, in the Game Chatter I joked that it wasn’t too early to pinch run for him. Matinez struck out twice after that, looking just as bad as he has since the start of September. Or even earlier than that. Martinez needs to be on [...]
After the Game One thrashing by the Dodgers, the Mets needed to look inward to figure out why it happened. With our own eyes we saw that Kodai Senga had nothing, as evidenced by his lack of control and all the walks that came back to haunt the team. The lack of good pitching by [...]