The Mets have not been in the post season since 2006 and they have not had a winning record since 2008. Since 2008, the Mets have gone through two managers and two GM’s. Every season since ‘08, Mets fans have gotten their hopes up before the season began and then had them crushed by the time June comes around (and sometimes sooner). Needless to say, Mets fans have tolerated a lot over the past few years, and they have not gotten much for it. Therefore, the Mets will need to step it up both on the field and in the front office; because if they do not, they might begin to lose fans.
Before the start of 2014, Mets’ General Manager Sandy Alderson said that the ball club would win 90 games this season. But as of today, the Mets are nowhere near being on track to win 90 games. Since winning four of five from the Phillies in Philadelphia, the Mets have been playing pathetic baseball. The bullpen has not been holding leads, and the offense is just not producing like it should be. Sure, teams go through slumps, but that is no excuse for being swept by the worst team in the National League, the Chicago Cubs after winning four of five from their division rival.
The Mets can blame their struggles on many things this season, but none of them are a good excuse. Sure, they do not have their ace in Matt Harvey, but they do have a stellar rookie in Jacob deGrom who will try to get his first win tonight. deGrom should have at least three wins on the season by now, but instead is 0-2 with an 8.1 strike out-to=walk ratio. The Mets also do not have much speed right now, but they should not need any because Curtis Granderson, Chris Young, Lucas Duda, and David Wright should have a lot more home runs than they currently do. Of course, maybe the season would have gone a lot smoother if instead of signing Young to a one-year deal worth $7.25 million, the Mets signed Nelson Cruz to a deal of the same length, (but less expensive) that he signed with the Orioles.
Most seasons, the Mets would be able to blame these problems on Citi Field, but that would not work this season as the Mets are under .500 on the road. Although they got off to a hot road start early in the season, they have seemed to make their annual “post Subway Series” collapse, which has hurt them in a major way. Since returning to Citi Field during the Subway Series, the Mets are under .500, and there seems to be no sign of returning. They have consistently stayed towards to bottom of their division, and their offense has continued to struggle.
This season, the Mets are one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball while playing in one-run games. This is mostly due to the bullpen giving up more late runs than they should and the offense not being able to get the runs back. It seems as if the only thing the Mets are able to count on is their starting pitching, but even that can be shaky from time to time. Hopefully, the Mets will snap back together, and begin to win more ballgames. As a die-hard Mets fan, I hate to see the team in this state, because I believe that they have the potential to win more ballgames.
Dan,
On the matter of CY v. Nelson Cruz you are guilty of rewriting history. When the Mets signed CY Nelson Cruz was seeking a large multi-year contract. You can argue that the Mets signed CY too soon, but that doesn’t mean that they would have been successful in landing Cruz later on.
Baltimore offered him a venue in which he could post higher power numbers and then seek a larger contract next year. CitiField is not as attractive a site for a power hitter trying to post big numbers.
I’ve also seen the theory that Alderson rushed to sign CY because he feared that if he waited the Wilpons might have changed the budget guidelines and the money wouldn’t be available. At this point any negative theory concerning the Wilpons and money is hard to ignore.
While you’re right about Cruz, under no manipulation of history was CY worth anything other than a minor league deal. Even in his one supposedly good season, he had an ops+ under 100 (88). He has more career k’s than hits, and was an average defender at best in his ‘heyday’ and is now poor.
In all honesty, when I heard they had signed him, I thought they meant CY the pitcher, and wondered why they had overpaid him, but was not as upset.
When I discovered who it was, I was stunned.
How are the chances of “new ” owners?,That seems to be my light at the end of the tunnel.
Zero chance Rev Al. Zero.
Selig went through herculean gymnastics to get Alderson in to the GM chair in order to save the club for the Wilpon’s. The plain fact is, with the Madoff decision imposing the smallest conceivable debt to the Wilpon’s, there is little chance that the club can be wrested from their evil grips.
The other thing is that despite the completely empty stands that must hover around around 10-15 thousand people per game, official gate as reported in B-R has us stabilizing annually around 2.1 million miserable souls, including this year based on present records through 31 home starts. Sure the stands look bad, but it means people have the tix and, presently, are just not going. It has to be eating the concessions deeply, but beyond that? The massive loss of ticket sales occurred between ’08 and ’10. Clearly, less is the new more. SNY losses must be mounting too.
In any event, all this is to say that the Wilpon’s are going nowhere. Part of their success, and a large part in my mind, is simply being part of an exclusive club of team owners. Not being forced to sell is winning. What ever going on between the lines is just part of the greater enterprise. We fans see Ws and Ls, but that clearly is not all they care about.
Fred –> Jeffy. Its our destiny.
Unfortunately, there are still too many Mets fans who insist that they must go to Mets games (or at least buy tickets). These same people probably would keep going to a restaurant with a new inferior chef and pay the same prices for their meal.
You sir, are not a true Met fan, or at best, a bandwagon fan. There is nothing wrong with a Met fan going out to the ballpark to watch their favorite team and have a good time.
I haven’t gone to the new Horror-Field but maybe, one day, I will try the food court and if inclined to drink, will turn around and watch the freak show below.
Last year my wife treated me to a Met game.The seats she picked were almost $140.00 each, I went to get us 2 soda’s and handed the lady a $20.00 bill, expecting change? there was none. On S/S income , We can’t afford to go to anymore games in Citi-field. I can make a trip to Binghamton and see AA ball, just as good, maybe better,for a $10.00 dug-out seat,and a hotdog and soda for less then $20.00 for both of us. From where I live in Pa. It’s even closer.
Rev Al – screw going to Binghamton.
Come to Buffalo, have a near-major league experience for about the same price as Binghamton, and enjoy Canalside.
My town remains one of the best secrets in the East.
I live in Staten Island I rather go see Staten Island Yankee game and see them play brooklyn cyclones. Single A mets. They are better than the mets. They should play in Citi Field.
How much longer can we tolerate this team?
Don’t look now, but since April (when Granderson and Wright had something like a combined 800 OPS) …
the Mets are 14-25 and that includes a stretch against the *worst teams in the NL*.
OBTW:
Mets record when Bobby Abreu is starting is 6-6. His OPS as a starter and in CitiField are both well over 900. But we get treated to 26 year old rookies that can’t frigging hit, or “veterans”.
There is a SS with the capacity to hit 300 on this team, a RF that right now is delivering a 380 OBP and has for his entire career, and an established, ML CFer delivering to an over 850 OPS since the end of April.
Optimizing the lineup? Forget that. We’re in the business of giving away games because MDD makes a couple of glory plays in CF, because we want to give CY his ABs, and Ruben Tejada hit for *one week against the worst pitchers in the NL*.
The players to win baseball games are actually right here, on this squad. Grandy in CF, Abreu in RF, Brown in LF (until either Lagares or EYJ gets back), Flores at SS, Tejada at 2B (!), Murphy at 1B, Wright at 3B. Or leave Murphy at 1B and put Flores at 1B. Either way.
Done like dinner.
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Editor’s Note – Post deleted for violating our Comment Policy.