The year was 2007. The New York Mets were in dire trouble of losing their grip on first place in the division and not even rebounding to make the playoffs as a wild card. The team enters the final game of the season against the last place, then, Florida Marlins.They turn to their ace, Tom Glavine.
Without making every Mets fan nauseous by reliving the horror of that game, let’s just say that it didn’t work out well. The Mets lost. When they fell, they did so with a loud thug. They lost the division lead and a lot of respect around the league. They were questioned for their age and their fire.
Later, it came out that the team celebrations, mostly those of Jose Reyes, served as extra motivation for the Marlins to defeat the Mets and helped to complete an enormous comeback from the surging Phillies. When Reyes vowed to tone it down the next offseason, those rumors were confirmed.
Fast forward a year to 2008. Same September swoon. Same team spoils the Mets chances. This time with a bullpen collapse leading to the Mets being bounced by the Marlins and allowing the Brewers to make the playoffs.
This season, the Mets are far from being in contention. With their poor showing against the Washington Nationals last week, they pretty much played their way out of not just any playoff talk but maybe even finishing at .500.
As Mets360 writer Dan Kolton alluded to yesterday, the rest of this season still has unanswered questions. He examined the final month or so on the schedule. Without rewriting a good article, let’s focus on the divisional opponents going forward.
With the Marlins on the rise and both the Braves and Nationals jockeying for playoff positions, the Mets are eating their dust and are all but an afterthought in the NL East. This could change and very soon. The Mets have six games left against Atlanta, six against Miami and seven against Washington.
They have every bit of a chance to play the role of spoiler to each of these teams. They could help any one of them lose a playoff spot if these teams underestimate the Mets. As always, it comes down to how the Mets play their rivals.
If how they’ve played Washington is any indication (2-10 so far), then we can expect the Mets to go quietly into the sunset of the offseason. But if they play with pride and energy, they can make some noise and leave some scars, like the scars these rivals have inflicted on them throughout the years.
While the concept of spoiler is not much to be happy about or motivate a team, it’s all these Mets may have left this season. They have no one to blame but themselves for this chosen lot. They played their way into it. Therefore, they must embrace it. Be professionals and play for their pride, their egos, their paychecks and their fans.
It will be frustrating to once again be a bridesmaid and not a bride, but hopefully, the sour taste of watching another team hoist the World Series trophy yet again, will sink in and take root for next season so that these rivals will be the ones watching the Mets in 2015.
Usually a foot in the door is a sign of progress. I’d be happy with a toe. This team needs a jolt and a new manager to light a fire under them. Playing hard and consistently losing close games isn’t a moral victory. It’s called losing.
The slow pace and lack of urgency in reconstructing this team characterizes the Mets as flower girls not bridesmaids.
Frank Cashen, the gold standard when it comes to Mets GM, had four straight below .500 finishes before breaking through with 90 wins in his fifth season. Cashen had (relatively) much more money to spend and the turnaround took five years. I think it’s fair to discuss a “lack of urgency” but I don’t think “slow pace” is an accurate term, unless we’re starting from the position that Sandy Alderson is >>>> Frank Cashen and I don’t think anyone feels that way.
Brian do you think Sandy has the fortitude and willingness to make a trade for a LF in his prime with some pop in his bat?
If you asked me that question in April my answer would have been yes. Now, I don’t expect a trade for an OF bat to happen. But it has less to do with fortitude and willingness and more to do with the rise of Nimmo and the addition of Conforto. For better or worse, we’re stuck with Granny for three more years and it looks like Lagares will be around, too. So, any OF added to the mix will likely be on a short-term deal, which eliminates the big slugger we’d all like to see.
I think a trade for a SS seems more likely.
Thinking out loud, perhaps next year at the trade deadline, a deal for an OF on the verge of free agency might be on the table if we’re in a competitive position.
I am hopeful for Nimmo to pan out but I’m still crossing my fingers that Corey Vaughn explodes.
Cashen took over a team that lost 99 games. Alderson took over a team that lost 83 games. I would call that a significant head start for Sandy. Sandy’s inabilility to draft an impact player and reluctance to trade prospects to fill the holes on the major league level has caused a slowed pace.
Two examples: no outfield to start 2013 and no shortstop to start 2014.
I also stated “the Mets” and not specifically Sandy because there is plenty poor decision making on the part of the owners and manager that has contributed to this slow pace.
Well, that’s sort of a double-edged sword.
Because they finished with such a poor record, they had the first overall pick and were able to draft Darryl Strawberry. He’s the only impact player to come up before the 5th season of Cashen’s regime.
Metsense it’s more like a funeral procession.
How is it that the Marlins with their 46 million dollar payroll and the loss of their ace Fernandez can play .500 and the Mets can’t?
When will people learn? Payroll doesn’t tell you much about how good a club is. There’s a correlation, but i don’t think it’s very high in this day in age.
The Marlins had a 102 million dollar payroll and only won 69 ball games in 2012.
“Be professionals and play for their pride, their egos, their paychecks and their fans.”
I don’t think their lack of wins is tied to this. I think it’s a severe lack of focus from leadership. I quote Robert the Bruce. “But from the top to the bottom this [team] has no sense of itself.”
I didn’t say their lack of wins was attributed to playing as professionals. You may have misunderstood. I said that they played their way into this position and should embrace the role of spoiler. If they need motivation for that role they should find it in that mindset of playing for themselves and their fans. Hope this clears it up for you.
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