Recently the New York Rangers were dispatched from the NHL playoffs in game 7 of their third round playoff series. In that league you need to win four best-of-seven series in order to win the Stanley Cup.
The Rangers were a team carrying high expectations since they had been to the championship series last year and had spent high draft picks and a top prospect to make the big push for this year.
Since the crushing game 7 loss the hockey writers, bloggers, and fans have tried to put into perspective whether the team’s season could be called a success, a failure, or something in between. The consensus seems to be that since the team didn’t win the cup and didn’t again reach the final series that the season was not a success.
Our subject, of course, is the Mets.
Unlike the Rangers they weren’t built to compete for a championship in 2015 although one can argue that any team that makes the playoffs has a puncher’s chance of winning the whole thing. The team has been designed to at least compete for a playoff slot.
This got me to wonder what would have to be accomplished to call the 2015 season a success for the Mets.
Starting with the rosiest scenario: if the Mets win the World Series then this is a huge historic success. Terry Collins would get a long extension for as many years as it might take for his hair to turn its next color (what comes after white?). As fans we would have to take some, if not most, of the pins out of our Jeff Wilpon voodoo dolls.
Of course this is highly unlikely but I said the same thing about the 1969 Mets and some other teams that have won championships as underdogs. So there is hope.
More realistically, what if the team wins the NL East and perhaps even wins its first playoff series? Also a success although here Collins just gets one or two more years on his deal.
If the team makes the playoffs as a wild card then this too would have to be considered a success given the talent level and the low payroll this was accomplished with.
But what if the team does not make the playoffs? Let’s say it hits the number of wins many, including yours truly, have projected, 83. In that case some might point to finally getting over .500 after four years in the wilderness. Those folks could consider a modest success.
Others likely would say that getting left out of the dance once again makes it an unsuccessful season. I am in this camp and believe that if this happens and despite a possible .500+ season that Manager Collins will be issued his retirement package.
And just to touch all bases if the club were to finish under .500 which is still possible then surely Collins is a goner and the season would be considered a failure.
So tell us. What do you think the Mets have to do this year for you to call the season a success?
To be in the playoff mix in Sept would do it for me.
Be able to bunt consistently and unloading Niese and Gee. The rest follows.
Larry the ’69 Met’s had a manager. The 2015 Met’s do not. The ’69 were excellent up the middle with Grote, Weiss. Harrelson and Agee. A barely adequate defense is never going to get any team into the playoffs let alone our beloved Met’s. The 2015 Met’s have more holes than Swiss cheese. Let’s hope they do their annual collapse and Collins and Alderson get their walking papers. After all isn’t Sandy the architect behind this fiasco. I don’t care how well Cuddyer plays. Pinning all your hopes on a 36 year old player is stupid and obscene (especially an often injured one). No the baseball gods are not going to give the Wilpons a playoff game until they are long gone. And it is we the die hard Met fans who will continue to suffer for it. Third place in the division with Atlanta passing the Met’s on their way up. Thank God for Jeff Loria. Other wise the Met’s would finish last
^ +1
I see no evidence that ownership has any issue with Alderson and his top brass. Collins is surely on thin ice and even with all the injuries I doubt he’ll see 2016 as manager unless he can at least secure a wild card spot.
Maybe that’s unfair but using whatever criteria you want to use to judge managers Terry just hasn’t cut it.
Larry it’s on my wish list of things to wish for. I know the Wilpon’s are probably more satisfied with the job Alderson has done (cut payroll and put an adequate product on the field) as opposed to TC.
I have thought of this all morning and feel that I would be more proud of the way the Rangers went, than if the Mets win the division with a 84-78 record. Reason is, the Rangers had a good showing all year except for a small mid-season lull. The Mets had an 11 game winning streak and are 10 games under .500 for these last two months. They don’t execute, nor do they think the game, nor do they show themselves to be a united team.
They are forever in disarray, and they squander opportunities to score because of their lack of fundamentals.
I was thinking this morning that if they do somehow squeak a division, will Collins be Manager-of-the-Year? A nightmare!
While I agree that the fundamentals the Mets have seem to be awful I often wonder whether it’s just because we see them 150+ times per year so see all their warts. Maybe other teams are bad in these areas too. I suspect and fear not.
Would a different manager be more diligent about having his pitchers learn how to bunt? I would hope so but can’t know this for a fact.
While every team needs good fundamentals I think it doubly important for the Mets who do not have the power or defense to win games other ways.
Larry,
I have watched the A’s win with good fundamentals because they didn’t have the best individual parts. Neither did the Giants, who have won three world series. Nor do the Astros now, who suddenly Vegas has the favorites to win the AL West. Sure, luck helps also, but Jimmy Johnson once said: “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” I wonder how hard the Mets work on their fundies.
I remember watching Parcells make the playoffs with the Cowboys with the same players that for three years prior were 5-11 each time.
I remember watching Pat Riley take a 26 win Knicks team and win 53 the next year with limited talent, but unbeatable heart and execution.
All these success stories were written by coaches that screamed defense and minimizing mistakes. I have always tried to see what successful people do and copy it, learning a long time ago that reinventing the wheel was difficult. The Mets want to be mavericks. They want to be trend setters. I say, just do the little things well all the time and you will be surprised how much simpler winning becomes.
Gus going with Terry Collins is not exactly a text book method for improving your team. You are talking about 2 great coaches who understood how to get the most out of their less talented players. Collins? Hmm? To me is just the opposite. An excellent caretaker. Can he motivate a team and exert his will to win on it? The past few seasons should of answered that. What this team sorely lacks is that one key player who thrives on having men in scoring position. Getting on base is nice. But if the team doesn’t have that RBI guy who scares opposing pitchers then there’s no point in leading the league with L.O.B. As for fundamentals? Geez! Is it to much to ask for? How about the team leaders setting up a kangaroo court inside the clubhouse? Nothing like peer pressure to embarrass a player. I think what you’re asking for is reasonable Gus. It’s just that Collins does not have the wiherewithal to bring this team to the next level. So we end up with mediocrity tear in and year out.
A winning record and meaningful games in september in spite of injuries might spell success to Fred, Jeff, Saul and Sandy. Met fans wont see it that way. Sandy has the pieces to make a trade to keep this team in contention.
He hasn’t done it in the past,he will not do it today or any time soon. Just cosmetic changes. No blockbuster in the making.