Depending on what stage of grief you may be in at this point you might be ready to look back at some of the excellent things that went on with the Mets during the 2015 regular and post seasons.
Remembering back one full year ago we were hoping that the front office might be able to bring in an outfielder who could hit and solve a shortstop position that looked to be dire.
The outfielder turned out to be Michael Cuddyer, shrug, and all that did was cost a lot of money and the 11th pick of the 2015 draft. That was not a success.
Shortstop never got fixed and there are mixed feelings within the Mets’ community as to how good or bad that position was covered during the season.
Yet starting with the depth acquisitions of Juan Uribe, Kelly Johnson, and Tyler Clippard the team started to roll. The finishing touch was the non-trade of Zach Wheeler plus Wilmer Flores for Carlos Gomez that led to the acquisition of uber-rental player Yoenis Cespedes.
The rest is history including two stellar rounds of playoffs starring the power bat of one Daniel Murphy.
Then things went south as the Mets succumbed to a superior team from Kansas City in the World Series.
It’s practically all good but there are a few downer notes that we are left with.
For those who always said the Mets could never go anywhere with a modest budget set by the owners who are knee deep in debt service there is this. The narrow path to overthrowing the Wilpons depended on continued failure leading to an even more disgruntled fan base staying away from Citi Field in droves. Let us not forget that this was the year of the billboards created with fans’ donations telling us how Messer’s Wilpon, Wilpon, and Katz needed to go.
Had the Mets suffered with another poor season with lowered attendance and less viewership on SNY it might just have convinced the new commissioner to use his good offices to grease the slide for the Wilpons’ exit.
But instead a team that was hoping to play meaningful games in September and perhaps cop a wild card berth went crazy, won the division, and then the National League Championship. Citi Field rocked with fans. This is no way to get new owners. Those of us who want to see the Mets sold will now have to wait years, possibly decades, longer for this to happen. Alas.
Many in the Mets community felt that Terry Collins was in over his head as Mets manager. They conceded that neither he nor anyone else could win with the talent Sandy Alderson provided him during the first four post-Minaya years. So in 2015 it was make or break for Manager Terry. Undoubtedly if the team fell short of the playoffs he was going to lose his job.
Instead Collins is a top candidate for manager of the year. He has a spanking new two year contract extension. If you are not a fan of the manager – tough noogies because he will definitely be running the show in 2016 and in all likelihood again in 2017.
And finally there’s that shortstop position. I have written many times that there was no way this team could succeed punting that critical position. Wilmer Flores might be able to hit a bit but lacked the range and arm to play an acceptable shortstop at this level. Ruben Tejada is a superior defender albeit just average as a major league shortstop. His bat is marginal at best and totally powerless.
If the front office opts not to improve the team at shortstop they have the easy comeback to complainers like yours truly. We won with those two in 2015. No reason to think we can’t do it again in 2016.
So lots to love, appreciate, and remember about the 2015 season but it’s not all good.
“Had the Mets suffered with another poor season with lowered attendance and less viewership on SNY it might just have convinced the new commissioner to use his good offices to grease the slide for the Wilpons’ exit.”
I don’t get the logic of this- the only time that anything like this happened was the Dodgers, and that was a much worse financial situation (divorce proceedings, etc). If lowered attendance, less viewership, and low payrolls could get an owner booted, then Loria would’ve been gone long ago- and he has owners pissed at him, which is way more important to the commish than anything having to do with fan sentiment.
Let’s go Mets.
We didn’t play our best in the WS but if you suggested we’d be there before last season you’d have been called crazy. The Mets are always on my mind but for two months, it was like everything else was secondary. What a rush. As soon as i got to the office every morning I’d chat about the mets with fellow fans and kept my hat on my desk in anticipation of proudly putting it on as I left work. On my way to the subway i got nods from fellow fans donning Mets hats and shirts. It wasn’t quite a championship, but they gave us quite a ride and made us proud. LGM