What a fitting end to a disastrous, ugly season. In Terry Collins‘ last game managing the Mets, the team came up empty, falling 11-0 to the last place Phillies. The Mets finished the season with a putrid 70-92 record, their worst since 2009, which coincidentally was the last time this team suffered such an epidemic of injuries.
The lone positive from this game is that Noah Syndergaard started and pitched a brilliant two innings, allowing no hits, striking out two and hitting 101 mph on the radar gun. This gives us hope for next season when he and Jacob deGrom should form a formidable 1-2 punch atop our rotation. Unfortunately, Chris Flexen quickly destroyed any good feelings with a one-inning shellacking that put the Mets in a 6-0 hole. Rafael Montero looked good for two innings, but fell apart in his third, allowing another five runs to score and putting the game way out of reach. On offense, the Mets managed just two hits in a hitters’ ballpark against four pitchers most fans have never heard of before. Blech.
It’s a shame Collins’ seven-year tenure had to end on such a sour note – both thanks to this turd of a game and the Newsday article that blasted him via anonymous clubhouse quotes. Collins’ will reportedly resign and accept a front office position. Now Mets fans can spend the next five months speculating on who will replace Collins, pitching coach Dan Warthen and the many good players we traded away to save money in a lost season.
Try to enjoy the playoffs. There are some good teams this year. This particular Mets fan will be rooting for Cleveland. Stay tuned to Mets360. There will be tons of off-season talk about who should come back, what players we can add, and how we can find a way to get back to the playoffs in 2018. Let’s go Mets!
We traded players to save money, yes. But why is that a thing to lament. This team was not going to the post season, and we had to find out if any of these kids could play. Oddly enough, we still got waaay to much Cabrera and Reyes when we needed more Cecchini and Reynolds, no matter what the record would have been.
The lament was the Mets not adding some salary relief for the acquiring team to get the best return possible. Dollars don’t win games, players do: Better players do.
Already rumors that payroll going down to 135 M$ next season. We have 125M$ on the books.
Dont kid yourself, money was/is a big deal.
Neither Cecchini or Reynolds are any good. It’s a strange complaint. The guys we needed to see got on the field, for the most part. I would have liked to see Nimmo in CF and maybe a bit more Evans.
The veterans who played all played extremely well.
I just meant all the kids. That we had so many vets still playing was a shame. Collins said fans are paying to see their stars and thats why he plays them. Well fans also want to see who is coming up and appreciate thats its necessary to get as much exposure as possible for those that will possibly take over…and the team sucked anyway. His vet first philosophy as a blanket approach is wrong. Sure, it fits in 2015, but it didnt fit in 2017.
And for all the 2015 accolades, people seem to forget he also presided over a team that for 4 months had one of the worst offenses in the game. He did not expertly guide them to a WS…Ces did. Without the pick ups this team was DoA.
In 2015, the roster wasn’t good enough until it finally, finally got upgraded. TC gets too much credit for that, and too much blame in other areas.
I think it was instructive to see Cabrera at 3B. Likewise, it was possibly instructive to see Reyes at 2B. In both cases, I expect the organization to retain them, though in the case of Jose they’ll need to agree to financial terms.
We know Matt Reynolds is terrible.
Cecchini showed us nothing in 70-plus ABs. His arm looks weak.
Evans looked interesting, arrived late, and started to get into the mix very late in the season.
Rosario, Smith, Nimmo (who could have played earlier, I suppose) all good an extended look. Lagares played a lot.
Anybody with an arm was allowed to take the mound, as far as I could tell. TC didn’t stand in the way of anybody there.
I just find the old “play the kids” thing to be so boring and overstated. A fan might say, “Let’s see what they can do!” But the organization has been watching these guys for 4-5 years; they should have a pretty good idea. Taijeron didn’t deserve a bigger chance; he didn’t earn those starts.
Look: I don’t agree with everything TC has done, even down the stretch. Nimmo should have led off, etc.
The “kids” are playing in Brooklyn, Binghamton, Las Vegas, St. Lucie — all over the place. It’s not TC’s job to give every low-level prospect an opportunity to shine. Neither Cecchini or Evans broke the door down this season. They can go back to Vegas and try again. Evans at least looks like there might be something there.
We’all have the #6 pick in the draft. Can’t believe the Padres finished with a better record.
TC removed a pitcher that was throwing a no hitter! TC has been moved to the front office (how ironic).His first assignment is of an investigative nature.He has to find who ratted him out.
The game and score was a fitting ending to a very disappointing season.