Please use this thread all week to comment on any Mets-specific topic you wish.
This was a comment left on a story in The Athletic entitled, “Mets’ new manager Buck Showalter: ‘There’s no magic sprinkle dust. It’s about winning baseball games'”:
Magic sprinkle dust sounds like droppings from the mythical Ratcoon. Is that still around?
I think it might still be lurking in dark corners of Citi that don’t see home run balls…or between a red ass who can’t be coached and alienates himself from teammates and an overpaid man child that no longer has homies on the team because they all thumbs downed the fans at his request (everyone not owed $341M directly or indirectly associated with that incident – including Noah and Stro via online comments – is off the team and wasn’t offered long term deals, or any deal.)
I’m unaware of the “online comments” from Noah Sydergaard and Marcus Stroman in regards to thumbgate but it certainly sounds plausible to me. Regardless, this is an interesting take – that the Mets actively looked to remove everyone they could who participated in the thumbs down gesture. It could explain why Javier Baez, Kevin Pillar and Stroman are all in different uniforms, even if they tried to re-up with Baez.
Perhaps it’s a case where they were willing to bring those guys back on their terms but they weren’t going to extend themselves if someone else made a higher offer. Then the idea that Syndergaard didn’t give them a chance to match the Anaheim offer is a bunch of hot air.
Not saying that this take is 100% accurate – just thought it might be worth discussing.
For the sake of argument, let’s say managers make a dozen clear decisions every game. Considering that many are essentially a toss-up, no manager gets it right every time. But baseball (and the stock market) has taught me that if you just play the favorable odds every time, eventually you come out ahead.
That’s all I’m expecting out of Buck. With his age and his experience, he has a better idea of what the odds are, so he will understand when he is going with the odds-on favorite or when he is going with his gut (a hunch). A guy like that simply gets more from his team and every situation, statistically, than the young coach or the coach that has yet to truly develop a gut.
I’m very excited about the Mets. The new owner, the new GM, the new manager, and a bolstered, better roster (hardly finished) means a new outlook for this much beleaguered franchise. Happy New Year, friends.
Here’s to an unfinished roster.
Lot of work still to be done.
Several guys still have to go. And the team needs more talent overall. Infield, outfield, starting pitching, the pen.
The thing we hear all the time is how the Mets are “built to win” now.
I’m not seeing that, not yet, not with the current group.
No blame there. Got locked out before they could finish the job.
Interesting. Let’s see what happens with the flying squirrel.
While not knocking Rojas, and while no one can guarantee a “good clubhouse”, I do think that Buck will be a bit more “in command” based on his age and accomplishments managing in the big leagues.
The 2021 team had the racoon incident, the thumbs down incident and a total collapse. It seems like there was a disconnect in the clubhouse and a inexperienced manager that didn’t know how to handle the situation. They didn’t bring back the manager or the staff (except Heffner). Then Cohen and Alderson finally hired a GM, This offseason they didn’t bid for QO players and their FA players. Syndergaard and Conforto were replaced by Scherzer and Marte and subsequently the minor league system got two more draft picks. Canha and Escobar were an upgrade of Smith and Villar. They hired an experienced and repected manager in Buck. It seems like there was a conscious effort to upgrade the clubhouse and players. It seems that they finally have a plan and want accountability.
Scherzer,Marte,Escobar,and Canha for Stroman,Conforto,,Baez,Syndergard,Loup, is that enough?
No, not enough.
They need:
– a quality 4th OF (not Dom Smith)
– a decent every-day 2B (not McNeil, Cano)
– a quality LH reliever (not Andrew Miller)
– a solid high-leverage reliever (not Trevor May, Seth Lugo)
– a LH starter (Rodon would be ideal for rotation)