Back before his perversions became common knowledge, Louis CK was everyone’s favorite comedian. He had one bit that always hit home for me. In it he declared, “Everything is amazing and nobody is happy.” People are so eager to zoom in on perceived slights and to magnify trivialities into big things, all while ignoring the big picture of how things are so, so much better than they used to be, even just a few years ago. And Mets fans certainly fit this bill.
Right up front, let’s state for the record that it’s certainly fair to put me in this category from time to time, although my belief is that my mail isn’t delivered there.
Let’s start with a trip in the way-back machine, traveling to the distant past of the year 2020. That season, the Mets were eight games under .500 in a campaign that saw just 60 games being played. They had the rare trifecta of an overmatched manager, an overmatched GM and overmatched ownership. The team had some good players but that giant collection of suck in all facets of management was hard to overcome.
Since then, Mets fans have gone from an ownership group that most people hated to one that the fanbase adores. They’ve gone from a GM who was in the running for worst in the league to one who is at least competent, perhaps better than that. And they’ve gone from a nice guy, yes-man in the dugout who was overwhelmed by what he was up against to a guy famous for his attention to detail, one who’s in complete control and yet still has the respect and loyalty of his players.
It’s my belief that Mets fans are grateful for all three upgrades. Well, at least two of them. It’s also my opinion that perhaps they aren’t as appreciative of the massive step forward the club has taken as they could be. It’s almost like you can hear people saying, “Yeah, yeah – you walked on water, what have you done lately?”
The Mets won 101 games last year, despite losing their best player for over half the season. Do you think the Phillies, who played in the World Series last year, are going to win 101 games if Bryce Harper doesn’t return before the All-Star break? A regular season with 101 wins is phenomenal, something that’s happened to the Mets just twice in 61 years. Yet there’s a ton of people unhappy with 2022 because they went 1-2 in three games in the postseason.
Due to the twin pillars of necessity and cash, the Mets now have the highest payroll in MLB history. Yet people are unhappy because they didn’t sign Carlos Correa. The Mets didn’t sign Correa because they were cheap. They didn’t sign him because they were concerned he’d be a liability in the back half of his contract. Good teams think in the immediate, intermediate and the long-run simultaneously. The hardest thing to do is to know when to leave the table. It seems ridiculous to me to criticize the team or be unhappy with how the offseason played out over this one justifiable move.
People are unhappy because none of the club’s top four prospects made the club out of Spring Training. Now that Francisco Alvarez is in the majors, they’re either unhappy that he’s not playing more or unhappy that he’s struck out five times in eight trips to the plate. And they’re unhappy that Brett Baty is still in the minors and they’re unhappy that Ronny Mauricio is still playing shortstop.
The Mets are 7-6 and people are unhappy with the results. But if you zoom out, they’ve done this with 40% of their rotation on the IL and while having their offense struggling to either hit for AVG or power. Those factors alone make a winning record look pretty good. Then you factor in that the schedule had them play in Milwaukee – where they’re 3-18 in their last 21 games – and against a Padres team that had their number last year. Sure, they were fortunate to play the Marlins seven times. But they had a better winning percentage in those seven games than they did last year against Miami, when they went 13-6 against their division rival.
We all want the Mets to be the best they can possibly be. And no one is right all the time, except for those people who only go on record after the fact with perfect hindsight. It’s okay to criticize certain moves. But if all you do is criticize every single thing that happens, well, lighten up, Francis.
Are you unhappy because Billy Eppler’s the GM?
Are you unhappy because the team that won 101 games lost in the Wild Card round?
Are you unhappy because they didn’t sign Correa?
Are you unhappy that the prospects didn’t make the Opening Day roster?
Are you unhappy with how Alvarez is being deployed?
Are you unhappy that Baty is in Syracuse?
Are you unhappy because Mauricio is still in the infield?
Are you unhappy because the team isn’t in first place on April 14?
For the record, I’m unhappy with items four and seven on the above list.
While initially ok with the Brodie Van Wagenen hiring, I came to view him as a huge liability. Eppler may not be a home run hire but a double down the line is so much more preferable to a strikeout.
I’m disappointed that the playoffs ended early in 2022. But that is balanced by the knowledge that the playoffs are a crapshoot and that the 101-win Braves and the 111-win Dodgers lost in their first series, too.
There’s disappointment that they weren’t able to come to terms with Correa. But that’s balanced by the knowledge the club was thinking long-term. And that it also kept the door open for the prospects to have spots on the diamond to play in the future.
My feeling is that Alvarez should get more PA than he has so far but that comes with the knowledge that this is very much a work in progress and that what’s happening now isn’t indicative of what will happen a week from now.
It’s thrilling to see Baty do so well in Triple-A. My expectation is that he’ll be here before the end of the month. If things stay the way they are now, with Baty killing it and Eduardo Escobar scuffling and May 1 comes with Baty still in Syracuse – then this will move to the unhappy list.
The Mets were in first place in mid-April in both 2021 and 2022 and didn’t finish in that position in either season. Winning the division in April is only slightly better than winning the division in the offseason. All things considered the Mets are in a fine place.
It’s okay to criticize things that you think aren’t being done right. If it wasn’t then this blog wouldn’t exist. But not everything is awful. Not everything is a reason to go to DEFCON 1. Yes, fans is shorthand for fanatics and we can’t expect reasonable behavior from fanatics. Just expect reasonable behavior from yourself.
And perhaps most importantly, take some time to enjoy how much better things are now compared to what they were just a few years ago. It may be more important than ever to do that now, as the team’s history on early West Coast trips is not particularly grand.
This is an outstanding article Brian. Met fans as a whole need to keep perspective. While obviously every fan was disappointed with losing in the playoffs, all but one team does that every year. This article reminds me of being a Met fan when the Yankees were the team that was outspending everyone, and the sense of entitlement that Yankees fans had to every free agent or big name trade target was ridiculous. I had arguments with many Yankee fans who were outraged that the Mets didn’t trade deGrom to them before he signed his contract with the Mets. Yankee fans always calling into radio shows proposed ridiculous trades for every big name out there, but refusing to depart with anything of value was a daily occurrence around the trade deadline. I don’t want Met fans to become that.
As for me, I’m unhappy with 4,6 and 7. I think Baty should be here now playing every day and Escobar the utility guy. If Escobar continues down this path he can be released,
I agree with virtually everything in this article. Personally, I have still suffering from the Edwin Diaz out-for-the-year hangover syndrome. Even though other teams have had to deal with injuries, it happening the way it did and at the end of Spring Training, left an indelible fog around my Mets cap.
Brian,
It is always good to take a step back and look at the big picture. For sure, the Met franchise is in a much better place than it was 3 years ago. The change in ownership alone, even if it didn’t result in record breaking payrolls, was huge. With respect to the list above, really the only item that made me unhappy (past tense) was losing in the Wild Card series, and mostly because it was an extension of spitting the but in Atlanta to choke up the division. I am actually ok with Eppler and I’ll even defer to them with the handling of the prospects…they know these guys better than me.
What I am not thrilled with is a combination of the pitching and the Uber-high expectations that the insane payroll brings. There are 3 really good teams in the NL East, and I think the Mets are the 3rd best until proven otherwise. It doesn’t mean they can’t, but they will need a large dose of food fortune from here on out.
Maybe those young bats will make up for the pitching deficits in the 2nd half. Maybe some vets will settle in and perform to expectations. My biggest concern is that they’ll water the talent pool with a deadline deal that is a reach. Yes, they are a now team with elders, but they also aren’t a now team and they want to sustain winning. No rentals that cost top 15 prospects please.
While disappointed, I can live with no championship or deep playoff run this season if they have a quality season – win majority of games, compete for/get into playoffs, retain talent depth, and establish more cornerstones. Locking Baty into that #5 spot and Alvarez at #7 (with McNeil in between) would be very exciting!
Brian, I always appreciate your perspective and you did a nice job here of making your argument and supporting it with a strong rationale (as you always do.) But instead of breaking down Lindor’s strikeouts or the Mets’ low K/high groundball tendencies, you’re addressing something much more subjective: Fan emotion. As for me, I am really only unhappy w/#7 and wish that they moved Mauricio to the OF around the time they signed Lindor. Like you though, if Escobar is still performing in his sub-Mendoza line way and Baty continues to crush it in Syracuse, he better get the call. Some Twitter pundit posted that he predicts Baty comes up after this road trip for a home series vs. Washington. Escobar gets 10 games away from NY to get straightened out or Baty comes up, after just having faced the Nationals AAA affiliate.
They really need another masher in the lineup, ideally in the 5-hole. Canha does not belong there and I’d rather see McNeil almost anywhere but there. To the extent that protection is a real thing (recent M360 article notwithstanding), Alsonso has none. That he’s smashing right now is more about him having a hot streak. His walk rate is up a tad, to 12.7% vs. his sub-10 career rate. That’s not too noticeable after a dozen games but will become more of an issue as the season wears on, if the alternative for the opposing pitcher is to face Vogey or Canha. Parallel to Baty perhaps coming up might be Vientos getting another shot.
Anyhow, great article, LFGM
I think we have a new line, the Escobar line. He is now hitting below .100. Let’s end this farce, time for Baty.
By far, my favorite thing since 2020 is Steve Cohen who is passionate about winning and backs it up with his wallet. Thank goodness it wasn’t that hideous Arod Lopez fiasco. Oooof
Thanks to Bob, Jim, T.J. and Bull for the kind words!
Bob – I’ve thought Pham is the guy who was going to get released at some point but I can see a way it happens to Escobar, too.
Jim – To this point, the lack of Diaz hasn’t really hurt. Hope we can still say that by the end of the road trip.
T.J. – At what point does the Phillies’ poor start eliminate them from 90-win status?
Bull – I try not to get too worked up about the lineup these days, as long as they don’t have any OBP sinkholes at the top. But if I was running things, I’d have Marte lower in the order and give him carte blanche to steal whenever he wants. It seems like he’s inhibited somewhat with Lindor and Alonso hitting behind him. I like Vogelbach but he’s not a 5th place hitter. I see more reason to bat him 2nd than 5th.
Moving Marte down helps in so many ways. It allows you to move McNeil up to 2 where he belongs. It puts Marte 5 offering the best protection they can give to Alonso while also allowing him more freedom on the bases as you suggest, and it moves everyone else down a slot to more appropriate spots (Vogey 6, Canha 7 etc). Personally wouldn’t mind seeing Canha at 9 actually to offer 3 high OBP guys in a row with the lineup turnover.
Brian,
I can’t see the Braves and Phillies lose enough. That said, in an effort to remain objective, each of those teams has accomplished more than the Mets over the last 2 seasons – World Series champ, World Series NL rep, division titles, the Braves have beaten the Mets like a rented mule when the chips were down the last two seasons. Good cases can be made that each of those teams had improved over the Mets. Both have much younger teams and especially key pitchers. Yes, the Phillies have started poorly but they’ll need to lose a lot more before I see them as a non- playoff team.
Now, the Mets have every opportunity to outperform these teams, but they have petered out late the last two seasons and have a lot of age risk with the big pitchers.
I don’t get that worked up about the lineup either. Buck does the best with what he has. My beef is more about the roster. My point is that there is not a legitimate and dependable 5-hole hitter. Vogey is the closest. Tonight’s lineup makes me sad. It’s entirely possible that 6, 7, 8, and 9 hitters are automatic outs. We’ll see.
Interesting perspective. Mets fans as a whole very much have a “chicken little” mentality, but its come from a long duration of having suffered legitimate grievances. I’d argue that everyone has turned the corner with the FO and ownership as you rightly point out, from the worst to the absolute best (at least in ownership). At least the griping is about the game between the lines —> thats a huge improvement.
The other thing that struck my mind is that nowadays (and for recent years), our minds have been rotted out by the need for nonstop dramatic information no matter what it is. It was bad enough to watch a game and need to have daily commentary, but now there is a nonstop barrage of drivel, almost always sensationalistically negative, which drives the hysterical twitter machine forward. None of it is worth the time of day.
As for your list, the only one is care a hoot about is #2. Like Ricky Bobby, if you ain’t first, you’re last. 101 wins dont mean nothing to me. If you cant deliver when the pressure is on, then my feeling is “so what”. Or I could recast this as just what do you think the difference is between the 86 Mets who won only a few more games than the 22 Mets, yet won a World Series. I’d say the difference is a big as the Grand Canyon.
My view on Twitter is that it’s 20% great content and 80% cesspool. So I avoid it like the plague, even if I’m happy to read a good tweet that someone else posts. I just let others go thru the garbage for me!
I very much want the Mets to win another World Series before I die. But that has to be balanced with the fact that the expanded playoffs makes it, in my opinion, more about luck than skill as to who advances to and wins the Series.
I want the Mets to be the best team, not the luckiest.
Totally agree on 2022. While I enjoy watching games by a Mets team that end with a W most nights, the point is to win the World Series or at least a pennant. The Mets came up far short of that in 2022.
An interesting question is whether we would prefer a 101-win first-round washout team or the 90-win 2015 team that won a pennant. I prefer the pennant which enabled me to go to Citi and see the Mets win a playoff game. You’ve got to win them when it counts most — and that’s October.
As Nimmo ruefully, but correctly, noted, “Nobody cares that we won 101 games. Just that we lost these two.” I’m sure Steve Cohen feels the same.
That said, I was optimistic enough after 2022 to buy the season tickets for all Sunday home games, so I’m far from a nattering nabob of negativism.
#4 – when Ruf was released it then gave the opportunity for Vientos to make the opening day roster. Vientos is a DH and a backup first baseman just like Ruf was. Vientos had plenty of ABs in AAA and earned the promotion.
#5 – especially when Nido has a 245 OPS. Alvarez should get 50% of the PA to break him into the majors.
#7 – Lindor is blocking Mauricio at shortstop. Move Mauricio to the outfield. Or second base because we know McNeil can play left field. Or move Mauricio to third base and have Baty move to left field. Whatever the Mets staff choose it is better than what they are doing now with Mauricio.
The Mets have an opportunity to break in the rookies and still have veterans manning the positions also.
As for the other questions: I like Eppler because he makes reasonable decisions. I enjoyed last season but the playoffs were disappointing but it was a crap shoot. Correa who? When Baty does get promoted I’m surely going to miss Guillorme’s glove. I’d rather be in first place Oct 2nd than April. Let’s just enjoy the season a day at a time.