I’ll admit it: Patience is not one of my virtues. After all, I live in New York City where your blood pressure can reach the danger zone just trying to drive from the east side to the west side or watching Oliver Perez pitch. And when you’re a passionate baseball fan in your 50s, you’re not that fond of channeling dearly departed Brooklyn Dodgers fans and humming, “Wait till next year.” BUT, fellow Mets fans, we have to face facts, read the handwriting on the wall, bite the bullet and all those other wonderful clichés of resignation now that it is obvious (after the Halladay and Lackey non-signings and the likely non-signings of Holliday and Bay) we don’t really have a shot at beating out the Phillies this year unless whatever crippled our team last year is contagious and moves south.
Frankly, the seeds for Omar Minaya’s failure to entice top free agents to the Mets were sown over the last three years of on-field debacles–which when added to the pressurized atmosphere of playing in New York–has likely alienated any free agent who isn’t a client of Scott Boras (who would gladly send one of his non-pitching clients to hit in the Grand Canyon if a team paid enough money). You would think that American League pitchers such as Halladay and Lackey would salivate at the notion of throwing in pitcher-friendly CitiField (the ridiculously oversized house that Jeff built) to lineups without DHs. But no, Lackey stayed in the AL to pitch against the Yankees three or four times a year and Halladay decided to pitch in a bandbox. Nice.
Having said that (to quote “Curb Your Enthusiasm”), I’m in favor of Omar not making a reaction signing to pump season ticket sales or to save his job. Signing Jason Bay for five years? Are you crazy? Only a borderline superstar gets that kind of length on a deal. Bay projects to be the kind of player that will already seem overpaid by year three. While I like the idea of signing Benji Molina, no way a 36-year-old catcher gets three guaranteed years.
Look, Minaya and Manuel are already dead men walking. What Mets fans need to do is steel themselves for a 2010 season where we can be competitive and find out if all our injured players from last season are healthy, if David Wright’s 2009 stats were an aberration, if Jonathan Niese and Fernando Nieve can be reliable starters, and if Daniel Murphy can be a solid everyday player. How can we be competitive? We sign a couple of middle of the rotation “Marquis” names, try to bring in Orlando Hudson to play second base, perhaps use Mike Pelfrey and Fernando Martinez as trade bait for a young outfielder or veteran arm and gear up for a run in 2011. The bottom line is this: Jeff Wilpon should not let Minaya talk him into throwing money at the remaining free agents just so they can save face or possibly contend for a wild card. Does this sound a little like the Mets would be the New York Knicks? Perhaps, but I’m not suggesting throwing away the season, just not bankrupting future pennant runs for a quick fix or to save face.
We need to have–dare I say it?–patience. This knee-jerk reaction to Halladay and Lackey going elsewhere is misguided and just wasted energy. We have to start from scratch next year with a new front office and field manager and use the knowledge gained from this season (i.e. is Jose Reyes ever going to be a championship player?) and the money saved to sign next year’s crop of free agents and make trades. Unless they suddenly re-up with their current clubs or my research is faulty, the following players will be available on the open market: Derek Lee, A.J. Pierzynski, Joe Mauer, Carl Crawford, Adam Dunn, Jason Werth, Cliff Lee, Brandon Webb, Huston Street and Aaron Heilman (just kidding).
Perhaps looking at that list you’re thinking, “Well, Halladay, Lackey and Bay are better than a lot of those guys.” But frankly, I’d rather have Crawford and Werth than Bay, and if he’s healthy, Webb just as much as Lackey. And what if, by some miracle, Mauer doesn’t sign with Minnesota and after the Mets just miss on taking the wild card this year, he feels he’s the guy to put them over the top (like Gary Carter did in 1985). We can dream, can’t we?
So I don’t think we should rip Omar Minaya for not signing stars who weren’t going to sign here this year. We should rip Omar Minaya for creating a situation over the last three years which made it completely unpalatable for a star player to WANT to sign here. And while the 2009 injury bug excuse is a valid one, there were other problems that prevented this organization from competing last season. 2010 has to be devoted to rebuilding the foundation and setting the stage for next season. But the architect and builder must be a new GM and manager (if not a new owner, but that’s too much to ask for).
So my fellow Mets fans, take a deep breath and resolve that starting today you are going to be patient. Except when Oliver Perez pitches.
*Mets Merized Online Needs Your Help*
How about Billy Beane for the next GM
I think Met fans have been patient enough. This team needs to face serious consequences for the sheer level of incompetence they’ve shown. I think a boycott of the team is in order to drive home our displeasure.
Wait…really? You think that 5 years is too long of a contract for a 31 year old whos only BORDERLINE superstar? I’m surprised that Bay isn’t asking for 7 years or even 8 like Holliday for a little less money. If he was….someone would give it to him. Go take a look at his numbers. He is a SOLID player who provides consistent offense. Maybe hes not a superstar but he is a damn good player and he isn’t hold. If the Mets got him for 5 years I would do a back flip…I’m so tired of seeing PLATOONS with players who should be used as utility players.
Anthony, while u right the concern wit him is his right shoulder, it was banged up last year and it showed at the end, we need to be smart and ask ourselves a question why if he was that good wit the red sox they moved on so quickly on him? Something is awry wit that, oh, and also remember last time we gave extra $ and year to an ex red sox? Remember what happened wit pedro? Last 2 1/2 years he was a no show while the red sox got beckett we were stuck wit him..
What met fans have to do is to turn 2010 into a dismal financial failure.
Well, is a shame but ur post is dead on, he created this problem by trying to fix an issue per year, after choke #1 he got santana but fogot bullpen, after choke #2 he got bullpen but 4got depth, now after last year he realizes we need depth but players r getting older n some r hurt, guys, we have reyes, wright, beltran, santana, krod, francour, who r young and good, but whatever surround them is garbage, this team should somehow get rid of castillo, ever since he came in 2007 he brought an aura of defeat to this team for some reason, it culminated wit that pop up he dropped last year, I don’t blame players for not wanting to come to this org, but take a chance on good players omar, plz, escobar?!? R u kidding me?!? Go after sheets, marquis, atkins, garko, wang, most of whom were non tenders n won’t be that expensive, be creative, yes we want holliday or bay, but depth is what is needed this year, if we’re competitive around july we can make a splash, maybe oswalt, harang, no need to go crazy n over spend.
Fact of the matter is, the FA class in 2010 is no guarantee either, and we’re not the favorites for ANY of the FAs then either. We’ll have to pay through our nose for them and even then, they probably would take less money to go elsewhere. Face it, the only way this stupid team will ever improve is from within and that is never going to happen when they clearly have no idea how to evaluate, coach, or medically treat their players. This organization is rotten from the top down, and should just be blown up from the GM to the bat boy. Bring in new blood, overhaul the losing unclutch culture permeating this team and start over from scratch. Maybe we’ll have better luck in the 2020s.
All we hear for this crowd is wait, wait, then wait some more. I don’t see the the Phils, Braves, or Yankees for that matter doing any waiting. Compared to those teams, the Mets have not even made an effort to improve. While all of this waiting is going on, I think I will wait to purchase anymore tickets to see this team. Don’t you get it? Many of us Met fans are completely fed up with the losing and the ineptness of the way this team is being run. Don’t even try to bring the Knicks into it either. That is total BS. At least the Knicks came clean and admitted that they suck and were playing for the 2010 free agent class. Though you suggest it in your article, the Mets have not done that. They are still selling us a line of crap about winning with the team they have now. On top of that, they have the NERVE to set a deadline for purchasing season ticket packages!!! Please. And now that you have run out of excuses to make for Minaya, you say that once again we Met fans need to take it up the chute and be patient while we are looking at yet another season of getting our asses completely kicked in by the Phils and Breves and being a doormat to everyone else. Not so.
MJ, the reason the Wilpons will never come clean as the Knicks did is because there isn’t a salary cap situation and a LeBron James who can turn around a franchise in almost one shot. Also, they read posts like yours and other fans who rant and rave and succumb to the pressure and make bad moves. Look, do I want to give away a season? Of course not. But I think this team is more than one player and a good manager away from contending for a title and I’m not willing to overpay any one player or mortgage the farm system for a tiny upgrade this year that will win us what–10 more games and lose in the first round if we even get the wild card. I’m not interested in good enough to make the playoffs (unless we have the 1969 or 1986 pitching staff), I want a team good enough to win a pennant and even if we sign Jason Bay and Bengie Molina we’re not there. Pitching wins pennants and championships.
Dude, have you seen who will be available in 2010? How about Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez, Josh Beckett, and Brandon Webb for starters. A salary cap has nothing to do with it. All I’m saying is for the Mets to come clean, admit that they suck, iayout some kind of cohrerrent plan to improve, and stop pretending that they are a contending team that does not have to do anything to get better. I could live with that and even support them under those circumstances. Instead, what we get from them is rose colored glasses right up until the time when the team is 20 games out. There is a grand canyon sized gap between the Phils and Mets, as it stands today. It’s getting wider than that and the Mets don’t even want to admit it.
Ah, dude, Cliff Lee and Pujols will be signed long-term by their current teams. Mauer most likely will as well. But that doesn’t mean we need to jump an on overrated Jason Bay because we’re desperate. We need pitching dude!
I agree completely and I appreciate how you weave a story around patience and the pain Perez can bring when he pitches (ours not his). Another tie-in to him and Castillo are the knee-jerk, long-term contracts both received. It still blows me away that they were even brought back and that the knee-jerk fans want to perpetuate messes by signing more marginal “stars,” like Bay or Lackey, to yet more long-term deals. I also like the idea of bringing in the 2nd tier guys like Marquis and maybe some high-risk, high reward guys. Keep up the well-thought writing.
Mets fans need to remember that the Devil Rays made the World Series with risks and young players. The Mets could be those guys if the administration, hopefully not Minaya and Manuel, shows what you advocate: PATIENCE.
This third tier team is now going to have to overpay for second tier starts. Sounds about right to me. The gap between the Rays and the Mets is just as wide as the one between the phils and mets.
I can’t believe people are giving up on next year. Doesn’t anyone remember that the Mets were in 1st place before the injuries hit? And they were in 1st place the previous three years. Yes, they collapsed two years in a row, so they need some changes, but come on, a complete overhaul?
And did anyone notice how they usually beat the Phillies head-to-head? I think a really good player–like Bay–could make all the difference in this team; assuming we get Delgado-type production out of 1st Base.
The pitching has a lot of “ifs”, but Maine was a very good pitcher before he got hurt. Do you remember the debate about him not being selected to the all-star game, a few years ago?
Perez and Pelfrey really underperformed, but who knows, they could easily have a decent year in 2010.
What will all you doom-and-gloomers say when the Mets are in 1st place next year? I’m betting you’ll find something else to complain about…
I think all the injuries from last year will preclude us from even competing from first. And yes I really will have nothing to say when the Mets are in first, but I’m sure I can think of something between April 20th and September when the Mets arent.
Barry, I agree that Maine, Perez and Pelfrey could rebound this year, but at what level? Will they be much better than number three, four and five starters at best? We can’t bank on that. We desperately need a number two starter or forget the season.
Tom, who was their #2 during the three years they were in first place? Of course I wanted another ace to go along with Santana, but we didn’t have two aces all these years, so for you to say that if we don’t get one we can “forget the season” is patently ridiculous.
If the Mets want to get back to being a good team I think the answer is simple. Sign bay, Moilina Delgado and if healthy.
Sign 2 or 3 of the injury prone pitchers wich are Bedard, Sheets, Duchscherer and Escobar. If you get 2 or 3 of them there is less risk because what are the chances of them all being hurt at the same time? Alot of people see them as risks wich is fair but I see it as a great opprotunity to sign very good pitchers for a cheap price. If it was up to me I would try to get them all but that won’t happen.
1 Reyes
2 Castillo
3 Wright
4 Bay
5 Beltran
6 Delgado
7 Francouer
8 Molina
I think that could be a very good offense. Not great but it is soild 1-8.
1 Santana
2 Sheets
3 Bedard
4 Duchscherer
5 pelfery
6 Maine
7 Perez
8 Nieve
I know what your thinking alot of question marks and I agree but you have 8 pitchers who can pitch. and I think Bedard and Sheets can turn out to be great pitchers. I doubt they will get three of those picthers but i won’t be surprised to see 2 of them.
I really think the Mets can contend this year. They don’t have to make those exact moves to do it. But something close to that can make the postseason. If you look at the Mets realisticly they can be a good team.
I say we all calm down. Look, Minaya and the Wilpons made this mess. You can’t change the past, and if they don’t learn from it, they are only doomed to repeat it. My hope is that they get Molina for 2 years, Bay for 4, and maybe Garland, Marquis and Escobar. Despite the horrendousness of the last two seasons, I still believe in my gut that David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Johan Santana, Frankie Rodriguez, Jeff Francouer…they’re all REALLY good, if not GREAT players, and if they all are on their game, we will be competitive. Are we going to win it all? No, and as a girl who is engaged to a Phillies fan and lives near Philadelphia, trust me, the pain of all the Phillies happy times is a hard pill to swallow. But if I can survive, so can you
I pay the $$ to go to all the Phillies/Mets games here at CBP and at Citi, so keep on keeping on my fellow Metsies. We’ll get there! LETS GO METS!!!
Heather, I live in Phillie world too. It’s not been plesant lately. Met fans used to rule at Phillie games. After thinking about it some, all I need is for the team to stop bull-shytting us and lay out a realistic plan for the future. What you are saying is quite reasonable and if the Met braintrust came at the fan base with logic like that, I could live with it. But no, they try and pretend that they want to spend money and be players while watching the Phils, Yanks, Braves, and others make move after move. The reality is that the Mets would probably rather do exactly what you are saying in your post, but are freaked out over season ticket sales, which are WAY down, media and fan reaction. I think that if they were to level with the fans, perhaps send a letter to season ticket holders explaining what their situation actually is and what they plan to do about it, it would go much further with the fan base than perpetrating this fraud.
Hey Tom Teriffic, I think your co-writer jessup was ripping you earlier.
Wow just what me need, another fan tearing down the Mets in 2010 w/o even a pitch being thrown. I guess that means that TT is only a fan when the team is good and winning. I guess living thru the late 70’s and early 80’s and early 90’s like I did makes u a bit more tougher but with the hope of a winning year ahead. If you want to be negative then go ahead but don’t make us part of your crying machine. Please save the crying for when we lose as we did in 06 or for the injuries this year but don”t start whinning and crying when the season hasn’t started. I guess you won’t be attending or watching any games eh Tommy boy.
Much agreed with Barry here
Prior to all the injuries last year, we were like 8 games over .500 in June and just a half game or so out of first. Everyone can boohoo about the Phillies getting Halladay, but let’s face it, they didn’t really upgrade…they got a great pitcher for a great pitcher, end of story. They also lost a GREAT prospect in Kyle Drabek (I live in Reading, so I have the enjoyment, and I use that term loosely, of taking in a minor league game or twenty a season, and he looks GREAT!). So to me, the Phillies are no better off than they were at the end of last season. The Braves, well, they have decent pitching, but they need offense! The Nationals, well what’s to worry about just yet with them, and the Marlins, well, that’s the team I always worry about. So let’s just breathe for now and maybe we’ll get Molina and Bay for Christmas/Hanukkah!!
Yup, it seems as if you, Heather and I are the only ones here who are older than 12 years old. Way too many crybabies.