15
2010
The Worst Team Money Could Buy: The Sequel
An article by 
Back in 1992, the Mets added four new faces to the team in the hopes that they could recapture the glory days of the recently concluded 1980s. In new manager Jeff Torborg, first baseman Eddie Murray, outfielder Bobby Bonilla and pitcher Bret Saberhagen, the Mets thought they could knock off the two-time NL East champion Pittsburgh Pirates from their perch atop the division.
Not only did they not dethrone the Pirates, they completely fell apart, finishing the 1992 season with a 72-90 record. That was good for a fifth place finish in the NL East, 24 games behind the three-peating Bucs.
The 1992 Mets employed many high-priced players and fading veterans. They also had quite a bit of turmoil in the clubhouse. That combination of poor play and off-the-field distractions served as the impetus for the book by Bob Klapisch and John Harper called “The Worst Team Money Could Buy: The Collapse of The New York Mets”.
So why is this relevant now in 2010? Because the last Mets team to begin their season with a 2-6 record was the 1992 Mets. That start has now been duplicated by the 2010 Mets.
Jeff Torborg was never the right man for the job in 1992. The 1992 Mets had to deal with injuries and players bouncing in and out of the lineup. Only Eddie Murray, Bobby Bonilla and Dick Schofield (yes, he was actually the Mets’ shortstop that year, forming a double play combo with Willie Randolph!) collected over 400 at-bats in 1992. Sound familiar?
Now we’re in 2010. Jerry Manuel’s leadership skills are being questioned and the Mets are playing musical chairs with their lineup on a daily basis. There appears to be no continuity from game to game and the Mets have not established anything other than their position in last place.
The team appears lost and is allowing pitchers like Greg Smith and Tyler Clippard to do their best Cy Young impersonations against the high-priced bats the Mets send up to the plate day in and day out.
Although the “it’s still early” mantra can still be used, the Mets are showing no sign of wanting to get out of their early season funk. There is no fire burning in the eyes of the players and they’re running out of excuses. They can’t use the “when we get healthy” excuse because the Phillies have Joe Blanton, J.C. Romero, Brad Lidge and now Jimmy Rollins all on the disabled list, yet they’re still sitting pretty atop the division with a 7-1 record.
The Mets are only eight games into the 2010 season and they’re already five games behind the first place Phillies. I don’t want to give up on the season so early, but the Mets have not shown me anything that could give me even a sliver of hope that they’re going to turn this sinking ship around. To borrow the team slogan, I’d like to believe the team will come back this year, but for now, it’s beginning to look a lot like 1992. The 2010 Mets are probably not the worst team money could buy, but they sure aren’t doing much to play like the best.
About the Author: Ed Leyro
Ed Leyro was hatched in the Bronx, but spent most of his youth in Queens at Shea Stadium. Apparently, all that time spent at Mets games paid off as Ed met his wife (The Coop) for the first time at Citi Field during its inaugural season. Guess the 2009 season was good for something after all. In addition to his work at Mets Merized Online, Ed also owns, operates and is head janitor at Studious Metsimus, where he shares blogging duties with Joey Beartran. For those not in the know, Joey is a teddy bear dressed in a Mets hoodie. Clearly, Studious Metsimus is not your typical Mets blog.
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I just cant watch them.I want to watch them,I want to look forward to watching them yet I cant bring myself to watch.I mean they cant seem to win even the games the other team is throwing away(Marlins series and last nite in Colorado). I watched them tie up the game on errors by the Rockies but in my heart I knew it didnt matter because they wouldnt score in the top of the 10th and they would allow the Rockies to score.Im tired of the hangdog look on these guys and the body language they convey that if they are down 3-0 in the second the game is over.I want to goto CitiField but who gonna spend hard earned $$$ to see this product.All of us fans are tired as we have been ground into fine powder since that October nite called 3rd strike in 2006 by this teams constant heartache and failures.Thats why this “its only the first week” stuff doesnt fly its been 4 f-ing years!!!!I think Im done with them and that makes me sad and angry.
This is a comparision way out of panic city! Are you kidding me? How could you Even think yourself a responsible writer posting such foolhardy nonsense? You need to give this season at least a month’s worth before spewing filth like this! Let’s Go METS
At this pace the Mets will be 20 games out by May 15th and any chance of coming back will be over.
Wow comparing Bonilla and Murray to current group would be OK if Delgado was here and Floyd but this is not the same team. It is still early, 8 games does not a season make, plus I know that with the current team they will jell. Niese looks like the real deal, plus Pelf hopefully will pitch great today and help solidify the rotation. Hopefully Jose will get enough at bats against major league pitching to get on a hot streak cause he could carry the team with his speed.
Please give us a break on the doomsday predictions cause that is what WFAN is for.
I for one was enjoying the game especially watching the development and learning pitching wise, of Niese. Wow what would our rotation look like in the summer if Mets would allow Mejia to develop in minors and Niese continues to progress along with Pelf and then, hopefully, our rotation will deliver good starts that keep us in games.
Ed, intersting, provoking topic; but the big difference is as u say:
“The 1992 Mets employed many high-priced players and fading veterans”
No fading vets being counted on regularly; many more primeaged top caliber players. The biggest similarity to me is both teams were relying on managers with an AL bent, to battle effectivly in a NL atmosphere. Jerry’s BIG approach alteration is sliding Reyes to #3 despite his bh are more bleeder than liner. he’s still not stinging the ball, so why #3 aren’t we leaving enough on base? is Jerry’s solution erasing them via DP before any statisticians notice. Whe are we building a F’ing lineup around Slappy Castillo? & his more effective approach as #2 over #8 Pagan should be slotted #2 behind Reyes @ leadoff. at least Angel can drive a fastball into the gap instead of slapping it bet SS & 3B. Hell, Slappy couldn’t drive Miss Daisey to shopping @ the Gap, let alone drive in Reyes from 1B via XBH.
INSTEAD OF jERRY’S THINKING OUTSIDFE THE BOX, LET’S PLACE JERRY INSIDE IT , BURY IT & CALL IT ‘RIP’!
WELL SAID. LET’S NOT FORGET THAT THE METS ALSO HAD THE “GREAT” BILL PECOTA TO PLAY THIRD THAT YEAR (AS PART OF THAT SABERHAGEN DEAL).
Don’t these guys know that other than Godfather II, sequels always are worse than the originals.
I don’t know about that… Empire Strikes Back? Lord of The Rings Two Towers? Superman II? Terminator 2? The Dark Knight? (The list goes on…) Point is… Could be better.
NOT SURE IF ANY OF U HAVE SEEN THIS; BUT IT’S PERTINENT TO KEEP IN MIND:
http://content.usatoday.com/SPORTS/BASEBALL/SALARIES/teamresults.aspx?team=25
The total number doesn’t account for the Angels paying GMJ’s salary. If you take that into account total salary is mid 120s (don’t get me wrong that is still very high for the product we are seeing)
Not even two complete weeks and already the faithful are on the ledge……
I’ve been cursing like a sailor on leave the last week for the most part, but come on, relax.
Big Pelf was outstanding today, here’s to it lighting the fire…….
LETS GO METS
UNWATCHABLE !! UNINSPIRED PLAY!!! I CAN’T STAND IT! I WAITED ALL WINTER FOR THIS????