30
2010
From Left Field: Can Finishing .500 Be Considered Somewhat Of A Success?
An article by 
The Mets are currently 76-79. Including tonight’s game (that is in progress), they have seven games remaining: four against the Brewers and three against the Nationals.
If the Mets were in a heated pennant race, they would have lucked out considering their competition over this next week. However, since they were eliminated from playoff contention a while ago, now I would like to see if the team can at least manage to finish .500.
So that begs the question: can a .500 finish be considered a success for this team?
With a $136 million payroll (the fifth highest in majors), anything short of a playoff berth is rather disappointing. But we need to take a step back and look at who that money in actually invested in.
Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo combined to make about $20 million. What exactly have they accomplished this season? Carlos Beltran and his $20 million dollar salary only played half the season and has only started heating up once the games stopped counting.
Jason Bay has missed significant time and even when healthy did not perform like a $9 million player. And of course, K-Rod has his own issues.
For arguments sake, if you subtract partial amounts of the money owed to these players based on their actual worth, it would amount to roughly $40 million.
That would put the Mets in the range of the Dodgers and Cardinals in terms of payroll. They would still be in the top ten however.
The Dodgers currently sit at 76-81 while the Cardinals are 81-75. Both teams will not be heading to the playoffs. So based on other teams with similar payrolls, the Mets are right where they are expected to be.
The sad thing is that you can’t just arbitrarily subtract payroll based on the poor performances of your players. The solution starts with not making the investment for an Oliver Perez or a Luis Castillo or getting production from a Jason Bay.
This season, the Mets have been carried by the Pagan’s, Pelfrey’s, Dickey’s, and Davis’s, none of whom make over $1.5 million.
That being said, if the Mets happen to finish .500 or better, it could be considered a minor success, knowing the vast under-production and financial burden brought on by some key players.
But still, $136 million for a .500 team is a little ridiculous. The Padres and Rangers are in the bottom five of payroll, and one is fighting for a playoff berth while the other has already clinched. Though some of this success may have to do with strength of division, it does involve clutch performances by players who do not earn a large salary in baseball standards.
It seems the Mets are bound for a payroll decrease, but it may come at the expense of having to eat the salaries of some of their players.
About the Author: Jim Mancari
Jim Mancari hails from Massapequa, N.Y. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Journalism at Hofstra University, with an anticipated graduation date of May 2012. He is a devout Mets fan and takes pride in his team, despite their lack of success over the last few years. Like all Mets fans, Jim has plenty of hope. He also writes as the sports correspondent for the Brooklyn Tablet newspaper, the senior editor of metroBASEBALL Magazine and the co-managing editor of the Long Island Report website. Contact Jim at jmmanc@gmail.com. Click my name to view my website.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 26 | 17 | .605 | - |
| Nationals | 25 | 17 | .595 | 0.5 |
| Marlins | 23 | 19 | .548 | 2.5 |
| Mets | 22 | 20 | .524 | 3.5 |
| Phillies | 21 | 22 | .488 | 5.0 |
Last updated: 05/22/2012
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Write Your Own Mets Post
NO!
Since we aren’t a competitive franchise, the Mets should hang a banner in CitiField to celebrate their participation in the 2010 baseball season. They could have a ceremony and everything.
And it could be a yearly thing.
Great idea. We should have a banner contest. How about:
“NY METS – MAGNIFICANT MEDIOCRE MAGIC”
You have at least agree that the development of Davis and breakout seasons from Pagan and Dickey could be considered a success.
Jim: Absolutely but you missed the big one. Pelfrey, in my opinion (unless we trade for a bonafide #1 starter and Santana is still rehabbing at the beginning of ’11 season) is going to emerge as our Number One Starter in ’11. He is a big stud of a pitcher and I think he has matured a lot this year and I think he realizes that this may be his starring role as a Met. I think he will prepare himself for this role in the off season.
I hope he does. He needs to put together a season like this one only without that 10 or so start stretch in the middle where he just couldn’t figure it out. Way to point out BIG PELF!
Do you think the inconsistency could be attributed to not having a battery mate that was set each game. I think pitching to Barajas and then working Thole into the mix may have unnerved him somewhat. I saw improvement when Thole became his regular catcher. I remember this in Atlanta when Javy Lopen the everyday catcher for the Braves, didn’t catch Maddux as they didn’t get along (not that Pelfrey didn’t get along with Barajas) and I think if memory is right, Blanco used to be the catcher in Atlanta for Maddux. I think this could make a difference.
This might have been the trigger that sent Pelf into that rough patch. You get so comfortable working with a catcher through spring training and the early part of the season that when a new guy (and in Thole’s case a young guy) come in, it could take some time to adjust.
Pelf has had some rough patches but he’s given us lots of quality innings. He’ll wind up with almost 200 innings this year. Also he’s matured a lot.
Jim: Every bad team can dig out a feel good story…. The Nats will brag about Storen and Bernadina and Desmond developing, the Bucs will tell you how great Neil Walker and Pedro Alverez did,the Marlins Morrison etc etc etc. The good teams are talking about the playoff rotations and who led them there.
Hopefully that is a conversation we are having next year.
Harry, I agree. Every team has some decent players, and some young guys who could be good.
I dont want to justify 500 as a success. They dont have effective back up plans. Piss poor management, we know the routine. If this was your business, you would clean house for the ineptitude that permeates all around you.
I think that David and his 28 HR and 100 rbi had a little to do with carrying this team, me thinks.
Despite the inconsistency and k’s he had a great comeback year from his beaning and bad 2009.
Wright absolutely contributed to this season. But with Wright, he was expected to hit 30 HR with 100 “rib-eye steaks.” But who could have expected almost 20 HR from Ike, 11 wins from Dickey, and consistently strong play from Pagan? Those were the unexpected successes of this season.
You stated that Davis, Dickey, Niese, etc “carried” this team this year not that they were a surprise as they were, just saying.
Yes but the fact that once again Wright does not have anyone batting in front and behind him to extend the lineup and make other teams pitch to him is why I consider him to have helped carry the team this year despite the team around him.
It says something about Wright that he can drive in 100 runs on a team that didn’t score a tremendous amount this season. Let the “Wright-doubters” say all they want, but there’s no denying his role on this team.
I know it’s hard to call .500 a success, but I feel that it is. There was no basis for anyone to think we would finish ahead of the Phillies when they add Roy Oswalt and Roy Halladay and we stand pat. They were already better than us before adding those two aces. With Mike Jacobs, Luis Castillo and Gary Mathews Jr. in the openinng day lineup, how could anyone think we were anything more than a .500 team? The good thing is that we learned a lot about our team and the players in the process and discovered Ike Davis, Dickey, Niese and Tejada will all play big roles for us in the the next season.
Sorry, but losing 80+ games can never be looked at as a success. Never. Not with a $130MM payroll.
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