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2011
My 2011 Mets New Years Resolution
An article by Hojo's Mojo
One of the things that has long frustrated me regarding the Mets has been their failure to meet my expectations in the last few years.
I go into each season with this heightened sense that somehow “this will be the year” when everything goes right, that we’ll have no significant injuries, and that many of our players will have breakout seasons.
It hasn’t happened of course, and instead we’ve all been subjected to a lot of bad baseball, too many injuries and far too many instances of players failing to rise to the occasion at critical points in a game.
I think that my high expectations have been fueled mostly because of the high payroll.
I expect a team with a top five payroll to make the post season every year, but instead it’s been a series of heartbreaks and embarrassing moments with only an occasional highlight sprinkled in.
This year I’m changing things up. I’m going to simply appreciate and enjoy the Mets for what they are, and not for what their payroll says they are.
I might come out of the 2011 season feeling the same way afterward, I really don’t know, but I’m going to try my level best to just enjoy every game, win or lose.
I want to have fun being a Mets fan again, like I did when I was just a kid and first fell in love with the Mets in 1984.
I really miss those days of rooting for Mookie Wilson and Hubie Brooks (my favorite Met), and crossing my fingers every time Strawberry came up hoping he’d hit a bomb instead of striking out.
Nothing was more thrilling than experiencing the electricity of Dwight Gooden’s rookie season, man I was hooked..
In 1984 we finished in second place, but to me it was a joy-ride of a season filled with so many great and unforgettable memories. That team made me fall in love with the game.
So in 2011, I resolve to step back and channel my inner Mets youth.
The only expectations I will take into the new season will be that I will watch each game with all the enthusiasm of an eight-year old kid.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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this year will be the year though (hey, no reason to think otherwise now). Just because the last couple went south, doesn’t mean the 2011 season is doomed to repeat.
and keep in mind that your expectations were fueled not just by the payroll, but by the talent (on paper) on the team. The roster was (is) littered with guys that have multiple AS game appearances, top-10/20 MVP finishes, etc. and at this point, it really isn’t that old.
this isn’t like 1981, were you hoped that a miracle occured, and the team was actually good (and in those days, that meant breaking 70 wins). The last couple of years were such disappointments largely because you knew that they should have done better (iow they underacheived). So it did make some logical sense to expect more the following year.
The 2 big questions (IMO) for 2011 are of course can the key guys stay on the field and produce a normal year for them, but also how much of a difference a new leadership team (and expectations) will mean to the team. That alone is worth what, 2 wins? 4 wins?
Every fan can feel what they want of course, and some like here seem to be taking the “I expect nothing so I won’t be hurt if I don’t get anything” approach. Seems to take the fun out of fandom, but to each his own!
whatever happened to the good old days, when the off season was for dreaming, and getting your hpes up? Seems like now, lots of people (at least the ones blogging in mid-winter) aren’t happy unless they are miserable, and are intenet on finding the worst possible scenerio, even if they have to make it up.
You know what would be an interesting thing to see?
A List of what percentage of a team’s salary actually made it on the field.
If you look at the last two met years in that way you might find we only had 90 Mil of our Salary actually make it into a game.
That would mean only 70% of the salary we spent contributed.
Thats a breakdown I would like to see a list on!
for large blocks of time, certainly the mets were not a “140mill” team. That was just how much they paid out!
Good post and great points guys. i’m constructive on 2011 (y not, it’s the 1st day of the year!) but i do think that if our key guys satay healthy AND produce average years for them…that ‘that’ plus the new ‘climate’ on the team should translate into an 82 – 85+ win season. “No cigar” but back to ‘respectability’ and some exciting games.
They can get the Cigar if they produce from the start and are in it when the trading deadline comes. Because then Sandy will have some pieces he can trade to get a Humidor worth of cigars!
It doesn’t pay to go out and buy mediocre pitching now when if they can stay in the race until the deadline and then trade for whoever the hot pitcher is who wants to leave where he is.
Good points Metsie. But i think we do need some ‘arms’ to stack up for the rotation (whether on the staff or in AAA)for depth and to protect us from injuries, et cetera. Particularly since nobody knows if/when Johan will be back and be effective.
Well remember when the trading deadline is? Right around July. Santana’s worst assesment has him coming back around that time and if we trade for a top Starter at the deadline we also might have Mejia ready to be promoted.
yes a lot of stars have to align right for that to heppen and yes it will require very good performance from Pelfrey, Dickey and Niese plus the team has to hit. But that is not an unplausible series of events.
Pelfrey took a step last year and maybe he can take one more to become the Pitcher he was always promised to be. His record was actually better than Cliff Lee’s last year! Unless there is a key to Dickey that someone has figured out it is very reasonable to believe he will repeat his efforts of last year and Niese with a year under his belt has every chance to improve.
Will they put up the numbers the Phillies will? Probably not but if we hit then we won’t need to! You don’t need to hold a team to less than 2 runs if you score 4!
So I understand their caution in going and spending another 8 Mil on a pitcher we might not need after July and prefer to wait and see if next season is even worth investing in at the trading deadline where the available pitchers will be much more Ace than what is there now, and when two of our most promising pitchers could be ready to re-join the team.
But they will have to hit, no hitting and no reason to even bother with getting pitching, we will be trading away anything that pitching could help if that happens.
yes, they have to hit and we need adequate 4 & 5 contributions from..???…Gee/Misch/Carrasco…Stoner???…others????
Love the Mets.
With this article you apparently have bought into the “new normal” which is a catch phrase for reduced expectations. Americans have accepted the future of growth in Asia and reduced expectations domestically. The bubble has burst and the bloom is off the rose. Crooks like Madoff have made off with the money while ownership and management have washed their hands. The housing market is a shambles and unemployment out of sight as there are no jobs for the youth of America. The same is true of the Mets. Championships are now a distant memory and any dream of a pennant is long forgotten. We need to survive with 60% of a pitching staff and need to look to future rookies who will work for the ML minimum to lead the team. The transition will be very lengthy and many Mets fans will not live long enough to see its culmination. So now the measure of success is to play .500 ball. How many years will that take to achieve? We now face a small market perspective in a big market and have to accept a diet of second division performance. It will be a long wait Mets fans. Get used to the “new normal” it’s here with reduced expectations. Welcome to the reality facing America and the cult of the “new normal”.
The new normal can really be summed up as, always lagging behind the new trend. Other teams fore saw the new landscape. They realized that the steroid era was over and players, especially position players, in their mid 30′s were no longer going to be productive players combined with the fact that teams were going to extend their better home grown players a couple of years making them that much older when they did hit the free agent market and then combining that with players being traded in their walk years, signing with their new clubs and not even getting to free agency.
These three issues have caused more competition for those fewer players who do hit free agency resulting in a higher cost for a generally older player in a less productive environment for older players.
We went the other way, accumulating a large amount of older and expensive players and did so in a way that negatively effected our future as well. The balloon note is now due and we have to keep paying even though the value of the product we purchased has expired.
well, the yankees and phillies are loaded up with older (30+)position players, FWIW. and they have them locked up for years to come.
Yeah can anyone say 30 million to A-Rod and 25 million to Howard are looking very good right now? Anyone think those guys are tradeable? Texeria? It will be interesting to see what the Phils do with Rollins, Utley and Victorrino. If they resign them they will regret it.
utley has a few years to go. Vicky a couple also. Rollins is done after 2011, and my guess is that unless he takes a much more cut rate ST deal, they offer him arb and let him walk.
It always comes down to what other options are available. Kills me to even think about it but Reyes might be attractive to them. Alex Gonzalez, JJ Hardy. It’d hard to say what might happen between now and then.
Blanton could bring back a good prospect at SS but there are so few of them in AA let alone AAA. Boston and the LA Dodgers are the only organizations with highly regarded SS in the high minors.
Demand for SS at the Major League level is going to be at an all time high this coming off season
Do you think guys are signed long term deals with the intent to trade them? As for the Phils, Utley is signed thru 2013. They’ll let Rollins walk and go after Reyes. Lidge is a FA after next year. They’ll let him walk as well. Oswalt has a mutual option for 12. If he doesn’t walk the Phils only pay him 7 mil and Houston pays the rest. Everyone claims the Phils have no room to move but they have a lot of options next Winter.
I think the Astros money is up by this year. Next year is on the Phils if they exercise Oswalt’s option.
Lidge leaving is quite likely. as is Rollins.
so yeah, they have money coming off, but unlike Ollie and Luis, it is from core/key/important guys, that they might have to spend just as much to stay even!
Rollins, Utley and Victorrino are going to be looking to max out and the phils are bringing up their one and only highly rated prospect above A ball to replace Werth.
They do have about 12 interesting prospects in Rookie ball and Low A (C, 1B, 2B, SS, OF, OF, OF and 5 pitchers) but washout rate, stagnation, injuries ect. not to mention the 3 years or so before they could even get here could put them in either a hold the fort situation or a break the budget type deal.
If all goes well for them with their prospects they could be looking at filling SS for just a couple of years and CF and 2B could be right on time but it rarely works out that way.
well, the mets have interesting prospects that low too!
Vicky is signed through 2012, but Hamels is only signed through 2011, which I assume is at least his last arb year, but could be wrong on that. So they probably control him for 2012 at least, if not 2013.
Rollins is not going to get a huge deal. Old, hurt and not that good is a bad combo for a SS.
utley is signed through 2013, and may be lucky to be able to walk by then.
No where near as many as the Phils. Our closest, CFer Kirk Neuwenhaus is not thought likely to be able to stick at CF and if not his bat won’t play in a corner OF. The thinking on him right now is 4th, 5th OF type. No one but no one except those that are hoping against hope believes Wilmer will stick at SS. Not even him, so his main strength (bat) is devalued unless everyone else is wrong.
Vaughn, Cecilini, Puelo, Den Decker all possible CFer’s but other than Den Decker probably corner OFer’s so who knows. Aderlain Rodriguez, described as too “thick” and slow to stay at 3B can’t move, excellent power great arm Catcher ? Urbina very very raw but has a good chance but at rookie league he’s got a long way to go. Then you get the usual suspects, Familia Holt, Marte, Pena Jr. no chance. Harvey, Cohoon, Matz, there’s a few guys but most teams have many more prospects who are much better thought of than ours. Sorry but that’s the reality of it.
Correct. Read the salary brakdown wrong, but it is mutual option. Oswalt can walk if he wants. The Mets let the money walk and they will have huge holes to fill. They’ll spend more they free up to fill all holes unless of course they play the same game of no one guy can put us over the top so why do anything. Victorino is signed thru 12.
The Phillies are in great shape. Not only are they set up for long term success, but they have two of the best prospects in baseball and unlike the Mets they are major league ready. Madson is ready to replace Lidge when he leaves, and their ss of the future will replace Rollins when they let him go. They dont have to make a decision on Utley for another 3 years and by them they will let him walk. You should worry more about Reyes and who replaces him, and will the Mets give Wright 200 million in 2013.
Phils have Rollins up after 2011, Victorino 2012, Utley 2013. Who’s their SS on the Horizon?
Jose Reyes.
Are you a Mets fan?
What’s so hard tpo see Reyes in a Philly uni? Or in a Red Sox uni? They both aren’t afraid to take a risk and Reyes is better than Rollins and Scutaro.
Philly, Boston, and Both LA teams could use a SS…are the Mets going to outbid them? What reason would Reyes have to stay here, when he could go play for a contender.
i don’t think a “new normal” is the operative MO of the new F/O. Conversely, i think Alderson & Co are dealing yeah with the reality of not much $$$’s to spend this year due to the odious contract signings of past years, but plan to re-tool this team, from the farm system up through the Big League club with a combination of F/A signings (over next 2 years), drafting and developing young talent in the System, teaching young guys the essential tools of the game (not done by us previously, incorporating a grit and ‘win’ spirit into the clubhouse and position the team for considerable success over the long term, beginning in 2012.
Execution is always up to the ‘fates’, but what the heck is wrong with that ‘plan’? And if we can cobble an 85-win season in 2011–what the heck is wrong with that?
Nothing, I’d take it in a heartbeat.
I’m sorry, but only a fool wouldnt want to trade places with the Phillies right now.
If by trading places you mean trading for their success then I’d have to agree though I would not say your a fool if you didn’t.
I mean considering the Mets recent past history you can replace the name Phillies with any MLB team that has presented it’s team with multiple opportunities at winning a W.S. while winning at least 1 in the process.
Red Sox
Yankees
Angels
Phillies
Cardinals
2011 is here a new year a new F.O. a new plan. In 4 years I want to look back at this and hope to read other teams wishing to trade places with our success.
Let’s see how history remembers these next 4 years.
well, it was only 4 years ago (well, maybe 5 now!) in 2006 that the Mets were on the cover of SI, and were the team that the rest of the league was jealous of. Things can change fast in sports.
Yeah especially when you build without a foundation.
or you lock in a huge payroll for multiple years on guys in their early-mid 30s. That can be playing with fire too.
The Mets had 1 good year in the past 10 seasons! 2006. And, they failed to make the World Series. So, its safe to say that season was an aberration, and not the norm. This franchise is pathetic, and New York fans deserve better. In the past decade the Mets have made the postseason one more time than teams like Pittsburgh and K.C. The Marlins have 2 W.S. titles in the past 14 seasons. The Mets are a disgrace to New York City.
NYC has many more disgraceful things than the mets to worry about.
and 2007 and 2008 they were one of the better teams, at least for 5.5 months.
I also don’t see why NY fans deserve anything more than fans of any other team. And given the ridiculous amount of whining lately, some of them don’t even deserve as much.
Calling the Mets a disgrace is ok for you to say but then I guess your not a Mets fan.
How can one root for a uniform in one breath and in the next also call it a disgrace?
That is hypocrisy square to me.
Disgrace imo is a very strong say to say.
You never answered my question, are you a Mets fan? Simple, yes or no..
Trading away Wright for a young front line pitcher like Cain will a good start for 2011.
Why do you think that trade could happen? If the Giants get the blubber off the penguin he is there for years.
Huh?
he meant they have a 3B (sandaval IIRC) that can hit, but seems to have an affinity for HoHos, and who needs to lose some weight.
Thanks.
Thank you next year. Sandoval probably likes more than just HoHos! But at 24 and with the marketing stuff they do in SF with the penguin nick-name, and the numbers he put up in ’09, they aren’t giving up on him and trading Cain for a 3Bman.
Sandoval sucks.
Wow Brian; That’s deep. Thanks for the depth of your logic. lol.
Thank God somethings never change – a new year and 2012 still hoping Wright would go away…….poor thing, santa didn’t bring you what you want…….
I see very few positive replys to Hojo Mojo nice article about our team. We have most of the pieces to win this year with all positions covered and Daniel Murphy will be the 2nd baseman making the lineup great on paper if they all perform up to their potential.Where in the lineup would a pitcher try to go to the next player, they all can hit. If our pitchers can hold the opposition down , and we add a starter,and lefty in the pen, our hitters can score runs to win games. We will win the wild card and go on. Lets give this team a chance to show us again a winning team.
There are very few positive replies to this article because the future prognosis is fairly bleak. The team is in a longterm transition. 2011 is essentially written off as a rebuilding year. I personally doubt we will achieve .500 ball this year. With only 3 established starters for the first half of the year, .500 ball will be very unlikely, let alone giving any consideration to whether Johan returns at this former level of capability. I think the Mets will achieve 75 +/- 5 wins next season. We will have to look to 2012 to exceed .500 ball and that will depend upon whether there are any bonafide rookies to come to the Mets from AAA by then. Any FA pickups will be minimal and from lower tiers of players. The important thing will be to develop the farm system to establish new talent for the future. It is purely speculative whether there will be any success in that regard. So, yes, it is very difficult to be positive about the prospects for the Mets for the foreseeable future. I think 5 years for now, the team will still not have gotten to post season participation. So much for meaningful games in September. We haven’t seen that in quite some time and it is doubtful that will be achieved for several years to come. Welcome to the New Normal at Citifield!