9
2011
Has Your Mets Outlook Changed In The Last Few Days?
An article by Craig Lerner
Dont bother to answer the question I posed in the title, it’s sort of a trick question intended only to separate the die-hards from the band wagoners.
If you believed in this team six or seven days ago, than that couldn’t have possibly changed so quickly and so early into a brand new season… right?
Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog, said this morning that he saw three groups or types of Mets fans while at the game yesterday,
There were seemingly three groups of fans in attendance: the first being very negative, pessimistic fans, who kept loudly predicting failure before and after every pitch; the second group were business types, entertaining clients, trying to enjoy the day, while giving half-looks over their shoulders at the first group; and then there was my group, the cautiously optimistic bunch, who, at just 6 games deep, still hope for the best, but who were mostly quiet, staring blankly at the field, wishing the team would do something well so the first group could quiet down.
Which Met fan are you?
I’m already seeing some media types already trying to weaken our resolve as Mets fans and smash our hopes even before the season goes into full throttle. Case in point, Dave D’Alessandro of the Star Ledger, who says manager Terry Collins already appears to be running out of time. Really?
Never mind that he’s a mere stopgap. It hardly matters that everyone knows Sandy Alderson is basically using Collins to (cliché alert) change the culture for a few years before he can put the team in a position to moneyball its way back into your heart.
But in the time he’s allotted, Collins probably is going to do as good a job as anyone else can, given the limitations and the negativity and grim financial prospects that lie ahead.
Thanks for that Dave.
The sad part is that some Mets fans have already been calling for Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson to be fired, are they feeding into this media driven negativity or are they just bad Mets fans that only support their team when they win and kick them to the curb when they lose?
Come on people. Surely you know deep down inside that it’s way too early to start drawing conclusions, right?
Why do so many feel that they need to make some sort of a judgment call Now?
Why not take yourself out of that equation and just relax and enjoy these early season moments without feeling the need to come to some sort of an ultimatum on the season? Lets not rush to judgment.
After the long wait for baseball to begin again, is this how some of you are going to treat a new Mets season that is still in it’s infancy?
Hey, there are always going to be the doomsday fans and the nay-sayers, every fan base has there fair share including ours.
But lets not make their moans and groans drown out our enthusiasm and hopes for the team and the new season. At least not seven days into the season.
Everybody just relax and enjoy the rest of the homestand.
Say it with me… Lets Go Mets!
About the Author: Craig Lerner
I'm a data analyst and researcher for a leading news agency who loves life and is hooked on the Mets. I love following the Amateur Draft and have a particular fondness for the Mets Minor Leagues who I follow each day. Give me a cold beer, a summer day, and a Mets game, and I'm good to go.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 24 | 18 | .571 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 20 | .535 | 1.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 23 | .465 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 32 | .256 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
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Someone in the shoutbox once gave me good advice. They said maybe I should focus on my own fandom than worrying about everyone else’s fandom.
It’s been helpful for me so I put it out there for those that wish to try it so that it may possibly help them as well.
Lets Go Mets.
Too bad you are not smart enough to take good advice. If you think you took that advice you get an “F”.
smh
I agree with you and let him “smh” one more time.
You wrote: Come on people. Surely you know deep down inside that it’s way too early to start drawing conclusions, right?
Stop shoving your opinion down all of our throats and talking to us collectively. Mr. North Jersey will not like that. Be forewarned that you will be the subject of his wrath.
Nah, I’m just joking Craig, expressing your opinions to an audience of interested readers is how most people do it.
Plus your name is not Bayonne, so you’re good to go.
OMG as soon as I posted I saw he already hit you up with a comment that takes umbrage against your post. Wow! Damn, I’m good.
Yep, you are good, irrespective of his reply.
Really Maniac?
-sigh
My outlook on the team hasn’t changed a bit in the past week. However, it leaves me to ask the following question…a question that I’ve been pondering since last year: Why the hell is Dan Warthen still our pitching coach?
A very good question!
Apparently, he’s still the pitching coach because Pelfrey requested that he be retained. Too bad Pelfrey still has trouble hitting the side of a barn as our supposed current #1. Was this a case of you take care of me and I’ll take care of you?
Ah yes, you are what is referred to as a “koolaider” on the Mets.com forum and of which I am a proud member. The first group you refer to, called “defeatists”, are the ones who look forward to the doom and gloom of being a Mets “fan”. The are a loud, ANNOYING minority who seem to find joy in the Mets losing and then call themselves “fans”. Mostly are trolls or rejected “yank(m)ee” fans. (Another breed of frontrunners.) If they expect the Mets to lose, why do they bother going to the games or posting on Met fan sites? Many of us are not jusr Met fans but BASEBALL fans and we either watch or go to games, always HOPING for a victory, but also to watch the game. The original Met fan knew AND understood the game of baseball like no other fan. We would applaud great plays even if it was the opposing teams player. Now fans jump on Met players who chat up and smile sometimes at an opposing player, forgetting they may friends off the field and looking at that friendship as a weekness. It’s a shame those few ignorant fans have made watching games or discussing the Mets a nightmare at times. BTW, Matt Cerone is referred to as a Met “shill” by the “defeatists” so I’m expecting he will be critized on the Mets.com forum.
I agree with you. How can uou be defeatist in the firs week of April? That goes beyond being a pessimist.
They have been around for a few years now. They seem to have appeared right after Beltran’s “non=swing”. They complain in the off-season, during Spring training, after every pitch, strikeout, win or loss during the regular season then continue during the post-season to start all over again. Their pessimism IS their optimism.
That D’Alessandro guy should be fired for writing such trash, what an idiot. So the Collins watch is already on according to him? That’s totally ridiculous. I guesss we should add the Ledger to the trash pile along with the Post.
Correct! That was BS. Collins is doing very well with what he has been given. If more is desired in results, he should be give more tools to work with in the form of competent players especially for the bull pen.
Well I have not changed my outlook at all…
They are what they are.
They have shown the ability to fight back and the ability to let things get out of hand.
They are not and never were (expected by me anyway) to be a dominating team.
The last few losses were due to pitching woes which is not unusual when you come up and try to pitch in cold weather.
Dickey had some issues with his fingernail which is very important to a knuckleballer.
It’s not a great concern.
The Bullpen is a little worrisome but again it’s pitching in the cold and I expect them to get themselves together once spring actually starts acting like Spring on the thermometer.
The hitting hasn’t been bad but it hasn’t been great. Beltran will get himself sorted soon enough he is swinging well just not connecting the way he should. That will eventually come around.
We should all just relax and let the season unfold. It could be a very short season if they are truly out of it by the deadline. Trades will flow like water and then we will occupy ourselves with who we are going to keep.
And if they stay in contention (remember Phillies are playing Braves right now) so whatever we do this series will be less important cause either the Braves or the Phillies are going to get a loss as well.
We should just enjoy ourselves. Go to a game, Have a BBQ and watch at home if you must.
Stop worrying about things that you can’t control or change!
They are what they are, only thing left is to witness it and prepare for the trades that will happen if they suck or enjoy the race they are in if that isn’t the case.
It’s entertainment folks, I’m sure you don’t get yourselves all worked up and depressed when you see a movie that sucked. You simply move on!
the game is on the field not in the stands
Martin, you’re correct, the game is on the field. What’s not said is the who plays the game is mostly decided off the field, in the front office. That’s why some of us like to look at the ‘big picture.’
what do the fans have to do with the big picture
Huh?
this article is about fan opinion, is it not? what does that have to do with the games? cerrone is talking about the 3 types of fans he saw. why is that an issue? game is on the field.
No it has not changed. I though the Mets suck coming into this season and still do
I’m a member of the first group. After the past few years of constant disappointment, how can a Met fan be anything else? This being said, I must add that I was at Opening Day in Miami, and was yelling “Let’s Go Mets!” till the last pitch…and beyond.
Being a realist doesn’t make you a fair weather fan. Were the fans who called the Brooklyn Dodgers “dem bums” fair weather fans? No, because they stuck with their team, as I do, even though I hate their guts.
i still feel the same way.we will have a decent season ultimately coming up short on the pitching side.i think we got a good team, but the pitchers we have are not going to be enough.
You know what is so odd about all of the pessimisim that is exhibited is that if we had won just 11 more games last year we would have had 90 wins!
And we did that without Beltran in the lineup.
Truth is this team is not as bad as some would have us believe and it is a few bad breaks away from being a 90 game winner!
Would it have been enough to get us into the playoffs? Probably not, but it would be difficult to propagate the doom and gloom everyone seems to be trying to force upon us!
johan santana –> chris capuano
My opinion has actually improved this early in the season. The offense looks to be capable. Jose’ is acting as though he will be the Jose’ we expect. Beltran is doing great considering what he is dealing with physically and his 2 homers last night were a great relief. Wright is solid and Davis looks like he will build on last year and take it a step higher. Same for Thole who is also building on last year. Pagan is starting slow but should come around. Harris is performing well in Bay’s absence. Emaus is a nice surprise and seems like he will carry his weight. The bench is ok and there could be some improvements there. The starters are a mixed result. Pelfrey big disapppointment and needs to shape up quickly. Niess is a mixed bag but should settle down. Dickey appears solid allowing for the finger nail issue. Chris Young may be a great add if his first game means anything. The jury is out on Capuano. The bullpen still needs fixing. Buchholtz and Carrasco appear better than expected. KRod needs to demonstrate he can be dependable. Parnell needs to improve in consistency. You can take or leave most of the rest, with the possible exception of Beato. So it is the pitching that needs to shape up and Alderson needs to go on a shopping trip for pitchers. Hopefully, there will be some money to pay them. The big downside to the Mets continues to be the uncertainty of finances and whether it will be able to operate at a level of expectations for NY. I continue to believe we would be better off with new ownership in place with the days of the Wilponzie’s behind us. Collins and Alderson get passing grades for now. We’ll know a lot more about how the team will develop in the future as we learn whether Jose’ will be resigned. This will be a great indicator for me and his departure from the team will signal diminshing expectations to me. If he is resigned, I will then buy into the Alderson mantra. That will prove a lot to me.
This team is filled with 13th round talent surrounding two good position players we developed and a couple of guys with first round talent on their last legs.
I guess Ike Davis is 13th round talent to you?
Don’t mistake the exception for the rule. Besides Ike WAS drafted in the first round, he was a very well known prospect. The fact is that Duda is no Heyward, Parnell is no Kimbrell, Emaus is no Prado, Gee is no Hanson, Thole is no McCann. Doesn’t mean our guys cannot contribute but the talent disparity is way too large to overcome during the course of a 162 game season.
Chipper (at age 39) is no Wright, Gonzalez is no Reyes, Mcclouth is no Beltran, and Kimbrell is no k-rod. Oh and I’ll take Davis over Freeman, and when Bay gets back I’d rather have him than Prado…
That talent disparity is way too large for the Braves to overcome during the course of a 162 games season.
You have got to be kidding me. The gap between Chipper’s production and Wrights might not be as large as your thinking. Chipper can hit RHP, Wright can’t hit it when he gets jammed or when he can’t reach it on the outside part of the plate. McClouth may not be Carlos Beltran but his isn’t costing the team 18M that could be better used elsewhere and there is no guarantee Carlos won’t have an on again, off again season due to his knee. Davis will probably have a better season than Freeman but overall their careers should probably be similar. More power toward Davis, higher avg less K’s toward Freeman. Don’t discount the fact that Freeman was the International League player of the year in 2010. That doesn’t mean he’s a shoe in but the difference in production even this year is nowhere like the difference between Heyward and Duda.
You can take Bay if you like. I’d much prefer Prado. 9th in the MVP voting last year and only 27 this year and can play 2B, 3B and LF if need be. There’s really only one way to go for him and really only one way to go for Bay.
Kimbrell/K-Rod? Really? K-Rod’s only 75/25 at this point whether he can even record a save.
Plus the Braves could actually get something for Kimbrell, Prado or McClouth. We couldn’t even get anyone to take over Beltran, Bay or K-Rod’s combined 46 M dollar 2010 payroll, let alone get anything for them and really at 46M compared to 6M the talent disparity shouldn’t even be in the same area code, let alone damn close.
Chipper is 39, and Wright is in the prime of his career. Mcclouth is hitting under .200 the past two years, Freeman has done nothing so far, and Davis is what? tied for 2nd in the league in RBI? Kimbrell is a rookie, you’d rather have a rookie as your closer than a proven closer, who by the way is one of the best in the league? Oh and I’d much rather have a guy who can hit 30HR and 100RBI LF, than a guy who’s only played the postion three times in his career before this year.
No, you have got to be kidding me.