7
2011
3 Up & 3 Down – We’ll Get ‘Em Next Year Edition
An article by Gregg Hopps
If you were to glance at the National League standings this Labor Day weekend, your first thought might have been “why am I a Mets fan?’ But if you looked closely, and have still been following the team, the answer is quite apparent. The Mets, a team that most saw as the worst in league, is sitting in third place in one of baseball’s toughest divisions.
The Mets are also very close to finishing the 2010 campaign at or better than .500. Big deal, you may say, but consider this - of the 16 teams in the National League, as of Labor Day only six are at .500 or better! Strange as it may sound if the Mets finish at .500 or better they would have finished in the top half of the division. Then, come 2012, anything goes.
3 Up:
1) Santana, Davis, Wright, Young, Reyes, Murphy: Not even scratching the surface of Mets who missed significant time due to injury. You have to think, at least half these guys will be healthy and have a major impact on the 2012 Mets (oh yes, Reyes will be back). On the pitching side alone, a rotation featuring Santana & Young should guarantee the Mets at least six additional wins. David Wright for 150 games and Davis for 150 games should give the Mets six more wins. It puts the Mets on target for 93 wins!
2) Never Say Die Mets: Under Terry Collins, the 2011 Mets have become the Never Say Die Mets. This is no longer a team that you see mail it in every night, the way they did under both Willie & Jerry. This is a team that honestly believes they have a chance to win each and every night. 2011 was a chance for the Mets to mesh and grow as a team, in 2012 the expectations will be much higher, and so long as Terry can have these guys believing in themselves, the Mets will be fine.
3) Give Sandy A Chance: GM Sandy Alderson had a mess to clean up in 2011. The offseason should prove to be very interesting as Sandy adds pieces to the team. Tops on the list needs to be a closer. If Sandy can add a few more small pieces, in 2012 the post season is possible.
3 Down:
1) A Very Tough NL East: In the introduction I mentioned the Mets are playing in one baseball’s toughest divisions. Over the the few years the Phillies have been great. The Braves are a perennial powerhouse. But in 2012, expect Washington to be better, as there young pitchers mature, and expect Florida to be in the mix, after they re-brand themselves as the Miami Marlins. Unlike the AL East, the National League could have five legitimate contenders next season.
2) The Ownership Mess: I’ve given up following this saga of the Wilpons and Bernie Madoff. I have a real tough time getting my brain around the dollars they are fighting over. For now, I’m going to assume the Wilpons aren’t going anywhere, and the Mets will succeed in spite of them.
3) Disgruntled Fans: Met fans, we need to stay the course. I know if you’re reading this entry, you haven’t jumped ship. Tell your friends, family and anyone else who will listen, good things are on the horizon at Citi Field!
About the Author: Gregg Hopps
Gregg lives on Long Island, and has been a Mets fan since Bud Harrelson and Pete Rose slugged it out in the 1973 playoffs. "Keith Hernandez is the best defensive first baseman to ever have played baseball."
9 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 28 | .600 | - |
| Nationals | 34 | 35 | .493 | 7.5 |
| Phillies | 34 | 37 | .479 | 8.5 |
| Mets | 25 | 40 | .385 | 14.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 47 | .319 | 19.5 |
Last updated: 06/18/2013
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I appreciate your enthusiasm, Greg. The Mets may win a few more or lose a few more then predicted but they never had the pitching this year to compete with the big boys and they won’t have it next year.
They were more fun to watch this year but this is the number one market in baseball and you would expect the team to be something other then ‘small market’ – which is what they will be next year and probably the foreseable future.
Most older die hards went through this in the late seventies. The idea that fans have to support a club that the owners can’t or won’t. It’s not fun.
I read recently that Sandy says that more fans have to come to the park to create more revenue so that they can expand the payroll. Really? Sandy gets into Citifield for free. A family of four will have to shell out a couple of hundred dollars – at least – to see a small market team.
wow, you must be the most enthusiastic mets fan ever. i am not even point out how many WRONG things are with your article. i guess let’s go mets…
You know, not being in NJ/NY area, I have to get the baseball package to see Mets games. A bad thing about the MLB package is you don’t always get the SNY feed. So last night, watching the game with the FLA feed, they had Cliff Floyd on as a guest. Brought back good memories. Anyway, to my point, Cliff was talking about how the Reyes injuries this year was actually a good thing for the Mets, specific to his contract size and who he would sign with. He was pretty sure it would deter other teams for pushing into a long term deal for Reyes and ultimately push him to re-sign with the Mets. Was interesting to hear his perspective on that.
yes, unfortunately the last thing many remmeber cliff floyd for is for striking out with men on 1st and 2nd and no outs in the 9th inning of game 7th of the 2006 NLCS. he had no business being there on the first place but.. willie and manuel wanted the “dramatic homerun”
If I remember correctly alex wasn’t it a bunting situation?
It was a bunting situation. Cliff had little to no at bats in the series because his legs were bad. Striking out could have been the best thing he could have done because it would have been an easy double play. Even Glavienb would have been a better pick to hit in that situation.
Don’t know what Willie was thinking there but it was decisions like that one that cost him his job – so we move on.
Yup I have to listen to the Marlins feed living here in Orlando and it is more painful than the Nats announcers.
I usually turn the volume down and read and watch, it is so bad to listen to these guys.
I’m a glass half full guy so I like your article but I doubt that Young will be back cause with all the injuries to pitching staff I doubt Mets want another pitcher coming off of injury and going on rehab.
The easiest entry in the world for me to write, would be a negative Mets bashing entry. Sure I can sit here and list item after item of what’s wrong. To me there is no challenge in writing entries like that. For almost 40 yeasrs I have follwed this team, so I remember the suffering of the late 1970′s. I don’t think we’re anywhere near that point.
I love what Terry has done so far, and I don’t accept all gloom and doom. Six to ten more wins next year, and we’ll be in the hunt.
Again Greg – love the positives and I get it that its harder to write good things then bad. I respect that.
But it’s not realistic to think we will be competative.
They are more fun to watch though.
Obviously my gripe is that they are now developing a small market mentality. All of us fans want a great team – we want a plan for a great team. We have gone through 25 years now without a world series win. We at least want to make it to the playoffs.
That will not happen next year and it might not happen for a while.
And it has very little to do with the general manager or the manager (who I think should get manager of the year). It has everything to do with the way the Wilpons were sucked into a ponzie financial disaster.
The Wilpons want us to believe they were victims – and maybe they were. But greed is hardly an excuse and the money they were making off the Madoff investments were too good to be true.