4
2013
Do The 2013 Mets Have Giant Potential?
An article by 
The San Francisco Giants surprised the game yet again this past fall by making an improbable October run to capture their second title in the past three seasons. The first of which was even more unlikely than the latter when a young pitching staff coupled with a patchwork lineup managed to best the powerhouse Texas Rangers and take home the 2010 championship, the first in their history on the West Coast.
The season prior marked San Fran’s first .500 season since 2004. The club consisted of a fearsome 1-2 punch, a steady bullpen and an above-average third baseman; and not much more. The Giants managed to hang around for the first few months and remain competitive with a rag-tag offense and a shaky back end of their rotation. That was until the infusion of their two top prospects.
On May 29th, GM Brian Sabean called up their top catching prospect, Buster Posey, to hopefully ignite an offense that had lacked a star bat since the retirement of Barry Bonds. That night, the Giants crushed the powerful Arizona Diamondback 12-1 at AT&T Park. Posey had three hits and a trio of RBIs to match, and from then on, the San Francisco Giants became a force to be reckoned with in the NL West.
One month later, top-pitching prospect Madison Bumgarner, was promoted to the big leagues. After a rough first start against the Redsox, the top pitching prospect found his stride, finishing off the year with an even 3.00 ERA and 3.31 SO/BB ratio. Now paired with Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain as well s a flourishing Jonathon Sanchez, the Giants had a rotation that would make any team cringe at the sight of.
Armed with their two young talents, San Francisco went on to become a key contender in a pennant race, capturing the division crown from the San Diego Padres on the last day of the season. Bumgarner handed the Giants a win just three days prior to make the clinching number just one. On October 3rd, the Giants squeezed into the postseason by besting the Padres 3-0, in part due to a home run in the eighth inning off the bat of their rookie sensation, Buster Posey.
The rest is history, as the “island of misfit toys” –as they called themselves–went on to win the World Series, very much due to the contributions of their two young rookies.
Do these 2010 Giants remind you of the current New York Mets? Does the idea of a young catcher and starting pitcher making a significant impact on the big club midseason sound at all familiar? Well, it should.
The run differentials pretty much say it all. These were two very similar teams up until the All-Star Break, where each went in opposite directions. The difference is the Giants had an infusion of an all-star quality bat in the lineup and arm in the rotation to put them over the edge; The Mets didn’t.
The Mets were 46-40 at the break last season, and the 2010 Giants were 47-41. Both teams had a solid rotation and an underwhelming offense outside their third baseman. The Mets lost Dillon Gee and Johan Santana to injury and David Wright became mired in a slump, and with no one to replace them, they foundered. The Giants stayed healthy and added depth with their two top prospects coming in and making an huge impact.
Now entering a season with a similar situation, could Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud be the Mets Posey and Bumgarner? Could the emergence of another young pair of battery mates breath life into another team and give the fans some excitement down the stretch come September?
Why not? Both are expected to come up around mid-season and are putting on a show this spring. Both have a fiery, competitive nature and want to win. With so much talent given up to acquire both of these young phenoms, why not expect them to deliver sooner rather than later? Are Mets fans so entrenched in expecting to be let down that they forget this franchise’s hallowed motto of “Ya Gotta’ Believe!”?
Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud have given us reason to believe about the future, but why not look at the recent past to have faith in the here and now? In the present?
In the 2013 New York Mets?
About the Author: Clayton Collier
Clayton, a Long Island native and die-hard Mets fan, started writing online about three years ago. He is currently a Journalism major with a minor in Broadcasting at Seton Hall University. Although very disappointed with the current state of the team, Clayton remains hopeful that the young prospects in the farm system will bring the Mets back to a respected franchise in baseball once again. Besides writing for MMO, Clayton is also a staff member at 89.5 WSOU, Seton Hall's modern active rock radio station. You can contact Clayton by following him on Twitter: @Clayton_Collier or E-mailing him at MaybeNextYearMets@yahoo.com
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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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As they say anything is possible. Am I going to bet on the idea that the Mets are going to be a version of the 2010 SF Giants? Not in a million years. But I also do not believe this team will rival the ’62 Mets. There is a strong starting rotation in addition to a very good IF. The OF and BP remain to be seen what is there yet I am still confident that it will be better than what was out there last season.
Overall, I think we will see a step forward from the big league team, something that hasnt happened in the last few season. At the same time, the organization will get stronger as some of the lower level talent moves up a level or two.
I think maybe the better analogy is the ’96 Mets which took a step back, got a veteran manager fired and a brash, abrasive manager was hired. Started improving in ’97 and contending in ’98.
Well when you put it that way, who are you implying on taking over Collins job? I don’t see him lasting the whole season. I know it’s an outside shot, but I wanna see the Mets hire Mike Hargrove as the next manager. Recently, he said he’s open to managing again. He has the tendency of turning around bad teams into winners (see Indians & Mariners right up until he left).
I keep hearing its Backman which should make things interesting if nothing else.
Somehow, I see them changing their mind the way about Backman being the next manager the Cubs changed their mind about Ryno being next in line, choosing Mike Quade over him. If anything, I’d choose Hargrove as manager with Backman as the bench coach.
Collins’ replacement is already on his staff. think Backman minus the antics.
Who? Geren? I’m not comfortable with a guy that was called out for having no communication with the handling of the pitching staff.
He has this fantasy involving Teufel.
You mean logical conclusion. I do this goofy thing where I look at the evidence at hand and draw the most reasonable conclusion.
On what logic is this based pray tell?
He was part of what you guys call the BAD DEVELOPMENT days of our farm and was promoted out to the MLB where the Manager and GM could keep a better eye and direct things….
Why not just let him go? Why put him on the same team as those guys who he supposedly did a bad job with on the farm?
They had no problem shuffling along HoJo.
And maybe they will when they send Collins out the door!
Teufel? No. I’d see that working as well as when Buddy Harrelson was manager.
Me too Hitman….
I see nothing about him that says he might be a good manager….
Even if Collins gets fired mid season (unlikely) it will be Geren who get interim followed by Backman when the season is over…
And they must have said something to Backman to keep him with us otherwise he Might have bolted by now….
Or maybe it’s what other teams didn’t say. Like, “Hey, Wally, come work for us.”
He had an offer to go be a coach…He decided to stay on the Managerial track…
Who has been busting down Teufel’s door to get him?
So ,getting promoted through the minors up to the big club is the managerial track?
It is when you jump a managerial level every year for three consecutive years….
If Teufel was going to get his shot he would have gotten it the year Terry was hired…..
Did Davey Johnson become a coach before he became the manager or did he do exactly what Backman is doing?
So, there is only one track to managing? Maybe they are just keeping Wally around to fire him. I have no idea how that makes sense, but I’ll just use your line of thinking.
Only one successful track when you have made the decision to build with Kids and Prospects…
You bring up the Manager who taught most of the kids that for years have been HIS PLAYERS….
Just like Davey!
2003 Marlins
HI Clayton,
A while back I compared the steps the Giants had taken in the years prior to 2010, including the position they were in following the 2008 season when they finished 72-90. It was lengthy but showed how when San Francisco started slowly assembling their young pitching staff it had also begun the process of acquiring free agents to supplement that young core that was still developing. And, after the 2008 season, that young piching core consisted of just Linsecum and Cain, with Brian Wilson still not showing consistency as a closer.
They finished 9th in team pitching that season and and 15th in runs scored. Their average age was close to 30. They had hope with some of the young players they already had called up plus those down on the minors. Sound familiar?
In 2012 the Mets had a team that was two years their younger, won only two more games (in a much tougher division than the 2008 Giants where it only took 84 games to win it), they finished 11th in pitching and 12th in runs scored against playing much tougher clubs way more often.
Yet that is where the resemblence ends. After the 2008 season the Giants went after Edgar Renteria, Juan Uribe and Freddie Sanchez and his $6 million contract (mid season trade for the all-time great Tim Alderson) That prior winter (after 2007) they went out and signed Aaron Rowand,
And after 2006, when winning just 76 games (and the year before only 75) they went out and got Barry Zito and Bengie Molina.
What’s not important are the names or their performances – it’s the fact that they did not stand still. They made attempts to build from within and outside at the same time. They had many holes to fill, just like we do now – and though it was their pitching strength that carried them, they needed to jump to 9th in run scored for anything less and that great pitching would have been wasted – as it was the year before when they had the second best pitching in the league yet finished at 88-74, seven games behind the Dodgers and just four back of the wildcard winning Rockies while being the fourth worst scoring team in the league. Yet, that was a 16 win jump from the year before and they were on their way because they had taken the proper steps in rebuilding.
That is where the resemblence ends.
And those big free agent signings were almost entirely busts. They won in spite of bringing in guys like Zito and Rowand, not because of it. And the ones who did perform were cast offs trying to save their careers.
Look at their 2 best free agents that year. Aubrey Huff cost them $3 million and Pat Burrell cost them the league minimum since he was DFA’d by the Rays and then granted free agency.
Uribe and Sanchez both qualified as average.
their offense mediocre.
“What’s not important are the names or their performances”
Performance is the only thing that matters.
YEAH they won because of Lincecum who was banished to the Pen for the World Series!
Not Zito who staked them to a one game lead or Vogelsong who they signed as a free agent…
Ya, Zito was a beast in that 2010 post season. And that 4.15 ERA he posted last year powered them through the season.
Totally moved them forward.
Yeah 2010….What about 2012?
Who had the higher Win Pct?
Lincecum or Zito?
Cain Led the team in WinPct….
#2 and #3?
Both hired guns!
Zito had a bad year….But they didn’t win DESPITE him….
And he sure was a key in thier repeating…..
Lincecum wasn’t….
Again, Vogelsong was a reclamation project, not a big ticket free agent.
and please don’t insult everyone’s intelligence by telling us Zito was a better pitcher last year than Bumgarner. It is a perfect illustration of why you don’t use win loss records to measure a pitcher’s effectiveness.
Doesnt matter thier homegrowns don’t win without him which is who you try and give all the credit to!
Sorry but I’m not going to let your guys side step with your semantical crap!
He was a FREE AGENT PERIOD!
So was ZITO!
Lincecum was awful this year!
Yes, I tried to give credit to just the home growns while specifically citing the reclamation projects and guys like Huff.
Vogelsong was a free agent the way Chris Young and RA Dickey were free agents. A cast off who was out of the league and given a minor league deal with a chance to do more.
And which homegrown was WS MVP in 2010?
Which means what? the writers didn’t want to give it to the Giants’ entire pitching staff. Renteria was subpar during the regular season and worse during the NLCS.
Yeah they didn’t want to give it to who you said because the were worried it would go to thier head or something right?
Please….Just Stop!
The writers dont select WS MVP’s
seriously, your desperation is beyond hilarious now. Just stop.
“Yeah they didn’t want to give it to who you said because the were worried it would go to thier head or something right?”
How on earth did you draw that conclusion from what I said?
“The writers dont select WS MVP’s”
The World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award was originally given by the editors of Sport Magazine and started in 1955. The award is now voted on during the final game of the World Series by a committee of reporters and officials in attendance.
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_mvpw.shtml
Besides, it doesn’t negate my point. the giants won because their pitching staff out dueled the Rangers. But, the writers and officials won’t give it to a group of 12 guys.
and they sure as hell didn’t get to the World series on Renteria’s performance.
Same way you came to the conclusion you know why the Voters voted for a person who according to you should not have won it!
No, you didn’t draw a logical conclusion.
And neither did you!
I drew only ONE conclusion….
WHO THEY VOTED FOR!
You seem to think they decided to vote for the wrong guy and have yet to give a reason for doing that!
You call ILLOGIC…. LOGICAL….
It is a subjective choice that doesn’t require any mention of productivity.
“You seem to think they decided to vote for the wrong guy and have yet to give a reason for doing that!”
I stated it quite clearly. the pitching staff was the reason the Giants won, but the writers don’t give the award to 12 guys, so they went with an offensive player who had an easy to understand stat.
Does it matter really? No, not at all. As I said, WS MVP, like all most post season award, is subjective. It’s more about the writers feeling important than the players themselves.
“the pitching staff was the reason the Giants won, but the writers….”
DISAGREED WITH YOU!
End of story they could have named as many co MVPs as they wanted….
They didn’t….This argument is over!
Only thing you proved here was you disagreed with the voters end results!
And how the process is subjective.
Only your perception of what they did is subjective…I’m sure thier vote was quite OBJECTIVE to them other wise there would have been more than one MVP named….
Because they couldn’t agree on a single overall winner and had to name more…
So the subjective is all in your mind Donal not thiers.
OK, subjective means it is up to the opinion of the people in question. Since there is no objective standard to picking the award winner and it is a poll of the writer’s and “officials”, it is considered subjective.
Objective is a statement that is completely unbiased. It is not touched by the speaker’s previous experiences or tastes. It is verifiable by looking up facts or performing mathematical calculations.
Subjective is a statement that has been colored by the character of the speaker or writer. It often has a basis in reality, but reflects the perspective through with the speaker views reality. It cannot be verified
Read more: Difference Between Objective and Subjective | Difference Between | Objective vs Subjective http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-objective-and-subjective/#ixzz2Mm1K5i7T
Your being subjective but the voters believe they were being OBJECTIVE!
They based thier opinion on the FACTS they saw!
They didn’t vote for the WRONG PLAYERS due to some bias or ideology as you suggest!
Nor did they do it because they were denied the ability to name CoMVPs
So sorry dude…
Your all about the SUBJECTIVE….You can’t prove a thing you said until you can get quotes from all the voters saying We wanted to give it to thier homegrown pitchers but could not so gave it to the wrong guy instead!
Which is what you are implying here!
By the way, Vogelsong was one of those cast offs trying to save his career. He was pitching in Japan before getting bounced around and then signing a minor league deal with the Giants. He is playing on the same kind of deal Dickey signed 2 years ago.
Doesn’t matter he was not a home grown was ?
Just cause they are smart enough to see talent and get it regardless of if they drafted it or not doesn’t mean he didn’t exist!
Metsie,
You do realize that Vogelsong was drafted and came up through the Giants system? He even pitched parts of two seasons for them in the majors before moving on to Pitt.
I won’t even bother to respond to this semantical straw pulling attempt at making Vogelsong a Home grown part of the WS team’s building….
Really Task…You had to go that far out of your way to call him a homegrown part of the CORE?
If the mets signed Mike Pelfrey next year to a 5 year 50 mil contract…
would MP still be seen as a homegrown player or a free-agent we signed ?
He certainly doesn’t fit Joey D’s definition of “moving forward”. He’s more Scott Hairston than Barry Zito.
Hi Donal,
What I was pointing out was the methodical steps not only of the Giants but of those taken by perennial contenders Cincinnati, Detroit and now possibly Washington. As I said, some moves didn’t pay off but so did others. Without the attempts taken – which meant the good “performances” along with the poor “performances” there would not have been any playoff scenarios for any of those teams. Each went outside the organization as the young kids were progressing (Washington too) to get the established players to help fit in the various pieces of the puzzle.
Without the Mets doing the same thing, they will not be in the playoff picture for many years to come. Nobody is insinuating they go out and get high priced superstars like the Yankees, Phillies and Red Sox to achieve those heights – just follow the steps taken by the Giants, Tigers, Cincinnati and Washington and accept there are going to be risks and that they cannot avoid being burned by taking some of them, like every team.
The Mets aren’t because they are walking on financial eggshells.
Jayson Werth and Barry Zito are not a road I wish to travel. Been there, done that. Outside of Fielder, every mega bucks free agent those teams have signed has been a flop.
Besides, if you think the NL West has been weak, look at the AL Central last year.
Spending for the sake of spending , which is exactly what you are advocating when you point to Barry Zito as a positive, has dug enough holes. Let’s truly move forward. Let’s not do the same old same old.
Hi Donal,
Not that acquiring Zito was a bad move by the Giants at the time though I think no player merits a seven year contract with an expensive team buy-out for the eighth is worth it unless he is a proven, young player still a few years away from free agency and a proven bonafide superstar (even Mike Trout needs a few more seasons to justify that).
But contracts aside (let’s face it, baseball is a rich man’s game for all involved) Zito was not the same pitcher for the A’s that he was his last three years at Oakland. And that was with pitching in a pitcher’s ball park with so much foul territory that David Wright would be out of breath by the time he reached the third base sands to pull in a foul pop up. So again putting aside the money, for what the Giants were looking for – an ace – they got burned. They instead got a fifth starter who did obviously make a contribution – though nowhere remotely near they wanted. And baseball wise, the signs were already there that perhaps Zito had already reached his peak.
So how do you make him to be a positive? A move like that is by no means “moving forward”.
All the big ticket free agents for the last 10 years of each team you cited was a bust except one, who wasn’t his team’s best player and they won a weak division.
The majority of the good free agents were either journey men moving along or cast offs trying to save their careers. Sound familiar?
Hi Donal,
I did not make that a positive – unless you think being stuck with a fifith starter like that over seven years instead of using the money to have gotten a better player qualifies that as me calling it so. I just said that instead of an ace, the Giants got a fifth starter which is not what they were seeking with him.
I even said it appeared Zito was on the way down his last three seasons in Oakland.
So, why are mentioning him when he directly discredits your point?
Hi Donal,
Don’t see how that discredits my point at all. What did I say?
“some moves didn’t pay off but so did others. Without the attempts taken – which meant the good “performances” along with the poor “performances” there would not have been any playoff scenarios for any of those teams. Each went outside the organization as the young kids were progressing (Washington too) to get the established players to help fit in the various pieces of the puzzle.”
And didn’t I conclude that there are going to be pluses and minuses but that it came with the territory?
“just follow the steps taken by the Giants, Tigers, Cincinnati and Washington and accept there are going to be risks and that they cannot avoid being burned by taking some of them, like every team.”
There are no contradictions. Even with Zito. I said though the money and length of the contract was ridiculous (as I noted all are) but that he premise of getting Zito at that time wasn’t a bad idea but they should not have expected to get the Zito of those earlier years in Oakland.
What moves paid off? What type of move that the Mets haven’t already been making the last few years paid off for the Giants?
who was their WS MVP in 2010 ?
LOL I would expect them to avoid that question like it was HIV positive!
Wow. Classy.
Got a problem report the post!
A guy with a 93 OPS+ who batted .063 in the NLCS. Probably because they didn’t want to give it to the entire Giants pitching staff.
was that the same guy who batted .412 ?
ya, on a team with a pitching staff that out dueled the Rangers.
Any Parralells to what the Giants did is not taking into account the Division (and state of) they were playing against when they did what they did…
They don’t have an Atlanta and Phillies (and now add a Nats who I think don’t front run this year) to overcome…..
Dodgers look better this year but in 2010 they were broke being divied up under californias divorce laws with no direction whatsoever….
Arizona was awful, San Diego was still clearing up the mess Sandy left them and didn’t have the Pitching, Colorado had one good pitcher they then traded away in 2011…
In 2012 not much changed….Dodgers got some stabilty at the top and have now taken on Salary to give the Giants some competition. Arizona bounced back to .500 and just traded away thier marquee player.
San Diego’s Long competitive due to MiL train came to a screeching halt andf Colorado couldn’t find 5 guys to put into thier starting rotation….
The Giants never win if they play in the NL East and play the majority of thier games vs Nats, Phillies and Braves!
So to think we match up and can do whatb they did is really just ignoring the fact of who and where we play the majority of our games!
in 2012 they went
14-4 vs Col
10-8 vs Dodgers
12-6 vs Padres
And only won the division by 8 games!
You find 3 teams in the NL east they couldhave a similar record against to make them good enough to even GET to the World Series twice and win….
That’s a good point. The only thing I disagree with is that the Mets won’t have to “overcome” the Phillies for a playoff spot, they’ll be fighting them for third place.
It will deend on why they were as bad as they were last season….
Was it the Injuries or has the team really just all declined at the same time?
They were a .425 team in the first half with Utley and Howard MIA.
They were a .587 team in the second half when they got them back.
And they did that without Polanco and Victorino being around plus Cliff Lee being a hard luck pitcher for most of the year and halladay missing time…
I don’t believe the great collapse everyone predicts for the Phillies has happened just yet…
They may not run away with the division the way they did in 2011 but they will be players in some way unless those old bodies break down a second year in a row.
They still have as much pitching as anyone in our Division
Despite all thier troubles went
9-9 vs Nats
10-8 vs Marlins
8-10 vs us (and most of those losses were early sweeps when the season started)
6-12 vs Atlanta
They will probably win more vs Miami, Be closer to .500 vs Atlanta and at minimum ..500 vs us.
That puts them in the race….
The question is how much have the other divisions improved (or declined) to push them out of the Wilcard race…
If not for the Central and the extra WC spot we might not even have a Wild card team in the NL East if the top three beat u on each other enough to keep the win columns lower than other divs will have.
Ah Metsie,
Thanks for picking up where I left off after 2010.
Another area where the Mets have a disadvantage is even with the second wild card play-in slot by having to play more games against tougher clubswithin thier own division as opposed to those in the NL central and west – though St. Louis and Milwaukee don’t have Houston any more to pad up their own records.
That extra wildcard helps a bit but you still need to maintain a .500 or above record in your division and beat up on the other divisions (or the reverse) for it to work.
Or have one horse races in the other divisions that our Division beats up on enough to be the only division with the win totals to get those WC positions….
Do The 2013 Mets Have Giant Potential?
No
No more Dickey- he accounted for a ton of WAR. Yes, Harvey and Marcum help, but will Santana/Marcum even be healthy? Who knows…much better bullpen, maybe one OF breaks out, but the Dickey loss is huge in my opinion
He also won a lot of games too! 20. And as much as other factors have to be considered just like any athletic competition which includes a “team” pitcher’s wins DO matter. He works the hardest out there in addition to being a good pitcher who most of the time puts his team in position to win so he deserves those wins. Plus if i were him i’d be insulted if you told me my wins don’t matter. Any athlete who makes a living as a pitcher should be.
The Mets starters were awarded 58 wins in 2012. That averages out to 11.6 wins per pitcher. With an improved bullpen(couldn’t be much worse) and better offense (ie Ike Davis gets in gear before the All Star Break) that shouldn’t be too hard. Niese should be awarded at least 15, Harvey 12, Gee 10. that leaves 21 wins among Santana, Marcum, Wheeler, McHugh, Hefner etc etc.
So, while no one pitcher may duplicate Dickey’s performance, the team should be able to make up for it.
what about defense?
That’s another key. The outfield defense will most likely be better, especially when MDD is patrolling out there.
So, not hard at all to see the rotation awarded 60+ wins.
lol ok….
Clayton I appreciate your enthusiasm but this is just not a good team. It didn’t have to be that way, it wasn’t necessary, & they appear to have some good young kids coming up and ready to help them win games this year which makes it more sad.
It’s a crime against the fans. This team should not be this bad. It needed some actual major league starting players to help this nucleus and the GM denied his own roster that.
Lincecum, Cain and Sanchez = niese, Harvey and marcum? (leave gee and Santana out cause they are worthless) not sure we can compare these staffs at all! I do believe though! I think if all the balls bounce right, we could make tge wild card. Hard to see a championship team though. Our defense is very shaky! I think next year will be a better and more appropriate time to make this comparison.. Jumping the gun a bit! With all tgAt said, I have hope like I do every year! Go Mets!!!!!!
Gee is far from worthless. Santana, of course, depends on if he is holding together.
If Dillon Gee is your fifth best starter, you are in a good place. Look at what other teams trot out there. He’d be a #2 starter in a lot of places.
Let’s not forget something here…
You know what separated the 2010 Giants from last year’s Mets? The Giants restocked on pitching, especially relievers, at the trade deadline, who wound up being key down the stretch. Same reason why the Giants were also successful last season. The Mets don’t believe in making such significant moves when it counts at the deadline when it comes to need, especially getting effective relievers that could’ve (somewhat) salvaged the Mets season. One of the keys of the Mets being successful is nipping a weakness in the bud at the trade deadline, which has been a grand problem since 2007.
Hi Hitman,
Excellent follow-up.
What so many are trying to not accept is that baseball is also a business and right now the financial concerns of the Mets makes it where the the business of baseball takes a back seat to baseball as a business. When one looks at the Wilpon’s financial situation regarding the Mets and the actions that have been required and still would be, one is only fooling his or her self to think this is baseball as usual. This is not about baseball – this is about the real world of corporate business and this is about saving what could be a long-term billion dollar enterprise from falling out of the current owner’s hands What is totally ignored or downplayed is that these are the types of serious measures taken in big industry all the time – they just do not get the spotlight because it’s not an attention grabber like sports
Now, I have absolutely NO DOUBT IN MY MIND that Sandy wants to see a world championship flag flying as soon as possible over Citifield but that he is also not admitting to the public that the Mets still cannot afford to take the steps to do that now. He is a business person and the importance of that is not his priority as is keeping the Mets financially afloat for the owners until the fiscal situation is somewhat resolved, their debt decreases, their credit rating goes up so they can take on further debt once more. When that occurs, Sandy would have completed his job and the Mets can go back to the serious business of baseball.
Again, I’ve been forced to look at the Mets beyond baseball simply because business is not as usual and the actions taken as have you and others.
Potential? Sure.
Good article.
I say why not?
The similarities are there with young catcher, d’Arnaud, Harvey, Gee, Niese, Marcum, Familia, and up and coming Wheeler.
The only difference I see is:
.
1-Ownership pulling trigger to add piece at trade deadline
2-FO having the “cojones” or “marbles” as stated in Major League movie to get a necessary piece.
3-Young team getting better, Duda returning to form as for Ike also starting hot.k
4-Terry Collins, does the pressure of not having an extension, which I believe will be decided by improvement of team more than record, way on TC? I don’t think so because he will win as long as he has the necessary pieces.
I really believe that of all these I stated above, #3 will allow all the rest to be done.
I believe that the young pitching, and maybe NoHan having a good enough 1st half to help team and possibly getting a piece, RH power bat or BP arm, in trade will be important.