General manager Sandy Alderson acknowledged that bumping Matt Harvey from the home opener at Citi Field was in part based on maximizing ticket sales.
From Adam Rubin:
“You’re assuming people are more interested in seeing Harvey pitch than Jacob. That’s probably true, but not something that I would acknowledge.”
As for selling extra tickets for Day 2 being a secondary consideration, Alderson said: “There are lots of secondary considerations.”
Ticket sales among those? “Could be,” Alderson said with a smile.
Well at least we got that settled…
Original Post 7:00 AM
You know what? Most of the drama that seems to constantly surround the Mets is created by the Mets. It’s true whether you choose to believe it or not. I find that more often than not, the Mets are at the root of most of their problems. Whether it’s having fans sign loyalty pledges, or have the players wear those damn t-shirts then confiscate them 48 hours later, and all the other soap opera’s, this latest home opener drama is yet again another Mets manifestation.
Yesterday, in explaining why Jacob deGrom will start the home opener, and mind you, every fan I asked including me is thrilled for Jake and believe the reigning ROY deserves it, Terry Collins said:
“I thought Jake deserved it. I thought he deserved the chance to pitch a big game. You earn that spot from what you did the previous year and Harvey didn’t pitch, so we’re going to go with somebody that was there,” Collins said.
Well Terry, why didn’t you say deGrom deserved it on December 13, December 18, or January 4? Why instead did YOU perpetuate the idea to ticket-buying fans that Matt Harvey would make his regular season debut on April 13, pitching the home opener against the Phillies?
Why did Sandy Alderson tell a banquet room full of season ticket holders the same thing on the evening of February 4 at Citi Field?
“We start the season playing six games in a row, so we might start him the home opener and not pitch him the first six games,.” Sandy told fans anxious to know when Harvey would debut in 2015.
Terry Collins said Harvey didn’t deserve to start the home opener because in his words, “he never pitched last year.”
So why were you, the front office, and Mets marketing pushing this whole Harvey/Home Opener narrative that suddenly changed a day after a report that the home opener was sold out?
This is what drives the media and most fans ape shit… It’s the constant perception that everything the Mets say and do is just a big, huge, f**king money grab. This is why nobody takes anything they say at face value… This is why everyone looks at the Mets obstinately and do not trust their decision making process… This is why so few trust them.
Did the thought ever occur to them that hundreds or maybe even thousands of fans purchased those ticket plans because they all believed Matt Harvey was pitching the home opener? Were you really surprised that all those fans who felt duped took to social media to express their outrage? They had to buy ticket plans to get tickets for that game. Now they could pick up the April 14th game for an average ticket price of $34 dollars or less. Lets see $350 or $34 to see Harvey? You choose.
Okay enough about the home opener, onto to Bartolo and Opening Day.
I’m not gonna get all bent out of shape about Bartolo Colon starting Opening Day because if you read MMO regularly, you know we’ve been predicting that since January.
But I certainly do understand the arguments against Colon. The Mets have been pushing this whole youth movement, this whole magic is back stuff, this whole take back New York thing, this whole we got freaking swagger talk, and they show up on game one of the season with 41-year old Bartolo Colon against the Nationals who have owned them over the last two years. I get it.
Boomer and Carton said this morning, “The Mets have robbed die-hard fans of Opening Day. Any thrill and excitement I had for that day is now dead. As soon as the Mets fall behind 3-0 after one inning – click – I’m changing the channel.”
“Only the Mets can find a way to screw up the first day of their so-called ‘we’re back’ season. They robbed us. The Mets have robbed us of the joy of Opening Day.”
Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post sums it up like this:
“Every day for weeks, for months, for years, we have heard about the young guns, the young arms, the ones who are here, the ones who are on the way, the ones who will carry the Mets back to relevance and then to prominence and beyond, and …
“And on the day that will begin this rich, fresh, fresh-faced time in Mets history, Opening Day of this brand-spanking-new era, they’re going to start the season with Bartolo Colon, who made his first Opening Day start during the CLINTON ADMINISTRATION. That isn’t just a buzzkill, let’s be honest. It’s a buzz massacre.”
Like I said, I’m not as bothered by Opening Day as I am about the home opener. As one fan told me,
“It feels like the Mets pulled a bait and switch with the home opener. And now I paid all this money and had to buy two ticket packages so me and my wife could see the return of Matt Harvey, and now we’re not even going to see him. Now I have to open my wallet again and buy more tickets for the next day – assuming I can get the day off.”
