After the Mets handily defeated the Astros by a score of 8-3 on Sunday to close out the season, Sandy Alderson met with the media and fielded questions about the state of the team and shared some early offseason thoughts.
“Offensively, we need to score some more runs and in a couple of places in the batting order and in the field, we probably need to take a look at things,” Alderson said.
One way the Mets will look to boost offensive production will be to bring in the fences.
“I think it is likely. We made changes a couple of years ago,” Alderson said. “Those have been received well and play well. Anything we do will probably be limited to center and right-center areas. But I think they’ll be good for the game, good for the fans. I’m sure that one or two of our players will benefit as well.”
It’s no secret that these dimension changes are geared toward making Citi Field cozier for David Wright and Curtis Granderson.
Obviously bringing in the fences will aid the opposition as well, but the Mets seem convinced it will help them more.
In 2014, the Mets hit 58 home runs at Citi Field while their opponents went deep 71 times.
The last time the Mets brought in the fences after the 2011 season the opposition went from 58 home runs to 88 home runs – a difference of 30 more homers.
As for the Mets, they went from 50 home runs to 67 home runs – a difference of 17 more homers.
I think what the Mets fail to realize is that the problem may not be the fences, but the fact we need better hitters.
Interestingly enough, the original concept for Citi Field was to cater to pitching and defense. Now that the Mets have finally gotten to that point with a young and promising rotation, plus one of the best defensive center fielders in the game, they’ve decided to make it more homer friendly because “it’s good for the fans.”
I’d rather do things because it’s good for our chances to get into the postseason, but what do I know.
Check out this pretty good rant about this on Fair and Unbalanced who writes: “So, instead of getting the hitters they need, the Mets will try to enhance the warning track power of the hitters they have by bringing in the fences.”
Yep, exactly…
(Updated 9/28)
