I just finished reading a couple of different posts on some of the other Mets blogs I like to read, but both of them have left me scratching my head.
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn’t our stated goal that we should put a championship caliber team on the field in 2010? Is that not what Jeff Wilpon and Omar Minaya promised us during their appearance with Mike Francesa?
As the title says, I have to blow off some steam before I leave for the holiday…
I am very confused by much of what I read lately, because I thought the object of the game was to win a World Series. And to do that, you enter each season with a team that you believe can get you there. Somehow, I sense a shift in gears around the Mets blogosphere.
All of a sudden embracing a win-now attitude gets you profiled as some sports radio call-in show crack pot…
If this isn’t a win-now team, what the hell are we doing with Carlos Beltran and Johan Santana who are not getting any younger?
Maybe Bob Klapisch was right…
Suddenly, the blog-heads are now more qualified than the radio-heads. Says who? What makes any of them experts? Have any of them held a job as a GM or assistant GM? I didn’t think so.
Blogging to me is no different than hanging out at a sports bar with my buddys and friends. We have a great time arguing and debating the best way to get the Mets to another championship. It’s fun sharing my own thoughts with all of you, but the best part for me is reading all of your responses. I learn a lot from those responses and over the years you have shaped the way I feel about the Mets and the kind of fan I am. Anyway, I digress…
I’ve read too many posts that suggest the Mets stay away from Jason Bay or Matt Holliday, and even more that suggested we didn’t need to go after Roy Halladay or sign John Lackey. It’s hard to believe this is the same fan base from a decade ago.
I am growing tired of the sentiment that we shouldn’t do anything this year because next year’s free agent crop will be so much better. Really? When I look at next year’s leftfielders the biggest name out there is Carl Crawford who could very well sign an extension with the Rays, or get traded and sign an extension with his new team as did Johan Santana and more recently Roy Halladay.
I want someone to tell me what free agent leftfielder in 2011 is better than Matt Holliday right now… or even Jason Bay?
A large contingency of fans wants the Mets to wait until 2011 to get a long term starting pitcher because there will be a better crop available as well, but the best one would have been Roy Halladay and he is now off the boards thanks to the win-at-all-costs Phillies, the team that is the class and juggernaut of the NL.
That leaves Josh Beckett as the top 2011 free agent starter, and he most certainly will re-sign with the Red Sox long before he hits free agency if all the rumors are true, and even so he’ll be 32 and has a checkered injury past. Apparently those were the big fears against signing John Lackey.
So when did procrastinating become an option?
I read these quotes about how everybody is glad the Mets didn’t trade for Vasquez because he can’t pitch in New York, or that we didn’t need Jason Marquis because he sucks, and I have to think that comments like that don’t say much for Maine, Pelfrey and Perez who each performed at significantly worse levels. Maybe it’s Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez who can’t pitch in New York. Anybody ever consider that?
Patience might be a virtue, but a century of patience has done little for the Chicago Cubs, and I’m not willing to be that patient.
Are the aggressive moves made by the Yankees and Phillies a sign of being inept, or evidence of teams that are just bent on winning and giving their fans something to cheer about?
If you want to be successful, shouldn’t we do what successful teams do?
Everyone wants to preserve the Mets farm system as if we’re protecting a batch of Ted Williams and Sandy Koufax clones, when the truth is that most of the names you hear of now will be much like dust in the wind 2-3 years from now.
What ever happened to Eddie Kunz and Nick Evans and Mike Carp and Lastings Milledge and Philip Humber? They were all ranked as the Mets Top 5 Prospects in December of 2006. Where are they now???
And after such a colossal failure you want the Mets to stand pat with a team that most likely finishes in 4th place, just because a few Mets minor league bloggers say that the future is bright? Gimme a break… You keep all those birds in the bushes and I’ll take my chances with proven Major League talent any day.
It would be different if Branch Rickey were running our minor league operations, but it’s Omar Minaya we’re talking about here. His only claim to fame is Pelfrey, the sinker-baller whose pitches don’t sink.
We now have mainstream bloggers who seem convinced that two big players won’t help the Mets in 2010. Really?
So a rotation of: Roy Halladay, Johan Santana, Jason Marquis, John Maine and Mike Pelfrey wouldn’t have made an impact in the race for the division? Really?
And a lineup of: Jose Reyes, David Wright, Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran, Adam La Roche, Jeff Francoeur, Rod Barajas and Luis Castillo wouldn’t have scored enough runs? Really?
The addition of two significant players like Halladay/Lackey or Bay/Holliday coupled with low level signings of Jason Marquis/Randy Wolf and Adam La Roche/Mark DeRosa would have not only appeased an impatient fanbase, but it might have taken the Mets to sights unseen since 1986.
You can keep your patience, I’d rather stick with the sense of urgency.
Unfortunately for me though, the Mets don’t see it my way, and lucky for them, many Mets fans don’t seem to mind.
I suspect that after a few early April games with attendance figures below 25,000, the Mets will will change their minds and their philosophy real fast. And a very possible 5-20 start to the season can send everyone and everything into chaos and pandemonium, but unfortunately by then, all the free agents that could have helped will have all been signed. And next off season they’ll be crying about the lack of quality left fielders and starting pitchers all over again…
