I’ve been involved in my fair share of heated baseball discussions in the past. Whether it be here at MMO, in my private life or on Twitter with some of my favorite Mets critics (like Mr. Megdal).
Over time, I’ve started to take a step back and just observe MMO from a far. Yes, I’m still here friends, so no – you didn’t get rid of me.
But the one takeaway I’ve come away with is no matter what happens, there are always going to be fans who aren’t happy unless they are miserable about their favorite baseball team.
It’s fascinating really when you consider what baseball is supposed to be. It’s supposed to give us, the fans an escape from reality. An escape from parenting, an escape from sick parents, an escape from cancer, an escape from personal health problems, an escape from your job, an escape from school – whatever you need an escape from, baseball is supposed to allow you to sit back, and forget all that ails you in your life.
When you think of baseball, you should think of the quote from the great philosopher…Alyssa Milano.
“Baseball is my escape. The sights, the sounds, the way the park smells. There is truly no place I would rather be than at a game.”
Yet, as the Mets enter the 2014 season, I can’t help but notice that no matter what happens, there will be fans who can’t help themselves but to find reasons to be negative about the team they love rather than positive.
If you stop and take a breath, there is plenty to be excited about heading into 2014. Who cares that the Mets payroll isn’t over $100 million? What difference does it make? When you as a fan focus on payroll, and not the roster composition – you’re merely requesting your favorite team make poor roster decisions.
The Mets COULD sign Stephen Drew for over $15 million to play SS and appease everybody who focuses on the total payroll of the team – but hopefully they don’t because if they do, they are making a poor decision. Spending money doesn’t mean you have the best team possible, when players hit free agency, they are usually passing their best years. So why the need to demand the Mets be like the Yankees and over spend on old, injury prone players is beyond me.
The Mets have a young core that they are trying to build around. A young core that could be the benchmark for pitching staff’s in the sport in the next few years. A young core that could turn “Harvey Day” excitement into “Every Day” excitement.
So what if you have to wait another year or two? It’s not like the team is sitting back and refusing to try and field a competitive team. If they were happy with being bad, they wouldn’t have signed Granderson or Colon.
I just don’t understand the constant need to be negative about everything. The 2014 team on paper is not bad. Sure, there are question marks such as Ike Davis and Ruben Tejada, but this team heading into Spring Training can be competitive while still looking toward the future. To me, that is exciting.
For me, 2014 is about a new chapter in Mets baseball. It’s about seeing a full year of Wheeler and d’Arnaud, about hopefully seeing Syndergaard step into the big leagues for the first time, about seeing guys like Mejia and Montero fight for spots on the big league roster during spring training.
I am excited for 2014 because I’m excited to see how our young talent moves forward toward becoming big leaguers that can impact the sport. It’s the same excitement people had when David Wright & Jose Reyes were making their way to the big leagues. That was then, and this is now.
In today’s game, if you have pitching, you have as good of a chance as anybody in the sport. And if Matt Harvey comes back in a year as good as he was, the Mets could have as good of a pitching staff as anybody in baseball.
And that, gives me something to look forward to.
