The question of whether the Mets need to bring in the walls at Citi Field is back on the menu again after a season-ticket holder raised the issue with Sandy Alderson during a Q&A session held on Friday.
“Changing the ballpark is not a panacea for not hitting with men in scoring position,” Alderson said. “So when I suggest we look at the dimensions of the ballpark, that doesn’t mean that I think that’s the solution. It’s just part of the equation.”
A bigger part of the equation would be the makeup of the offense.
The one and only thing this team has going for them is their starting pitching. Our starting pitching has performed remarkably well and will only get better once Matt Harvey rejoins the fold next season.
Do we really want to undermine our one, solitary strength by bringing in the walls and making it even more accommodating for the opposition to beat us? Is that what we want?
Perhaps we should simply consider getting better hitters.
Perhaps we could do better for $7.5 million dollars than Chris Young.
Perhaps we should hit better than .224 in 609 at-bats with runners in scoring position, or better than .162 with the bases loaded.
You think a a few singles in those instances would have kept us from losing 17 games by just one run this season?
I would argue that as long as our lineup remains the same, moving in the fences another few feet will result in more runs for opposing teams while any uptick in offense will be negligible for the Mets.
Shortening the fences is not going to transform the Mets into a lineup laden with impact bats. What the Mets need are better players and the money to acquire them.
