Joel Sherman of the New York Post arrived to Port St. Lucie on Friday and said that the Mets’ spring training camp felt a lot like the Bill Murray classic, Groundhog Day.
“Here I am again and the Mets are still waiting for Ike Davis, Lucas Duda and Ruben Tejada to show us what they got.”
Sherman doesn’t think it was a coincidence that after Bovada projected the Mets for an over/under win total of 73.5, that all the team brass and management got together at their Spring Headquarters and then leaked the 90 wins story.
The Mets have become experienced at selling best-case scenarios at this time of year, Sherman writes. He says that Mets executives have become experts in playing the part of “wounded puppies” and implying to fans that the negative projections and press are part of some “anti-Mets conspiracy” rather than not accumulating enough good baseball players.
It was your typical Mets beat down. Why are some of these columnists so angry?
Regardless of the who, what and where, is it so bad that the general manager has high expectations for the team he assembled?
Is it that terrible that the team’s captain, David Wright, rallied his teammates in the clubhouse and said that that they are good enough to battle for a playoff spot?
And what’s so bad about a manager telling his players that he believes in them, and that they’re better than what the media says, and to go out and prove them all wrong?
Frankly, I’d be more upset if the Mets weren’t saying things like this – especially now – during Spring Training – which is a time for hope and optimism.
Mr. Sherman, I would argue that every Major League camp feels like Groundhog Day in February and March.
