Logan Barer – Get Defensive
The Mets’ New Year’s Resolution should be to prioritize defense. This team is clearly built on pitching, but nobody, not even Noah Syndergaard or Jacob deGrom, can strike out 27 batters every game. Pitchers count on the guys behind them to make plays — Defense makes a good pitcher great. Everyone knows the saying, “Pitching and defense wins championships,” which is true. Nobody has ever just said, “Pitching wins championships” or “Defense wins championships.” They go hand in hand and until this team adjusts their philosophy to account for that, they will not be competitive.
Josh Finkelstein – Better Culture
The Mets New Year’s Resolution should be to restore the positive clubhouse culture they had prior to 2017. The Mets were as likable a group as any before last season, but between the whole Asdrubal Cabrera debacle, players calling out Terry Collins, and the trading of many important veterans, they had many issues last year. However, they should bring in some veterans with great character, like Todd Frazier or Josh Harrison which could go a long way in this. Mickey Callaway seems to be the right guy to help restore this, but fixing the clubhouse atmosphere is not a one-man job.
Ed Leyro – Spend Wisely
The Mets should resolve to stop pinching pennies and start showing fans they care about putting a winning product on the field.
If a team like the small-market Colorado Rockies can spend over $30 million in renovating their bullpen with proven commodities, which shows they’re not afraid to take risks, why do the Mets have to stick to the “low-risk, high-reward” plan as often as they do?
All that’s done is gotten us guys like Chris Young and John Mayberry, Jr. How often did signing one of these players contribute greatly to the win column, other than perhaps Bartolo Colón?
Resolve to take a chance in 2018. The risk could lead to a great reward.
Rob Piersall – Be More Transparent
Are the Mets going to suddenly reverse course and spend a ton of money this offseason? I highly doubt it. They seem to want to wait, keep their fingers crossed and hope they can make a steal of a deal late in the Winter.
Look, it’s a business and as frustrating as it is, ownership has every right to run it the way they want to run it. However, I would really just like to see Fred and Jeff Wilpon be more transparent with the fans.
It would just be nice from a fan perspective to hear from the owners every once in awhile to talk about their course of action. The Mets don’t have a spokesman and Sandy Alderson ends up taking the brunt of things because he’s always the one who has to field the questions. Plus, he isn’t always the best with communicating with the media.
At the end of the day, it would just be nice to know if there is a plan for the team, what is it, and if not, then let us know what’s going on. That’s my New Year’s Resolution for the Mets.
Dilip Sridhar – Better Health
The Mets should have a resolution to be healthy in 2018. Part of it is luck but another part is health. Yoenis Cespedes could stand to incorporate some more running into his workouts and drinking more water like Curtis Granderson. The Mets in general could use a better conditioning program to limit their injuries. Injuries like Michael Conforto‘s, Wilmer Flores‘s, and Juan Lagares‘s are just part of bad luck, but there’s an issue when people are pulling their hamstring running down the line (Neil Walker and Robert Gsellman for example).
The Mets definitely feel the culture should change hence their firing of Ray Ramirez and use of more biometrics. They should stay on this track because a healthy Noah Syndergaard and a healthy Cespedes are huge for this team.
John Sheridan – Time To Move On
The Mets have given Rafael Montero every chance to prove he’s a Major League pitcher. His best stretch as a Major Leaguer was the second half of the season when he pitched to a 5.40 ERA.
Look, the Mets have tried. It’s not happening. Time to move on and give someone else a chance.
Mathew Brownstein – Prioritize the Fans
The Mets’ New Year’s Resolution should be to prioritize the fans a bit more. Growing up, some of my favorite memories were heading early to Shea Stadium for batting practice, where fans were allowed behind the dugouts to try and get autographs and be close to their favorite players.
At Citi Field, fans are allowed to stand all the way down the outfield lines during BP, which makes it feel like the club is trying to limit the player/fan interactions. I propose that the team reinstates their older policies of allowing fans down by the dugouts pregame, have more fan appreciation events, photo days, caravans, signings, etc.
This might seem inconsequential considering the current state of the team, however, having a franchise that cares about its fan base and is intent on doing right by the paying customers goes a long way to rehabilitating the culture surrounding this team.
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With a New Year comes fresh opportunities. We here at MMO want to see the Mets make a number of tweaks. What is your New Year’s Resolution for the team?
