Newsday columnist Wallace Matthews often writes about the state and fate of the Mets. And he is rarely ever complimentary. Today is no different as he totally lashes into the Mets organization. As a Mets fan, I find his article exaggerated and offensive.
In summary, he says that the Mets are wasting their time trying to retool for 2010 and that by doing so management is “creating the illusion of being competitive without actually being competitive at all, something the Mets are quite adept at”.
He goes on to say,
“It’s about having the unmitigated gall to ask people who just crawled out of the wreckage of the Mets’ 2009 season to sign up for a repeat ride. It’s about treating your fans like mindless sheep instead of adult human beings”.
Matthews thinks that Jason Bay and Matt Holliday “would have to be nuts” to sign with the Mets. He predicts that cosmetic surgery will not work, and once again, fans will be paying the tab.
We fans acknowledge that the Wilpons have made lots of organizational errors in the past and sometimes appear to be out of touch with their fan base. If Matthews wants to trash them, it is his prerogative and his right to do so.
The question is – Was last year’s performance an anomaly that can be quickly resolved through trades and free agent signings? Matthews believes not. He doesn’t give any credence to last year’s injury plagued season as being at all responsible for the dismal 2009 performance. Although Omar Minaya is now on the hot seat, Matthews will not give him any credit for the good moves he did make in the past.
Wallace Matthews will be criticizing the Mets all winter long. He will find a reason to criticize the Mets even if they play well and become a contender next season.
Games aren’t won in the newspapers, and Mets fans truly know that games aren’t won during the winter. Despite the Mets past problems, our owners do indeed owe us a product that we can proudly root for.
Acquiring a stud pitcher and left fielder is not cosmetic surgery. Getting a better 2nd baseman and catcher will go a long way toward making this team a contender.
That said, signing one of last year’s injured pitchers and expecting him to stay healthy is a big roll of the dice. It’s the type of luck that the Mets haven’t had in awhile so I would hope that they will proceed with caution. Of course, a healthy Reyes, Beltran and Santana is a critical a part of our 2010 plan.
A lot of things must go right, but any championship caliber team needs luck on its side and most of the chips to fall right. Plenty of teams have righted the ship in just one year. So can the Mets.
