After last night’s 3-2 loss to the Reds, the Mets remain in a four-way tie for the eighth worst record. The teams with the 10 worst records get their first round picks protected in the 2014 Draft. If it comes down to a tie breaker to determine the ten worst teams, the higher draft pick goes to the team that finished with a lower winning percentage in the previous season.
Regardless if the pick is protected or not, I believe Sandy Alderson has just this one last offseason remaining before the walls start closing in on him. If he hasn’t figured that out yet, someone in his inner circle better tell him.
While many Met fans have been skeptical of him from the very beginning, the vast majority of fans were willing to give Alderson three seasons before they started to judge the results, and quite frankly the product on the field is quite nauseating and somewhat embarrassing.
I believe that if all the issues with this team are not resolved by next Spring, it could be a ruthless ride on the New York Media Express in 2014 for Alderson and Co..
The calls for his head are already being whispered, but he still has tremendous support from his staunch followers. But I can tell you that the tide has been slowly shifting. I see it on the streets, I hear it on the air, and I read it in the blogosphere. Many of Sandy’s supporters are now wavering or have already jumped the ship.
Regardless of the protected pick, Sandy has to do something to change the tide and reverse the five years of losing seasons including his own three seasons of increasingly mounting losses.
This is Sandy’s make or break offseason.
The Wilpons cannot afford a fifth straight season of declining attendance, declining revenue, declining viewership, declining ratings and declining perceptions about the future.
The Mets have already been kicked out of Buffalo and into the desert. They’ve already been bounced by their flagship radio station WFAN and have struggled to find a radio broadcaster that wants them. Many of the top sports agents make jokes about the team’s unwillingness to attract key players. The fans have already spoken loudly with their wallets.
Something’s gotta give…
The Winter of our discontent is suddenly upon us… How Sandy navigates the next 12 weeks will determine whether his legacy will be a good one or one on par with his won-loss record.
He may think won-loss records don’t matter for Terry Collins and for himself, but not in this town. I hope for his sake, that 2014 is exactly what he said it would be when he became GM in October of 2010. This franchise needs to start winning and fast.
