Musings
As of this morning, the New York Mets are 22-27. That puts them 6.5 behind the Atlanta Braves for the division. That means they’re effectively eliminated from the NL East race.
However, due to the expanded postseason format, they’re only three games out in the loss column for the last Wild Card spot. With 11 games remaining in the season, there’s a chance.
However, when you break it down, it’s a very unrealistic chance.
First and foremost, you’re asking this Mets team to go on a run. We’re nearly 2/3 through the season, and the Mets have only won two series all season. Both series have come against the Miami Marlins, and that season series is over.
After today’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Mets remaining opponents are the Braves (third best team in the NL) Tampa Bay Rays (second best team in the AL), and the Washington Nationals.
Asking for the 8-2 stretch against that schedule is a big ask. It’s also a big ask to ask the Mets to leapfrog four teams in the process.
Keep in mind, the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers, two teams ahead of the Mets, play each other five more times this season.
In the West, the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies, two teams ahead of the Mets, play each other four times.
That means during those games the Mets are not going to make ground on at least half the field. It also means when they lose, they’re losing ground to half the field.
Couple that with Jacob deGrom dealing with a hamstring spasm. Beyond that spasm not making it possible for deGrom to make multiple short rest starts to help push the Mets over the top, the Mets can’t be sure what deGrom can give them in the event he can pitch.
After deGrom, the Mets are really only guaranteed five good innings from Seth Lugo. Past Lugo, the rotation is a complete and utter mess to the point not even the Mets seem to know who is going to start for them the rest of the way.
So, yes, mathematically, the Mets can still make the postseason. However, when you break it down, even if they put up a completely improbable 10 game winning streak, chances are they’re missing the postseason.
Looking back at 2019, Pete Alonso was the Mets best player. He was setting franchise and rookie home run records while quickly becoming one of the most popular players in team history.
With Alonso at the forefront, the Mets seemed to have a superstar in the making. He was a foundation for the Mets next big run. Looking at 2020, it hasn’t happened that way.
Through 46 games, he’s hitting .216/.318/.433 with a pedestrian 105 OPS+. Heading into the season, he talked about wanting to win a Gold Glove in his career, but with a -3 DRS and a -3 OAA, he’s showing no improvement from when he was the worst defensive first baseman in baseball last year.
Now, there are many reasons to explain why he’s struggling. First and foremost, this pandemic and shutdown hit everyone hard. There’s no telling the emotional toll it took on Alonso and his ability to prepare for the season.
Other factors include the fact the league might’ve caught up to him, and he hasn’t had time to adjust what they’re now doing to him. As a possible correlation, Alonso’s whiff rate has increased while his exit velocity, launch angles, and barrels have dropped.
Teams seem to be shifting more against him, which explains a drop in BABIP. To that point, his BABIP being at .245 does indicate some bad luck is involved.
The elephant in the room is the ball has changed from last year. Yes, we continue to see Alonso has tremendous power, but part of his success (and everyone else’s) was due to the juiced ball. Without that juiced ball, we are seeing some hitters struggle.
All told, Alonso is at a -0.4 WAR. Right now, that stands as the worst mark amongst Mets regulars. That just shows how much he has struggled all season long.
As we saw last night, he came up in multiple spots where we saw him deliver in all of 2019. Much like most of this year, he didn’t get the job done.
While this has been happening, Dominic Smith, who is younger than Alonso, has emerged as a star. In fact, Smith is the fifth best hitter in all of baseball this year with a 174 wRC+. He’s also been a superior defensive first baseman than Alonso even if his numbers are pedestrian (-1 DRS, 0 OAA).
Smith is also entering arbitration. To a certain extent, that means the Mets are closer to having make a decision on him. By natural extension, making a decision on him means making a decision on Alonso as both play the same position.
While this is occurring, the Mets will be entering an offseason looking to add up to four starters to their rotation, adding a center fielder, and completely rebuilding their bullpen . . . again.
Making Alonso available in a trade puts the Mets in the conversation for the top players on the trade market. That includes Francisco Lindor and any other Indians who may hit the trade block.
By the same token, how can you trade as popular a player as Alonso is? More importantly, how can you trade a player knowing what Alonso did last year? Still, with all that, we have his 2020 performance, which can’t be ignored.
Therein lies the problem. The Mets have a lot of needs, and they have two young first basemen who appear to be stars. Realistically speaking, the Mets can only go forward with one of them, and they have to choose right both in terms of the player and the deal.
Fortunately, the Mets will soon have Steve Cohen in charge and what should be a revamped front office without Brodie Van Wagenen at the helm. That should give us some confidence the Mets can and will make the right decision.
Back when Nelson Doubleday was on his way out, he had said of Jeff Wilpon, “Jeff Wilpon said he’s going to learn how to run a baseball team and take over at the end of the year. Run for the hills, boys. I think probably all those baseball people will bail.” (Bergen Record).
It’s impossible to detail just how awful Jeff has been. It’s like a PhD level course in complete incompetence.
He was behind forcing injured players to play including Pedro Martinez leading to the effective end of Pedro’s career.
He thought he was smarter than people who actually knew what they were doing. That led to decisions like the shameful Willie Randolph and Sandy Alderson firings (yes, Sandy was effectively fired).
There were the rage cuts like Travis d’Arnaud and the inexplicable gross overpayment of prospects (Scott Kazmir, Jarred Kelenic) for bad returns in the sake of winning now only for the Mets not to win.
Women knew what the organization thought of them when Jeff fired an unwed pregnant woman and not only brought back Jose Reyes, but also held him out as a role model.
Through all of this and more, everyone had enough, especially his family.
Bruce Wilpon disassociated himself from the Mets after seeing how Jeff and the Mets treated Kazuo Matsui. Saul Katz forced the sale of the team rather than see Jeff mismanage the team to his dying days.
Ironically, Jeff would interfere with the first sale. Steve Cohen walked away. Despite years of mismanagement, the team had some value. However, that value went down when Steve Cohen bought it a second time for hundreds of million less.
There was no end to Jeff Wilpon’s incompetence, and now, his family has taken away his toy so he can’t play GM anymore. We’re all better for it.
Jeff Wilpon will soon be gone. Good riddance to him.
While everyone applauded MLB for finally doing the right thing by allowing the Mets to wear the caps honoring the first responders, Andy Martino found a way to take issue with it.
Now that MLB has allowed Yankees/Mets to wear first responder hats, they could find selves in awkward position of ranking tragedies. That was always the concern — what happens the next time a team wants to commemorate a terrible event? Is 9/11 only carve out? New questions arise.
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) September 11, 2020
This is just par for the course for someone who continues to establish himself as the Skip Bayless of regional sports networks. After all, this is the same guy who called Mets fans racist for booing Luis Castillo and called on Mets fans to respect Chase Utley.
Hopefully for him, this is performance art and not who he truly is.
Saying what he said about the first responder caps would be akin to akin to questioning the Mets wearing Black Lives Matter shirts on Opening Day or sitting out the game against the Miami Marlins.
Considering what Martino said about the caps, wouldn’t it also be fair to question the ranking of those tragedies? After all, the Mets sat out that game, but they played while the air quality in California reached dangerous levels.
During the Astros-A's game yesterday, the Air Quality Index in Oakland climbed to 195. Anything over 150 is unhealthy. Above 200 is very unhealthy — and enough to get a NFL game relocated.
If coronavirus wasn't enough, sports leagues have a new problem.https://t.co/eyJYU56LC6
— Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) September 11, 2020
Of course, he doesn’t present that argument there. You could surmise any number of reasons why, and you’d likely be correct. However, the overarching reasons is his raison d’être is to take insensitive contrarian positions solely designed to needle Mets fans.
There are many responses to make to Martino, but perhaps the best came from Brian Wright, author of Mets books, who said:
Here’s a wild idea: let any team who wants to commemorate a tragedy and honor heroes be allowed to do so without pushback https://t.co/my2CH5dyPr
— Brian Wright (@BrianWright86) September 11, 2020
Just remember what this is all about.
On September 11, 2001, two planes flew into the Twin Towers in an unprecedented foreign terrorist attack on US soil. Those towers fell, and nearly 3,000 people died that day.
People who have aided in the recovery efforts have faced long term health issues and have also tragically died. This says nothing of the emotional toll it took on people having witnessed the events and having lost loved ones.
Mets Baseball was a part of the healing process. Shea Stadium was used as a staging ground. Mike Piazza homered in the first game back in New York. Led by Todd Zeile, the Mets players wore the first responder caps to honor their sacrifice.
This is exactly what Martino took issue with when he asked if we now have to rank tragedies because a New York team once again honored the fallen.
This week, MLB made the fitting tribute of allowing Puerto Rican players and Neil Walker to wear 21 in tribute of Roberto Clemente. It’s a departure from the norm, but it’s a necessary one because there are people and events so important, we need to honor them.
It’s why Major League Baseball players wear 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. It’s why the Houston Astros wore caps last year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. It’s why MLB has special caps for Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Fourth of July, and other days of the year.
Actually no, those are a cash grab. That’s what brings us to the Mets not wearing the first responder caps.
Not since Al Leiter wore a cap for each of the first responders on the one year anniversary of 9/11 have players been permitted to wear the caps. Truth be told, the Mets weren’t allowed to wear them in 2001, but Todd Zeile led his teammates in defying that order.
We know the great lengths MLB has gone to stop it. That includes sending operatives in to collect the caps pregame. Even when David Wright purportedly tried to hide a cap to wear it on the field, they found it and confiscated it.
The reason this is happening is MLB hasn’t found a way to market the caps for profit. Make no mistake, MLB loves making profits off tragedy and crisis. After all, they’re selling you officially licensed face masks during this pandemic.
That’s well within their rights. No one is going to tell them to not make money. After all, they’re a business.
On that note, doing the right thing here and allowing players to wear caps honoring first responders doesn’t cost anything. If anything, it helps get attention for the sport. That’s not too dissimilar from MLB already does when they and the Mets will promote the Mike Piazza home run today.
As an aside, the Wilpons selling that jersey for a profit is another indication of why they needed to be gone. Fortunately, they will be soon.
Overall, MLB did right by Clemente and Robinson. They honored the moon landing. They need to now allow the first responder caps because Pete Alonso getting everyone cleats doesn’t cut it.
If anything, it highlights how everyone but MLB seems to get the importance of remembering 9/11 and the impact that event has had on New Yorkers to this day.
Like you and me, Rick Porcello grew up loving the Mets. Unlike you and me, he was not only talented enough to make it to the majors, but he was also able to win a World Series and a Cy Young.
Due to that pedigree, there were teams still interested in him when he became a free agent despite his having the worst ERA in baseball last year. Having his first real chance at free agency in his career, he decided to turn down better offers to fulfill his childhood dream of pitching for the New York Mets.
Porcello was getting his chance to realize his dream. Unfortunately, it’s been a nightmare for him.
Through nine starts, he’s 1-4 with a 6.07 ERA. He’s given up the most hits and earned runs in the league. Opposing batters are hitting .318/.356/.436 off of him. He’s only averaging 4.2 innings per start.
Now, the Mets haven’t done him many favors. For example, given how Porcello is your classic pitch to contact sinkerball pitcher, you need to optimize your defense with him on the mound.
When he had Luis Guillorme and Andres Gimenez up the middle in his August 5 start, he was terrific allowing one run over seven. It was the same alignment up the middle for his August 16 start when he allowed four over six against the Phillies.
We’ve also seen him struggle without that strong up the middle combination. For example, last night, Robinson Cano was at second for his poor start where he allowed five earned over four. In his first Mets start, he allowed seven runs (six earned) with Cano and Amed Rosario up the middle against the Braves.
It must be so frustrating to have success and return to the form where you were considered a bona fide middle to front end starter to getting your brains beaten in with a lackluster defense behind you.
It has to be worse when this is happening to you when this was your dream. Perhaps more than any pitcher in this Mets rotation, he wanted to win a World Series and celebrate with the fans. After all, he’s one of us.
Sadly, he’s not well respected by his fellow Mets fans. They see his putting up similarly poor numbers than he did last year. In some ways, he’s become a poster boy for Brodie Van Wagenen’s dismantling of this once great Mets rotation.
After all, Porcello got a chunk of the money that didn’t go to Zack Wheeler. Wheeler has been great in Philadelphia whereas Porcello hasn’t been so much in New York.
As a fan, if we were allowed in the park, we’d boo him mercilessly. His performance has warranted it even though he’s not always been put in a position to succeed.
Overall, you’re allowed to be frustrated with him. If we were at the park, you’d be well within your right to boo him. Still, we should all realize this has to be painful for Porcello.
Porcello wanted to be a New York Met more than anything. His dreams are becoming nightmares. Certainly, we can identify with that, and because of that, we should have some sympathy for him.
And obviously, we hope his last few starts for the Mets are great, and he still gets that opportunity to win a World Series with the New York Mets.
Right now, there’s a battle between Jacob deGrom and Yu Darvish for the National League Cy Young. There’s a significant issue with this as for all intents and purposes deGrom and Darvish pitch in completely different leagues.
The Mets entire 60 game season is against teams in the NL and AL East. The Cubs season is entirely against the NL and AL Central. As such, deGrom and Darvish will not have one opponent in common.
Not one.
It is interesting to debate if deGrom or Darvish is better this year. It’s also interesting to include Shane Bieber in a discussion about who has been the best overall. It should be noted among these three, it’s Bieber and Darvish playing similar schedules.
Logically speaking, the Cy Young race should then be between Bieber and Darvish for the Central Cy Young. This could be extrapolated further.
Mookie Betts and Fernando Tatis, Jr. could be battling each other for the West MVP instead of just the NL MVP. That means Michael Conforto and Trea Turner are now more viable MVP candidates as they battle out with Willy Adames for the East MVP.
But we know baseball won’t do this. Instead, they’ll have two pitchers not facing one team in common battle it out for the NL Cy Young. When you break it down, the only reason for this is this is how things have been done since 1967.
Just because that’s the way things have always been done, it doesn’t mean that’s how things should be done now. There’s a pandemic which changed the length and format of the schedule. The awards handed out should reflect that.
In order to do that, MLB should award an East, Central, and West Cy Young, MVP, and every award MLB hands out each year.
In honor of Tom Seaver, the Mets players honored The Franchise in a way that was much better than the perfunctory patch. The Mets players rubbed dirt on their right knees.
Every Mets player has dirt on their right knee as a tribute to Tom Seaver, who’s knee would hit the ground as a result of his delivery ? pic.twitter.com/3QkXueO8di
— SI MLB (@si_mlb) September 3, 2020
This was reminiscent of the dirt Seaver would get on his knee due to his drop and drive style of pitching. To a certain extent, that dirt patch rubbed on the knee was a part of his Mets uniform.
Maybe, it can be a permanent part of the Mets uniforms.
With technology where it is, it may be possible for Nike to design a uniform where they put a realistic dirt patch on the right knee of the home and away pants. Doing so would be a way to honor The Franchise.
Sure, you’ll never have the perfectly “clean” uniform if this is done, but this is baseball. Players are supposed to get dirt in their uniforms. It’s always been a sign of hustle and hard nosed play.
This is also the Mets. They’ve never been this button down type of team. They’re a stark contrast from the Yankees. The Mets are fun. The Yankees much less so.
But this is about Seaver. The patch is a nice tribute. For him, there should be something more meaningful and permanent. To honor him, the diet patch should become a regular part of the uniform.
What makes Mets broadcasts so special is Gary Cohen and Howie Rose grew up Mets fans. They’ve been there since the beginning, and they’re an encyclopedia of Mets knowledge.
To wit, no one knows just how great Tom Seaver was and just how much he meant to Mets fans.
For Mets fans, today is the wake and funeral. We’ve lost Seaver, and we’re turning in more to hear the tributes than we are to see the Mets face the Yankees.
We need Cohen and Rose to deliver the eulogy. They’ll do that in their pre-game introductions. They’ll do it by spinning tale after tale during the games.
They should do so unfettered. No need for Steve Gelbs interjections or for Wayne Randazzo to be able to really provide no perspective on this.
There is a place for Seaver’s former teammates Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez to provide some perspective. Having listened to them through the years, they both respect and revere Seaver much like we all do.
Overall, this is the day we all want to hear from Cohen and Rose. SNY and 880 should find a way to get them in the booth again together and to have them simulcast the game across TV and radio.
Let them deliver Seaver’s eulogy in a way only they can.
The New York Mets should honor Tom Seaver by having their players wear 41 for their game today against the New York Yankees, the team Seaver beat for his 300th career win.
No, I’m not the first to suggest this, and I won’t be the last.
Seaver is the most important Mets player in team history. He’s far and away the best. He’s so great it’s next to impossible for any current or future Mets player to surpass him.
The Wilpons haven’t always been great when it comes to honoring Seaver. They didn’t do anything on that front until last year. Ten years after Citi Field was opened, they finally did something renaming the road in front of Citi Field 41 Seaver Way.
The statute they promised still hasn’t been erected, and they won’t be majority owners of the team when that statute is eventually erected. For them, this is the last opportunity they have to do the right thing here.
For MLB, they’ve allowed these previously. For example, just last year all of the Angels players wore 45 in honor of Tyler Skaggs, who had died tragically.
In the end, this is what baseball does to honor fallen players. Seaver has died. The best Mets player ever. The best right-handed pitcher since World War II. The starting pitcher with the highest percent of the vote in Hall of Fame history.
Every generation of Mets fans needs to honor and mourn the man as does all of baseball. The best way we know how is to listen to the emotional words we’ll hear from Gary Cohen and Howie Rose, and to see the players all wear 41.