The other day the New York Mets made the smart decision to retain Jeremy Hefner as their pitching coach. It was a move necessary because Hefner was going to be a free agent at the end of the month, and the team needed to act quickly to make sure they retained a coach respected by the Mets pitching staff.
The problem with this decision is it seemed a little out of order. Typically speaking, you do not hire or retain a pitching coach without hiring a manager. To wit, you don’t hire a manager without having general manager and president of baseball operations in place. And yet, that’s exactly where the Mets find themselves.
The Mets seem to be at a bad spot in their search. Their pie in the sky choices in Billy Beane, Theo Epstein, and David Stearns will not be joining the organization. Unfortunately, they’re striking out at the second level and extremely qualified choices like Matt Arnold, Peter Bendix, and Scott Harris. This is far from an exhaustive list. Really, what seems exhaustive is how many times the Mets have been unable to fill this role for well over a year now.
We’re now at the point of the sensational. For example, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News published an article indicated Mets owner Steve Cohen is relying upon his employees at Point72 as well as former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to lead the search for the new president of baseball operations. Honestly, this doesn’t pass the sniff test considering Cohen’s background, but by the same token, we can expect to see more of the same until the position is filled.
That said, there is a bigger issue here. There are certain actions which need to be undertaken in short order, and it appears those decisions will need to be made before the new POBO is hired. Michael Conforto and Noah Syndergaard are free agents, and the team not only has to decide if they want to extend the qualifying offer, but they also need to see if they want to re-sign them. Marcus Stroman cannot be offered the qualifying offer, but the team does need to figure out if they want to keep him (they should).
This is a team who needs to fill vacancies at third base, and they need to complete their rotation. With Jeurys Familia and Aaron Loup being free agents, they need to build the bullpen. The team needs another outfielder, and they need to see if they are going to keep Javier Baez. There really is just too much to do for the Mets to wait for a new POBO.
Yes, you want a POBO making these decisions, but you can’t sit around and not make key organizational decisions until that person is hired. There is no sense not permitting the 2022 Mets to be as good as they can possibly be because they didn’t hire a POBO.
There is far too much at stake this offseason. Sitting around and doing nothing means the Mets will remain third best in the division, and in all likelihood, it puts them in a position where they are forced to rebuild. The problem is what’s here is a solid enough core to win a World Series. The Mets cannot sit on their hands and wait. Like it or not, Sandy Alderson has to take reins and operate as the POBO until one is hired.
No, it’s not what Mets fans necessarily wanted to hear, but it’s the truth of the matter. The sad, frustrating, and irritating truth.
Before Game 1 of the 2021 World Series, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was asked about the Atlanta Braves’ Tomahawk Chop and chant. Yes, it is the Braves, and not just the fans considering the Braves actively promote it. Believe it or not, Manfred answered that question in the absolute worst way possible.
More Manfred on the Braves name: "We don’t market our game on a nationwide basis. Ours is an everyday game. You’ve gotta sell tickets every single day to the fans in that market. And there are all sorts of differences between the regions in terms of how the teams are marketed.”
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) October 26, 2021
Where to begin on this one. Digging deeper, Manfred essentially said in his expanded remarks the chop wasn’t racist (it undoubtedly is) and the Braves name (honestly debatable). Despite that, Manfred relies up on the notion that literally every Native American in the Atlanta area supports the chop, which is an incredulous point, and it does beg us to dig deeper into blackout restrictions.
Keep in mind, the Braves purported region extends well beyond the Atlanta, GA area. If you live in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi, the Braves are your designated team. As such, it would require MLB to consult with all of the Native American groups in that blackout region to assert whether they also deem the chant racist. Only then could MLB make such a claim, and as we all know, they can’t.
However, it is more than that. The Braves host every National League city and some American League cities in a season. When they host those teams, they knowingly subject those rival fanbases to the chant by and through the television. Right then and there, Manfred’s explanation fails because the actions in Atlanta have a definitive impact on fans in other cities. As such, he has an obligation to make sure this is not a wider societal issue.
That’s when we should fast forward to the postseason. Networks like TBS have shown the chop on their broadcast, and they have done nothing to mute that chant. The Braves have again taken the chop to the national stage, which again, requires, at a minimum, examination of the chop and its racist overtones. It also demands a deeper look into how this impacts Native Americans around the country.
This part is where Manfred admitted he’s the absolute worst person for the job. In trying to defend himself and the Braves, he admitted MLB is not a nationally marketed game. Yes, as we see, it is nationally televised, but Manfred is actually correct here that MLB is not truly marketed nationally. Go outside MLB Network, and you’re not going to find a single national daily television show. That used to be Baseball Tonight, but MLB conspired with ESPN to drop that show.
Manfred has been put in charge of the greatest game this world has to offer. It is pure magic, and it is made up of a diverse group of players from varying backgrounds and different beliefs. This game is America, and it just needs the right steward to usher the game to greater popularity. Instead, we get a commissioner who has no interest in growing the game and pointing out all the things he sees wrong with the game.
That’s right. With respect to Manfred, when we hear him speak it’s about what’s wrong with the game or that racist chants are alright because Atlanta is a racist city. This is hyperbole for sure, but this also doesn’t miss the mark on how his tenure as commissioner is defined. Overall, what MLB has in Manfred is a coward afraid to do what’s right for the game or its fans. That’s beyond incompetent, and baseball needs better.
If you’re a New York Mets fan, the one team you don’t want to see in the World Series is the Atlanta Braves. This is as intense a rival as there is in this franchise. Chipper Jones calling Mets fans closet Yankees fans. John Rocker insulting the city. There was 1998, 1999, and most recently 2021. Under no circumstance should a Mets fan even contemplate rooting for the Braves.
For some, the Houston Astros are the exception. After all, they were caught cheating in what has been claimed to be the biggest cheating scandal since the Black Sox. Some Mets fans make that claim despite the adoration of J.D. Davis, but I digress.
When you look at the Astros, what they did was absolutely wrong, and one of the biggest issues was MLB never punished the players. They did penalize the organization but not the players. Taking a look at the Astros organization, there is nothing to like there. They’ve gotten where they were by cheating and some horrendous behavior even if many of those people are now gone from the organization.
Understandably, many people could not bring themselves to root for that. Here’s the thing – the Braves organization is far worse.
At the time the Astros were ramping up and creating their own organization and cheating, the Braves were cheating in international free agency. The organization was circumventing bonus pool rules, and they were under reporting the monies paid to signees permitting them to sign more for more money.
During that time period, the Braves organization signed players like Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies. There were others, and you see the current core of this Braves pennant winning team was built at least in part by this cheating. For some reason, this is something not actively covered. For that matter, neither is the team’s perhaps questionable tactics getting these two players to sign way under market extensions.
On the matter of international free agency, the Braves were also subject to an FBI human trafficking investigation. Obviously, the Braves then GM, who was banned from baseball, has been replaced, and he was replaced by Alex Anthopoulos.
For his part, Anthopolous was caught on tape making statements akin to collusion. This came at a time when many quality free agents were struggling to receive offers commensurate with their value, or really, offers period.
Once we get through the questionable practices of how these teams were built, we then arrive at the chop. The assuredly racist chop is actively promoted by the Braves. This has been an issue dating back to at least 1991, but the Braves pretend it isn’t blaring the chant through the ballpark encouraging fans to do it.
Overall, it absolutely does not get worse than the Braves organization. While it may be difficult to stomach rooting for the Astros (even if Dusty Baker and Zack Greinke deserve a ring), it is far worse to root for the Braves. If after all of this, you still can’t root for the Astros, it’s understandable . . . just don’t root for anyone because rooting for an organization like the Braves isn’t an option for decent and respectable people.
As we tick through the days of October, we have different Mets postseason highlights. Perhaps because they’re more recent in time, and because those postseasons ran later than previous years, we see focus on 2006 and 2015 highlights.
Endy Chavez‘s miraculous catch. Daniel Murphy‘s record setting six straight postseason games with a homer. Pennant celebrations. Just a slew of memorable moments.
However, no World Series victory. No, Mets fans haven’t seen that since 1986. That’s 35 years ago and counting. There should’ve been at least one other title to celebrate in the ensuing years.
It’s not just the lack of titles; it’s the lack of good baseball. In that unprecedented stretch in franchise history from 1984 – 1990, the Mets won 90+ games six times in seven years including two 100+ win seasons.
In the 35 ensuing years, the Mets have won 90+ games four times. Just four.
That Mets team who finished second or better in seven straight years gave way to a franchise who has finished second or better 10 times. Notably, two of those times the Mets were under .500.
This is a large reason why we’re still celebrating the 2006 and 2015 Mets. This was a very poorly run franchise wasting great player’s primes and World Series windows with gross mismanagement.
Things are better now just because the Wilpons are gone. That said, we just can’t be sure yet just how much better. That’s why the Mets absolutely need to land the right president of baseball operations.
That hire will very well determine if we’re still celebrating 2006 and 2015 because it’s all we got, or if we can now just admire the milestones for what they are. Honestly, we need something because it’s absolutely ridiculous Mets fans have been reduced to celebrating losing postseason series.
An entire game, inning, and series swung when Home Plate Umpire Bill Miller failed to call a strike on a pitch clearly over the plate. Instead of Nathan Eovaldi getting out of the inning, Jason Castro was alive at the plate and would hit a go-ahead single.
Before the go-ahead base hit, this was the 1-2 pitch to Castro. pic.twitter.com/3PVLW8FFnt
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 20, 2021
That blown call had a profound impact on the game. Aside from the Houston Astros going up 3-2, the Boston Red Sox would then melt down. We’d see a seven run rally from that point.
Now, many will say the game didn’t hinge on that call, but they’re wrong. Eovaldi had Castro out and was out of the inning. Instead, he had to throw another pitch, and it led to the Red Sox losing. It was all due to a blown call.
This was far from the only blown call. In fact, this game was littered with them. Worse yet, Miller is one of the worst home plate umpires in the game.
Umpire: Bill Miller
Final: Red Sox 12, Astros 3#DirtyWater // #ForTheH#BOSvsHOU // #HOUvsBOS pic.twitter.com/U2VBFMAzRJ— Umpire Scorecards (@UmpScorecards) October 19, 2021
This isn’t an isolated instance. Miller did this last postseason as well. All-in-all, he misses a lot of pitches. He seemingly just can’t handle breaking pitches around the corners.
World Series Game 3 Umpire Review
Name: Bill Miller
Bad calls: 10
Correct call percentage: 93.0%
Largest miss: 1.55 inches
Calls helping Dodgers: 7
Calls helping Rays: 3This pitch to Mookie Betts should've ended the inning. Instead, the Dodgers went on to score another run. pic.twitter.com/GmrcP9tdCD
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) October 24, 2020
Seeing him, you have to wonder how he keeps getting behind the plate in the postseasons. He has no business there, and he’s far from the only one. Laz Diaz and Angel Hernandez also come to mind.
Meanwhile, there are umpires who are terrific behind the plate. What’s astonishing is the five best did not receive a postseason assignment.
Are umps that had high Overall Accuracy per @UmpScorecards during the regular season getting postseason assignments? Based on games thru 10/10, of the 12 home plate umps, 3 were in the top third, 4 were in the middle third and 5 were in the bottom third. pic.twitter.com/rzIPoE5sZn
— Umpire Scorecards Analysis (@UmpAnalysis) October 11, 2021
Playing devil’s advocate, it’s possible these umpires are good behind the plate but poor elsewhere. That should beg the question why are we rotating umpires throughout a postseason series?
MLB should not have floating strike zones game to game in a postseason series. Moreover, it’s the postseason. We should see the best of the best. That should include umpires.
There really is no justifiable reason not to have the best home plate umpire behind the plate. The best first base umpire should be at first, and so on and so on.
In the postseason, there’s an increased need to get the calls correct. There is just too much on the line. Instead, we saw the NLDS end on a horrific call, and we saw the ALCS wildly swing on an inexcusably bad missed call.
Based on the reactions, you’d think we were all on the verge of Spring Training, and the New York Mets still didn’t have a president of baseball operations. Seriously, people are already moving towards the LOLMets takes.
The Mets have known for months that they would need someone at the head of baseball ops, and for at least six weeks or so that they would need a manager. Now it's the third week of October and they apparently still aren't close to filling those spots.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 18, 2021
For the Mets, it’s business as usual. On to plan M, that will be sold to fans as plan A. #waittosee https://t.co/N1UPArwiQn
— David P. Samson (@DavidPSamson) October 18, 2021
Believe it or not, it is only October 19. The Boston Red Sox lead 2-1 in the ALCS against the Houston Astros. The Atlanta Braves lead 2-0 in the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. There is still a lot of postseason baseball to be played.
That’s partially why the delay. Out of protocols, they needed the Milwaukee Brewers to lose the NLDS before asking about David Stearns. They were predictably denied.
In the time preceding the Tampa Bay Rays losing the ALDS, their organization promoted Erik Neander. That made him unavailable to be interviewed.
They had the perfunctory conversation with Theo Epstein, and it took time to work through the channels to speak with Billy Beane. As expected, both turned down the job.
So what?
Rather than accept defeat, the Mets organization at least took a shot. Suddenly, that’s supposed to be a bad thing. It’s inane.
If you’re an organization with the revenue and resources should be trying to get the absolute best people they can. It only makes sense to wait for those people to be available and to work through the process.
It’s not even the start of the postseason, and for various reasons, the Mets couldn’t get the purported top targets. While this has been happening, the Mets have been compiling a short list of people they want to interview for the job.
That’s the important aspect which needs highlighting. The Mets didn’t whiff on the top targets and give up. No, they were prepared for this and are working through the process.
Now, if they want people from the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, they have to wait. Regardless of the takes you’ll see, that’s the process, and teams need to do things the right way.
Fortunately, the Mets have Sandy Alderson to keep the offseason moving and to insure things proceed as needed until the new POBO is hired. Alderson’s presence does permit the Mets to not have to rush this process, which is a good thing.
That said, there’s much to do this offseason requiring someone in place sooner rather than later. Seeing how this is all unfolding, we can trust that will happen.
Games 1 and 2 of the NLCS are being played in Atlanta. Of course, that means the Tomahawk Chop chants. It’s an exceedingly racist chant which has been done at Braves games for over 20 years.
Keep in mind, this isn’t a new issue. It’s been a big issue since the Braves initial rise to prominence in the early 1990s.
THIRTY years ago.
Stop the chop. pic.twitter.com/G1F2k1M5OG
— The Twins Almanac (@TwinsAlmanac) October 17, 2021
It’s been an issue for that long, and it continues to be an issue. There are MLB players who have spoken out, and yet the practice continues. The Braves organization loves it and wants it to continue.
What’s baffling is knowing how Native Americans find it racist, TBS doesn’t attempt to drown that crowd noise. We also saw them come out of a break cameras focused on the neon lit tomahawk chopping up and down to lead the fans in the chant.
TBS wanted that on TV, and it’s a shame. They’re complicit in the racist acts, and you wonder where the line is. Would fans screaming racial epithets be on TV if it looks good visually? Sadly, the answer is yes
All-in-all, an embarrassing job by TBS. Shame on them.
It’s bad enough we were forced to root for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The cacophony of racism disguised as chants rings through our ears.
The top of the ninth ended because of a Chris Taylor TOOTBLAN leaving Mookie Betts in the on-deck circle.
In the bottom of the inning, Ozzie Albies bloops one and steals second. He’d score easily on an Austin Riley walk-off. With that, the Braves take a 1-0 series lead, and Mets fans are left wondering why their front office punted the trade deadline thereby costing them of this opportunity.
Like 2015, Wilmer Flores was the last man standing between elimination and celebration. Once again, an umpire made a horrendous call.
Back in the 12th inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series, Home Plate Umpire Alfonso Marquez called Flores out looking despite the Wade Davis pitch being well off the plate. Truth be told that call didn’t impact the series as the Mets trailed 7-2.
That’s not the case in Game 5 of the 2021 NLDS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.
There were two outs in the bottom of the ninth with the Dodgers leading 2-1 in the winner-take-all game. Kris Bryant represented the tying run at first, and Flores, the Mets all-time leader in walk-off RBI was at the plate.
Max Scherzer was up 0-2 in the count, and Flores entered the at-bat 0-for-17 against Scherzer. And yet, there was still a chance. That was until first base umpire Gabe Morales made a call which had even Don Dekinger shaking his head:
Absolutely unbelievable.
Umpire Gabe Morales eliminated the Giants from the playoffs with a blown check swing call to Wilmer Flores.#Giants #Dodgers #LADvSF pic.twitter.com/8LiUDSR6fo
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) October 15, 2021
As Jimmy Rollins said in the postgame, Morales is the only person on the planet who thought Flores swung. Curtis Granderson heavily inferred Morales choked under the pressure.
It wasn’t the only completely blown check swing call by Morales in this series. Going back to the Bryant fourth inning strikeout with five of six pitches out of the zone, it wasn’t even the only series changing blown call.
Put another way. MLB Umpires blew a call they can’t blow. It wasn’t close. It was an embarrassment to the sport. It needs to be fixed and corrected, but Rob Manfred and the Umpire’s Union has zero interest in that. Simply put, they don’t care AT ALL, and that’s why this garbage will continue to happen.
Look at the postseason landscape. On the American League side, you have the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros. So far, you have the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS, and they are going to face one of the San Francisco Giants or Los Angeles Dodgers. While the series may be good, it’s not exactly an awe inspiring list of teams to root for to win the World Series.
Plain and simple, we know the Astros have cheated, and they have been unpunished and unapologetic about it. They are facing off against the Red Sox who have their own issues on that front, and they are led by Alex Cora, who was purportedly the ring leader of the entire operation. As we saw, Cora was fired for one year just for show.
When it comes to the National League, the Braves are the epitome of evil. Putting aside the history with Chipper Jones calling Mets fans closet Yankees fans, everything John Rocker, and really, every soul crushing loss, this is a racist fan base eagerly doing the racist Tomahawk Chop chant every game. Rooting for them is like rooting for the hunter in Bambi.
We know all about the Dodgers. There was the 1988 NLCS, and there was Chase Utley. They’re the team who signed Trevor Bauer. We should also mention they’re the favorite team of the Wilpons. No self respecting Mets fan should ever root for the Dodgers.
Understandably, Mets fans probably aren’t too eager to root for the Giants. After all, behind Madison Bumgarner and Conor Gillaspie, they beat the Mets in the 2016 Wild Card Game. There is also all things Barry Bonds. There is also Gabe Kapler, and the heinous things he has been alleged to do.
That should leave a Mets fan wondering what is left in this soulless landscape. Who is the hero who can emerge from all of this dredge? The answer is old friend Wilmer Flores.
Wilmer is the same player who cried at the very idea of leading the Mets only to win a walk-off homer his next chance. In fact, Wilmer has more walk-off hits than any Mets player. That’s a list which includes players like Edgardo Alfonzo, Carlos Beltran, Mike Piazza, Darryl Strawberry, and David Wright. Really, Wilmer has brought us much more joy than we ever could’ve imagined.
Now, he’s the only player really worth Mets fans rooting for this postseason. While we understandably don’t have much reason to root for any of the remaining teams, that goes double for the Braves, there is every reason to root for Wilmer. Hopefully, he and the Giants outlast the Dodgers and the Braves en route to Wilmer winning a World Series ring. After all, if anyone deserves it, it’s him.