What’s Wrong With the Mets?
by benaikey on Jun.29, 2009, under MLB
The New York Mets suck. Going into today’s game against the Brewers, they’re a mediocre 37-37, including a 3-5 record in extra innings and a 12-12 record in one-run games. They’ve scored five fewer runs than they’ve given up. Adding K-Rod in the offseason was supposed to fix the weakest part of their game from last year: the bullpen. There really hasn’t been any improvement. Out of their “big 4”, only David Wright has managed to stay uninjured this year, and with the new ballpark, he’s not hitting as many home runs. They currently have $69 million worth of players currently on the disabled list. What’s going on?
Year in and year out, the Mets are the favorites to win the NL East. But year after year, they keep choking it away. In 2006, they dropped the NLCS in Game 7 to the eventual champion St Louis Cardinals, one of the more unlikely World Series Champions ever (with a regular season record of 83-78). The 2007 season saw the Mets in one of the most epic collapses in baseball history, dropping 12 of their final 17 games and losing the division to the Phillies by one game. No other MLB team has dropped a division lead that large (7 games) in such a short period of time. 2008 was history repeating itself for the Mets, losing 10 of the last 17 (including 3 to the Phillies), blowing a 3 and a half game lead, and losing the division to the Phillies yet again. The Phillies didn’t squander the opportunity – they won the World Series and became the first team in Philadelphia to win a major sports championship in 25 years.
Tonight’s game against the Brewers was an embarrassment. They allowed at least two baserunners for each of the first eight innings (the Brewers obviously didn’t bat in the 9th, having won the game by a score of 10-6), and after cutting the lead from 3-0 to 3-2, gave up a grand slam in the bottom of the 6th. Brewers pitcher Braden Looper (a former Met himself) even gave himself some run support, driving a ground ball just out of reach of Jose Reyes, scoring Frank Catalanotto. After a rally in the 9th due to some horrendous fielding by the Brewers, Trevor Hoffman came in and did what he does best – shut his opponents down. The loss dropped the Mets below .500 with a record of 37-38. They really have no excuse for not leading the division. After all, division-leading Phillies can’t win at home, doing all their damage on the road.
So what’s the reason for their losing ways? Is it the coaching staff? Shouldn’t be. The Mets couldn’t even win games under Willie Randolph, much less get the division lead and choke it away. Is it the front office staff? Quite possibly.
Steve Phillips, current Baseball Tonight analyst, put together the Mets team that made it to the World Series in 2000 against the cross-town Yankees. Also, before Phillips’ reign as GM before being fired in 2003, the Mets hadn’t made the playoffs in back to back seasons.
Omar Minaya, the current Mets GM, has had a few winning seasons under his belt, but he keeps shelling out big bucks and not getting the desired results. K-Rod was supposed to be the missing piece to get the Mets to the World Series, but you can’t get there if you can’t win games. I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t been fired yet. With only one playoff appearance in 4 years, going on 5, and having already fired a competent manager, Minaya should be on thin ice. If they don’t make the playoffs this year, don’t be surprised if he’s the scapegoat, and rightfully so. Spending money on superstars that don’t pan out and a new stadium, the fans deserve better than a group of underachievers. It may be time for the Mets to cut their losses and try a new direction.
Ben Aikey