Once upon a time, ownership, the front office, the coaching staff, and everyone in the locker room at Tradition Field was talking about one thing, and one thing only.
Winning.
Nothing else mattered. Nothing else was tolerated. Words were used, and sandwiches flew.
From Terry Collins to Sandy Alderson. From David Wright to Mike Barwis. That was the common theme echoing through the halls of the clubhouse, and on the diamonds of the back fields in Port St. Lucie.
The Mets became immediately battered and beaten, first losing Vic Black, then Zack Wheeler and Josh Edgin to injury. Then it was Daniel Murphy late in camp.
But they didn’t waver.
Murphy came back, and the Mets swooped in late in camp to fill their bullpen voids by acquiring Jerry Blevins and Alex Torres.
Win-now moves, and good, aggressive plays at that.
They lost Jenrry Mejia immediately when the bell rang. But, no problem, because Jeurys Familia came to the rescue.
But then David Wright got hurt. Then Blevins, then Travis d’Arnaud. Then Dillon Gee, Buddy Carlyle, Dilson Herrera, and now Daniel Murphy.
The winds of change came like a punch to the gut.
With a lineup featuring Daniel Muno batting sixth for the Mets 1/3 of the way through the season, and Ruben Tejada now the team’s best second baseman, shortstop and third baseman after successfully navigating a worthy public debate about whether or not he should have even been tendered a contract, just tells the entire story.
It’s really all about 2016, says Kevin Kernan of the New York Post.
Remember when the club stated their efforts to find a way to preserve innings for their vaunting pitching staff, with the notion of having them healthy and strong for October?
So much for all of that, I suppose. A reality which was sold has altered basically with a snap of a finger, and the goal post has been moved.
If it’s all about 2016, it’s hard to figure out what they’re protecting Matt Harvey Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom from. Let them pitch every five days, let them go out and pitch their capabilities, and shut them down when they breach the thresholds they have set for them. Get the most out of them now while they’re controllable and pre-arbitration affordable, and hold open auditions on the roster beginning in August, just like they have for the last four seasons.
After all, if it’s about 2016, they’re not playing for anything in October, right?
It may have been all about 2016 anyway. The club was banking on the health of David Wright, and he’s played all of eight games this year, and not for nearly two months. It could be another two months before Wright comes back, and there’s no telling what he is going to be when and if that happens.
But even without Wright, or a Wright which is unrecognizable, they’re closer than that.
They really are. But by fielding this team as it stands today, they’re flushing a serious chance to do damage in 2015 right down the toilet.
They have another jewel of an arm just waiting for the call to join arguably the most formidable rotation in baseball today. Outside of a few blips, their bullpen is as good as anyone’s in the league as well.
They sit just 1/2 game out of first place in the National League East, and have somehow remained competitive despite regularly starting many players at premium positions who arguably belong in the minor leagues.
They can thank their awesome pitching for that, top to bottom. But with all due respect to the Mets, the roster as it stands today – even with Matz eventually getting here – can’t survive 162 games.
Time is really running out. Eventually, the cream rises to the top in this game – the season is too long for that not to happen.
Why not be a part of that cream that rises to the top? At what point is the cost in the trade market worth it to breach the threshold of mediocrity?
All of that talk and swagger seems rather empty now. The perception among the fan base and some within the industry is the club simply doesn’t care about the team and winning. That’s hard for me to believe based on conversations I have with people up and down the organization. But I also know that’s not enough for the average fan to believe in.
So, it’s up to the team to change that perception, live up to all of that talk from three and four months ago, and do what can be done to save the sinking ship called 2015.
And, we wait…
Just Mets 
5 responses to “The winds of change and altering the degrees of Mets realities”
I understand what you’re saying but look up at the standings. If you read this article without looking at the standings at all you’d think the mets were 20 games back. Enough with the lingering pessimism – they have the pitching to stay in this thing.
LikeLike
They’re not going to stay there for long if they can’t score more than a couple of runs on a consistent basis. That’s a lot of pressure to put on the SPs and you better hope none of them go down with an injury.
LikeLike
Nicely written article, factual yet captures the feelings of everyone, including the players- those on the DL & those among the walking dead. It’s the owners/ front office responsibility to DO SOMETHING‼️ Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic does not count. If they sit pat, we’re out of it before the All Star break- forget meaningful September. I’m appalled at the lack of urgency here to get a MAJOR LEAGUER to replace DAVID WRIGHT. That alone is disturbing & a telling reminder that the Wilpons are still the owners, and terrible ones to boot‼️ They have let us all down. It’s gonna cost us more than just this 2015 season- deep into negotiations in the future, BORAS will advise young master Harvey to take his mask & cape elsewhere. Somewhere where they really have a burning desire to win. That just doesn’t seem to be the case here. So sad. SQUANDERED.
LikeLike
One more thing:
If SNY does one more FLUFF piece on Paul (Mr. Wonderful) Goldschmidt, I will scream…not that anybody cares, but, give me a break! Do a report on DW’s rehab workouts, do a report on how Daniel Murphy wants to win so bad, he walked into Terry office and demanded HE play 3Rd Base because it will help the team win!
Stop pumping up the other team. They believe it. We lose. Pump us up, with an infusion of better players and better stories about our METSIES!
LikeLike
The front office can fix the problem this afternoon, easily- if they’re willing to trade away Syndergaard or Matz. Every discussion they’re having with other teams right now begins with, “How can we stick you up today?”
We can talk all we want about making an immediate change but Alderson and Co. are trying to create some value out of Jon Niese (nobody trusts his arm), Dillon Gee (who said himself he has no value, having been sent to the bullpen) and some combination of other prospects that the Mets aren’t counting on for 2016 and after. If they get creative or desperate, they can trade Bartolo Colon and Daniel Murphy (when he comes back healthy) or Bobby Parnell (when he comes back healthy) and listen to us all scream bloody murder when the new guys struggle in the majors (as rookies always do) and we fall out of contention. Even if they went that way, the trade market won’t ripen for another month.
What we have right now is a team of roleplayers that need a few more creative run producers. At their best, on the present-day lineup, those guys would be Duda, Cuddyer (at times), Lagares (at times when he’s healthy) and maybe Flores so, for the last month, they’ve been scoring about 2 runs a game. When they score 4 runs a game, they’re what, 23-3? So. if we don’t panic, we’re not that far away.
d’arnaud and herrera should be back in a week or two – d’arnaud showed signs of being a run producer early. So maybe that’s another run per game. Having those two back might loosen up a couple of the roleplayers who are playing tight right now and then we’re pretty close. And at that point, since you’re not bridging such a huge gap, the front office can see who’s available for the guys we want to trade and we might all be smiling big time in September. Or, if those guys don’t move the needle, you pull the trigger on Syndergaard or Matz and Montero and Plawecki and make a big splash.
Surely I’m an optimist (don’t call me Surely) but I’m no crazier an optimist than the crazy pessimists who lurk these pages. I’m greedy – I see the prospect of the best starting rotation in the past fifty years and Herrera/Conforto/Amed Rosario a year or so away and I’m willing to be a little patient. Good business says you don’t sit down at the table until you have leverage and we just don’t right now.
LikeLike