The baseball season for the New York teams is over. The Yankees made quick work of their season, nice enough to fall out of the race gracefully at the beginning of September, a smart move considering it allowed the Yanks organization to focus solely on the last few days at the Stadium and send the old girl out in grand fashion. The Mets? I have come to the conclusion they hate their fans. I mean, really, really hate and loath their fans. How else can you explain the 07/08 baseball seasons?
You get the sense someone walked into a meeting at the beginning of the year and said "We blew a 7 game lead with 17 to go last year. Now, I know we can't repeat that kind of magic again, but I firmly believe, if we focus, play our cards right, do the little things wrong, make all the necessary mistakes, we can easily blow a 3 or 4 game lead with about 20 to go. And, the beauty of this year is, we can blow our chances on the last day of the season, in the last game ever played at Shea. Let's get out there people and make it happen."
I actually feel sorry for the Mets and their fans. Seriously, looking from the outside in, the Mets seem to have some pieces in place that would normally get fans all excited. David Wright and Jose Reyes are two of the best young players in the game. Ryan Church, before his concussion, was having an outstanding year and seems to be that type of gritty, gutty grinder all good teams need. Carlos Delgado went from public enemy #1 to a guy who put up MVP-esque numbers in the second half, and Carlos Beltran, public enemy #2, got a lot of clutch hits, including the last one of the season, a game tieing 2-run homer today. Daniel Murphy showed himself to be a very capable hitter and Mike Pelfrey went from seemingly a bust to a stud.
But, if you're a Mets fan right now, don't you want the whole damn thing blown up?
See, this is different than when the Yanks blew the 4-0 lead against the Sox. That was a four game choke job of epic proportions, but it was 4 games, three of which were classic back and forth battles that saw both teams play good baseball. The Mets collapse last year came against teams that weren't anywhere near contention over a period of two weeks. This year? Very similar, with the pesky yet well-out-of-contention Marlins playing spoiler again. The Mets didn't lose to the best of the best. They lost to teams either out of the race or playing to rest their stars. That leaves an after taste much worse than the 04 Yankee collapse.
What I find somewhat funny about all of this is that both Omar Minaya and Charlie Manuel are coming back in style next year. I'll be honest, I am not close enought to the situation to know if they deserved extensions or not, but seriously, the Mets have collapsed for a second year in a row when they had a firm grasp on the situation. Is no one to blame for this?
The problem is, even if you're the Mets and you want to pull a Planet of the Apes and nuke everything, what are your options? You're not going to trade David Wright or Carlos Beltran. You're probably not trading Reyes, who actually played well down the stretch. Your rotation will definitely include Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, and John Maine. Will they think about bringing back Oliver Perez? I can't see why not, considering he is a power lefty pitcher who came up big against big competition this year and is still young and healthy (even if he is a nutty guy to figure out). You going to jettison Ryan Church? That would seem to be silly. How about Delgado? You going to let him walk? And replace him with who? Jason Giambi? Sean Casey? Come on now.
Obviously, the number one problem the Mets have is their bullpen, but as we see year in and year out, good bullpens are almost always built from within. It is rare to see a team build a top quality pen through signings and trades. Plus, the Mets don't have much to give up, and if they did, why not use whatever talent they had in their own pen?
The truth is the Mets are in a terrible position entering this off season. Their fans are going to want blood, and what started as an uneasy and, sometimes, a downright ugly year this year when the amazins struggled initially will be even more contentious next year after back-to-back collapses. The team has almost nothing of value in the minor leagues except for Fernando Martinez, who they have been reluctant to offer up in a trade, meaning that they don't really have a lot of wiggle room when it comes to making deals or injecting youth into the organization. And, finally, many of the players who are authored this collapse are the more important players on the team. Fans have quickly soured on Jose Reyes, with many calling for him to be traded early in the year. He played well this season, but you can bet there will be plenty of fans who want him outta town. David Wright has been a favorite from almost day 1, but while his stats were good this year his A-Rod imitation with runners in scoring position certainly dimmed that star. Beltran and Delgado have never endeared themselves to the fans, despite good stats and big hits, and even Santana has gotten his share of irrational criticism by fans who question why he can't pitch 9 inning shut outs every time.
The point? Fans fall in love with some teams and become disgusted with other. The Mets faithful were already leery of this team coming into the year, now they will be downright indignant.
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