After last night’s first inning, I switched channels and watched HIGH DIVING. That’s right, I rather watch some guy, in a speedo no less, jump off a glorified diving board trying to avoid a belly flop than watch the Mets.
I’m sorry but I can’t subject myself to that much torture for two hours.
I listen to the WFAN and Mike Francesa said something on Friday that has really been eating at me…and since the season is pretty much in the bag, I couldn’t help but try to ask the question he stated.
Today’s question: Knowing how many holes they have to fill, how much better are the Mets going to be next year?
9 comments
Hazmet
8/12/2012-9:12am at 9:12 am (UTC -4)
lol, high diving….great intro. High Diving vs. watching the Mets sink like a stone, sadly, you made the right choice.
I, like most fans, have been asking myself that question too and it has been killing me also that the reality is they aren’t going to be much better with the number of holes they have. It’s stunning that just for starters we need a catcher and an entirely new starting outfield. The latter of which we’re going to be stuck watching a platoon with Bay out there which boggles my mind.
Add to that ticket sales for next year are going to nose dive even further after this year quickly turning into a debacle. Actually, I would say we’re looking at debacle in the rear view mirror. Consider these numbers since Johan’s no-no as far as record:
20-37 since the no-no
10-19 at home since the no-no
8-20 since the all star break, and through it all
Dickey 8-1 over that span, wow, for me that just points out how dramatically stunning RA’s accomplishments have been while the team has been mired in a suck-fest of a nose dive. The numbers within the numbers I found interesting is that take out the 8-20 since the all star break and the remainder is a .500 record over the span which is what I would have considered a monumental success if they could have achieved that for the season. Anyway, I just love how numbers within numbers could tell different stories depending on how you like to look at them.
So back to the question, no they won’t be much better. And if Terry keeps doing ridiculous things like sitting Ike against lefties he’s all but assuring just one more question that needs to be answered next year, as in: can Ike ever learn to consistantly hit lefties. If you can’t try to find that out now with the season gone then what’s the point of even watching.
Hazmet
8/12/2012-9:16am at 9:16 am (UTC -4)
Correction, RA’s 8-2 over the span, but still…
oleosmirf
8/12/2012-10:19am at 10:19 am (UTC -4)
Baseball in the NL is all about pitching.
If the Mets rotation of Dickey, Santana, Niese, Gee and Harvey can pitch like they did in the first half and Sandy can patch together a good bullpen, then we can certainly be better.
If not, then you have to seriously consider trading Wright (and Santana should he have value) and keep rebuilding…
Paul
8/12/2012-10:34am at 10:34 am (UTC -4)
I think the Mets will be worse next year as they try to add one or two rookies to a starting rotation that’s benefited from a career-year from R.A. Dickey and a strong two month performance from Johan Santana that doesn’t seem repeatable.
Sandy Alderson needs to replace the entire outfield, bullpen & catching corps, and he has very little to work with in the upper farm system and seemingly no budget.
Sylow59
8/12/2012-12:03pm at 12:03 pm (UTC -4)
2 years at least. The upper minors are bare of any real help. There are some interesting arms, but not enough to flip for all their needs. Plus the FA market is thin and the high quality ones won’t come into this mess. It’s going to take time. A few years.
billyboy
8/12/2012-12:33pm at 12:33 pm (UTC -4)
Trade Wright after you pick up his option try to net 2 good prospects.Hope for Santana to level off trade him for salary relief. Bay will have to be bought out
Dickey may net you a couple of prospects at the upper level. There done fire sale complete, probabley not ever going to come close to happening though
srt
8/12/2012-1:30pm at 1:30 pm (UTC -4)
Bottom line, as long as the Wilpons own this team and as long as the team is as broke as they are, nothing will change. They’ll nickle and dime us to death with small market changes.
Given all the holes we have – which is a catcher and an OF – one that should include a good RH bat – I’m not sure how they’ll be filing those holes if they wind up having to slash payroll even more.
And regarding Francesa and his rant on Friday…..all that was designed for ratings and callers. Back in June, I listened to a podcast where he was praising the team and the depth on the farm. Can’t take anything he has to say seriously.
gategem
8/12/2012-1:59pm at 1:59 pm (UTC -4)
I read the arguments at MMO concerning Francesa’s rant on Friday and what seems to escape most Mets fans is that it takes strong investment capital to build from the ground on up. For some reason most fans only associate expenditures with FAs and believe you can build a strong minor league system for the cost of a Burger King Whopper. The fact is if you can spend more on young IFAs from Latin America, if you can spend more on drafting and signing more quality youngsters, if you can spend more on increasing the quality and numbers in the scouting and developing process and if you can spend more and increase the number of teams to place these kids in the minors you increase the probability of strengthening your minor league base. When the investment capital is not there the task of building the team becomes much more daunting and the probability of failure increases.
srt
8/12/2012-2:13pm at 2:13 pm (UTC -4)
Spot on gategem. Let’s not pretend the current FO inherited some strong farm system from the last FO.
And this is not in defense of SA either. I don’t care who the current FO would have been when Omar left. Fact is we had a bottom feeder farm system at that time and a ML roster with holes. Couple that with the Mets being broke and well…..the task is daunting.