Despite the 74-88 record, it was quite a memorable year for Mets fans, more so than any recent years. This season, we witnessed an amazing story of redemption, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished by any Met, signs of hope for the future, and much more. Let’s look back at some of the biggest storylines from this year in Mets baseball.
7. Wilpons Settle Madoff Case
Mets fans caught a glimmer of hope in late March as the Wilpon family was finally able to settle the Bernie Madoff case for a surprisingly-low amount of $162 million, about half of which they will not pay. The settlement came as a surprise after reports surfaced that the trustee working the case — Irving Picard — wanted to recover hundreds of millions more, putting the Wilpons’ ownership of the Mets in jeopardy.
The settlement gave clarity to an otherwise murky financial future for the organization, which lost over $70 million in 2011. The team is still losing money, however, with losses still above $20 million for this year. They are by no means out of the woods yet, but the settlement was a big step in the right direction.
6. Matt Harvey‘s Electric Debut
Mets fans got a taste of what’s to come when 23 year-old pitching sensation Matt Harvey made his debut in Arizona in the middle of a Mets west coast swing. Harvey had a high pitch count, maybe because of is nerves, but had sensational stuff and pitched extremely well, tossing five shutout innings while striking out 11 Diamondbacks.
Harvey continued his dominance the rest of the season, finishing with a 2.73 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 59.1 innings before being shut down in mid-September. He pitched extremely well, and got better with each start. He looks like he could be a fixture in the Mets rotation for the next decade.
5. David Wright Signs Biggest Contract in Mets History
The face of the franchise, David Wright, signed an eight-year, $138 million deal, the biggest contract ever signed by a Met. Wright, the leader and figurehead of the organization, had a sensational season, putting himself back on the map as a superstar after a few years of sub-par play. He finished with a .306 batting average, his highest since 2009, along with 21 home runs and a 7.8 fWAR, the second highest of his career.
Wright will remain a Met through the 2020 season, and will likely finish out his career with the team he started out with, the team that groomed and developed him into an All-Star third baseman. He now has the security and will not be going anywhere anytime soon. The only thing that remains to be seen is: how far can he take this franchise.
4. First Half Surprise, Second Half Demise
There were zero expectations going into the 2012 season. Nobody expected the Mets to make a run at .500, let alone a playoff spot. Michael Kay (not exactly a baseball expert, but someone with a considerable following) predicted the Mets would lose well over 100 games. On June 1, the Mets were just one game behind the Nationals for the top spot in the NL East.
The Mets in the first half played with intensity. They showed a passion for the game, a burning desire to win, and budding young players who looked like they could carry the Mets to the promise land. Led by their stellar pitching staff, they looked like they could challenge for a wild card spot. It would not be enough, however, as their offense soon gave way and their pitching staff could not carry them any longer. The team didn’t have enough power bats, making it much more difficult for them to compete with the NL’s best. After the All-Star break, the Mets (who were 46-40 going into the break) collapsed, finishing with a 28-48 second-half record. Optimistically, they showed potential for the future. With a few more power bats and another year of development for their young pitchers, the franchise may have a very bright future ahead.
3. R.A. Dickey Traded To Toronto
The biggest move of the Mets offseason was made earlier this month, when they traded R.A. Dickey, Mike Nickeas, and Josh Thole to the Blue Jays for four players, including top catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud.
The move was a tough one to stomach for some Mets fans, who had grown attached to the Cy Young Award winning knuckleballer. As tough as it was to accept this move, it may have been the best move for the future. The Mets window for winning may be past Dickey’s productive years. Plus, his value was at an all-time high and wasn’t going to get any better. With Dickey being owed just $5 million next season (until Toronto signed him to a new contract), the Mets could get multiple top prospects for him, which is exactly what they did. The Mets received a future everyday, power-hitting catcher in Travis d;Arnaud as well as a top young pitching prospect named Noah Sndergaard. Ten years from now, this could potentially be looked at as a deal that changed the Mets organization.
2. Dickey’s Story of Redemption
R.A. Dickey captured the hearts of baseball fans around the country with his inspiring story, which couldn’t have unfolded in a better way this year. He releasing his autobiography, Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball in March, telling stories of his childhood in which he was sexually abused as well as his struggle with depression as a journeyman minor leaguer.
Dickey went on to have a sensational year, going 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA and winning the NL Cy Young Award. He led the league in complete games and shutouts, including his back-to-back one-hitters that amazed baseball fans everywhere and put him in the national spotlight. News networks began to do stories on him, and his life story was talked about everywhere. What’s more, Dickey was a class act through it all, and got his message out in a positive manner. He inspired many to speak out and became a role model for many.
Oh, and did I mention he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro?
1. The First No-Hitter In Mets History
As much as the rest of these stories were talked about in the media, the story of 2012 was Johan Santana‘s no-hitter. The Mets had always been famous for never throwing a no-hitter, but finally broke the curse on June 1 against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field with Johan Santana on the mound.
Santana, once a Triple Crown pitcher, gave Mets fans a glimpse at his former greatness. He showed heart and fight, pushing his way to a 134-pitch performance. At points it wasn’t pretty, and at one point, it may have been downright lucky, but hey: that’s Mets baseball.
Check out more of my work at my Mets blog, Up Along First.
37 comments
TX
12/31/2012-9:28am at 9:28 am (UTC -4)
I think you put forth a solid list. And I think we’ll start paying attention to Harvey’s starts like we did with Dickey’s. it will be one long road to redemption should these kids pan out. Now, if we only had an OF to root for…
Stick
12/31/2012-9:36am at 9:36 am (UTC -4)
you heard it here first. not too long before a “real” OFer shows up (at least 1), and the platoon bunch this season is going to be way more productive than what many people are expecting.
Just need to find the rest of the RH platoons…
TX
12/31/2012-10:10am at 10:10 am (UTC -4)
I’ll take 3 Cubans, please. 2 OFs and 1 Owner.
Stick
12/31/2012-10:18am at 10:18 am (UTC -4)
I really think that Alvarez guy is just the absolute perfect option right now. A total no brainer on many levels. Just fits our needs and situation to a T.
The owner Cuban? Not a chance as long as Bud is in charge of the boys club.
Prismo
12/31/2012-10:34am at 10:34 am (UTC -4)
I would warn against being too high on Alvarez. Let’s not make him into a bigger deal than he’s worth. Guy is hitting .317/.335/.465 in the Vera Cruz winter league in Mexico with 3 homers in 49 games as of last Friday.
Those would be nice stats for the majors, but given that he’s 24 and hitting that in a scrub league isn’t awe-inspiring. Also, his power and plate discipline look questionable.
If the price is right, you absolutely give him a chance. But he’s probably not going to jump on a team and knock out 20+ HR with an .800 OPS.
TX
12/31/2012-11:08am at 11:08 am (UTC -4)
Pris, considering what they have out there now, and the age and relative signability of the Cuban players, you could offer this dude a 5 year deal for like 30+ million and have a cost controlled outfielder who should be entering his prime for nothing more than money spent. And it won’t impact draft picks, nor the kids in the system.
It makes too much sense to go after him (or the dude who becomes a FA in January. Plays SS I believe). If you are going to pay 4 mil for Hairston, it is an absolute no brainer to up that to 7 mil for Alvarez.
Prismo
12/31/2012-11:24am at 11:24 am (UTC -4)
Maybe TX. I just have trouble putting a lot of faith in someone who’s never seen a major league at bat. $6 million sounds reasonable, but it’s also about 6% of our payroll committed to a mystery player for 5 years.
I’m *not* saying I’d be opposed to such a deal. Just tempering expectations.
TX
12/31/2012-11:36am at 11:36 am (UTC -4)
I hear you. I’d think to expect a Cespedes type production right away would be foolish, but also to expect average production (which is better than anything we’ve seen the team get thus far) would be acceptable. And yes, I know they don’t have much in the way of extra spending cash, but considering you can take the money saved on Wright this year and turn that into an actual OF that is young, I can’t see how this is not a priority.
Do it Sandy. Do it.
srt
12/31/2012-12:05pm at 12:05 pm (UTC -4)
I’m reading on MLBTR that Alvarez is working out this Saturday for scouts (don’t know where).
I’m hoping the Mets scouts will be in attendance.
Like Prismo, if he looks solid I hope they get in on the bidding – as long as it’s not outrageous. He doesn’t project to be the next OF superstar but from the analysis I read over on AA, he appears to have some solid skills. If the price is right, it might solve one problem in the OF for some years.
gategem
12/31/2012-7:08pm at 7:08 pm (UTC -4)
Prismo, once again, I’m right there with your assessment and caution about Alvarez. If you remember when Alay Soler was in limbo stories appeared promoting his pitching skills that were eventually shown to be sadly lacking. Sometimes anticipation and hope override careful analysis and objectivity.
Stick
12/31/2012-9:29am at 9:29 am (UTC -4)
Good piece Connor.
I am still something (not sure if pissed, annoyed or confused) about how they could crater at exactly the wrong time going into then after the ASG. No clue if Sandy would have made any external moves if they were still winning, but you have to figure he would have done something, considering they did not trade anyone away. But,the team, if nothing else, gave him an excuse for his favorite pasttime (sitting with his thumb up hs ass).
Prismo
12/31/2012-9:32am at 9:32 am (UTC -4)
Nice list Connor! There were certainly some memories this season which will I will never forget – namely Cy Dickey and Johan’s No-no. I can’t think of one such positive memory out of the 2007-2011 seasons, so I think we got lucky in that regard.
If I may add an unorthodox storyline to the list – the downfall and resurrection of Ike Davis. Ike Davis had an OPS of .507 through June 8th. Probably 75% of the fanbase wanted him sent down to the minors and people were seriously questioning whether or not he’d ever put it together again. From June 9th through the end of the season (383 plate appearances), he put up a line of .265/.347/.565 (.913 OPS). If you extrapolate his numbers in that time period for an entire season (584 PA, what he had in ’12) he would’ve hit 41 home runs and drove in 105 RBI. That’s DAMN impressive. I think it gives us a bit of extra hope for the lineup going forward.
TX
12/31/2012-10:07am at 10:07 am (UTC -4)
I was one of the masses that wanted him sent down. And he should have been, possibly a month sooner than his June resurrection. He cost them some games that first half. And yes, he eventually figured it out, but he could have been doing that while a contributing member of the team was manning 1B.
Stick
12/31/2012-10:32am at 10:32 am (UTC -4)
I am with you on this. Just because he eventually turned things around does not mean he would not have done it in AAA and maybe even sooner. Plus of course IB might not have been a black hole for 2+ months!
Hopefully he is more consistent this year. And not totally useless vs. LHP, especially if the team is again heavily LH hitting.
Stick
12/31/2012-9:39am at 9:39 am (UTC -4)
another thing that came to mind. For all the grief Sandy gets about his “lies”, he was spot on before the season when he said we may not win a lot of games, but we will be entertaining” (or something along those lines).
As Prismo said, there were a lot of entertaining moments this past season. And a really, really bad stretch starting in early July. That month just killed everyone.
srt
12/31/2012-10:42am at 10:42 am (UTC -4)
Agree. SA never promised the fans a post season team. I think his exact words were ‘fun to watch’.
In many ways they were, especially the first half.
We looked good, Wright was on fire, Johan brought us the first no hitter.
Second half collapse at least brought the Ike resurgence.
The one constant throughout the season was Dickey’s starts. You just had the feeling every time he took the mound you might be witnessing a no hitter. Came close a couple of times.
Mr North Jersey
12/31/2012-10:57am at 10:57 am (UTC -4)
Nice job with your list Connor.
Prismo
12/31/2012-10:58am at 10:58 am (UTC -4)
Pretty sweet that we have original content every day while some blogs are re-posting daily about Arizona outfielders and how trading for them doesn’t make sense for the Mets.
kingman 26
12/31/2012-1:38pm at 1:38 pm (UTC -4)
If some blogs had a dime for every time they suggested AZ OFs being traded with absolutely no real info on anything, they’d have a really, really big sack of dimes.
gategem
12/31/2012-7:30pm at 7:30 pm (UTC -4)
And based upon the stories my parents told me about the Great Depression a sack of dimes would have made you incredibly wealthy.
Paul Festa
12/31/2012-12:27pm at 12:27 pm (UTC -4)
That was a great post – thanks for the retrospective.
TX
12/31/2012-1:20pm at 1:20 pm (UTC -4)
Endy signed with the Royals. Dang it to Heck.
gategem
12/31/2012-7:32pm at 7:32 pm (UTC -4)
You can’t go back home again or whatever it is they say.
Stick
12/31/2012-11:01pm at 11:01 pm (UTC -4)
it should ease your pain that Jason bay looked at his #s from 2012 and laughed.
kingman 26
12/31/2012-1:42pm at 1:42 pm (UTC -4)
This is just great work, and outstanding off-season content.
Really, a fantastic job.
For me, considering Beltran’s double and what happened to Johan after the no/1–hitter, I guess that moment–while undeniably absolutely amazing when it happened–has lost some of its wonder for me.
I think Harvey’s debut, for me, would be in the top 2-3, along with Dickey’s storylines. If Harvey really is this good, and if Niese, Wheeler, and Syndergaard continue developing, the team already has the foundation in place for winning in 2–3 years, provided ownership will spend a bit more.
Wright? Well, I hope the deal turns out well.
Stick
12/31/2012-2:42pm at 2:42 pm (UTC -4)
Knog, I actually want to call a mickey-deal on the idea that the No No (or more accurately, throwing 130 pitches) actually did anything to him.
No, his next start was not great, but Terry and He even admitted the extra rest threw his timing a bit off.
Still, even with that start, after the no-no over the next month or so he made 5 starts, averaged exactly 6 IP, with a 3.6 ERA and 1.23 WHIP (3-2 record also).
so not quite his earlier cy young pace, but still very solid. And if you ignore his first start after the big game, for the next 4 he was 3-1 with a 2.16 ERA!
What IMO really took him out was getting stomped on by Turner (and yes, I hold it against Terry that he had a neophyte over at 1B). He should have been on the DL immediately instead of trying to pitch through the injury, when it seemed pretty clear that it was impacted him significantly, and most likely led to his other ailment (back?) that finally shut him down.
but there was no indication that his shoulder or arm was at all a problem, meaning the 130 pitches di not, in fact, IMO, have squat doodle to do with him falling apart later in the year.
actually, my scenario should actually give real hope that he can put in a full, solid year in 2013. Now that would be a huge boost!
TX
12/31/2012-3:19pm at 3:19 pm (UTC -4)
If he does pitch decent in 2013, what do you think he fetches on the open market and would it be worth offering tendering a offer?
Stick
12/31/2012-6:28pm at 6:28 pm (UTC -4)
if the tender amount is still around 14mill, and he pitches a ful year anything close to his 1st half (pre-stomping), then he could get quite a bit, and probably would be worth a tender. Assuming, of course, he does not get traded at the deadline!
would not be a bad thing to have him for another year if there is money to spend that isn’t being spent.
plus, that could be one damned fine rotation if he is tooling along like an ace with a sub-3.00 ERA.
greggofboken
12/31/2012-7:18pm at 7:18 pm (UTC -4)
Bill James’ predictions are for an 11-9 season, 3.50 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and 185 innings. The innings sound right, though think Santana could fare slightly better than this. $14M sounds about right — his value would be depressed by skittishness over his health.
Which I would share. If Wheeler comes up and looks like anything, I’d spend that money elsewhere. The outfield’s a mess and there’s no help en route. Frankie Frank hits his expiration date this season as well, so unless Familia surprises (I’ve seen my last Parnell closer audition), that’s another key opening to fill.
Johann’s health history makes signing him seem not such a great risk to me. If we get a good season out of him and some mentoring of the next wave, I’ll be thankful and will happily move on.
Stick
12/31/2012-11:03pm at 11:03 pm (UTC -4)
well, tendering him would more likely just be a gamble that he would decline, so they would at least get an extra compensation pick out of it.
srt
1/2/2013-8:18am at 8:18 am (UTC -4)
I completely forgot about that play at first involving Johan and Turner. You make a good point. He probably tried pitching with pain in that foot and quite possibly threw off his mechanics.
Hazmet
12/31/2012-7:28pm at 7:28 pm (UTC -4)
From another list: On MLB Network’s oddest plays of 2012 was Josh Thole going back to first and being tagged out on RA Dickey’s sacrifice. Came in at #24.
Stick
12/31/2012-11:04pm at 11:04 pm (UTC -4)
Gonna miss old Josh. though entirely possible that a few years down the road, he is actually a serviceable catcher for some team.
TX
12/31/2012-10:19pm at 10:19 pm (UTC -4)
Merry New Year All.
Stick
12/31/2012-11:05pm at 11:05 pm (UTC -4)
same to you. Just 3 hours later!
gategem
1/1/2013-11:46pm at 11:46 pm (UTC -4)
Connor it’s terrific to see you contributing once more to TRDM.
Your points are all well taken and years from now we could very well be discussing the events you list from the year 2012.
We could be toasting the Madoff case settlement that opened the way for future Mets greatness from a wiser and smarter Wilpon ownership. But as I give the subject more thought we will probably curse the settlement and wish that Picard would have won a settlement equal to the national debt to force the Wilpons into bankruptcy and force them to sell the franchise.
Harvey burst on the scene as a shooting star but it is much too early to judge whether or not this is the arrival of the next Tom Seaver. Talent wise he is a shade below Tom Terrific or for that matter David Cone, Jon Matlack, Nolan Ryan, Doc Gooden, Jerry Koosman or a pre-injury Wilson, Leary or Swan. But I think we would all gladly herald the new Ron Darling.
RA’s story, Cy Young year and Santana’s no no were great stories. Trading RA and the non trade of Mr. Dimples will leave a mark, good or bad, on this team for years to come. It is a story that as of yet has not been written.
Finally, the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde season for the Mets is not unusual. The reasons for such a season are diverse ranging from lack of talent and the subsequent regression to the mean, to injuries, etc. I would not equate the Mets season with a limited talent base to that of the NY football Giants clearly an extremely talented ball club. I would not be surprised if the NY Mets 2013 season follows the same story line as the 2012 season. The worst time to play a bad ballclub is early in the season before the team has a chance to find out just how bad they really are.
TRS86
1/2/2013-7:49am at 7:49 am (UTC -4)
Go Connor, Go Connor!!!