The 2013 New York Mets baseball season is over. The games have come and gone and now we embark upon the most important off-season the franchise has had since 2005, if not ever.
The other thing that is over is my patience for the front office and ownership.
I have told anyone that would listen that as soon as the final out was made on Sunday, the buzzer would sound, signifying the end of my patience when it comes to the re-building process for the Mets.
It is time to stop the downward trend the franchise has been in for the past five years and begin the ascent to contention in the National League.
It is time to spend money. It is time to show me that the ownership is not full of crap and can actually spend to the level a New York baseball franchise should spend to.
It is time that David Wright, who cannot carry a franchise by himself, got some help in the batting lineup that is not a guy in his mid 30’s guy having a career year. (God forbid that nobody else can carry a team by themselves but lets not bother Wright’s detractors with that fact.)
It is time to stop waiting and start winning.
The plan has grown some great fruit this season on the pitching side and the seedlings on the offensive side are not a total disaster.
Harvey (who may or may not be ready based on his elbow health), Wheeler, Niese and Gee are a top four in a rotation that is very solid and you can easily go to war with every season.
With Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero waiting in the wings next season and the potential for a free agent signing for the back of the rotation (Bronson Arroyo?), the pitching staff will be the strength of this team.
Offensively it always begins with David Wright. He is the best player on this team and if he stays healthy next season, there is no doubt he will continue to excel.
Travis d’Arnaud in my opinion was rushed to the majors this season after his injury. He had some struggles offensively but did end the season on an uptick, getting his batting average above .200. The biggest plus for him was that he showed everyone that he’s a pretty good defensive catcher and I think the offense for him next year will catch up quickly.
Daniel Murphy is a guy who was ok enough at 2nd base defensively and solid enough with the bat that you could live with him next season. If some team called and blew the Mets away with an offer for the guy, then trade him. If not, then keep him. He doesn’t do more harm than good for this team, so whats the rush to get rid of him?
I like Juan Lagares to be the Center Fielder and he is someone who I think will be capable of hitting enough to keep his glove out there each and every day.
Right Field, Left Field, First Base and Shortstop are problem areas for this team and must be addressed one way or the other for this team to turn it around starting in 2014.
Eric Young Jr is a nice guy and I’m happy he won the NL Stolen Base Title this season. That being said, he does not hit enough to warrant playing everyday. A lead-off man with a .310 OBP will not get it done. As the old saying goes, you can’t steal first base.
Once Marlon Byrd was traded away, I saw nobody on this team take that spot and make it their own. Mike Baxter is a very solid pinch hitter and that’s it. Andrew Brown’s September was God-awful and not worth the time. And Matt den Dekker needs a little bit more time in AAA I think.
Shortstop seems to be suffering from the curse of Jose Reyes apparently.
My analysis of Omar Quintanilla? He sucks.
Ruben Tejada got a one way ticket to the doghouse this year and it wasn’t just mean old Terry Collins keeping him there. He annoyed Sandy as well which is not a good idea in my opinion.
He isn’t good enough to be acting the way he was reportedly acting this season (If the GM says it was like pulling teeth to get him to do extra work, I’m gonna believe it).
The Mets handed him the shortstop job after Reyes left to take his talents to South Beach and he bit that hand that fed him by displaying a poor attitude along with not doing the work they expected him to do. Pretty stupid, no?.
Then you have first base. You have the bitchy 1st round pick who couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. Then you have the SABR version of Cinderella who can take a pitch but not do much else.
It is fantastic to walk a lot if you can also hit. It is another thing if when you do swing the bat, you happen to hit .220.
You know why Joey Votto is an MVP and an All-Star? It is because when he does swing the bat, he gets on base as well as with the walks. When Lucas Duda swings the bat, he doesn’t.
Then with Ike, you have a well of potential that we have seen in bits and spurts and then you have the over whelming evidence that he is a very poor mans Adam LaRoche. Let me tell you something that Nats fans probably would agree with. A rich mans Adam LaRoche still isn’t worth it.
Building a bullpen is the ultimate crap shoot. Every year it changes. Heck, every day it basically changes. For example, if you told me that Latroy Hawkins was going to be our best reliever this year, I would have laughed in your face.
I wont go over the pen because nobody has the secret formula for a long lasting, successful bullpen. Yes the Mets bullpens overall haven’t been great, but they also haven’t been 2008 like nightmares either. If you do have that secret formula though, go to MLB.com/jobs and start applying for jobs in a front office ASAP.
I have believed in the plan from Sandy Alderson that the 2014 Mets and beyond would be the beginning of the next set of glory years for the Mets.
I have bought in that the past three years were a necessary evil from cleaning up the Omar Minaya years and set the franchise back on track.
Now that we have finally reached the end of the tunnel, now that the tear down part of the rebuild is over, the minor league system is showing signs of life and the bad contracts are off the books, its time to see the fruits of Sandy Alderson’s labor become ripe with talent and wins.
The point is that I’m done listening to go no where interviews, hemming and hawing, and promises of a better tomorrow from ownership and the front office.
That better tomorrow they have been telling me about the past three years, should and must begin today.
To Sandy Alderson, his band of merry assistant GM’s, front office personal, Saul Katz, Jeff Wilpon and Fred Wilpon, I only have one thing to tell you.
Time’s up.
