Deadspin has it’s pluses and minuses but there is no question that it is easily one of the best sports websites on the internet.
One of the reasons for that is that they have a way of bringing to light some of the more fascinating sports stories and sparking conversation among fans.
Since this is a Mets blog we will only take a look at the three things highlighted in the post that had a direct connection to the team. I will say that the other things mentioned in the article are fascinating and is a must read.
Here in a handy picture I have created shows you the points used in the Deadspin piece that pertain to the Mets and below I will have some thoughts on them each.
In order, lets take a look at the first point and realize that the Mets only felt “some pressure” to improve the team and had the payroll flexibility to do something about it at the time.
I mean, really? Some pressure? I mean five straight losing seasons, half empty stadium and a ton of pissed off fans and the front office was only feeling “SOME PRESSURE”
Well gee whiz folks, I wonder what a 6th straight losing season is going to bring them? Maybe “Some Added Pressure” is the next step up for a team that is on its way to winning 74 games for the 3rd straight season.
They addressed the corner OF spots with Chris Young and Curtis Granderson, the bullpen with Valverde and Farnsworth and got their veteran started in Bartolo Colon. So everything Ricco told the Astros that they wanted to get, they did… sort of.
Colon has been pretty good, his last start not withstanding, he was downright brilliant the seven starts previously. Curtis Granderson, also coming off a bad series in Pittsburgh, was awful in April but has been pretty good since, being the kind of guy the Mets had to figure they were getting when they signed him.
Its been the amazing trio of Chris Young, who has been generally pretty awful and now former Mets Jose Valverde and Kyle Farnsworth, that didn’t work out so well.
Actually, Farnsworth was bad enough that even the Astros would release him after only having him around for a month or so after the Mets cut him.
So of the 5 guys that addressed the needs of the Mets according to John Ricco, they got two outta five right. Batting .400 is legendary in baseball but for this team’s front office, doing that in Free Agency with limited resources aka “Some Payroll Flexibility” didn’t help the team really get any better.
The next point is a short one where the Mets talked about getting shortstop Jonathan Villar in a trade that would involve Daniel Murphy. Since he is the only current Met mentioned in the post, he is going to get the headlines and the questions from the media.
Murphy has been on the trade block for the past few years and yet the Mets still have kept him around. It reminds of when the Knicks had Kurt Thomas the first time in his career and they traded him about 1,000 times every season and yet there he was each and every night wearing the Knicks uniform.
I will never believe that Murphy is being traded by the Mets until he is physically in another uniform playing for another team.
The last point is about Ike Davis, who as we all know was traded to the Pirates in April for Zack Thornton and left handed minor league pitcher Blake Taylor who was the Pirates 2nd round draft pick in 2013. The Astros were willing to give up Lucas Harrell and left handed minor league pitcher Alex Sogard. But the Mets said no, that they value Davis higher.
Guess what, they basically got the same exact package for Ike from the Pirates a month later. A left handed pitcher from the minors, albeit a younger guy than Sogard, and Zack Thornton who like Harrell is now in AAA. Harrell would actually be traded by Houston to Arizona for a player to be named later.
Maybe the package from the Pirates was much better than what the Astros were willing to give up, I mean Harrell was dumped for a PTBNL and Sogard has been only ok in the Minors. But when the difference in the players gotten is not exactly on another level of talent, it is funny to see how the Mets held out and still ended up with almost the same thing.
This leak from the Astros and reported by Deadspin is a fascinating look at how an MLB organization is run and how many different ideas are floated around.
The Mets, like many other teams, had some of their dirty laundry aired out in that article and now the questions will be asked and jokes will be made.
I just hope that when the season is over, the “pressure” the Mets feel to get better after another losing season goes up a notch or 100.
