The Merriam-Webster Dictionary Definition of REBUILD is
1a : to make extensive repairs to : reconstruct
1b : to restore to a previous state
2: to make extensive changes in : remodel
Nowhere in the definition of Rebuild that’s on their website did the team name “New York Mets” get mentioned. But, you would have to think that is the case when you consider that this is year three of a rebuilding process for the franchise.
The Mets after the 2010 season made changes in the front office, in the managers office and changed how they did business.
The number of theories on why things changed for the Mets in how they approached free agency are quite numerous. What ever you decide is the reason, the point is that this team has decided the long term rebuilding process, centered around David Wright and an up and coming pitching staff, is the way to return the Mets to glory.
As we reach Opening Day of the 2013 season, I feel that this is the last year Sandy Alderson is allowed to basically get away with having a bad team on the field.
With the money coming off the books from the end of the Omar era, their is no excuse not to spend that money on major league talent. Fred Wilpon said that the financial problems are over. I personally don’t believe anything he says, but, he can prove me wrong by spending serious money once again.
I don’t want to get caught up in looking ahead much like most of the media covering the team, but it is hard not to. Contrary to what Sandy and the Mets tell you, this season is basically a season lost before it even begins. They wont make the playoffs or even make a late season run. Citi Field will be barren come September and the fan base will once again be mostly jaded.
A harsh reality? Sure. But, is this something you want to see on opening day? Heck no. There is a reason to watch, there is a reason for hope and there is a reason why this season can be a positive.
To first give a brief history lesson, in 1983 things began to turn towards the better for the Mets after the down years of the late 70’s and early 80’s. Darryl Strawberry came up and won NL Rookie of the Year, Keith Hernandez came in and added a veteran presence, while the minor leagues were overflowing with talented players ready to make a mark in New York. That team was the start of what would be come a World Series winning Mets team in 1986.
Heading into the 2013 season, this Mets team seems to be similar to that 1983 team because they have the pieces, both here and coming, that can be exciting in the years to come.
David Wright is that Keith Hernandez, veteran leader type while young guns Matt Harvey and Ike Davis look to keep building on their quick successes in the majors. Then you add the best young Pitching-Catching battery the Mets have had maybe since Jerry Grote and Tom Seaver in Travis d’Arnaud and Zack Wheeler later on in the year.
When you think about a team anchored by a Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and Jon Niese in the rotation, a middle of the order with Wright, Davis and d’Arnaud, and the possibility of Bobby Parnell realizing his potential as a closer, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
The young and talented players coming up and succeeding on an individual basis for the Mets in 2013 will be the first thing people look for when the season ends. Will all of them live up to expectations and give this organization and fan base hope?
When people talk about 1986, they first talk about the journey to get there. The hiring of Frank Cashen in 1980, the drafting of Strawberry and Gooden, the trades for Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter and the hiring of Davey Johnson.
They talk about the lean years, like how 1983 was when the glimmer of hope first arrived. That 1984 was the coming out party, 1985 was when they learned what it took to be great and it all finally culminating in 1986 when the Mets achieved greatness.
Yes, 2013 from an on the field, every day, wins and losses stand point will be another, in what has become a yearly tradition of losing and losing often, bad year. It will be a year full of frustration and heartbreak as five other National League teams will do something we hope to do in the near future, make the playoffs.
I feel that with the 30th anniversary, of one of the most remembered bad teams in Mets history, upon us, we might see that history may just be repeating it self.
This is the year where the glimmer of hope needs to show itself and very well could.
Of course we all know that this will not be a Pennant winning year for the New York Mets. But, it could be the year we remember as the year where the next pennant winning Mets team got its start from.
