August and Everything After

In balancing the needs of the present with those of the future, the Mets are doing right by their fans.

Things have been fairly hectic for me lately. I haven't been able to post here as often as I would wish. More on that later, but first, let's catch up on some Mets thoughts. My last post was a week before the trade deadline. Although I did expect the Mets to make a stronger push for a left-handed reliever, I wasn't surprised that the Mets didn't make a huge splash in the deadline market. The brain trust had pretty well telegraphed their thinking ahead of time, and it was clear they weren't going to trade top prospects for rentals.

Decisions, Decisions: Relief Pitchers

We're looking at some tough decisions the Mets front office will need to make after this season. Today we discuss the bullpen arms.

The New York Mets are in the midst of a special season after years of frustration. I'm very much looking forward to watching my team finally take part in the playoffs come October. But I'm also intrigued by the impending free agency of many important players and what that might mean to the Mets going forward. In part one of this series, we looked at the starting pitchers. Now we'll turn our focus to the bullpen, where the Mets must decide how much they're willing to pay to retain some key contributors.

Growing Your Own

One key to their success going forward will be the Mets' ability to develop arms for their bullpen.

There's a really good piece in The Athletic (subscription required) about New York Mets relief pitchers Colin Holderman and Stephen Nogosek using the 2020 COVID-19 shutdown to reinvent themselves as pitchers. It's paying off for the Mets this year, as both young men have contributed to the Mets bullpen this season.

Better Than Magic

It's not a "magical season." This year's Mets team doesn't need magic to win.

Decades of incompetence and mismanagement of the Mets franchise under the previous owners have conditioned New York Mets fans to a generally pessimistic view of their team's chances. The formula was pretty basic. In the rare years that the Mets seemed like they had a chance to contend, they could do so only by overcoming the obstacles put in place by an organization that simply wasn't built on competence and a can-do attitude. Even when the Wilpons were willing to spend some money in the pre-Madoff days, that money wasn't always utilized in ways needed to build a club primed for sustained success. Particularly since the turn of this century, good Mets seasons were rarely followed by others. Making the playoffs twice in succession only happened in 1999 and 2000 and 2015 and 2016 — with that second one being a one-and-done wildcard game in 2016.