(Really) Getting Better

Although it hasn't always been easy to believe, I have to admit it's getting better for the New York Mets.

When I was very young, The Beatles were still together making music. I remember when the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in May 1967 when I was 8 years old, just in time to dominate the airwaves in the ensuing summer, which would become famous as the Summer of Love. It was the first rock music I was ever aware of, living in a house where the music of my Mom's generation and my Grandmother's Italian music dominated our stereo. There were many classic songs on Sgt. Pepper's, including the title song, "With a Little Help from My Friends," "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," and "A Day in the Life." When I got a little older and started acquiring my own music, the album remained in rotation of the stuff I listened to throughout my teen years.

Eating Your Vegetables Is Never Fun

Last winter was a blast for Mets fans, at least until the Correa deal fell through. This year is less about immediate gratification, with a significantly reduced level of fun.

What a difference a year makes. The Mets were quite active at the 2022 Winter Meetings, signing top free agents at a feverish pace. This year, the Mets departed Nashville with little to show for their time in Music City besides minor league deals to reliever Andre Scrubb and infielder José Iglesias, along with a split deal to reliever Michael Tonkin. Since then, most of the news has featured David Stearns doing organizational depth signings, primarily to minor league contracts with an invite to spring training. I certainly can't fault David Stearns for building as much depth as possible, but these aren't the sort of deals that will make Mets fans stand up and take notice.

Waiting for the Future to Arrive

The first playoff appearance of the Cohen-era Mets was far from a success. Let's hope there are many opportunities ahead to get it right.

The World Series matchup is set and, once again, I'm left without a team to root for. I've always envied fans who can shift allegiances in the postseason. For myself, choosing between two teams I dislike is as satisfying as choosing between a colonoscopy and a root canal. I'll just take none of the above, thank you.

Playoffs Are Chaos

The Mayhem Guy loves
the MLB playoffs

All of the uncertainties and chaos of the MLB postseason are on full display this October.

All I kept hearing and reading, over and over again, was that the Mets were too timid at the trading deadline. They were a win-now team who should have gone all-in, even if it required parting with one or more of their top prospects to secure the players they needed to push them over the top. This was only amplified louder when the Mets played so poorly in Atlanta and lost the division, then fell rather meekly in their wildcard series against the Padres.

The Relentless Road Forward

The Mets are undeniably down after falling in Atlanta, but the future is much brighter than it currently seems.

When the Mets dropped Sunday night's finale in Atlanta, a friend of mine who is a Mets fan sent me a two-word text, "it's over." I wanted to answer back at some length but, not feeling particularly eloquent at that moment, I replied, "not even close," and promised to elaborate further when I finished bandaging my feelings. Well, it took a couple of days, but here are some thoughts on why the club's face plant in Atlanta signified the end of nothing more than the club's chances to grab a rare NL East title.

The Party Crasher

Please don't show up at someone else's party just to rain on their parade.

If you'll indulge me for a minute, I'd like to start this post by throwing some numbers at you: 1-6, 2-5, 2-4, 0-7, 3-4, 4-3, 2-4, 1-5, 3-4*. Those numbers represent the New York Mets' regular season record against the Los Angeles Dodgers for every season from 2021, going back to when the Dodgers were sold to their current ownership group early in the 2012 season. (They didn't play at all in the 2020 pandemic season.)

Still Work to Be Done with the Mets

While much has been accomplished this season to improve the Mets' roster, there still remains work to do.

Over their first 52 games, the New York Mets gave us many reasons to believe that they've come a long way towards the goal of being a legitimate contender. Then they traveled west to Los Angeles. While apparently dealing with the pervasive smell of "rat urine" in the visitor facilities, they've also spent a couple of games learning that they still have some distance to go if they hope to compete with the best teams this fall.

Catching up on the Mets

The New York Mets are in the midst of their first nice winning streak in months. After today's ugly but ultimately successful game in Washington, they have won 7 straight games they have played. Technically their streak is 6 in a row, as the first of those wins was the final 8 2/3 innings of a game suspended on April 11. Even though only one single out of the game was recorded in April, it goes in the books as a win on that day. Go figure.

Missed It by THAT Much

As promised in my last post, I have no intention of spending what little writing time I have these days complaining about the current edition of the New York Mets. While it's gratifying that they actually played a really solid, complete game against LA in their final meeting this season and — gasp — actually won a game against them yesterday, it doesn't change things that much. Their play since the All-Star break speaks for itself. I never expected them to be in quite the same class as the Dodgers this season, but it really strikes me how many of the contests against LA and San Francisco have been close games that the Mets time and again failed to find a way to win. They might as well have gotten their asses kicked every game for as much difference as it makes in the standings.

Oblique House

Last night's New York Mets game against the Pirates was so boring that I fell asleep on it, literally. In fairness, that was partly due to the medications I'm taking since my operations. But I've seen a version of that game so many times this season that even the little kerfuffle between Marcus Stroman and the immortal John Nogowski didn't provide much of a stimulant. And worry about a potential Francisco Lindor injury didn't do the trick, either. Right after it happened, it was so obviously the type of oblique injury that will cause Lindor to miss a good-sized chunk of time that dwelling on how it might eventually play out seemed rather pointless.

Making the Future Brighter, Part 2

Although I am not someone with the skills to evaluate prospects, I've been interested in scouting and development for quite a while. Years ago, as I began to question the lack of sustained success by the New York Mets, I began to look around at the clubs that were much more successful — particularly in smaller markets than New York. The biggest common denominator was an ability to find and develop Major League ballplayers. There are a lot of moving parts in scouting and development. All of them have to be working properly for a club to attain and sustain success at the Major League level. As important as developing a good number of contributing Major League ballplayers, it's even more important that some players become impact Major Leaguers.