Another One Bites the Dust

Billy Eppler, we hardly knew ye.

I wrote a piece last month titled "The Mets Are Still Searching for Stability." The Mets had just decided to hand pink slips to some director-level employees. At the time, it was speculated that the firings could be a sign that a new President of Baseball Operations was coming in, which proved accurate when David Stearns's hiring was announced a couple of weeks later. While the thought of Stearns coming on was exciting, one of the big hopes was that the constant comings and goings of key personnel would slow down a bit as the Mets transitioned to a more mature, steady operation. This made the news of GM Billy Eppler seemingly out-of-the-blue resigning an unpleasant reminder that we just aren't there yet.

Abbondanza!

No Mets fan needs to leave Steve Cohen's table hungry just because their ace pitcher shuffled off to Arlington.

Back in the 90s, the Olive Garden restaurant chain ran commercials featuring the Italian word "abbondanza." Translated to English, the word means plenty. For Olive Garden, the philosophy seemed to be, "sure, the food is inauthentic and mediocre at best, but we serve you a lot of it!" They even had a dish dubbed "Chicken Pasta Abbondanza." I ate at an Olive Garden once in my life, and that was only because it was the favorite restaurant of the family of a young lady who I was quite smitten with. I'm sure my beloved Italian grandmother rolled over in her grave over my blasphemous transgression, but that young lady more than made it up to me later that night. Priorities, you know?

Savor the Moment

The Mets earning a playoff berth was special. Make sure you enjoy it.

When the Mets beat the Brewers to clinch a playoff spot last night, it affected me more deeply than I expected. After all, despite their stumble against the Cubs last week, I've known the Mets were playoff-bound for quite some time. But I shouldn't have taken for granted the meaning of just earning a playoff spot when your team has only accomplished that feat 9 times in the previous 60 seasons. Therefore, I will ignore anyone who tries to crash this party and put a damper on the significance of last night's achievement.

Jon Daniels

Jon Daniels is looking for a new job. Should the Mets consider him for their PBO?

The Texas Rangers fired their president, Jon Daniels, last Wednesday. That ended Daniels' run of almost 17 years at the helm of that club. When he was first promoted to replace John Hart as GM in October 2005, the then 28-year-old Queens, NY native was a true baseball wunderkind. He was the youngest team GM in MLB history. Interestingly, one of Daniels' deals in his first winter as GM was to trade pitcher Chris Young to the Padres. 17 years later, Young is taking over the top role with the Rangers.

Changing Perceptions

Steve Cohen and the Mets have dramatically reversed last fall's negative coverage and the perception around baseball that the Mets were an organization in trouble.

As the New York Mets continue their preparations for the 2022 season, it's startling to see how the perception of the team has changed since last fall. Unfortunately, as has become all too common in recent years, the Mets were again spectators in October while other teams vied for a championship. Steve Cohen's first year as owner of the Mets was a disappointment — not only to fans, but I'm sure to the man himself. Mistakes and missteps were definitely made, but the local and national media were engaging in a frenzy of negativity in their coverage of the team. Much of that negativity was overblown and unfair.

Game Changer

Apologies for not posting for a while. I'm going through a difficult time personally. I had to endure another back surgery on December 16 — my fourth since September 2020. It's been a lot to deal with. It's been hard to maintain optimism to get past these problems after many setbacks. I have to admit that I was down in the dumps for a while.

Dave Mills: Much More Than Meets the Eye

Note: This is a guest post by Dave Mills, a frequent contributor to the old Mike's Mets blog.

The various bloggers and bloviators have been on a roll for the past several months. Save our friend Mike Steffanos, who is always introspective and erudite, the incessant speculation on who may be chosen to take primary responsibility for Mets roster construction and maintenance has been profoundly absurd. It is not an easy or quick process.

Not Going to Live By Their Rules Anymore

Don't drive angry

Since it was released in 1993, Groundhog Day has become synonymous with any situation that keeps repeating itself. It served as an apt metaphor for my dating life for quite a few years, until one fortunate day when that all changed. Likewise, there was a Groundhog Day aspect to much of the Wilpon regime, particularly towards the end of that ill-fated era. New York Mets fans watched helplessly as the club seemed determined to continually repeat the same mistakes.

The Media's Unfair Rush to Judgment

A lot has happened since the last time I posted here. The Astros and Braves will compete against each other in a World Series that doesn't hold much interest for me. The 2021 baseball season is rapidly winding down to a conclusion. What started back in late March with a ton of optimism for the New York Mets and those of us who love them is ending with the Mets in their usual position this time of year — just an afterthought for all but the most diehard fans.

Big Changes Ahead After Another Disappointing Season

As I write this post, the New York Mets are in the process of dropping the final game of the season. It's a fitting end for the disappointing club to go out on a losing streak with their offense once again shut down. In fairness, the Mets have found their way to some victories this week — long, long past the time when those wins would have been of any real consequence, of course. I always miss baseball when the season comes to an end. It's the only sport that I still follow with more than passing interest. The close of the regular season also marks the end of whatever tattered shreds of summer remain. Even as the earth continues to get hotter, I still miss the long days and bright sunshine of summer throughout the New England winter.

The Real Work Lies Ahead

In my last post, I shared some thoughts on the current punditry that the New York Mets organization has reverted to WILPON ERA DYSFUNCTION. Especially amusing was the idea that the value of the Mets had "gone backward significantly," with Steve Cohen's tweets a significant contributor to that drop in value. This was a ludicrous statement from an unnamed "former MLB executive." The Mets organization has indeed made some serious, high-profile blunders since Cohen took over. Still, the Mets are a viable franchise in the country's largest (by far) sports market. There's a difference between temporary setbacks and long-term trends that would hurt the franchise's value as a whole.

It’s Not Quite as Dark as It Seems

I've been working on a long post, looking ahead to the choices the New York Mets will be facing in the offseason. I've been dissatisfied with how it's been progressing. It was more negative than I generally choose to be on this blog. I've decided to table it for a while and pick it up again after the season. The Mets have plummeted so far in the standings recently that there is no longer any plausible drama for the remaining dozen games of the 2021 season. The club seems destined to finish third in the NL East with a record south of .500 for the tenth time in their last 13 seasons. A season that began with a ton of promise is ending miserably. As Mets fans, we have the uncomfortable feeling that we've been here before.

Catching up on the Mets, Part 2

Since I wrote Part 1 of this post, the Mets winning streak came to an anticlimactic end in game 2 against the Nationals on Saturday night. The New York Mets lost that game the same way they have lost many games in this 2021 baseball season: fielding a less-than-optimal starting lineup thanks to a depleted roster and mustering little offense in an eminently winnable game. Then in today's series finale, they failed to convert runs to build a comfortable lead, leading to a heartbreaking (and backbreaking) loss. Raise your hands if you were shocked by either of these outcomes. Anyone? Yeah, me neither.

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.

My Nightmare Ended Last November

The New York Post
headline writer

I dislike it when some self-appointed expert tries to make a blanket characterization about what a New York Mets fan thinks. I'm a Mets fan, of course, and I know plenty of others. If there is one great truth about us that I've learned over the years, every Mets fan is different. Sure, we all start with our shared love of New York's "other" baseball team, but I'd rather try to herd cats than find a consensus among a large number of Mets fans on all but the banalest of topics. I even met a Mets fan once who didn't like David Wright — seriously. That's equivalent to a kid disliking dessert.

I'm Okay With Replacing the Hitting Coaches

Not the new hitting coach

Although I was somewhat of a late convert to the value of analytics in baseball, FanGraphs has become one of my go-to sites just about every day. It's an incredible resource for fans such as myself who enjoy digging deeper into the game. Respectfully, though, I really have to take issue with a piece Jay Jaffe wrote today on the firing of the Mets hitting coaches. I thought it was an unwarranted cheap shot, and I promise this isn't just a fanboy take.

We've Been Here Before

Turns out that the Mets won't be playing baseball in the snow tonight in Denver. Tonight's game has been canceled. They'll be playing a doubleheader tomorrow instead. The forecast for tomorrow isn't calling for snow, but the high temperature will only be around 40°, with the low dropping into the 20s. But that's okay, right? They'll do the smart thing and schedule the doubleheader for the afternoon and miss the worst of the weather... no, what am I thinking? A 3 PM start local time will ensure that the temperature will be below freezing before both games complete. I honestly don't get it. At this point, the best that we can hope for is that all three games are played this weekend, the Mets won't be forced to go back out to Colorado again later in the season, and no one gets hurt.

Microbes, Gizmos, and Being a Bit Greedy

As I expected, the rest of the weekend series against the Nationals was postponed, and now we have to wait until Monday for the Mets' Opening Day. As much as that sucks, it seemed inevitable once the first game was called off. The only thing that's going to put an end to all of these "out of an abundance of caution" covid stoppages will be when most MLB players and coaches are vaccinated. It will be a relief not to have the ever-present threat of having baseball taken away with no warning hanging over our heads any longer. In the meantime, this is proof-positive that, while normal may be in sight, it's not here yet.

Normal is Good

We're a mere two weeks away from the start of the 2021 baseball season. This is a marked improvement from a year ago when the COVID-19 epidemic had already shut down baseball. Even then, we were all only beginning to understand how much of our lives would be shut down and how long it would take to return to normal. We're not quite there yet but, if you squint hard, you can actually see normal from where we are now. For a while, it seemed that we would never get to this place.