A Very Big Deal

The 1982 Mets were a very bad team. They lost 97 games, which would likely have been the sixth straight season of 90+ losses, had not the 1981 baseball strike cut the previous season down to 105 games. They finished at the bottom of the NL East standings yet again, a position to which they were becoming quite accustomed, having not finished above fifth place in their division since 1976. They had to endure another last place finish in 1983 before it would finally turn around.

Still, there were some consequential things happening for the New York Mets that year. After getting short looks the previous two years, second baseman Wally Backman had his first season as a semi-regular, appearing in 96 games and logging over 300 plate appearances. A young CF named Mookie Wilson broke out in a big way, solidifying the leadoff spot with a .279 batting average and 55 steals. A southpaw named Jesse Orosco saved 17 games and was pushing Neil Allen for the closer role, freeing the Mets to deal Allen for Keith Hernandez the following June. Oh, and a couple of young pitchers named Dwight Gooden and Randy Meyers were taken by the Mets in the draft.

The Little Engine That Just Couldn't

Ten games apart. After these weeks of annoyingly fruitless negotiations, MLB and the union are a mere ten games away from getting a season underway. You would think that a compromise would be inevitable at this point, as just about every other detail has been worked out. And sadly, you would be wrong, as these negotiations are clearly being powered by the Little Engine That Just Couldn't. Those of us who allowed our hopes to be raised one last time are left shaking our heads and wondering if this is all some sort of sick joke.

At Hardball Talk, Craig Calcaterra thinks this is just a delaying tactic on the part of MLB, and they're looking to run out the clock until there is only enough time left to play the lower number of games that some of the owners are insisting on. He also thinks that Manfred is posturing somewhat to appease the hardline group of owners that would really prefer not to play at all in 2020.

Agree to Disagree

I guess it's just not possible for good news on baseball not to be tempered just a little with some bad news. Apparently there are differing opinions between Rob Manfred and Tony Clark on whether they agreed on the framework of a deal or actual deal. Manfred felt that he and Clark had agreed on a 60-game schedule, while Clark felt that a framework was in place, but submitted a counterproposal for 70 games.

Unbelievably, there is a real danger that being 10 games apart could still blow everything up, but I think we all could hope for cooler heads to prevail. Joel Sherman suggests that Manfred and Clark should consider inviting a stenographer to be the third person in the room. Perhaps we can just force both of them to take a lie detector test when they give their statements. It seems quite silly that the two sides couldn't find a middle ground to overcome that 10 game difference. I would hope that some of what we witnessed today was just posturing to appease the firebrands on either side. I'm sure we'll find out quite soon if a deal can be made or if that 10 game gap is really an unbridgeable chasm.

A Pyromaniac's Delight

As I've written other posts in my look back at the 2005 season it continually strikes me just how bad and chaotic the Mets bullpen was that year. Any starter who departed the game with a lead, even a pretty big one, did well not to count on that win until after the last out was recorded. Indeed, closer Braden Looper blew a save for Pedro Martinez on Opening Day, a deflating loss that would set the Mets on a 5-game losing streak before they finally notched their first "W".

What fascinates me the most about the 2005 'pen was that it could probably serve as a primer on how not to build a solid Major League bullpen. In all, 17 pitchers pitched relief innings for that club, and the vast majority were awful. Basically, the Mets would give any pitcher with a pulse and a working arm a chance to pitch out of their bullpen in 2005, and the vast majority only proved that they didn't belong in any major league bullpen. What follows is the story of the individuals who made up what was, with few exceptions, a bullpen that undoubtedly took years off the life of those of us unlucky enough to root for the 2005 New York Mets.

Just When I Thought I Was Out...

I honestly wasn't going to write about the negotiations between MLB and the union today, but the unexpected news that Rob Manfred and Tony Clark met face to face today seems significant. So, to borrow some words from Michael Corleone, "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" We'll see if it turns out any better for me than it did for him.

While I do believe it's significant that Manfred got on a plane and flew out to Arizona to meet with Clark, I'm going to be careful not to allow myself to get overly optimistic. It's likely that Manfred's trip was driven by the incredible amount of negative publicity both he and MLB received after Manfred backpedaled on his statement from last week that a 2020 season was "100 percent certain." While it certainly is possible that Manfred and club owners are making a sincere effort to rekindle the moribund negotiations, it's just as possible that the purpose of this effort is just a feint to forestall a potential grievance by the players.

Rob Manfred Is Feeling the Heat

In yesterday's post, I made a point about the failure of Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to be a leader as the negotiations between MLB and the Union deteriorated into a debacle. The players are angry, of course, accusing Manfred of purposely putting off a decision on the schedule until enough time goes by to make the 50-game slate many of the owners desire a fait accompli. It's hard to argue against this charge, as Manfred quickly backpedaled from his "100 percent assurance" that games would be played once the players challenged him to set a schedule with enough time to easily fit in more than 50 games and still keep finish Playoffs in October. Even former GM Jim Bowden made the same accusation on Twitter:

My take:

MLB couldn't implement a 48-52 game schedule at this time in the calendar without losing a grievance to the players since a schedule between 64-72 games can easily be fit in between now and Sept. 27th. Therefore, another delay tactic until the calendar is more friendly

— Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenGM) June 15, 2020

Going Down With the Ship

Rob Manfred is no longer 100% confident that there will be a baseball season in 2020? Join the club, my friend. It's amazing how bad negotiations can go when the primary method of negotiating is by leaking stuff to the media.

Manfred did an interview with ESPN's Mike Greenberg today, and the optimism that he was exuding last week apparently has disappeared. He was asked about the optics of the ongoing squabble with the players while the country is trying to come back from the pandemic:

"It's just a disaster for our game, absolutely no question about it. It shouldn't be happening, and it's important that we find a way to get past it and get the game back on the field for the benefit of our fans..."

Manfred said the MLBPA's "decision to end good-faith negotiations" and the need for an agreement with the union on health and safety protocols "were really negative in terms of our efforts."

When Money Is All That Matters

I enjoyed writing yesterday's post, because writing about prospects and the farm system is a fun subject to write about. As a writer, you're looking forward and anticipating something good happening. After missing my first day since I returned to blogging on Friday, I wanted to give myself a writing topic that gave me a good feeling. Now it's time to share some thoughts on the latest with the negotiations to get a season underway, and that just isn't as fun to write about.

Dreaming of a Fertile Farm

I'm not an expert in the area of baseball prospects. You'll never see me speculate before the draft on who the Mets might pick. I lack both the knowledge and the time to pick up that sort of expertise. Despite that, I've been interested in the areas of scouting and developing for a long time, particularly when it comes to the Mets. This interest dates back to the late 1990s, as my love for baseball slowly recovered from the 1994-1995 strike/lockout.

I began to realize just how lacking the Mets organization was in that area. and how much it hurt the club from remaining competitive for more than short periods of time. Steve Phillips was the GM at the time that I started paying attention. He always struck me as someone that cared more about churning up his roster in countless trades than the slow, difficult work of scouting and developing players. The Mets record in draft success under Phillips wasn't great, although they did pick up David Wright and Aaron Heilman in the same 2001 draft.

The Ugly Fight and the Road Ahead

It was just about a month ago that I started writing about the beginning of the negotiations between MLB and the Players. At the time, although I knew there were significant differences between the two parties, I really bought into the hope that both sides would be able to put aside their differences and bring baseball back to the fans in early July. The last month has only proven to me how foolish and naïve my initial hopes were. Even the people who cover the game for a living, presumably much less naïve then I am, seem surprised and disappointed at how little sense of urgency has been displayed by both parties so far.