Still the Right Man for the Job

Amidst a season of poor play and uncertainty, I still feel good about the guy who owns the team.

I'm beyond the point now where I believe the New York Mets are more likely than not to turn things around in 2023. I thought the team deserved the benefit of the doubt for quite a while based on last season's performance. But their inability to sustain a level of quality play for more than a handful of games here and there has made it abundantly clear that this club could legitimately be the crushing disappointment they appear to be 66 games into the season. Things have to change considerably over the last 96 games for 2023 to finish as anything better than an unmitigated disaster. Could they do it? Sure. But it doesn't feel like the likely outcome any longer. The Mets certainly don't look like the type of team we hoped they would be back in March.

Lowered Expectations

Is this as good as it gets for the 2023 New York Mets?

This is my third try to write about the New York Mets this week. I went deep into analysis twice, and both times I got to a point where I had just output hundreds of words that just felt like restatements of things I had already written about the 2023 Mets. So I finally decided to sh*tcan the deep analysis and touch on some of the basics. I'm confident that almost everyone who bothers to read my stuff is a serious Mets fan. Like me, you are also likely to be just a bit worn down from rooting for such a maddeningly inconsistent team that feels a bit too much like too many of the pre-Cohen Mets clubs.

Masquerading as Wisdom

Don't believe everything you read from the so-called experts. They can be every bit as uninformed as the guy on the next barstool over.

Just because something is stated unambiguously in a confident manner doesn't mean it is a fact. The rise of social media platforms allows folks to "do their own research" in an environment free from real expertise and rigid fact-checking. If you really want to believe something, there is no doubt that you can find plenty of corroboration to reinforce your beliefs. However, if you care about discovering what is true, you'll have to work much harder. You'll also have to be willing to, at least occasionally, deal with finding out that your preconceived notions were wrong.

Rise and Fall

For my own sake, I'm just refusing to react to every peak or dip in the New York Mets' season.

There have been a handful of times in my life when things are going so well that I wish I had some mechanism to freeze things exactly where they were. Not a permanent suspension of time, of course. Just a long enough period of stasis where I could truly enjoy the place I found myself without having to wonder when the inevitable moment of returning to reality would come. Because, no matter what, something will always come along and knock you back off the pedestal of good fortune. But the knowledge that nothing good goes on forever is also why I've learned to not fast-forward recklessly past a terrific moment in anticipation of the tantalizing possibility of another one.

Man The Lifeboats, Part 4

We wrap up our 4-part series on the Mets' chances for turning the season around with thoughts on the manager and front office and summing it all up.

It's incredible how much has happened with the New York Mets just since I began writing this series on Tuesday. First, there was Wednesday night's epic win fueled, in part, by call-ups Francisco Álvarez and Mark Vientos. The Mets didn't even decide to bring up Vientos until Wednesday. Next, the Mets put forth a solid effort to defeat the Rays (and finally win a series) on Thursday afternoon. After the game, we learned that the decision had been made to bring up catcher Gary Sánchez. As of the time of my writing this piece, no corresponding roster move has been made. (Update: it has.)

Man The Lifeboats, Part 3

We continue our search for hope that the Mets can turn their season around with a look at the bullpen.

The New York Mets have just won their series against the Rays by taking the rubber game this afternoon. It was difficult to see that coming after the team had struggled so mightily for weeks. It would have been so easy for them to let down this afternoon after winning an improbable victory last night that was easily the signature game of the season up to this point. But Tylor Megill had his best performance of 2023, and the team did just enough to take it to the finish line. Although I hesitate to place too much importance on very small sample sizes, it's fair to say the success of the last two days gives the Mets something on which to build and work themselves back into the playoff chase.

Man the Lifeboats, Part 2

Today we look at the New York Mets' position players as we search for some reason to hold onto hope for the 2023 season.

We're doing a series of posts looking at the current state of the struggling New York Mets. Yesterday, we discussed the starting pitching, which was supposed to be a strength for this club but has, at least this far, been their Achilles Heel. I intended to move onto the bullpen next, but with today's callup of prospect Mark Vientos, let's look at the position players instead.

Man the Lifeboats

Things aren't going well for the 2023 New York Mets one-quarter of the way through the season. Today we'll look at the starting pitching as we try to determine what hope there is for turning things around.

Along with being a Mets fan, I've been a New York Knicks fan almost my entire life. I'm not sure whether that's due to an affinity for the blue and orange color scheme or some inner urge to punish myself. After all, James Dolan and the Wilpons were neck and neck for the worst owner in New York until the Wilpons sold out. Anyway, during Monday afternoon's debacle in the nation's capital, I flashed back on the famous Michael Ray Richardson quote, "The ship be sinking" — something I did quite frequently with the Wilpon Mets.

Appreciating What You Have

Matt Harvey's star burned so brightly, it's hard to imagine that his greatness only lasted for 3 MLB seasons.

I've been working on another piece for several days, outputting about 1,800 words of prose, never coming close to producing something I wanted to share with my readers. That doesn't happen to me very often, but it's very frustrating when it does. It's a subject I care about very much, so I'll get back to it soon with a fresh start. In the meantime, the announcement on Friday night that Matt Harvey is retiring from baseball produced a slew of memories for me as a lifelong Mets fan. It also gave me something to consider in how I approach being a fan.

A Missed Opportunity

The original plan for Citi Field called for a retractable dome roof. But it was cheaper for the Wilpons to build their new stadium without one.

When the Mets have an important series disrupted by the whims of Mother Nature, I often think back to the original concept of the Mets' new ballpark which included a dome that retracted out over the parking lot when not in use. Apparently, I'm not the only one. Jon Heyman wrote a piece for the New York Post yesterday promoting the idea of Steve Cohen shelling out a large chunk of change to add a retractable roof to Citi Field. I really wish that he would, but I understand that it's incredibly unlikely to happen.