I remember vividly on Christmas morning from my childhood
awakening to find a glorious tree festooned with popcorn, candy canes, tinsel,
sparking lights and a treasure trove of ornaments. Underneath its boughs were piles of festively
wrapped packages that held the promise of all the great things I wanted and needed. For me the piece de resistance was the
ultimate Hot Wheels race track set with its orange track and a collection of
the wildest cars destined to perform the daring double loop to thrill and
impress my friends.
This memory returned when I perused the many articles about
the baseball equivalents of the high speed chase and thrills guaranteed to
bring me countless hours of unbridled joy.
Troy Tulowitski to the Mets for a
package of prospects! Carlos Gonzalez
patrolling left field! Giancarlo Stanton
getting a stage as big as his talent!
Starlin Castro on a one way ticket to New York to allow the young shortstop
prospects behind him in the Cubs system to advance! Alex Rios bringing his speed and seemingly
forgotten power stroke to form one of the greatest defensive outfields in all
of baseball!
Do you want to know what my boxes under the tree
contained? Socks. Underwear.
Maybe a shirt or a pair of pants.
For a kid dreaming of Hot Wheels, it was a major let-down, yet year
after year I allowed myself to get worked up into a frenzy about how this time
it was finally going to be different.
No wonder I’m a Mets fan.
Disappointment and boundless optimism are in my DNA, yet year after year
we get socks and underwear – Chris Young, Jose Valverde, Eric Young, Taylor
Teagarden, Kyle Farnsworth, John Lannan and Bobby Abreu.
Don’t get me wrong.
There are a myriad of very pleasant surprises and developments during
the 2014 season. We’ve seen the
emergence of the young power arms in the bullpen. Jacob de Grom could win rookie of the year
when he wasn’t even really on anyone’s prospect radar. Lucas Duda being handed first base was met
with derision but he’s earned the right in this lineup to be the cleanup hitter
and make many of us seek out tasty recipes for how to enjoy crow. Travis
d’Arnaud is looking like the prospect we’d heard about. Zack Wheeler has cut down on his walks and
upped his strikeouts. At times Jon Niese
and Dillon Gee have been all but unhittable.
Then there’s the tweet of the week, “I like big Bart and I cannot lie.”
For all of the crap Sandy Alderson receives for his seeming
unwillingness to make the big splash or ink the big free agent, he’s actually
done alright in terms of what seemed quieter moves at the time. He got us Vic Black and Dilson Herrera for
free agents to be Marlon Byrd and John Buck.
He parlayed a Cy Young Award winner into d’Arnaud, Noah Syndergaard and
Wuilmer Becerra (who’d better petition for a name change lest he catch invisible
man disease, too). He picked up some
useful scrap heap pieces.
What we need to realize is that he’s not Frank Cashen. He’s not even M. Donald Grant. The “Big Deal” is not his forte. We need to get the dreams of All-Stars out of
our heads (unless they’re over the hill or coming off major injury or PED
suspension and looking to reestablish themselves). Deals will be made for prospects, fringe
players and role players. There is
simply no budget for the big move.
Where’s it’s most frustrating for the fans is the old “you’ve
got to spend money to make money” mantra that has some validity. You could likely more quickly ascend to the
upper tiers of your division had you opened the wallets to bring in a Jose
Abreu when he was available. However,
with the tenuous financial condition of the Mets side of the Wilpon empire,
there is probably real fear of another Jason Bay contract that will hamstring
the organization for the foreseeable future.
Thursday’s non-waiver trading deadline will pass and don’t
be the least bit surprised if the Mets do nothing at all. They can always do an August waiver deal for
Bartolo Colon, even accepting nothing in return to be out from under the $11
million in 2015 salary arbitration. You’d
like to think there would be a Daniel Murphy move in the works to free up his
projected $8 to $10 million in 2015 as well, but it doesn’t appear likely
despite having multiple alternatives on the roster and in the minors.
Assuming a few more minor moves and a little salary
flexibility through judicious trades brings the team over .500 next year,
perhaps in 2016 there will be something a little more exciting than socks and
underwear for the fans to unwrap during Hot Stove season.
3 comments:
You're probably right, Reese, except I think that regardless of if there is no deal and they stick with slow and steady, they will still compete for the playoffs in 2015. But whenever I think that, Murphys law kicks in.
Whoooohooooo
Yiiippppeeeeee!
Next year the Mets MAYBE above .500.
and then........2016 MAYBE a year the Mets COULD compete as a winning team. IF everything goes well and no major injuries and players return from injury well and if no major regressions and.........etc.
After all the craps the Mets fans have had to suffer through for all these years. .....
It simply isn't good enough.
Most. Of the Mets fan base have left over the past 10 years. More and more distance themselves with each disappointment the team, ownership, management & front office make.
Does a professional baseball team exist if nobody is in the stands to watch them?
Sure winning brings fans to the park...... but not fast enough to make up for the damage already in place.
It is what it is. The alternatives are to root for this team or change allegiances. I'm in it for the long haul, but the Wilpons don't profit from me as I don't attend games since I live in El Paso, TX.
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