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| Photo by Mack Ade |
Hello Mets fans!
Since this is my first blog for Mack's Mets... I'll introduce myself by saying
I was 10 years old in 1986, and my favorite player was Wally Backman. Seeing the Mets win another world series would be great, but I want to see dominance! Another dream of mine is to watch a Mets team made up of players who have never played for another major League team. That dream is far fetched, but The Metsies are moving in the right direction on that front.
I believe until a young team is a true contender, it is extremely unwise to sign a type A free agent ( i.e. Cuddyer, they'll regret that one once they see the players they cold have picked in next year's draft ) or, trade prospects for a veteran.
The Gary Carter trade was made once The Mets knew they had something special on the field. That trade was also made by an organization that didn't just have the best farm system that year, but one of the best ever!
The 2015 Mets are still 3 big prospects away being the best. Of course Yoan Moncanda would probably place them 2nd. I am EXTREMELY in favor of signing Moncanda. The Mets do fairly well with signing Latin American players for less than $300,000. In fact... if you look at the better Latin American prospects, at least half of them were signed for 300,000 or less.
If you were a bigger fan of Mike Piazza, than you were of Edgardo Alfonso, or John Olerud...we probably won't get along. If you wanted to keep David Wright instead of Jose Reyes, the same holds true.
I want the Mets to push the outfield walls BACK 50 feet.
I want Wright to think clutch single... NOT home run.
I don't want to ever see Curtis Granderson again ( I HATED that signing ), and if he does play then let him learn to put some Tony Gwynn in his game. Instead of his 180 K'S, and worthless 20 HR'S.
Can anyone even imagine Granderson coming up with a runner on 2nd, two outs, in a playoff game, and him coming through? I can't in my wildest imagination.
I like an 80's Cardinals kind of lineup if you could switch Darrell Porter with Carter, and an'86 Mets pitching staff if you could replace Rick Aguilera, with David Cone.
I want 108 wins, the best farm system, and a championship!
If I owned the Mets I would not settle for less. Also, you don't need to have a $200 million payroll to do it. Pay The scouts. That's the most important thing. Tell all the best scouts working for every other team that you will triple their salaries. It would be a drop in the bucket, and would GREATLY help with keeping a steady influx of young, talented players to replace guys who get injured, or become too expensive.
Lastly, The Mets are sorely lacking in grit. More than talent, they need grit, determination, and baseball intellect. Not a closer outfield wall so they can pad their stats.
Thank you for reading.
I get pretty riled up.
14 comments:
Welcome to Macks Mets...Though i dont agree with much of your ideas of what the mets should be...Welcome...
Welcome Bobby.
I like your idea about paying more for your scouting department. The future of this game is with the guppies, both domestically and internationally.
It will be interesting to see the response to this post. It's very different from most of the writer's here.
Bobby, you REALLY would rather have had Reyes on the team than Wright?
Welcome aboard.
I agree with moving the fences back 50 feet - as long as they move the plate forward 60 feet! Hence, you and I disagree there.
I hope you are wrong about Grandy - hated the acquisition, too, but hoping for a big rebound year in 2015.
Welcome, Bobby.
I am with you on the Wright signing. I'm well known for having been off his bandwagon long before the precipitous decline and ludicrous overpaid contract extension. If the Wilpons were as broke as they apparently were, they should have traded both Reyes and Wright to restock the farm like the Rams did when they traded RGIII or the old Herschel Walker trade. We wouldn't be in the continual losing spiral we've experienced due to being hamstrung by big contracts had we started an honest rebuild earlier.
I'm with you on the Curtis Granderson signing...all we heard was working the count and OBP, then they sign not only him but also Chris Young, two of the most notorious K machines in the game.
I would also like to see them go all in not only on Moncada but also on Kang. If one doesn't pan out, you have the other.
Why they weren't all-in on Yasmani Tomas, I'll never know. They needed a right handed slugging outfielder so they went to the proven, over-the-hill bin once again for Cuddyer who is good if and when he can stay on the field but whose defensive liabilities aren't going to improve with age like fine wine. I have a feeling that like Granderson, he's going to age more like milk.
Reese -
I'm not sure Bobby was referring to the Wright signing.
I think he was saying that Reyes was a better Met than Wright.
I know what he said. I'm just suggesting that they would have been better off trading BOTH instead of overpaying for either one when the cupboards were bare.
Welcome Robert--
I was on the plus side of 30 when you got that initial whack from your mom's OB-GYN, but I share your far-fetched dream. (An OF of Den Dekker-Legares-Puello would do that, and no baseball would be in danger of suffering a grass stain.)
A traditionalist though, I prefer stationary fences to moving ones.
And, oh, my favorite 1986 Met was Roger McDowell who managed to place a cheeseburger on the 3B bag in front of 300 lb ump Eric Gregg without him noticing.
Reyes was an amazing Met, and would have been better than Wright if he had avoided the injury bug. But those hammies were his Achilles heel.
That 1985 Cardinal team was something. And if the Mets were sandpaper, they'd be the fine kind - very little grit over the years. Hopefully, Harvey brings some back. What do they say about where nice guys finish? Keith had grit and it helped.
Cuddyer better hold up until (if) COnforto and Nimmo are ready to make a splash.
Already the highest read post of the day.
Excellent.
Welcome aboard, Bobby. I look forward to more of your columns, whether or not I agree with your points.
As for the"Wright vs Reyes" topic, one point is rarely brought up. David grew up a Mets fan, and said more than once that he wants to spend his whole career here. Jose was approached by the Mets before, during and after his final Flushing season to discuss an extension. His response was that he would test the FA market and would go to the high bidder.
I value loyalty more than getting a guy to sign just for the money. That's why I like the Cuddyer signing. He said before the end of the season that he wanted to come here, and later said he would have accepted the Rockies offer if the Mets didn't want him.
Those are the kind of guys I can root for without hesitation.
One thing about Reyes...
I was in camp in 2008 and talked outside the clubhouse with one of Reyes' 'people'. He always had a handful of people that he 'carried' and they hungout outside the clubhouse entrance inside the fence.
I asked this guy if Reyes was going to resign eventually as a Met and he told me flat out that Reyes had a commitment to his family to get the most bucks he could get when that day came around.
His tone lacked any loyalty to the Mets.
I walked away from that conversation believing that Reyes would be a goner some day.
Reyes averaged 120 games a year the past 6 years, and almost 160 a year in the preceding 4 years. A warning for those who want to go after Tulo. Bodies break down, wright?
Nice post.... I like "home growns", but not as an absolute value. After all, the reality is that player development and positional spread is always uneven.
The "scouting your own" is almost equally as important as scouting other players---whether draft, sign or trade targets.
Philosophy aside---it will be good to see a focus on Building a Winner, apart from the specific approach. The last several years have been overly devoted to Non-Baseball Mets issues. They're at a critical point--- I hope they have the focus and actions needed to do really good baseball things---it's been too long!!!!
Welcome aboard buddy
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