Good
morning.
I watched
this entire World Series with aging relatives in Florida that kept asking why
do some players wear white uniforms while other where grey, yet, by the end of
it all, they watched every single inning of every game, rooting for the Mets.
In sports,
every team eventually goes home, but only one goes the winner. The Mets can
take away from this the fact that they were better than the Cards, Cubs,
Pirates, Giants, and Dodgers and are the 2015 National League champions.
This is
normally the time of the year that we are waiting for Harold
Reynolds to be on The Hot Stove. We no longer have to do that. The Mets
will contend for years to come and we can look forward to the off-season as a
place to add strength to a great nucleus rather than pick apart the waiver wire
from other teams.
Some
thoughts…
1. We all knew
what Matt Harvey had to do in Game Five to send
this series back to Kansas City and he did it. He gave the Mets eight scoreless
innings on 102 pitches and the Mets had a 2-0 lead with Jeurys Familia ready in the pen. On paper, everything was in the
Mets favor and the decision to take out Harvey looks like a textbook one.
2. I understand
adrenaline. Every Mets fan in that stadium wanted a Ron
Howard ending to this game… tell Harvey he’s coming out… watch him say ‘no
way’ to the messenger pitching coach… charging Terry
Collins and telling him he wasn’t coming out of the game while the fans
chanted his name… running at top speed to the mound to bring home the bacon.
The problem was that Harvey wasn’t Kevin Costner
and the game wasn’t a movie.
3. I had no
problem letting Harvey start the ninth inning, but I would have made it very
clear to him that he would be out after the first sign that the game was in
question. That would include a single or a walk. We all watched this series and
saw firsthand the weakness of having Travis d’Arnaud behind
the plate. Any batter that reaches first base eventually winds up on second
base with d’Arnaud’s sub-par throwing arm. Leaving Harvey after the walk was a
stupid decision. Period.
4. Equally
stupid was allowing Yoenes Cespedes to stay in
the game without taking a practice swing. What was TC and the Mets trainer
thinking?
5. It doesn’t
matter that the Mets led in four of the five World Series games… the important
fact was they only had the ability to prevent Kansas City from winning only one
of those games. The Royals proved throughout the playoffs that they had the
offensive ability to score countless runs in late innings. You simply can’t
assume everything is going to go your way against a team like this. You have to
make things go your way.
Look, like I
said earlier on a comment to the Morning Report, I thank this team for the
wonderful season they have given us. Sandy Alderson made
some organizational decisions that changed the team overnight, including a peek
at two kids, Steven Matz and Michael Conforto, that will be members of the 25-man
squad for many years to come.
The Mets got
this far by being one of the top hitting teams in the second half of the
season, something they didn’t duplicate in the playoffs. Sure, we will always
remember Daniel Murphy’s home run derby, but did
it make us forget his antics with a glove?
The starting
rotation will guarantee the Mets the ability to remain one of the top teams in
the National League, but changes must be made to improve both the internal
defense and the vast majority of the bullpen. Everything in this game doesn’t
translate as a 35 home run hitter joining your squad mid-season. It’s the
little things like completing a play in the field and being six deep in the pen
with top relief pitching. You know, like the Kansas City Royals.
I’m sure we’ll
talk a lot about this in the off-season.
For now,
heal your Mets wounds in the hot tub and… we’ll talk.
11 comments:
On balance, this was an excellent and unexpected season. Sure, the ending sucked as we were just a few plays from going back to KC with a 3-2 lead, if not winning the damn thing 4-1.
Ah well, that is life, I suppose.
With that said, the team has a bright future......I am sure we will spend a ton of time this off season on that topic.
For now, I am thankful to the team and the management for what they accomplished this year.
Mike
Mack,
Great synopsis and thank you for everything you do here. Thank you even more for graciously allowing me to take part in this site over the years. It not only allowed me the chance to express myself and stir debate, it allowed me to get a closer look at this all come together making this year's run all that much sweeter.
If you'd allow it, I have a piece Id like to contribute in the next day or so.
All the best,
Michael
This season was a lot of fun, from the ten game winning streak, to Boras being a villain, to the wilmer flores and redemption, cespedes being unconscious, but mostly the last 3 months of great baseball. Im sorry they lost, but it was great to feel how close we are to winning. Im excited long term, even if all the free agents leave. much to talk about, and an exciting hot stove as im ready for next year already!
On Cespedes, what a roller coaster ride. He sure was fun and then, poof, he disappeared. Aloof and indifferent. It was strange and disconcerting.
During Game 4, after Conforto hit the two HRs and the Mets were nursing a lead, the question I asked was: Do you sub Lagares in for Cespedes, who had already kicked two balls in CF this series. One answer was, no, you leave your star player alone.
The other answer, a little less clear, was also no -- because they were all a little bit afraid of him. How he'd react.
I think that loomed large in the decision to let him bat in Game 5. The decision to not even ask him to test the leg, when a DP would have been disastrous. They struck me as a little bit afraid of the guy. Maybe that's a crazy thing to say, but that's how I see it.
I am okay with saying goodbye, unless the numbers shift significantly. I think he should be back to 5/$100 land, maybe where he was before he took off like a meteor in August. With a good performance, he carries the Mets across the finish line.
AN ALTERNATIVE WORLD SERIES
As many readers might be aware, I am not really into bashing Terry Collins, and that's not at all what this is about. When it comes to finger pointing, we've all digested the performances and we know who fell short. We can all name the name, site the failings. It was never a perfect team.
However, I come back to the 9th inning of Game One. Everything turned on that HR.
And I mean: Everything.
Imagine that Familia closes out that tense, tight game with a 4-3 win. Our Mariano, enjoying an unbelievable run. The rush, the excitement, the belief.
Come Game 4 -- Familia is fully rested, since Collins does not sense that Familia needs a restorative inning in the 9-3 blowout -- Familia comes in for the two-inning save. Terry is fully confident in the Mets closer. Everyone else is too. Because when you see his face, it's too late. And Jeurys does what he does. Mets win.
Game 5, after those two solid performances, it's time to say, "Thank you for much, Matt, but this is how we close out games." And you hand the ball to Jeurys. Because he's the MVP and it's all about getting the ball into his hands.
I really think that's not at all an improbable alternative path this series could have gone. But he gave up that HR, he failed, and it shook the Mets universe, leading TC to three bad decisions (I was in favor of the last bad decision, for the record, and wasn't outraged by the other two).
One good rule to live by: If a pitcher walks a batter when it's late and close, and you've got a stud in the pen, don't sit on your hands.
Before the WS, I pegged Familia as the MVP, Mets in 7. One can look at the 2015 WS as a time when TC mismanaged the Mets most valuable resource. Three blown saves, statistically speaking, when he didn't even give up a hit in two of those appearances. He was set up to fail. Twice brought into games much too late; once brought it unnecessarily.
Oh well.
James -
I agree.
This could have been so much more.
This was the best Mets' season I remember since 1986 - this year was better then 2000 and 2006 because it was so unexpected.
I had the extreme pleasure of being at the game last night - the ending sucked, but for 8+ IP, it was the best sporting event of my life - we were all screaming for Harvey to come back out in the 9th - he stayed one batter too long, but he deserved that shot.
For all the good things TC did during this year, he seemed to screw up all the big decisions in the World Series.
But, at least we had the World Series.
We have the makings of a team to get back there next year.
As far as Cespedes - I think he may have been hurt more than everyone was letting on
He was never the same after getting plunked...then add in the shoulder injury. It's very possible that he was.
Kind of off topic, but, has anyone else noticed how much Arod still loves the Mets? I know his actions have drawn a lot of negativity over the years, and rightfully so, but he was our biggest cheerleader and obviously would love to be playing with this pitching staff.
I know we avoided a lot of drama, but he admitted a few years ago that he wished he signed with us and I'd bet that he still feels the same way.
Michael -
Too late.
We don't need another infielder that can't turn a double play
Mack -
I can't envision a scenario that would bring him across town, I was just surprised at how open this guy who has been a Yankee for over a decade now still loves us and would probably rather be in Queens - very rare.
However, since you mentioned it, if he were to somehow come over, I'd see if he'd be willing to pick up a 1B glove for the last two years of his contract and trade Duda..also have him play 3B when the Captain's back acts up.
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