If you are a Mets fan, you have heard it time and time
again. The Mets are cheap. They don’t spend the money, so they don’t win. Joel
Sherman of the post recently wrote about this, the radio talk show hosts
talk about it, the fans of other teams tease you about it, it goes on and
on.
I think this all started in the 70’s when free agency came to
be and the Mets refused to enter into the fray.
Meanwhile, the team across town made big splashes by signing the Catfish
Hunters, Reggie Jacksons and Don Gullets of the world.
Then the Wilpons bought the team. While spending big on free agents like Bobby
Bonilla, and Carlos Beltran and trading for high priced stars like Gary Carter,
George Foster, and Johan Santana, the Wilpons have earned the nickname “the
coupons”.
However, when you look at the league payrolls over the years,
the Mets are usually around 10th to 12th in the payroll
department.
But spending money is no guarantee that teams will win, and
just because a team does not spend does not mean they will lose.
Two of the top payroll teams this last year, the Red Sox and
the Cubs didn’t even make the post season.
The team with the lowest payroll in baseball who not only made
the post season but is one game away from the ALCS? The Tampa Bay Rays.
At $53 million Tampa Bay is almost $100 million behind the
Mets who had a total payroll (including those on the injured list) at $142
million. Yet, the Rays are still playing
games and the Mets are home. The Mets
are even paying the salary of their catcher, Travis d'Arnaud who 16 homers
(Wilson Ramos hit 14) with 69 RBIs in 101 games (Wilson Ramos had 73 in 141
games).
It is not how much you spend but what you do with your money.
The Mets seem to go big on big money players, then get
burned by a bad contract, get a little gun shy, then come back, do some big
contracts, get burned, get gun shy, and on and on.
They hire a GM, who then brings in his own people, when
things go wrong, they fire the GM, hire a different GM who brings in his own
people and on and on.
Rather than just spending money, the Mets need a plan. Meaningful games in September or October is a
goal not a plan. Win now and in the future is a goal, not a plan. They first have to
figure out the kind of baseball they want to play. Hire a GM, managers and
coaches that share that vision and can carry it out.
Otherwise, they will go from GM to GM and from one new
beginning to another. Maybe have success
at times but no real sustained success.
The teams that have sustained success? Those teams emphasize fundamentals.
Last year, for the first time in a long time (maybe since Gil Hodges), a Mets team
emphasized fundamentals and defense and won, the Brooklyn Cyclones. The Mets need to learn from this and apply it
to every level of the organization.
It can be the start of a plan that has worked time and time
again.
Or we can look to another new manager, another new GM, and
so on and so on.
14 comments:
John, if the Mets spent like Tampa Bay, we'd win 40 games again.
I look at it differently - what would the incremental cost to the Mets have been if they fixed their bullpen at the beginning of May? Or, better yet, added at least one more legit arm to the pen last off season? They assumed they spent just enough - they were wrong.
What would have been the incremental cost of adding another decent OF last off season, rather than rolling with the likes of Broxton, Altherr, and Gomez? With Broxton, they assumed they'd spent just enough. They were wrong.
You have to start where you are at, and decide if you need to spend more from there.
The Mets are where the Knicks have been for so many years. Tons of dead money with more to come (Cespedes, Callaway).
They had a great year but, organizationaly, are still years away.
True Tom. I agree with what you say.
Think I am trying to say that before you make any moves you need a plan. Can you tell me what the plan is? Do they have a type of player they look for to fit an overall game plan? Or do they just go from one GM to another hoping they get it right one day?
It's not just a matter of spending more. It's knowing when to admit you were wrong and then doing something about it. I give some kudos to BVW for making more strides in this direction than his predecessor as he did cut ties with Altherr, Broxton, Gomez, Font and others when they weren't getting it done. The problem is that the new options were not any better.
I double checked the dead money claim and there is only $12mil being owed to Wright and $2mil to Vargas in 2020.
However, I consider Cespedes' $29.5mil dead as well.
In addition, new arbitration projected numbers are out and they are high:
Marcus Stroman: $11.8M
Joe Panik: $5.1M
Noah Syndergaard: $9.9M
Steven Matz: $5.3M
Michael Conforto: $9.2M
Edwin Diaz: $7.0M
Seth Lugo: $1.9M
Brandon Nimmo: $1.7M
Robert Gsellman: $1.2M
Tom, you make a lot of good points here, but your comments about the pen leave me smh.
In the off-season, they added Diaz, Wilson, Familia and Avilan to a pen which already had Lugo and Gsellman.
Some worked out, some didn't, but saying they were not aggressive enough in improving the pen is ridiculous.
Bill while they were aggressive last year with the pen, for the Mets, my brother had it right at the time:
When they stopped with pen moves that, for the Mets, were to that point aggressive, my brother, at that time, said to me, "watch, they'll stop here, because they're the Mets, and you watch, it won't be enough." He wanted Britton, too, or someone of his caliber. I thought he was a little too hard line - but it turned out he was 100% right. Over-stock the pen, then trade surplus mid season if you don't need as much.
The pen, by and large, torched 2018 and 2019 for the Mets.
Mack, will the Mets keep Panik at $5 million? I wouldn't. Also, wherever the projections are from, after a disaster year, it is hard for me seeing Edwin get over $5 million in arbitration...maybe I am wrong there.
And I know $$ and cents enter in here, but it would be so cool to replace Lagares/Broxton/Gomez/Altherr at bats with a healthy Cespedes and stick him in a line up with Alonso, Conforto, and yes, slugger McNeil.
The 4 bums of the Apocalyse, Lagares/Broxton/Gomez/Altherr, went 83 for 424 in 2019 (.195) with just 8 HRs and 142 Ks. Even a diminished Cespedes ought to be good for .225 and 20-25 HRs in the same at bats.
I hope he is healthy and forces the Mets' hand to play him. If healthy, he is a massive upgrade over those futile four.
Tom
I can't see the Mets keeping Panik, who plays only one position
The Madoff disaster cost us 8 to 10 years before the dark skies opened when Brodie came on board so now the question is how much power/influence does he have after last seasons missteps? Even our old friend Travis would have been a major upgrade, if we kept him, over Nido who couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat (and lets face it we haven't had a runner thrown out at second in what seems like decades) and in the long run how many games could he have won alone in place of Nido 2 or 3 perhaps which could have made a difference to name just one area of concern. Wise player shopping is what counts and here's where the new FO comes in as its now time to shine fellas. The problem I have with BVW is last year I'm sure he wanted to make a splash and did but it pretty much backfired on him and if not for Pete and Jeff the fan base would be arranging a lynching party by now so with the directive from above of playoffs or bust next year what's he gonna do? One question for all is would you spend $$$ for Rendon? Our lineup would actually be scary with him in the 4th hole and how sweet would it be to take him from the Nats!
Gary, great lines: "Nido...couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat (and lets face it we haven't had a runner thrown out at second in what seems like decades)."
Regarding Rendon, I would love him. As long as they also REALLY fortify the pen and adequately replace Zack, if he leaves. Worry about finding Baty a place in the line up when he is ready, and trade Gimenez perhaps next off season when he is more ready to play in the major leagues.
As much as I'd love to have Rendon, I wouldn't give him a Harper/Machado-type deal. Those (like Yo's) too often come back to bite you in the ass.
With McNeil and Lowrie, we're well covered at 3B, though I'd prefer to move Cano there and give McNeil 2B.
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