10/1/19

Tony Plate - Mets Eliminated from Playoffs




The New York Mets made it close to the second wild card playoff spot but fell a little short of the post season with a final record of 86-76 and finished in third place in the National League East. The Mets finished one game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks and two games ahead of the Chicago Cubs in the race for the final wild card spot. 

The Cubs were the biggest disappointment and they picked the worst time of the season to have a nine-game losing streak which was during these last two weeks. I knew the Cubs would have it tough since at one point they had fourteen games left with two of their arch rivals, the St Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers which worked against them. The Cardinals have given the Cubs a tough time throughout the years.

The Brewers stole the National League Central Division Championship from the Cubs by clinching it at Wrigley Field during the last week of last season. The Cubs then were upset in the wild card game at home by the Colorado Rockies. You would think that the Cubs would have had the fire in their eyes and the hunger to win at least a wild card spot this season and they didn’t which bewildered me.

The consolation for the Mets was that they were the sixth best team in the National League and finished strong by sweeping the defending National League Champion Atlanta Braves. Perhaps they can use this as momentum going into next season. 

The first decision the front office has to make is if they want to bring Mickey Callaway back. In my opinion, if they don’t find a high-profile manager that is available, they will probably stay with Callaway. 

They also have to decide who to keep between Zack Wheeler or Noah Syndergaard, because they cannot afford to keep both. Since Noah had some words with the front office, I think they may look to trade him since they can receive a good haul for him.

Also, during the off-season I think they will look to improve the bullpen which means Edwin Diaz might be traded since they were thinking about trading him to the Boston Red Sox during the trade deadline. 

Two bright spots for the Mets this season were Pete Alonso breaking the Major League Rookie home run record and Jacob deGrom having another fantastic season and a chance to win his second Cy Young Award in a row.

In other baseball news, the Cubs parted ways with Manager Joe Maddon and the Pittsburgh Pirates also parted ways with Manager Clint Hurdle.

1 comment:

Tom Brennan said...

Sixth best team out of 15 - but 9th best in attendance - despite Pete Alonso and being in one of the biggest markets in baseball.

To me? It shous that Mets fans want nothing less than winning divisions at this point, or they are not coming out.

YA GOTTA BELIEVE? 2019 Mets fans really don't - not enough to put their $$ where their mouth is, and SHOW UP. But they DO want to believe and show up.

Brodie's challenge.