Lots of negative folks out there...
Debbie Downers...Nervous Nellies.
After all:
"Daddy Big Bucks Cohen" deal collapses - end of the world!
Lots of injured guys in 2019 - end of the world!
And the pandemic Corona virus, and the Mets play...where else...IN CORONA!!!
Which leads me to ask:
Does anyone remember the old song...
"Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative..."?
Here it is! Give it a listen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3jdbFOidds
So let's accentuate the positive, shall we?
1) Pete Alonso was simply stunning in 2019, simply determined to have repeat huge success.
2) Robby Cano had a .541 slug % in the second half.
3) Amed Rosario came on strong in the 2nd half of 2019, turning 24 in 2020, so the sky's the limit.
4) Jeff McNeil is a .320 hitter with pop so far, and for the foreseeable future, is how I see it.
5) Michael Conforto is the 9th best RF in baseball - maybe better.
6) Brandon Nimmo - the last 2 seasons, if you exclude the first half of 2020 when he was hurt, had the 5th highest OBP in the majors. Why not top 5 in 2020?
7) JD Davis working hard to improve and show 2019 was no fluke.
8) Yoenis Cespedes is looking mighty healed to me, folks - see below:
https://www.mlb.com/mets/news/yoenis-cespedes-posts-hype-video
9) Wilson Ramos is ranked as the 6th best catcher in MLB.
10) Jed Lowrie was MIA in 2019, but he was quite fine in 2017 and 2018, so why not a return to solid play as a utility dude? Con Ed says he is a GREAT utility guy. Peak power, expect regular dividends.
11) Dominic Smith determined to further improve.
12) Jake deGrom - a real two-timer, he is.
13) Noah Syndergaard in freakishly good shape and freakishly focused and determined.
14) Steve Matz seeing real benefits to his pitching from embracing analytics.
15) Rick Porcello saying that playing with the Mets is a dream come true...as is switching to a pitcher-friendly park without the DH.
16) Michael Wacha with a chip on his shoulder, ready to go to war. And he just said, "I feel very healthy, very strong."
17) Seth Lugo, the excellent one, being Lugo again in 2020.
18) Big, bad Dellin Betances eyeing comeback player of the year.
19) Edwin Diaz, saying he figured out exactly what he was doing wrong in 2019, eyeing comeback player of the year.
20) Jeurys Familia drops 30 pounds, working like a dog, and positive enough to declare the Mets’ pen to be the best in baseball, and eyeing (what else?) comeback player of the year.
21) Justin Wilson surely ready to remind everyone that he did well last year, and no doubt intending to do so again.
22) Rob Gsellman aware that it is time to climb higher or fall off the depth chart. Other wannabes nipping at the toes makes one highly motivated to do BETTER.
23) Marisnick and Guillorme being more defensive than guys telling the teacher the dog ate their homework.
24) Marcus Stroman - he has said he was exciting refining some pitches this off season. Should make this quality starter EVEN BETTER!
24) Marcus Stroman - he has said he was exciting refining some pitches this off season. Should make this quality starter EVEN BETTER!
A lot of positive to accentuate, if you ask me.
But can I be sure? Yes.
I'M POSITIVE!
WHAT MORE TO SAY, EXCEPT...LGFM.
27 comments:
Let's get our profanity straight. Alonso's quote is LFGM not LGFM. I hate having my rude adjectives misplaced :)
I'm impressed, Tom. You've somehow managed to out-optimist me.
Needless to say, I ahree with everything you wrote, but I think the Comeback award will go to Yo, not Dellin.
Any positive piece with Gsellman in it is... well... quite positive.
Mack,absent injuries, I am POSITIVE Rob Gsellman is in a more precarious situation than the past 3 seasons - hopefully, he rises to the challenge.
Reese, don't let a dyslexic person quote acronyms. I just never take that advice!
It's hard to believe that Gsellman still has options left, so if others beat him out in ST he can go upstate and be available later.
With Kevin Smith, Kilome, Harol Gonzalez, Oswalt, and now maye Gsellman, the Syracuse rotation could be good.
Wait didn't mention Szapucki and Peterson too. I may need to a positive piece on Syracuse!
John, you can accentuate the positive on the Syracuse rotation pieces - just don't put Gsellman there! Only one place he wants to be - Queens.
Good going Tom. I'm one of those Debbie Downers, so I will keep my lips zipped.
Bob W - all I did was listen to what everyone is saying, or looking at what they did at pertinent points in the near past.
I think in the past, up to the beginning of 2015 primarily, once you got past about 12 guys, you'd run out of positives to accentuate.
The only piece I am really concerned about is back up catcher. Hard to be positive there.
Next, the pen, if the Mets get 2 key injuries. I'd like one more proven arm - but unlikely, since that would almost force Gsellman to AAA or into a trade.
But you lose 2 outfielders for a while, you're OK. Let's say Cespedes and a left hitter. You still got 4 very solid guys to do OF. You lose 2 infielders for a while, you're OK. Depth is improved.
In the past, after a few injuries, every arm called up got bombed, every recalled hitter didn't hit. This team is deeper than almost any Mets team I can recall.
Injuries and defense. It's hard to predict what will happen regarding injuries and the teams that win it all, in all major sports, are the talented teams that are lucky enough to avoid long stints in the Dl or IR, or IL or whatever the list is named. The other thing that won't go away is defense. Nimmo in center will be adequate, I'd be much happier flipping McNeil and Cano as Cano's range at 2nd could be problematic, Cespedes can be very good in left and Davis should be better than last year so LF will not be as big a problem as some might see it. If we get the 2nd half Ramos behind the plate, like Nimmo, will be adequate. If we get the 1st half Ramos who was lazy back there, I have concerns. There are a lot more question marks defensively than on offense and on the mound.
Hey guys! To be even more positive, I added Marcus Stroman, who I remembered to write about after I initially intended to, but forgot to.
Ramos seems determined to improve defensively. Let’s hope action follows intent.
Tom:
I think they will do alright this year. A lot of this is good. Can't quite expect Lowrie to be anything, though.
I'd still like to pick up a veteran backup catcher, on case Ramos is hurt. Nido is fine for a game or two at a time, but I'd be less optimistic if he had to play for weeks or more.
Bob W, Lowrie is a bit of a puzzle - but he's had 5 more months too right the ship since season's end. all we need is him being a quality sub...not asking for the return of 2017/18.
Nido or Sanchez...flip a coin.
I hear you Tom, but, after all this time, the front office is talking like he isn't ready to take the field. This is almost one year since the initial injury. It would be one thing if he were in his mid-twenties, but he's in his mid-thirties. Time just isn't on his side.
Bob W. If that is true, Luis G has a golden opportunity unless Gimenez is passing him.
Or Nunez.
Right...or Nunez, Bill, is a good point.
As an experiment, after not doing so for several weeks, I posted the 24 positive player points on Facebook, as an experiment. Here are the results: No one made comments agreeing with any of it, but the people that did reply wrote that Ramos is slow defensively, Wacha and 14 win Porcello are washed up, and Nimmo is at best a 4th OF despite his .408 OBP. Lots of Facebook fans are amazingly shortsighted and relentlessly negative and critical. Mack’s Mets fans are clearly more sophisticated and balanced in their perspectives.
Balanced, Fair, and Sophisticated
You're kidding right? NY sports fans? Hello.
My take. May not mean anything or...maybe it does.
NY sports fans are why Carmelo Anthony came here for Danilo Gallinari.
Ny sports fans are why everyone wants the highest priced players at every position on every NY team. Although it only works for the Yankees or so it seems. Has to do with the structuring of their brains most likely. They can pick excellent players that work in NY.
NY sports fans are why practically no one sees this 2020 NY Mets team as something very special. Despite that it actually is and they will learn.
NY sports fans are why the Knicks would have gone after KAT even with that gimpy loose knee that cost him five times on the injured list in 2019. We must have star players here. We must Mommy, we must! We cannot develop our own anymore. Fans simply won't wait 2-3 years for a young core nucleus to gel and be homegrown champions.
NY sports fans are why Knicks fans want Jeff VanGundy back as coach. Oops, they are 100% correct on that one. Please disregard. My bad.
NY sports fans (and the press) are why the NY jets and Giants stink every year. LOL (Sorry) Couldn't resist here.
NY sports fans (and press) with their constant whining are probably not penciling in JD Davis as a starting NY Mets player come Opening Day 2020. Seriously. Did you see any of the Mets games second half? Was I the only Mets fan living that felt that JD Davis was the biggest sparkplug Mets player come second half of last season? JD is leader material, not kidding. Am I watching the right NY Mets games or what? He's a better hitter (overall) than Conforto, and he is no fluke.
Not trying to be too critical. Just honest.
Player's Playing Corrections
It's all about adjustments.
Once thru the league, teams learn how to pitch and hit other team's batters and pitchers. Count on it. It's as part of this game of baseball, as the baseball itself.
It's more than just an adjustment. But rather a series of adjustments throughout a player's entire career really. Yaz was an obvious example. he came to camp each season with a new batting stance it seemed. It's almost like mind games, if you will. The winner in this one on one confrontation (pitcher versus batter) owns the other.
Why?
Because it is baseball, and not any other team sport where it truly is solely one on one. Here's an example. A player comes up from the minors. He is a rookie with a decent amount of skill set and scouting notice. The big league pitchers do not know him, unless they had seen him in the minors playing there themselves. That player hits really well his first half of his first season. This is not totally an uncommon thing. Some can and do. Then second half, that batter stalls out and has a harder time than in the first half.
Why?
Adjustment time.
The batter has to figure out what just happened. Was it his fault in his hitting approach and mechanics or did the league simply learn how to pitch to him wisely?
Same thing really with a pitcher.
Why, all of a sudden, are they getting shellacked? Is it the pitcher's mechanics for instance or has the league figured out how and when a certain pitch of this pitcher's is probably coming to the plate next. Analytics. This is where a pitcher needs to assess things, maybe add a pitch to his arsenal or give greater mph separation to his pitches.
It's a series of constant adjustments that extends thru a players entire career.
Now, if a batter or pitcher stalls out for too long (even consecutive seasons) or their stats sort of valley down with a nice view of the fishing lake nearby, then perhaps that player (to me) is kind of/sort of cashing in their dream of being a star player for a recliner and TV. When in reality and through the process of ongoing adjustment, maybe that same player could have been so much more.
Sneak In
(I know, I know, not again.)
The NY Knicks and NY Mets saga are somewhat analogous I realize and do not deny. It's just different avenues from whence they are coming from. Perpetuity advised.
The tabloid looking NY newspapers say each team is a mess. I for one disagree.
NYM is just the Houston thing and Cohen fiasco gnawing at these tabloid writers earlobes.
Where NYK is soley player personnel issues and also maybe forgetting what this team's true tradition really is and why it made them who "they were as Champions" and should be now.
The NYM (to me) are there now. Whereas the NYK has a ways to go still because they will be needing probably two new players to make their 2020/2021 starting five and probably as well the right leadership in-place. They could stay a young and rambunctious developing five or go with a "scolding grandpa type" watch and see. I'd stay young because the talent level here now with the kids is quite good and just needing more time.
Here's how I see Knick' orange and blue right now.
They did totally execute "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" thus far this 2019/2020 season. Moves should have been made, but for whatever unearthly reason were not. They were (I guess) waiting for Karl Anthony Townes to decide, "Should I stay or should I go." Kind of a bad move on the NYK part. But did see this coming.
Better move.
Try to get another big man center not named Townes. For instance like a Naz Reid from the same Minnesota Timberwolves as Townes is. Put him at center. Then, they would have three sure thing starters already in-place heading into this off season. C Reid (it's almost Reed already. Same size player. Very aggressive.) PF Julius Randle, and at the SG AJ Barrett. But I do think in time, that AJ could wind up being a small forward at his size. The bench next season might be: C Robinson PF Bradzeikis SF Wooten PG Payton SG Dotson.
Snuck out. Bye.
Oh yeah...
I saw something today that kind of caught my eye regarding this most dubious "Coronavirus" intruder on life. It is saddening to watch what is happening in China. Even rabid dogs would fare better there than how humans are being treated. Where is the UN?
Anyway...
www.factcheck.org/2020/02baseless-conspiracy-theories
by Jessica McDonald
It covers a few "theories" of origination that could or may not be valid. But it made me think a little, which often I resent doing especially these days when we are all supposed to be numb, bleary eyed, and drooling over reality TV and nunchuck carrying cartoon turtles.
Although, I did once watch TV I must admit. I think it was around 2002 and a few times. This time of year, I do admit to watching Fox and CNN News mainly for the purely comedic value of primary time. Man, I hope that they never implement term and age limits on candidates. It's fabulous stuff!
Oh...
The date of this online article above is 2/7/2020
Worth a quick read i think anyway.
Other writers are getting on board - just saw this headline: Mets’ High Hopes For 2020 Are Justified
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