Tom Brennan - Series Part 3 of 5: WHAT WENT WRONG WITH THE METS FROM 2016-2020. TODAY? 2018

The euphoria of the Mets’ 2015 run to the World Series turned into hysteria from unhappy Mets fans from 2016 through 2020. 

The prior two articles of this series looked at where the Mets went wrong in 2016 and 2017.

Today?  The factors that dissolved 2018. 

This was the Callaway season that started out 11-1, followed by 66-84 dreariness, despite having the league’s Cy Young winner (Jake deGrom) and a 13-4 Noah Syndergaard.

What went wrong?  Plenty.  Here we go:

CHEAPNESS

The Mets (as they have all too often over the years) tried to squeeze a buck, hoping for good health and good performances.  

They got neither.

They brought in Todd Frazier (.213), Austin Jackson (.290 OBP), Jose Bautista (.204), Jay Bruce (.223), and 4 minimum wage subs (den Dekker, Evans, Reinheimer, and Kelly) who in remarkable "Mets minimum wage subs play like amateurs" fashion went 9 for 80, a true win-inhibiting rate of bat dysfunction.

They kept aging Jose Reyes a year too long and he obliged by hitting .189.

They brought in cheaper-than-alternatives, soft-tossing Jason Vargas.  Vargas, minimum wage Corey Oswalt, and floundering Matt Harvey had over 30 starts and a combined ERA of about 6.00 (and a few relief appearances).  When the Yankees need a starter, they don’t get a Vargas or use an Oswalt...they spring for a Gerritt Cole.

INJURIES

When early injuries hit, the low budget Mets were ill-prepared. Travis d’Arnaud’s very early TJS surgery, 4 other catchers stepped in and hit a deflating .202 in 574 at bats.  All 4 replacement catchers were LOW salary dudes.

Yoenis Cespedes suddenly needed double heel surgery In May.  He could have used a third - he turned out to be quite a heel, didn’t he?

They needed a first baseman, and called in washed up Adrian Gonzalez, who compiled a .299 OBP and made no one think they were watching Freddie Freeman before AG got his pink slip and retired.

Juan Lagares started nicely with the stick until yet another multi-month acrobatic injury truncated his season in mid-May.  One of Evil Knievel's favorite crash-and-burn players.

PITCHING

Cheap pitching of dubious quality came up and bit the Wilpons hard...yep, cheap didn’t work there either.

“Who needs wins, anyway?” Paul Sewald followed his 0-6 season in 2017 with an 0-7, 6.07 season in 2018.  No one cared enough about winning to keep the ball away from Paul.  

The Mets in fact had 14 mostly dirt cheap relievers with ERAs above 5.00.  No one seemed to really ask why such a stupid cheap strategy was employed - at least didn't ask enough to do something sensible.

MANAGER

Callaway was new to managing and new to the league, but did something not new to Mets fans...he lost a lot.  Being a former pitching coach did not seem to help the nearly 20 pitchers in 2018 with ERAs above 5.00.

CONCLUSION

Winning teams don’t go cheap and hope every key player is Cal Ripken-durable.  Those in the marijuana industry say that's what pipe dreams are made of.   

Nope: 

Dumb luck only comes around once every few decades in Metsville.

The rest of the time, says Steve Cohen, you need MasterCard.