Reese Kaplan -- Mike Puma's If These Walls Could Talk Part 7 of 9

The way the next chapter in Mike Puma’s If These Walls Could Talk: New York Mets begins, you’d think he was practicing some form of anti-Wilpon horror fiction, devising some wild conspiracy theory in how the Mets owners treated one of their employees.  Unfortunately, it turns out that the truth about a horrible situation was quite real and reinforced why quality players no longer wanted to be a part of the organization.  

During the 2015 season in which the Mets made it all the way to the World Series, pitcher Zack Wheeler was on the IL recovering from surgery.  He spent most of the time in California at home but as the postseason evolved and it was clear the Mets were headed much further than anyone had originally thought would happen, Wheeler wanted to be a part of rooting his team towards success.  

Wheeler then contacted the Mets front office to inquire about flying to New York to see the games in person and was given a rather stunning reply.  Wheeler had asked to come to New York to participate in the experience sitting in the dugout to hear the noise and feel the energy.  The Mets said no.

According to Wheeler, he then asked the Mets if he could get some tickets to sit in the stands to be a distant part of the playoff scenario.  The Mets told him he was welcome to buy tickets just like anyone else.  Isn’t that a kick in the teeth to one of your own players?

During that 2015 season the Mets were in really bad shape when it came to scoring runs.  According to Noah Syndergaard, “I remember there was one game the Dodgers came in with Clayton Kershaw and I looked up and we had four guys hitting under .200 in our lineup.  And Kershaw threw the easiest complete game three-hit shutout I have seen.”

The front office set about trying to fix this problem starting with the reserve player trades that landed them Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe for minor league pitchers John Gant and Rob Whalen.  While neither of them amounted to much in the majors, the Mets immediately thrust the role players from Atlanta into the lineup as their averages in the .270s were markedly better than the team batting average of just .233.

Now the powers that be were after a bigger fish and they identified Carlos Gomez, Yoenis Cespedes and Justin Upton as potential fits to bring them a cleanup type hitter.  Quickly the former Met Gomez who had departed as a key component in the Johan Santana acquisition became the primary focus for Sandy Alderson.  Juan Lagares was hurt and not hitting, so the thought process was that the Mets could get someone nearly as good defensively who could also swing the bat, though not necessarily as well as he did during his All Star appearances for the Brewers.  Everyone agreed it was likely an overpay for someone not at the cleanup hitter level but they were moving aggressively to try to give the lineup some punch.  As well known, some physicals came back suggesting that Gomez was not as healthy as they had expected and at the eleventh hour the Mets were forced to withdraw from the proposed swap of Zack Wheeler (remember him?) and reserve infielder Wilmer Flores.

On the latter, word had filtered out during the game through social media that the trade had taken place.  Obviously that information was inaccurate because Flores was still playing in the game for the Mets and had not been removed as would be required if he was no longer on the team’s roster.  Everyone can vividly remember when Flores apparently heard about it and the toll it took on him as the Mets were the only organization he’d ever known since signing with them as a 16 year old from Venezuela.  He was seen tearing up in reaction to the fake news yet his manager inexplicably did nothing but talk to him to reassure him that he was not traded.  Finally when SNY caught him crying at shortstop Collins made the long overdue move and lifted him from the lineup.  

In retrospect, one of the main culprits is this misinformation was Carlos Gomez himself who had tweeted that the trade was done.  Sandy Alderson did not talk about the medical records causing him to withdraw from the deal until a press conference after the game ended.  By then it was old news.  The only good thing that came about was the fans’ affection for the previously neutral feelings towards the very emotional player.  They appreciated his loyalty to the franchise and were glad he didn’t have to go.

The number two target for the Mets was tremendous outfielder Justin Upton who was playing for the Padres.  He had just landed his third All Star berth while playing for San Diego, but a hot weekend just before the trade deadline caused the California franchise to withdraw him from eligibility to be traded.  At no point was it revealed who Sandy Alderson was willing to peddle away to get Upton when he was under consideration.  

Not surprisingly, another name reentered the trade possibility with Sandy Alderson reestablishing contact with the Cincinnati Reds regarding future Met Jay Bruce.  He again was offering up Zack Wheeler as compensation for this trade, but was rebuffed by the Reds.  

That, of course, led the Mets to the Detroit Tigers and the prospect of bringing Yoenis Cespedes to Queens which would be his fourth team in a two year period.  No one was questioning Cespedes’ raw ability, but he had a reputation for not being the most well liked or respected member of his previous clubhouses.  However, the Mets had the trade deadline facing them and they pretty much needed to make whatever move was available to them.  

The Mets were not sure Cespedes would be a good fit due to his history on the field as well.  He only liked playing left field and the Mets needed help in center field.  He also used a different hitting philosophy than was embraced by the Mets hitting personnel, so they weren’t sure he would be a productive addition to the team.  Finally, the Tigers were insisting on the inclusion of top pitching prospect Michael Fulmer who the Mets didn’t want to include now that their other young arms had already graduated to the majors.

With just ten minutes to go before the trade deadline passed, the Mets with their backs up against the wall acquiesced and sent Fulmer as part of the two-player package to land Yoenis Cespedes.  This time there were no premature media leaks and the trade actually took place.  Along with Fulmer the Mets also gave the TIgers pitcher Luis Cessa who eventually drifted back and forth between the majors and the minors for the New York Yankees, never really establishing his legitimacy in the big leagues.  

Although the Mets won the first three games after the deal and ascended into first place, it was without much contribution from newcomer Yoenis Cespedes.  One hero in this period was nearly departed Wilmer Flores who started in a game in which he received loud, standing ovations at each plate appearance until he nailed a 12th inning home run to put it away for the team he never wanted to leave.

Terry Collins was quite concerned over what disruption Cespedes would bring to the clubhouse, but he was also affirmative in his desire to have him in the lineup every single day.  David Wright forged a friendship with Cespedes and praised him for his quiet way of going about his workouts and gamesmanship.  His only objection to his new friend was his chain smoking.

While Cespedes didn’t homer until his eleventh game with the Mets, from that point forward he was on fire, finishing his 2015 season with an enviable line of 17 HRs and 44 RBIs in under half a season for a combined Detroit/New York line of 35 HRs and 105 RBIs over the course of the 2015 season.  He hit .287 for the Mets as well and displayed a deadly throwing arm from the outfield.  

A last minute addition to the already improved pen which included Tyler Clippard was reliever Addison Reed.  They combined to help the Mets set up for Jeurys Familia and in one early September series the Mets swept the Nationals, pounding eight home runs and pretty much putting the division race away with the Mets clearly finishing on top.  

In September the Mets had another Matt Harvey controversy as the pitcher was fighting his way back from surgery and there was rampant discussion about limiting him to 180 innings pitched for the year.  The Mets needed him on the mound and Harvey did respond most of the time to help the Mets win the division despite missing workouts and through the media fighting with the front office.  

The Mets edged out the Dodgers in the Wildcard Round and then went 4-0 against the Cubs to win the NL championship to move into the World Series.  Daniel Murphy was on fire during that final series and the Mets felt pretty confident going into Kansas City.  

Unfortunately, the Mets dropped that series 4-1 and the Royals became the World Series champions.  Terry Collins was outfoxed by Ned Yost who was not regarded as the swiftest manager in the game, but it was the combination of pitching, defense and smart small-ball play that made the Royals so difficult to beat.  

There were some moments, of course, including an impressive 5th game by Matt Harvey, but his ill equipped manager opted to have him start the 9th inning with a 2-0 lead.  He immediately put the first runner on base and then gave up a double to have him score.  By the time Familia was brought in, the game was pretty much over and it was sealed with Lucas Duda throwing wildly past catcher Travis d’Arnaud to ensure the KC victory.