Reese Kaplan -- So the Wilpons Are Gone...Now What?

Do you remember when the word came out that the Wilpons were actually considering the sale of the New York Mets?  Most folks reacted with glee, thinking that the nightmarish chapter of their ownership was finally coming to a close.  Some cheered.  Some drank.  Some gave high-fives to their fellow Mets fan friends and family members.  There was not a sad nor dry eye in the house.

Then came word that the then-current partial owner, Steve Cohen, was going to be the one making the investment in the New York National League franchise.  Cohen had a bit of an uneven reputation in his investment circles, but he was a billionaire and would have the deep pockets to improve the ballclub that heretofore shopped at the scrap heap.  Happy days are here again...or so we thought.

Yes, this relationship started off well with a major trade pulled off to bring top flight shortstop Francisco Lindor and top flight pitcher Carlos Carrasco to the Mets.  This type of deal had been long in coming and fans did cartwheels in the street when they saw that the Mets were willing to use every means necessary to improve the team.  When free-agent-to-be Lindor was quickly given a ten-year $341 million contract, most Mets fans just shook their heads in disbelief, muttering, “This sure isn’t the Wilpon family anymore!”

Accompanying these new acquisitions were free agent deals with Taijuan Walker, Aaron Loup, Trevor May and a handful of others to help reinforce what should have been a decent but underperforming team.  Money wasn’t being thrown away recklessly on these deals, but it was flowing and that very type of transaction had seemingly fallen by the wayside in Queens.  

When the Mets relatively quickly ascended into first place which they held for more than half the year, everyone was ecstatic.  True, Lindor didn’t perform as expected.  Carlos Carrasco, Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Seth Lugo, Kevin Pillar, Luis Guillorme, Brandon Nimmo, Joey Lucchesi, David Peterson, Jose Martinez, Jordan Yamamoto and others were quickly gone for long stretches on the IL and it seemed a minor miracle that the Mets held onto the top of the division as long as they did when scoring runs was almost a forgotten skill.  

Even the trade deadline acquisition of All Star and Gold Glove fielder Javy Baez didn’t seem to help.  When the spiral into losing went from a few poor games to an out-of-control avalanche towards the bottom, the boo-birds were out, condemning the Mets for their hitting, their pitching, their lack of baserunning, their role players and their injuries.  Manager Luis Rojas did not escape most fans’ wrath either, and this week even owner Steve Cohen tweeted out his embarrassment at how badly the hitters have been doing.  

If you want to start a long and disagreeing argument with Mets fans, ask them what they need to do to right the ship.  Some will say it’s the front office that has messed things up (starting with the now-departed Jared Porter).  Others think it’s the emergency replacement manager, Luis Rojas, who is at fault.  They’re already replaced the batting coach only to see things get worse instead of better.  Then there are a whole roster of poor performances from the hitters whose only real exception appears to be Pete Alonso.  Even Brandon Nimmo who has hit for a good batting average has seemingly forgotten how to steal bases and hit the long ball.  J.D. Davis is hitting well, but the fans have long since condemned him as incapable of playing the field defensively.  

Then there is the pitching.  Word is out that there is a greater than 99% probability that ace Jacob deGrom will be shut down for the rest of the year if the team is indeed out of postseason contention.  Carlos Carrasco was seemingly rushed back based upon his flat out awful performances as a starter.  While pending free agent Marcus Stroman has been terrific and surprising success from Taijuan Walker helped quite a bit, the rest of the rotation is a shambles.  They have tried trade deadline acquisition Rich Hill with not much to show for it.  Tylor Megill has pitched amazingly well in his starts but there is concern about how many innings he’s logging on his recuperated arm.  A variety of others have tried and failed or tried and gotten injured.  Then there’s Noah Syndergaard who media reports is being groomed to come back in September to work out of the pen.  Oh yeah, he’s a pending free agent, too.  

While many Mets fans will debate the need to pay and retain the services of both Stroman and Syndergaard, that dismisses the whole problem of the anemic offense.  Others think the Mets need to build themselves into a latter day version of The Big Red Machine who fielded All Star hitters at almost every position but crossed their fingers on the days Don Gullett wasn’t pitching.  

The truth of the matter is that the Mets need massive improvements on both sides of the diamond.  The question underlying that assessment is whether or not the current slate in the front office and the field manager are the ones capable of converting a boatload of new acquisitions into a winning endeavor.  You can argue long into the night over that one for sure.

What Mets fans need to understand is that a new regime isn’t going to hit on all cylinders right out of the gate.  Lots of things need to happen, lots of changes need to be made and a fresh approach to team construction needs to evolve.  There is no single right or wrong answer.