A lot has happened since the last time I posted here. The Astros and Braves will compete against each other in a World Series that doesn't hold much interest for me. The 2021 baseball season is rapidly winding down to a conclusion. What started back in late March with a ton of optimism for the New York Mets and those of us who love them is ending with the Mets in their usual position this time of year — just an afterthought for all but the most diehard fans.
Steve Cohen's purchase of this franchise injected a ton of energy into the club and the fanbase, but that energy wasn't enough to put them over the top. Hell, it wasn't even enough to push them over .500. Cohen hasn't even completed his first full year as the team owner (the sale went through on Friday, November 6, 2020), but already the honeymoon between the billionaire owner and most Met fans is a rapidly fading memory. In fairness, that was inevitable with anything short of an actual World Series title this year. Still, few of us were prepared for just how badly this team played after the All-Star break.
There was a solid consensus among pundits and knowledgeable fans that the Mets really needed to put a stable, sustainable front office structure in place this offseason, starting with the person who would lead the Mets forward out of their current miasma. Last year, things were quite rushed due to that November takeover, but there is plenty of time to find the right executive this time around. And let me state right here, before I get further into this piece, that it would be absolutely unforgivable if the Mets didn't head into the winter meetings without new, solid leadership in place.
However, the big names tossed around in the press earlier this month for the PBO job never seemed realistic to me. A couple of weeks ago, I shared some thoughts on the subject. At that point, Theo Epstein had already bowed out of consideration. Epstein was always an extreme longshot, in my estimation. It was clear that Epstein is looking to do more than just repeat what he already accomplished in Boston and Chicago.
Although Billy Beane had not yet ruled himself out when I last wrote, I didn't believe that Beane was likely to take the job for the reasons I put forward in that post. And, of course, he didn't. As for the other big name, the Brewers' David Stearns, it really wasn't any surprise that Milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio denied the Mets' request to discuss the job with Stearns. Attanasio did the same thing last year, and there were no indications that he would act any differently this time around.
Yet the same local and national baseball media that touted these guys as candidates for the Mets' PBO job — denying the basic common sense logic that made all three extremely unlikely to come here — already began proclaiming that this year's search for a PBO was another failure. Example pieces are this one from Joel Sherman in the New York Post and this one from Brittany Ghiroli in The Athletic. There were plenty of others, also.
In his piece, Joel Sherman opined that the Mets are stuck in the same place they were last fall:
Epstein, Beane and Stearns were seen as the Mets gold standard. Now, none are even in play, leaving the Mets in executive "Groundhog Day" — like last offseason they have an open position that they can't fill. As of Monday, besides Stearns, they have not asked for permission to talk to an executive elsewhere. Really, it should be a heck of a job.
Last offseason, the first of Cohen’s ownership, the team wanted to hire a president of baseball operations, who would in turn enlist a GM. But Cohen ran into a myriad of issues with desired candidates either 1) comfortable where they were, 2) unavailable because they were under contract, 3) concerned about Cohen’s reputation from his hedge fund for, among other things, being tough on employees and/or 4) concerned about the general dysfunction that swirled around the Mets.
I believe this assessment is vastly premature. The media named these 3 candidates as top choices for the Mets, despite the odds. Then, once none of them panned out, the predictable stories like Sherman's and Ghiroli's started coming out. Essentially, they created an almost impossibly steep mountain for Cohen and Sandy Alderson to climb, then piled on with the criticism when they failed.
6 comments:
It was a bizarrely injury-filled season, with lots of guys having sub par years. Did they have WS talent? If they were healthier than the average team and had most of its players performing normally or better than normal. It didn't happen that way. Thant is baseball.
In total fairness.
Hypothetically speaking: If Jake deGrom had not been out so long injured and The real Francisco Lindor had showed up here after being traded with the bat, I think that it is entirely possible that the first half of 2021 for these NYM could have successfully extended into the second half and ended with the club in the playoffs.
It is possible.
This why the team needs another top end starter. Just in case Jake or Noah get injured again in 2022.
What else?
Get Tom Brady pitching?
Javier Baez
I see it like this.
Without getting a starter like 28 year old Carlos Rodon, it won't matter if Javier, you or I are playing second base.
Sure Javier is a solid second baseman, but his hitting can be feast or famine as well. But he instills a lot of energy, I agree.
But you mean to tell me that Robbie Cano, Wilmer Reyes, or Carlos Cortes could not be good too?
Which guy am I pulling for above? Wilmer Reyes.
Mike, you hit the nail on the head.
There's no patience out there for anything but the top names. For all the people that criticize batters that swing at the first pitch when it's out of the strike zone, you're doing the same thing!
If Epstein, Beane, and Stearns were the only guys that could save this team, then how did the Astros, Braves, and Giants put together such great teams?
The POBO choice isn't a failure unless they chose the wrong person. We don't know that yet. If the Mets find someone with great strategic vision, communication skills, and some ethics they will be on a good course to win.
Let me live in a parallel solar system for a minute. Say Alderson never took over, we would have BVW and his lieutenants still running the show. BVW was good except when he traded, and that was sometimes. The Davis trade was good, the Marsnicktrade was stupid. The Cano trade was a ripoff not just because it was stupid but in order to get rid of Bruce and Swarzak (Alderson’s geniusness) he had to include them in the trade. So, that cost the Mets Kelenic and Dunn. Morons, morons, morons! But, when you work for the Coupons, you are forced into stupid things.
So, since there’s no Alderson, BVW signs Realmuto and Springer, trades for Lindor, but doesn’t extend him. If he doesn’t trade for Lindor, he certainly wouldn’t go nuts for Bauer! My point is, would the Mets be better off today if the snob didn’t fire BVW, knowing there wasn’t much time to find replacements?
I agree, Mike (excellent name, by the way).
The current state of "mainstream media" is severely lacking, IMO.
The insane competition for web hits/advertising dollars has changed the media as an entity that reported the news to one that basically creates stories (like the garbage that you referenced on The Athletic of late). Then, when one of the fabricated stories doesn't come true, the media will blame the target of the story, instead of admitting that they were wrong, etc.
What a job! They are never "wrong" and they are never held accountable for their actions, either.
The Mets should (and will) do their due diligence regarding this POBO/GM hire.......we just need to exercise a bit of patience
and let the process unfold.
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