The problem with media these days is that it's ubiquitous and everyone participating in the creation of it, from professional sportswriters to humble bloggers, needs content in order to feed the insatiable need of their readers, viewers and listeners.
A great example is the reaction to the New York Mets in their seemingly unending and ineffectual quest to fulfill their many job openings. No matter what they did there was a need to overreact just to keep the story alive.
Last week, for example, the prospect of Adam Cromie becoming the new General Manager was the latest bone ferociously assaulted by the media and its acolytes. There were the soldiers of Mets blue and orange who praised the outside-the-box thinking to bring in someone who is not a proven failure.
Then there were the torches and pitchfork crowd who lambasted the team and owner Steve Cohen for even considering someone who has been out of baseball for FOUR WHOLE YEARS!!! (Of course, this same crowd had no problem with the Mets hiring a manager who had been out of the Major Leagues from the end of 1999 until 2011, so apparently a dozen years is acceptable sometimes but four years is unacceptable always).
Anyway, to hear the media tell it, the now 38 year old Cromie was a shoe-in for the job and it was merely a matter of settling the compensation and responsibility details. No matter who the Mets chose was going to be fodder for everyone to pile onto the LOLmets theme that they are perpetual losers in whatever they attempt to do.
Then, seemingly out of left field, word filters out that Billy Eppler, formerly of the Yankees and Angels, was being offered the job. Of course, the fact they had a young veteran with five full years as the GM of the Angels was surely going to satisfy the whiners, right?
Wrong. He served during an ongoing below .500 record in terms of the Angels standing and seemed to cement in many pitchfork carriers that he was a proven loser. The feed coming out of the Mets is that he was kept from doing what was necessary due to ongoing interference and meddling from owner Arte Moreno who has a reputation for being a difficult person for folks to abide.
The fact of the matter is, the Mets need someone who is capable of developing the roster effectively and take this responsibility out of Sandy Alderson's hands. Yes, there was legitimate concern that while scout-oriented Eppler was quite good at finding hitters, he was less effective at building a pitching staff. Again, the message out of the Mets was that Moreno made this priority less important and he was prouder to have embraced the likes of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.
Furthermore, Eppler is best friends with presumed candidate to be the POBO next year, David Stearns of the Milwaukee Brewers. He was instrumental in scouting while working for the Yankees and will not be intimidated by New York (not that Los Angeles is exactly a podunk town either).
He was able to add a number of highly credible players to the Angels lineup. He was also highly focused on advanced analytics, something which surely rang several bells with Steve Cohen and company.
While a great many fans and media types will rain on the Mets parade at bringing in a new General Manager, the fact is that successfully doing so allows them to prepare for the upcoming season and the inputs to the league's contractual obligations that are due in December.
No one was thrilled that Luis Rojas was the emergency replacement manager any more than they were enamored with Brodie Van Wagenen, Jared Porter nor Zack Scott in the front office. Sometimes things work. Sometimes they don't. This choice may or may not work out but it gives the team the opportunity to move forward. That hiring decision should be recognized as necessary and will be evolutionary for the team, if not revolutionary as many folks desire.
13 comments:
WAIT! Eppler is good at adding hitters? SIGN ME UP!
The media are sc*mbags who care nothing about the Mets. All they want is for you to click on their post and read their horsesh*t. I watched all of SA's press conferences from the GMs meetings myself and didn't need the media twisting around everything he said with their usual nastiness. Screw the media...don't read it.
So far, the Mets have done exactly what they need to do.
And with Eppler being in complete control, all the crap about SA being in the way of the GM was a load of crap generated by SA-hater assh*le fans.
Eppler checks all the boxes with GM, head of analytics, and head of scouting experience.
The fact that he had a terrific mind-to-mind meeting w Steve Cohen tells me he understands what the owner wants done.
All of it is ridiculous as it takes years to really how it will work out but as starved for info on any Met news as we are everything becomes headline news. Big question guys: how do you all play the draft picks going forward. With the plethora of picks now would you sign a player with a QOer attached?
I think the bigger issue is that he is a lure to help bring David Stearns here next year. That box is probably a bigger one than all of his cumulative experience.
There should be no hard and fast limits. Consequently you might target the players like Baez and Bryant who do not have compensation requirements, but if the answer was, for example, Nick Castellanos, then you have to be flexible enough to negotiate if indeed you decide he is worth having and you give up the draft pick. Keep all options open.
I wouldn't give up the 11th pick in the draft just because the Mets have five picks in the first 80 to 85 selections. All those are still a long way from the top of the draft.
Of course, I depends on what FA we're talking about, doesn't it?
Gary- along with the draft choices let's take advantage of the 2022 International signings. The Mets are linked to one of the top 20 players thus far.We need to do even better with our signings.
Totally agree on international signings but does anyone know where this organization is on the subject?
I thunk the David Stearns bit is a pipe dream. If he comes one day - great. In the meantime I think we just need to focus on what Mr. Eppler can do. I like the scouting background but Mets need to build up coaching staffs all over the minor leagues and number of scouts across the country. Last I heard was that while the Rays scout other team players in the minors, the Mwts don't scout any below AA. I have not heard that this has changed. The scout who found deGrom was fired. Lets see Eppler, Cohen and Company build up those positions. That is a relatively easy fix and a good first step.
Then bring back Wally and Fonzie.
LOVE your take, Nickel7168!
I, too, and fatigued by the BS media and the LOLMets agenda that has emerged.
Eppler has an interesting background (his entire resume, not just the stint in LA with Arte Moreno meddling with things) and he is also familiar with NYC, which is a plus. Admittedly, I do not know what it takes to run a major league team as a GM, so I am keep an open mind and trust Steve Cohen's decision making.
However, I hope that our new GM shines a very bright light on our player development program, to include the health of our players. It is unacceptable the number of injuries this team has had, of late. It is also unacceptable that we don't seem to develop our younger players as well as other teams do (like Mauricio's defensive issues that we all discussed yesterday).
The name of the GM is secondary to getting player development right (finally).....and it needs to start in the Rookie Leagues, all the way up to NY.
Has anyone heard what happened to the Josh Byrnes candidacy? Well, we all will welcome Eppler and with him well. I remember running into Steve Philips the day he was promoted to GM with my boss and co-worker. We all wished him well and he shook our hands with a smile and a thank you. That’s all fans can do.
Has anyone here
Seen my old friend Thor. Can you tell me where he's gone. I thought I saw him walking up on a Californian hill. With Flexen, Zachary, and Dark Knight.
Can you believe that they offered Thor actually Stroman dollars?
Stroman is a 500% won/lost starter with a so-so strikeout potential per nine. But overall, it just may have been a good move for the NYM to lose Thor. Because if Jake and Noah were to go down injured again this season, they become the NY Jets for the rest of the season. Losers. Just like in 2021. Needles to the eyes for all us.
So rebuild this stronger, smarter, better. They will come in '22. It isn't the big name 34 year old fading star. But rather a winning team with unlimited potential.
Learn from this squandering of probably the best NYM rotation ever.
deGrom is 33, Thor is pushing 30 now, Harvey is 33, and Zach 32. It was perfect for awhile, almost Camelot here once with these four superbs. But it died in its sleep without vision for the rest of the design to follow.
This must change in '22. And it shall.
Welcome the new NY Mets.
"The time is now. Make it so."
LGM
It is the
P-I-T-C-H-I-N-G
people.
Kris Bryant and Nick Castellanos would have to hit 60 HR's each if the starting rotation here is in injury and fail mode again. Think about it. Forget the AI, this is obvious.
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