Mike's Mets - Better Than Magic

 

By Mike Steffanos

It's not a "magical season." This year's Mets team doesn't need magic to win.

Decades of incompetence and mismanagement of the Mets franchise under the previous owners have conditioned New York Mets fans to a generally pessimistic view of their team's chances. The formula was pretty basic. In the rare years that the Mets seemed like they had a chance to contend, they could do so only by overcoming the obstacles put in place by an organization that simply wasn't built on competence and a can-do attitude. Even when the Wilpons were willing to spend some money in the pre-Madoff days, that money wasn't always utilized in ways needed to build a club primed for sustained success. Particularly since the turn of this century, good Mets seasons were rarely followed by others. Making the playoffs twice in succession only happened in 1999 and 2000 and 2015 and 2016 — with that second one being a one-and-done wildcard game in 2016.

The Mets' ongoing problems were mainly centered around a lack of roster depth and an inability to build the minor league feeder system that has helped other clubs like the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Braves make repeat trips to the playoffs on a much more regular basis. Meanwhile, I repeatedly watched injuries sink one promising Mets season after another. Although their location in the New York market gave the Mets access to some of the finest medical care in the country, the Mets had a reputation for grossly mismanaging these injuries. When important players went down, the lack of advanced prospects to fill in often forced the Mets to attempt to win games with a roster sprinkled with has-beens and Quad-A types, rarely to any level of success.

Even last year, with Steve Cohen signing the checks, the depth that the Mets put together failed to withstand the losses of some key players. In fairness, the underperformance of important players such as Francisco Lindor, Michael Conforto, and Dom Smith played a significant role, too. But they also gave Cameron Maybin his last 33 MLB plate appearances, famously batting him third in a loss to Atlanta on May 19. It wasn't until May 29, his final game with the Mets (also against Atlanta), that Maybin managed to get his first base hit. Maybin was a great guy and a class act, and Mets fans actually were rooting for him, but he had no business playing in the majors last season. After the Mets let him go, Cameron failed to hook on with another club and subsequently retired from baseball.

So many things last year had the vibe of the previous era under the Wilpons, but things were changing. The Mets initially pursued candidates for a President of Baseball Operations job but pivoted to signing Billy Epler as an experienced GM familiar with the New York market. Once Eppler was in place, Cohen gave him carte blanche to spend whatever it took to ensure that the 2022 season wouldn't repeat 2021's disappointment. To that end, the Mets also replaced Luis Rojas as manager with the uber-experienced and credible Buck Showalter.

When I watched Max Scherzer take himself out of his start against the Cardinals, I had a good idea that I wouldn't be watching him pitch again soon. The diagnosis of a "moderate to high grade internal oblique strain" with a projected 6-8 week recovery time was more or less in line with what I expected to hear. I knew that Scherzer didn't remove himself from a game with something minor.

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