There will be no second-half surge from the 2023 New York Mets. The real questions now are all some variation of "What's next."
I've been putting off writing this piece for days — going back even before the Mets dropped their series against the Phillies in such a horrendous fashion. It has been clear for quite some time that these Mets aren't going to pull off some scrappy comeback story. It's not entirely impossible, but the turnaround would have to be miraculous and almost instantaneous. It would require a bunch of ballplayers currently underperforming at various rates to reverse course almost to a man. It would make a wonderful story if it happened, but what would make it so remarkable is how infrequently we see something like that.
My most immediate thoughts — beyond profound depression — at coming to the realization that the season is lost is to question what happens next. I've seen plenty of calls for the head of Buck Showalter, some well-reasoned, and some just shouted out in anger. For what it's worth, I don't believe Buck should be fired. With the minuscule chances of a turnaround, I just don't think it's worth the message of organizational dysfunction it sends out to the rest of baseball.
We all remember how difficult it was for the Mets to get people to interview for open positions in Steve Cohen's first two offseasons owning the club. Much of that was attributed to a reported degree of apprehension on the part of potential targets as to what sort of owner Cohen would be. As I wrote in my last post, Cohen's statements and actions have greatly alleviated those concerns. Why risk backtracking on that perception for a relatively tiny chance of a miraculous second half for the Mets?
One caveat here. I'm not in the room with the decision-makers. I lack the real data required to adequately critique Showalter's performance as manager this season. Sure, he's made some questionable decisions managing the bullpen. But are those decisions Buck's alone, or do they reflect input from the front office? One thing is evident to me. If you fire the guy who is widely respected around the game and was the NL Manager of the Year a mere season ago, you must have better reasons than just some bad in-game managerial calls. Otherwise, you are sending out a virtual broadcast to the baseball world that the organization dysfunction from the Wilpon era still proliferates.
I think the same is true about Billy Eppler. Don't get me wrong. Eppler ultimately needs to answer for what happened to the Mets after a winter where the GM received unfathomably rich support from his owner to build a contender for this season. At the very least, the chances of Billy Eppler finding himself working under someone like David Stearns have to be much higher following such a disappointing season.
2 comments:
Well said, as always Mike.
It is easy to criticize people like Showalter and Eppler who are the face to the fans, but without knowing what is behind the performance failures it is difficult to know who should be held responsible. I certainly would not want to be Buck, walking out to the mound to summon a reliever from an underperforming and inconsistent pen. The probability of success is low no matter what he does, but the probability he is criticized for it is 100%.
I also would not want to be Eppler, who deftly got around the deGrom loss by bringing in last year's Cy Young award winner only to discover that there's not much left in his tank.
I agree that it is not likely Steve Cohen will publicly fire someone tomorrow. It is more likely that he will announce the addition of some new leadership to guide us out of this quagmire.
Thanks Paul. I'm curious to see what Cohen talks about at that news conference on Wednesday. You're right, it won't be firing anyone.
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