Tom Brennan - It Ain't 1969 Anymore, Folks - But You Knew That

TUG MCGRAW WOULD SAY YA GOTTA BELIEVE YA NEED A DEEP PEN

Boy, the halcyon days of 1969.  

(Halcyon, for non-wordsmiths, is “denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful.”)

A time of…

Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Tommie Agee, Tug McGraw, World Series. 

Woo Hoo!

Hey, Mets fans - want to ever get to the Series again?  Then…

Realize it is NOT 1969 any more.

Especially when it comes to pitching.

You see, in 1969, the Mets had 51 complete games. 

Yes, Martha, 51.

There were 12 NL teams.  Where did 51 CGs rank them? 

They were only 5th out of the 12 teams in complete games.

In 2024, the game is very different.  One lonely little Mets complete game.

You knew that, of course.

My guess (I didn’t look it up) is that the 2023 Mets may not have had 51 games where starters pitched through at least 6 innings.

That means there is an enormous post-starter chasm from the middle of the game to the end of the game, bridged by the relief fellas.

That's a lot of lengthy tight rope for would-bepen-bulls to fall off of, turning quite a few possible W's into L's.

But you knew that.  

You've seen it.  You've lived it.  Game blown, followed by lame groan.

To successfully get from mid-game possible win to end-of-game "W", you need a bullpen about as deep as the Pacific Ocean. 

The Mets bullpens, though, have typically been puddle-deep.  

Almost every single doggone year.

Wishful thinking does not win games. Lethally strong pens, however, do.

But the Mets front office has over the years had many conversations that basically say this:

"Let's call up all our Mr. Crappy arms from Syracuse, they'll save the day."

Except, Mr. crappy arms don’t. 

In 2023, the Mets pen was 26-36, 4.45 ERA, 34 of 52 saves.  

Stats that scream: Only Puddle-ready.  Not Oceanographic.

And…If your 2024 pen again has no deep-sea bullpen scuba gear?  

Just has galoshes for what they think are going to be just little puddles, as they instead step off the side of the dinghy into the hitting-shark-infested mid-Pacific?

End Result? 

No Wild Card; that is the almost unavoidable result.  

But you knew that.

Why?  Because you're all smarter than the previous Mets GMs.  

Who, based on most years' bullpens, made it de facto clear they didn't know that at all. They prayed for puddle success but were battered by tsunamis.

This pen in 2024 better be ready for extreme ocean depths next year.  

Which means the team needs a deep-diving submarine stocked full of REAL bullpen pitchers.

Let the bullpen frauds, who can only play in little puddles, pitch somewhere else.

Or you'll be pulling out a deck of cards to play Solitaire in early October 2024, rather than where you so much more want to be, which is having your boys of summer playing in a fall Wild Card series.

Division title?  Dream on.  

The Braves are #1 in the initial baseball power rankings that recently came out.  

If the Mets spend $1 billion, the Braves likely still are #1. But...

Even achieving a Wild Card in Metsville will require deep sea scuba gear.  

So…sign and suit up lots of guys who can truly swim with the sharks.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR VOTING BLARNEY

Was there ever any doubt that Corbin Carroll would win ROY for the NL? Tremendous year.

How good was Carroll?

I’d trade the 3 Baby Mets, plus whichever Mets prospect pitcher Arizona would want, to make Carroll a Met. 

Arizona would tell me to get lost.

There would have been ROY doubt, though, if Kodai Senga were truly a rookie, as opposed to only technically being a rookie. His numbers, if he was truly a rookie, would have been sensational (just look them up). He would perhaps have swung some voters to pick him for ROY over Carroll.

Senga, however, starred in Japan for years, was 104-51 internationally, pre-Mets, and is turning a un-rookie-like age 31 soon. 

Technically, perhaps, a MLB rookie, but clearly NOT a rookie. 

Sorry. For that reason I’d have voted for Carroll without a moment’s hesitation.

And the guy who finished 3rd (James Outman, who had a very solid hitting season with LAD) should have finished 2nd, etc.  What’s the difference?

More recognition for a true Straight-out-of-the-minors rookie.

Meanwhile, there was a NL rookie catcher who got defensive props AND hit 25 HRs in 382 at bats, a dude who a real fan favorite.

How many ROY votes did he get? 

One less than one vote: A/K/A ZERO.

Zero votes?? Another travesty.

Each voter should have had to vote for 5 rookies, not just 3, in rank order.

Had that been the case, Alvarez would have gotten plenty of 4th and 5th place votes. Or 3rd and 4th place votes if the de facto non-Rookie Senga was excluded from the ROY voting. So…

Fix the ROY voting system, please.

Just to be clear: 

I am thrilled the Mets signed Kodai Senga, who is the ace of the staff.

However, in truth, he was not a rookie. 

He once was one, though…in Japan, back in 2012.