Going into the last few games of the 77-85 Mets’ 2021 season, seething, angry Mets fans are continuing to lash out.
One of the chief targets is Jeurys Familia, who recently wrote this:
“I have no words to describe all my feelings for New York. I know that things have not been easy but every day that I get out of bed one of the first things that crosses my mind is what to do to be better and give the best to the best fans in the world of baseball. The Mets organization gave me the opportunity to see my dream come true and I will never forget it. I have a very large tattoo in the depths of my heart that says Mets for life."
"For the fans, despite all the boos, bad words and everything bad that they may think of me or wish me, I put myself in their chair and I understand it perfectly, they have been waiting for a championship for many years and they will always occupy an important space in my life."
"Thank you LGM for life.”
WOW!
He blew games this year, for sure. So did Edwin Diaz. So did Trevor May. And Familia is 9-4, with 11 Ks per 9 IP this year.
I don’t ever recall a 9-4 pitcher being despised so much, so out of proportion.
I recently noted on Facebook that the reviled Familia and Trevor May were 16-7 combined this year, and perhaps folks ought to ponder that. NINE games over .500 on a team that otherwise was 17 games below .500.
“Hey, and while you’re at it, get a real closer.” After all, Diaz blew 6 of 38 saves. SMH.
Lots of venom in responses to my FB post.
Mostly, it seemed, from non-Hispanic responders, for what it’s worth.
I’ll leave it at that.
Mets fans?
I’ll just say it:
Many of them … what’s the right word…SUCK!
They bayonet the strugglers. Make them feel like failures. Then wonder why they leave and succeed elsewhere.
Matz, Sewald, McHugh, Flexen, Robles, Wheeler, just to name a few.
Familia, 10 years as a Met, 28-23, 3.27, 124 saves. “Sucks!”
Robles, 8-9, 40 saves, 3.93 ERA as an ex-Met. “Sucks!”
Sewald, 10-3, 11 saves, 3.06, 104 Ks in 65 innings as an ex-Met. “Sucks!”
McHugh, 64-39 as an ex-Met. “Sucks!”
Matz, out of the pressure cooker and supported by a robust offense, 14-7, 3.82. “Sucks!”
Flexen, 14-6. “Sucks!”
Flexen and Sewald took a Seattle team nobody thought had a sliver of a chance at the playoffs and look how well the Mariners did this season.
Wheeler, Cy Young, perhaps? “Sucks!”
You can add to the list if you’d like.
Conforto, Dom, McNeil, Lindor?
If fans ENCOURAGED them, would they have done better than the fans who gave them a proctological?
Alonso has been booed at Citi way too often. Funny how he didn’t hit well there in 2021.
All of the above guys?
You water a plant, it grows. You mistreat a plant, it dies.
My conclusion?
Many Mets “fans”…..suck. They have bad impulse control, loudly despise player imperfections…and love to strut how “wise” they are by eviscerating the strugglers.
And the condemnation makes “their” players WORSE.
And the players go elsewhere to nicer environments and THRIVE.
They go where they’re celebrated, not castigated.
The “fans” don’t stop to wonder why, because they enjoyed beating that bad, bad dog.
The dog then gets a new, friendlier master and, voila, the dog thrives.
The next time Mets fans want to vociferously tear down their players, I would suggest they move on instead and trying mixed martial arts as a hobby. You know, a participant sport, where there are felt consequences for actions.
LET ME END BY LOUDLY SAYING:
JEURYS FAMILIA, THANK YOU FOR TRYING SO HARD.
YOU HAVEN’T BEEN PERFECT IN YOUR METS CAREER.
BUT OVERALL, YOU WERE GOOD, EVEN VERY GOOD, MUCH OF THE TIME.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GRACE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HEART.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HONESTY.
THANK YOU, AMIGO.
WHATEVER MAY FOLLOW, HERE OR ELSEWHERE, I WISH YOU ONLY THE BEST.
19 comments:
It's New York.
Fans expect a major market team to be able to make the playoffs every season, at the very least. But look at all sports teams in New York lately, aside from the Yankees maybe.
The fans are very frustrated and that is why.
It's more this fact than personal against any one player I think. It's understandable but sometimes most unfair. A team wins together but also loses together.
I personally think that the Mets have more personnel moves to make then most people think. It played sort of flat second half and then in the last week or two players showed up and did well all of a sudden. To me it suggests more moves than just like a couple.
Personally, I think that the current Mets ownership and management will see this fact as true. I expect the team to have a smart off season and a big uptick in 2022 making the playoffs.
I agree with this post
As a Mets fan the most disappoitment I had this year was Carlso Carrasco. After the trade the sports writers were talking him up as the next #2 pitcher in the Mets rotation. I was disappointed in him that he was injured and then when he came back to help the team he was terrible. I think the Mets should look to trade him this off season so that we could have a better rotation this season.
The Mets have always built their teams around pitching, that is why the fences are further out than other stadiums. I think we should continue this philosophy because pitching wins over hitting. Because of this I feel the Mets need to get starting pitchers on the free agent market. They can not rely on DeGrom, Walker, Carrasco, Peterson and Megill. Hopefully Sydergard will return and be good. But Met fans do not know what to expect from him and DeGrom for 2022. Based upon this right now without changing any position players I would say the Mets chances of missing the playoffs next season is good.
Off Season Moves
As we all know, off season moves can be sort of tricky where present free agents need to be assessed accurately, and then new players added into the mix here that can improve the team's success immediately.
Obviously it begins with careful and honest evaluation of your own current big league roster, seeing where the team fell short in 2021. But also your MiLB AAA players, to see just who may be close to playing at the MLB level.
Players very close to here, like 3B Mark Vientos, OF Khalil Lee, P Josh Walker, P Jordan Yamamoto and maybe too players who very few may be familiar with like RHP pitcher Adam Oller who had 13 strikeouts against Worcester Sox August 14th. The Mets picked him up off the Rule 5 Draft from Pittsburgh. At Bing and Syracuse in 2021, he combined for a 9-4 record while compiling 138 strikeouts in 120 innings, a 3.45 ERA, and a 1.17 WHIP. He has multiple MLB level pitches scouts say, and will most likely add mph on his fastball as he goes.
https://www.milb.com/video/oller-strikes-out-13-batters?t=playerid-670124
I also liked Harol Gonzales in prior seasons (2019) before he got hurt, but I am not certain where he is with his injury recovery at present.
After all this, the trading starts.
Raw, I wonder what Carrasco has left in the tank for 2022? Also, Adam Oller might be a dark horse starter for 2022.
Anon, Oller was super impressive, Harol Gonzalez to me an extreme long shot. He never had big velocity, now he had TJS.
This will be an off season with huge decisions to make.
Very good points, Tom. But be careful...the last two guys that let the Mets' fans know what they were thinking almost got run out of town on a rail! :)
Jeurys Familia has long had a love-hate relationship with the Mets' fans. He is an enormously talented pitcher with crazy motion on his sinker and slider. His issue has always been trying to control that motion. If he can, he can strike anyone out. If he can't, he either walks the hitter or lets up and grooves one that ends up in the seats. The unpredictability of his control of his "stuff" is what gets the fans frustrated. He can still be a force if he figures this out...but over several years and many pitching coaches, he's not there yet.
Diaz is very much the same - wicked stuff, but days he can't control it.
Many have called for both of them to be sent packing in the off-season. If they do, they should be careful what they ask for because both of them could potentially star for another team that comes back to haunt the Mets - like Wheeler.
To the first anon comment, I agree, it is NY, but the level of Familia loathing is like charging a guy who stole a lap top with 2nd degree murder. Lots of teams would want Familia in 2022 for 1 year, $5 million. Lots of teams had much, much worse pitching.
Put young players in position to succeed. Sewald perfect example. One inning late game reliever throughout minor league career. Used as multi inning reliever in majors. Terry once used him for 5 inning fodder, shattering his confidence. Look at his#s this year. Try failed starters as multi inning relievers
Raw
Excellent post and assessments on your part.
I think that most sports fans mainly remember current history the most. With Jake and Noah, they remember first most the arm issues and how it cost these NY Mets any real chance at all in 2021. But still here, it was not a wasted season to me. Although maybe frustrating as you know what with that evil injury bug fellow lurking about again. Hate that bug.
Going forward with both Jake and Noah is not a guarantee for 2022 (yet) at all. Hopefully they stay healthy all of 2022, but admittedly we will have to see. I still might reconsider for this particular Mets rotation a sixth starter of worth and value. Could make a difference.
To me, it means this.
It means that even greater importance will have to placed on the 3-5 Met starters. I would not at all rule out having two more really good starters in the wings ready to be fill-in starters (from either AAA or serving in the 2022 Mets bullpen like perhaps Drew Smith) in the event that they are needed like mid-season.
The Mets in my opinion will need to acquire via trade one more really, really good top-end starter to serve as the Mets' three starter. Like a one or two starter from another team. Yes, like Zach Wheeler was here two seasons ago before Boras ruled things. This pitcher is not here anywhere right now, that I see.
Both Carrasco and T. Walker were injury concerns in 2021, and could not help as much as we all had hoped them to. This is basically what happened here in 2021, plus hitting was somewhat erratic at best. It too had injuries.
When a team feels that they do not have sufficient starting pitching for any reason, the other field players let down. It is human on their part to, even non-intentionally. It's just one of those things. Everyone wants to win and now to these players it seems that they can no longer do that.
With the above said, the NY Mets 3-5 starters will need to be of a really high level of competency, more so than 2021. With a new three acquired via a trade, and Taijuan Walker's superb and convincing outing of recent, I get the impression that Taijuan can be definitely counted on for the four slot. The five slot perhaps could be a ST competition with pitchers like maybe David Peterson, Drew Smith or Tyler Megill who was excellent in his last start again. Maybe one will grab it.
In 2022 it's all about the rotation's level of consistency game to game, and then too depth. It has to be upgraded a bit. This will also give the Syracuse Mets a better level of competition at AAA and a stronger chance at their championship.
Steve is going to love this one.
TB:
I think to most Mets fans, esp. after this recently concluded 2021 season, they just want some changes made and some new faces inserted into the 2022 roster.
It isn't so much anger towards any one player, but the need to upgrade things. The master plan here did not work in 2022. It was no different really than prior Mets seasons. Or rather not enough better.
Take JDD.
He too was somewhat of a "fall guy" here for 2021 not unlike Jeurys was. The truth unfortunately is that management and even ownership over estimated some players and maybe also underestimated others.
JDD made three errors in one game (one that should have been maybe snagged at first base) and the "critic floodgates" opened up upon his head. He also played with a torn tendon in his hand the rest of the season (you try that sometime) still at third base, and hit better than many of the guys that Mets fans tend to go maybe too soft on. Still, in their minds (incl. some Mets beat writers too) it is JDD's fault for this season along with Jeurys Familia's. They were the fall guys. But actually it was a whole team thing and not just these two players.
More so, I didn't like the regression of some players here.
Guys like McNeil, Lindor, and Conforto come to mind first, nor the lack of having an upgrade season overall that I was counting on from the above players and guys like Dom Smith as well as the Mets two catchers of which one should be gone for 2022.
Really, why not give C Francisco Rodriguez a real fair shot in 2022 ST. The Mets have nothing to lose by this, and possibly everything to gain.
The fans just want some new faces brought in and to totally forget 2021 I think.
It's a great post because it forces us to reconsider what has actually happened, but he's not a $10 million+ per year pitcher anymore. Would I take him back? Hell yeah, at a discount. Would I want him closing games? No. Would I cry if he went elsewhere? Absolutely not.
Tom. . outstanding work.
Managerially
What about Mike Piazza, David Cone, Darryl Strawberry, Phil Nevin, Ron Swobada, Mark Kotsay, Keith and Cat, Ronnie Darling or Jay Bell?
My takes on each.
Mike Piazza. Has the game knowledge, understands players, and just has "that ease thing' about him California style. Call it class, he has it. Great human bean.
David Cone. Impresses me from the booth. May consider this. Loves the game.
Darryl Strawberry. This guy is just amazing in what all he has so far accomplished in his own life. He is a true leader now and understands the importance of life. Fans never gave up on Darryl and he remains a fan favorite.
Mark Kotsay. Has experience and the the fire this team may need most right now. A kick in the botox.
Jay Bell. Really good player and looks ready for something like this.
Keith and his Cat. Keith probably won't give up his current gig for all this, but he'd be perfect as well. Fans just love him as we do Walt Frazier with the Knicks.
Phil Nevin. Another fiery guy with solid baseball acumen. Very good player as was
Ronnie Swoboda. For sometime I was hoping Ronnie would get this managerial opportunity here with the NY Mets. He has organizational experience managing and would be the wise man on the bench that this team is desperate in need of.
Thanks, gents. I will try to read later comments later, I gotta run out for a few hours. Ciao. Please don't boo me for the delay.
Paul, thanks. I wouldn’t mind palm trees. That said, we all have to keep in mind that these guys (except the Great Loup) are all human, and the opponents are dangerous and potent adversaries. I mean, LA and SF won 213 games! They beat an awful lot of opposing pitcher’s. And Familia and Diaz never got to face a weak hitting Mets team.
I'm a little late to the article, but fine job Mr. B. Big League sports in NYC is certainly not "everyone gets a trophy" territory, and the fans have every right to voice displeasure, and boo. But, too often it crosses over into ugliness and/or bullying and individual player. For me, that is classless.
On the overall body of work, Familia has been a good Met.
TP, I hear you and thanks for your comment.
Booing is inevitable - but it should not be disproportionate.
They HATE Familia - who happened to go 9-4, even if a few of those were games where he first blew a lead.
The FANS are the 27th man - and the 27th man might have been the weakest link on this team. After seeing the situation with Lindor, Baez, Familia, etc., do you think free agents are saying to themselves, "man, that's where I want to play?" Fans beat the dog, the dogs will go elsewhere if possible.
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