11/2/20

Tom Brennan: How Much Should New Owner Steve Cohen Spend This Offseason?



"How Much Should New Owner Steve Cohen Spend This Offseason?"

The very course of the future of this franchise could change drastically due to increased spending, I'd say.

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, set to expire in December 2021, hefty luxury taxes could be incurred by any team for spending too much.

Wikipedia includes the following information re: the luxury tax:

Major League Baseball (MLB) has a luxury tax, called the “competitive balance tax”, in place of a salary cap in order to level the spending an individual team can spend on their roster. 

The system today is based on the 2002 collective bargaining agreement. The 2002 CBA set the luxury tax threshold for the 2003–2006 seasons, was updated for the 2007–2012 seasons in the 2006 CBA, and was updated again for the 2013–2016 seasons in the 2012 CBA. 

The 2016 CBA has set the threshold for the 2017–2021 seasons. For 2021, the threshold is $210 million.

So, how much are the penalties?  Wikipedia says:

The 2016 CBA has set the luxury tax threshold for the 2017–2021 seasons. Under the 2016 CBA, first time offenders would pay a fee of 20% on the dollar, second time offenders would pay a 30% on the dollar, and third or subsequent time offenders would have to pay 50% on the dollar (These offenses must be in consecutive years for these percentages. If a team falls below the threshold one year the penalty re-sets the next year to the "first offense").

In this case, Wilpon cheapness helps Mr. Cohen as, to my knowledge, the Mets have never paid luxury tax, so the first time luxury tax was paid (let's say for 2021) the fee would be "just" 20%.

A few teams have paid enormous amounts of luxury tax cumulatively.  The Yankees have paid, I believe, more than $400 million in luxury taxes since the system first started, and and the Dodgers have paid out far north of $100 million.  Both teams are perpetually relevant in Division champion and playoff action, in good part due to spending over the cap many times.

Since the Mets to my knowledge have never incurred the luxury tax, a big splash this off-season is not especially dis-incentivized by blasting through the cap for 2021, since the tax rate would be 20%.

Smart but very significant expansion of payroll may cause the cap to be substantially cleared, but if success comes with it (such as Mets winning the Division in 2021 and going deep into the playoffs), money is recouped through playoff revenues AND higher turnstile revenues, AND franchise value is typically significantly higher for winning, RELEVANT franchises.

And heck, the team's fans are deliriously happier.  Their team has SWAGGER and is RELEVANT.

The Yanks and Dodgers may not be racking up World Series titles of late, but they are (in the baseball universe) relevant franchises.  

The Mets, up until now, have been only relevant on relatively few occasions over the past 30 years...and that does not make them relevant.  People everywhere, if you ask them about truly relevant teams, will include the Yanks and Dodgers in the short list.  The Mets?  Nope.

That can all change with boatloads of spending this off-season.  Especially when players will be available at discounts because of a massively money-losing season for the other owners, including the normally big-spending Yankees.  Which = a big, big strategic advantage to Cohen in winning battles to acquire talent.  

Damn the luxury tax, full speed ahead towards relevance, I say.   After all, it's only Monopoly money.







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Reese Kaplan -- It's a New Beginning for the Mets



It's Monday morning and like many Mets fans I probably feel some slight, residual discomfort from over celebrating the vote on Friday which pushed the Wilpons out the door and opened up a new era of Mets ownership.  There are tons of stories appearing about what Steve Cohen will and should do now that he's in charge, but there is nothing that will happen immediately that will extinguish the huge sigh of relief Mets fans worldwide feel now that there is a chance the club will be run with an eye towards winning instead of merely treading water.  

 



The big news arriving Saturday evening is that the Mets are indeed making a qualifying offer of $18.9 million to retain the services of Marcus Stroman for one more year.  That move is pretty much a no-lose maneuver.  If he takes the offer (unlikely) then the Mets get a less expensive version of a number two starter with Noah Syndergaard on the shelf for at least half of 2021.  If he turns it down, then they get a compensatory draft pick from the signing organization.  At one time in the club's history that situation resulted in Mike Hampton packing his bags for the great school systems of the Denver area and the Mets using their compensatory pick on some unknown shlub named David Wright.  

 

One of the things that truly annoys me is reading that the Mets are going into the new season with three proven starters in Jacob deGrom, David Peterson and Seth Lugo.  We all know how good the dual Cy Young Award winning deGrom is, but after that it certainly gets murky.  




I accept that Peterson is indeed going to be a named starter but a short 2020 trial hardly makes him proven.  He actually pitched better in the majors than he had in the minors.  In AA for Binghamton in 2019 he was a rather pedestrian 3-6 with a 4.19 ERA over 24 starts with a 3:1 striekout-to-walk ratio and more than one hit per inning pitched allowed.  In his 9 starts this season he went 6-3 with a 3.44 ERA and more walks with fewer strikeouts.  Maybe he's turned a corner or maybe scouting reports on him were just not very good.  We won't know until we see more of him and I welcome the opportunity to do so.  

 



The one that bothers me is the assumption of Seth Lugo remaining in the rotation.  Please remember how awful he was as a starting pitcher and how excellent he is out of the bullpen.  Yes, the Mets do need starting pitching desperately with only deGrom and Peterson pretty much guaranteed to be 40% of the rotation, but trotting out someone who has proven again and again how incapable he is as a starter while your bullpen is once again in chaos makes no sense whatsoever.

 

There are options for both the beginning and end of ballgames in the pitching market, starting with Trevor Bauer and Brad Hand, but many other hurlers are also available via free agency and via trade.  Some are reclamation projects like Corey Kluber, some are older like Charlie Morton or Rich Hill, and some are young enough to be around for awhile like Taijuan Walker.  During 2020 the Mets did what they usually do, sifting through the also-rans of the pitching market and after forking out over $12 million in starting pitching they were rewarded with some of the worst game openers in the majors.  Here's hoping they chart a new direction.  

 

For now, however, I'll still enjoy the end of the long weekend celebration during which Cohen confirmed paying Citifield employees a fair wage, kicking various players not in the core to the curb and taking a smart approach with Marcus Stroman.  Yes, for once it is a time to feel almost like a proud Mets fan with a team dedicated to professionalism.  

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John From Albany – Mets News and Breakfast Links 11/2/2020



Good Morning. Happy Birthday Tom Paciorek and Greg Harris. Steve Cohen takes tweets from fans, Mets shut down Instructional Camp – send players home, and Marcus Stroman gets Qualifying Offer.


Section Links: Mets Links, MLB Links, Asian Baseball, Winter Baseball, and This Day in Mets History.


Mets Links:


SNY.TV: Steve Cohen joins Twitter to ask Mets fans what they want to see from new ownership.






Forbes.com: New York Mets, Steve Cohen, Can’t Trade Top Prospects, Repeat Brodie Van Wagenen’s Mistakes.




SNY.TV: Mets extend qualifying offer to Marcus Stroman.


MLB Trade Rumors: Other Players Extended Qualifying Offers - Trevor Bauer; Kevin Gausman; DJ LeMahieu; J.T. Realmuto; George Springer.


MLB.com predicts that Marcus Stroman and Kevin Gausman will accept the qualifying offer. They predict everyone else will decline.


Ken Davidoff NY Post: Ranking MLB’s top 30 free agents and predicting where they’ll sign. Ken sees the Mets getting George Springer and James McCann and re-signing Marcus Stroman. 


Mets Junkies.com: Taking a look at Springer’s Defense. “Springer had his best defensive year in 2019, where he collected 8 OOA overall (5 in RF and 3 in CF). Last season he was an average CF’er with 1 OOA in CF. Small samplesize, but we can conclude his last two years, he has been a solid CF’er and for that reason an improvement over our current CF’er.”


Brian Joura Mets360: The Mets’ offensive core is Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo.   Brian also looks at the Mets possibly adding George Springer. 


Rising Apple: J.T. Realmuto is one of the top free agents this offseason. The New York Mets must ignite a bidding war to steal him from the Philadelphia Phillies.


Amazing Avenue: The Mets should consider extending the Edwin Díaz experience. 


Mets Junkies.com: Nick Tropeano to the Mets is an underrated Move. “In 2020, Tropeano had a 1-0 record, with a 1.15 ERA and 19 strikeouts and a 1.15 WHIP. He didn’t start in 2020, but could be used as a swing man out of the bullpen.”


NY Post: Dellin Betances exercises option for chance at Mets redemption.



Mike’s Mets talks about Betances, Stroman, and the Mets Off Season in Decisions, Decisions.


Metsmerized Online: 2020 Mets Report Card: Jeff McNeil. Player Stats: 52 G, 183 AB, .311 AVG, .383 OBP, .454 SLG, .836 OPS, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 19 R, 0 SB, 57 H, 20 BB.


Mets Minors.net: Mets 2020 Minor League Free Agent Watchlist.  “Barring late changes, 20 Mets minor leaguers will be declared free agents at 5 p.m. ET on the fifth day following the conclusion of the World Series” Players included - RHP Matt Blackham; OF Johneshwy Fargas; RHP Harol Gonzalez; OF Braxton Lee; OF Hansel Moreno; RHP Francisco Rios; C David Rodriguez.


Beisbol101.com: Gilberto Flores: a baseball soldier. Memories on the 1978-79 Mets Infielder (In Spanish – use google translate).


Rising Apple: Mets best trades made in November throughout the franchise’s history. Art Shamsky, Bob Ojeda, and Carlos Delgado are mentioned but the trade getting Felix Millan and George Stone is listed as the #1 November trade [BTW it happened OTD in 1972].


ESPN.com: My 5-year-old couldn't go to a New York Mets game this year -- so I sent him to all of them.


MLB Links:


CBS Sports: Why the 2020 season may be a sign of things to come for Major League Baseball. The uncertainties of 2020, COVID-related and otherwise, will still be felt in 2021. The New Rules, Looming Labor War, Restructuring pf the Minor Leagues are mentioned. 


MLB.com: Position by position: Top free agents available. For Catcher it’s J.T. Realmuto followed by James McCann, Yadier Molina, Kurt Suzuki, Jason Castro (Wilson Ramos not mentioned).  


Yahoo Sports: Giancarlo Stanton does not opt out of contracts “keeping the remaining $218 million and seven guaranteed years in his New York Yankees contract rather than opt out after a pair of injury-decimated seasons… As part of terms of the trade, because Stanton did not opt out, the Marlins will send the Yankees $30 million to offset part of what remains in his contract: $5 million each on July 1 and Oct. 1 in 2026, 2027 and 2028.”


NY Post: Yankees’ Carlos Mendoza competing with Alex Cora for Red Sox manager.


MLB Trade Rumors: Red Sox Decline Option On Martin Perez.


MLB Trade Rumors: Orioles Exercise Jose Iglesias’ Club Option.


MLB Trade Rumors: J.D. Martinez Will Not Opt Out Of Red Sox Contract.


MLB Trade Rumors: Padres To Decline Mitch Moreland’s Option.


MLB Trade Rumors: Angels Among Teams Interested In Kolten Wong.



Winter Baseball:


In the Mexican Pacific League Last Night -


Tomateros de Cuilacan 11 Caneros de los Mochis 1 (Box Score). Mets Catching Prospect Juan Uriarte, 1 for 3 with a double and the sole Caneros RBI, .275 this winter.  Sebastian Elizalde, former Mets minor league free agent, 2 for 4 with a 3 run HR 7th of winter, run scored, 3 RBI, .348 batting average this winter for Tomateros.


Here is the full Mexican Pacific League Scoreboard.



Asian Baseball:


The Korea Herald: Two starters for Bears shortlisted for KBO's top player award for Oct. “Right-handers Chris Flexen and Raul Alcantara, the one-two punch at the top of the Bears' rotation, headline the list…Flexen, who'd missed time earlier in the year with injury, capped off his first KBO season with a 4-0 record and a league-best 0.85 ERA in five October starts. He struck out 42 in just 31 2/3 innings to also lead the league in October.”


Yonhap News: The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), following talks with the sports ministry and national health authorities, said the cap on the crowd size will be raised to up to 50 percent for the postseason…Currently, teams are filling up about 30 percent of seats.


Here is KBO’s Scoreboard.


JBALLALLEN.com: BayStars win 2nd virus test. For the second straight day, the DeNA BayStars threw open the doors to Yokohama Stadium as 24,537 on Friday and 27,850 on Saturday became the first normal-sized crowds to watch a sporting event in Japan since February.


Here is the Japan Baseball Scoreboard.


CPBL Stats: Brothers Take G2 of Taiwan Series With Strong Pitching.


Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:


Born on this date:


Died on this date:


Transactions:


Mo Vaughn granted free agency on November 2, 2004.

National Pastime.com:


1972

The Braves trade southpaw George Stone and second baseman Felix Millan to the Mets for hurlers Danny Frisella and Gary Gentry, who will combine to win just nine games for Atlanta over the next three seasons. New York's acquisitions will play key roles in the team's success next season when their recently acquired infielder hits .290, and their new left-hander posts a 12-3 record along with an ERA of 2.80 for the National League champions.

Baseball Reference:


1976 - San Diego Padres pitcher Randy Jones beats out Jerry Koosman of the New York Mets for the National League Cy Young Award. Jones led the league with 315 innings pitched and posted a 22-14 record for the fifth-place Padres.


Want more?  Check out https://sportspyder.com/mlb/new-york-mets/news. 


Want something else tracked here each day?  Please leave a comment below. 

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11/1/20

Scouting Report - OF - Braylon Bishop


 

Braylon Bishop

 

OF 6-1 196 Texarkana HS (AR)

 

 

Next On Deck -

 

18. Braylon Bishop, OF, Arkansas (HS)

 

6-foot-1, 195 pounds. Athletic frame with room to add strength in the lower half. High-end athleticism that’ll play at any level. Quick hands that whip the barrel through the zone; generates power from quick-twitch in hands. Needs to significantly improve his pitch selection and zone recognition to consistently hit against professional pitching. Left/left prospect that can play any outfield spot with the athleticism to succeed in center field. Project over polish right now; has pedigree.

  

PG -

 

Braylon Bishop is a 2021 OF/LHP with a 6-1 196 lb. frame from Texarkana, AR who attends Arkansas. Outstanding athletic build, strong with plenty of projection remaining. 6.62 runner, speed plays up on the baseball field. Arm strength has improved in the outfield, makes on-line accurate throws from a quick release with a compact arm stroke, centerfield range and athletic actions. Left handed hitter, hits from a tall stance , has quick hands and can whip the barrel, tends to get too inside in his hand path at times, high performance hitter who consistently squares up the baseball.

  

Pitcher List -

 

5. Braylon Bishop, OF, Texarkana High School

 

This uber-athletic prep outfielder just oozes potential. Plus power? Check (92 MPH exit velocity). Plus speed? Check. Right now Braylon Bishop is streaky when it comes to the hit tool, which is reasonably expected from a high schooler. Still, when he’s on a streak, he looks like a can’t-miss guy. He’s already one of the better high school players at 16. Like Leto, he’s played well on Team USA and whenever the light is brightest, he seems to go up a level. He’s going to be a corner outfielder, and his arm might mean left field.

  

Prospect Worldwide -

 

Braylon Bishop – OF: Plus bat speed creates a ton of body torque and hip separation that helps lead to Plus Raw Power that he can tap into. Grading as a 55 future Power hitter. A plus runner that should be able maintain his speed. Shows well defensively, but likely will get moved off the CF position long-term, but very well could turn into an Above-Average or plus defender in RF or LF with his Above-Average Arm, Plus speed, and instincts on the field.

Click here for the full list of Mack's Scouting Reports.

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Scouting Report - OF - Colton Cowser


 

Colton Cowser

 

OF 6-3 180 Sam Houston State 

 

Next On Deck -

 

14. Colton Cowser, OF, Sam Houston State

 

6-foot-3, 180 pounds. Wiry, athletic frame that projects. Left-handed hitter that controls the barrel exceptionally well. Loose hands at the plate, athletic actions throughout. Above-average runner, natural outfield actions, could play CF at the next level. Projectability has upside are evident. 

 

MLB -   

 

8. Colton Cowser, OF, Sam Houston State

The first Sam Houston State player to make the U.S. collegiate team, Cowser could surpass former All-Star Glenn Wilson (18th overall, 1980) as the highest pick in Bearkats history. He has a knack for barreling the ball from the left side of the plate, developing power, solid speed and the instincts to remain in center field. 

 

Diamond Digest -   

 

22) Colton Cowser, OF, Sam Houston State

 

Cowser came into his sophomore season at Sam Houston State with a plethora of preseason awards, including being named to the Golden Spikes Award Watch List, after putting up excellent numbers for the Bearkats and Collegiate Team USA. His momentum following his freshman year didn’t carry over, however, as in his 66 plate appearances before the shutdown he slashed an underwhelming .255/.379/.364 with one home run. While the numbers from his shortened season don’t quite back it up, Cowser is still one of my favorite college position players in this year’s draft because of how polished he is offensively. He has a solid feel for the barrel and makes a lot of contact. He has kept his strikeout rates in check, and has done a good job of putting the ball in play. Right now Cowser is more of a gap-to-gap hitter who focuses on getting on base, but he has some pull-side power that he can tap into on occasion. That power should continue to progress as he gets stronger (he still has some projection), and I believe he has 10-15 homer pop in him. Cowser’s approach and ball/strike recognition is solid, and he should walk pretty frequently at the next level. I also believe in Cowser’s ability to stick in center field. I don’t think he’ll ever become an outstanding at the position, but I think he can be good enough to play there on a consistent basis. Cowser has a slightly above average run tool which helps him create range, and his routes and instincts off the bat are solid, as well. Cowser presents an interesting package, and if he can regain his form from his freshman season, he should become a lock to be a first round pick in June.

Click here for the full list of Mack's Scouting Reports. 

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Mets360 - The Mets’ offensive core is Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo

 


By Brian Joura November 1, 2020


We like things that are easy. It’s why we add together OBP and SLG to get OPS, which we use as a shorthand for offensive production. In mathematical reality, you never add things with different denominators. But adding together OBP and SLG gets you very close to the “right” answer so we do it anyway. If you’re at a computer and can look up FanGraphs, you’re better using wRC+. Here’s a snippet from the FG glossary on wRC+:

Similar to OPS+, Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) measures how a player’s wRC compares with league average after controlling for park effects. League average for position players is 100, and every point above 100 is a percentage point above league average. For example, a 125 wRC+ means a player created 25% more runs than a league average hitter would have in the same number of plate appearances. Similarly, every point below 100 is a percentage point below league average, so a 80 wRC+ means a player created 20% fewer runs than league average.

wRC+ is park and league-adjusted, allowing one to to (sic) compare players who played in different years, parks, and leagues. Want to know how Ted Williams compares with Albert Pujols in terms of offensive abilities? This is your statistic. wRC+ is the most comprehensive rate statistic used to measure hitting performance because it takes into account the varying weights of each offensive action and then adjusts them for the park and league context in which they took place.

Since the glossary mentioned OPS+, let’s bring that into the equation. Since the start of the 2018 season, with a minimum of 900 PA, the top six players in wRC+ are:

Mike Trout
Christian Yelich
Alex Bregman
Mookie Betts
Nelson Cruz
Juan Soto

Few would argue those players didn’t belong as the top hitters in the game. Now let’s check the top six for OPS+ — Trout, Yelich, Betts, Bregman, Cruz and Soto. Actually, we could expand it to the first nine players and they would be the same on both lists but with more guys in different orders. After that we start to see some differences, as guys with extreme OBP or SLG start to show up. The issue is that OPS doesn’t give the proper weight to OBP, which isn’t a big problem most of the time, yet shows up with guys who have really high (or low) marks in one category compared to the other.

Let’s do a chart of the top four Mets hitters the past three seasons with both metrics:

Player

OPS+

wRC+

Pete Alonso

141

137

Jeff McNeil

140

139

Brandon Nimmo

138

140

Michael Conforto

130

128


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METS ROSTER NOTES

 


 

 

METS ROSTER NOTES

 

 

FLUSHING, N.Y., November 1, 2020 – The New York Mets today announced that they have extended a qualifying offer to RHP Marcus Stroman. In addition, RHP Dellin Betances and RHP Brad Brach informed the team that they each were exercising their 2021 player option.

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Mike's Mets - There Going To Hate Us


 

By Mike Steffanos October 31, 2020


The Mets spent the years from 1977-1983 as one of the worst franchises in all of American sport. Their best record during those seven years wandering in the wastelands was 68-94, and that was 1983 — the last year before they turned the corner. You would have thought that those terrible years preceding the resurgence might have caused folks around baseball to look at those 1984 Mets as plucky overachievers trying to turn around a moribund franchise, but you'd be wrong. I remember being somewhat surprised at the time how quickly in 1984 other fanbases started looking at that team as a bunch of bad guys.


Some of that was earned, of course. Manager Davey Johnson presented a cocky front from the get go, and genuinely seemed to embrace the bad guy role. Although it would intensify in 1985 and the championship season of 1986, the roots of the bad guy Mets were firmly planted in 1984. You had feisty guys on the club like Wally Backman, Daryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez and a young Kevin Mitchell on that roster. 19-year-old phenom Doc Gooden inspired wonder and envy around the league. The Mets quickly transitioned from laughable losers to the team everyone who didn't root for loved to hate.

In fairness, you could honestly say that Johnson and many of the players gleefully brought much of the drama and noise down on themselves, but every Mets club in those rare subsequent campaigns that featured a really strong Mets team got a lot of venom directed their way, even the 2006 club that had a cast of pretty good guys. They were led by a young star named David Wright who might well be among the most inoffensive great players that ever played the game. (It's rumored that once Wright burped and neglected to say "excuse me", but that's probably apocryphal.) The Mets represent New York, people everywhere else have a bug up their ass about the city that's mostly a reflection of their own inferiority complex, and any time a New York team prospers, that feeling comes roaring back.

So I read with a degree of amusement Ken Davidoff's piece in the New York Post today. Davidoff questioned if the Mets could retain their "charm" if they turn around their fortunes:

The Mets, not always winners (to put it generously), always have been charmers. They are 72-year-old Casey Stengel guiding their very first effort to a historically awful 40-120. They are Banner Day. They are the Home Run Apple. They are, more often than not in their history, the underdog. 

 

Therein lies the challenge for Steve Cohen, definitely not the underdog. Can the Mets' new owner, immediately the wealthiest member of the fraternity he just joined with Friday’s joint developments — the Major League Baseball owners and Mayor Bill de Blasio approving Cohen's purchase of the club from the Wilpons — guide this team to its powerhouse potential without compromising its brand of lovability? In a market in which Yankees fans regard any failure to win a title as an utter disaster, can the Mets both challenge the Yankees and not become them?

 

Okay, show of hands out there. How many of you are concerned that the Mets might become less lovable to you by winning? Anyone?


Yeah, me neither.


There has been a lot of good stuff written and said about the New York Mets over the last couple of days. Even SNY's Andy Martino, who I criticized a couple of days ago as someone who revels in playing the troll, had a really good, nuanced piece on SNY.com yesterday before the final approval came out that I actually really enjoyed. He was also really good on both the breaking news coverage of the approval on tv and on Baseball Night in New York later on. Credit where credit is due.


The contrarian view is going to come out more and more over this team. Questions of "vital importance", such as Will success ruin the Mets fan? will be asked and answered. Frankly, most of the discussion will be pure, unadulterated bullsh*t.


The core of true Mets fans have a strong bond to their team that has endured so much badness. Bad teams, bad management, a shockingly incompetent, meddling owner. A local media that never gets tired of letting you know how much better the Yankees are then your team. Whenever your team screws up, which certainly is often enough, they never stop poking at your feelings about it. The vast majority of the local media is quite comfortable with the current reality where the Yankees and Mets are opposites, the yin and yang of New York sports.


This idea of the Mets being "charmers", i.e. lovable losers, is not something you're going to hear from real Mets fans. That was true about the 1962 Mets. Fans embraced them despite their awfulness because they were so grateful to have National League baseball back in the city. Mets fans that go back that far tell me that this embrace of incompetence and losing was already wearing thin after a couple of seasons. Part of what made the 1969 Miracle Mets so special was they won it all for a fan base that was tired of losing.


Fast forward to 1986. After seven dreadful years and a couple of near misses, the Mets made us winners again. Nobody accused that team of being charming, and none of us who rooted for them gave a rat's rear end about that. And yeah, we wanted more and found 1988 especially heartbreaking. If the Mets turn things around in the way I hope, years that don't end with a title are going to be viewed as huge letdowns. But I'll tell you right now, mourning your team's failure to capture a championship is still better than rooting for a team that seldom even contends.


I hope the Mets get good enough that we Mets fans get accused of becoming like Yankees fans. The one era when that was true, that small window from the mid-80s through the beginning of the '90s was, by far, the best time to be a Mets fan. It wasn't always great, but it was always great to root for a team that mattered. I hope to root for a team that matters again. And if some out there find my team or me less charming when that happens, I have a one-fingered salute for them that is quite familiar to anyone who spends time driving in the New York metro area. My first one is, respectfully, given to Mr. Davidoff for insinuating that our beloved home run apple is anything less than completely classy.


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