Lockdown Saddenings

[Edgy MD]

In many ways the lockout has been a friend to the Mets. Seemingly behind on the offseason due to the absence of a field staff and anything more than a skeletal management team, the Mets did an impressive job catching up and making a move in the last weeks before the locky began. And then, when the transaction freeze began, the Mets could pivot back toward seeking their manager and coaching staff without worrying about working at a philosophical cross purpose with the team they put on the field. The team, for the moment, was and is mostly frozen in amber.



But the current inaccessibility of the players is a thing. We've already seen the odd Christmas greeting with the Mr. Met Extended Family, clearly an effort forced by the team's inability to use active players in their promotions. It's not as annoying with the Mets because they've always kind of been lousy at winter promotions, but the absence is there. Christmas hyjinks and stock market bell ringings are out. I'm a big fan of articles in which a writer imagines what player the Mets should get, calls up a prominent Met, and gets a quote saying, "He's a really good player," then writes an article about how terrible the Mets are because they haven't gotten this player that their most prominent player thinks they should get.



This year, nothing.

[Fman99]

I hat lockdowns.

[Ceetar]

honestly I could do without the fluff and and hot stove rumor churning anyway. Just start on time.

[kcmets]

=Ceetar post_id=83772 time=1640793094 user_id=102]
honestly I could do without the fluff and and hot stove rumor churning anyway.

[Edgy MD]

And some of the decisions that will occur to get us to opening day could really stink.



And the delay of this "churn" certainly puts opening day at risk.

[Ceetar]

I find no fun in Joel Sherman postulating who the Mets could sign as their 8th inning guy and then all the discourse for 2 days discusses this random guy who has about a 0.1% chance of being a Met.



I don't need Buster Olney to cite the janitor, sorry "a source close to the organization familiar with their thinking", that he Mets haven't ruled out signing another OFer that's more defense oriented, here are the top 5 guys they could get.



There's also nothing stopping them from still doing this, even though the payoff wouldn't be until later. But odn't worry, we'll get some labor stuff in January. We can debate the latest release from the league that the reporters leak to tell us what they want, and what we think of it.

[A Boy Named Seo]

That's why it's called silly szn, bruh. I love it all. Baseball rumors, soccer rumors. It's mostly dart-throwing, wild-ass guessing (and click-driving) but it entertains me immensely.

[Centerfield]

A Boy Named Seo wrote: That's why it's called silly szn, bruh. I love it all. Baseball rumors, soccer rumors. It's mostly dart-throwing, wild-ass guessing (and click-driving) but it entertains me immensely.

Yup.

[Edgy MD]

My post that started this thread was less than perfectly coherent, with some strangely missing words, so I've touched it up. I'm also kind of using "lockout" and "lockdown" interchangeably, which I probably shouldn't.



I don't mean to say that I "need" offseason bullshit. I don't. Back at the MOFo, somebody dubbed me a one-man "Toaster Oven Society" because of my distaste for the Hot Stove Season.



I simply meant to suggest that, despite the seeming illusion of a damage-free environment that is provided by a labor war beginning in the offseason, there is an aesthetic and a practical downside to the lockout, and while I yearn for MLB to improve their operating ethics, it's a lesser world with Major League Baseball shut down, even in winter.

[Ceetar]

sure. just doesn't do it for me. I find it more frustrating than anything, particularly the "rticle about how terrible the Mets are because they haven't gotten this player " stuff Edgy mentioned above. I don't need constant news cycles of people making up LOLMets narratives for things they weren't even involved in.



Same for drafts, and the minor leagues, and all that. There's so much baseball already I just can't get into the idea of making up random fantasies about what the Mets might be like if they signed X other players, or X minor leaguers do well in 4 years.





I could have fun with some projected baseball changes, via CBA leaks, but even those it feels like we've been talking about for years and years. DH, more playoffs, expansion, silly rules..nothing that's been leaked so far has been particularly exciting.





but even if you ARE into all that, the lockout shouldn't really change any of it. We have unprecedented access to the players. They're still all over the place. There's no reason a good writer couldn't continue to write the exact same stories. Breaking down the minute changes of a roster after the 40th best FA signs is only postponed. We'll get the same amount of signings as any other year.

[Edgy MD]

I don't need constant news cycles of people making up LOLMets narratives for things they weren't even involved in.

I really, really, really tried to be clear that this has nothing to do with "need."

[Ceetar]

And I tried to be clear that I mean it's a boon. a good thing. a preference. Lockout every December if it means less of those.





can we lock out the hall of fame too?

[Frayed Knot]

Y'know, you do have the ability not to read things you're uninterested in, right?

I do it frequently and it saves a lot of time.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The wild-assed speculation by people who have no inside information doesn't interest me. What I miss is the possibility that something will happen that will help define the 2022 team.

[G-Fafif]

MLBN and the official team sites not showing and barely alluding to current players is, to use a technical term, fucked up, legalities or not. There is a hole in winter.

[MFS62]

=G-Fafif post_id=83802 time=1640816343 user_id=55]
to use a technical term, fucked up,

[Edgy MD]

=Ceetar post_id=83797 time=1640813720 user_id=102]
And I tried to be clear that I mean it's a boon.

[Ceetar]

=G-Fafif post_id=83802 time=1640816343 user_id=55]
MLBN and the official team sites not showing and barely alluding to current players is, to use a technical term, fucked up, legalities or not. There is a hole in winter.

[Fman99]

=G-Fafif post_id=83802 time=1640816343 user_id=55]
MLBN and the official team sites not showing and barely alluding to current players is, to use a technical term, fucked up, legalities or not. There is a hole in winter.

[ashie62]

I do almost 100% of my hot stove paying attention time on this forum and enjoy it.



I guess the forthcoming decisions in a forthcoming CBA are with regard to rule changes.



I'm all for those that make the game more watchable and finished in well under three hours.



Hoping MLB and MLBPA show some urgency in January. I have my doubts.

[nymr83]

As long as the season starts on time I dont really care how they got there and I probably wont notice the lack of charter at least until after the Superbowl