metsmarathon

Doc & Darryl are a singular entry.

I’m mostly pissed, re Pete, that they let It get to the point where he was able to get the 5x155 from the o’s without it seeming like the Mets gave him much of an alternative… Like if they went 4x125 as soon as he opted out (or before) would he have taken it?

I think it’s too early to say they’re aiming for the wild card and good luck with the playoffs lottery. I think they’re aiming to eventually build a “**** yeah let’s go” team, because one does not spend $300M to just only make the playoffs. I just think they’re doing it a different way, that may prove to be smart, if heartless. I think their big brains have missed the mark on the fandom and its irrational whims that don’t necessarily abide by analytical purity. And while I like big brains and I cannot lie… my anaconda wanted Pete’s home runs, son.

I honestly didn’t think the Mets could possibly make me this mad. I’m a grown ass adult. I lived through the 90s, the madoff era. All of it. I was wrong. :Sadface

I think stearns is also banking on this having been a 90-win team that played down to 83 wins, instead of that reflecting their true talent level. And he’s probably right about that. Will we get the regression bounceback and snag a few free wins? I sure hope so… but I think that’s his starting point. And if it is true that there was something insidious in the clubhouse that we do t know enough about, and if he’s now gone and fixed it, or will have fixed it by the end of the off season, then maybe yeah we get those wins back next year. But those are still some pretty big ifs.

What’s crazy is, and mind you this is all just preseason projections and all that ********, but right now, with our rotation and lineup feeling like they are in absolute shambles… FanGraphs depth charts has us currently projected to have the 6th highest WAR in baseball, with 43.2 WAR. A team with 43 WAR last year could expect to be an 89-90 win team Mind you, last year the Mets actually had 46 WAR between their pitchers and batters (fielding included) which should’ve been a 92-win team based on such figuring. So there’s definitely a pathway to find a successful analytic framework upon which to build optimism (or pessimism if ya wanna focus on the underperformance of our expectation!) Can stearns win back the rational part of our brains by adding to this foundation? I sure hope so. It won’t feel right next year without Pete, but maybe it’ll be ok if it just feels different if we win.

I’m still not convinced that stearns isn’t a very smart clever baseball man, who has a plan in mind to make the Mets a perennial top contender. And maybe that plan has names like Imai, and okamoto, and Tyler rogers, and Kyle Tucker. But he’s still a smart clever baseball man with a heart that’s three sizes too small.

Yup You do that for Pete. You do it for Edwin. And when Jeff McNeil comes up for his next contract you push him out the door fast enough that it doesn’t slam on his back, as a courtesy.

i remember running in the woods, in late in the day on september 19th, 2024, and then out of nowhere and with near simultaneity, feeling a thump against my foot, hearing a pop, and seeing the soft cool earth rushing unexpectedly towards me and landing on my side. as i lay there, looking down at my leg, i knew instantly, i'd edwin diazed myself. and the thought that gave me the most strength in that moment, and still does over a year later was that at the time of my injury, that mother****er was out there pitching in the major leagues having returned to the mound less than a year after suffering the same injury in entirely different circumstances. and if he could come back from a torn patellar tendon, and still get major league hitters out in high leverage situations - yes, he'd lost a tick from 2022 and was shaky at times as he learned to trust his repaired and rehabbed knee, then i'd certainly be able to return to running long distances and being a relatively fast dude for my size and age. he was my avatar during the magical 2024 playoff run, and while he didn't know it - how could he possibly know it - every save, every time he got that big out, every time he worked out of a jam, and especially when he demanded to have the ball back in his hand after failing to cover first in the clincher against the braves, he did it for me, to be a model of resilience and recovery and hope and perseverance. and i think it gave my kids that same feeling that dad'll be ok, too. he will always be a part of my life from now on. and i love him for that. it's the most irrational yet perfectly rational take i can offer, and i'm crushed that the mets let him leave.

Now is not the time for nuanced rationalism. I’m cantankerous. If we put together a better team that’s competitive for a long time, I’ll be thrilled. I just won’t be happy about it.

Juan signs are the best signs.

I need multiple rings. I’m ****ing serious. Pete should’ve been a met for life and they chased him away. They seem to’ve alienated Díaz too, and he walked for Pennie’s more. Diaz meant a lot to me personally. The heart and soul of the team is gone, no offense to Lindor, and these were OUR guys. We’d embraced them and loved them and our general manager with his heart three sizes too small discounted all of that (after also doing the same to the heart and soul of last year’s team. Whoever he brings in next will have a long way to go before they are ours, and unfairly so because part of that will be who they are replacing. But that burden is borne the most by stearns. And it may well take multiple rings to lift.

I can be pretty forgiving if there’s a World Series title around these parts. If it’s an 85 win, #6 seed if we get lucky team…not so much. In a vacuum, any one departure would have been fine, but 3 icons leaving in the same offseason is extraordinarily tough to bear, and I agree that it’s not at all clear that factor has been sufficiently considered. Agree. It's World Series or bust. If they don't win it all, none of this will have been worth it. I need a sustained run of World Series wins to slake my bloodthirst this afternoon.

Stearns does know that for a franchise to be successful, the fans need to want to spend money on the team, right?

Anybody know a good pitchfork sharpener? Or is it more fun if it’s rusty and dull?

join us - we're cool!

**** this news. make it go away. go sign pete. and, y'know, more relievers, too.

Love this if as a setup man. Less love if as the closer. Just pour some damned sugar on me already!

I’m also paywalled, but based on the snippets I e read, yeah, that’s what it smacks of. Basically it feels to me like this is a hit piece on the brown guy who the popular white guy they just traded away apparently had some beef about.

Brown guys bad. White guy good. Ugh, We still doin’ this narrative?

Not the strongest ballot. Really have to try hard to justify most of my votes. Beltran, jones, Felix, utley and wright are easy peasy votes. Pedroia and abreu also get gift nods, with an extra-gifty gift to hamels. Pettite and arid can eat a dick. Same with Ryan Braun. Sorry manny, you were ****ing amazing but dirty. Boo.

aw, man i really liked brandon nimmo. granted, he was not good in the outfield last year, and his on base hasn't been where it used to be... and the whispers going around are that he wasn't a fan of lindor... so... i dunno. i think the trade makes the mets a better defensive team, but not necessarily a better hitting-for-contact team... actually, semien's k rate was 17.4 to nimmo's 21.6, so.... hmm... that's actually an improvement. i'm still curious what this means for the bevy of young middle infielders the mets have.... i guess they're not super high on too many of them. or could another shoe be dropping?

Doesn’t the pitching coach factor into any of this…?

Of course the only two players I’ve ever owned a jersey of opt out of their contracts in the same off season. I’m significantly more invested in Diaz staying, despite Pete being one of my most favorite Mets players ever. Pay the man. There’s no Equal, I don’t want no Sweet’n’low, and don’t go bringing that Stevia horseshit around here.

Damn, this really spins my “centerfield is the tom seaver of the crane pool forum” in a harsh new light…