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The New York Mets are coming off the worst season in the Sandy Alderson era. The last time the Mets lost 92 games was 2009, when Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel’s club lost 92 games. After the season, both men were let go.
This time, Terry Collins bore the brunt of the debacle of the season, and many, including myself, thought Alderson should have been let go as well.
Instead, the GM who did little to improve the 2016 club, instead banking on a starting rotation that featured three starters coming off 2016 surgeries, another who hadn’t pitched in two years and another who had bone spurs who decided – unsupervised — to put on 17 pounds of muscle, got a two-year extension.
It gets better.
The Mets — who were 12th in MLB payroll in 2017 — have about $65 million coming off the books for 2018. Yesterday, my buddy Matt Cerrone from MetsBlog said Sandy Alderson will be given about 40 million to spend.
After I asked whether that number would be before or after arbitration / raises for players under contract, Cerrone clarified:
after … hunch is $25-30 spent in winter, rest is held for in season, bonuses, acquisitions, per usual
— Matthew Cerrone (@matthewcerrone) October 19, 2017
So let’s be clear: after winning a pennant, then crawling to a wildcard game (which they lost) and now a 92 loss season, the plan is to hire the batting coach to be manager ( a rumor, but one with teeth) and spend about 30 million less on the team? According to some season ticket holders, the team is planning this offseason spending plan even after raising ticket prices (again).
Let’s not forget the trade deadline firesale-turned spin job, which “the primary goal was not to bring back more affordable talent that could help the franchise in the future, but rather to unload as much salary as possible.”
The Fred Wilpon / Saul Katz ownership has been pretty much a disaster since they bought out the late Nelson Doubleday in 2002. The 2006 NL East title and the 2015 NL pennant are the only blips. This ownership group has a new ballpark, its own network and a loyal fanbase that lives and dies with their team.
Don’t we deserve better? I think we do.
