So who are the Mets? My first instinct was the mid-90's Cleveland Indians (all hit, no pitch), but I'm not too impressed with their hitting either. Plus, weren't those Indians always in the playoffs? This team only has one appearance so far, so I'm not going to get too excited. My second choice was the pre-2004 Red Sox (too expensive and not just not that good), but I don't think that appropriately takes into account '06 and the fact that it took a lightly precedented collapse to keep us out of the playoffs.
They are the late oughties Mets (the Mets of the late oughts?). They are a great, yet fatally flawed team. A theory I've been floating to my Mets fan friends is that we actually lucked out by not making the playoffs. Here me out:
1) The Mets wouldn't have won the World Series anyway
We simply don't have the pitching. For two straight years now, the Mets have gone into the postseason with a rotation full of 2 and 3 starters. I love Ollie and Maine, but they are not aces. Coming off his shoulder injury, Pedro could be anything from the best pitcher in baseball to a slightly less insane Jose Lima. Our bullpen, which was a huge asset last year, killed us all year. The world champion Red Sox, on the other hand, went into the postseason with the two of the greatest playoff pitchers of all time and a very solid bullpen. If you're Willie and you have to give the ball to one pitcher for one inning to save the entire season, is there anyone you can look at that you would trust completely? Omar has to build this staff for a championship, not just a playoff appearance.
2) This team is too cocky
I believe that these Mets fell apart because they went into the same victory lap mode they were in at the end of last year. When you run away with the division, this is a good thing. Players stay loose and healthy for the grind of the playoffs. When you are still competing for the division, you
have to take care of business first. Mathematical probability is not the same as clinching.
The truly great teams don't beat you, they bury you. Look at the dynasty Yankees or this year's Pats for evidence. If you made an error against those Yankees, they'd put up 5 runs before the
official scorer had put it on the board, then they'd spit in your eye and sleep with your girlfriend. Ruthless. Meanwhile, the Pats are biologically incapable of winning by fewer than two touchdowns. Obviously, that's an edge the Mets are missing.
The '05 and '06 Mets were pleasant surprises. '05 was a growth year. No one had any expectations. '06 was a celebration from beginning to end. This is the first year this team has felt any pressure. It did not respond well. I don't think its been reported, but I'm pretty sure that David Wright and Jose Reyes have a blood pact to never let this happen again. Its a good lesson to learn young.
3) The collapse should light a fire under Omar
No elite pitchers, 40 year old corner outfielders ( I know Shawn Green isn't there quite yet, but his defense has not aged gracefully), and unsettled second base and catcher situations are a sample of the Mets' problems. Omar made big time moves going into '06 that put this team over the top, but left things pretty much as is going into '07 even though some of his players were one year solutions (Valentin, the bullpen). He also failed to address the loss of both his ace starter (Pedro) and ace reliever (Duaner Sanchez).
If the Mets lose in the playoffs, the temptation exists for Omar to say, "we're close enough" and tweak a team that needs to be reworked on a greater scale. Missing the playoffs is an embarrassment that should get Omar to make the same kind of ballsy, creative moves responsible for this amazing core of talent.
---------------------------------------------------
Obviously, I'm not happy about what happened this year. This theory is probably just a rationalization to help me deal with my latent anger in a non-homicidal way. The Mets let 2007 slip away because they lacked the killer instinct to dominate the competition. In effect, the 2007 Mets were the 2004 Yankees: A good team that played its worst at the wrong time and made history on the wrong side of the ledger. Whether they didn't have enough pitching or enough heart is immaterial. They just didn't find a way to win when it mattered.
If anything can be gained from this frustrating situation, its that everyone from the front office to the dugout feels compelled to do everything in his power, every day, to bring a championship home to Flushing.
And Mets fans aren't thinking that we're going to win one championship and be all happy about it. We're looking for a mini-dynasty, at the least. That means competing year in and year out with the stacked AL, not just getting out of the NL alive. With a core of Wright, Reyes and Beltran--three amazing young talents on the right side of 30-- this is not unreasonable. A small setback in one year is tolerable if it helps the organization in the long run.
At least that's what I tell myself
No comments:
Post a Comment