New York Mets 2018 season thread

[NJDevs4978]

Game 2 of that series bothered me as much as Game 7 if not more, with Mota and Wagner blowing a 6-3 lead.  That was the game that got me worried we could be in some real trouble.  They really did have no margin for error in the pen with the state of the rotation that year though.

3 hours ago, '7' said:

Buck Showalter out as O's manager

I'd take him in a heartbeat. Of course we'll have to put up with Mickey's idiocy for another half season at least

I'd be fine with him too, at least he'd have a real pitching staff here unlike the humpty dumpties in Baltimore.  I mean Joe Saunders actually started a Wild Card game for them when they were good 

Edited October 4, 2018 by NJDevs4978

['7']

Have the A's ever won a deciding game 5 or 1 game playoffs? They are slam dunk chokers in these situations

Yankees-Sox is something you know the MLB league office is salivating over

I remember being perturbed over game 2 but not enraged. But that was the first hint that the Cards may be destinies darlings and the gods were against the Mets that year. Still we had won 5 straight in the playoffs at that point...we were going to hit some adversity sooner or later. But yea, So Taguchi? C'mon already.

And game 3 the Mets totally shriveled up against the mediocre Jeff Suppan. That was another huge sign that this team was gutless

Edited October 4, 2018 by '7'

['7']

And wasn't it Preston f'n Wilson who got a huge hit off Glavine in game 5? When we had the lead. Because of course he did. With 1 foot out of baseball by then Preston Wilson had to kill us

[NJDevs4978]

1 hour ago, '7' said:

Have the A's ever won a deciding game 5 or 1 game playoffs? They are slam dunk chokers in these situations

Yankees-Sox is something you know the MLB league office is salivating over

I remember being perturbed over game 2 but not enraged. But that was the first hint that the Cards may be destinies darlings and the gods were against the Mets that year. Still we had won 5 straight in the playoffs at that point...we were going to hit some adversity sooner or later. But yea, So Taguchi? C'mon already.

And game 3 the Mets totally shriveled up against the mediocre Jeff Suppan. That was another huge sign that this team was gutless

The Billy Beane A's, no.  Actually the last 'tight' series the A's won was...wait for it...the 1973 WS   With six deciding game losses plus two WC losses in the Beane era...sheesh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Oakland_Athletics_seasons

I actually figured it'd be a fairly easy win for the Yankees - they're just better.  Better offensively and better pitching-wise all around, especially in the pen where the A's had a lot of guys who have good stats but were suspect compared to the Yankees' stable of closers.

And yeah there were a lot of different cringeworthy moments in that series...I only remember Glavine giving up the HR to Matt Adams which was unusual since Adams never HR'ed against a lefty.  Glavine was actually very good in that postseason otherwise.  If nothing else had happened after #300 Glavine would be beloved or at least respected by the Met fanbase, but of course game #162 ruined everything for his legacy here.

Edited October 4, 2018 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Typical Billy Beane team...wilting on the big stage...that game was over at 2-0.  Guy has never won jack sh!t, but sure likes to act like he has.

Funny, I haven't thought about the particulars re: the 2006 playoffs for years.  Reading these posts, it's all coming back...though I'm not sure if that's a good thing.

And to be fair to Trachsel, though he clearly didn't deserve to be 12-1 in those 15 starts by any stretch, he WAS keeping his team in games, for the most part...plenty of 6 IP, 2 or 3 ER kinds of performances (though in general they were pretty ugly, as evidenced by the insanely high WHIP).  He allowed 8 ER in one start, and 6 ER in another (he actually got a win in that one)...that blows up the ERA over the sample a bit.  Take out his three worst starts (13 IP, 17 ER) and his combined ERA in the other 12 starts is 4.02.  So he really wasn't quite as awful overall in that stretch as I made him out to be...though it's still pretty insane that in those 12 starts, he managed an 11-0 record.  Friggin' deGrom might have won 25 games for that 2006 Met team.

Just for the hell of it, Trachsel's combined numbers in the other 12 starts:

71.2 IP, 75 H, 32 ER, 11 HR, 32 BB, 33 K, 4.02 ERA, 1.49 WHIP

Obviously far from good, but it seems like he had a way of scrapping through 5-7 innings, in spite of himself.  He basically averaged about 6 IP, 6.25 H, 2.67 ER, 2.67 BB and 2.75 K per start. 

Edited October 4, 2018 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

I'm sure everyone was watching, but wow what a Met like loss by the Yankees. I mean that was carbon copy Mets!

Sale needed to at least start the 9th. 

Edited October 10, 2018 by '7'

[NJDevs4978]

It would have been Met like if the Sox blew it...I was getting Benitez/Wagner/Familia visions watching Kimbrel in that ninth

And Stanton's filling the A-Rod heel mold nicely.  Well buddy you wanted to bully your way to the Yankees, this was your just desserts.  Odell Beckham's the happiest guy in NY tonight, all the attention's off him now.

Imagine being a Giant/Yankee fan this week though...well they usually live the high life compared to us but this has been a brutal three days in first class.

Edited October 10, 2018 by NJDevs4978

['7']

Yea Kimbrel was all out sh!t the bed mode. He was bailed out. If the Yankees pulled this off it would've been one for the ages. You would've thought that maybe the curse of the Bambino was getting re-settled if the Yankees went on to win game 5. And regarding Stanton, if this is what he is and next year is something of a repeat of this then the Yankees will try to pull the plug on this experiment and move him. Would they be able to? That's another story,

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Yet another by-the-nonexistent-book manager almost blows it...Sale had an easy inning...these friggin' robotic managers so rarely think outside the damn box.  Let Sale start the ninth!  

As far as ARod goes, at least the guy had one big playoff run.  We'll see if Stanton has that in him, but until further notice he's an overrated slugger who strikes out way too much, doesn't get enough hits, and does most of his damage in non-pressure situations.  No one's afraid of you in a big spot Giancarlo.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

8 minutes ago, '7' said:

Yea Kimbrel was all out sh!t the bed mode. He was bailed out. If the Yankees pulled this off it would've been one for the ages. You would've thought that maybe the curse of the Bambino was getting re-settled if the Yankees went on to win game 5. And regarding Stanton, if this is what he is and next year is something of a repeat of this then the Yankees will try to pull the plug on this experiment and move him. Would they be able to? That's another story,

Sabermetric dipsh!ts will tell you what a swell year Stanton had, and how anyone can have a crappy short series, and how striking out over 200 times is no big deal.  Because of course they will.  

He's probably one of the most hated Yankees right now.  Unless he has a 2017 kind of season, that probably doesn't change anytime real soon.

Edited October 10, 2018 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

31 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Yet another by-the-nonexistent-book manager almost blows it...Sale had an easy inning...these friggin' robotic managers so rarely think outside the damn box.  Let Sale start the ninth!  

As far as ARod goes, at least the guy had one big playoff run.  We'll see if Stanton has that in him, but until further notice he's an overrated slugger who strikes out way too much, doesn't get enough hits, and does most of his damage in non-pressure situations.  No one's afraid of you in a big spot Giancarlo.

I thought it was worse he took Porcello out after five, the guy only had 65 pitches.  I didn't think they should pitch Sale at all, not when you're UP 2-1.  But yeah once he was in you could make the argument for keeping him until a guy reaches base in the ninth but they probably didn't want to compromise his next start TOO much and of course robotically you're putting your All-Star closer in for a save situation.

I don't know where you even COULD trade Stanton to, where he'd actually accept a trade?  Part of the reason he's a Yankee is cause he only wanted to go to the top four teams, and the others didn't have payroll/room for him.  The Yankees have pretty much fallen into the same trap as their early '00's teams, when they went overboard on power but didn't have enough guys who worked counts, could run the bases and do the little things you need to score runs in the postseason, the way the '90's teams did.

Edited October 10, 2018 by NJDevs4978

['7']

25 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Sabermetric dipsh!ts will tell you what a swell year Stanton had, and how anyone can have a crappy short series, and how striking out over 200 times is no big deal.  Because of course they will.  

He's probably one of the most hated Yankees right now.  Unless he has a 2017 kind of season, that probably doesn't change anytime real soon.

Situations like this make you appreciate the clutch guys even more. Elias and Claude Lemieux were incredibly clutch. Huge situations they never wavered. They never played scared. Jeter, Brady, Jordan, Kirk Gibson, Bumgarner, Montana etc. They may not win 100% of the time but they will never lose because of psychological lapses.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I'm sure you guys already knew this, but the Vegas days are no more...Mets' AAA affiliate is now located in Syracuse.  As we all know, that's a great thing (no more PCL-bloated numbers, no more pitchers losing their minds), but of course brilliant wanna-be baseball man Jeffy Wilpon manages to fvck something up right from the get-go...heaven fvcking forbid doing the locals a real solid and keeping the Chiefs nickname...nope, Jeffy's just such a fvcking genius, of course he knows what's best:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/setheverett/2018/10/17/syracuse-chiefs-are-no-more-as-mets-move-in-erase-84-year-history/#6684ea384905

How can these fvcking Wilpon scumbags be tone-deaf EVERY.  SINGLE.  fvckING.  TIME.  HOW?!?!?!?!?!?

Congratulations douchebags, already another market can't fvcking stand you.  And the two of you wonder why so many people don't want the GM job in NEW YORK.  Complete pieces of sh!t...both Freddy and his vermin offspring. 

[NJDevs4978]

I am glad they are staying there for 25 years, it's nice to have your primary minor league team be in shuttle distance.  But if you are going to make that kind of long-term commitment yeah it would be nice to take the local market into account going in and not just shoot down history both guns blazing.

We saw the same laziness with the Devils, branding their AHL team with the Devils name despite playing in markets that could care less we're the parent team (Lowell, Binghamton).  I do wonder if changing the name to the Mets was part of the deal to get them to agree to a 25-year lease.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

21 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

I am glad they are staying there for 25 years, it's nice to have your primary minor league team be in shuttle distance.  But if you are going to make that kind of long-term commitment yeah it would be nice to take the local market into account going in and not just shoot down history both guns blazing.

We saw the same laziness with the Devils, branding their AHL team with the Devils name despite playing in markets that could care less we're the parent team (Lowell, Binghamton).  I do wonder if changing the name to the Mets was part of the deal to get them to agree to a 25-year lease.

Oh as far as the location is concerned, I couldn't be happier.  Makes tons of sense...it's still a bit of a trek by car (over 250 miles), but at least the AAA team isn't on the other side of the country anymore. 

It's just that Jeffy actually thinks the Met brand is a selling point at the moment, which really shows how out of fvcking touch the Wilpons are.  Jeffy...Freddy...right now you're on the wrong side of a love-hate relationship.  Yeah, most Met fans will keep taking it...at its most pure, I do still enjoy baseball, and as infuriatingly incompetent and amateur as the Wilpon-era Mets almost always are, I can't imagine ever rooting for another baseball team...the only way I will ever switch allegiances will be if New Jersey somehow got its own MLB team.  But the Met fanbase HATES the Wilpons...especially the most hardened, ardent fans (like us).  And those who aren't hardcore Met fans likely have heard how clownish the franchise is...so why plaster "METS" all over every last thing?  Especially when the Chiefs had an insanely long history with the locals?  If the Mets "won" by working their name into the negotiations, they really didn't win.  BUT, considering that the stadium is going to get some needed TLC, and that it's a 25-year lease (I'll be 73 years old when it's over...yikes!), an entertaining AAA product will help for sure.  And apparently the beloved Chiefs weren't always lighting it up from an attendance standpoint.

The REAL laziness and flat-out stupidity was trying to turn Trenton into a Devils' market.  Of course that failed...the awful horned TRENTON (with miniature Devils crest) looked meh enough, but then to completely ignore that Trenton was really more Flyer country (and the fact that the locals really identified with the Titans, who'd won a Kelly Cup not long before the Devils swooped in with a re-brand) was just dumb.  And I wouldn't blame ANYONE in that area for permanently despising the Devils because of that whole mess.

Edited October 22, 2018 by Colorado Rockies 1976

['7']

On 10/21/2018 at 11:08 AM, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

I'm sure you guys already knew this, but the Vegas days are no more...Mets' AAA affiliate is now located in Syracuse.  As we all know, that's a great thing (no more PCL-bloated numbers, no more pitchers losing their minds), but of course brilliant wanna-be baseball man Jeffy Wilpon manages to fvck something up right from the get-go...heaven fvcking forbid doing the locals a real solid and keeping the Chiefs nickname...nope, Jeffy's just such a fvcking genius, of course he knows what's best:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/setheverett/2018/10/17/syracuse-chiefs-are-no-more-as-mets-move-in-erase-84-year-history/#6684ea384905

How can these fvcking Wilpon scumbags be tone-deaf EVERY.  SINGLE.  fvckING.  TIME.  HOW?!?!?!?!?!?

Congratulations douchebags, already another market can't fvcking stand you.  And the two of you wonder why so many people don't want the GM job in NEW YORK.  Complete pieces of sh!t...both Freddy and his vermin offspring. 

I don't get it either. I mean Syracuse is no small town or anything but the name is near and dear to the locals hearts and in minor league baseball, where everything is always in a state of flux, something that has been continuous and reliable. And a true identity.

And now here come the Mets just wiping it away overnight with no thought or regard for what the locals think. Not very endearing. People know who the Mets are we don't need to push the brand in upstate NY. David Wright grew up going to Norfolk Tides games and became a Mets fan that way. They didn't need to be called the Norfolk Mets. These local identities are important

Still I'm glad that logistical/travel issues have been solved. Vegas was just insane as a AAA affiliate. Figures they had some space alien branding because to the rest of us they may have well been on Mars.

Edited October 22, 2018 by '7'

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

20 minutes ago, '7' said:

I don't get it either. I mean Syracuse is no small town or anything but the name is near and dear to the locals hearts and in minor league baseball, where everything is always in a state of flux, something that has been continuous and reliable. And a true identity.

And now here come the Mets just wiping it away overnight with no thought or regard for what the locals think. Not very endearing. People know who the Mets are we don't need to push the brand in upstate NY. David Wright grew up going to Norfolk Tides games and became a Mets fan that way. They didn't need to be called the Norfolk Mets. These local identities are important

Still I'm glad that logistical/travel issues have been solved. Vegas was just insane as a AAA affiliate. Figures they had some space alien branding because to the rest of us they may have well been on Mars.

Yes, in these kinds of smaller cities with AAA teams, they strongly identify with the team more or less being its own entity...if they're the Chiefs, it's still a part of Syracuse history, meaningful to locals, and not so in-your-face "now property of the New York Mets", that fans of other MLB teams don't necessarily feel like they're rooting for the Mets when they go to see their team play.  There was nothing to gain with the Met re-branding, and much more to lose. 

The Wilpons better hope that the AAA team is fun to watch, and that an improved stadium experience will be enough to get locals to show up.  It's just so funny...ALL that Freddy and Jeffy had to do was keep the Chiefs nickname, and with everything else they've proposed, they would've been welcomed with massively open arms.  It's like they just HAD to create some unnecessary adversity for themselves...I just don't get how these two just fubar everything they touch again and again and again...and forever remain oblivious to it.

['7']

Haven't really followed our GM search all that much but it looks like Doug Melvin is in the lead. Or at least the hot candidate at the moment. He has a legitimate respectable track record but is also in his 60's and another one where you may question his fitness and stamina for it. Brodie Van Wagenen is also being mentioned for...god knows why. He's an agent. How is he even in the discussion?  Chaim Bloom is also in the mix. Young brainy kid type I'd guess. Only 35 and the VP of baseball ops for the Rays

 

 

Edited October 22, 2018 by '7'

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

https://sports.yahoo.com/jacob-degroms-agent-finalist-next-general-manager-mets-185504936.html

Hey '7', the funny thing about the link above is the blurb about other candidates being eliminated.  I think everyone else pretty much eliminated themselves.  I think that many people have no interest in working for the Wilpons.  So yeah, it's either a retread, a "huh?", and a young kid who probably never gets this kind of opportunity anywhere else.

[NJDevs4978]

I wouldn't even so much mind the retread if it wasn't A) a retread that had specifically wanted to step away and spend less time doing day-to-day stuff, and B ) someone rubber-stamped by Bud.  How many GM's does Bud get to pick for us exactly?  Basically one candidate out of three I'd want and that guy's probably going to the Giants even though by all rights the Mets ON-field are a better situation.  The agent thing seems like a fantasy to help the Mets get a better deal on deGrom and others

Edited October 22, 2018 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

18 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

I wouldn't even so much mind the retread if it wasn't A) a retread that had specifically wanted to step away and spend less time doing day-to-day stuff, and B ) someone rubber-stamped by Bud.  How many GM's does Bud get to pick for us exactly?  Basically one candidate out of three I'd want and that guy's probably going to the Giants even though by all rights the Mets ON-field are a better situation.  The agent thing seems like a fantasy to help the Mets get a better deal on deGrom and others

Yeah, out of the three, I want the young guy.  I'd probably be OK with Melvin...not really an exciting pick, feels kinda safe, but after mail-it-in-Sandy I'll be happy with a guy who at least will try, and Melvin's been pretty good (and if Melvin gives up the way Sandy did, it really will tell us all we need to know about what it's like to work for the Wilpons).  And yeah, I don't need fvcking Bud Selig endorsing anyone for the Mets GM job. 

[NJDevs4978]

The funny thing is Martino and Rubin have both done seperate GM polls that pretty much have the same result...just over 70% want Bloom the other two have like 13-15% at most.  I mean we know 'sometimes' the Mets will bow to public pressure when it has nothing to do with spending money but of course Bloom has to want the job even if the Mets were to offer it, and there's no guarantee they'd assure him total control.

Edited October 23, 2018 by NJDevs4978

[NJDevs4978]

Oh joy, another one bites the dust...

 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

So won't be seeing him until 2020 more than likely, if ever.  Not like some guys haven't bounced back from TJS early in their careers...deGrom for one. 

[NJDevs4978]

So apprently Melvin's OUT, it's either gonna be Bloom or the agent.  I don't know what qualification the agent has other than being employed by several major members of the team, but can't accuse them of same ol' same ol' on this one at least.