2019 New York Mets Season Thread

[NJDevs4978]

I should be glad Brodie is looking beyond just the boilerplate list of candidates but because it’s Brodie and because they’re not even considering guys with experience I’m just rolling my eyes.

[NJDevs4978]

Yeah strangely I have no issues with the 'rival' Nats winning the WS.  Partly because they're such a good underdog story post-Harper, partly cause of Houston's off-field nonsense and pimping HR's and partly cause the Nats have a 94-year old owner, might as well let him win one - maybe they'll lose Rendon and Strausberg in the offseason anyway 

Not that it would help us much since we'd still have to get through Atlanta and the Phillies with Girardi and an owner willing to spend.

Edited October 31, 2019 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Yeah I think I like the fact that the very unlikable Harper had to sit there and watch his former team win a World Series without him.

Also the latest case of a Boras client not making the difference that Boras will always claim.  Another unlikable douche.  I know it's not Boras' job to be liked, but fvck him. 

['7']

Felt kind of indifferent during this. I mean good to see Harper punked and all. But I hate the Marlins more than I hate the Nats, and the Astros I feel nothing towards. meh 

Nothing but respect for Rendon. He's a legit superstar

Edited October 31, 2019 by '7'

[NJDevs4978]

So looks like it's down to Perez, Beltran and Shelton.  Of those three I'd probably order them that way in preference but not sure any one of them is a difference-maker in the end.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

They’ll hire whoever is cheapest.  So Mets, so Wilpons.  Hopefully it works out...BVW can become even more full of himself.  And Jeffy will be sure to remind us all how involved he was in the process.  

[NJDevs4978]

Welp looks like it's Beltran, which I'm sure almost everyone expected once his name got floated and it seemed like he only wanted one of the two NY jobs.  The fact that TERRY COLLINS will be his bench coach is a bit of a surprise but Terry does fit the profile, if he's comfortable going back into the dugout as a second-in-command Larry Robinson-style and Beltran actually did want him then vaya con dios.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

3 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Welp looks like it's Beltran, which I'm sure almost everyone expected once his name got floated and it seemed like he only wanted one of the two NY jobs.  The fact that TERRY COLLINS will be his bench coach is a bit of a surprise but Terry does fit the profile, if he's comfortable going back into the dugout as a second-in-command Larry Robinson-style and Beltran actually did want him then vaya con dios.

Complete joke and couldn't have been more predictable.  BVW's smarter than everyone yet again.  Wilpons can take a bath in all of the pennies they just saved.  "Win now" team with yet another rookie manager...makes tons of sense. 

[NJDevs4978]

All of our inherent skepticism aside, a lot of win-now teams are going with inexperienced managers (Boone, Cora, Dave Roberts, David Ross) so it's not just germane to us.  Beltran does check boxes other than experience in terms of communication and respect in the game.  The whole played for the team thing isn't as big an issue as it could be since he's far enough removed from the Mets where he didn't actually play with any of the current players afaik and while he was somewhat popular he isn't popular enough where they have to keep him forever if he doesn't work out.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Fair points Has.  As you know I'm not a big Beltran guy...he just never seemed right for NY.  I'll happily eat the crow if I'm wrong. 

['7']

Beltran I would say is not well liked by a majority of Mets fans. Because of strike 3 (which will be replayed relentlessly now)...there are wounds that Beltran left here that will probably never heal. He seems like the wrong guy at the wrong time, and will be granted almost no honeymoon period by the fans.

And another first timer why.

Guess we'll see. We just don't know what kind of manager he is...he could be great for all we know. But we have no data to go on

Not sure if it has been confirmed yet regarding Collins being the bench coach but the two are close...and ever since Collins re-entered the fold within the Mets organization I had a feeling he was going to end up back in the dugout.

Should Beltran end up another Callaway, they probably won't wait as long to pull the plug, and Collins will be the manager once again.

Edited November 1, 2019 by '7'

[NJDevs4978]

Ironically I'd rather Beltran not be universally loved by the fanbase as opposed to a Wright, or even an Edgardo Alfonzo type if they had ever made him the manager.  Precisely because they could theoretically pull the plug without annoying everyone.  It took the Packers a decade to move on from Bart Starr, the Broncos with John Elway has ugliness potential down the road too.  The Yankees were much better off having meh/passing through guys like Girardi and Boone manage as opposed to Don Mattingly, that would have been a disaster too.

A potential plus with Beltran as opposed to the other guys is he wouldn't neccesarily come here to let Brodie run a shadow government.  You have the feel like it'll at least be his team since he is a big enough name to get certain concessions.  Obviously Beltran has even less experience than the other rookie guys they were interviewing though.

Edited November 1, 2019 by NJDevs4978

['7']

2 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Ironically I'd rather Beltran not be universally loved by the fanbase as opposed to a Wright, or even an Edgardo Alfonzo type if they had ever made him the manager.  Precisely because they could theoretically pull the plug without annoying everyone.  It took the Packers a decade to move on from Bart Starr, the Broncos with John Elway has ugliness potential down the road too.  The Yankees were much better off having meh/passing through guys like Girardi and Boone manage as opposed to Don Mattingly, that would have been a disaster too.

A potential plus with Beltran as opposed to the other guys is he wouldn't neccesarily come here to let Brodie run a shadow government.  You have the feel like it'll at least be his team since he is a big enough name to get certain concessions.  Obviously Beltran has even less experience than the other rookie guys they were interviewing though.

Hate to compliment them but the Rags avoided a very dicey situation when they decided not to hire Messier as coach. Firing him would've been a nightmare. Firing Bryan Trottier when he was an incompetent boob was easy

[NJDevs4978]

I can't wait to see how awkward the transition is to Beltran talk today on talk radio when fifty lines of callers will only want to talk about the Jets.  What genius decided a Monday presser and rollout was a good idea?  I actually forgot the rollout was today tbh.  But really, who thought doing this today was a good idea to maximize publicity with a Giants game tonight and the Jets coming off a bottom three loss in franchise history that might get the coach fired 

Edited November 4, 2019 by NJDevs4978

['7']

4 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

I can't wait to see how awkward the transition is to Beltran talk today on talk radio when fifty lines of callers will only want to talk about the Jets.  What genius decided a Monday presser and rollout was a good idea?  I actually forgot the rollout was today tbh.  But really, who thought doing this today was a good idea to maximize publicity with a Giants game tonight and the Jets coming off a bottom three loss in franchise history that might get the coach fired 

Yea this is definitely something that they should've saved for either Thurs or Friday when people are more lively and in a better mood. But the Mets as usual just have no feel for anything going on around them and have atrocious timing.

Still I guess in their defense they don't feel like their own schedule revolves around football and they shouldn't be taking cues and planning things based on the football pulse of the city.

Beltran is such a low key guy though that nothing associated with him is going to be much of a media event. This is nothing like a Rex Ryan or John Tortorella press conference. Beltran will be a stoic behind the scenes manager. And I have no doubt he understands the intricacies of the game better than Callaway...only issue is will he be too distant? 

Edited November 4, 2019 by '7'

[NJDevs4978]

2 hours ago, '7' said:

Yea this is definitely something that they should've saved for either Thurs or Friday when people are more lively and in a better mood. But the Mets as usual just have no feel for anything going on around them and have atrocious timing.

Still I guess in their defense they don't feel like their own schedule revolves around football and they shouldn't be taking cues and planning things based on the football pulse of the city.

Beltran is such a low key guy though that nothing associated with him is going to be much of a media event. This is nothing like a Rex Ryan or John Tortorella press conference. Beltran will be a stoic behind the scenes manager. And I have no doubt he understands the intricacies of the game better than Callaway...only issue is will he be too distant? 

If this were even tomorrow WFAN or ESPN, whoever can actually talk to Mets people - they could roll out the new manager and GM to at least get a sense of the plan and vision going forward.  On the Kay show alone it's gonna be three hours of Jet bashing with probably the Darnold and Gase interviews in the middle of it, assuming their keycards still work.

Edited November 4, 2019 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

No surprise, as Alonso wins the NL Rookie of the Year.

The guy who didn't vote for him (I won't post his name even though I know who it is, because it wouldn't surprise me if he voted for Mike Soroka just to be contrarian and get some attention) should seriously lose his right to vote...much like the bonehead who wouldn't elect Greg Maddux to the Hall of Fame due to having played in the steroid era.  Not to knock Mike Soroka's fine rookie year and he clearly deserved to be the runner-up, but no way should ANYONE have voted for him over Alonso.  Kinda tells you something when 29 other guys vote for Alonso.   

[NJDevs4978]

Like someone said it was some Athletic writer probably looking for a hook to get subscriptions cause he had his article defending his position ready to go.

Edited November 12, 2019 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

4 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Like someone said it was some Atlantic writer looking for a hook to get subscriptions cause he had his article defending his position ready to go.

Then that guy (from the Athletic) should really just have his right to vote stripped.  It's not like it hurt Alonso (no one will remember that he wasn't unanimous, only that he was the 2019 NL ROTY), but the guy clearly had no interest in voting in the spirit of what the award is supposed to be.  He shouldn't be able to use his vote to try to get clicks and subscriptions.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Congrats Jake!  You deserve better than the Mets, but damn we’re lucky to have you!  

https://www.ocregister.com/2019/11/13/whicker-justifying-the-lonely-cy-young-ballot-for-hyun-jin-ryu/

Of course, there had to be one dissenter...Mark Whicker voted for Ryu (Jake received all of the other first-place votes).  Unlike the pathetic Athletic guy who was clearly using his vote for a misguided purpose, Whicker at least tries to present a decent case for why he voted for Ryu, though I can't agree with him.  I know Ryu had a terrific 17-start run within his season where his ERA over that timeframe was a microscopic 1.09...but Jake had a similar 14-start, 1.44 ERA burst to close his season, and that's when the Mets absolutely needed him to be every bit that good.  It's just really hard to make a truly compelling case as to why Ryu should deserve the award over deGrom...Ryu had a fine year for sure, but deGrom was just flat-out better OVERALL (Whicker seems to think Ryu should've won based solely on what he'd done through early August, and Whicker is a little too enamoured with Ryu's very low walk total...Jake's BB per nine was under 2.00, and he's much less hittable than Ryu...Ryu allowed 7.9 H per 9 IP, while Jake was at 6.8 per 9 IP)...Jake was more consistent, and definitely more durable.  I won't kill Whicker too much, but his vote does reek of someone who just didn't want to follow the herd. 

Edited November 14, 2019 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

Yeah I’m not too worried about Jake falling one vote short of unanimous when Ryu would have been the one to win unanimous if the vote was early August. With Alonso it was common sense since at least the ASB if not sooner that he should be ROY.

And oh joy, Beltran is now a person of interest in the Astros cheating scandal (along with Cora and AJ, THREE current MLB managers).

Edited November 14, 2019 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

The funny thing is I think sign-stealing probably goes on quite a bit (to varying degrees of course).  It's kind of funny that in this particular case (obviously there's a little more proof with this one, or there sure seems to be), now suddenly it's time to crack down and for many to act indignant. 

Maybe people like Beltran eventually get fined and maybe the Astros get fined and/or lose draft picks, but I don't think it's going to be this major major deal. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Yeah I’m not too worried about Jake falling one vote short of unanimous when Ryu would have been the one to win unanimous if the vote was early August. With Alonso it was common sense since at least the ASB if not sooner that he should be ROY.

Re:  Ryu vs deGrom, though Whicker did attempt to explain his thought process, his take was pretty faulty.  Basically he doesn't realize that he was pretty much unconsciously docking deGrom for his few rough April starts, while acting like Ryu's even rougher August starts were somehow not allowed to be factored into the debate. 

Basically it's OK to cut off the season in early August and award Ryu the Cy based on what he'd done to that point, but if we're going to selectively truncate seasons (based on Whicker more or less wanting to ignore Ryu's worst games), then why not start from May?

deGrom:  27 GS, 178 IP, 128 H, 38 ER, 14 HR, 34 BB, 212 K, 2.07 ERA, .199 BAA, .545 OPS Against

Ryu:  24 GS, 155.1 IP, 134 H, 38 HR, 11 HR, 22 BB, 130 K, 2.20 ERA, .233 BAA, .604 OPS Against 

I don't really want to sound like this is some huge deal...it's just an interesting case to me in that when someone goes so firmly against the grain, there's a part of me that says "Hmmmmmmm...is there something to this?  Does this guy have a legit point?  Let me take a look and dig some..."  And this is just one of those cases where I can't understand how or why this one voter was able to choose Ryu over deGrom.  One guy was just clearly better...29 other voters got it right. 

[NJDevs4978]

2 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

The funny thing is I think sign-stealing probably goes on quite a bit (to varying degrees of course).  It's kind of funny that in this particular case (obviously there's a little more proof with this one, or there sure seems to be), now suddenly it's time to crack down and for many to act indignant. 

Maybe people like Beltran eventually get fined and maybe the Astros get fined and/or lose draft picks, but I don't think it's going to be this major major deal. 

Eh to me it crosses a line when you start using electronics. It’s one thing with using your eyes for ‘normal’ sign stealing but if we start using cameras then how far does the slippery slope go? Do teams start wiretapping dugouts and putting hidden cameras in locker rooms?

Edited November 14, 2019 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

4 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Eh to me it crosses a line when you start using electronics. It’s one thing with using your eyes for ‘normal’ sign stealing but if we start using cameras then how far does the slippery slope go? Do teams start wiretapping dugouts and putting hidden cameras in locker rooms?

I guess we need to know EXACTLY how this was all done in this case.  But I understand what you're saying.