New York Mets 101

Brodie Vanwagenen doesn't like to deal in ifs. In other words if everyone performs up to snuff The Mets should have a great season and make the playoffs. Well we have a lot of ifs. The bullpen for one, the outfield, and who will back up Wilson Ramos. The other real wild card is will Yoenis Cespedes be ready for opening day. I want this team to make the playoffs, but the Braves and Nationals have only gotten better. One of them will get exponentially better if they sign Josh Donaldson. I hope that we are not headed for a third place finish in a really tough National League East. 

It seems like Mets fans are always kept in the dark when it comes down to the dealings of  ownership. We heard about Steve Cohen and his negotiations with the Wilpons to gain a controlling interest in the club last week. We don't know much more now. There are alot of things we as fans don't know about but we should. Every time we buy a ticket we are investing in this team. The Wilpons have had a way for years of keeping their biggest investors in the dark. From Madoff to Reyes to Wright, now Cespedes and Lowrie the fans never have the full story, or the truth. The fans just never know. 

Between Cano, Cespedes, Familia, and Lowrie the Mets have $70 million dollars on the books. These players have either broken down or are not performing up to their potential. Add David Wright's $20 million + salary on to that and you have $90 million of wasted money.These players eat up payroll and make it almost impossible to sign any legitimate free agents. Add to that a depleted farm system and you have a recipe for fielding a very similar team this coming year as we did last. Once again the Mets just seem to strive for mediocrity. 

Historically The Mets have either traded blue chip prospects or other players who were in or approaching their prime: Tom Seaver, Amos Otis, and Nolan Ryan to name a few. They also have gotten into the bad habit of playing people out of position messing with their heads and losing games defensively. In this episode of The New York Mets 101 I discuss five things that the Mets shouldn't do during the off season and the reasons why. I also talk about Jacob deGromm and Pete Alonso who have just been awarded the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year respectively. My thoughts if Brodie blows this off season again he is going to be on the outside looking in. 

When I was playing the game of baseball I didn’t think about what I was learning in the process, I was just there to have fun. But, in reality every step I took during the game brought me to another life lesson that I could learn from. Baseball is just one of those sports that just seemed to scream at me when I was playing, saying; “remember this one you’ll need it later.” There are so many things to learn but, baseball had its way with me and through osmosis I moved through life with the memories and the lessons that I learned from what seemed like a well healed teacher. Here are just a few.

There are alot of things that the Mets don't do well both on and off the field. These six things are on the shoulders of The Wilpons, and if they don't start making improvements in the areas mentioned it will be a long time before we see another championship. 

Houston didn't win the series, the Yankees lost because of poor defense and a burned out bullpen. The Astros know how to play baseball and will win the World Series in 5 against The Nationals.

Who will be the next Mets manager? There have been 3 managers of merit in the 58 years of their existence; Gil Hodges, Davey Johnson, and Bobby Valentine. Watch as this franchise ones again cheaps out and hires another rookie manager who will be a yes man. 

The playoffs are the playoffs. Cards are in trouble down 2-0 to the Nationals.. Yankees and Houston what I expected. Beltran only wants to manage The Mets. Do The Mets want him? And then there was The Seaver Documentary. If you missed it well you missed a alot. My sadness comes when I realized that there were so many career milestones this man achieved with other teams. The Mets just seem to have a way of screwing things up even with a Hall of Fame pitcher like Tom Seaver.

Who will be the next manager of the Mets? One thing is for sure if the new guy has a track record and is a managerial star Brodie won't hire him. Brodie wants control and he always wants to be sure that the spotlight is on him. My fear is that once again we will have all the horses but still lose the race. Wake Up Brodie!

The worst thing that could happen did when Fred Wilpon bought out Nelson Doubleday to become the primary share holder as owner of the Mets. He should have been forced to sell the team by Bud Selig because the money used was acquired through Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme. As long as the Wilpon's are the owners we may never see another championship. Don't be surprised if Calloway hangs on because he is still owed money. The Wilpon's don't care about the team and constantly walk down the path of mediocrity.