Liars!
In today’s Newsday, Steven Marcus reports that tickets sales for the Mets are up by nearly 20% over last year and that season ticket sales are up nearly 13%. (Take that Leigh Castergine). We were told by Sandy Alderson that as soon as the fans started coming to the games, the Mets would start to add to their payroll. Well, the fans have done their part…
Meanwhile, as reported here and elsewhere, Anthony DiComo notified all of us that while the Mets have checked in on Cuban shortstop Yoan Moncada, they have decided that he is an “unrealistic option, given their budget.”
Like most of the rest of you, I have no idea if Moncada can play shortstop at the major league level. Some team may be about to make a multi-million dollar mistake. If that is so, then I will be glad it wasn’t the Mets. But with less than one month before pitchers and catchers, it seems obvious that there are no new additions coming to the 2015 Mets, despite the renewed support of their fans and the need for at least a veteran presence or two to supplement the hope and prayer options at shortstop, the bullpen and the bench.
Instead, like just about everything else that has ever come out of this organization in the past several years, pledges to improve the product if they get support at the gate have turned out to be another load of crap. I am not talking about trading a stud pitching prospect for a questionable middle infielder, but several good fits for the Mets have been traded to or signed with other teams in just the past few weeks, while our moribund front office still appears to be on Christmas vacation. They can’t even trade Dillon Gee , just like I called it here.
While I will never root for the Mets to lose, I almost relish the thought of a slow start. It might be fun to watch Alderson and the Wilpons run for cover.
Have you bought tickets yet?
I have been a sports fan my entire life, with baseball on the top of my list, and the Mets at the top of the baseball list. Sports is the toy aisle so-to-speak, an escape from reality for those of us that are entertained by it. As time marches on, more and more light is shed on the many sleazeballs that are part of the game. Not to tarnish those in the game that are genuine, because they are there as well. I must say that from the evidence that is in the public domain, this current ownership operates closer to drug dealers than upstanding businessmen. Enough of their clients/customers are addicted (myself included) to their product, they know it, and they’ll say whatever is necessary to keep the revenue stream flowing.
No, I did not get tickets yet. Each year, I struggle with paying and money to these clowns. On one hand, a day at the ballpark is a great day with my aging father, my kids, and friends. We shouldn’t have to worry about the integrity of the ownership. On the other hand, I despite providing any revenues to them. So, I cut the baby in half, buying tickets from the secondary market, bringing my own food and drink, and supporting them indirectly through parking fees and secondary market ticket demand. There are bigger problems in life to tackle, but these guys have no credibility and can blame no one but themselves.
I am not displeased enough to root for a slow start, but it will get very ugly if that happens.
This year’s pre-season bravado is very paper tiger-like. The up the middle infield defense figures to be horrible and if any of their less established players struggle or get hurt this team and the entire season will quickly go down the toilet. I think the presence of very bad Atlanta and Philly teams will keep them from the basement, but in the NL East this year, third place is the basement.
The best analogy I can think of right now is that they have a house on flood plain and don’t have insurance. Maybe it won’t rain….
“I never said HOW MUCH the payroll would increase…”
Sandy’s mastered the art of making it sound like the Mets care about winning without actually offering any concrete and relevant promises toward that end. I assume he knows it’s all a farce, and will continue trying to mislead fans without spewing any factual mistruths he could get called on.
The idea that Harvey will return this year, dominate, and by himself add something like 6-7 wins to the Mets victory total seems to be a pipe dream when one looks at the first year post-recovery of previous pitchers who have had Tommy John surgery.
Maybe Harvey will be an outlier and that will happen, but I doubt it. Thinking that Harvey will dominate like that ignores the history of similar recoveries (i.e., takes awhile if at all to return to dominance) and assumes that he will pitch close to a full year.