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September 14, 2009 Latest Mets News Joe Janish

Mets Mathematically Eliminated

champagne-popWith their two losses to the Phillies on Sunday night, the Mets fell 20 games behind the NL East-leading Phillies and 19 games behind the Wild Card-leading Colorado Rockies.

Since the Mets have 18 games left to play, I’m going to assume these numbers mean the Mets have been officially, mathematically eliminated from the postseason.

So at this point, there is absolutely no chance that the Mets can play “meaningful games” for the remainder of September. Even if they win their final 18 games, they’ll still be a game short of the playoffs.

I know, I know — Jerry Manuel threw in the towel in mid-June. Most of the rest of us conceded the season in July. But now it’s official.

I can taste the Champagne … and it’s a bad vintage.

Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. Mike September 14, 2009 at 10:00 am
    Joe, you gotta lay off the Garlic Champagne!

    You know it is funny, we beg the Mets to be upfront with us, to let us in on the plans and to stop sugar coating everything. Yet Jerry came right out in June and told us the Mets are not good enough to make the playoffs with all of these injuries, and instead we complained and lamented him for giving up. Weird looking back at it.

  2. mic September 14, 2009 at 10:27 am
    Some gave up in March when O-dog, Garland and bobby Abreu were available and were passed over, yet the Yanks splashed 500M out to fortify an already very good team.
  3. joejanish September 14, 2009 at 2:08 pm
    Mike, I still fault Manuel for giving up — even if the higher-ups had already decided they wouldn’t be spending money on acquiring suitable reinforcements. His combination of “being real” and the front office’s pretending there wasn’t a problem was a recipe for nausea-inducing stew.

    Because the truth is, even with everyone healthy, this team still would’ve failed. As Mic suggests, the Mets gave up when they passed on signing key final pieces to the puzzle.

  4. Wendy September 14, 2009 at 3:59 pm
    Joe, I agree, yes the pieces should have been put in place before the season even though the level and duration of injuries could not have been known until the All Star Break. By Manuel making it clear that the team was done it deflated the team’s morale, and as much as David Wright tried to do damage control, by the time he went on the DL himself after being beaned, things went totally downhill.
  5. wohjr September 15, 2009 at 1:44 am
    This team didn’t have the horses from the get-go, I think many of us here acknowledged that early on. I also think that those of us who pushed the financial ruin story (re: Madoff) have also been proven out. The fact remains the Wilpons have been committed to just a good enough team to keep the fans in the seats drinking $9 beers. In the end, that asshole in North Carolina federal prison will be what saves us. Wilpon has to sell– at least a major stake. I think this is good.
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