Mets Game 145: Loss To Nationals
Nationals 7 Mets 2
So this is what it looks like when a “Major League” team throws in the towel.
Mets Game Notes
What a disgrace. The only consolation for this shameful event was that very few people wasted four hours of their life by attending. Though, it is rather upsetting that 20,484 people flushed their money down the toilet.
Hey, I get that the Mets have been mathematically eliminated and thus September has become a month-long audition for the organization’s youngsters. But when over 20,000 people have handed you their hard-earned money for a MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL game, you have the responsibility of delivering MAJOR LEAGUE caliber baseball. What is happening this September is an atrocity, and is all the more unacceptable considering it’s happening in New York City. The conspiracy theorist in me is thinking back to 1984, when the Houston Rockets won only 14 games and, thanks to a coin flip, the first pick in the NBA draft. If you’re old enough to remember that scandal, you may understand why I’m cynical; there’s too much motivation for the Mets to finish with one of the ten worst records in baseball.
Anyway, back to the “game,” which seemed more like a spring training exhibition between a big-league club and a college team.
The shame of this is that the Mets wasted a rare strong outing by Aaron Harang. At this point in his career, Harang is not unlike Dan Haren, in that he was once dominant, now is terrible, but every once in a while puts together a surprisingly effective start. This game was Harang’s one — don’t expect to see him pitch this well again in 2013. He might, but, chances are, he won’t.
So, the Nationals hit 13 homeruns in the four games, while the Mets hit none. In fact, the Mets collected a measly 21 hits in the series.
Nice to see Frank Francisco back to his old self. For a moment there, I thought he had some modicum of value. Nonetheless, some crackhead GM will give him a one-year deal for $1.5M this winter. Crazy, right, when you think about how much YOU make at your job, and how hard you work at it, and how effective you are in your position?
Francisco clearly and blatantly plunked Jayson Werth with a pitch on a 3-0 count. Nice reaction by Werth, who, if you read his lips, seemed to say, “f— you, b—tard, that’s f—ed up” — because, it was. As Ron Darling said, Frank-Frank did that “because he’s a fool.” Hey, I’m an old-schooler who has a different opinion of “purpose pitches” than most of the mamby-pambys proliferating the game today, but I’m with Ron on that one — it was foolish, and unnecessary, and put all of Francisco’s teammates in danger. The time to go inside (but not necessarily hit someone) was two games ago, when it was clear that the Nats were very comfortable in the box and swinging from their heels. At that point, and by that numnut, it was just plain stupid and unpurposeful (is that a word? I don’t care, I’m making it up). Stupid, selfish act by someone who has a long history of stupid, selfish acts throughout his littered, mediocre career. Nice, though, that several MLB teams made him a millionaire and he’ll be able to live a comfortable life. Oh, do I sound bitter? I am. Frank Francisco is a disgusting excuse of a professional ballplayer.
Did I mention the Nats hit 13 homeruns in this series? At Citi Cavern, no less? I did. Just want to make that crystal clear.
It was costume day at Citi Field, as at least 37,000 fans were admitted free for dressing up as empty seats. I suppose it was the threat of rain that scared people away from Flushing. Either that or the threat of Frank Francisco coming in from the bullpen.
Next Mets Game
The Mets host the Miami Marlins on Friday night at 7:10 PM. Jonathon Niese goes to the hill against Brad Hand. No, Brad is not the son nor grandson of Arnold, as far as I can ascertain.
Mets Item of the Day
Since the Mets are throwing in the towel on 2013, it’s fitting to recommend you purchase this lovely pair of kitchen towels
The kids in the Mets lineup are playing for their professional careers. They’re not throwing in the towel; they simply aren’t as good as the competition.
…which is actually probably WORSE news for the future of this franchise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMtdrKIdDgE
You can blame Alderson, Collins, the Wilpons, Bernie Madoff, Bud Selig — blame whomever you want — the bottom line is that the Mets are not fielding a MLB team this month. The Cubs are more than 20 games under .500 yet they still have MLBers in their lineup every day. The Marlins have big leaguers in their lineup this month. Only the Astros are looking as bad as the Mets right now, but Selig screwed them from the get-go so it’s not really a fair comparison.
Maybe we have become so used to meaningless Septembers, or so accustomed to seeing below-caliber lineups in Flushing, that this most recent drop in quality doesn’t seem so astonishing. Maybe it’s time to walk away from the situation in Flushing and look at what’s happening in other cities to get a different perspective.
Even with a fantastic year by Matt Harvey and an incredible career year for Marlon Byrd, it’s very possible the Mets will finish as one of the worst 10 teams in baseball and 20 games under .500. In 2014 the Mets will have to start by replacing the production of those two just to get back to being as “good” as they were in 2013. Maybe they can do that with two men; maybe it’ll take three or four. And then all the other holes have to be filled. So even if the Mets did find the 5 “right” players, I’m not sure it’s going to be enough to turn them into a .500 team, much less a playoff contender.
There are two perspectives here. From the baseball competition point of view, the small markets hate that there is such a big game in available monies between them and the big market teams, because it is a disadvantage. But, from a business point of view, they like when the big market teams spend and spend big. This is beccause there are luxury taxes spread to small market teams and there is profit sharing for small market teams. It is also because the spending of the big market teams raises the the valuation of both the big market team and the small market team. So, if someone buys the Pirates for $50 mil, they stink every year and come in last, but they manage to break even financially for 10 years due to profit sharing, national TV, etc,, and then put the team up for sale in year 11, someone buys it for $300 mil. Why, because the big market teams grew their revenues dramatically and with it their valuations as well. It is crazy, but the buying and selling prices of these teams shows that this is what happens the majority of times.
Even when the Mets were at their height in the late 1980s, were the cities they visited bringing in THAT much more money / experiencing higher attendance? I’m honestly not sure and would be curious if anyone has done that research. People will ALWAYS pay to see the Yankees. A smaller number will pay to see the Dodgers, especially if the Dodgers are doing well. What other teams are a draw throughout the US? Maybe the Cardinals?
Escalated player salaries and long-term contracts exist because teams like the Yankees and Angels are dishing them out. When the Mets were giving three-year deals to people like Luis Castillo, that raised the price of EVERY singles-hitting middle infielder, for every team. If the Mets are paying 7 of their 8 starters under a million a year, that’s good for small market clubs.
2. It seems that Alderson wants to prove that all teams can become small market, but the problem is that the Pirates top ticket price is $42, and the Mets top ticket price is $455.
3. The Mets in 2008 drew 51,000 people per game, now they are drawing 27,000. When your customer base gets cut in half, and your costs are mostly fixed costs, aren’t you losing more than your lowered payroll is saving you?
2. Yes! I would have less complaint with the Mets’ small-market ways if they didn’t have parts of Citi Field that are completely inaccessible to the common man. You can’t charge ultra-big-league prices, field a minor-league team, and expect people to be OK with it.
3. Gus, you’re bringing up a very complicated element of the situation. First off, in 2008, the Mets were still in Shea, so it’s difficult to garner any kind of financial comparison without serious calculations. But Citi Field is a huge part of the Mets’ financial problems — people piss and moan about Omar Minaya spending money like a Long Island housewife but the truth of the matter is that the money he was throwing around was a drop in the bucket compared to the investment in the new ballpark. Did the fans ask for a new stadium? No. Did the Mets really need a new stadium? Eh. The Cubs and Red Sox have stadiums that are about a hundred years old, so … hard to say. Why did they ultimately build a new stadium? Two reasons: because the Wilpons wanted to re-create Ebbet’s Field, and they wanted to make a helluva lot more money from luxury box / corporate box opportunities. Which of those two reasons was stronger is up for debate — not that it matters. Point is, the former reason was ego-driven, the latter, pocket-driven.
In the end, we fans have a much more beautiful ballpark and experience — if you can afford it. Regardless, was it absolutely necessary for the Mets to spend a billion dollars to make it happen? The timing was awful, and the means of making it happen even worse (thinking they had the Madoff money tree to pluck from). It’s a situation of someone making their own bed, and now having to lie in it — or, sell the bed to someone who can afford to sleep in it. If you can only afford a cot, why go to the expense of a waterbed?
3.
Trading an old player having a fluky career year (Byrd) for prospects makes sense to me, so if that’s “throwing in the towel” then I’m all for it.
I’m not claiming these Mets are watchable, I’m just saying that this is the real state of the organization overall, and not some issue of punting September. When your awful roster is buoyed by a rookie flamethrower and a 30-year-old gamer, and you let these guys push their forearm and hamstring injuries until they wind up on the DL, then this is your team.
Hoping that our young guys would make progress was pretty much the best option remaining as we entered September. Alas, it hasn’t happened. Our hitters simply don’t seem adept at putting the barrel on the ball.
I guess we’ll see in a few months whether the team’s going to throw in the towel on 2014 too.
Positive notes: Wheeler has improved, Niese looks healthy, and Gee has made strides toward solidifying his status as a reliable MLB starter.
It’s not about trading away Byrd. It’s about Byrd being the only MLB outfielder brought in over the winter. It’s about pretending that Johan Santana was going to be part of the rotation. It’s about the laughable prospect of bringing in Shawn Marcum as the depth behind Santana. It’s about John Buck as the starting catcher. It’s about not bringing in arms ahead of time when they knew Harvey, Wheeler, etc. were going to be shut down in September. It’s about going into the season without a legitimate back-up plan to Ruben Tejada. It’s about continuing the fantasy that Daniel Murphy is a second baseman. It’s all of these things, a culmination of all the bull thrown down by the condescending filter between us and ownership. And for me, as a baseball fan, it’s offensive. I understand that the team needs to rebuild, but as I’ve been stating for nearly eight years on this blog: you don’t have to lose to rebuild. Winning at the MLB level — or at least, trying to — and developing can happen concurrently.
I guess I was just quibbling with your phrasing.
Well said…I can’t disagree.
This should be our motto at least until the Wilpons sell.