Yes, good luck guys. You know, it's easy for a non-Mets fan to overlook the fact that your team went to the World Series only five years ago but, that notwithstanding, reading over your shoulders, I see that you have had more than your share of team miscues and mismanagement. Here's to better Mets times.

Toddfather's 1-2-3 inning. Laugh? Cry? Piece o' rope?

Even the umpire was like, "you scored enough!" on Adam Duvall. :D

(laughs hysterically)

What the heck has happened to Matz? He looks like a colossal bust now. I don't see any recent major injuries that may be bothering him.

2019 ERA: 4.21
2020 ERA: 9.79

2019 FIP: 4.60
2020 FIP: 7.32

2019 xFIP: 4.33
2020 xFIP: 4.29

He's getting more swings and misses
He's walking fewer
He's striking out more

The problem is batted balls

He's getting fewer ground balls, more flyballs, more line drives, more HR/FB


I won't go so far as to say he's fine. But it's likely, largely, sample size and the nebulous "luck" (which is largely tied to sample size)

For years my position was that Matzie is a fine, decent pitcher, but best hidden in the #5 slot, because he's easily coming apart at the seams if things don't go in his favor. It might be mental to a high degree. Watching him pitch, he can sandpaper down any lineup, but sometimes you can see in the first inning that it's not gonna work out.

His tell is when he's starting to miss up and away to right-handed batters. He's going to miss up and away again and again, will walk people, it gets in his head, and eventually someone hits a 3-run homer.

This year, every game is such a game. It's all in his head now and he needs six months in an ice bath to be readjusted. The Mets broke him the moment they made him #2 starter (by necessity) and proclaimed that him and deGrom would pitch the Mets into the playoffs.

2018 BB% 8.9
2019 BB% 7.5
2020 BB% 7.2


2018 vs R BB% 8.7
2019 vs R BB% 7.5
2020 vs R BB% 6.8

https://www.fangraphs.com/players/st...=P&season=2018



Why would anyone believe that Westheim could know this?

I haven't seen him much during the Jamboree but even before the season I was wishing they had enough depth to make him a swing/long guy. This is not the "year" for that, or it wasn't until recently. Unless Cohen throws money at Stroman and someone else (and someone else?) they just won't have the depth to try it. He wouldn't want to anyway, but that seems to be less of a hindrance now than it has been.

It cannot be proven, of course, so there will be no definitive argument from me except that empirical evidence can be strong in this regard.

That some people do wilt in the spotlight can be surmised from circumstances that Westheim refers to: superior performance until it becomes noticed, expected, and demanded. Self-imposed pressure to measure up turns out to be destructive to self-confidence and that is that.

This can be discerned and labeled with varying degrees of confidence but no, it cannot be proven in each case. Alternative theories as to why this happens are always welcome.

We can be 100% certain that Westheim doesn't know what's in Matz' mind.

Cano .331/.373/.570 153 wRC+

Diaz: 1.64 ERA, 2.14 FIP, 1.93 xFIP

At least they're getting suffocated in under three hours for once.

If that is an actual tire fire raging across from Citi -

Symbolism 7, Mets 0 - F

At least it wasn't a dumpster fire. :rolleyes:

Attachment 726916

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1toT...ew?usp=sharing

Po-tay-toes, po-tah-toes.

And I was wrong even on that.

I also have to apologize to Chasen Shreve's mother, because I yelled things, fueled by burning agony, when he threw a juicy 1-4-3 double play ball into Old Man Cano's feet, where our 47-year-old middle infielder couldn't quite catch, nor contain it.

Why are all these old Yankees on our roster and are they just here to ruin everything!? Betances, too, and Frazier. And... that's all I can come up with at 5:42 in the morning.

Although Frazier now has a zero ERA in the majors. That's something. That's something. That's really something you like to see out of your alternate replacement third baseman, from Todd, from Tom's River.

Word is that Cohen will bring back Alderson as "team president, overseeing all baseball and business operations." How do you guys feel about that?

Technically he would be replacing Jeff Wilpon as COO, but:

What this means for general manager Brodie Van Wagenen is not clear. Either he will be fired or his new boss will be his predecessor. Alderson was Mets GM for seven-plus seasons, from October 2010 until June 2018, when he took a leave of absence to address a recurrence of his cancer.

Most of the Mets’ current core were drafted and/or signed by the Alderson regime: Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso, Dominic Smith, Jeff McNeil, Seth Lugo, Andres Gimenez, Amed Rosario and others.

Alderson's troupe sure drafted fine, but the last years they slipped into the habit of trading anything not nailed down for a cup-of-coffee, wish-upon-a-star righty reliever, and none of them ever panned out.

Some of them were bad luck - I think Vic Black could have been a great reliever, but his arm came off. But that was the return for... Marlon Byrd...? 2013...? :confused:

But most of them are Paul Sewalds. Starting their careers 0-14 (if allowed to botch that long) and all of them have deserved it.

The Cespedes trade was genius, though. For about 12 months, and then it all came apart very slowly and as awkwardly as possible. :rolleyes:

Do I want him back? - Nah.

Do I want Brodie Dynamite gone? - HELL YES.

Do I want Brodie Dynamite gone more than I want Sandy not back? - HELL YES.

I was a big SA fan from when the Haas family saved the A's, and Selig sticking him in Great Neck was a major reason I started paying close attention to the Metsies. I still have a lot of respect for him, but his last couple of years (once Selig was gone and SA stayed with the Wilpons) he turned into just another guy spewing Fred/Jeff's line.



So on the one hand I think he'd be a logical choice to oversee everything, and probably add a lot of value for Cohen that way. OTOH I don't think SA should be running the scouting/development stuff any more. I guess I'd rather have him than Brodie but I'd rather have SA in the top chair and 1-2 capable nerd kids running the minors and draft. Like Westheim says as long as Bro-dy is promoted to ticket operations manager in St. Lucie or something it should be an improvement.

M. Donald Grant can rest easy now - he's no longer the greatest shame in Mets history.

No, the greatest shame in Mets history now is them not making the playoffs in this rump season - but the Marlins did.

THE MARLINS.

lol? Sandy's crew traded no one that came back to bite them for relievers.

I said nothing about biting. Brodie Dynamite's Mariners shambles is the trade that will haunt the Mets until Jarred Kelenic is enshrined in the Hall of Fame and beyond. That is easily the worst trade of the decade. (And Sandy drafted Kelenic to begin with)

No, go through the transaction logs on baseball-reference for 2017 and 2018. There is an endless line of these transactions:

That's but ONE month and SEVEN terrible relievers. Not saying that I expect a future regular All Star or top 50 prospect for six weeks of *Curtis Granderson* or that I missed any of the guys purged. I complain about the returns. The returns were pathetic. It's also a stunning lack of imagination here.