2015 Mets Year? 2014 Was Supposed to Be it
It’s funny hearing everyone saying “2015 is the Mets year.” Because 2014 was supposed to be the year as well, but we all know how that went.
Make no mistake; Sandy Alderson may have backtracked on his 90-win prediction, but he was serious when he made it. He thought all the pieces were in place.
Think about it — Alderson knew he would eventually trade Ike Davis, giving first base to his beloved Lucas Duda. Daniel Murphy was at second with David Wright at third. Shortstop was still a problem. Travis d’Arnaud was ready to go. In the outfield, Juan Lagares looked good and Curtis Granderson would provide the power. And Alderson truly thought Chris Young would be the missing link.
In the rotation, Matt Harvey was gone, but Bartolo Colon would replace him, Along with Zack Wheeler, Jonathon Niese, Dillon Gee and whoever emerged as the fifth starter, things would be fine there. The bullpen was always hold your breath and pray.
So Alderson really thought this would be good enough. Obviously, it was not. With Young a flop, d’Arnaud requiring an early trip to the minors and Wright and Granderson slumping, the Mets struggled to score runs. That was their ultimate demise.
This season, Michael Cuddyer replaces Young. And… that’s it. Does anyone think the offense will be considerably improved because of him? The pitching will be even better, but a team has to score runs to win.
And this is the team Sandy Alderson will field in 2015, the one we have all been suckered into believing will contend. It is pretty much the same team as 2014. And we all know how that went.
Lets remember that Wright/Granderson weren’t playing to their full potential, d’Arnaud had a bad start, and Tejada was our shortstop for most of the season. If David is healthy this year, that alone will increase our runs per game. Think of all the one run games we lost last year. That definitely isn’t happening again.. Above all this, we have Michael Cuddyer and someone to finally cover Lucas Duda against those tough lefties. We should be alright. I am more than comfortable with Wilmer Flores at shortstop. Getting Tulo is too risky and not worth it if you ask me.. #LetsGoMets #TakeBackNewYork
we’ll see how the mets do this year, but they need to prove it before i can believe it. The mets already had eric campbell to cover for duda, they only signed cuddyer b/c he’s wright’s buddy. He got Bartolo Colon money which could have been spent much more effectively on basically anyone else. Not that i think cuddyer is bad but he’s more than 10% of the payroll now.
Honestly, i think the mets are doing things the right way in general, even if sandy makes terrible moves to sabotage their strategy. Unless he makes a huge trade and totally fleeces some team or starts drafting better, there’s no real way to build a solid team any more unless you do what the mets did, basically gather prospects and hope enough of them stick. But alderson should be doing a better job assessing the weaknesses and filling the holes where he doesn’t have any homegrown talent