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Stop With The Rebuilding Year Excuse

Playing the Mets MarketA quote by Terry Collins “I don’t want these guys ever to come in that clubhouse where they’re not expected to win the game,” conflicts with what many fans feel; That the Mets aren’t expected to do anything this year.

 

The thing is, they ARE expected to do stuff this year.  Win games, play hard and play baseball.  No professional organization goes into a season, particularly the staff in the clubhouse, with the attitude that it’s a throwaway year.  Terry Collins expects the Mets to win.  David Wright expects the Mets to win.  Maybe they have their reservations about the likelihood of them finishing first when all the chips fall, but until they do they’ll be trying their hardest and doing their best.  They certainly don’t believe it’s a done deal that they can’t win anything.

 

This is the best quality of Terry Collins in that he doesn’t let anyone play the woe is me card.  He demands effort and hard work from his players and I think that leads to a good clubhouse and a positive atmosphere.  He’s not making excuses and not making decisions with anything but how to win as many games as possible in mind.

 

Since the Mets don’t do this, it’s silly for fans to suggest they should.   No one should bring Harvey up immediately after he’s had two good minor league starts in April just to see how he looks in the majors.  They shouldn’t shut guys down for the first hang nail or muscle twinge because it’s a rebuilding year and it’s better to be safe than sorry.  They shouldn’t just let Andres Torres play out the string to keep Kirk Nieuwenhuis’ arbitration clock from starting if he’s the best option for the Mets.  Sandy Alderson is not making moves solely with the hope that his acquisition will lead to a greater return on investment when he trades him in July.  That’s not to say he’s not cognizant of the option, particularly for guys like Frank Francisco, but to think that was his main motivation in signing him is misreading the situation completely.  There’s a big difference in building a flexible roster that gives him lots of options and playing the MLB free agent market like it’s Wall Street.  The Mets roster is not actually a NASDAQ ticker.

 

This does not excuse failure either.  It’ll be easy to dismiss the Mets after a game they lose with the comment, “They aren’t good anyway”, but there is no reason to ever excuse failure.  Terry Collins certainly isn’t going to accept that as an excuse for a poor stretch of games, so why should we?  To view the entire season as some sort of strategic set-up for 2013 and 2014 takes all the actual joy of watching baseball and gives it the importance of a Spring Training game.  There is a reason why the awards aren’t given on paper before the season after all; no one really knows what’s going to happen.   Rather than prematurely write off 2012 and analyze everything and everyone based on their value in 2013 and beyond, watch the games and enjoy the ride.   If ultimately the ride doesn’t take you to the heights you want by the time it ends, you’ll still be able to get on again next year, and the year after that, and the year after that..

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Paul Lo Duca Speaks

Listening to Paul Lo Duca in his week radio interview with Joe and Evan on WFAN gave me a lot of confidence. First off he said there can be no excuses, about injuries or whatever, they’re just not playing well. He mentioned an attitude adjustment, about how maybe they were coasting a little and they’re realizing it’s not going to be as easy as last year. He also brought up how Willie had been talking to them about and it and stressing some stuff trying to get them going. A lot of his statements make me feel like this slump is coming to an end. On a related Paul Lo Duca note, somehow the Mets fans have been lazy, and the Dodger fans have been pushing for their catcher, who I’m not going to deem with a name. You can vote 25 times per email address, so get out there and continue to vote for Paul, who’s fallen out of the lead in the All Star voting.

They asked him if he thought he should be batting second, and about how Reyes needs protection and all that. He basically said it doesn’t really matter, it’s not the order that’s the problem, it’s that they need to start getting hits at the right times. Which is true, were they driving in these guys with two outs and when they’ve got guys on, no one would be debating the line-up that much.

He also addressed Cole Hamels a little bit, who basically was upset over how Lo Duca acted after his home run the other day. This was the third of three consecutive home runs off him, to put the Mets up 3-2. He said he “could give a rats-you know what” about Hamels or his statements. That if he upset him, he’s sorry, but he could care less. It was a big home run while they were struggling, and he got excited. That it’s different than when he got upset at A-Rod for watching his home run when the Yankees were up by a lot and it was mostly meaningless. He knows that he’ll see Hamels again, and if he gets thrown at, he’ll happily take first base.

I’ve been saying it all week, but obviously the Mets are going to get out of this. I think the Yankees will probably falter a bit again by this weekend. I think we can play them tough and do well, especially considering their bullpen sucks and we’re facing Clemens and Clippard. So all you pessimistic ‘woe is me’ Mets fans out there, chill out. Sure this isn’t last year, but don’t forget that we lost last year. This is also not 2003. This is 2007, look forward, not back. Look up, not down.