Saturday, November 21, 2015

Rights and Wrongs about 2015

Evaluating where I was right and wrong in my opinions about the 2015 Mets:

I was wrong about one major thing: I thought the Nationals were good. They sucked.

Here's what I was right about:
Getting Cespedes was a good trade. He was exactly what the Mets needed at that time.
Every other trade was bad. Yes Juan Uribe did well in certain spots. Kelly Johnson was awful. Tyler Clippard and Addison Reed helped in the regular season but were generally too unreliable to be trusted. Eric O'Flaherty sucked.
The Flores and Wheeler for Gomez trade would have been a disaster.

And most of all, it was way too early in the cycle for the Mets to go that hard after a title.
Remember, mathematically, after the July 30th disaster the Mets had only a 22% chance of making the playoffs. Even if Cespedes put them even with the Nats, they were still a huge dog to win the World Series, not the kind of odds you should max out for.
And before you say most of the players given up (except for Clippard and Cespedes) were useless, remember, if they could bring back something of value this year, they could do the same next year.
The Mets gave up 11 or so pitching prospects this season. That will surely come back to bite them at some point down the road.

Also remember, what happened after July 31st was the absolute peak of what could have been expected, it wasn't a fait accompli, get Cespedes make the World Series.
If the Nats hadn't folded the Mets might not have even made the playoffs. And if not for a few breaks against the Dodgers, they could have been out in the first round.

The Mets have followed the formula for sustained excellence: draft and develop good young players, especially pitchers.
They should not have sacrificed all that for a <50% chance to make the playoffs. Hopefully, this magical run to the World Series will be the beginning of a long sustained period of success, not a momentary glimpse of fleeting happiness.

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