Kuzul

It didn’t have to be this way for the New York Mets and their fans.

Not in one of the newer, most beautiful ballparks in the game. Not in the greatest city in the world. Not now that the Wilpons are free of the Bernie Madoff disaster. Not in a season in which the eyes of the entire baseball world will be on the New York Mets in July when they play host to the Midsummer Classic.

Indeed, it didn’t have to be this way. It shouldn’t be this way. Still, despite what could have been an offseason in which Mets fans could see the team taking their first steps toward contention since 2008, there is only more rebuilding and more disappointment—which will surely lead to more losing in 2013.

When writing, I like to think that I stay objective when talking about the Mets, so much so that their terrible on-field product and poor management has led me to write about them less and less over the past few seasons. It feels like every piece written about this team is redundant, since to put it bluntly, there are only so many ways to say that a team stinks.

Still, every so often the fan in me comes out, and I am unable to maintain my objectivity. This is one of those times.

As I sit here waiting for my children to get up and open their gifts on Christmas morning, with the hope that I was able to get them everything they’ve wished for throughout the year, I realize that the one thing I really want more than anything will not happen once again.

Over the past few years, all I have wanted is for the Mets to be playing meaningful games in September. I don’t even think about the World Series or playoffs anymore, and quite frankly, although the Mets’ late-season breakdowns have caused me misery in the past, I’m at the point where I’d even take a good old-fashioned September collapse.

My wish is the same for 2013, but I know that there’s no way it’s going to come true. Not when the Mets traded away reigning Cy Young Award-winner R.A. Dickey to Toronto. Not when the team currently rosters the absolute worst outfield I’ve ever seen. Not when the talk of the free agents the team is currently pursuing includes Carl Pavano and Grady Sizemore. Not when Fred Wilpon continues to encourage Sandy Alderson to run the team like the GM did in Oakland.

Maybe this rebuilding will one day pay off. Then again, anyone who remembers the days between the trade of Tom Seaver and the arrival of Keith Hernandez, or the period between Bobby Bonilla and Mike Piazza, or all those days spent waiting for the arrival of Generation K can tell you, there’s always a chance it won’t. Maybe for the long term, the Mets are now being run the right way. Still, this will not help me, or any other Mets fan, in 2013.

This Christmas, I’ll still wish for the Mets to be contenders in 2013, even though I’m sure that the Mets’ season will be over by the time Citi Field hosts the 2013 All-Star Game.

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When a quality starting pitcher who is due to make a relatively reasonable $5 million for one year, is only 27 years old, and is still two seasons away from being eligible for free agency becomes available, it makes sense for teams around Major League Baseball to at least make inquiries.

It especially makes sense for small-market teams to make the inquiry, as pitchers under 30 years of age, even under-performing ones, usually command a premium.

With that said, it’s a bit strange that no teams other than the Chicago Cubs have openly expressed interest in pitcher John Lannan, who requested a trade from the Washington Nationals after being optioned to the minor leagues at the end of spring training.

It makes even less sense that the New York Mets have yet to express interest in the Washington lefty, as he seems to be a perfect fit for both the Mets plans on the field and financially.

Lannan is no ace, not by a long shot, but he is a solid starting pitcher who has started at least 30 games and thrown 180 innings in three of the last four years. He’s also young, left-handed, durable, relatively inexpensive and under the team’s control until 2014, and in this new era of “Mets Moneyball,” that’s pretty much everything the team is looking for.

What makes the Mets perceived lack of interest in Lannan all the more baffling, is that every starting pitcher currently on the team is a question mark.

Mike Pelfrey has been a disaster for more than a year now, so much so that the cash-strapped team had discussed eating his almost $6 million salary and releasing him during spring training. Dillon Gee and Jon Niese both look like promising young pitchers, but so did Pelfrey at one time, so who knows if they’ll continue to improve or take a step back in 2012.

Johan Santana, the Mets’ ace and most reliable pitcher when healthy, had a nice start to the season on Opening Day, but he’s pitching for the first time since 2010, and hasn’t made 30 starts in a season since 2008.

R.A. Dickey is really the Mets’ most reliable starting pitcher, and he’s average at best. When his knuckleball is on, he’s very tough to hit, but when it’s not, he’s basically throwing batting practice.

The Mets have made it clear that they will be operating like a small-market team for the foreseeable future, so the days of signing big-name free agents, or making trades for star players with huge salaries are over.

If that’s the way the Mets need to do business to stay afloat, that’s fine, but it also means that management needs to be vigilant in it’s quest to find young, inexpensive talent, or the old proverbial “diamond in the rough.” Lannan is definitely the former, and could possibly be the latter as well.

There have been no reports as to what Washington may be looking to get in return for Lannan, but for the Mets to not even show interest is inexcusable. It’s moves like these, or lack there of, that makes Mets management look like they are asleep at the wheel at best, and simply giving up on the season with their only focus being on the team’s finances at worst. 

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As Opening Day for Major League Baseball approaches (not counting the two-game series in Japan), every team, no matter how they look on paper, has a shot to win it all.

Getting off on the right foot and winning on Opening Day, while not crucial to a team’s success, can go a long way towards building momentum, especially for clubs whose expectations for the 2012 season may be on the lower side.

As with any team, there is always an “X-factor” or wild card that can change the outcome of anything from one game to an entire season. These players can be anyone from a superstar returning from injury or an “off” season, to a young player trying to make a name for himself, yet somehow can find that his performance, or lack there of, will be directly related to his team’s performance.

Who will be the biggest X-factors this Opening Day? Who will surprise, disappoint, help or hurt their teams as the 2012 season begins?

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Nobody likes a know-it-all, or even worse, someone who can’t wait to utter the words “I told you so.”

With that in mind, I have to say that I’ve waited quite a while to say this, but, I told you so. I told you all, yet most of you brutally criticized me when I wrote that Chipper Jones was the most overrated player in baseball, even though I was right.

As a Mets fan, Chipper Jones had been a thorn in my side for years. After announcing that he will retire after the 2012 season this past Thursday, all those memories of late-inning, late season homers sailing through the Queens night and over Shea Stadium’s blue wall came rushing back, and my vitriol for the switch hitting future Hall of Famer came rushing back as if it were 1999, when Jones seemingly hit 30 of his career best 45 home runs against the Mets (it actually was only seven, but it was still more than he hit against any other team that year).

Then another memory came rushing back just as quickly, as I recalled a firestorm I started here on Bleacher Report with an article I wrote in March of 2009, titled “Chipper Jones: The Most Overrated Player In Baseball“.

Chipper Jones was coming off a great 2008 campaign, one that saw him win the NL batting crown, but he was aging (he turned 37 just after the start of the 2009 season), had been injury prone in the latter years of his career, and went from being a poor defensive player to an absolutely terrible one. Yet he was still being considered, by most, to be one of the best players in the game. I admitted that Jones was still a quality player, but he was no longer one of the best and really hadn’t been since 2003.

My argument was that Jones had become a contact hitter with average power, who had trouble staying on the field because of health reasons, and was “basically a DH playing third base”. Combine that with the fact that he was 36 at the time I wrote the article, and there was no way he was a great player anymore, period.

Chipper Jones supporters and Braves fans everywhere responded immediately. I was called a bitter Mets fan (true), I was told I just hated Chipper (also true), I was accused of “trolling” (not true), had all types of saber-metrics thrown at me and had my knowledge of the game questioned. While most of the comments were just good old fashioned baseball arguments, some were pretty brutal, and I learned a valuable lesson that day. On Bleacher Report, you never talk politics, religion or Chipper Jones.

I then realized that since writing that article, I hadn’t really thought about Chipper Jones. I knew he was still playing, mostly because I play fantasy baseball every year, but I hadn’t watched him play or kept up with his performance in some time. As a Mets fan, most of the Braves games I watched were against the Mets or Phillies (my television market), and once my team had started this terrible downward spiral, I decided to boycott watching them. I still watch plenty of baseball, but very little from any NL East club.

So, I went back and took a look at what my pal Larry has done since his fans crucified me during March 2009, and to my delight, I was proven correct!

Offense:

After winning the batting title in 2008, Jones’ batting average dropped exactly 100 points, going from .364 in 2008, to .264 in 2009 and hasn’t been higher than .275 since.The rest of his numbers, which were already only average, stayed relatively the same.

Here is what the average season looks like for Jones since I wrote my article in March 2009:

121 G, 420 AB, 61 R, 113 H, 26 2B, 1 3B, 15 HR, 62 RBI, 71 BB, 75 SO, .269 AVG, .371 OBP

Is that great? Absolutely not. Is it decent? Sure, but lets put it into perspective by comparing it to the averages of another third baseman over the last three years:

135 G, 464 AB, 53 R, 118 H, 23 2B, 1 3B, 16 HR, 55 RBI, 37 BB, 85 SO, .254 AVG, .314 OBP

Those are the averages over the last three seasons of Ty Wiggington, and with the exception of on-base percentage and walks, those numbers are pretty comparative. In other words, since calling Jones overrated, he’s gone from batting champion to a more patient Wiggington.

Since I’ve been accused of attacking Jones in the past because I’m a Mets fan, here is the averages over the past three seasons for David Wright, who more than one reader said that Chipper was better than even at the age of 36:

134 G, 503 AB, 78 R, 143 H, 33 2B, 2 3B, 18 HR, 79 RBI, 65 BB, 133 SO, .284 AVG, .365 OBP

Wright’s numbers are not great, but they’re good, and despite the fact that he’s played on three terrible teams and suffered the two worst years of his career, Wright has been better. (For the record, the original article I wrote had no mention of a Wright/Jones comparison, as I felt comparing an aging veteran on the decline to a good player in his mid-20’s was not fair, however, it was brought up numerous time that Jones was the better player heading into 2009 despite his age).

Defense:

I hate defensive statistics. Maybe I’m old-school, but I have always, and will always contend that the only way to truly judge a player’s defense is to watch them play.

I’ve admitted that I haven’t watched much of Chipper over the last three seasons, so to totally comment on his defense would not be fair.

However, I was told by a reader of the last article that “Jones’ defense was not as bad as I made it sound” and that “In 2007, David Wright won the Gold Glove with 21 errors. Chipper had only nine.”

I responded that Jones was throwing across the diamond to one of the best defensive first baseman in baseball, Mark Teixeira, and Wright was throwing to the defensive liability known as Carlos Delgado.

I never received a response on that, but anyone who knows baseball knows a good defensive first baseman can save a lot of errors for his other infielders by making good plays on poorly thrown balls.

My point was proven as Jones’ errors in 2008, the season Mark Teixiera was traded during the year to the Angels, Jones’ errors increased from nine to 13. In 2009, Jones played the entire year without the help of Teixeira’s glove and committed 22 errors, four more than David Wright in 46 fewer chances.

The Verdict:

I’ve been a New York sports fan my whole life, so nobody knows how being a fanatic can blind a person’s judgement more than I do. It’s great to see fans totally stick up for their favorite players, despite the fact that they are clearly wrong, and the evidence proves it.

I’m sorry Braves fans. You were right. I can’t stand Chipper Jones. I’ll never get over how he beat my team time and time again. I am a bitter Mets fan.

Unfortunately, I was right about Chipper Jones, and his mediocre production over his last three injury-plagued seasons helped prove the point I made back in 2009—Chipper Jones was overrated.

Will I feel bad about not seeing Larry after 2012? Absolutely not, just like I don’t feel bad about being that jerky, “know-it-all” guy who says I TOLD YOU SO!

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Yesterday, the very first MLB spring training game took place. It was a Cactus League matchup between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the defending world champion San Francisco Giants.

The Giants won the game by a score of 7-6, and with that, it is now officially baseball season.

The month of February has long been one of the dullest when it comes to sports. In recent years, having the Super Bowl has helped spice the February sports world up a bit in the first week or so, but after that, it’s a sports wasteland.

There is no more football. Basketball and hockey are in the dog days of their long seasons. College basketball’s regular season is so meaningless that, with the exception of the die-hard college basketball fan, nobody pays attention until March.

Seriously, if the majority of NBA front offices didn’t lose their minds at the trade deadline this past week, sports radio and television shows would have nothing to talk about.

That, however, all changes today, as the rest of the MLB’s preseason schedule gets underway.

Sure, football has taken the country by storm over the past 30 years or so, thus supplanting baseball as America’s de facto sport of choice, but it’s foolish to think that the original “America’s Pastime,” will ever go the way of other sports in this country, such as boxing.

America still has a love affair with baseball, even if it lusts for the fast-paced violence of football. There is still something special about the words “pitchers and catchers,” that “quarterbacks and centers” could never capture.

There’s nothing that can compare to a father and son finding that lone 60-degree day that always seems to sneak into the final month of winter, grabbing two mitts and having a catch, not even tossing the pigskin as the leaves begin to fall. 

It’s almost as if spring training is the sporting world’s very own Groundhog Day.

Spring training is as close to perfect as professional sports can get. It’s the only preseason, in any sport, that anyone cares about. The games don’t matter, but for fans watching a spring training game, they are witnessing the best players play a beautiful sport, where the stresses of wins, losses and playoff races are replaced by eternal optimism.

Now is not the time for Cardinals fans to worry about Adam Wainwright’s injury, but rather watch for any glimpses that Jaime Garcia will take the role of staff ace by storm. Spring is no time for Yankees fans to lament losing out on Cliff Lee, but for them to watch as A.J. Burnett begins his Comeback Player of the Year campaign.

Fans in Milwaukee should be feeling hope that Zack Grienke and Shawn Marcum are the missing pieces that will take the Brewers to the promised land, not if and when the team will end up losing Prince Fielder.

Giants fans shouldn’t worry about returning to the World Series at the moment, but rather relish the fact that until a new champion is crowned, they can say something they haven’t been able to say since Willie Mays covered every inch of that spacious center field in the Polo Grounds: the Giants are defending champs.

Spring training is every baseball fan’s chance to enjoy the game they love, whether they are a fan of a World Series favorite in Philadelphia, or a small market team that seems to be continuously rebuilding in Kansas City, before the harsh realities of a gruelingly long season, trades, injuries and looming free agencies splash cold water on our faces and wake us from our baseball fantasies.

So today, I will be on my couch, cold beer in hand and feet up, watching my beloved Mets take the field for the first time in 2011. I will not be worrying about Johan Santana’s injury, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran being in the final years of their contracts, or if Jason Bay can play in New York. The words Bernie, Madoff, ponzi and scheme will not only not be spoken in my house today, but they will be the farthest thing from my mind.

Today, I will be simply watching baseball, and if it’s warm enough, I may even play catch with my son.

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It has been quite some time since I have wanted to write about the Mets.

Bleacher Report used to be my avenue to talk everything Mets, so much so, that I was once one of the original Mets featured columnists here on Bleacher Report.

That changed last season, as the Mets seemingly sleepwalked through another losing year, causing me, in utter disgust, to cease writing about them. My frustration with my favorite team, in my favorite sport, just would not allow me to continue to cover them, especially when I could barely stomach watching them.

In my mind, there was only so many ways to say “you stink.”

Unfortunately, I cannot lose my love for the Mets like—I did my featured columnist title—although sometimes I wish I could. Time and time again, the Mets have found ways to break my heart, and yet, I always return.

I guess that’s what fans, real fans anyway, do. They stick by their team through thick and thin, or in the case of Mets fans, thin and thinner. This is especially true during the winter months, when the fumes emanating from the hot stove intoxicate us into believing that our team, despite the odds, has a chance at winning a championship.

The same can be said for my fellow Flushing Faithful, that is, until this offseason.

The Mets started out strong, taking a very deliberate approach in selecting a new general manager, Sandy Alderson, giving the franchise more structure and discipline than they’ve had in years.

Then Alderson and the rest of the teams management set out to find a manager for the team. In another long and thorough process, Terry Collins was named manager of the Mets.

Collins, who has not managed in the Major Leagues since Mo Vaughn was still a feared slugger, was not the sexiest name available, or the fan favorite choice, but his reputation is similair to Alderson’s, so fans reluctantly accepted the decision.

Management was finally in place for the Mets, and then…

Well, actually we are still waiting, and that’s the problem.

It is not even so much the fact that the Mets, have not done anything this offseason to improve the team, but it’s adding insult to injury watching the Phillies reacquire ace Cliff Lee, knowing the Marlins and Braves young teams are only getting better, and the fact that the Nationals are spending money to get better.

The best announcement the Mets have made this year is the fact that they signed Chris Young.

No, it is not the uber-talented Arizona outfielder, but the oft-injured San Diego pitcher who has started only a total of 36 games over the past three seasons, including a work horse-esque 4 appearances in 2010.

This is the first time in years that the Mets have stood pat when the team has so many holes to fill. There will be no big name coming to Queens this year to mask the sobering reality that we are now the worst team in the NL East.

To be fair, Sandy Alderson’s patience is probably the best-suited approach for the Mets in the long term, but it still won’t make supporting this team in 2011 any easier.

So for now, we Mets fans will have to savor every minor announcement from our “Amazin’s,” be it ticket prices being slashed, Terry Collins announcing his lineup, or Mike Pelfrey being named the Mets opening day starter…in January.

Looks like it is going to be another long season that will not be worth writing about for the Mets. So much for reclaiming my featured columnist spot.

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