Now that Luke has given Mets fans a reason to be somewhat cheerful going into next season, it’s my job, no… my duty, as a Yankee fan to rain on his parade. So, here are my 5 reasons why Mets fans should be pessimistic about next season.
1) No Matt Harvey: This was the obvious reason to worry about 2014, Matt Harvey will miss the entire season due to Tommy John surgery. When word got out that Harvey’s season was ending due to elbow discomfort there was an audible gasp from the baseball community. He’s a young man with great mechanics, how does he blow out his elbow while Chris Sale gets to whip his half cooked noodle arm around and finish the season just fine, is there no justice.
No. No, there isn’t, and that means the Mets will be missing their ace for the what, the 3rd year in a row. And while they are lucky to have Zach Wheeler ready and able to step into the top of the rotation, this means that they will likely have to sign a free agent starter, and the names are not good. Fans should prepare themselves for someone like Josh Johnson, Aaron Harang, Tim Lincecum or even Johan Santana (I kid, we all know he will find someway to once again destroy his shoulder.)
2) Weak free agent class: It’s pretty much a guarantee that the Mets will sign a free agent outfielder this winter. That means that one of Jacoby Ellsbury, Shin-Soo Choo, Curtis Granderson, or Nelson Cruz will be wearing the orange and blue next year. While the names are good, everyone of those players has a significant shortcoming, whether that be a lengthy injury history, terrible platoon splits, or a recent PED suspension. There is also the very good chance that one of more could be a dud, think Jason Bay 2.0, does anyone have faith the Mets will choose the right one, history says no.
3) Shortstop issues: Mets shortstops hit a collective (.208/.286/.247), and that’s just terrible. Offensively the position is a black hole. While you can afford to have a poor hitting position player, this is the NL, you already give up an at bat when the pitcher comes up, two week hitters in the 8 and 9 holes can be the death knell for a team with hopes of contending.
Quintanilla and Tejada are back up players, if the Mets don’t sign a strong hitting SS this off-season I fear for the bottom of the order, they will be giving away outs that they aren’t capable of making up defensively. Fortunately Sandy Alderson is no fool, I can only assume he is going to go hard after Stephen Drew.
4) Dropping down the dial: After 26 years of being heard on WFAN 660, the Mets have been dumped by their long time radio partners. What this means for the crew calling the games is still unknown, what is known is that the Mets will now be heard on WOR 710, or as they are also known… who?
While this really doesn’t effect the on field performance or the fan base (both stations are 50,000 watts,) it can’t feel good to be dumped by a long time broadcasting partner. It also has to really hurt to not have been picked up by ESPN radio, which had been in the running for the Yankees but lost out to WFAN.
5) Kicking the can down the road: 2014 was supposed to be the year of the Mets, or was it 2013. Well, none of that matters, cause now its 2015! A fan base gets tired of hearing next year, year after year. Eventually its going to take a toll on the fan base, though from what I have gathered Met fans are a somewhat masochistic hardy bunch.