Top Reasons Yankee Fans Should Be Pessimistic Heading Into 2014

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Luke Lowry

1) Younger Pitching Staff

This was Chris’ first reason for off-season optimism. but with youth comes inexperience and inconsistency. Even if we give Yankee fans Nova (which, for what will now be expected of him, will not be a gimme), that still leaves questions abound about CC, Pineda, Phelps and whoever else they’re gonna get to try and put together a respectable starting rotation. If you ask me this is more of a reason to be pessimistic than optimistic. But that’s just me, a bitter Mets fan.

2) A Full Year of Soriano

Once again I’m piggy-backing off Chris’ second reason for “optimism” cause i just couldn’t disagree more. And i don’t care if its turns into some spirited and engaging debate that the readers just can’t get enough of. Fuck that noise.

With a full year to watch Alfonso Soriano, Yankee fans will see all his warts rise to the surface. The very same warts that made the Cubs deem a trade, in which they receive “uber-prospect” Corey Black AND pay the Yanks roughly 12 million dollars just so they didn’t have to see Soriano’s face again, a good move. Just you watch, his defense will be worse, his average will be lower and thus this love that Yankee fans now have will dissipate. Just you watch

3) No Mo’ Mo

Fans of the Evil Empire will tell you they’re not at all worried about replacing Mariano because Robertson is ready to step up, and they’ll tell you this with a straight face. I know, but before you call them all words that you cant take back, just sit back, take a sip of your favorite cocktail and remind yourself they don’t know any better. Their smugness knows no bounds. All they now is winning and they think its so easy. Lose the best closer in history? Just put in David Robertson and everything will be fine, because you’re the Yankees. Sorry you brain-dead Bronxonians but it will not be that easy. You will quickly come to find that life without Mo is not so lovely. And no, I will not be giving stats to back up my argument. All I need is the law of averages. Your ninth inning cant be that rosy forever.

5 Reasons to be pessimistic about the 2014 Mets season

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Chris Calderon

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.

Top 5 Reasons Mets Fans Should Be Optimisitc Heading Into 2014

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Luke Lowry

1) The progression of Zack Wheeler.

Wheeler was 7-5 with a 3.42 era and a 1.36 whip. But a met fans optimism doesn’t come from the stats alone. For that, you need to just watch him. His pure “stuff” is undeniable. Although he seemed to be a little too jacked up at times early, one assumes that will continue to decrease over time. With Harvey now officially out, Wheeler has a huge opportunity to take the reigns of this pitching staff and this is one mets fan who believes he can.

2) The emergence of Eric Young Jr and Lagares

When you hear people talk about these two the consensus seems to be, the Mets have a starter in the outfield in Lagares and a good 4th outfielder in EYJ. I think its the other way around. Lagares hit .242 with 4 homers, 35 runs scored, 34 RBI and 6 steals in 421 plate appearances. EYJ hit .251 with 1 homer, 48 runs scored, 26 RBI and 38 steals (which tied him for the most steals in the NL) in 418 plate appearances. I’d go with the guy who is at least elite at one thing than the guy who is average (at best) at multiple things, and the Mets need speed somewhere in this lineup. Now yes, Lagares is 24 years old compared to EYJ’s 28 but besides that, I think the edge goes to EYJ. The reason for optimism here is the fact that we are even having this conversation after how bad our outfield prospects looked going into 2013, and that we fell, decently backwards, into these answers.

3) The questions of d’Arnaud, Syndergaard and Montero

With backwards upside down lowercase p ‘Arnaud, you just gotta hope all the scouts that raved about him and called him the best catching prospect in the game weren’t wrong. Because there wasn’t much, as fans, to hang your hat on with his 2013 performance. As far as Syndergaard and Montero you’re still going on what you hear from the “experts”, but what you’re hearing is that they have a chance to be special. Baseball America ranks Syndergaard as the top pitcher in the Eastern League(aa), and behind only Xander Bogaerts and Miguel Sano overall. Montero came in at 13 on that list. With both expected to make their major league debut next year, joining d’Arnaud on the Major League level, these three are certainly something for Mets fans to look forward to next year.

4) The promise from ownership that money will be spent this off-season

Alright this is the off-season that we’ve been told the purse strings will begin to open again, and the Mets can start to bring in free agents once more, like George Foster and Bobby Bonilla and Vince Coleman and Mo Vaughn and Roberto Alomar and Kaz Matsui and Jason Bay and the list goes on. Oh joy, NOW the Mets will be good because were going to sign some free agents from this great class that includes guys, who you just know are going to earn every dollar of their contract, like Ellsbury, Choo and, dare I say, Beltran. Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be a column about optimism?

5) The fact that you can still Tailgate and park for free

Although the Willets Point Development plan has been approved, with 3 billion dollars being earmarked from the City for the retail, hotel, and residential mega-plan, we Met fans still have sometime before the gentrification onslaught begins. What does that mean for me? Free parking & Tailgating will not be going away in 2014. How long it will be around after that? Its hard to say. But for at least one more year Mets games will still be one of the better deals in NYC for your entertainment buck, for no other reason than the free parking. (If you know where to look)