Newsletter

New York Foods: Ban on Igniting

The New York Mets have grabbed the media headlines over the past 48 hours by adding players of different caliber to their squad: Starling Marte, Mark Canha, Eduardo Escobar and most recently none other than Max Scherzer. Billy Eppler’s checkbook is on fire.

Of course, it all makes noise, a lot of noise. Side fans, we can only be delighted with the arrival of players like Max Scherzer. Imagine: Jacob deGrom and Scherzer in the same rotation. Wow! The media add another layer. We already make the Mets the favorites to win the division, and even more. the hype is stuck solid in Queens. Calm, calm.

I say: keep our feet on the ground!

Usual winter fire

Each off season brings its share of surprises and rumors where all the teams go through. The Mets are no exception, it’s the game. In the end, to win in baseball, it often takes more than a few more names in your squad. I am not really a proponent of the strategy of « all-in “. Much more traditionalist than that, I remain convinced that to win in baseball, you have to go with development and patience as did the Royals in 2015, the Cubs in 2016, the Astros in 2017 and the Braves in 2021. Add to that a confirmed player here and there and you “may” have the recipe for success. The successes of these teams were the result of work put in place a few years earlier. In this little game, the Mets seem less patient than the others.

No, the Mets are not scary, not more than last year, where they might have added Francisco Lindor, Carlos Carrasco, Brad Hand and Javier Baez to their squad and yet ended up with a sad record of 77 wins against 85 defeats.

The Mets and the Padres are in the same boat. Last winter, everyone only had one for these two teams. In the end, one finished 11.5 games from first place in their division and the other 28 games. The Texas Rangers? This team will barely touch the .500 in 2022, I put my hand to cut.

I have another opinion on the Seattle Mariners, much more credible in my eyes with a nice squad of young players and veterans that I find a little more thoughtful.

It takes more than a checkbook

Why make Mets favorites? Because Mark Canha and his .244 career batting average, his versatility and his 27 hit by pitch in 2021 land in town? No.

Eduardo Escobar? Coin toss.

Starling Marte? A good player, but far from being a game changer.

Ah yes, Max Scherzer? Scherzer on a mound is sure to be solid. The pitcher has a solid career behind him and has nothing more to prove. With 190 wins and over 3,000 strikeouts on his CV (3,020), Scherzer is the pitcher that any slightly ambitious team would love to have in their rotation. But Max is going to be 38 and he only throws for five days. If there are 30 starts in the season (and certainly not 30 wins), is that enough to make the Mets a completely different team than that of 2021?

Also remember that Scherzer ended last season with a dead arm (“tired” I would say) and was unable to do more than that in the games that mattered most to the Dodgers. Max’s aging body, muscles and ligaments could play tricks on him again in October, or even sooner. In the event that he holds up, and as I said earlier, he only throws one in five matches.

$ 43.3 million a year is a lot, right?

No, baseball is not that easy. Be careful, dear New York Mets fans. Control your emotions.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending