The pain of the 2009 season is still palpable for many Cubs fans. Injuries to Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto and Aramis Ramirez, couple with lackluster performances from other Cubs and a season from Milton Bradley worthy of its own mini-series, have left many fans numb from last season, even as the 2010 season is about to commence.
But one good thing you can say about the Cubs is, at least they’re not the Mets. Despite the Cubs problems in 2009, the Mets always seemed to be one rung higher on the list of troubles.
On paper, the Mets had a team in 2009 that should have challenged for the top of the NL East. They had an excellent core of players in David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Johan Satana, and Francisco Rodriguez. Even so, the Mets’ 2009 season was an even bigger disaster that the Cubs’. Through injuries and sub-par performances, the Mets found a way to turn the second highest payroll in baseball into a team with a 70-92 record. They have the distinction of being the only team in MLB history to spend more than $140 million on payroll and have a losing season.
The Mets problems were not solely on the field. Mets owners Fred and Jeffrey Wilpon got caught up in the Bernie Madoff scandal. Depending on who you read, the Wilpons either lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the scam, or they made hundreds of millions of dollars and are now being asked by the feds to pay back the ill-gotten gains. In either case, the scandal could end up forcing the Wilpons to sell the team, although they deny this rumor.
Then there’s the Mets front office. If you ever wanted to see an example of a dysfunctional front office, look no further than the New York Mets. First, VP for Player Development Tony Bernazard, decided to take out his frustration concerning the poor performance of the Mets’ Class-AA team by ripping off his shirt and physically challenging the players. It was the final straw in Bernazard’s tenure with the Mets that included unusually aggressive behavior toward the players and a questionable hitting philosophy that permeated the organization.
After the Mets fired Bernazard, GM Omar Minaya, Bernazard’s boss and friend, decided that the best way to handle the situation was to verbally challenge the reporter who wrote about Bernazard’s odd behavior. Not a good idea. Rumors started to fly that Minaya would soon join Bernazard as an ex-Met employee. Jeffrey Wilpon gave him a weak vote of confidence and Minaya tried to rebuild his reputation by appearing on 60 minutes to make sure the world knew that he was still in charge.
The off-season was not kind to the Mets. They seemed to be involved to one extent or another with every high profile free agent, but Minaya would swing and miss over and over. He failed to add a starting pitcher, the Mets’ single biggest need. In fact, the Mets arguably needed two front or middle of the rotation starters, but instead added guys like Josh Fogg and Hisanori Takahasi on minor league contracts. Even if one or both of them make the big league team, they are nothing more than fifth starters.
The Mets also settled for a collection of Chris Coste, Rod Barajas, and Henry Blanco at catcher after failing to sign Bengie Molina or Yorvit Torrealba. Barajas is likely to be the Mets starting catcher in 2010 even though Omar Minaya initially indicate that he was not the answer to the Mets catching problems.
To shore up the bullpen, the Mets signed Kelvim Escobar, who has only pitched in one game since 2007 due to injury, and Kiko Colero, who is viewed as such an injury risk that other teams, including the Cubs, were unwilling to offer him a major league contract. That’s taking quite a risk on a bullpen that is likely to see plenty of action this year.
At first base, the Mets decided to stay in-house and move former left fielder Daniel Murphy to first base. The Mets considered resigning Carlos Delgado to play first, but opted to go with the weaker hitting and largely unproven Murphy instead.
Then there’s Jason Bay. Bay was by far the Mest highest profile acquisition. But even signing him was anything but routine. The Mets were bidding against themselves for Bay, and initially, it didn’t look like Bay wanted to go to New York. But when it became clear that the Mets were his only suitor, Bay gave in and signed with the team. Even after landing a big fish like Bay, it was a bit anticlimatic because Bay seemed to not really be part of the team. Since then, he has said all of the right things, but a bit of the joy was lost in the way things worked out.
The off season was not helped by Jose Reyes being connected to a Canadian doctor who was caught trying to smuggle HGH into the United States. Of course, Reyes is not accused of any wrong doing. Even so, the episode is just another misstep in an off season filled with missteps.
The Mets should be able to score some runs this year. With the addition of Bay and the resurgence of players like Wright and Reyes, the Mets should be an offensive force to be reckoned with. However, their pitching staff is far too thin to be serious contenders. A healthy Johan Santana will certaily help the team, but behind Santana are four back of the rotation starters in Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, Oliver Perez, and Francisco Nieve or Jon Niese.
Despite their league leading payroll budget, the Mets will likely be fighting for a spot in the middle of the NL East behind Philadelphia and Atlanta. Assuming everyone stays healthy, they should win more games in 2010 than they did in 2009, but don’t be surprised if they end up with a losing record just the same.
On the surface, compared to the Mets, the Cubs look like a well-run, competitive team. If the Mets can bring in a GM who knows what he’s doing, and if the owner can keep his hands out of the day-to-day operations of the team, the Mets could become a force to be reckoned with. They have an excellent, young core of players that could make the Mets competitive for years to come. But if they fail to change the leadership at the top and are unable to add any starting pitching, the Mets are going to continue to be baseball’s biggest underachievers.
