Apr 1, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets right fielder DJ Stewart (29) reacts during the sixth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports
MLB: Detroit Tigers at New York Mets
NEW YORK — As I sit typing on a dreary early April day, it just doesn’t feel right to be penning a downtrodden baseball column. This is the time of hope! This is when flowers bloom and rain showers mean May bouquets and baseball is just beginning.
But of course, for the woe is me Mets fan, here comes the pitch — and the season’s over! — that much is par for the course. Not really though, right? After all we’re less than 10 games into a 162 game season! The truth is that it doesn’t really matter. Mets fans know this is their lot. Hello darkness, my old friend, indeed.
Now that the crying that totally is in baseball is over, let’s zoom out.
The Mets punted on the offseason because they’re paying Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander the better part of $100 million to pitch in various spots in Texas. The starting rotation includes a once studly right hander the Yankees decided not to bring back after he (squints eyes) posted a 7.00 ERA last year.
Third base is as big of a black hole as it has been for the vast majority of franchise history. The outfield continues to be a place where the Mets collect a few “nice” players… yet the corner positions continuously fail to provide a big time, .300, run producing night-after-night type hitter.
So, what now? Should Mets fans hide their eyes and plug their ears if the season tailspins into oblivion before summer can even arrive? Will NFL mock draft chatter become the only consistent hum in the stands at CitiField?
Mock draft intrigue aside — things are not as bleak as they seek in Queens.
With a renewed focus on developing talent through the minor leagues not seen since the 1980s, it actually feels like a painful but necessary rebuild is happening right now.
Don’t forget the Mets are paying Scherzer and Verlander this year — as opposed to having the Rangers and Astros picking up that salary — because they picked up top prospects in the deals that shipped them out of town.
That’s the kind of prudent longterm move that a big market team ought to make at the front end of a systemic rebuild, and one the Mets failed to do too often under previous ownership.
So while nothing can properly salve the trepidation Mets fans might feel after an 0-4 start, coming off a low expectations offseason, there are plenty of reasons to stay tuned: eventually Drew Gilbert will arrive and see if he can try and be a part of the next group of guys who reverse the vibe in Queens.
Will Luisangel Acuna provide a spark and become a mainstay in the infield? Is Jett Williams the second coming of Lenny Dykstra? Plus — have we really yet seen the best of Francisco Alvarez?
What pitcher will emerge and entrench themselves in the future starting rotation? This is the Mets we’re talking about — if there’s one thing on the upside you can count on, it’s a pitcher rising from the farm and catching fire.
And when it’s all said and done, do you really think Steve Cohen will be satisfied or rest until he’s built a perennial playoff contender? Where else are you going to go or root for? What’s one more year anyway?
1986 wasn’t that long ago. Someone round these parts once noted “Ya gotta believe,” it will happen again — someday.
