NEWSLETTER
Although I will never, ever pass on an opportunity to LOLMets, that’s not really what this share is about. Instead, it’s just about the reminder that a bad season – or at least a bad few months – can happen even to teams that spend like crazy to supplement/sustain a team that was already at the 100-win mark. This sport can be ridiculous.
The team in question, of course, is the Mets, who just got swept by the rival Braves, blowing leads in all three games in the process. That sunk them to three games under .500, fourth place in the NL East, and 8.5 games out. They’re actually further back in the NL East than the Cubs are in the Central (which, let’s be honest, says a lot more about the Central than anything else). This, after the Mets won 101 games last year, then committed half a billion to new contracts, and pushed their 2023 luxury tax payroll up to a record-shattering $380 million.
Hence Ken Rosenthal writing columns like this one today:
Rosenthal gets right to it, and the possible ramifications of having a team this expensive be this disappointing:
The Mets, the most expensive major-league team in major-league history, sunk to a new low Thursday night, one that ultimately might be responsibile for wrecking their season and costing people jobs.
Unless the Mets turn things around quickly, it is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine Buck Showalter, the National League Manager of the Year in 2022, lasting the entire season. General manager Billy Eppler, at some point, might be in jeopardy, too.
The accountability comes much more quickly when a team is built like the Mets were.
This is definitely not a “hey, it could be worse” situation for Cubs fans, as the Mets remain vastly more likely to be competitive this year from here than the Cubs. And, like I said, it’s not even a LOLMets situation, at least not completely. It’s just noting how bad things can be, even for teams that tried to do everything as aggressively as possible.
I guess that’s where I mention that the San Diego Padres are also four games under .500.
Also, just to prove that I’m equal opportunity-ing this stuff, note how familiar this sounds:
In mild fairness to the Mets, they lost Edwin Diaz before the season, which really mucked things up for their bullpen expectations. But it’s notable how much the bullpen has cost them, much in the same way – and for the same reasons – it’s cost the Cubs.
Maybe the conclusion here is simply: misery loves company. I’m miserable about the Cubs at the moment, so, thanks for the company, Mets fans.
