A Brief History of 35 Years of New York Mets Failures

If you were hoping for a nice, calm blog after a long day, keep looking. Today’s post isn’t for the faint of heart, or for those who experience joy from time to time. No, unfortunately today, we’re talking about the 2022 New York Mets, a story with such a depressing ending, George R.R. Martin thought it was too dark. I’d argue this was the worst ending of a Mets season in the last 35 years, and that’s saying something.

Before I begin, I warn you this post is for Mets fans. I’m going to bounce all over the past 3.5 decades before getting to 2022. If you don’t care about the history lesson, or the Mets in general, fine. Here’s a link to a Peppa Pig Script that’s less offense than the Wild Card performance my team had.

There’s a reason I didn’t write about the Mets this year. Before the season began, I thought about another Mets seasonal preview, but I didn’t have the time to put it together. Then, as the Mets began playing well, I had to avoid everything about the team. I didn’t want to be the jinx that the fanbase turned on. I’d rather just be an angry, pessimistic Mets fan who still comes back for every game. This way, I’ll always be among my peers.

In retrospect, it didn’t matter what I did. I could have written a Mets 2022 World Series placeholder blog after opening day. The Mets can’t be jinxed since the franchise is already cursed. Oh, you don’t believe me, do you? Well, have a seat, pour yourself a drink, and get ready for a team history from its last high point in 1986.

The Mid to Late 80s

In 1986, the Mets were on top of the world. A cocky, star laden team kicked a lot of ass the whole way through the season, until a roadblock against the Red Sox. The game was over, until the Mets had a late rally, and poor Bill Buckner misplayed a ground ball. The Mets won game 6 and often forgotten, game 7, to win the title this should have started a dynasty.

After the 1986 season, the Mets had meteoric stars in Dwight Gooden and Darryn Strawberry. They had veteran leadership, a complete pitching staff and one of the best mustaches of all time at first base. It took a small miracle to win the 1986 World Series, but it would take a much larger one to miss out a half decade of dominance.

Since that win, the Mets became a curse riddled disaster. Maybe it was punishment for his cocky the roster was. Perhaps George Steinbrenner, pissed that the cross-town rivals were succeeding, put a voodoo hex on the franchise. On a personal note, I was born in 1987, but I don’t see how that could possibly have any impact. Whatever it might have been, things have been a pure disappointment since their one win.

The late 80s, which seemed so promising, crashed and burned very quickly. 1987 was a complete dumpster fire, with nearly every relevant Mets pitcher suffering an injury. Gooden and Strawberry began a very public and tragic battle with drugs. The defending champions failed to make the postseason. They did play significantly better in 1988, but lost to the Dodgers in the postseason. And that, was really the end of the team.

It’s baffling that a roster loaded with young talent in 1986 failed to make more than a second run. Willing a title is certainly difficult, but to not even keep the momentum going beyond a playoff appearance two years later is crushing. The 1986 Mets are still revered as (spoiler alert) it’s the last title the franchise has won. But compared to other franchises who have multiple rings and sustained success, it’s a little embarrassing. The Mets failed to compete for another decade.

1998-2000

The in interim or relevance, the Mets frigging sucked. What’s worse, they spent money and still sucked. Bobby Bonilla was this era’s signature player. His scheduled July 1st payment contribute more than he ever did on the field. He would lead a cavalcade of declining, overpaid veterans who failed to deliver in a Mets uniform. Somewhere, Jason Bay nods sadly as he adds an additional floor to his $5 million dollar mansion made of gold bricks from his New York tenure.

The Mets finally got their shit together in 1998. They acquired Mike Piazza, one of the franchises’ best players, and had a one game lead in the Wild Card with 5 games to play. Naturally, the Mets shat the bed, losing their last five games, including being swept by the Braves who had clinch the division weeks before. For most organizations, this would be black stain for decades. For the Mets, this collapse is rarely discussed, probably because the team manages to have a worse one every few years.

I’m not mad at the 2022 season. Why do you ask?

The Mets made the playoffs in both 1999 and 2000, the first time the team made consecutive postseasons. Not great for a franchise that was nearly 40 years old at the time. 2000 was their big breakthrough. They made it to the World series and faced the Yankees in the Subway series. Every game in the series was close, including Game 2, where the Mets scored 5 runs in the ninth inning… to lose 6-5. That was the story of 2000, close, but no cigar. The Yankees won in 5 games.

Of course, the only thing anyone remembers is that the Mets lost the World Series and assumed they sucked in it. I guess if you don’t win it, you’re not a champion, but 3 Yankees wins were decided by 1 run. I don’t even have to mention Roger Clemens, do I? Remember when he throw a broken bat at Mike Piazza? Remember his excuse was, and I’m paraphrasing “He confuses the bat with a ball.”?! Thank God the Mets lost this series and let Jeter win another title. THANK GOD.

Hmm, I seem to be losing my normal rational self. I’m sure it’s a one time thing.

Making the World Series is an accomplishment, especially for a team struggling since 1988. But losing to the Yankees made things much more difficult. Yankee fans had bragging rights. While you always want a shot at the title, this was the worst way to end a successful season.

The 2006-2008 Triple Gut Punch

The Mets didn’t make much noise until 2006, where they slowly put together a very good offense combining free agent acquisitions (Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Cliff Floyd) and homegrown talent (David Wright, Jose Reyes). This team could score in bunches and Shea Stadium was full of energy for the first time in a while. The pitching was full of older veterans, including a past his prime Pedro, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez who could have been 80, and Tom Glavine.

We’ll talk about Tom Glavine in a moment.

The 2006 Mets were probably the best Mets team I’ve seen, though I think 2022 was the front runner about 14 days ago. But despite the team making the playoffs, and actually winning the division, the pitching began to fall apart. Pedro and El Duque missed the postseason. Also missing that postseason was Duaner Sanchez, Sanchez was having a lights out year as a set up man, but severely injured his shoulder when his cab was hit by a drunk driver at the end of July. A truly bizarre injury that shortened a career and created a disastrous Mets pen. It’s also the most Mets injury since Ike Davis “sprained his ankle”, but really had Valley Fever.

Most sports fans know how this story goes. The Mets make it to game 7 of the NLCS against the Cardinals. They were forced to start Olver Perez, who ended up being amazing. Endy Chavez made arguably the best catch of all time, but the Mets still fell short. Surely, they would be back the next few years. I mean, look at the roster. There was so much talent. HOW COULD THEY EVER BLOW ALL THIS TALENT?!

In 2007, the Mets restocked, acquiring Johan Santana and a bunch of hard throwing relievers to sure up the pen. They came out on fire, ending May with a 34-18 record. With 17 games left to go in the season, the Mets had a 7-game lead. And guess what happened? You don’t have to, since you know what this article is about.

After choking away that lead seemingly overnight, the Mets only had to win their last two games. Johan Santana pitched a brilliant, 4 hit complete game shutout for game 161. All Tom Glavine had to do was not have the biggest piece of shit start in major league history. That’s all he had to do. Glavine went out, dropped his pants, and proceeded to shit on each and every Mets fan personally. He gave up 7 runs in the first inning. He never wore a Mets uniform again after that inning.

What makes the 2007 collapse even worse was the Mets rallied in the bottom of the inning after Glavine’s shit fest. The Mets scored one and loaded the bases. Ramon Castro, the Mets back up catch who loved hitting homeruns and little else connected with his pitch and raised his hand in the air. The crowd went nuts assuming it was a grand slam, and the team was alive. The ball fell 60 feet short of the wall. All Mets players began the second inning with a fork in them. Not only did the Mets lose the division, but they also missed the playoffs entirely.

After the game, Glavine barely gave an interview and then returned to Atlanta almost immediately. He was basically a Braves’ sleeper agent. He will forever be my least favorite athlete, excluding those who commit heinous crimes. I can’t say enough terrible things about Glavine, but trust me, I’m thinking about all of them.

What’s rarely discussed about the 2007 Mets is they weren’t any good after May. They played under .500 in June and July, and were a middling team the rest of the way. Fans never noticed it because they never needed to play above mediocre baseball to hold on to first place. It was a true embarrassment, but we’re only getting started.

2008 is arguably more embarrassing on how it ended. The Mets found themselves in the same situation as 2007. With a win at the final regular season game at Shea Stadium, the Mets would make the postseason as a wild card. Instead, they lost to the Marlins. Afterwards, the Mets had a celebration of Shea Stadium in front of the crowd who just watched them collapse.

Did, did they really think this was a good idea? The stadium was reigned with boos from all sides, and the franchises most popular players took on boos from all sides. This was the most tone deaf move in Franchise history other than traded away Tom Seaver. Actually, the fans probably booed Seaver during this “celebration” day, so this is worse.

And while the team was by no means a stable, model Franchise, they just kind of existing for a while. They certainly didn’t compete. They were just mediocre. There were plenty of botched signings, but not a lot of good baseball. That was until 2015.

2015 and Beyond

The 2015 Mets were a really weird team. They were downright horrific offensively, featuring clean up hitters John Mayberry Jr and Eric Campbell. At the deadline, the Mets were nearly out of it, and almost traded for Carlos Gomez. The trade fell threw as Gomez only had one functional hip at the time. Wilmer Florez cried after hearing he was traded. Then, the trade fell through. Flores hit a walk off homer two days later, sparking the Mets.

Oh, the team also acquired Yoenis Cespedez who went on a 2-month tear so massive, he got MVP buzz. It wasn’t all Cespedez, but he changed the direction of the team. The Mets called up Michael Conforto, who I still haven’t gotten over, and made it to the playoffs on the back of a blossoming offense, and dominant young pitching.

In the postseason, the Mets broke through the National League. Daniel Murphy went on a postseason tear that made Cespedes regular season look pedestrian. At the same time, the Mets young pitchers all caught fire. The biggest statement was sweeping the Cubs in 4 games. Ironically, the Cubs swept the regular season series 7-0, but the playoffs was a different matter. The Mets looked like the favorites, especially when matched up against the Kansas City Royals.

Oh, did I mention in the Wild Card Round, Chase Utley committed one of the dirtiest plays in the history of baseball and broke Ruben Tejada’s leg? The only person who can hold a candle to Tom Glavine is Chase Frigging Utley.

The World Series was, you guessed it a huge disappointment. The Mets had leads in 4 of 5 games, but still managed to lose the series in 5. Jerrys Familia blew three of those games, but the team’s defense did not help. The World Series started with a Royals Inside the Park homerun on a misplayed ball from Cespedes. Murphy’s bat cooled and his glove was worse. The Royals refused to strike out, and the Mets couldn’t score at all. It was deflating. Still, the Mets had young, star pitchers under team control and a good offense. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

2016 had high expectations, but injuries derailed the time. Only Noah Syndergaard managed to stay healthy all year and the Mets qualified for the first Wild Card. Yes, that’s right, first Wild Card, because 2016 introduced a extra playoff spot and a one game seriesto make the next round of the playoffs. I’ve written about how stupid it was to play 162 games for a one game series. It’s like flipping a coin 163 times and only counting the last result.

Not only did the Mets get screwed by the format, they also got screwed by the draw. The Mets faced the Giants and Madison Bumgarner, arguably the best playoff pitcher of the generation. Bumgarner eviscerated the Mets, who weren’t an offensive juggernaut in 2016, and while Syndergaard matched him, Jerrys Familia immediately blew the game when he entered. Familia is a passenger in the car driven by Glavine and Utley.

There was another malaise period for the Franchise. Not only did they not compete, but the pitching staff from 2015 slowly disappeared. Zach Wheeler signed with the Phillies. Noah Syndergaard became often injuries before leaving for the Angels, and then getting traded to… Philly. Jerrys Familia wound up in… Philly. What the hell Philly? Keep Utley and get your hands off our players.

Except Familia, you can have him.

I don’t really have the heart to talk about Harvey’s fall from grace, but you can read it here. This doesn’t include anything past 2018, which includes his testimony with Tyler Skaggs, which is heartbreaking and depressing on numerous levels.

The only pitcher who remained was deGrom, who evolved into a 2 time Cy young winner, and in my opinion, the best pitcher in baseball since Pedro. Despite his utter brilliance, the Mets had a losing record in his starts. It was truly horrific. 2017 – 2020 was just disappointment. Quick April starts led to awful May’s, June’s and July’s. In the Covid shortened 2020 season, the Mets statistically had an incredible offense, but somehow still failed to score runs and finished sub .500.

Steve Cohen buying the team led to some promise, but the 2021 Mets were never a true contender, despite having a division lead for most of the year. The team had bad vibes the whole season, and really struggled to scratch out runs every game. I can’t call 2021 a true disappointment, but the Mets allowed the Braves to win the division, and ultimately the World sSeries, so it’s not a feature in the cap year either.

2022

And thus, we’ve made it to 2022. It only took 2744 words. Have I mentioned I’m not angry or upset at all yet?

This season started with a lot of promise. After Steven Matz turned down a Mets’ trade offer, Steve Cohen went on a spending binge, signing proven, major-league talent. Starling Marte was a legit star player, but Eduardo Escobar, and Mark Cahna each provided needed skills on paper (power and on base skills respectively). Cohen even tried to bring in Max Scherzer, a former division rival who tortured the Mets for years. There was no way this would work…

Until it actually worked. Scherzer, a true ace that really only the Dodgers could pony up for, gave the Mets credibility and a potentially devastating 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. There’s only a few teams Scherzer would be a second starter on, but the Mets were one of them. The team’s direction was clear – win now on the strength of working counts, modest power, and an elite rotation.

Coupled with the signing, the Mets traded for Chris Bassitt. I mean, the A’s were having a fire sale of all their talent, so why not? Bassitt statistically had come into his own since 2019 and gave the Mets three All Star level performers with plenty of upside from the back end. They seemed to be covered for anything, especially with all the positive news that Jacob deGrom was back, and he was ready.

The one flaw with the roster construction is that the team was old as shit. No addition was under the age of 30, and the top pitchers were all 32 or older. The plan was risky, but Cohen longest contract was 4 years. Sure, each was expensive, especially Scherzer’s record breaking average annual salary, but the short lengths prevented disasters. They also lined up nicely with our highest-level prospects. Clearly, this was a new era for the Mets.

Well, that is until deGrom was hurt a week into Spring Training. This was downplayed until ultimately he ended up on the disabled list, missing the entire first half. The one two punch would have to wait a bit.

Even without deGrom, the Mets started off hot. Tylor Megill made the opening day start and looked great. Francisco Lindor quickly showed he wasn’t a bust. Pete Alonso looked like the rookie version of himself. Even Jeff McNeil, left for dead by the fans after a bad 2021, returned to his elite slap hitting form. By June 1st, the Mets had a 10.5 game lead, and looked to be force, and a title contender.

The Mets had a schedule of death in June, facing most of the elite teams in baseball, including a brutal West coast trip. The Mets stayed above .500 on the trip, but the Braves began to catch fire, making up most of the lost ground with a 14-game winning streak. The ghosts of past Mets collapses began to creep into the fanbase’s mind, but they stayed afloat, even as injuries took Megill for most of the season, and Scherzer for 7 weeks. Nevertheless, the Mets persisted.

During the first half, the Mets had a combined no hitter, a 7-run comeback in the 9th inning against the Phillies and beat the Braves in multiple series to prove their worth. The Team had 4 All Stars – Alonso, McNeil, Marte and most deserving, Edwin Diaz. Diaz was arguably the world closer in history in 2019, a bold statement for a sport employing Jerrys Familia. In 2022, he became completely unhittable, and had one of the best entrances in baseball history. If you don’t know Timmy Trumpets, you don’t know baseball.

The second half brought the return of deGrom, but also a bit more turmoil. The Mets didn’t play bad in August, but there was something a touch off. Perhaps it was failing to do anything of note at the trade deadline. While the Padres acquired Juan Soto, the Mets acquired Daniel Vogelbach, Michael Givens, Tyler Naquin and Darin Ruf. This wasn’t a splash, but the idea was there – piece together DH and the OF with platoon pieces that take advantage of the strengths of their players.

Truthfully, for the first few weeks, it worked brilliantly. DeGrom looked like his old self, Vogelbach was an on base machine, Naquin helped beat the Braves and Ruf… well, Ruf certainly attended games. The month was highlighted with winning 4 out of 5 from the Braves in one series, and beating the dodgers.

There were more blemishes though. The Mets lost a series to the Braves, and also lost Carlos Carrasco for some time, as well as a second IL stint for Scherzer. Still, the Mets retained their lead, and September was upcoming. The Mets had the easiest schedule in baseball and could put the Braves away by just doing what they had all year – win series and beat up on bad teams. These were not the same old Mets.

Wait, no, I read my notes wrong. These were the same frigging suck ass blow it at the end of every year Mets.

The Mets played .500 baseball in September, which in a vacuum isn’t bad, but the competition was extremely poor. Outside of a week were the swept the Pirates and beat the Brewers, the Mets played down to their competition. The biggest surprises were losing a home series to the Soto less Nationals, and getting swept by a Cubs team who was more concerning booking tee times than competing.

For most teams, this wouldn’t matter, but for the Mets in a dog fight for the division, it was pretty telling. The offense sputtered completely, with only a few players contributing regularly. Eduardo Escobar, who struggled for 5 months, broke out in a big way in September, proving most of the offense. While McNeil, Alonso, and Lindor contributed as well, there was a clear dip. Clutch hits became scarce and cashing in runners on third with less than 2 outs became impossible. The Mets crept into their old habits, ones they seemingly broke all throughout the first half.

Arguably the biggest blow was Starling Marte’s injury. Marte was hit by a pitch in the hand and injuired a finger, removing him for the rest of the regular season. The offense’s struggles began when Marte was healthy but losing him certainly didn’t help. The Mets set a MLB record for players hit by pitches this year. Despite multiple players being hit in the head, they all avoided serious injury until mid September.

The Mets tried to find sparks from the minor leagues to help their struggling offense. First, current Bloggin Hood favorite Brett Baty came up out of necessity when both Luis Guillorme and Escobar went down. He homered on his first swing, struggled a bit, and then got hurt himself.

Mark Vientos got called up in Mid-September when the DH’s failed. Vientos crushed the minors, but was neither used in a trade for a high-quality bat, nor called up in August to get reps. Instead, the Mets gave him 20 or so at bats, starting him sporadically. Great job here.

While the Mets floundered, the Braves continued to win. From June on, the Braves had the best winning percentage in baseball, and never seemed to lose games. The Mets were on a great pace, but the Braves kept decreasing the lead, even overtaking it a few times. It set up a virtual winner take the division series on the last weekend of the season. Both teams had one final series afterwards, but that was a formality. Mets vs Braves was really a playoff series before the series.

On the Wednesday before the biggest Mets series in 6 years, Mets came back from 4 runs down to win, all over the strength of Escobar. Escobar gave a teary interview without a translator, saying he was thrilled he gave the fans something to cheer about. Meanwhile, the Braves lost in extra innings to the lowly Nationals. Don’t worry that the Mets dropped a series to them earlier in the month. This was all Momentum in the Mets favor.

With a 1 game lead, the Mets went to Atlanta with deGrom, Scherzer and Bassitt all lined up. Winning the series virtually clinched the division. Hell, losing the series but winning 1 game let the Mets control their own destiny. All the arrows were pointing up. What could possibly go wrong?

Oh, I know, rooting for the God damn Mets.

Each of the Mets aces shit the bed in their own way. DeGrom only gave up 3 runs, but they were all solo homers, as he began showing a weakness for giving up homers. Met fans began to grumble about deGrom losing it, especially coupled with a truly bad start against the A’s. I’ll have thoughts on deGrom and all the Mets main contributors later, but turning on deGrom was a bad, BAD sign.

Scherzer managed to pitch worse, giving up 4 runs, including more homers to the Braves.

Bassitt was the worst of the 3, failing to get out of the third inning in his start, walking in runs, and losing all command of his pitches, something he never did before.

The Mets bats remained cold overall. Escobar and McNeil hit well but everyone else was borderline useless. Out of desperation, the Mets called up top prospect Francisco Alvarez just before this series. The Mets prized catching prospect, and the #1 overall prospect in baseball, was thrust into the biggest series for the Mets in 6 years and failed to contribute. Gee, I wonder why? Maybe don’t do this? Then again, nobody contributed at this point, so I suppose it didn’t matter.

I don’t fault any of the Mets rookies this year, but I sure as hell fault the organization for these decisions. Call them up early to get reps or wait till next year. Trade him for talent or hold them for next season. No half frigging measures out of desperation.

Pretty much every Braves players shined in the series. Matt Olsen and Dansby Swanson hit homers in all three games and the Braves were the better team. With one win, the Mets would have had the series lead 10-9 and held the tiebreaker. Instead, the Braves took it with a sweep. Guess what record both teams ended up with. 101-61. Wow. Imagine winning 101 games, not winning your division, and making your fans think the team sucks. Meet the Mets… Meet the Mets, Step right up and great the Mets.

Sadly, the greeting I’d give would be too profane, even for this site. I’ve said shit at least 5 times in the blog already but it would be much, much worse.

In true Mets fashion, every single Mets seemed to get back on track in the meaningless last series of the season. It gave hope for the postseason series against the Padres, a team that won the season series 4-2 against the Mets. Only a handful of teams did that, so it was a bad draw. But surely, 101 wins have to count for something.

Oh they counted alright. Right toward the disappointment.

Game 1 featured absolutely no offense from the Mets short of another Escobar homerun. Max Scherzer gave up 7 runs and looked, quite honestly, awful. It was as close to the God-awful Glavine start as I’ve seen. At that point, the season felt over. The Mets were built to win on the strength of their 2 elite starters. Scherzer lost something, neutering that advantage. Without Mad Max, the Mets became a bad offensive team that couldn’t pitch. Not great.

Game two gave the Mets hope. The offensive weapons all contributed. Pete and Lindor homered, deGrom pitched a very good 6 innings, and McNeil had the game’s biggest hit. Even with a 7-2 lead, the Mets almost blew it in the 9th, but escaped with a win. Hope had returned.

Then game 3 was like getting repeatedly kicked in the balls with spiked shoes.

The Mets mangled 1 hit and 2 base runners in the game. Chris Bassitt once again struggled in a big spot. The Mets were so outclassed, manager Buck Showalter requested the opposing pitcher, Joe Musgrove get checked for foreign substances. Truthfully, he might have been cheating, but it didn’t matter. The Mets weren’t going to hit an underhand lob that game. They even played Diaz’s entrance music when he entered the game down 4-0. It was a true embarrassment. The Mets 101-61 record, the second best in Franchise history after 1986, was meaningless. The internet was filled with “LolMets” yet again.

In Conclusion

The Mets are like an abusive ex that someone keeps going back to. Every year, right around March, fans say to themselves “No, this year will be different. They’ve changed”. By June, The Mets are back to their old ways, breaking your heart and crushing your morale. At least a baseball team won’t cheat on you. But man, if an entire baseball team cheating on you that would suck.

The 2022 seemed different. There was no first half swoon. Up until the very end, there was no collapse. This team actually felt complete, and had a shot at the World Series. But in the biggest games of the year, the team folded. Any time the opponent scored first, the game was over. From April – August, the Mets could come back against anyone. In September, they might as well have raged quit after the opponents tallied one run.

Truly, this team feels cursed. The 1986 title had to be won via devil magic, and the team suffers the results every since. You saw the list above. How could this happen to any other franchise? There’s really no other answer other than I was born in 1987. Hmm, maybe I’m the devil magic.

Ironically, what hurts the Mets is that they’re never true bottom feeders. The Mets get ragged on as much as any professional team, but since 2000, they’ve been to the postseason 5 times, including 2 world series, and 3 championship series. That’s not super impressive, but it’s better than a lot of organizations. There’s plenty of years where I didn’t bother mentioning that they finished with 70-84 wins. That’s not good, but it’s not bad. They’re usually just average to mediocre, which is why getting close and failing hurts so much.

This year, the Mets had the best record of my lifetime, and still couldn’t win the division. Before the series against Atlanta at the end of September, I didn’t believe the Mets choked away a 10.5 game lead. The Braves played that well. But after that and the wild card round? They sure as hell choked. You can’t lose 3 straight games when you need one, and you sure as hell can’t get one hit in the playoffs.

The Braves and Dodgers also have been eliminated from the postaseason now. None of the 3 “elite” National League Teams managed to win a single series. Does this make me feel any better about how the Mets season ended?

No. Of frigging course not. All this means is getting the bye would have set the Mets up to play the Phillies, who they honestly owned all year. Does this mean they would have won against them? Again, of course not, but it’s sure better to at least have the shot then go down as meekly as they did.

It’s a missed opportunity. Everyone knows the Dodgers and Braves will be top level teams in 2023, barring against catastrophic. But will the Mets? It’s a crossroad year for the team as many significant contributors are free agents now. Remember, even if they sucked, that’s still a significant contribution.

Well, in part two of this rant, we’ll grade all of the main players on the team and even discuss if we should bring them back. I tried to be rationale, but it’s obvious by the time I got to starting pitching, I stopped caring about that. Read on to Part 2, which should be posted now. You all deserved a break after 5,000 words on Mets history.