We keep hearing about how someday soon the Mets will begin to be a franchise worth watching.
And I believe it.
Look, any Mets fan living in reality will tell you that 2013 is a transition year. And yeah, we know that the term ‘transition year’ is something thrown around the game a lot, but when looking at the Mets roster logically, it’s pretty evident that term describes the current makeup of the team perfectly.
The Mets are in the final year of what will be remembered as a era of under performance and overpaid veterans. Once 2013 closes next October, the Mets will have rid themselves of the contracts of Jason Bay and Johan Santana, and suddenly the ‘financial flexibility’ Sandy Alderson keeps talking about will finally become a reality.
But more importantly, the team is allowing some of their brightest young stars ease into their roles as future building blocks of the Mets moving forward.
I believe Sandy Alderson envisions winning a World Series within the next five years, riding the explosive starting rotation of Zach Wheeler, Matt Harvey and Jon Niese all the way to October glory.
They say championships are built on strong pitching staffs, and the Mets plan regarding their all-too-evident rebuilding process clearly stresses this idea.
The likes of Wheeler, Harvey and Niese are being followed by exciting prospects who might need another few years of seasoning in the minors.
While not all of the stocked Mets minor league rotations will yield ace-type pitchers, stockpiling young arms is never a bad plan — and the likely hood of a few of those arms becoming major league caliber is a very real reality.
Can you imagine a Mets team that has young, cheap, under control pitching for six-plus years? Sandy Alderson can, and that is what he is trying to accomplish.
People have criticized Alderson for his plan, but I have been a believer from the day he somehow was able to swing a deal for Wheeler. Once he did this, I knew the future was in better hands than Mets fans have become accustomed to, but it also signified that these things take time.
If Mets fans can find it in their heart to wait just a just a few more seasons, the wheels will turn in the right direction.