Another season’s end is thankfully on the horizon for the Mets.
While us fans who bleed orange and blue are unfortunately accustomed to season endings that feature no semblance of “meaningful games” in September, this season in particular stings.
Mere months ago, the Mets were the cinderella team of baseball. The team was near the top of the NL East standings, Johan Santana had thrown the team’s first no-hitter and the ragtag Mets seemed to have the spark and spunk that playoff-bound teams are made of.
Boy, how things have changed.
Sure, the team still has some bright spots — most notably R.A. Dickey’s unlikely quest for a Cy Young award — but now the Mets’ true colors are showing. Their starting pitching depth was not enough to propel them past the All-Star break, their offense is streaky at best and another late season plummet in the standings has left many empty seats at Citi Field.
For some, this fall from grace was foreseeable. No one — not even me — expected the Mets to contend this season. All of the PR and slanted talk aside, this team was clearly in a state of transition, whether they wanted to use the term “rebuilding” or not.
That being said, it was hard not to believe in them earlier this season. Maybe, just maybe, this team had what it took to perform above their expectedly low expectations.
Despite the fact that the Mets are heading toward yet another losing season, there are reasons to be optimistic about the team’s upcoming seasons.
The team’s starting pitching depth should develop into a strong point over the next few seasons. Matt Harvey, who solidified himself in the team’s starting rotation earlier this month, has shown the MLB the talent that made the Mets choose him in the first round of the draft and should continue to develop into a front-end starting pitcher. Jon Niese also finally had the breakout season we had all been waiting for.
Other arms such as Jennry Mejia and Collin McHuh give the Mets back-end options and Zach Wheeler — one of the top prospects in all of baseball — continued to pitch well at AAA Buffalo.
Besides the youth making their way up the farm system, the Mets will also have more flexibility in their offseason plans this year — meaning a more competitive team is likely on the horizon.
General Manager Sandy Alderson will undoubtedly address some of the team’s most glaring needs — including power hitting outfielders and more bullpen options — through free agency or trades.
So chin up, Mets fans. This season might not be the most entertaining to watch or fruitful in terms of wins, but things should be better sooner rather than later.
Andrew Wyrich