Apologies

First Apology:

I’m sorry I didn’t blog after Thursday night’s 8-3 loss to the Nationals. Usually I would go for poetic license and just say that I was “too disgusted to write anything” or that “Juan Lagares’ injury put me in a catatonic state”, but the simple fact of the matter is that I was dead tired. Although when I was thinking about what to write after Thursday’s game, the only word I could come up with was this:

Why?

That wouldn’t make for a very good post, but I really don’t know why the Mets come up with all these injuries and why they’re so snakebit and why God hates us and why Ray Ramirez has become the lightning rod for everything wrong with society. I truly don’t have the answer. Thus, I came home on Thursday night and went to sleep.

Second Apology:

I’m sorry for not seeing this coming. I really thought that 2017 had the makings of a special season. Instead, this four game series against the Nationals is looking more and more like a funeral. Friday’s 7-2 loss has me feeling less existential and more pragmatic about things involving this team. It should be crystal clear to anybody who has watched these two teams go at it the past two seasons: The Mets are completely and utterly outclassed by the Nationals.

What you are seeing when you see these two teams play each other is a team that acquired Max Scherzer even though they had very good starting pitching and acquire Matt Wieters even though they had Derek Norris against a team that won’t call up their top prospect because “nah, we got fan favorite Jose Reyes and his .191 average so we’re good”. I thought the gap was closer. I really did. I thought the Nationals’ bullpen would be the great equalizer, and they haven’t been good. But it isn’t close at all.

I understand that no team can survive losing their number one starter, their closer, their cleanup hitter, their second baseman and their number 3 starter, not to mention their third baseman for long stretches of time … among others. But they have to win the next two games just to break even, and the way both teams looked the last two games, do you really think they have a chance? No matter the reason for it, the season is a couple of days away from being over, and that’s depressing.

It’s depressing because there’s always that vibe that this front office gives out that they have no interest in saving the season. I get that it takes two teams to make a trade and that Alderson doesn’t want to get ripped off out of desperation. But there’s an easy fix that, while it won’t save everything, it will at least show fans and players alike that losing won’t be tolerated, and that’s to cut Reyes and bring up Amed Rosario. Are the Mets going to rip off a 15 game winning streak with that move? No. Is it going to fix the pitching staff? No. But it’s something. Maybe it won’t be a spark and a lift to a sagging clubhouse but that’s a chance worth taking, isn’t it? It’s the easiest thing this team can do and they won’t even do that. They’re content to let this team rot and continue to live off 2015 while reminding you that they came from 61-62 to make the playoffs last year.

This isn’t last year.

I’m sorry to get all talk radio on you, but last year doesn’t make one bit of difference right now. If it was just injuries, and if it was just one aspect of play that was lacking (that could be fixed by the return of one player), then I’d be on board. I was on board with their chances last year at 61-62. But I have no confidence that this team can win the next two games, and I’m not so sure they could win one.

And then they get to face Clayton Kershaw.

The Mets are three games away from being completely dead in the middle of June. And not that it matters one iota to the New York Mets, it’s totally bumming me the **** out, especially when there’s things the front office can do to help, but they refuse to.

Today’s Hate List

1. I won’t even hate anybody on the Nationals.
2. Forget that, they built their team to win,
3. and despite not having a closer, they’re winning.
4. They deserve to be studied, not mocked.
5. Arrogance is in abundance on this planet, and in Flushing.
6. It will get the Mets nowhere.