First, I am grateful that Steve Cohen is the owner of the New York Mets and not Mutt and Jeff, AKA: Fred and Jeff Wilpon. Their stewardship of this franchise, particularly over the last few years, drove it into the proverbial ground. Cohen has, if nothing else, shown a willingness to invest money, much to the delight of millions of beleaguered fans.
Second, I am also grateful that he isn't "impulsive," like a certain ex-Yankees owner was during the 1970s and '80s. Another George Steinbrenner ranting and raving over Twitter, however gratifying that might've been to some, isn't going to solve the myriad problems besetting this team. And let's not kid ourselves: to call this team flawed would be like calling the Titanic leaky.
But as I was listening to Cohen during his press conference on Wednesday, two things immediately struck me: 1. If he truly believes he was "lucky" to have found Billy Eppler, then he isn't the genius we think he is; and 2. If the above is true, Mets fans are fucked for the foreseeable future.
It is incompressible to me how anyone could objectively look at Eppler's track record and consider themselves lucky to have him running the show. In his five years running the Los Angeles Angels, Billy Boy did not have a single winning season, a fact I brought out after the Max Scherzer signing.
His trade deadline moves last season, for the most part, turned out to be busts. Darin Ruf, Tyler Naquin and Mychal Givens contributed virtually nothing to the Mets down the stretch. Meanwhile, J.D. Davis, who was traded for Ruf, is batting .286 with 10 home runs and 44 RBIs for the San Francisco Giants this season. Imagine him playing 3rd base instead of Brett Baty, who, let's admit it, probably needed another year at Syracuse.
But his offseason decisions were even more bewildering. Chris Bassitt, who won 15 games last year for the Amazins, was allowed to walk and is currently 8-5 for the Blue Jays. Taijuan Walker, who went 12-5 last year, is now 9-3 with the Phillies. Meanwhile, their replacements, Tylor Megill (6-4, 5.17) and David Peterson (2-6, 7.00), are stinking up the joint. Between the starters who can't go more than five innings, and the bullpen that can't get crucial outs, the Mets have the 7th worst team ERA in all of baseball. If this is Cohen's idea of being lucky, Miriam Webster needs to redefine the word.
Yes, Cohen is technically correct when he says it's on the players, especially Scherzer, Justin Verlander - who's been a major disappointment this season - and Starling Marte, who twice Thursday night came up with the bases loaded and grounded into an inning-ending double play in the 7th and struck out in the 9th to end the game. But who is responsible for the players that are on the roster? You can't blame the Wilpons for everything, Steve.
But as bad as Eppler has been in the front office, his aren't the only finger prints on this train wreck of a season. Buck Showalter, who in 31 years as a manager has yet to win a playoff series, is doing his best Casey Stengel impersonation in the dugout. His stubbornness with respect to the lineup and his handling of the bullpen have proven costly. Below are just a few of his more puzzling moments.
- Daniel Vogelbach, despite batting .216, is still the preferred DH.
- Rather than use his closers in back to back games, he sent a middle reliever in to protect a three-run lead in the 8th inning against Philly. The Phillies scored four runs and won the game.
- In a game in Colorado, Showalter started Marte in centerfield, despite Marte not playing there in two years. When he couldn't catch up with a drive to deep left-center in the 4th inning, the Rockies scored three runs. The following inning, he let Stephen Nogosek get pounded for five runs with no one warming up in the bullpen. Colorado held on to win the game 11-10.
- Thursday night, Buck pulled Baty for a pinch hitter against a left-hander, even though Baty has a higher batting average against lefties and had hit a solo home run earlier in the game.
There are more gems out there, but you get the picture. The point is, this hasn't been Buck's finest hour. By covering for him, as Cohen did, he is all but guaranteeing a lost season. Mets fans deserve better than a white wash here. Showalter's performance is fair game, as is Eppler's.
It is entirely possible Cohen knows his GM and manager are not performing up to expectations; he may even have considered firing both, but hesitated because he feared he wouldn't be able to find suitable replacements. It is no secret that Major League Baseball is no fan of the billionaire and his spending sprees. The fact that it has taken him this long to find a president of baseball operations is a case in point.
But even if Cohen's hands are tied, he still could've been more forceful in his critique of his management. Throwing the Wilpon's under the bus and giving the old "we gotta play better" pep talk isn't gonna cut it for a fanbase that hasn't had a championship since 1986. They're not looking for a temper tantrum; just an acknowledgment that this shit show isn't going to be tolerated.
The Mets have the highest payroll in the history of baseball, and while Cohen's pockets are certainly deep enough to cover whatever losses he might sustain, the same can't be said for the thousands of people who game in and game out fork over a hundred bucks or more per ticket to see a team that at the start of the season was projected to make the playoffs, and is now on target to finish 72-90.
