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Breaking News: UCF SENDS OFFER TO BUCK SHOWALTER

I’m sure Cohen had nothing at all to do with the roster construction choices and firing Buck or Billy will totally fix it.

Well when Buck was fired from the Yankees and Diamondbacks, those teams won the WS right away. They are going to pray for the same magic.

Well that's some bullshit then.

You guys actually got worse

Buck seems like a great vibes guy, but he just constantly makes the wrong decisions in every big game he manages. It's wild for a baseball lifer too

Legend has it that Zach Britton is still in the Orioles bullpen waiting for a call that will never come

Braves fans are still probably wishing he used Mo in 95 because then we probably just lose to Cleveland and Buck stays

I've been trying to figure out WTF you mean by this, and can't for the life of me. 1)Mo pitched in game 5 of the ALDS. 2) he wasn't very good in 95 overall. 3) what does any of that have to do with the Braves?

Idk about the first two points, but the yankees' loss in 95 made them fire buck and go with torre, who immediately led them to a WS win in 96 Edit-- he probably meant use mo instead of letting david cone finish the inning in game 5. He gave up a solo shot to griffey, then gave up a single and three walks, including one to walk in the tying run

Still seems like a really wild stretch, but ok. I don't think Torre was really the key to getting to the WS in 96 as much as the roster overhaul.

Really just an over simplification of Buck saying if he knew what he had in Mo in 95 he would've managed that game differently. Like letting Cone throw 140 pitches who blew the game. Torre had a lot to with them winning tbh, the team needed a manager who didn't get that tight when things got tough. I mean Buck still does Also in Mo might've not been great overall in 95 but In the 95 ALDS: 5.2 IP, 0R, 3H, 8Ks with 1 IBB. He was nails 95 he was also transitioning out of a starter, he wasn't that bad overall just not a good starter

I didn't mean that Mo was bad, but he wasn't what we all think of when we think of Mo now by any stretch. I sort of get your point, but still feel it's a big stretch. Plus, Cone may have let them tie it up but McDowell lost the game. He's the one that gave up 2 after y'all took the 1 run lead in the top of the 11th. Probably should have used Wickman for the 11th, since Wetteland had been shit that series.

Torre was absolutely the key. He made all of the right decisions. He had a knack from leaving a guy in or noticing when someone didn’t have it. E.g. Cone in the WS. He had a feel for the game you just won’t get nowadays due to analytics.

Braves also won the WS in 95… Not sure any of us are rushing to change that timeline.

It's also just talking about Buck's own comments on that team

LoL

Don’t forget Texas. Buck is the guy to bring in a culture to win regular season games. But he’ll never win a chip unless he has a roster that can mask his questionable lineup arrangement and bullpen management.

Do you really think Cohen is meddling in baseball ops? He said at his introductory presser that baseball things are left to baseball people. I know he helped close the scherzer and verlander deals by convincing them that we were building a winner but I have to imagine that the FO were the ones who wanted them. Regarding Correa, Boras called him, Cohen made a dumb comment about him being the missing piece, but it didn’t matter anyway because the Mets backed off when red flags were raised about his health. (I.e. Cohen listened to the FO)

Yes. But meddling isn't the right word, he and Eppler have a tremendous synergy/shared vision. Getting rid of Eppler right now would be an indictment of himself. Buck is the easy-man out.

Neither Buck nor Eppler is getting fired. What people don’t understand/remember is how much of a dumpster fire this organization was by 2020. It had an owner’s son who constantly meddled and had by some accounts the second worst reputation in baseball (Jeff Wilpon) It also had a series of GMs who kept trying to create the impression of “win now” to draw fans to the stadium. However, they were dealing with the Wilpons’ analytic ignorance and limited budget, so they wound up wasting millions on and trading prospects for big name B-grade veterans who were over the hill (like Jay Bruce, Jose Bautista, and Todd Frazier). Then when the team was inevitably 10 games out by the July (non-waiver) or August (waiver) trade deadlines, they traded these veterans for basically nothing just so the Wilpons could save on salary. What Cohen inherited was an organization with no analytics, no upper level farm, and completely devoid of pitching prospects.

Saw this comment the other day but it's appropriate: Met fans want a big-name PBO like Stearns, but you don't get those guys if your owner is going full Steinbrenner and firing everyone. I think there's still a lot of problems with this org, like the pro scouting, but I don't think those get fixed by just churning the top two positions.

I don’t think it’s about getting a big name, it’s about someone who isn’t afraid to admit they’re wrong and change course. Eppler is nothing more than Cashman except for the fact he doesn’t have championships to use as leverage.

Um duh of course he is

If that’s the case, then yikes. We just went from one shit owner to another. Gonna stop following the team if it comes out that’s the case

I don’t believe Steve Cohen had anything to do with moves involving Ruf, Vogelbach, JD, or Holderman.

Are those two smaller mid-season trades last season the reason why the Mets are where they are today? I was thinking more about going all in on so many older starting pitchers.

No, those two deadlines trades aren't why the mets are bad right now. Vogelbach was unequivocally good for the Mets last year and JD Davis wasn't a contributing member of the team for most of 2021 and half of 2022. Mets are bad right now because of an inexplicable regression across all phases of play from just about everybody

If only there was a number that we could use to help us figure out when a player is at higher risk of decline. Ohh well

Yeah, they'd be much better off with Rodon and Degrom.

And they not apart of the reason? JD Davis had to go but Ruf was not a suitable replacement. Vogelbach? I have no clue what Eppler thought would happen there. Multiple teams with nothing going on give up on the guy.

Yes. The Mets ruined the DH position and made their bullpen worse with those two moves.

This is still a good lineup on paper. It's guys you wouldn't expect are under achieving. McNeil, Lindor, and Marte shouldn't be hitting around a .650-.700 OPS. Volgelbach is overrated. He's more of a character than anything. A lot of hitters are under achieving their xwOBA but that doesn't mean stuff. Pitching is too old and bullpen is mediocre but this team shouldn't be this bad.

Bullpen is not mediocre, it's hilariously bad. You basically have Robertson and nothing else.

I don’t know if Vogelbach is overrated at this point. Mets fan and all of New York radio hates him. They hate him way worse than the hate Joey Gallo or Aaron Hicks got.

Linder hasn’t had an ops over 800 in 5 years bro

McNeil was always fake good.

Does anyone else think the Mets FO hasn’t really done anything egregious? Call the scherzer and Verlander signings risky sure, but it’s not like there were other options that they turned down and both contracts are very short. The bullpen is a disaster because their all star closer is out for the season. The bats have pretty much all been worse across the board than last year, hard to call that management’s fault imo.

Must be awkward to be Scherzer and Verlander rubbing elbows with people on a team getting paid a pittance compared to you while being overwhelmingly more productive.

Who is pitching better than them on the Mets, though? Also they're legends, they already "earned" their big paychecks. Other players get that, and working with them, they prob aspire to be like them. What pitcher is going to say "I wish I didn't get to sit in the dugout and be mentored by Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander"

So just like any other job

The bullpen is not a disaster because Diaz is out. The bullpen is a disaster because Eppler believes AAAA arms can pitch in the majors and does not believe in pitching depth. The bats are doing exactly what they did most of last year excluding early on before the west coast trip and a hot stretch in the summer. What the FO has done is absolutely egregious for the simple fact that the current issues are the same exact ones we had last year. Not to mention they refused to call Baty and Alvarez up until weeks after it was apparent they were ready and the players blocking them had no business getting ABs. This isn’t on Scherzer and Verlander and their contracts have nothing to do with it. It’s nonsense like trading a valuable arm for a guy with the ability to only do one thing and he can’t even do that. The FO has made a host of questionable and mediocre moves which is fine if you just want to hang around in contention and get a WC spot. But if you have the highest payroll in baseball it’s inexcusable.

Bats are bad but the lineups are bizarre. Volgelbach keeps getting starts while the Mets have a line out the door of players looking to prove themselves rn and Buck is stubbornly not playing them and benching Volgelbach. That was until last night. The bullpen fell apart and Verlander was abysmal. But Buck had a right to say he was proud of the team cause they kept in the game they shouldn’t have really been competitive in given the pitching. The only worry now is Eppler panics and tries to pull something off during the trade deadline to save his job

Linder was always a bad deal

> Unless the Mets turn things around quickly, it is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine Buck Showalter, the National League Manager of the Year in 2022, lasting the entire season. General manager Billy Eppler, at some point, might be in jeopardy, too. >The Mets are 30-33, 8 1/2 games out of first place, a collective failure, players included. But does anyone seriously expect Cohen to watch his $359 million investment continue to rot without taking some form of action, and scapegoating one or more members of his leadership team?

Eppler should be first... What a disaster almost all of his moves have been. Constructing the oldest rotation in the league, by far... not addressing our biggest lineup need, someone who can hit behind Pete (DH/LF)... it's just baffling. And the bullpen is a disaster.

Eppler and Preller currently in a proverbial fist fight to see who can build a worse roster with huge cash to back them up.

Hmm weird, I’ve never known Eppler for building bad bullpens /s

I mean it’s not like Uncle Stevie didn’t have a hand in this. Dude wanted to flop his dick on the table with these moves.

Uncle Stevie isn't the reason we had just a dreadful trade deadline last year... verlander and scherzer I agree with...

Yeah let's not pretend he didn't sign these guys who had career years far above what they're worth

It’s not like he gave them long term deals. They were worth the risk. It’s the Canha’s, the Escobars, Vogelbach’s of the team that’s the problem. Case and point about Eppler, Navarez was a completely unnecessary signing considering Alvarez was ready. But he tried to be cute and pull service time manipulation with he and Baty and still had to end up bringing them to Queens.

Who exactly was signed after a career year to a contract much more than they're worth?

Verlander for sure. I mean I guess he could still turn it around, but that money at his age and mileage is pretty crazy, no matter how good he was last year.

How bad were the 92 Mets?

1992 was bad, but the 1993 team is the only Met team outside of the 1960s to lose 100 games. That team wasn't just bad on the field, they also had a disaster clubhouse. Vince Coleman hurt Doc Gooden's arm with a golf swing, Coleman threw a lot firecracker at fans and injured a 3-year old (if that happened now, can you imagine the suspension?). Bret Saberhagen filled a super soaker with bleach and sprayed reporters in the clubhouse. They hired Dallas Green, who would go on to fry the next generation of pitching prospects.

Holy moly. The bleach thing sounds out of a super villain play book or something. Thanks, and for those wondering why I asked, the article mentions a book written about the 92 Mets team.

Yep, the worst team money can buy. That was part of why Saberhagen sprayed the bleach in the first place.

Just an endless assault of dick punches for Mets fans.

Breaking: The Mets have merged with LIV Golfing

We’re just unlucky and a lot of players are underperforming. The roster construction is ass b/c we don’t have any depth. Dodgers, rays and braves are playing better cause of their depth. Look at us and the padres… if one or two players get injured we are toast.

I'm just here to make fun of Rosenthal's completely incorrect use of the apostrophe at the end of Mets in the title.

He’s a billionaire, he’ll just ask MLB how much a win costs and buy 100 of them.

This team has a lot of talent. All stars all over the place. They'll get it done.

I definitely could see some positive regression to the mean, which might be enough to get the last wildcard if the NL Central continues to be mediocre as hell. (Emphasis on might because this is the Mets we're talking about.)

Lol no. The bullpen can’t hold a lead.

The starters can go 7 and then acquire some bullpen depth.

What starters on this team can go 7 consistently? Max and Verlander are in their 40s and everyone else sucks

I feel like they’re so damn snakebit now, would it matter?

I would hope not. I will tempt fate by saying I don't think this team can underperform more at the moment.

He’ll move the outfield fence in again

Lindor has gotta be the most overrated player in the league today. That contract continues to look awful.

I really don't watch the Mets much but I do know that Buck has never won anything with any team ever...

Number one. The Mets lost to the Braves. Is anyone really that shocked the Braves swept the Mets in Atlanta? Good for you Braves. You just spanked your little brother again for the millionth time. Literally swap out the players any year and we’ve seen this happen over and over again. Number two. Three games under .500 in June. There are three wild card teams in this era. Wake me up and write this column in August or early September and then panic city, finger pointing and ax swinging can truly begin. Thanks.

🧂🤌

lolMets

move this pathetic franchise to montreal

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I want Yankees fans to go through and actual disappointing stretch to know what it’s actually like

They wouldn’t survive if it happened

Hey they had that one year where they only won 84 games

And that other year where we only won 87 and lost the wild card game the horror This fanbase is infuriating lol

Lol when we had that result 87 games and a WC exit in 2016 that was a good season for us.

Yankee fans are spoiled, I seriously don't know how some of them enjoy baseball Like yes I would love a WS every year and that's the goal, but it's so hard to win. If you're going to call every season a failure if you don't win where's the fun. 2019 and 2022 were fun to me even if we lost to the Astros, 2017 was a blast etc.

Buddy, the 80s and early 90s were a thing. It was glorious.

We could really use another stretch like that.

Y'all won 100 games last year, this "disappointing stretch" has been two months

We've had a lifetime of disappointment, not just 2 months.

The Yankees went through the same thing last year. They were hanging Cashman, Boone, Hicks, IKF, and everyone else not named Judge, Stanton, and Cole in effigy

Yankees are 10 games above .500 in the best division in baseball.

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Yankees have the 6th best record in baseball and that’s without major pieces missing huge chunks of the year.

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Who are they gonna sell? All of their big pieces are on long term deals and their owner whipes his ass with hundred dollar bills.

Ya okay dude the situations are not even remotely comparable lol

Bruh we are 10 games over .500 with crippling injuries. We do not have it bad lol

Lol the Yankees aren’t even close to being in the same situation as the Mets.

You know, everyone is just dying for Cohen to act like he’s 80s Steinbrenner. That he’s staying out of it and giving his staff a chance to succeed or fail speaks well. But this offseason, he better throw bank at Stearns. And give him 100% rein. If he says teardown and total gut rebuild, I’m ok with it. He’s got the track record.

Why bother with Stearns? The Brewers are gonna deny him again. I’m calling Jeff Luhnow and asking him two questions: will he accept Ben Zauzmer as his GM/AGM? And what time can he be there for the press conference? He actually has the track record: five division titles, four pennants (nearly five), and two world championships.

He’s a free agent after this year. The Brews have no claim on him. But he’ll, Luhnow would be fine too

It’d also be fun to go full heel. The other owners want Cohen to be the villain? Fine, hire the guy who built Houston to do the same in New York with unlimited resources.

There’s one person with the qualifications who you don’t need permission to hire. If I’m Steve Cohen, my first call is to Jeff Luhnow. If AJ Hinch and Alex Cora can be hired again, I’m going for the guy who *built* a five time division, four pennant and two world championship winner.