Bye, Bye, SNY (A New York Mets Post)
I still remember where I was when I heard the news. It was a little less than a week ago and I was at the gym checking my email on my phone between sets. It was Leg Day and I had just started my workout at the hip adduction/hip abduction machine (the one that lets you switch between training your inner and outer thigh muscles).
Anyways, I checked my email and there it was – one of those messages you can’t even reply to from YouTube TV. The message told me that YouTube TV and SNY, the network that hosts the majority of Mets games, would be parting ways, and that starting June 30, 2023 at 11:59 PM ET I would no longer be able to watch SNY. The email ended by thanking me for my understanding, even though it’s pretty presumptuous of YouTube TV that I’d be understanding about this matter.
I remember when I first subscribed to YouTube TV a few years ago. One of the main reasons I was alright with switching to the service was that it carried Mets games. But really, this getting rid of SNY from YouTube TV couldn’t have come at a better time for Mets fans – in fact, maybe it’s even a blessing in disguise.
Because the 2023 New York Mets aren’t just a bad team, they’re a downright awful team. They are a putrid, disgusting, stinky mess. I called them a dumpster fire in an article I wrote about the team in mid-May, but sometimes watching a fire can be sort of beautiful or mesmerizing, and this team is neither of those things. It’s one thing to be bad when you’ve got an owner who doesn’t spend any money. It’s another thing to have the fourth worst record in the National League when you have the highest payroll in the sport.
Mets fans can tune in on PIX 11 for the occasional game if they still still want to be disappointed by the Mets.
As a diehard fan though, it’s sometimes hard not to tune in regardless. “Maybe this is the game they’ll turn it all around,” I’ll say to myself. But, as this team falls further and further below .500 and the playoffs becomes an increasingly distant and impossible dream, maybe it’s time to take a break from watching the Mets. At least for a little while. So, thank you, YouTube TV, for being unable to strike a deal with SNY, and for making it harder for me to watch the Mets disappoint me on a daily basis.
Since this’ll likely be my last Mets post for a while, unless they magically turn things around, I’d like to briefly touch on two topics before we can get back to posting some less depressing non-Mets content on this website.
Steve Cohen’s Wednesday Press Conference
Uncle Steve spoke to reporters before today’s game to talk about the team. Really, most of what he said is what you’d expect. If things keep heading the way they’ve been, the team won’t be buyers at the trade deadline (which would have been ridiculous), so at least that’s good. Cohen is still intent on building a good organization by way of improving the farm system – another positive. He seems to regret a little bit making the statement in 2020 that his goal was to win a World Series in 3-5 years.
Mainly though, what I got from the press conference is that Cohen really, really, really wants a head of baseball operations to oversee the entire organization. He seems against making any major moves (AKA firing the manager or GM) until such a person is in place. In reality, I think Cohen wants well-respected baseball executive David Stearns to take the position, but he’s under contract with the Brewers through the 2023 season. So Cohen is waiting until he can give the job to Stearns after the season, and then he’ll just let him decide what to do.
That’s sort of fine and all, but I don’t think that means Cohen shouldn’t fire GM Billy Eppler or manager Buck Showalter in the meantime. I understand not wanting to act impulsively, but the season is nearly halfway over at this point. Eppler has assembled a lackluster squad of has-beens despite being given the most money in baseball to spend. As for Showalter, it’s crystal clear at this point that his managerial style isn’t working with this current squad.
Personally, I think Cohen should just fire these two. Let Stearns, or whoever the team does hire to run things if it’s not him, decide if they want to keep the replacements when they eventually come on board.
Justin Verlander Has Fallen off a Cliff
We all know the Mets are a team of underachievers, but I feel like Verlander’s fall isn’t being talked about as much as it should be. It’s sort of crazy when you consider just how amazing Verlander was last year and how much he could’ve gone off on the highest of high notes. He basically had the perfect dream season in 2022.
That year, Verlander accomplished every players ultimate goal by winning the World Series. (His second championship in six years.) He got the win in arguably the most important game of the series, Game Five. Entering into that game, which would be played in Philadelphia, it was all tied up at two games apiece. By winning on the road, Verlander basically locked things up for the Astros, who were able to win the next game in Houston to win the series, 4-2.
But that’s not all. Verlander also won the American League Cy Young Award. (His third Cy Young.) He pitched to an 18-4 regular season record with a 1.75 ERA, which led all of baseball. On the season, in which he was (obviously) voted to the All-Star Game (his ninth), he struck out 185 batters and walked just 29. A second World Series win and a third Cy Young Award – I don’t think Verlander could’ve scripted a better year for himself if he tried.
At the end of that 2022 season, Verlander was 39 years old. After 18 years in the league, he’d earned around $307 million. Verlander obviously thought he had more in the tank when he signed a 2-year deal for over $86 million with the Mets, but if he hadn’t taken that deal and had simply decided he’d accomplished everything he’d wanted to and retired, he’d have had pretty much the best final season of anyone ever.
Instead, Verlander is stuck on the miserable Mets. Sure, he’s playing for millions of dollars, but it’s millions of dollars he doesn’t need. Verlander has already matched his loss total for last season. So, if he can just win 16 more games in 2023, he’ll match that 18-4 record. (Spoiler alert, it’s not going to happen.) Verlander’s current ERA is also 4.11, a far cry from that 1.75.
ERA+ is a useful stat that takes into account factors like a pitcher’s ballpark and opponents and sets everything so that 100 is league average. Verlander’s ERA+ this year is 101. Instead of going out at the peak of all baseball peaks, Verlander has devolved into an average pitcher on a below average ballclub. I bet he wishes he’d just rode off into the sunset.
Cohen was actually asked if the Mets would look into trading Verlander (or Max Scherzer) if things keep going the way they are. He gave a sort of noncommittal answer and pointed out that both have contracts. If the Mets keep playing awfully though, I could see Cohen basically paying the majority of either players’ deal while they play elsewhere in return for prospects. Sort of like a bigger version of what the team just did when it dealt Eduardo Escobar to the Angels.
Well, that’s all I have to say about the Mets for now. It’s time for me to go turn on SNY to watch the Mets in what’ll likely be a disappointing loss to the Brewers. Only three more games to go before SNY is banished from YouTube TV and I am finally free.