Opinion: Faith Completely Lost in Mets Management

As a Mets fan I am no longer able to trust team management. For me Bobby Parnell's injury was the last straw and finally did-away with all the trust I had in the likes of Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins.

What was particularly egregious about the Parnell situation was the clear dishonesty coming from the Mets front office. When a pitcher who normally throws triple-digits is sitting at ninety miles-per-hour he is clearly not healthy or "fine"despite the fans being told so. After Parnell blew a save opportunity in his first outing with such a performance, it "became clear" that he had a ligament tear in his right and pitching elbow. He has since been placed on the 15-day disabled list (MetsBlog). 

In telling fans Parnell was healthy, what Collins and Alderson did was eliminate any form of trust that fans had in them. Saying he was fine told us to have no more faith in what management tells us. The blatant lies have ruined my optimistic view that this team management had the club in the right direction--and have only added to the list of cases displaying their inability to handle injuries effectively. 

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10 Reasons to be Excited about the Mets Future

1. Two words: Curtis Granderson. 

   

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2. The top catching prospect in the MLB is our own Travis d'Arnaud (MLB.com). (Plus, Kevin Plawecki was apparently close to also cracking the MLB.com's top 10). 

   

   d'Arnaud (credit: USA TODAY)

3. 18-year-old Dominic Smith has been ranked the number two first base prospect in all of the MLB.  

   

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4. When Matt Harvey returns from injury next year he will still only be 25. 

   

   credit: USA TODAY

5. 23-year-old pitcher Zack Wheeler is expected to have a very bright future. 

   

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6. The Mets number one prospect is 21-year-old, lefty pitcher Noah Syndergaard, whom the club has invited to spring training this year. As put by MLB.com the hurler has a "future as a frontline starter." 
   
7. The Mets' starting pitching depth has greatly expanded. Guys like Bartolo Colon, Jenrry Mejia, and the aforementioned Wheeler and Syndergaard (along with rising prospect Rafael Montero) will help keep rotation spots competitive this season.  

   

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8. Fireballer Bobby Parnell is healthy and ready to be our closer again--here's to hoping he stays that way. 

   

   credit: USA TODAY

9. Captain David Wright is still only 31. 

   

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10. Mets fans will always be classier than Yankees fans as Harvey can tell you first-hand: (NJ.com).

    @MattHarvey33 You have what? NINETEEN career wins? Why on Earth do you think you can act like you're in the Hall of Fame?
    — Nick DeBabylon (@NickDeBabylon) January 13, 2014

Sandy's Brief Shopping Spree

During a period of a few hours on Tuesday night, Sandy Alderson managed to acquire 3 relief pitchers and a center fielder. These additions will help bolster the Mets bullpen.

Big man Jon Rauch was signed to a one year, $3.5 million deal. The 6’11, 33 year old will likely compete with Bobby Parnell for the Mets’ closing job, and the two will

 probably be interchangeable in the set-up man and closer roles.

The club also inked relief pitcher Frank Francisco to a 2-year, $12 million deal. Francisco is 32 years old, and spent last year in Toronto with Rauch while notching 17 saves and recording a 3.55 ERA. 

Both big signings, the additions of Rauch and Francisco weren’t the biggest Mets news of the night. The club completed a trade with the Giants that sent Angel Pagan to San-Fran, bringing relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez and center fielder Andres Torres to New York.

Ramirez has posted a 2.07 ERA since moving to the Giants in 2010, and Sandy Alderson has said that he will become the team’s seventh inning man for next season.

Since they were losing the club’s starting center fielder, the trade sent Torres --an excellent defensive player-- to become Pagan’s replacement; this clearly addressed Alderson’s desire to improve the club defensively.

Overall, this total revamp of the bullpen was a bargain; the total damage was a mere $9 million dollar hole: $14 million in acquisitions minus the $5 million contract of Pagan. Putting financials aside, any number of the new additions could become a breakout, bargain player, the type the Mets have had success with over the past few years, and they will all certainly bolster the club’s bullpen.

After the loss of Jose Reyes, this shopping spree signals the Mets moving on and entering an era of rebuilding. Though I do not believe the team will end up being as bad as many people seem to think, they need to slow the pace down and focus on forging the team for the years to come.