The MLB Winter Meetings taken place annually and the results from a few days in Nashville took significant time to be related to the masses. Since Mets fans had to wait, it forced a fan base to have patience. They had to wait till the 11 p.m. SportsCenter or Warner Wolf “going to the videotape”. Some of them delayed satisfaction until the following days back page headlines, then released the Mets influenced call-in rants that fueled Mike & The Mad Dog and the infancy of sports talk radio.
Just because Mets fans were forced to wait doesn’t mean they were patient. A lack of restraint spit out over AM radio receivers and now podcasts and Instagram reels. If the back page columnists can’t wait, it’s no surprise the fan base follows along and can’t wait either. And unlike the smoothed out song from Newark native Reggie Noble’s second album, everyone can’t wait to take a swing at the boys in Blue and Orange.
Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post says, “It would be both prudent and patient for (Mets President of Baseball Operations David) Stearns to keep strengthening the core of his roster and his minor league system… something that will go a long way toward allowing the Mets to catch up with the Braves and the Phillies.”
But only a few paragraphs later, Vaccaro refers back to Steve Cohen’s call for a competitive product at Citi Field and how “It isn’t always easy to service both, to respect today while caring for tomorrow…in New York, you need to do both.”
He admits it’s not easy but expects that result because Stearns is paid $10 million a year. How his salary comes into play is a little confusing, but everyone seems infatuated about other people’s money. That wasn’t such a prolonged discussion in the 20th century. Few truly knew about salaries or cared about a team’s payroll. In fact, Vaccaro admits Mets fans have gone from “an ownership group that used spending money as an annual excuse, “every bit as reliable as the tree lighting in Rockefeller Center.”
It's almost as reliable as returning back to Cohen’s first day on the job as owner and his ‘disappointment’ if the Mets don’t reach the World Series in three to five years. This serves as a wading anchor in a sea of uncertainty since it takes the words of a freshly minted owner and keeps it buoyant months and years later, like the banner Ted Lasso famously taped above this door. It was ripped down multiple times, pieced together and taped up in the Apple series because it meant perseverance. Fans should take Cohen’s quote to mean he believes in his purchase and has shown his willingness towards success.
Succeeding, both in baseball and baking, takes patience. It means waiting eagerly before a hot door that can’t be opened until it’s ready. The sad duality of Mets fans is preaching patience one second and demanding instant results the next via your favorite social media outlet. It’s taking a microwaved meal out early, then blaming the manufacturer and appliance maker afterwards. You can’t have your cake and eat it too, so it means questioning Stearns after he stated the Hot Corner will likely come from within.
“You look at the composition of winning baseball teams and there generally is this pretty good mix of established veterans and younger players who can provide some energy and spontaneity to a group and I think we have the potential to have that.”
Stearns spoke to reporters earlier this week and essentially said the 3rd base will be occupied by either Brett Baty, Mark Vientos or Ronny Mauricio when players return to Port St. Lucie in roughly 12 weeks. It’s a similar tactic done by the top teams in the NL East. Michael Harris II quietly took over center field at Atlanta’s Truist Park and Philadelphia let Alec Bohm develop in the big leagues. Is it too much to ask Mets fans to let a prospect grow up in Queens? While fans would love to think so, it requires patience and that doesn’t seem prevalent when it comes to Mets’ prospects.
Sports pundits would have you believe Mets fans would have patiently waited for Jarred Kelenic to become the everyday center fielder he was projected to be. A first round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, he hit .286 for Kingsport in the Gulf Coast Rookie League. That was enough to deem him untouchable and a higher prospect than Pete Alonso going into the 2018 season. Hence the outrage when then-GM Brodie Van Wagenen (BVW) traded Kelenic and three other prospects you’d be hard-pressed to name for the decaying corpse of Robinson Cano and the best closer in baseball Edwin Diaz.
For years, that transaction was reviewed and picked apart from all angles. Fans could defend Cano’s short time as a serviceable Met, but it was primarily a salary dump to gain the rights to Diaz. In four years that include the shortened 2020 season, Diaz has a 3.20 ERA and 1.104 WHIP in New York. He struggled upon arrival, but has been one of if not the best closer in the National League and the key was Kelenic, whose minor league accomplishments were frequently posted to show what was gone and would never return.
You’d never get a similar return for Kelenic now. In fact, he was recently traded to Atlanta along with Marco Gonzales and Evan White for Jackson Kowar and Cole Phillips. Those names will join Jay Bruce, Gerson Bautista, Justin Dunn and Anthony Swarzak as players only a few focused fans will ever remember. That none of those names have made a mark should show that BVW ‘won’ the Diaz trade, but not according to SNY’s Danny Abriano.
“To sum it up: Yes, Kelenic has been largely bad. But the Mets shouldn't have burned him as an asset in the Cano/Diaz trade when they were taking on substantial money.”
It doesn’t matter that the result was a Top 5 closer for someone Met fans are afraid will become…well, fans don’t really know. They’ve heard Zach Wheeler and used to associate former Mets returning to haunt the team in Queens to Jeff Kent and Kevin Mitchell. Daniel Murphy wore that suit for a couple of seasons and Justin Turner has been a star since leaving.
But both before and after putting on another jersey, all those guys put up positive numbers in the big leagues. Mets fans had a chance to create feelings for them and remember moments, like posing for pictures with Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom or winning an NLCS MVP in route to the 2015 World Series. Kelenic’s greatest success has taken place in the minor leagues with countless other former Mets prospects that never made an impact, and that’s the truth.
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