Meet the Mets? We've met the Mets, and we were not impressed. So it is not surprising that on this night comes word of their passing from playoff contention. Indeed, the 2012 Mets are dead. Let us attend the beer-soaked wake. Let us mourn them. Let us eulogize them. Let us bury them.
What went right
R.A. Dickey went right. Very, very right. He's the arguable frontrunner for NL Cy Young right now, and he's perhaps the most compelling player in all of baseball. David Wright also went … right. He looked much better in the field and posted his highest OPS+ since 2007. Jon Niese turned in a solid season, and Matt Harvey impressed all onlookers after his call-up. This was a pretty good team until July.
What went wrong
The sprawling remainder. First and arguably foremost is that the Mets rank last in the NL in bullpen ERA. By way of cautionary example, "closer" Frank Francisco is presently lugging around an ERA of 5.53. They were 7-18 in July, and September is looking even worse than that. Jason Bay reached unimagined depths, and they struggled all season to get reliable production from catcher.
MVP: Dickey. You can certainly make a case for Wright. Dickey, though, not only put up the numbers (leads NL in ERA and innings, ranks second in strikeouts and fourth in K/BB ratio), but he also became a phenomenon unto himself.
LVP: Bay. It's been an unfortunate run of injuries, and he's certainly not short on effort. However, there's no explaining away a batting line of .152/.232/.280.
MLB free agents to be: RP Jon Rauch, OF Scott Hairston
Offseason gameplan
The Mets still have an uncertain near-term insofar as their finances are concerned, and they're not poised to contend right away what with the Nationals and Braves in their division. So focus on improving the bullpen via wide-sweeping turnover, and hope for relevance. That's pretty much the approach that worked for the 2011 Diamondbacks. There's the makings of a useful team here, but they're not good enough to afford squandered high-leverage situations in the late innings. Contention isn't likely, but it's far more plausible with a competent bullpen. That's the best "middle of the road" approach for a team in rebuilding mode but with a restless fan base.
Ridiculously premature prediction for 2013
They'll re-sign Wright this winter to a contract worth more than $100 million, but they'll wait on Dickey's contract until he can prove he can continue pitching at a high level. Jason Bay will be released with a minimum of $19 million left on his contract. On the field, the Mets make modest strides, and the rotation finishes among the best in the league.
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