Taryn Cooper: Entitlement

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Entitlement
by Taryn Cooper

Read Coop's column here.

When I was 10 years old, the Mets were awesome. I officially became a fan on the precipice of a great few years. When I read the history books on them during that period (The “Cashen” Age), my heart swells with great pride. A mix of a few veterans (Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter), with some home grown talent (Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Len Dykstra, Wally Backman), and pitching out the wazoo (Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Rick Aguilera), the World Series championship I felt was EARNED and not brought to us by a bunch of mercenaries.
Furthermore, for the people screaming for Santana or A-Rod, or Rivera, Cordero, or heck, everyone on the free agent market, at what expense do we bring them?

They're not "boo"'ing .... they're yelling "Coooooooooooooooop!"

[debmc]

Coop, I do agree that I don't want Omar to necessarily bring a bunch of overpaid, multi-year stars who may well be in the twilight of their careers to the team.

But I do think there is a certain idea within this organization that they must bring some "names" to the team in order to fill the seats. Frankly, I think they're somewhat misguided in this philosophy, but nevertheless, it does appear to be a serious part of the Mets' game plan for now and the future.

I would just hope that they would choose their "stars" a bit more carefully than some they have brought here in the past.

Bobby Bonilla. Dave Kingman. Mo Vaughn. Roberto Alomar. Bobby Bonilla. *snicker* I'll never personally forgive Steve Phillips for Bobby Bonilla -- I could forgive ONCE, but TWICE??????????? lol

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Say what you will but Dave Kingman was the team's sole drawing card back in the day. People showed up to see him hit 500-foot bombs that disappeared into the sky. There was little else.

[DingoMets]

Say what you will but Dave Kingman was the team's sole drawing card back in the day. People showed up to see him hit 500-foot bombs that disappeared into the sky. There was little else.

Which just ties into Deb's point about getting "names" to fill the seats, rather than getting quality players that actually help a team win!!!

[Coop]

Which just ties into Deb's point about getting "names" to fill the seats, rather than getting quality players that actually help a team win!!!

Bingo, uh, Dingo! LOL

My whole point is - yes, we can have marquee players to fill the seats - but it sure is boring when the team is not gelling and losing games.

Like this year - but people STILL came out to watch the exciting tag team duo of David Wright and Jose Reyes. We can say what we want about BP Shirley Beltran, but people still love to watch his smooth glove and I'm sure many tickets were sold when he signed with the team initally.

Then there's Pedro. Pedro not only wins games and makes the team more exciting, but all I can say is 10K walk-up on a Tuesday evening he pitched in APRIL!! (2005) Nuff said.

But my theory is - these guys are super duper stars but they don't break the bank and make the team better by being there.

A-Rod doesn't do that unfortunately. Johan Santana rocks, but I'm afraid he doesn't solve any issues - especially since he is not only in his walk-year, but b/c of the talent we'd be giving up to get him.

Who knows - in a few years, Humber and Pelfrey might be a Justin Verlander/Nate Robertson one-two punch. I think I'm willing to wait for that.

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A-Rod (50, 150, .300) doesn't make a team better?

That's just funny.

[Kevin Collazo]

Who knows - in a few years, Humber and Pelfrey might be a Justin Verlander/Nate Robertson one-two punch. I think I'm willing to wait for that.

Well said Coop.

The big name New York mentality has really gone too far. Don't these people realize that those big name players were prospects at one point? I feel that Lastings Milledge, Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez, Philip Humber, Mike Pelfrey..all these guys are worth waiting for.

If teams continue to just ignore player development, then free agency prices will continue to skyrocket out of control. If teams were willing to limit the damage and manage their payroll they could allocate that money in other areas like scouting, and better coaches in the system. They surely don't need to continue hiding their weaknesses (management) by trading away a lot of talent for these mercenaries.

A perfect example is Mike Jacobs and Yusmeiro Petit for Carlos Delgado. This example is the precise reason why I was against the trade from second #1.

How does the 1st base future for the Marlins look for the next 10 years? Now how about the Mets? Yeah I know that the point is pretty clear. There are going to be those guys that say just trade or buy another 1st baseman. To those people I say- You just don't get the point.

The fact of the matter is that even a NY team can win with a significantly lower payroll. It doesn't even need to eclipse the 100 million mark. Just hire better scouts, coaches, trainers, managers, and you can witness your team win just as many championships as the Yankees did in the last 7 years.

Eventually someone will realize the blatantly apparent facts.

[DingoMets]

Entitlement
by Taryn Cooper

Read Coop's column here.




They're not "boo"'ing .... they're yelling "Coooooooooooooooop!"

Very nice article Coop!!!

My take on it is that Mets fans are not much different from Yankee fans, or really fans of any team... Why should we "settle" for a Jon Garland or Joe Blanton if there is a Johan Santana possibly available???

And, don't kid yourself, getting guys like Crawford, an Upton, or even Blanton or Garland, aren't really comparable to getting John Maine, who was relatively unknown at the time... Crawford is among the better outfielders in the game today, and I'd LOVE to find a way to get him, as he'd be that ideal #2 hitter behind Reyes... The Uptons are VERY highly touted young players, and would probably cost us a fortune to get (think Milledge plus Pelfrey/Humber plus some other solid prospect)...

I think any fan of any team wants one thing... For management to go out and get the best possible players for their team... And I really don't see anything wrong with that... We'd all love for our owners (all fans of all teams here) to spend more money, and to go get the Arods, Santanas, etc...

Now, most teams simply can't afford to do so, but I can't really blame Mets fans too much for wondering why we can't... And, of course, we HAVE in recent years been very big spenders, what with Beltran, Delgado, Wagner, Pedro, etc...

Now, all that said, I believe we have as much talent as any team out there, especially when you look at the 4 last teams standing (including the DBacks here, who just lost last night)... We have as much talent as the Rockies, DBacks, Indians, and yeah, even the Red Sox... We just didn't play well this year as a team, and all that talent did underachieve...

So, for next year, I'm not sure what the answers are... IF Santana is available, without giving up Reyes or 3-4 TOP prospects, then the Mets would be insane to not consider it... He's the best pitcher in the game today, and our starting pitching was an issue this year, and will be an issue next year without some moves this offseason...

Same holds true for a guy like Chad Cordero (or heck, even Mariano Rivera!!!)... We need bullpen help, so why not get the best???

Or, as Homer Simpson once said to Marge (when she was worried that he was looking at other women):

Why would I want Purina when I've got Fancy Feast right here?