Baseball’s off-season is a time of renewal, a time of irrational hope, a time to believe that your team is making the right moves, a time to look to spring training as the start of something great. It’s the only time of year that your team never loses. Unless you’re the Mets, of course.
For pure dissemination of bad news, one throat-stomp after another (after another), you really can’t beat this relentless Post story about the Mets.
It makes three soul-crushing points:
1. The Mets have no money for the top free-agents. They thought they would be getting bargains, and they aren’t. If they want John Lackey, Matt Holliday, Jason Marquis, or Bengie Molina, they will have to pay a premium. This, apparently, is a surprise only to the Mets, but the takeaway is clear: Hey, Mets fans, if we don’t sign anyone, it’s not because we don’t care, or because we’re broke. It’s because Crazy Eddie’s prices are just insane.
2. No one is buying any tickets. Season-ticket renewals, shockingly, are down. Exact quote: “They’re in wait-and-see mode.” That would be one way to put it.
3. Jose Reyes is back in town. He’ll be in town for the first time since his surgery this week. This can only mean he will trip on an elf and Greg-Oden his kneecap.
The off-season is the time to believe the best of your franchise. The sad thing is: This probably is the Mets’ best. It’s sad. It’s very sad.