NEW YORK — The Mets used to be synonymous with controversy. There have been too many years throughout the club’s history when the off-field incidents overshadowed the on-field play.
Last season, there was the thumbs-down debacle, a general manager arrested for driving under the influence and the whole Kumar Rocker saga, complete with owner Steve Cohen’s tone-deaf tweet.
Going back further, there was sexual harassment, Matt Harvey’s suspension for skipping a game after a night of partying, Mr. Met flipping off fans, Yoenis Cespedes breaking his ankle during an altercation with a wild boar on his ranch, Francisco Rodriguez being arrested for punching his father-in-law in front of the clubhouse, Bret Saberhagen squirting bleach at reporters, Vince Coleman throwing firecrackers at fans, Willie Randolph getting fired in the middle of the night and, of course, the Wilpons getting wrapped up in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
But the list that once seemed endless may have finally come to an end in 2022. This year’s Mets made plenty of headlines, but they were all for baseball reasons.
“We’re creating a culture here that is going to be one of the best in the game,” shortstop Francisco Lindor said after the Mets were eliminated from the postseason Sunday night. “I’m truly excited for what’s going to come. This is a step forward, a step in the right direction.”
If you failed to notice, well, good. The club would rather the fans focus on the baseball aspect, even if the competitive ambitions fell short this season. There were strides made when it comes to the organizational culture and several members of the team — the ones forced to answer tough questions about their teammates’ poor behavior in the past — are proud of the changes made.
“The noise from the outside is gone,” Lindor said. “This year, there was less noise in the clubhouse. It was an expectation to win day in and day out, it wasn’t like a tryout. You were expected to be accountable, respect the game and your surroundings.”
There were times in the past when key role players felt expendable and the stars were treated as gods, even if they weren’t getting results on the field. Executives didn’t know the names of players and there was little accountability. The direction of the club continually felt stalled.
But a common refrain from the Mets as they packed up their bags for the winter was that forward progress has been made is continually being made.
“I think it’s in a great position moving forward,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. “If you can kind of step back from this, we acknowledge this as not getting to where we wanted, but I think in the long-term we’re probably going to look at this as a stepping stone for this organization. It’s heading in the direction that they want to end up and Steve wants it to end up in, and that’s with the World Series.”
Cohen was vocal about his praise for the Dodgers when he took over in 2020. Whether or not it became the Mets’ mission to become the East Coast Dodgers, they clearly still look at that club’s road map. When Frank McCourt sold the team to the Guggenheim group in 2012, the new management group made no secret of the fact that they intended to spend what was needed in order to win a World Series. The Dodgers won the NL West eight straight years from 2013-2020 and even reached twice before finally winning on the third try in 2020.
“I’m not quite sure about the timeline, but I know the Dodgers had to get into the playoffs a few times before they ended up winning the World Series,” Nimmo said. “Sometimes getting your young guys that experience can help out in the long run, but I think it’s going to be looked back on as a stepping stone for this organization. It’s in a great spot moving forward. We’ve got an owner that really wants to win and will do what it takes to win and that’s really half the battle right there.”
Players attributed much of the success to manager Buck Showalter. The veteran manager helped foster a culture of accountability and transparency and several players thought he was much more well-prepared on a daily basis than previous Mets managers like Mickey Callaway.
“Buck has been amazing in the way that he prepares for the season and prepares for games. He leaves no stone unturned,” Nimmo said. “He taught me a lot about the game this year. We used some of it in the games. It’s stuff you might only see once a year but it ends up coming in handy. No one is going to be more prepared than Buck and I think he has as much to do with this as we do — the 101 wins.”
There is a lot of offseason work to do by general manager Billy Eppler and his executive group, but if there is anything to take from a disappointing end to a good season, it’s that the club has finally gotten out of its own way.
