Mets Develop An Internal System To Evaluate Hitting By Counting Bases And Outs Like A Bunch Of Poor People
NEW YORK – About a week before Mets camp drew to a close in Florida, staffers gathered the team’s hitters into a meeting room and laid out the organization’s offensive philosophy, the tenets of which have long been well-publicized. Players were instructed to be selectively aggressive, swing at good strikes and, for the most part, let everything else pass by untouched. They were later shuffled into private meetings with vice president of player development Paul DePodesta, hitting coach Dave Hudgens, team psychologist Jonathan Fader and one of the front office’s video analysts. There, Mets players received statistical breakdowns of their 2013 performances centered upon Bases Per Out, an internally developed metric that seeks to measure a player’s overall offensive production. Players with less than three years of service time were told that their BPOs would determine bonuses tacked onto future salary offers. Each base — one for a walk or single, two for a double — would earn them $200 more than what they would otherwise receive. Each out would slice off $100. Such is the growing real-world manifestation of the Mets’ rigid offensive philosophy. What began as gentle prodding from staff members in general manager Sandy Alderson’s regime — swing at strikes, not at balls — has evolved into a system in which hitters are graded, judged, evaluated, acquired, traded, released and paid based upon their adherence to the system. The goal is to create a machine-like approach in which selectivity and intelligence can be just as important as sheer offensive talent. This is how the Mets hope to mold a winner out of a team with a mid-tier payroll and, by most estimates, less overall ability than the giants of the league. A team whose offense, through 15 games, has been arguably its greatest weakness. “I don’t think it’s any secret,” Hudgens said. “I don’t think it’s rocket science. This is what all the top teams in the league do. We’re just trying to be one of the top teams.”
The Mets are playing some good baseball. Fresh off a sweep of the D backs they’re 8-7, which, after their disastrous start, is pretty solid. So I’m trying my best not to be like Randy Quaid in Major League. I’ve told you guys before I think the future is still bright so I’m trying to not be negative.
But God fucking damnit when I see articles like this it just reminds me that there are fundamental problems with Mets ownership and management that I will just never be able to get over. I am so FUCKING sick and tired of this “poor, broke Mets routine.” Paying our guys per base like some sort of fucking bootleg independent league franchise. Like our players are some temps from an agency we’re paying by the hour. A) Just because Depodesta and Sandy worked with Billy Beane doesn’t mean they’re Billy Beane B) This ain’t 2002 and that Moneyball shit doesn’t really work anyway and C) We’re talking about a goddam franchise in New York fucking City worth nearly a BILLION DOLLARS. Top 5 valuable franchise in the whole fucking league. ENOUGH with this nickel and dime shit.
And spare me the sob story about the Ponzi Scheme. That shit was in fucking 2008. Their settlement wasn’t nearly as bad as they anticipated. The stock market has doubled since then. The finance world has bounced back. Everyone else has recovered from all that shit in 2008/2009. Why are the Wilpons still fucking crying like they’re broke? If they had half a brain they should be back on their feet by now. And in all likelihood they don’t have half a brain, still are broke, and thats why they’re playing this small market bullshit. But do not expect me to like it as a fan. Don’t expect me to be satisfied with bullshit appeasement moves like Curtis Granderson. Don’t expect me to believe that Sandy Alderson counting bases and outs while you count pennies is acceptable for a New York City franchise. Its not. Fuck.