Stop Me If You've Heard this One...

Just the other Metsian offday, I wrote about how much Mickey Callaway contradicts himself. Well, last night, taking Noah Syndergaard out when he was cruising wasn't so much a contradiction as it was precisely in Mickey's wheelhouse. Second-guessing the moves he makes with the pitching staff is all too common these days, and even he was second-guessing himself after the game, apparently even going as far as to apologize to the team for the move.

Charles Wenzelberg
Photo via NY Post

I don't see this carrying on much longer. Not his bad decisions... unfortunately I'm no longer giving him the benefit of the doubt, as much as I do not want to be reactionary with his performance. At this point, there is cause and effect to the reactions he is garnering from most of the fanbase, and I can't see him holding onto his job if all of this keeps trending the way it has been going.

Enough words have been said on Mickey Callaway. My gut feeling is there will have to be a major change of direction for us to believe in his performance, or for the front office to believe in his long-term potential with this team. If they don't bottom out this June like they did last year, he at least won't make it into another offseason. I think, however, he won't make it into another 2nd half...

One way or another, you know how the saying goes...

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Contradictory Nature of Mickey Callaway

After Sunday's loss, Mickey Callaway had no positive spin to put on the exemplarily bad play of his New York Mets ballteam. According to the NY Post:

“Overall game, bad defense, bad pitching, no offense," Callaway said. "We can't allow people to have the best games of their career against us. That's the bottom line. 

Inconsistency is not going to win you games. That is why we are where we are in the standings and what our record looks like. We are just too inconsistent. I don’t think it is a focus issue at all, it’s going out there and trusting you are going to get the job done and doing it every time. We play great at home and then we go on the road and what we do on the road is not acceptable.’’

“We put ourselves in a position to win more games than we did but we lost them so it doesn’t matter what position you put yourself in, you gotta go get the job done,’’ Callaway said. “We have to do better. I’m kind of getting sick of saying we have to right this ship.’’ 

Norm Hall/Getty Images
Photo via Yahoo! Sports

Up until this point, he has tried to stay positive, using clichés such as "hard fought" and "toe-to-toe" and what have you. Obviously, after yet another listless loss following a game the Mets should have won, which is standard practice for this team, he couldn't take it anymore.

Unfortunately for Callaway, in my opinion, no matter how awful you want to say the roster is, he himself has been inconsistent in doing what he says is the strategy they are taking.

I have a habit of being a chronic reneger. I'll say one thing, and then eventually do another. I lose steam on momentum and the goals fall by the wayside. I get life is a hard thing to overall follow through with sometimes. Maybe that is why, as I personally try to correct my reneging nature, I'm so sensitive these days to when Callaway says one thing then does another.

When Jeurys Familia got back from his injury, Callaway said they would ease him back into high-leverage situations. The Seth Lugo injury certainly left them altering strategy, but only within a few days was he given back the 8th inning mantle, and a day after giving up a run in the 7th, no less.

Then, as another example, Callaway overall preaches taking everything one game at a time, but then is quoted as not committing to Tomas Nido being deGrom's personal catcher because they'll need Wilson Ramos's bat out there in the playoffs.

He makes a point, for sure, that it won't be ideal for the light-hitting Nido to be starting game 1 of the division series if we even make it that far. Guess what, though? There are better ways to frame that. Say, we need Ramos to be catching our best pitcher because we need all of our personnel on the same page. Whatever is the wording, don't be mentioning the playoffs when you are struggling to even push over the .500 mark.

For the Mets, and for Mickey Callaway in his green managerial career, it's 1 step forward, 3 steps back. For two years in a row, Mickey has struggled to maintain his club's hot start. Last June, the Mets went 5-21. Any chance they had for the season completely fell by the wayside then, obviously. I and others wondered whether they were going to lose 100 games for the first time since the 90's. The way they were playing, it was a grand possibility.

Now, this June, they play the likes of the Phillies, the Braves, the Yankees, the Rockies, the Cardinals and the Cubs, with the Giants the only team under .500 they face. As we saw on this past road trip, every flaw the team has was exposed by the better clubs after they were able to mask their flaws, which still bled out some, against the Nationals and Tigers at home. Callaway may not survive long enough for his team to have yet another similarly bad month.

I am not sure I like the way Brodie Van Wagenen is operating the ballclub. We all know it always comes back, regardless of the management personnel, to the way the Wilpons operate the team. Callaway, however, is leaving much to be desired. I talk about the nature of New York sports in not letting anybody, whether it is a player or a manager, settle in to their role. Callaway is only in his sophomore year managing at all, though this may be why it is so difficult for a newbie to get his feet wet with a team like the Mets. Tony LaRussa survived a few 90-loss seasons to go on and have a very successful career split between the White Sox, the A's and the Cardinals. Terry Francona, Callaway's supposed mentor with the Indians, was not immediately the genius he is viewed as now, beginning his managerial career with the Phillies and 4 losing seasons. We never give anyone, whether it is Amed Rosario or Mickey Callaway, a chance to settle in.

Mickey, however, is making it rather hard for us to give him the benefit of the doubt when he contradicts himself so much.

June is here, buddy. What have you done for us lately?

TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK.

LET'S. GO. METS.

(too fitting a song title to not use twice this year)

The Mets Have Interest in Everybody and Nobody

This week has been fun and not fun at all, hasn't it?

Yes, apparently I'm getting off to contradictory ways this morning, but I kinda started the trend yesterday when I first wrote this post and then wrote this other post.

The first week of the 2014 Hot Stove, the Stove that we have been waiting for since (pick a number and add months or years to it), has begun with contradictory reports.

One the one hand, Mets are interested in Shin Soo Choo.

On the other hand, they're planning on signing multiple free agents and are "less likely" to sign either Choo or Jacoby Ellsbury (something my friend Rick Elliott will be very happy about...well, if that means he resigns with the Red Sox.)

And so begins the Merry Go Round of reports, the substance of which we will have no real idea of until they, um, ACTUALLY sign somebody.

I love and hate the Hot Stove season. I love and hate it oh so much.

Here's the Random Nothing of the Day.

LONG. NOVEMBER.
LET'S. GO. METS.

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A Jordany Quote to Go with a Photo

"I never use a cup, but I’ve got to use it because I’m really scared of the ball hitting me in the balls...I have to do it now so I never forget.” 

--Jordany Valdespin, NY Post

Or, ya know, a shoulder...or an elbow...or an entire human body sliding into you at 2nd...

OH, JOR. DANY.
LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.