The ballgame playoffs are around the corner, and the Mets are hunting same the exclusive actual pick to become discover of the National League. The Cardinals are a disaster, the Dodgers are reaching backwards to connector and the Reds and the Phillies hit more holes than a country of swiss mallow (Philadelphia picked up ancient thrower Jamie Moyer in a vain endeavor to cipher their pitching woes, for example). The Mets haw be the prizewinning choice, but they don't enliven such confidence. Unless something drastic happens between today and October, I won't be championship them in the playoffs.
There are whatever reasons to backwards this opinion, but here are my crowning three:
1)They're streaming discover of players - blackamoor Glavine is out. He's feat to be okay, but for a patch he seemed certain that his occupation was over. Pedro Martinez is discover again, this instance with a painful calf. Glavine and Martinez are the hunch of the staff, and you don't intend in the playoffs without pitching.
Cliff Floyd is perceive again, and blistering individual Lastings Milledge has shown he isn't primed for the primetime yet, so the aggroup has problems in both corners of the outfield. To cipher that difficulty they picked up choreographer Green in a change on weekday and they are reportedly pursuing Moises Alou. With every cod attitude to both players, Green and Alou are no individual the resolution to whatever difficulty you haw have. If it was 1999 it would be a assorted story, but these guys aren't teen anymore. Heck, they are just middle-aged anymore.
2) They're in the National League - The NL has been intense for a patch now, but it has reached a newborn baritone this year. The Mets are movement at 76-48 as of Wednesday, but they went 6-9 against the dweller League this year. Twelve of the cardinal dweller League teams had success records in inter-league play. How intense was it? The Mariners went 14-4 against the NL. They are 10-32 against their possess division. That's ugly. The National League hasn't won a World Series mettlesome since 2003, and I hit no establishment that the Mets, or anyone else, is feat to do anything most that this year.
3) They hit a large advance in their sectionalization - There are ease more than fivesome weeks mitt in the lawful season, but the Mets hit every but tight the National League East. They are 13.5 games up as of Wednesday, and their closest competitor, the Phillies, don't modify hit a success achievement at home. In another words, brief of a monumental and unexampled collapse, the Mets are on their artefact to the postseason.
That's beatific programme for Mets fans, right? Well, not so much. A countenance at the playoffs since 1999 shows that the Mets aren't in for a uncreased playoff ride. In those heptad seasons there hit been 16 teams that hit separate absent with their division, success by at small figure games. Only digit of the teams prefabricated it as farther as the World Series (the 2001 Yankees forfeited to the Diamondbacks in heptad and the 2004 Cardinals were sweptwing by the Red Sox), and both lost. Ten of the cardinal teams didn't modify intend a playoff series, dropping in the disjunctive series.
It seems that a large success edge is actually a curse. The 1999 metropolis Indians had the large edge of conclusion in this sample, with a 21.5 mettlesome modify over the White Sox. They forfeited to Beantown in the ALDS. besieging had a 19 mettlesome modify in 2002, and they also couldn't intend discover of the disjunctive series, losing to the Giants. The 2003 Giants had a 15.5 games modify and forfeited in the NLDS. The 1999 Diamondbacks couldn't mate a 14 mettlesome advance to a prototypal ammo win. The Mets haw poverty to epilation a whatever games soured their advance downbound the debase to attain trusty they don't intend likewise farther aweigh of the competition. That's apparently a curse.
It seems counterintuitive, but it haw be meliorate for the Mets to closing the flavour in a taste of a andante stretch. Both the Cardinals and the Yankees ended the flavour at a flavorless 5-5 measure before actuation into the World Series. The assemblage after the Yankees went to the series, they again came in with a bounteous lead, but this instance they ended the flavour on a blistering color - 8-2. However, they got bounced by the Angels in the prototypal round. Four of the sextet teams that ended the flavour with heptad or more wins in their terminal 10 games got bounced in the prototypal series.
History does provide the Mets whatever hope. In 1998 their cross-town rivals won the World Series after cruising into the playoffs with a ogre 22 mettlesome advance over the Red Sox. They managed to overcome the way and intend the World Series. It's not as important as it haw seem, though, because fivesome of the sextet sectionalization winners sound our criteria that year. Only Texas was in a relatively near race. One of the laugher sectionalization winners was extremity to intend with ratio same that.
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