The Mets will open up the 2024 schedule by hosting the Milwaukee Brewers in their home opener on March 28, and they will finish the season at Milwaukee to play their home-opening opponent.
Who knew the schedule makers have an inkling of what could happen with the Mets this offseason? The worst-kept secret is Mets owner Steve Cohen is interested in hiring former Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns to run his team’s baseball operations.
It couldn’t be a coincidence that the Mets would open up against Stearns’ old team.
Friday night starts the post-All-Star break for the Amazins, and with 72 games to go, this could be the end for Mets manager Buck Showalter and Mets general manager Billy Eppler.
It could be Stearns wants to hire his own general manager and manager to operate his vision if the Mets hire him. It wouldn’t be surprising. That’s just the way it goes in professional sports. It never ends well when a new president of baseball operations inherits people that he wants nothing to do with.
Showalter has now until the last game of the season to show he can be the guy for next season. He needs to lead the Mets to the postseason or at least a strong finish for him to stay on to finish his contract next season.
It also could be he may just leave on his own volition. He certainly doesn’t need the headache of dealing with a new boss at 67 years old.
As for Eppler, so much has been made about his alleged friendship with Stearns, but that can be overrated. Most times, the president of baseball operations will want to work with the person who he used to work with within the organization.
This season has not gone well. The starters have not pitched well, and outside of David Robertson, most of the relievers have been shaky at best. The hitters have been inconsistent at times.
There is still hope, but there are not many games to work with anymore. The Mets need to pick up where they left off after starting July 6-0. They need to have a great weekend against the Los Angeles Dodgers to keep hope alive. If they get swept, it could be more of the same in the first half and a sense of dread with 11 weeks to go.
They have to finish July and August well and be in a position to play meaningful games in September. That would make a case for Showalter and Eppler to keep their jobs. It helps that the team will be home for most of the post-All-Star break after playing 51 road games before the All-Star break.
Showalter can control his team’s destiny by having his team play well.
Eppler really doesn’t have much to control. He can’t make moves at the trade deadline to make the team better since Cohen likely is not going to add salary for a flawed baseball team. The Mets’ payroll is $364 million right now, which is the highest in team and baseball history. It would be foolish to keep adding more salary for a team that is not good. He can’t sell since no one really wants any of his players unless Pete Alonso is suddenly available, which is hard to believe.
If Alonso is being traded, it will be in the offseason whether it’s Stearns or someone else running the Mets baseball operations.
The Mets are going to have to stick with the team that is currently constructed.
This means they have to hope Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer somehow pitch better than they showed in the pre-All-Star break, which means pitching at the level they used to be. They need to hope David Peterson continues his improvement in throwing strikes since being called up from Triple-A Syracuse. They need to hope Alonso and Jeff McNeil figure it out after an underwhelming first half. They need Francisco Lindor to play at an MVP level
It could happen or it may not. That’s what these 11 weeks will be about after this weekend.
Showalter needs these guys to come through for him if he wants to make a case to be back next season. It’s hard to blame him for the team’s problems since his players have failed to come through, but the manager is always the first to go when the team fails to meet expectations. Showalter has been around the game long enough to know.
It doesn’t matter what Cohen thinks about whether both should be back. It won’t matter what we think.
It’s hard to tell if they are going to be back even if the Mets make the playoffs.
This is an aging team that may have to start over to be at the level the Braves are. Cohen has to be realistic to know this team is far away from winning a championship, and that should explain why Shohei Ohtani’s chances of signing with the Mets are slim to none at this point.
Stearns or whoever the new general manager is realistic to know he needs the carte blanche to start this team up from the ground up.
This means there will be a wholesale change unless the Mets somehow get to the World Series.
Right now, the sprint to the finish line might as well be the final days of Showalter and Eppler.
The clock is ticking.
You can read Leslie's Jersey Sporting News columns on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
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