This is the on-site version of FTW’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Charles Curtis.
It was just about a year ago that the New York Mets were a fun bandwagon team to jump on before they collapsed in the postseason.
And after an offseason in which they made BIG splashes, the pain began: The unlucky Edwin Diaz injury in the World Baseball Classic. The underachieving starting pitchers and a bullpen that can’t get an out. The promising kids who are exciting to think about for the future, but who might be a year or two away from breaking out.
And so on.
They are a bloated nightmare. They’re not the only one, for the record (hello and welcome to the pain, Padres fans). But this is different. This is LOLMETS to the nth degree, a team with the deepest-pocketed owner in the league that hit batters to walk in the winning runs Sunday, that scores eight runs but gives up 10. The spending is nearly $350 million in salary, per Spotrac, plus more in the tax bill. That’s so much more than the No. 2 team, the underachieving-but-still-not-as-bad Yankees.
There was a lot riding on this season, and as we approach July, the question now becomes: Should this team be dismantled? Anything not nailed down gets sent away at the trade deadline? Can they really do it with some untradeable contracts?
What a mess. As a lifelong fan, it’s hard to watch. Again.
Quick Hits: Michael Jordan’s call to Brandon Miller was so MJ … Coach K in The Bear … and more.
— Michael Jordan called Brandon Miller after the Hornets drafted him and the owner was already (jokingly) talking trash.
— There’s A LOT of Coach K talk in The Bear Season 2. Also, if you’ve finished S2, here are some unresolved storylines for Season 3.
— Here’s Chez Reavie watching his own highlights at a Cheesecake Factory.
