With The Events Of The Last 24 Hours, Met Fans Grow More Angry

It’s getting ugly for a baseball team in New York and it’s not the New York Yankees.

With the John Lackey signing and the potential Roy Halladay trade (I say potential because it is not official yet) taking place yesterday, Mets fans are up in arms. Mets fans are growing angrier by the minute.

Going into the offseason, I thought there were three teams whose offseason was more important than the other 27 teams–the St. Louis Cardinals, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the Mets.

I’ll take it one step further with the Mets. I am going to say this is the most important offseason in the history if the Mets franchise.

The Mets need this offseason to wipe away the anger that Mets fans have towards this team after what happened last season. For most teams, the fan base gets frustrated with what the team does. In the Mets case, their fans have a palpable hatred toward this front office and ownership group. The Mets right now are viewed by their fans as a Mickey Mouse franchise.

Between what happened on the field last year, all the injuries, the Mets’ medical staff not being able to diagnose the injuries, the Tony Bernazard incident, the Omar Minaya-Adam Rubin incident, and all the issues with the new stadium the Mets were considered a joke.

Mickey Mouse franchises don’t work in New York. Just ask the Islanders.

The Mets needed to make a splash, not only to appease their fan base, but to help sell corporate tickets. Corporations aren’t going to buy season tickets or luxury suites to watch a mediocre Mets team in this economy when the Yankees are in town putting out a better product.

The splash the Mets needed to make was acquiring either Lackey or Halladay.

The Mets have an extreme pitchers park. The Mets need to be built on pitching, pitching, and more pitching.

The Mets could have sold Lackey or Halladay along with Johan Santana as the best one-two punch in the National League.

Now, that would have sold tickets. That would have gotten people excited about the Mets because, as we all know, pitching wins championships.

I just don’t know if signing Jason Bay, Bengie Molina, and, let’s say, Jon Garland is going to help the Mets sell tickets in 2010. While Bay is a good player, he isn't a flashy, easily marketable presence the club needs.

The Mets can try to convince people that with the addition of those three players, plus a healthy Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, they will be contenders in 2010. It’s a nice sales pitch, but I don’t think the Mets fans are buying it. Mets fans are too smart for that.

I don’t know what the rest of this offseason holds for the Mets. But what I do know their opportunity to make a splash this offseason went out the window with the events that took place yesterday.

The anger is only growing in New York.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg