The 2023 New York Mets are dead, and the MLB trade deadline acted as their burial. Like all Mets fans, Keith Hernandez isn’t thrilled with the outcome.
The Mets entered the season with high expectations and the highest payroll in Major League Baseball history. Coming off a year where they won 101 games, the Mets bolstered their bullpen and revamped their rotation by signing Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga and José Quintana. Not winning the World Series would be deemed a failure, not making the playoffs would be a disaster, but having to wave the white flag in July should make them the biggest bust in league history, even surpassing the 1992 Mets infamously known as the worst team money could buy.
In the wake of trading away Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and others amid their deadline fire sale, Mets Hall-of-Famer Keith Hernandez was on the call for their game against the Kansas City Royals Tuesday night. Hernandez sounded surprised and frustrated by Mets brass making the decision to give up on their season in July.
Keith Hernandez joins @gappleSNY on Mets Pregame to discuss the Mets’ trade deadline moves, if he was surprised by the deals, and how he views the rest of the season pic.twitter.com/DIUnN88sVk
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 1, 2023
“I can tell you, I’ve never experienced this kind of demolition in my playing career and in my years in the booth. This is just a total restructuring here and a total going for youth,” Hernandez admitted during the pregame show.
Mets fans and broadcasters have suffered through a lot of bleak seasons and eras. But on the heels of a 101-win season, and with Steve Cohen’s deep pockets at the helm, those bleak seasons were assumed to be in the past. Mets fans and broadcasters having to now realize the losing has returned, was a tough reality to accept.
During Tuesday night’s broadcast, Royals infielder Samad Taylor stole second base, prompting Hernandez to grumble about his oversized oven mitt.
Keith Hernandez is not a big oven mitt fan pic.twitter.com/aNYwdZAEe9
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 2, 2023
“You slide right off that base with that mitt. Or that glove. Whatever you want to call it. Ridiculous,” Hernandez muttered. “Sorry. I’m not in the mood today.”
No Mets fan was in the mood. And no Mets wants Hernandez or anyone on the SNY broadcast team to attempt putting a positive spin on what happened. Everyone is cranky, frustrated, and quite frankly, a little shocked after watching their World Series aspirations get officially buried at the trade deadline. But let’s be cranky and frustrated together.
“What’s surprising is they’re six games out of the Wild Card spot and there’s two months left in the season,” Hernandez said. “So, I thought with Scherzer, Senga, Quintana back and Verlander, that’s a solid four starters to run out there every five days, that I thought they had a chance to make a run. But it’s not gonna happen.”
No it’s not.
[SNY]
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com