Players vs The Fans: The State of The New York Mets

The State of The New York Mets

It’s no secret to say the New York Mets have not been playing their best baseball. Three weeks ago, just before the trade deadline, they resided in first place of the National League East Division. With Jacob deGrom originally supposed to return in early August, the Mets made a move for SS Javy Baez. The Mets were going for it, and then they hit a skid and have since been passed by both The Braves and The Phillies in the standings. Barring a historic September, the Mets probably won’t find themselves in the playoffs this year.

The fans have realized that too. When teams underperform, the fans are going to let them know. While the Mets’ faithful didn’t go to the extremes Yankee fans did to let them know their team sucked at the time, they still let the struggling players hear it. However, in rare fashion, the players for once retaliated.

The Mets and the Thumbs Down Celebration

In a game this past Saturday against the Washington Nationals, Javy Baez hit a 2-run home run to put the Mets ahead.

Javier Baez – New York Mets (26) pic.twitter.com/tgnyxOlbbK

— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) August 29, 2021

While you can’t see it in the video, Baez actually crossed home plate with his thumbs down. After the game, he said it was the team’s response to the fan’s negativity.

Javy Báez said the Mets' new thumbs down celebration is a response to fans booing the team.

"We're not machines, we're going to struggle. … It just feels bad when I strikeout and I get booed. … We're going to do the same thing to let them know how it feels," he said. pic.twitter.com/CYkHVpE2KH

— Deesha (@DeeshaThosar) August 29, 2021

Showing up the fans after a big play or big hit is certainly an interesting tactic. It’s almost as if Baez and the rest of the Mets are surprised that fans are going to be angry when they’re spending their money to watch swings like this:

This swing by Javy Baez 😬 pic.twitter.com/WwTrwyFOuG

— MLB Errors (@mlberrors) August 24, 2021

The Mets Are Being Soft

Not only Baez but now Francisco Lindor and Kevin Pillar have followed suit as well in “booing” the fans. I know I’m not the one who thinks this is incredibly soft on the Mets’ players’ ends. Yes, every single one of them is 100x the baseball player I was and will ever be, I have no shame in admitting that. However, when you get upset that fans are upset you’re playing like crap, what is the point in showing them up?

If you say “it’s a two-way street and the fans shouldn’t boo either” well there’s where I think you’re wrong. If you’re spending your money to watch a sports team play, and they play like garbage, they should be told they played like garbage, no? It’s not like Manager Luis Rojas is going to instill a winning mentality into them suddenly, he’s shown all year that he’s inept when it comes to that.

Lastly, you’re paid pretty handsomely as a baseball player. They’re paid well because they’re the best at what they do. You, me, or the best baseball player you know couldn’t even come close to them on every facet. Nevertheless, you’re still underperforming at your job. When you’re sucking at your job, I think you deserve to be told you’re sucking, call me crazy; I’m with all the Met fans on this one. When you go from a 3.5 game lead in your division to losing 12 of 14 with a now 7.5 game deficit, someone deserves to be booed.

Mets President Makes Statement

Following the decoding of Javy’s celebration, Mets President Sandy Alderson issued a statement on the team. He sided with the fans as well:

Mets fans are understandably frustrated over the team’s recent performance. The players and the organization are equally frustrated, but fans at Citi Field have every right to express their own disappointment. Booing is every fan’s right.

-via Official Blog of The New York Mets

Alderson also went on to say that the Mets will not tolerate any gesture made toward fans with a negative connotation. The rest of the statement can be read here. I’m not sure where the Mets go from here, but it’s evident that not much has changed since Steve Cohen purchased the Mets from Fred Wilpon last year.

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