What best defines the Mets' fake contention this season?

I'd say it's probably this excerpt from a June 9 ESPN "New York" article:

"Have the Mets molded Pelfrey, or has he molded the Mets? It was a moot question after the home team built the season's second nine-game Citi Field winning streak around the current ace in future ace's clothing, a young pitcher who delivered a performance that would have made the younger Strasburg proud."

Or maybe it is this all too perfect Buster Olney aside from last week:

"Heard this: Before the Mets make a trade for a starting pitcher, they will have to be convinced that the player they are acquiring is a distinct upgrade over the pitcher who would most likely be replaced in their rotation, R.A. Dickey, who has been throwing the ball well. The Mets have scouted Cubs lefty Ted Lilly, for example, but in Dickey's first 11 starts, his ERA is about a run-and-a-half better than Lilly's, and Lilly would cost the Mets either salary (he's owed about $4.5 million for the rest of this season) or prospects, if the Mets structured a deal in which the Cubs paid off a lot of Lilly's salary."

Actually, it has to be this comically short-sighted April 28 musing from the venerable J. Heyman:

"Pujols will have to confront the fact that first basemen have already been a priority for large-market teams. The Yankees are set at first base with Mark Teixeira, the Mets appear happy with top prospect Ike Davis"

Really, you could just Google "Mike Pelfrey ace" and find 100 other great examples of the neverending desperation that constitutes Mets fandom.

pseudotrollin'

are you steve shasta lool xp

as if there's doubt

Not a troll, just a n00b.

oh yeah, i'm the only person who thinks the Mets are garbage. Surely there can't be another....

lol@Udorx

tbh i had tix to 2 games this weekend and sold them to ny expats who were drooling to see their team get swept.

What is it about the Mets that brings out the naysayers so often? Is it that their payroll is high but they don't have many World Series wins to go along with it? If that's it, why not rip on the Giants or the Dodgers? Is it because they're from New York? Is it Morbius?

For me it's this weird underdog mentality which I get (in the face of the several recent epic collapses) but not for lack of spending. Morbs' arrogant pomposity prior to each of the last most memorable collapses def not aiding things. i def find the yankees more annoying though (fans, players, management, owners, you name it).

I am from the Midwest, and I think my rather extreme hatred of the Amazins does indeed stem from the money. They fail in way all of us non-Northeasterners always wish the Yankees could but almost never do. Whereas you can criticize the Yanks for the same reasons as you can the Mets, it obviously usually rings hollow because of, you know, the winning. The Mets open themselves up to the same kind of hatred, but then can't deflect it because of the often comically inept ways in which they go down in flames. I don't think the Giants or Dodgers are good comparisons, however, as even though they do spend rather freely, it is still nowhere near the level of the Mets (or even the Cubs for that matter).

not sure I display "arrogant pomposity" all that often; Mets rooters have learned to live by Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst. Having had about 3 good field managers and general managers in the last 40 years does that to you.

also, let's hear you rabid haters admit that Wright is a legit MVP candidate

and I hate to tell you, but the Giants didn't sweep

The only reason I couldn't really condone a Wright MVP this season is the main reason I couldn't get behind Ryan Howard in 2006: there are so, so many at-bats he just gives away. Can't be an MVP and strike out nearly a third of your at-bats.

lol, very dinosaur attitude twd Ks as "giveaways"

(btw DW has 100 Ks in 395 PAs, unless you really meant ABs, cuz let's just throw those walks in ther garbage can)

adrian gonzalez probably runs away with the MVP anyway if the padres somehow hang on to win their division

and I hate to tell you, but the Giants didn't sweep

― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Monday, July 19, 2010 9:38 AM (48 minutes ago)

oh shit, i forgot you got Blue on the payroll too lol.

yeah that explains his shitty strike zone in the bottom of the 9th and the phantom foul ball

wright has struck out a lot less since april/may

i thought the first post was funny...heyman writes stuff like that all the time tho, hedging his claims

adrian gonzalez probably runs away with the MVP anyway if the padres somehow hang on to win their division

He's certainly in the running, but Votto would probably get my vote right now.

the mets better step it the fuck up in the next two months to maximize lolz in the last two weeks.

lol at skrit/this thread

i don't hate the mets as much as i find it easy to lol at them -- reyes/wright are great young players, and any time i see ike's profile i remember that i just can't hate him

mets fans are a-holes but it comes with the ny territory and it's not nearly as presumptive and kingly as yankees fans who are a million times worse -- not to mention that morbs & johnny are all-time good & reasonable people

anyway for me, the most lol part of this whole thing has been people calling mike pelfrey an ace even tho he was a high draft pick.... but yeah, that was ridiculous

It's dinosaur to view Ks as giveaways? Very interesting. I will admit Wright's KORP is killing it this year, though. And in his defense, I think he's been doing it a lot on purpose to avoid double plays with Rod Barajas and Ruben Tejada running in front of him. He's very heady.

And lol, yes Jordan, the Pelfrey ace stuff was so : D There was a miraculous old Heyman tweet about it that was 10x better than anything in the first post but I couldn't find it :'(

I think I would vote Votto, too.

Ks are only giveaways with <2 outs, man on 3rd imo

I will take a K before a GIDP any day of the week

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=nl&qual=y&type=6&season=2010&month=0

you can find Ryan Howard on the second page

Did I praise Ryan Howard somewhere?

I was completely unaware I was supposed to be cheering every time a good hitter struck out with a slow runner at first. I will adjust my cheering patterns accordingly.

Now that I think about it, Mark Reynolds sure has helped the D-Backs avoid a lot of double plays this season.

Mark Reynolds is pretty good at making outs, strike- or otherwise.

a young pitcher who delivered a performance that would have made the younger Strasburg proud

Strasburg RIP IRL?

"Would have"? Can you not find out? "Mr. Strasburg, one of the Mets performed well. Are you proud of it?" Right -- that would be dumb.