Mets: 2018 outlook, is it worth it for the fans?

A few weeks ago, my cousin called me up and asked if I thought it was worth it to renew his Mets season tickets.

It was just a couple weeks into free agency, I thought surely they would make at least one big move soon. I live in Los Angeles now and have never in my life been able to afford season tickets. So of course, I told him that of course, he should!

This has been my mantra every season. That despite the Wilpons being the equivalent of a cartoon character with the evil curly mustache and the top hat, Mets fans should still spend money to go see the team. Especially if you’re enough of a die-hard to be able to enjoy the pleasure of having season tickets. The way I had always looked at it was, “I’m not going to let these guys ruin one of the things I love most about my summers in New York.”

Every offseason I always air on the side of optimism. That the Mets ownership won’t stand in the way of the team’s on-field success. But with the Mets competitive window slowly drawing to a close, and the Wilpons forever dragging their feet, I’m starting to wonder if maybe it is better if the fans start sending ownership a message. They can’t ride the high of 2015 forever. Especially after last season.

Hard to quit you

When Marc Carig’s Newsday piece came out, followed by nothing but an Alderson contract extension, and Omar Minaya signing, I texted my cousin back with “maybe don’t renew those tickets this year.”

It’s the worst really. Like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Mets fans say it every season. “We’re not going to spend money on tickets to go to games if ownership doesn’t shape up.”  And of course, most of us won’t stick by it.  We get ourselves all riled up in the offseason, with how awful it’s all going to be. But at the same time, count down the days until spring training with more excitement than a countdown for Christmas.

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I don’t know what 2018 will look like for the Mets. No one knew that 2015 was going to be the year that they went back to the World Series. This team has always had a knack for surprising us in both the best and the worst ways. But that’s why despite all our gut feelings, telling us to stick it to the Wilpons, and “to hell with giving them our money!” We come back anyway. Because we don’t wanna be the ones that miss out on the next wonderful surprise or memory that this team will give us.