Go ahead and reach for those LOLMets moments, national media. There’s a far more chaotic club than the New York Mets riding in the NL East at the moment.
The Washington Nationals must’ve sold more than their souls for the 2019 World Series victory. While plenty of Mets fans would and probably already did hand over their place in the afterlife to some shady figure on the other side of the tracks, there hasn’t been a championship to be found since 1986.
The Nationals have gone into full chaos mode in a week with a whole lot of ugly in it. Here’s Jon Heyman with a breakdown of the messiness.
Any Mets turmoil this year doesn’t compare to the mess going on with the Nationals this week
Yes, the Mets completely went bust this year, but at least they recovered by trading away players for younger ones. They set themselves up better for the future. It took a few million bucks of Steve Cohen’s money to make it happen. Apparently, money isn’t something the Lerner Family is too keen on parting with down in D.C.
The drama around Stephen Strasburg’s retirement is the real headliner here. Strasburg suddenly announced his retirement this week and the plan was to honor him. He was going to have his number retired by the organization. Everyone would rejoice and celebrate what he gave the franchise. He’s a baseball icon in that city. Not so fast. Those plans are over with. How do they clean this up?
The rest is a lot of executive turmoil with Mike Rizzo receiving a fine, scouts getting axed, and a resignation. The Nationals haven’t gotten much attention this season. Unfortunately, this isn’t the kind anyone would want.
Citi Field hasn’t been free of its own drama. Firings have already taken place. More are sure to come. It’s the Strasburg situation that has all Mets fans feeling a little more grateful for people like Steve Cohen today. Once you commit to something involving the honoring of a player, you best keep to it.