It’s been a weird year, so strange I urge everyone not to check our baseball preview section to see my poor prognostications. I would have fared better doing a “Costanza,” or the opposite in “Seinfeld” speak.
Never have there been more shocking disappointments/disasters. So it’s only appropriate to distribute our first annual Most Disappointing Team awards. (“First annual” is disallowed by AP style, but I pledge to make this annual.)
1. Mets
Who else?
When you originally spend $364 million plus another $111 million on tax (down to $344M and $99M after the fire sale), you beat the crowded field.
The only players to outperform were David Robertson, Tommy Pham, Francisco Alvarez and Kodai Senga.
The one big positive was their willingness to pivot, allowing them to enhance their farm.
2. Yankees
Beyond being mediocre, they are boring (despite robust attendance).
GM Brian Cashman is slumping (Joey Gallo, Frankie Montas, Carlos Rodon, the Minnesota deals, plus Aaron Hicks and Luis Severino extensions).
Though, could anyone predict Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo would stop hitting at once?
Rival execs suggest they’ve relied too much on analytics and need to strike a better balance with traditional scouting.
Anyway, little chance Cashman pays for one dreadful season after 25 good-to-great ones. Aaron Boone isn’t the main culprit, but he seems more likely to find himself on the hot seat (if anyone does).
3. Cardinals
The Cardinals Way lost its way, for 2023 anyway.
The pitching was obviously below par.
But that doesn’t explain everything.
The vaunted defense, which ranked consistently in the top five, was also so-so.
4. White Sox
Hard to fathom they are so far to the south side of .500 after allegedly underperforming at .500 in 2023.
They staged an aggressive sale, which yielded good prospects, but it also gave transplanted players a chance to opine on what went wrong.
Some pointed to clubhouse culture, but rivals suggest a more basic issue: extreme loyalty has left them with an inconsistent scouting group.
5. Padres*
Mathematically, they are an impossibility.
How can you have a plus-64 run differential and still be under .500?
Well, you go 6-19 in one-run games and 0-10 in extra-inning games.
So, unlike the others, there’s a case they are unlucky.
* Still have a chance at the playoffs.
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