James Kannengieser ponders an interesting ethical dilemma at Amazin Avenue today. He polls readers on if they could root against the Mets, assuming that another bad season would mean a house-cleaning in the front office. He writes:
The apparent disregard the current regime has for utilizing all information available for player evaluation is unacceptable for any franchise, much less one with the considerable resources of the Mets. A change is needed, and the long-term benefits to the team and its fanbase would probably outweigh the 2010 disappointment. No more lectures about “false hustle”. No more absurd vesting options. It’s not a given that ownership would seek a candidate in the mold of Theo Epstein or Andrew Friedman — they could hire Omar Part Deux. However, dismissing Omar would at least give the Wilpons a chance to start over and right the ship.
In theory, hoping the Mets lose makes sense — it’s for the greater good. In reality it’s tough to root against individual players, and therefore nearly impossible to root against the team (for me, at least).
I voted no. I can not, in good conscience, root against the team. But it’s something I’ve struggled with in the past and I think it’s an especially pertinent question now, as the evidence piles up that it would be in the Mets’ best longterm interest to move forward with a revamped front office.
And I’ll confess that once — just once — in a similar instance, I felt a pang of disappointment when, as a Mets fan, I should have felt otherwise. It was so jarring and weird that I remember exactly the circumstances.
It was June of 2008, before Willie Randolph got canned, right in the thick of my campaign to get Val Pascucci called up. I’ll maintain to this day that he should have been, but whatever, that’s not the point.
I was living in the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn at the time. I had been visiting my parents on Long Island for Father’s Day and they were driving me back. We were on Eastern Parkway, right where it bends — by the then-new Dunkin’ Donuts — coming into Crown Heights, listening to the Mets on WFAN.
They were tied up with the Rangers, 2-2, with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the sixth. Needing a pinch-hitter for Pedro Martinez, they called on Robinson Cancel, a 32-year-old third-string catcher with a Minor League OPS around .700 who, in my eyes, had no business being on the Major League roster.
I assumed Cancel would fail and I began writing in my head a scathing anti-Minaya, pro-Pascucci column for the following day. But Cancel, against all odds, drove a single up the middle that scored two runs and put the Mets ahead for good.
And for just one second, I was pissed.
Nothing made sense: Why was Robinson Cancel on the team? Who thought the Mets should be carrying three catchers? Why was Willie Randolph using Robinson Cancel as a pinch hitter? And by what freak happenstance should Robinson Cancel get a hit with the bases loaded in a big spot?
But then, the most confusing thing of all was that I was angry when I should have been happy. I grew up pulling for longshot heroism from underdogs — I’m a Mets fan, after all — and here, in the face of just that, I was disappointed. What the hell happened to me?
When I got back to my apartment, I sat down with a big glass of bourbon and spent some time examining my priorities.
Eventually, I resolved that Mets victories were far more important to me than justification for anything I might ever write or say, and that I should never again let what I believe about the way the team should be run interfere with the way I root for the team.
So, long story short, I voted no.
Tedquarters 
I just dont see the logic in it at all. I mean if the Mets win, doesnt that mean Omar did a good job? And Jerry did a good job? And if they did a good job, wouldn’t you want to keep them?
Not necessarily, if the mets win 85 games the next 3 years would that mean Omar’s been doing a good job? I can’t speak for JamesK but when i read his post I read it to mean I’d rather the mets win 70 games this year than 85, not I’d rather than win 70 than win the world series.
“Who thought the Mets should be carrying three pitchers?”
Do you mean three catchers?
Anyway, I also voted ‘no’. I may get apathetic at times (like last season after spending a month on the road not following baseball and coming back to a mess of a Mets team), but I couldn’t ever actually root for the Mets to lose. I’ll root for firings, trades, demotions, etc., but I can’t root for the team to lose.
Yikes. I did. Thanks. Too bad Robinson Cancel can’t pitch though; that would be something to watch.
To paraphrase Agent Mulder on the Simpons, the jiggling would almost be hypnotic.
Yes, and that was an awesome episode.
I was at the Mets Rangers game. It was part of the only one ticket double header in like 20 years. Everyone was booing when they pinch hit with Cancel because they wanted Pedro to throw a CG.
I rooted for the Mets to fail so Willie would be fired, but I thought the season was over by midyear. I also thought his firing would be a panacea. How can anyone be worse, I dunno, but jerry is. Also, fiya minaya.
I’d say its fine to root against the team if winning is meaningless and losing means regime change.
I remember thinking, “Who the hell is this guy??”
Finally some optimism thanks ted. We are Mets fans!! Jets fans (some of you probably are) can tell you the joy of playing with the house money, thinking that its all over, no shot, then boom you are in the playoffs with a chance for the championship. Baseball is 162 games, In July when the NBA, College Basketball, and hockey are finished you will be rooting for the mets with your jerseys on in front of the tv with a beer with anticipation and excitement. Ya Gotta Believe! The mets are not the Yankees, and lets keep it that way.
Don’t forget where you came from
Don’t you think writing 7 paragraphs about listening to a single removed your right to say “to make a long story short?”
I think we all have the same instinct on bigger (just kidding) issues like war and politics, where we’re sad the globe didn’t warm etc. because it weakens our argument.
I remember one time a friend who would obviously be the worst poker player ever won a few bucks in his first night playing. We all thought — correctly, in turns out — that this was the worst thing that could have happened to him. So sometimes rooting against makes sense, but I agree, it’s bad for the soul and we should stop. I can’t even do it when my football team is 1-12 and battling for a first round pick. Just can’t do it.
So to make a long story short, let’s go Mets!