Gary Cohen of SNY relayed a conversation he had with Buck Showalter during Tuesday's broadcast, a conversation that included the Mets manager revealing a strategy that did not leave Mets fans happy.
Showalter told Cohen, as Cohen put it, that he is constructing his lineup based on the level of contention of opposing teams, including playing Brett Baty against a lefty against the lowly Nationals, which he likely won't do against contending teams because he "owes it" to those clubs to send out his best options.
Needless to say, Evan was not happy to hear this strategy.
"This annoys me to no end," Evan said. "The New York Mets and Buck Showalter owe the Miami Marline, the Cincinnati Reds, and every other team in the Wild Card race, nothing. They don't owe them a damn thing.
"For Buck Showalter to manage games because he feels he owes another National League team the right lineup, and not his fanbase, his young players, and player development guys who want to figure out if Brett Baty can hit a lefty, is disgraceful. For Buck Showalter to admit to Gary Cohen that he owes these other teams…are you kidding me?"
The Mets are all but out of the race, and Evan says the rest of the season should be about the growth of their young core, not about respecting the Wild Card race at the expense of getting a better look at the potential future of the franchise.
"I don't care about winning games," Evan said. "I care about, 'can Brett Baty learn to hit lefties?'
"Their job is to put together a lineup that is in the best interest of the New York Mets. Billy Eppler or Steve Cohen needs to call him and say, 'Excuse me? None of us care about the NL Wild Card race…we care about the future of the New York Mets.'"
