The Mets drama for the week has surrounded around acting general manager Zack Scott, who was placed on administrative leave after being arrested for drunk driving Tuesday morning.
For the team, it's the latest in a long line of undesired headlines that have made up the 2021 season, which isn't an unfamiliar trend for the franchise.
"Their ability to create drama in a season is truly spectacular," former Mets reliever Jerry Blevins said on Friday's Moose and Maggie. "I'm not sure if it's ever gonna go away, no matter who the owner is…I really am blown away by their ability to create stories. It's truly amazing."
One of the lasting dramatic storylines has been the relationship between Francisco Lindor and the Mets fanbase, which hasn't appreciated Lindor's lackluster offensive production after signing a $341 million contract extension just before the season. The season is a month away from concluding, and the four-time All-Star is batting just .222 with a .681 OPS, both of which would be career-lows.
But Blevins is convinced that Lindor's rocky debut season will be nothing more than a speed bump, not a sign of things to come.
"I think he's a fantastic player," Blevins said. "I think his personality was built for New York. I think he's learning a little bit of the dark side of it, if you slip up, they're gonna hold you accountable.
"He is a classy human being. He understands the weight of it, and I think he'll be just fine."
Blevins does feel that New York fans' desire for instant gratification and results may have surprised Lindor, who was hearing boos from the home fans in the first month of the season, when he batted just .182.
"He understands they're gonna give him feedback, especially if he's not living up to his contract early on," Blevins said. "I think he was a little more caught off guard by the April and May boos, where he felt like he was just getting his feet wet. He was getting booed in Citi Field early in the season. It even caught me off guard."
Lindor received a nice ovation when he returned from his oblique injury, and had been coming along at the plate before landing on the IL, but fell right back into conflict with Mets fans when he was part of the thumbs down controversy, which Javier Baez initially explained as the players' way of "booing back" the fans. But Blevins believes the source of that drama shouldn't fall on Lindor, and believes the star shortstop's focus is on the field, not in the stands.
"I really am not worried about Lindor at all," Blevins said. "I think the thumbs down thing was 100 percent a Javy Baez issue. I think the way he said it and what he presented made it a thing…I feel like it's already over."
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