Posted on by Shannon Shark @metspolice

Whatever happened to MetsBlog?

It’s November of 2008.  November 3rd to be exact.  You bop on over to MetsBlog.com.  On this day it’s presented by an insurance company, but spiritually it’s still “Matthew Cerrone’s MetsBlog – a Grand Central Station for Mets Information.”

On this day, Matt has a nice mix of things to read, some stories about players, some outbound links, some opinion pieces.  (Via Wayback Machine)

Down the left side, a zillion links to everyone and their mother’s blog.

We see on the right side that it’s part of the SNY blog network, yet it still feels like a dude who is a Mets fan hustling to find content…and it all feels like a personalized community.

Ten years later you come back.  It’s sort of called MetsBlog but it’s not.  You’ve typed in MetsBlog.com and your browser lands at SNY.TV/Mets/News.  And it feels like clickbait.

I’ve been feeling this way all summer, and danced around this topic about a month ago, and nobody shouted me down  Yesterday’s Syndergaard Trade was a good jump off point to deep dive on my feelings.

Let’s start there.  The Syndergaard Trade Interest.  It’s the perfect example of everything gone wrong.  The alarmist headline is that the Syndergaard Interest Is Strong And It’s Real!!!   Yes, that is factually true.  I’m interested in Evangeline Lilly.  Means nothing to her.   But the headline is phrased in such a way to get your emotions to think, “Oh shit, the Mets are trading Syndergaard!”

Except, of course, they are not.  I wrote as much at noon yesterday, you can read that of you want.  Or not.  I don’t care, this site s just my timekiller hobby.

By 4pm we were told by the COO that the Mets are not trading Syndergaard.

Lest you think I just let the headline get to me, here’s how Andy Martino wrapped things up. (via SNY TV METS NEWS whatever.  I just typed MetsBlog.)

Keep your eye on this one, folks. The Mets are looking to be aggressive this winter in improving their team, and this avenue is a real possibility.

Except it’s not.  I mean, sure, it’s a possibility.  So is selling the team to me for a dollar.  Or moving to Mercury.   Which brings us to the big problem Formerly MetsBlog had all summer – the COULD article.

HOLY SHIT THE METS COULD TRADE THOR FOR BRYANT!

HOLY SHIT THE PHILLES COULD GET MACHADO AND HARPER!!!

HOLY SHIT IS THAT DEGROM? IS HIS METS CAREER GOING TO END???

WOW THE METS *COULD* *EXPLORE* A REUNION WITH CABRERA!!!

You get the idea.

Then let’s get back to the soul, and I think this gets back to Matt. Or the absence of Matt. Or who now surrounds Matt.

Andy Martino. I don’t know the guy. Never met the guy. But he forever damaged himself with Mets fans like me when he mixed race into a discussion of what was actually just people being mad the Mets blew a game against the Yankees. Maybe Martino is great at what he does, but to me, he’s gonna need to do it for another team. There’s no coming back from that one in my brain.

John Harper? I guess he had a nice career. Then he was attached to the Yankees article below.

Now did Harper create the graphics? Most likely not. But he wrote the piece. And the idea that the Mets were trading both Thor and The One True Ace to the Yankees is the stuff that the worst blogger ever wouldn’t even write.

So Harper damaged his brand to me, forever.

If either one is on the byline, I’m just out.

Matt may not have been (insert famous hall of fame baseball writer here) in 2008 but he was one of us.  He was me. He was you.  And it was coming from a point of passion, not clicks for clicks sake.

November 2018. You click on MetsBlog. The URL changes. On this Saturday morning, there’s some OK stuff, a piece by Cerrone, but then Martino is trading Syndergaard, and then Harper and some other guys. It feels corporate. It no longer feels like a guy in Connecticut at the soul, it feels like some guys in a big Manhattan skyscraper trying to get clicks. And that’s the business, I get it. But it makes me feel like….

…whatever happened to MetsBlog?