Kevin Kernan On WFAN: Mets' Front Office Sees 2016 As 'The Year'
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- 2014 is the year.
Nope.
2015 is the year! Well, maybe. More than likely not.
2016 is the year!
Mets fans have been hearing "this is the year," well, for years now. And on Wednesday morning, just hours after New York got no-hit by a rookie, Kevin Kernan of the New York Post told WFAN co-hosts Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton that Mets front-office executives are looking at next season as the one where everything will come together.
Kevin Kernan
That's not to discount the potential of this season, Kernan pointed out. The Mets, amazingly, are still in sole possession of first place, and they are committed to winning now.
But the feeling among club officials is that the team will have a better chance to return to the playoffs -- and win in October -- in 2016.
"I have sources," Kernan told Boomer & Carton. "I've talked to people in the Mets' front office, and they've always pointed towards 2016 ... One of the reasons why is they feel that the pitching staff will be totally in place then. You'll have a Steven Matz up, he'll be up. You'll have a (Noah) Syndergaard, kind of with some experience.
"I think that's been their gut feeling, that 2016 is the year. They're not gonna throw away 2015, hopefully, but 2016's been kind of like their target all along. 2016's been, kind of like, the year they felt they could really ... their coming-out party."
Matz, a 24-year-old lefty from Long Island, is expected to be called up by the All-Star break. He'll join a formidable rotation that includes ace Matt Harvey, reigning National League Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom, ageless veteran Bartolo Colon and Syndergaard.
Mets Get No-Hit
Colon will be a free agent after the season, and it's unlikely he'll return. But New York will welcome back 25-year-old Zack Wheeler, who is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
The first-place Mets (31-28) enter Wednesday's action a half-game ahead of the Nationals in the National League East.
