About

What this is

Mets Jazz is a New York Mets site with one lane: the Mets, from the front office out.

The daily beat is already covered, and covered well. This isn’t that. This is the weekly read that slows down and explains the why:

• The money. Payroll, contracts, opt-outs and the luxury tax, and what a $30 million signing can really cost a team that’s been over the line for years.
• The labor fight. The CBA, the lockout, the salary cap, and what it all means for Steve Cohen’s checkbook.
• The front office. How David Stearns builds a roster, and where it’s gone wrong.
• The dugout. Andy Green, the coaching staff, player development and clubhouse culture.
• The roster. Position-by-position analysis with a point of view.

Two anchor posts a week in the offseason, quick takes when news breaks, and every Sunday, The Sunday Set in your inbox. A podcast is coming this winter.

Why “Jazz”

Jazz is structure and freedom at the same time. You learn the changes cold so you can improvise over them.

That’s what being a Mets fan is like. You learn the roster, the contracts and the farm system. You keep the faith through Aprils like the last one. And every so often, something happens that nobody could have written down ahead of time. That’s the solo, and that’s why we sit through the rest.

Who’s writing

I’m Phil. I’ve been a Mets fan since 2000, rooting from Virginia, a long way from Flushing, like a lot of you. I also have a background in banking and risk management.

That’s it. The site’s about the Mets.

Mets Jazz is an independent fan site. It is not affiliated with the New York Mets or Major League Baseball.