The temptation would be to deem the Carlos Beltran Era as classically Metsian, with the rookie skipper getting fired -- or stepping down or getting pushed out or whatever euphemism you prefer -- before he managed a game, or even before he opened a spring training meeting.

But this wouldn't be accurate. With all due respect to Marv Throneberry, Bobby Valentine's mustache and glasses, and Yoenis Cespedes' wild boar, this isn't Metsian at all. Because in the first month of what will be an incredibly important year, the Mets got lucky as hell. They were so fortunate with how this played out that Fred and Jeff Wilpon should buy some lottery tickets today, in the hope they can buy out Steve Cohen's share of the team. This was a rare case of the baseball gods rescuing them, rather than laughing at them.