For fun: How the Mets off season of 2005 compares to the off season of 2014

I know, there it is, the dreaded face of Omar Minaya, probably answering a question or two on how he could have built a team to collapse on consecutive years with an over $150 million dollar payroll. That's an argument for another day.

This past weekend I decided to go back into the archives, whether it be newspapers, blogs, or baseball magazines, and try to understand the "buzz" surrounding the New York Mets 2005 off season and the there-after optimism entering 2006. I was too young to fully comprehend the baseball world at this time, thinking every Mets season would result in a brand new slate with the same chances of making the playoffs as everyone else. While this is mathematically true, we know that from year-to-year some teams have a better chance than others based on no more than their roster.

The offseason of 2005 was the Mets "go-for-it" year, much like many are proclaiming the offseason of 2014 to be. If you remember, the Mets had just come off a season where they missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, three of which were under.500 campaigns. Today that seems like nothing compared to eight straight years of missing the playoffs, seven of which have resulted in under .500 campaigns, but nevertheless the Mets were, and currently are, in win now mode.

Omar Manaya's philosophy to building up his major league team differs from Sandy Alderson's. Omar's budget flexibility allowed him to secure the best of the best out on the free agent market, such as Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, Billy Wagner, and others. Sandy Alderson, while recently signing some key free agents, has taken a "build through the farm system approach," while operating on a more limited budget. No doubt Omar's philosophy will get you to the top quicker, Sandy's is more sustainable.

Heading into spring training in 2006, Mets fans were just hoping for the team to be competitive, watchable, and mired in a late season wild-card race. With the Braves having won fifteen consecutive divison titles, the division was a pipe dream. As it turns out, the Mets not only remained competitive that year, they dominated, wining the Eastern division title by more than 10 games.

This offseason, Mets fans, thanks to the addition of OF Michael Cuddyer and the return of ace Matt Harvey, just want to see the Mets competitive, watchable, and mired in a late season race. Sound fimiliar? This type of of fseason hasn't occurred since 2005/2006...and the Mets dominated that year.