Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Even Mr. Met is on the DL with an injured...Face? It's all he has really.

Yesterday, Mets superstar shortstop Jose Reyes (thankfully uninjured) was involved in a car accident while crossing the RFK Bridge on the way to his doctor’s appointment. At this point, the plight of the Mets is becoming sadistically comical. This team cannot catch a break, however, they continue to remain within striking distance of the Phillies, who are also slumping.

So, just how bad are things for the Mets right now? The following is just a sample set of all things wrong with the boys from Queens and why statistically speaking they should be in last place right now.

1. Fernando Tatis was the clean-up hitter yesterday. Yikes.
2. Three of the four best players on the team (which happen to be three of the best players in the entire National League) are now on the DL after Carlos Beltran’s injury.
3. As a whole, the team has hit 44 home runs. Albert Pujols has hit 26. To clarify for those non-sports fans, Albert Pujols is one baseball player, while the New York Mets are an entire baseball team.
4. If Derek Jeter were on the Mets, he would be leading the team in home runs.
5. Even the best pitcher in the world, Johan Santana, is slumping. His ERA in the month of June is a hefty 7.33 and has given up seven home runs in that stretch. Perhaps the most telling statistic is that Santana had 42 and 44 strike outs in May and June respectively. With one more start left in June, he only has 11 K’s. God help us all if he’s hurt.
6. Pitcher, Oliver Perez, is leading the team in batting average at .429. Okay, I just threw that one in there for fun.

Clearly, considering the preceding facts and all of the uncontrollable mishaps the Mets have suffered, they must be at least 8 or 9 games back in the NL East, right? Wrong. As it stands on June 23, they are only 1.5 games back. So how have they done it? The hell if I or any other baseball fan knows, but somehow they’ve hung in this thing. To be fair, there have been a few bright spots for the Mets. Catcher Omir Santos filled in brilliantly for an injured Brian Schneider and Gary Sheffield has produced more than anyone could have expected him to. Despite one of the most glaring errors in the history of sports, Luis Castillo has actually had a pretty good year this far. And, until slumping recently, the revamped Mets bullpen had been the best in the league after last year’s sub-sub par performance. So, where do the Mets go from here? It’s quite simple, and Mr. Minaya (Mets GM), feel free to print this out and take it to your next meeting.

1. GET HEALTHY.
Really, Jerry Manual is off the hot seat. How can a manager be expected to perform week in and week out with the type of line up he’s putting on the field these days? First Delgado, then Reyes and now Carlos Beltran are all on the DL. Imagine taking three players of this caliber off of any other Major League squad. Take Jeter, Teixeira and Rodriguez away from the Yankees right now, and replace them with Ramiro Pena, Angel Berroa and Shelly Duncan. You think the Yankee suck now? Imagine them with that trio. Take away Pedroia, Youkilis and Bay from the Red Sox. No way they would be anywhere close to first place. My personal theory, which can be saved for another blog post, is that the Mets training staff and team doctor’s are to blamed for the star-studded Disabled List. For now though, Mets fans just need to pray that Reyes and Beltran hurry back and anything you get from Delgado for the rest of the season will be a bonus.
2. GET SOME POWER.
Go ahead and blame over-sized Citi Field for the Mets power woes this season, but David Wright has one home run on the road. “But Scott,” you’ll say, “David Wright changed his batting stance because he knew it would be hard to hit home runs at Citi Field. This has translated to away games as well.” I don’t care that David Wright has the best batting average in the league, and Mets fans shouldn’t either. This game is about SCORING RUNS. 39 RBI’s at this point of the season out of Wright isn’t good enough. The Mets need a power hitter, preferably in a corner-outfield spot. When Sheffield plays, he can hit the ball out, but he can’t play everyday. The Mets need to sign… I can’t believe I’m saying this… Adam Dunn. There are a million reasons not sign Dunn, the main one being that adding him to that outfield defensively would be like adding Scottie Smalls to the Bad News Bears (before Scottie ever met Benny the Jet Rodriguez). It would not be pretty. But, they need a strong force in the middle of the line up. Dunn may strike out every other time up, but if he gets a hold of one, Citi Field won’t be able to contain him. He hits the ball further than anyone else in the league. I know this will anger some Mets fans, but if the Washington Nationals will only accept Fernando Martinez in a trade offer, then the Mets should do it. I get a bad feeling about Fernando Martinez and besides, the Mets already have too many players named “Fernando” and/or “Martinez.”

3. GO WATCH A LITTLE LEAGUE GAME
Take notes on how to run the bases and catch fly balls. The Mets are so fundamentally flawed it’s incredible. They get thrown out on the bases way too often. Fire Razor Shines (Mets third base coach) and hire me for a couple hundred thousand dollars a year. I can’t do any worse.

4. DO NOT TRADE FOR A STARTING PITCHER.
Starting pitching is not the Mets problem. Santana will definitely turn it around and the rest of the staff really is not that bad. Big Pelf and John Maine are not the best number two and three starters in the league, but they’re adequate. Livan Hernandez has been an unexpected success and hopefully Nieve can continue his early achievements.

Again, it is an absolute wonder that the Mets are as well off as they are right now. When a successful team doesn’t play good fundamental baseball (i.e. the Yankees) then you can pin their success on power hitting. When a successful team doesn’t hit for power (i.e. the Angels) then they are usually good base-runners and fielders. The Mets are neither. They have had clutch hitting (at times) and a fairly solid bullpen. This has gotten them by for 68 games, but it won’t get the job done for the full schedule. At some point, the Phillies will get break from their slump and start to run away with it. The Mets will have to keep pace because the Wild Card probably will not come out of the East this year.

Clearly, the most obvious and inexpensive option for the Mets at this point is they must remember to eat their Wheaties every morning. This will not only give them some much needed power hitting, but also help to keep them off the DL.

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