Dear Minaya: Break Up The Mets Core

David Daniels writes that the Mets core is broken. Omar Minaya needs to make some creative moves to fix a team built around stars that aren’t performing.

Courtesy of killrbeez via Flickr

It seems that every year it’s the same old story. We can’t seem to get our All-Star center fielder and All-Star shortstop on the field together. Whether you want to call it back luck, bad management or you just chalk it up to the fact that these two are injury prone, we can’t afford to keep both players if they keep going down so much. What to do…?

If I were Omar Minaya, I would trade one of these injury prone superstars to get a top line starting pitcher. If I had to trade one, here’s who I’d trade:

Carlos Beltran? – At 32 years-old and with two years left on his contract, if he can get back by May, get some playing time under his belt and show off the five-tool, Gold Glove, All-Star center fielder that he is, a trade involving Beltran by the July trading deadline could bring back at least a #2 starter and some major help for the minors. Re-stocking the minor leagues for future trades should be a priority and a front line pitcher would certainly help us now. Of course we would need a strong defensive center fielder to replace him to cover such a large outfield at Citi Field. Is F-Mart that guy? I’m not sure but he certainly stacks up to Reyes when it comes to nagging injuries.

Continue reading “Dear Minaya: Break Up The Mets Core”

Mets Links: Spring Training, David Wright, Mike Jacobs

I haven’t done a “Mets Links” post in a while so I decided to bring that back this weekend. There’s plenty going on in Port St. Lucie this week with only two weeks left before the regular season starts. I’ve got some good links for you so read up below.

  • Remembering Shea – Live posts from PSL including images on #1 celebrity Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld
  • Daily News – Somehow Mike Lupica got on a kick of writing about the Mets this week. His first column is about how the Mets should stick with Jerry Manuel for the long haul. I have no idea where he came up with this one.
  • Mets Today – Mike Jacobs is starting to work out at catcher again. It’s a great move for him to try to stick as the 25th man on the roster as the emergency catcher.
  • Daily News – Lupica’s second Mets column of the week is a fluff piece on David Wright. Just what we needed. Another column about how Wright is the face of the franchise.
  • Crave – A Japanese university created a batting tee that rests the ball on bed of air instead of the tee. Check out the picture, it looks pretty good.
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Mets’ Ike Davis is on the Rise

Ike Davis
Image by slgckgc via Flickr

Mets first base prospect Ike Davis is having a big spring. His slash line to date is .500/.560/.909 after having an excellent season in the minors last year. We listed him as one of the five Mets prospects that could have an impact on 2010. It’s a great situation for the Mets to have an heir apparent at first base.

The big question is what the Mets will do with Daniel Murphy when Davis supplants him at first base. That’s “when”, not “if” Davis supplants him. There’s no question in my mind that Davis will be ready to square off against major league pitchers at some point this season. That poses a big problem for Murphy.

Regular readers here know that I don’t think Murphy is a full-time solution at first base. After the 2009 disastrous experiment in left field, it doesn’t look like Murphy is going to crack the lineup anywhere else either. Murphy looks to me like he could make a decent career in the major leagues as a pinch hitter/role player. But I don’t think he can hit enough to play every day and he certainly doesn’t appear to be able to play the field other than the infield corners.

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Jenry Mejia Should Make Mets Team

Dwight Gooden at Candlestick Park in San Franc...
Image via Wikipedia

It’s a young man’s game now and Jenry Mejia is a young man with a good arm. Sure, he’s only pitched 7 innings so far this spring to a 1.23 ERA. But he’s looked good doing it. I’m not buying into the hype about Mejia. It’s a simple equation. The Mets are built to win now and Mejia can help them do that. It’s that simple.

You may think that the Mets would take Mejia north next month because Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya are trying to save their jobs. They’re not looking out for the kid. They don’t care about his future. There may be something to that, I don’t know. But if you read Ken Rosenthal’s column today on Fox Sports, it sure seems that way according to Rosenthal.

To get back to where I started this post, baseball isn’t a game for 35+ year-old players anymore. The worm turned with the MLB 2003 steroid report and testing for steroids and amphetamines. It’s back to being a young man’s game again and we have to face that fact and this new reality. Dwight Gooden made the team and won 17 games as a rookie when he was 19 years-old. Mejia is 20 years-old and he’s not Dwight Gooden, but if he wins a spot on the roster this spring we need to accept this new reality. The funny thing is that the new reality is the old reality.

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Jose Reyes Goes Down – Call FEMA!

NEW YORK - MAY 11: Jose Reyes #7 of the New Y...

But seriously, as much as I hate to lose Jose Reyes for any amount of time I don’t think losing Reyes is a game changer. As good as he is, I think the Mets will do fine with Alex Cora at the bottom of their lineup. Can you say Rafael Santana?

In ’84 Rafael Santana was the backup shortstop for the Mets. In ’85 he was promoted to starting shortstop, and then in ’86 the Mets won it all with a shortstop that batted .218, 1 HR, 28 RBI’s and led the team with 12 intentional walks. He was a solid defensive shortstop, not a Gold Glove by any means. Fundamentally sound.

Also remember Kevin Elster was the backup shortstop who batted .167, 0 hr’s, 0 RBI’s in ’86. He was a better defensive player than Santana and was such a smooth fielder. A pleasure to watch on the field but an automatic out at the plate.

Continue reading “Jose Reyes Goes Down – Call FEMA!”

Mets Links: Jose Reyes Thyroid Dominates News

Mets Spring Training - José Reyes

There are few stories coming from Port St. Lucie this week other than Jose Reyes and his thyroid condition. The fact that he’ll join Carlos Beltran on the disabled list come opening day has led to thoughts of another lost season and Mets’ minor leaguers getting a shot at the big leagues. Some of the biggest names in sports journalism have gotten into the act including William C. Rhoden and Joe Posnanski.

Here are the links:

  • NY Times – William C. Rhoden writes that Reyes’ thyroid problem should lead the Mets to look at rebuilding the team. “The Core” just isn’t getting it done.
  • Joe Posnanski – Joe writes that Reyes is one of the most exciting players in baseball and the Mets are due for something good to happen.
  • Daily News – John Harper writes that the conflicting messages about Reyes’ thyroid condition have to do with the players not trusting management on injury issues anymore
  • NY Post – Mike Puma writes that Reyes was blindsided by the Mets statement about his thyroid condition that made it sound worse than it is.
  • Daily News – Adam Rubin reprints a good piece about Ruben Tejada, who may get the opening day start at shortstop
  • Baseball Nerd – Keith Olbermann writes about the ridiculous story that Reyes’ thyroid problem was caused by eating too much shellfish
  • Fangraphs – R.J. Anderson writes that the Mets’ decision to work Jenry Mejia out of the bullpen is a short-term fix designed to save Omar Minaya’s and Jerry Manuel’s jobs more than for the good of Mejia and the franchise
  • Fanhouse – Josh Alper writes that the Mets signed Jason Bay instead of John Lackey because they were more concerned about Lackey’s ability to stay healthy
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Video: Mets 2010 Season Predictions

This is the last installment in a series of videos I did with Kerel Cooper of On The Black and Joe Janish of Mets Today. In this video we talk about our predictions for the Mets fate in the 2010 season. In some senses, I’m the typical fan. I’m optimistic to begin every season that things will go perfectly and the Mets will land in the playoffs somehow. Then at some point during the season, my hopes are dashed and the remaining games become an exercise in just getting to the finish line, often limping… literally.

http://blip.tv/play/guougc2DAwI%2Em4v