Alderson to Choose Between the Present and the Future

We are nearly halfway through the month of June and serious moves to help this 2011 New York Mets team have yet to be made. Here are the questions going through my mind: What is Alderson waiting for? Why is he waiting? When will he make a move?

Maybe his lack of moves already give us a hint to what he has decided: skip 2011 and go for 2012. After all, that is another viable option. I would like to believe he really believes in the team that he has, but even I’m not that naive.

So Alderson could be set to make moves involving the two players who have actually been doing their job: Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran. After all, between them and Francisco Rodriguez, he has some good trade bait for teams already in a race for the pennant. I would not mind seeing Rodriguez go. No tears will be shed on my part. I would hate to see Beltran go, but even I have said that he is a DH at this point in his career. While his knees have held up thus far, who is to say he will not have problems next year. At least as a DH, he will have a longer career.

I will not get into Reyes because that is for another blog.

Here is the situation for Alderson. He needs to decide whether the present is more important than the future. Say what you will about former GM Omar Minaya, but he pretty much stocked up the farm system after nearly trading everyone away for Johan Santana. Minaya did good with the farm even though the big club failed. Players like Ike Davis and Jonathon Niese are still here because he believed in these guys. Same with Josh Thole and others. So it isn’t as if Alderson needs to make an insane amount of moves.

The Mets are only 4.5 games out of the Wildcard and seven games out of first in the division. There is still hope in this team, but Alderson needs to decide if it is worth making any moves this year. Does he believe in this team enough to let it ride and make additions? Or does he see this team choking yet again and failing in the games that matter most?

The talent is there. The performances have not been. Performances need to be considered. Bay is struggling. R.A. Dickey is proving to be a somewhat one-hit wonder. He is a shadow of what he was last year. Johan Santana is supposed to come back sometime next month or August. Those are just some of the problems. We will not mention David Wright and Davis. If they were here and you combine their bats with Beltran, Reyes and Pagan, this team makes it and moves can be placed on hold.

In a little over a  month, Alderson will be making the decisions that can make or break this season. He will be sending a message to this team and their fans of believing in the team for 2011 or jumping ship to compete in 2012. With everything this team has gone through and the farm being what it is, there is still plenty to believe in. With bats like Wright, Davis and Bay out, the team has still been able to be within striking distance of the playoffs.

As fans, you cannot think about how many teams are ahead of the Mets. Think about the talent they have right now on the field, soon to come off the injury list and those in the minors. Yes moves need to be made, but they can be made through within.

So do you bet the farm or do you give up, lick your wounds to another failed year and plan for another one while dealing with the critics, the fans, and even the owners?

Personally, I choose the present. The future is already secured.

2011 Mets: Believe or Not Believe? That Is The Question

The answer to that question has been answered by all of the baseball preview magazines with a very loud:

You must be out of your mind if you believe.

Spring Training has finally arrived kiddies and so have the preview rags. So what do these magazines have to say? If I were you, I would not be quick to want to the answer. Almost every magazine I have looked at, including Sporting News, has the Mets finishing in fourth place behind the Florida Marlins. Shocked? Not so much. What shocked me, to a certain degree was the USA Today baseball preview which had the Mets finishing in last place.

You all know I feel the Mets will finish in at least third place ahead of the Marlins who, by the way, have been a thorn in our side for a few years now. I would love it if the Mets could kill them.

I have been saying for a month now that new manager Terry Collins is going to work wonders with this team. He has made it known to the players fighting for their jobs where he stands and that is a good sign. The players know he will not stand for nonsense, super stardom matters very little as does big contracts. If you don’t produce, you get cut loose. Simple as that.

Roster spots are being speculated now and I have issues with the one by the Sporting News predictions. Right away, and rightfully so, left and center field positions are given to Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran. As for right field, there is no mention of Angel Pagan. They have Fernando Martinez as competing for the job but the team bringing in a right fielder. What is wrong with Pagan in right? What reason do they have to believe that a kid who has been ravaged by injuries will even make it to the bigs this year?

That was my big issue. It is as if Pagan is the one who will be coming off the bench. If this were to happen, which I can almost guarantee will not, it will be a slap in Pagan’s face because he has done more then enough to prove that he deserves a starting role with this team. If you want to have Martinez come off the bench to get his feet soaked in because Beltran is likely to leave at the end of the season, that is fine. You just do not tell a player who has shown he can play everyday that he is coming off the bench for a kid who has not proven anything.

The Mets do have questions with their pitching staff. Spots four and five are up in the air as is the bullpen. Faith remains in Mike Pelfrey, Jonathon Niese and R.A. Dickey. Losing Pedro Feliciano and Hisanori Takahashi will have an impact on this team. The pitching is the only worry I would have with the 2011 New York Mets. Pitching coach Dan Warthen certainly has his job cut out for him.

Bottom line:

The Mets will not make it to the playoffs this year. I strongly believe that. Will they make a push and do better than every body seems to think? I will say yes. When you think of the talent this team has plus the addition of Terry Collins as manager, there is no question in my mind this is a team that will produce and give the Atlanta Braves a run for second place. I feel they will end the season in third behind Atlanta, but making Atlanta very nervous.

This city will get excited again. Not for the team in the South Bronx, but the team that nobody wants to believe in. The Mets will do special things this year.

So should Mets fans believe? Yes! Until the September tells you otherwise, you believe. You go into this 2011 season with the battle cry that Tug McGraw made specifically for the New York Mets on your lips:

YA GOTTA BELIEVE!

Happy Days Are Here Again

Sunday, Monday, Happy Days.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days.

Thursday, Friday, Happy Days.

Saturday, What a day. Oliver Perez is gone.

At least temporarily. The Mets have placed the mental case on the 15-day disabled list due to knee tendinitis. Who would have thought a player going on the DL could be such glorious music to our ears?

We can think Jonathon Niese too. Had he not gone on the DL in the first place, who knows where we would be with Perez. With the activation of Niese from his stint, the Mets were forced to place Ollie on the DL.

Maybe now Perez can go see a shrink. I do not see why the Mets did not place him on the DL when even Scott Boras said he should go on the DL to see a sports psychologist. His own agent knows he is mental. It worked for Mike Pelfrey. Dontrelle Willis has seen one as well, though it has not panned out too well for him. Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke saw one back in 2006 and look what it has done for him.

Bottom line is that if you wait long enough, things have a way of working themselves out. It has for the Mets. Now if only the Mets can stretch it out to 60 days on the DL. This way maybe the Mets have a shot at the playoffs.

Bad Proves Good For One

Do I really even need to say it? Another man is hurt. Like the Mets can really afford it?

During today’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Jonathon Niese was hurt after a play at first base in the second inning. It gets worse. Of course it does! When trying to throw off the mound as a warm-up, he threw the pitch and crumpled down onto the mound writhing in pain.

Mets fans just shook their heads in not-so disbelief. With the way this season has been going, nothing shocks the fans anymore.

It gets worse still. Well duh! Why wouldn’t it? The Mets second most dominant pitcher was diagnosed with a tear in his right hamstring. Yes ladies and gentlemen, his season is over.

Our wonderful Niese, probably one of our favorite prospects next to Brad Holt, is going to have surgery. He will be ready for Spring Training. There’s something to think about and get excited. Niese will most certainly be in the rotation next year.

One man’s tragedy is another man’s success. Such was the case for Nelson Figueroa. After handing the game over to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday, Figueroa sought out redemption. He knew this was his last chance to prove he belongs here. Well he did it quite well.

Figueroa came in to pitch out of the bullpen when Niese was taken off the field. Figueroa allowed zero runs in 4 1/3 innings giving him win number one.

It was a great performance by the Mets’ pitcher who keeps getting thrown between the big club and the minors. I have said in the past I am not sure if Figueroa is a starter. I see him more as a long man out of the bullpen. So far, he has proved that is exactly what he is.

So now you have to wonder if Tim Redding is going to be place back in the rotation. God help us if he is. Somebody will have to join the rotation. But who?

Niese, get well soon. We look forward to seeing you next year. You were one of the few bright spots of this 2009 season. Great job! See you in 2010.

Oh, did I mention Gary Sheffield left the game with discomfort in his hamstring once again. And he had a problem with not being in the game on Sunday. That was a good call by Jerry Manuel.