The offseason is in full swing, so what better time to join the world of blogging than right before things start to get good.
I’m Mike and I’ve been a Mets fan since I was 2 (courtesy of my dad and the 1986 World Series). On top of having a diehard fan relationship with the Mets, I have a history of being extremely objective and analytical. I have hosted my own sports radio talk show in the past, during which time I’ve had perfect weeks of picking games in the NFL, projected multiple trades in multiple sports months before they’ve actually occurred, and correctly picked every series in the 2007 MLB playoffs. The point is, you’re not reading a typical fan blog. What you read here about the Mets (and often times other teams as well) is well-thought out, intelligent, and often times scarily accurate.
With that in mind, let me please be the first to say that, good or bad, I’m pretty confident the opening day leftfielder for the Mets will be Manny Ramirez. General Manager Omar Minaya tends to pull these things off, as evidenced by his track record. Carlos Beltran, Pedro Martinez, and most recently Johan Santana. In all three cases, the Mets were afterthoughts to the big boys and headline grabbers, then simply swooped in and landed their target. So while the Dodgers and Yankees and probably others as well get tossed around as potential destinations for Manny, keep in mind the past few offseasons.
Now to the question of whether this move is actually a good one from a baseball standpoint. There’s no question Ramirez would bolster a lineup that has been termed “anemic” at times, but is that really the Mets need this offseason? Look at the numbers – the World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies (and yes, that is an awful collection of words to write) scored 799 runs this season. So did the Mets. Why, then, does everyone clamor for additional offense. The Phillies won every single game that they lead after 8 innings this season, with Brad Lidge finishing a perfect 46-for-46 in save opportunities. Read that sentence again. Every. Single. Game. Yes, that is absurd and happens maybe once every fifty years at best, but that’s the difference between the two teams. The Mets would have won the division by 15 games if they played Little League rules (6 innings) and by 6 games had games ended after 8 innings. The problem here is pitching, specifically the bullpen, and not the lineup.
The reason the offense received so much attention is that in a number of close games, they failed to deliver, but that can be attributed directly to an increasing pressure to overperform, rather than to simply be content in games when they had a 5-1 or 6-3 lead in the late innings. Those are games every team should win. The Phillies did, and the Mets didn’t, and now every Mets fan has to deal with another season of gloating from Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley.
How about this – skip on signing Manny, resign Fernando Tatis, find some poor sucker (read: Royals) to take Luis Castillo for a bag of baseballs, and spend the money saved on Castillo and Manny to sign pitching? Wouldn’t that work? Derek Lowe, Trevor Hoffman, Brian Fuentes, and Kyle Lohse are all available for the money the Mets would need to sign Manny, and look at a rotation of Santana, Maine, Lowe, Pelfrey, and Lohse with a bullpen of Hoffman, Fuentes, and some collection of the overused middle men from last season, lead by Heilman, Sanchez, and Feliciano. How does this make anything but total sense?
Just remember that the first game at Citi Field when Manny misplays a ball in leftfield. I told you so.
Mike is a Mets fan living a life of hell, dating a Yankees fan who often times changes (or adds) allegiances to the Phillies as well. His Mets blog will be posted every Monday morning during the offseason, as well as on Fridays during the season.
Keywords: New York Mets
