One New York Life

Current Record: 37-39
June Record: 9-18
GB (NL East): 3.0 (Philadelphia)
GB (Wildcard): 3.5 (St. Louis)

1) The day before Carlos Beltran got placed on the DL, I wrote a few paragraphs about how the team was unwatchable. I mentioned that, largely, the bullpen had been fixed and most of the issues evident last year were still evident this year. I questioned what the excuse would be now. That question was answered the next day when Carlos Beltran was placed on the DL before flying to Colorado to visit a microfracture specialist. The team tried to downplay it but guys generally don’t go to visit the Dr. James Andrews types unless there’s a reason for it. Beltran is simply the latest in the list to go down for extended time. Fans got spoiled last season. Wright, Beltran, Reyes, and Delgado missed a combined TOTAL of nine games. There was no way they were going to replicate that but I don’t think anyone could have predicted it would be quite this bad. This is an excuse I can buy.

2) What that means for the Omar/Jerry haters of the world is their retribution will be delayed another year. A rash of injuries can’t be put on the upper management. All they can do is tread water until the All-Stars get back and hope to make a huge, Astros/Rockies-like run for the Wildcard in August and September. This isn’t meant to be construed as a “poor us” excuse. It’s simply a statement of fact. The team is full of holes.

3) The absolute last thing they should do is the thing being suggested by a sadly large portion of the fanbase and an expectedly large portion of Yankee fans — make a panic trade to fill in the gaps. The problem is there are too many gaps. The absolute best case scenario for the Mets is grabbing “a bat” from some organization further out of it than they are. The sad facts that too many people are blatantly ignoring are the Mets farm kinda sucks and most of the “gems” are currently filling injury holes on the 25-man roster. If it’s true that the Giants want Adam Dunn, there is no earthly way the Mets can compete with the Giants’ Cy Young factories in Connecticut and Fresno. If the Red Sox want Nick Johnson, there is no way the Mets can compete with their minor league talent. And, while the Mets fans are currently freaking out over the fact Omar Minaya is blatantly ignoring their pleas, they’re also ignoring the fact that the last time the Mets made a panic-trade to fill in a hole, they sent Scott Kazmir to Tampa for Victor Zambrano. That move cost Steve Phillips his job. The same Steve Phillips, by the by, who tried to convince the ESPN Sunday Night audience that trading the best center fielder in baseball for prospects was a good idea. Which is why the Worldwide Leader’s Sunday Night broadcast is an even bigger joke this year then last year. The team is playing .300 baseball. A window-dressing trade that screws 2010 and beyond to help them play .350 baseball is really, really stupid.

4) And the laundry list of people everyone wants is stunning. Nick Johnson — to replace one injury prone 1B with a new one. Matt Holliday, who has revealed himself to be .270 hitter in .330 hitters clothing like everyone with access to baseball-reference knew he was. Adam Dunn — because what the team truly needs right now is a downgrade at defense. And Cliff Lee — except only by sending A-ball trash and no-one who’s currently filling out the major league roster. The only valid trades right now are for Cliff Lee (because he’s signed through 2010) and Roy Halliday (also signed through 2010, but will almost certainly involve taking on Vernon Wells’s contract). Either of those trades costs Jose Reyes, the best prospects remaining in the farm, and probably other stuff. Then, next year when injuries happen, there will be even less bodies to fill holes.

5) And the sad fact is — these trade desires have been fueled more out of the Phillies being terrible then the Mets being any good. The Phillies got crushed in Interleague Play due to the untimely loss of their guy specifically bought to DH in Interleague/WS play Raul Ibanez. Because of this, the Mets and their around .500 record were able to stick around two games down, occasionally even pulling within one. This had nothing to do with the Mets’ ability to play .450 baseball — it had entirely to do with the Phillies hitting a 4-11 cold stretch in interleague. To note, the Phillies hit a FOUR-AND-ELEVEN cold stretch and we remained convinced the Mets’ were in it because they were only a couple back. Pay no attention to the fact the team couldn’t take the division lead in that stretch, themselves going only 6-10. If the division leader goes 4-11 over two weeks and you can’t get the division in that stretch — you’re not a good baseball team. You’re not even a .500 baseball team.

6) And, as evidenced by the Mets only scoring 3-runs in an entire series in Citizens Bank Park… the Phillies have apparently had enough of those shenanigans. Their complete and total domination of the Mets last weekend was only made less-depressing by the fact I didn’t really watch any of them because of the holiday. The parts I did watch were made worse by Poppa-Yard’s new and fabulous 52″ HD. They were just overmatched in every way possible. Their defense was shoddy, bad Livan popped in for a visit, and it was evident that most of the offense spent — or should spend — some time in the minors this year. The Phillies letting the Mets stay in the race is over. They swept the Mets out of their park and put an exclamation point on it with a 22-1 trouncing of the Reds. Oh, and their DH is coming back in a couple of days.

7) It’s sad to say, but the fanbase really needs to just settle in for a bad month and stop overreacting to every peak and valley. There is no savior in the system and there is no savior on the field. The team has a bunch of kids who we’re going to watch for the next few weeks to see what they have. What would be nice is to keep the PR machine under control. The same PR machine that convinced the fans that Daniel Murphy and his two-months of service time was going to be a 20/100 replacement for Manny Ramirez. He’s not. It was a terribly unfair mantle to put on him. It’s equally unfair to make Fernando Martinez flail to a .176 average as an overmatched 19-year-old. If there was ever a season in which to be level-headed, it’s this one. Be happy when the generic part you plug-in gets you through a few days a la Tim Redding and Fernando Nieve. But don’t assume because Nick Evans gets on a hot-streak for two days that he’s the answer to the season. Don’t assume because a 19-year-old guy who should be in Double-A is overmatched by Major League pitching and therefore sucks forever and should be traded. For once, take a lesson from the New York Giants and stay the course for a little while.

8) As a fan, I never noticed how hard it was to watch bad defense until I had to watch bad defense every day. Watching baseball every day, you start to take flawless 6-3s and 4-6-3s a little for granted. When both Alex Cora and Jose Reyes were on the DL and I was watching Ramon Martinez try to turn a double play, I started to notice it. When the gold glove center fielder was replaced with the tripping 19-year-old, I noticed it more. Now that the outfield is comprised of a 41-year-old DH, a corner outfielder playing center, and a Triple-A first baseman playing out of position, I appreciate a well-staffed outfield. Also, the next time someone mentions that bad defense can be “hidden” at first base — punch them in the face. Hard.

9) Ryan Church — one of the benefits of the lack of outfielders was that Jerry Manuel has had no choice but to put his petty nonsense aside and play Ryan Church in the field every day. Since Manuel has been forced to stop mismanaging Church, he’s responded by raising his average from .268 to .290 and, even though he’s been victimized by the team-wide power-drought via CitiForbes Field Canyon, but I’d like to think that even Manuel has to realize he’s the best option in right if the team is ever able to field a major league baseball team again.

10) There’s going to come a time sometime in July when fans are going to start asking for definitive answers on when and if the currently DLed players are coming back. If that answer isn’t a good one, Citi Field is going to quickly become a ghost town as people start saving their money rather than spend $100/ticket to watch a $100M team play minor league ball. This is good for me as I’ll happily troll Stub Hub for below face-value tickets to sit in the lower dish. However, this probably isn’t so good for a team to watch their new stadium turn in to Land Shark North.