At Home Plate - Anything Goes: Why Can’t The Mets Win?

At Home Plate

Written by Adam Adkins (Contact & Archive) on May 27, 2009

We all know the New York Mets, the Big Apple’s second team, an almost carbon copy of what the Yankees across town do. The Mets spend money -- Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana, Francisco Rodriguez -- like the Yanks do, but have seemed to be far less successful over the last 10 years. We won’t dwell on the past; let’s look at the 2009 Mets, position by position.

Catcher: Ramon Castro and Omir Santos
Alright, neither one of these two can hit, but both are serviceable gloves. Given the altogether lack of great catchers, a black hole here isn’t a killer. Neither have Adjusted OPS’s (OPS+) above 100.

The Mets are really missing Delgado's bat.

Photo by teamdoster, used under creative commons license.

First Base: Carlos Delgado (DL) and Jeremy Reed
Delgado can still hit, but with him being gone for a long time (August-ish?), and no real replacement on the roster -- you suck, Reed -- this is a huge problem that will keep bleeding and bleeding. Should Omar Minaya trade for someone? Who is available? Someone that would cost a lot, but if a long-term replacement is available, do it, because Delgado is in a contract year. But, for right now, this isn’t pretty.

Second Base: Luis Castillo
Castillo is not, no matter what any analyst says, a good baseball player. A major leaguer cannot have a slugging percentage of .322, especially if the batting average of the player is a fine .273. Don’t get me wrong, that BA isn’t good, but it does mean he’s making contact, and the SLG tells me that contact isn’t strong. This is current line-up black hole number 3, although the .357 OBP isn’t bad.

Short Stop: Jose Reyes
Although he certainly has more maturity issues -- perhaps because no one on the Mets aside from Johan and Wright give a damn -- Reyes is a very good player. But, like Castillo, where is the power? His 11 to 2 stolen base ratio is fine, and I’d imagine he’s still providing fine defense. Grow up, hit a lot of doubles and a handful of home runs and everyone will leave you alone.

Third Base: David Wright
The best player on the team and the best player in the division not named Chase or Hanley.

Outfielders: Carlos Beltran, Daniel Murphy, Gary Sheffield and Ryan Church
You are an absolute, without question fool if you think Beltran is a bad player. Despite his promotions at ESPN, Steve Phillips has as much baseball knowledge as my unborn children. To rant and rave on a national broadcast about the shortcomings of Beltran as a player -- what, he doesn’t have a good slider? -- is tomfoolery. Rip the fact that Minaya refused to sign Manny Ramirez and go with a horrible -- yes, he’s horrible-- player like Daniel Murphy. Rip Jerry Manuel for running such a loose ship that his star shortstop has no respect for him. But Beltran, the best center fielder in the NL? Grow up.

Starting Pitching: Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, Livan Hernandez, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Tim Redding
Other than Johan and maybe Pelfrey and, if I squint, Maine, this rotation sucks. Livan Hernandez is not a big-league starter; he’s going to be gutted soon. Pelfrey walks more than he strikes out, so I guess I was wrong, he stinks. Maine is walking more than five per nine. Oliver Perez, and this is shocking, went Oliver Perez and he stinks now too. So, you’ve got Johan Santana and that’s it. I picked this fricking team to go to the World Series? I should find the nearest cliff and introduce myself to the bottom.

Relievers: Francisco Rodriguez, JJ Putz, Pedro Feliciano, Bobby Parnell, Sean Green, Brian Stokes
Finally, a set of good players. I do not like K-Rod as much as others, but he’s a good pitcher and he’s made them better. If Putz can regain his prior form from 2007, he’s dynamite and superior to Rodriguez. The others are mostly filler, the randomness that bullpens carry. If Billy Wagner can return and be solid, this bullpen will be the best in the NL. Wagner-Putz-K Rod is pretty damn solid.

So, what have I learned? They have Beltran, Wright and Reyes (hopefully) to hit, Johan, K-Rod and Putz to pitch. That’s, um, 6 good players. The problem with this team is the ineptitude of their GM, who refused -- yes, refused -- to improve his team by signing Manny. Yeah, he got suspended, I know, but he’ll be back for the stretch run. You’ll know when that is by watching the Mets crash and burn. A lack of talent will do that. The Mets are still a second-class team, even though they have a great core. That falls on Omar Minaya, and no one else.

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