Here’s Some Doom to Go with Your Gloom

An article by Russell Zanca    5 Comments

That’s right, I’m not in a positive frame of mind. Yeah, something about looking like a sack of crap when playing the Skankees will do this to me. I just cannot let the last three games go, and I really was feeling like we might be able to muddle through until after the All-Star Break. Now, I feel chances are good to excellent that in an NL of mostly very mediocre teams we’re going to be a bad one come August.

Frankly, there’s decent starting pitching for five innings with an inability to go deep into games, a decent but already overworked BP, and a starting lineup and bench players who may have seen their best hitting days already. Unless a major hitter or two is added to this team soon, it’s a real likelihood that we will find ourselves uncompetitive and in fourth place once the leaves begin to crackle.

Beyond the basic middlingness of our lineup and pitching, there is the basic atrocity of Mets defense. While we never know what series of blunders will befall us next  on the field, the one constant is that the Mets defense stinks. Let’s be honest: Daniel Murphy is a liability in the field–no matter where he’s placed. Wright can make spectacular plays at third, but he always seems challenged in terms of basic arm strength and speed when it comes to fairly routine grounders. Still, I surely can live with him at third. Players like Castillo and Cora are decent for the most part, but their range and speed are limited. As for the outfield, without Beltran defense is not sufficient.

When DeRosa was dealt to the Cards, I read people who said, “That’s no biggie, he wouldn’t have carried us anyway.” Funny how Manuel’s telling reaction was, “That’s a real good move for them (Cards).” Having watched DeRosa in Chicago and followed how he fared in Cleveland, I think letting him go to the Cards stinks. He may not be a superstar, but he’s a darn good ball player. He currently has 13HRs and 50RBIs. I don’t think too many Mets have that kind of offensive production right now, do you? He also plays a very capable defense at a variety of positions and has a very strong arm–an OF’s arm in fact.

I’ll be in Miller Park tonight, and I’ll be screaming my head off for our Mets, but mark my words: status quo from here till the All-Star break will most likely end in something close to disaster.

Let’s Make a Deal, and Let’s Go Mets!