Yesterday, the Mets set aside all the drama of their not-so-hot-stove season for a good cause at their Annual Mets Holiday Party. Jeff Francoeur played the part of St. Nick and he and his fellow Mets elves brought some much needed joy and smiles to school children from all five boros of the city. By all accounts it was a grand time for everyone.. Well almost everyone…
Omar Minaya was the target of most of the beat writers and reporters who covered the event, and as expected he downplayed the recent hot stove activity of the Phillies, Yankees and Red Sox, while preaching patience to Mets fans.
There’s a lot of great quotes from Omar thanks to the efforts of Bart Hubbuch, Steve Popper, Adam Rubin and Brian Costa, but one quote that caught my attention was this one:
“When we get our guys back on the field playing every day, with a couple of moves here or there, we’re going to be similar to where we were starting last year.”
I guess it really resonated with me only because this is what Omar kept saying in June before the trading deadline, in July at the trading deadline, and again in August after the trading deadline. Unfortunately back then, we never got all our guys back and the Mets finished the season with a 70-92 record.
We’ll be hearing the phrase a lot between now and Opening Day, and who knows, maybe even beyond Opening Day.
The Mets have plenty of question marks surrounding their players on the injury front. Time hasn’t lessened the degree of concern one iota.
Johan Santana is coming back from surgery to remove bone spurs in his elbow. It’s the same type surgery John Maine had in 2008 when he had bone spurs removed from his shoulder. Maine was expected to be ready for spring training, but he ended having a setback and missed most of the 2009 season.
Carlos Beltran missed a lot of time due to an originally misdiagnosed bone bruise that kept getting worse before it got better. Beltran did return even though he still had the bruise on his knee. While some thought he needed micro fracture surgery, Beltran and the Mets doctors thought an off season of rest would do the trick. We’ll soon find out.
While Carlos Delgado is no longer officially a Met, Omar Minaya is giving much thought to bringing him back. So much so, that he plans to fly to Puerto Rico next week to meet with the slugger. Delgado missed much of last season with a bad hip that never seemed to get better. A 15 day DL stint turned into a season ending injury, and still no word on how he has progressed.
Jose Reyes continues to rehab his right leg and says he will be ready for Spring Training, but has not yet done any baseball related activities. Yesterday he cautioned that even though he may be back, he doesn’t know how long it will be before his speed returns.
Youngsters Jon Niese and Fernando Nieve are also supposed to be ready for spring training, but both still need more time to recover before an official determination is made.
Of course, Luis Castillo managed to stay healthy while his teammates all succumbed to injuries one by one. The real questions is can he pull it off again?
Did I forget someone? Ah yes, Oliver Perez, our big free agent prize from last off season. There is absolutely no word on his status, but Omar is banking on a big rebound. I bet.
I must mention David Wright even though he wasn’t a casualty of the DL. Only because of all the guys we need to be back, the 2006-2008 version of Wright must be added to that list.
So there you have it…
Once we get all our guys back we’ll be fine and once again we’ll be able to have a competitive team on the field.
Geesh… I’m starting to sound like Omar now.
What a friggin’ joke!
The Mets front office just sucks!
I’d love to read what I just wrote in nine months, so I can eat those words. I doubt it.
PLEASE, PLEASE sell the team. This is getting M. Donald Grant-like
Sure, and when the team tanks in April Omar and all the apologists will say: “Well, they’re just coming off injury, so they’re playing a little slow. But once they come back to form I’m comfortable that we’ll be a good team”
Midseason and the team still sucks: “Well, we had a lot of injuries last year, so I think that you’d have to expect a down year, but they’ll be ready to go next year, and I’m comfortable that we’ll be a good team then”
After yet another dreadful offseason: “We’ve made a couple of prudent moves and I’m quite comfortable with the product on the field, I’m confident we’ll be a good team then”
Its the same double talk we’ve been hearing the last 4 years. Its gotten us nowhere.
Omar is trying to sell yesterday’s news. No readers will buy it.
Carlos Delgado is yesterday’s hero. Here’s hoping his offensive skills have a rebirth or even a mild rejuvenation. But I don’t think so. His defensive skills are overrated by many die-hard CitiField addicts. So if we can get a just a semblance of what he never was, all we’ll get is a mediocre first baseman! Too bad, ‘cuz he’s very likable.
Unless more is done by the front office, I expect the Mets to struggle for fourth place.
Joe D: Omar is more spindoctor than baseball GM. He has no juice or clout and the Wilpons have set him up to fail with the plethora of egregous contracts he has negotiated recently (Castilla, Perez, etc).
Signing Bay for more that four years is a mistake. If they wanted the wait and see approach to free agency, they should go all the way. Who wants Bay that badly? Since Omar is auch a fool, and the master of self-negotiation, Bay’s agent is salavating over the gifted fifth year.
The stragety was to burst out of the gate and shore up the weak pitching staff. Then fill in the remaining holes. The Mets plan was flawed if only they had a plan.
The differential impact between signing a player for four or five years typically is not felt until the fifth year, possibly the fourth year.
We need help now, so if the Wilpon’s have the dough (NONE of us are certain of their financial status!), let’s take the risk for Year 5 in Year 1. Otherwise our prospects are bleak.
P.S.: Doug, I endorse your view that Omar is a spindoctor, but I think he’s also a pretty good — not great — baseball man.
Forget about 2010. Jason Werth is a FA after next year. Joe Mauer is a FA after next year. Beckett and Lee are FAs after next year. Crawford too. Why waste money on a Molina type when one of the best players in baseball will be out there in one year? All you need is a professional management team that he might trust and a boatload of money. But Omar will schlepp out money this year, finish 3rd or 4th, get fired and leave less money available for next year.
Because he knows that no matter who is out there next year, they will accept less money to play for other teams. Besides, has anyone stopped to think that once this team implodes, Minaya will be gone and whatever new GM comes in, will be dealing with a front office and coaching staff in upheaval. It’ll certainly affect their ability to negotiate and sign new players.