Jan
13
2011

From Angel Pagan’s Mouth To God’s Ears

An article by Ed Leyro

Angel Pagan might have been heaven sent over the past two seasons, but now he seems to have his head up in the clouds. According to today’s Daily News, Anthony McCarron reports that the outfielder still believes the Mets can compete with the Phillies for the NL East division title, despite the fact that the Mets have done very little to upgrade the team during the offseason, while the Phillies now have the Four Horsemen in their rotation with the December acquisition of Cliff Lee. Pagan goes on to say the following:

“If we have health, we can give them a fight. Everyone is counting on Philadelphia, but they have to do it. I got my money on my team, bro. I love challenges and that’s why I’m looking forward to it. I believe in surprises.”

We all know Angel Pagan is not going to say that the Mets’ goal for the 2011 season is to hold off the Washington Nationals for fourth place, especially now that Jayson Werth is there because he wants to win. But to say that the Mets can be part of the same stratosphere that the Phillies currently inhabit, although commendable for its optimistic perspective, is a little bit of a stretch.

Has Angel Pagan become aware of a top secret radical realignment plan by Bud Selig that would put the Mets in the NFC West for the 2011 season? If so, will Carlos Beltran be assessed a 15-yard penalty the next time he tries to take out Chase Utley at second base with a hard slide? Does R.A. Dickey have to trade in his Thesaurus for shoulder pads? Will Ruben Tejada be declared ineligible because he isn’t three years removed from his high school days?

I’m sure there’s a player on the Pirates who believes his team is going to win the NL Central, when the more realistic goal should be to just finish at .500. That’s something the Bucs haven’t done since 1992, when Barry Bonds* was a skinny MVP candidate who was feared on the bases and Bobby Bonilla still wasn’t collecting his Millionaire For Life winnings from the Mets.

For now, getting over .500 would be a good start for the Mets. If they go from 79-83 to 83-79, that would be a good stepping stone. The 2005 Mets improved to 83-79 after suffering through three consecutive losing seasons. The year after their rise above .500, they went to the postseason. The 2011 Mets can plant the seeds that will begin to bloom in 2012. Angel Pagan shouldn’t expect the moon this year. But he can be a part of the team that gets blasted off in 2011, with the potential to land in the playoffs in the coming years.

It’s one thing to expect great things for your team, but it’s another thing to say that the Mets are ready to compete with the team that finished with the best record in the National League in 2010, a team whose victory total has improved every year since 2006. The Phillies have their own version of the Fantastic Four (with Cole Hamels playing the role of the Invisible Woman), while the Mets have their Fantastic One (Johan Santana) out for a big chunk of the season.

Angel Pagan should just concentrate on being the best player he can be, giving 100% on the field, and not making 100% unreasonable predictions off the field. With Sandy Alderson having a definite plan on how to improve the team without doling out contracts that come back to bite him in the Bor-a$$, the competitive team Pagan wants will be there eventually. Just don’t expect it to be an overnight success.

About the Author: Ed Leyro

Ed Leyro was hatched in the Bronx, but spent most of his youth in Queens at Shea Stadium. Apparently, all that time spent at Mets games paid off as Ed met his wife (The Coop) for the first time at Citi Field during its inaugural season. Guess the 2009 season was good for something after all. In addition to his work at Mets Merized Online, Ed also owns, operates and is head janitor at Studious Metsimus, where he shares blogging duties with Joey Beartran. For those not in the know, Joey is a teddy bear dressed in a Mets hoodie. Clearly, Studious Metsimus is not your typical Mets blog.

10 Comments + Add Comment

Mr North Jersey January 13, 2011 at 7:38 pm

Agreed while a stretch it is commendable. Having said that I expect no less from any player at any time in any year.
Nathan January 13, 2011 at 8:52 pm

I don’t disagree with Pagan here. Who knows how a baseball season will play out. I for one won’t count out the Mets until mid season and they have a losing record. Injuries happen and the Phills lineup looks a little shaky to me. I know we don’t have a solid rotation but weirder things have happened.
- Brandon Butler January 14, 2011 at 9:08 am
  
  I agree. For all we know, the Mets could be the Reds of 2010, and surprise the league. I don’t disagree either with Pagans statements, but when i first read this (and i am not gonna lie here) i thought Angel Pagan was on something.
86mets January 13, 2011 at 8:55 pm

While it is a stretch to say the Mets will compete w/ the Phillies for the East title, stranger things have happened. That’s why they play 162 games. Injuries happen that can have serious effects on a team’s performance and expectations (see Mets, 2009 for a recent example). Of course, to expect the Phillies to suffer the kind of injuries that beset that ’09 Mets team (Beltran, Delgado, Reyes, Castillo, etc., etc.) is quite the stretch, but it can happen. If something happens to a few of Phillies key players, it could open the door for another team to take advantage. Though it would appear the most likely to do so would be Atlanta. But my point is, you just never know when the unexpected will happen that could make Angel Pagan look like a genius. Am I expecting the Mets to be there at the end of the season competeing for the division crown? No. But, again, this is why they have to play a full schedule. You just never know.
alwaysnextyear January 13, 2011 at 10:25 pm

;as noted, Philly could have a couple of crushing injuries too. hell, it is probably their turn.

if a couple of the “horseman” with bad backs (and advancing age!) go down, the division will look quite different.

also, people harp on 1 move the phils made (lee), while ignoring the other huge one: they lost their #5 hitter (some guy that was the primary RH power threat, a strong OF, .950ish OPS and 8th in the MVP voting). And replaced him with (so far) a couple of journeymen and a 20 YO rookie that was overmatched last year in the majors, and so bad in winter ball he got sent home.

Losing werth is irrelevant? don’t think so.
PhightinPhils January 14, 2011 at 7:16 pm

Yeah we had a ton of injuries last year and still ended up with best record in nl, that being said nothing wrong with a player saying that I would hope every met feels that way or else they shouldn’t be playing
- t agee January 14, 2011 at 7:29 pm
  
  Your right. Tons of injured players but a farm deep enough to get you Halliday and Oswalt to keep you in it. Our farm couldn’t even get us into a conversation with the Blue Jays or Astros.
  
  Spending 280 million dollars over 2 years and numerous high draft choices on top of it should keep you in it regardless of health let alone prevent you from being under .500.
sarge January 15, 2011 at 2:26 pm

Heaven forbid Ed that a player believes in his and his teams chances, especially when the game is played on the field not in the stat sheet.
Look at what the Philles did last year and now without Werth to protect Howard and Utley always being hurt, Rollins aging Mets players should be confident in their analysis of the coming year.

Hey he isn’t saying that Mets are the team to beat as others have said in past but he is saying that if the team is healthy that they will not roll over for Philles or any other team.
I like confidence and you’all criticizing him should just allow him his two cents and move on.
- t agee January 15, 2011 at 2:39 pm
  
  Really Sarge, Couldn’t agree more. The effort Angel put out everyday and the all around good and oftentimes spectacular play he provided should be applauded and if he feels good about 2011, that makes me feel better about it too.
agel January 24, 2011 at 3:16 pm

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