The team we know and love has allowed yet another opportunity to slip through their fingers. I don’t know one person that truly believes, from a player for player standpoint, that we couldn’t top L.A.’s offer to the D-Backs for Joe Saunders, Patrick Corbin, Rafael Rodriguez, and the dreaded PTBNL.
Saunders is not rocking the greatest record in the world, averaging almost 5 runs a start this season. I haven’t heard that Haren was totally opposed to playing in New York. I think his biggest desire was to play for a contender. Why were the Mets not in on him? And the prospects were nothing to write home about, either. I’m certain we could have found three pitchers with our eyes closed that would have helped the D-Backs more. We could start with Pedro Feliciano then work our way into the prospect list. Would it kill us to part with him? Or Holt? Nieve? Parnell? Havens? F-Mart? Murphy? (add a name) Anybody?
“Sit back and wait”. “If it’s meant to be, it will happen”. Those mantras have been a constant in Flushing and it’s sure to be the death of us because like it or not, good teams don’t have to work so hard to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. Good teams make good business decisions. Good teams act rather than react. Good teams know that reacting quickly and being proactive brings them a step above the competition. Pre-emptive strike. This passive approach is disaster.
One of the primary reasons why the Met fan base are so irate is because from our perspective, it appears that nothing is being sufficiently done to make the team better. The perception is indeed a reality from former Met players, current Met fans, and on the field opposition, all in the quest for a World Title. We are in a war for the NL East and to salvage a flailing reputation. When you are in a battle where your opponents mock and laugh at you and have zero respect for you, then you are in a position to either lay down and die or come out fighting, land punches, and knock your opponent out. The best defense is a better offense. Say what you want but the Evil Empire, despite their faults, have the killer instinct. They go after what they want and they get it. I don’t believe the Mets didn’t want Dan Haren. Who wouldn’t want strikeout numbers like that and to have a pitcher under control for 2 years or so? Did the Mets miss an opportunity here or was there something else that made it impossible for Haren to be a real consideration?
Since the Mets seem to be disinterested in Ted Lilly (due to decreasing velocity) and the Cubs’ offer as of late, what is next for us? What moves can put our team back into the race to the playoffs? Talks of the Royals making moves are in play (I love the idea of dumping Ollie and Castillo in one swoop). Jake Westbrook as a fallback? Really? Less than six days to make major, division race changing moves before the “good” teams take all the players available and again, resemble a team that is merely used by players and agents to boost their value and as leverage against the teams they really want to be on. It’s time for the Mets to be relevant again. This season is still within reach but the next few days are, quite frankly, deal-breakers.
