Hope for the Future

Okay, so I tried something new, using a pen and paper instead of a PC. What I wound up with was 1000 words or so on paper. Then I went to sleep. Now it’s two days later and, even if I wanted to transcribe it, if I could read it, it’s old news now, or, even worse, commentary on old news.

So let’s try again. The Mets still win a couple, lose a couple. LeBron James is still damned if he does and if he doesn’t, the Yanks are still second best, well, maybe third best now, and some nag will undoubtedly win the Belmont Stakes this Saturday.

That Mets game last night was really fun to watch. It had everything, some good pitching, some good hitting and lots and lots of highs and lows.

Mike Pelfrey is cursed. Either he’ll lose the game all by himself or he’ll get help. Last night he got help. The usual suspects provided the help, Reyes and Beltran, Pagan and Paulino to name a few. But, after taking a nice lead, their relievers lost it for them anyway.

I don’t like the way Collins handles pitchers. He either inserts a new pitcher before the one on the mound gets in trouble or he stays with a pitcher clearly in trouble much too long. He thinks it’s character building. I think it’s just stupid.

Last night Pelfrey pitched a gem for six innings. That’s all the opportunity he got. Collins decided it was time for some of the worst relievers in the game to finish it for him. And oh, they finished it all right. The first reliever called upon, the lefty “specialist” Byrdak promptly walked the first batter, Prince Fielder, and got yanked.

Then Parnell managed to pitch his way through the seventh without too much incident, setting the stage for the Mets big inning in the eighth. But, rather than let Parnell continue, Collins brought in Pedro Beato, who had pitched the day before. And it showed. He had nothing, no fastball, no slider, no fight. He just quit. He figuratively said, “You don’t pitch me two days in a row”.

Beato promptly walked the forty-year old Counsell. Right at that point I would have pulled his butt. But not Collins, he wanted to see Beato build character. Beato did manage to get a ground ball out of Rickie Weeks though, a ball that could have been a double-play with a better infield. That minor gaffe was enough to rattle Beato, who then gave up a single to Morgan and a double to Braun, scoring two. Only then did Collins go to Isringhausen, who wasted no time at all in letting Prince Fielder tie the game with a humongous home run to straight-away center.

I chalk last night’s loss up to Collins. Instead of going with the hot hand, he goes with the cold one. And it’s not the first time. Instead of pulling closer to that magic .500 mark, the Mets lost one that should have been in the bag.

Everybody thinks the Mets relative success this year is solely due to Collins. What a joke! Whatever success they’ve had is due to some good players, players who were unproven but good nevertheless. Turner, Pridie, Thole, Tejada, these young players are tough. And the starting pitching has been good too.

While it could be that Collins is one of the reasons they’re playing so well, that’s not really a lock. And I’m willing to give Collins the benefit of the doubt in that regard but he’s bad with pitchers. He needs to get better.

The Mets need some power and some help in the relief corps, starting with a lefty who knows how to pitch. Every time I see Byrdak, I think “here we go”. As the Mets won’t be spending any money in the near future, the Mets have to use their existing assets to get better in the long run.

But they can get a power hitter and a reliever or two without getting rid of Reyes. Reyes is a large piece of the Mets very identity. Although his value is undoubtedly the highest it will ever be right now, the Mets should not make a deal until it’s proven they can’t re-sign him and that the return for him is significant, meaning multiple high-quality prospects.

Wilpon’s unfortunate comments certainly point to the Mets not re-signing him. But just as the Yankees overpaid by nearly double Jeter’s actual worth to re-sign him, so the Mets should regard Jose Reyes. He’s the straw that stirs the drink, not Wright or Santana or Beltran. The team should be willing to pay some premium to keep him in a Mets uniform.

Only if re-signing him is virtually impossible should the Mets deal him. If they must deal him, they must get value. Beltran and K-Rod should also draw some suitors this year from any number of contending teams. They can fully expect to get some power and relief pitching in return.

All of which means there is hope for a better Mets team in the future, one probably featuring pitching and defense rather than power, although some power would be nice. It certainly appears at this juncture that power will not be forthcoming from either Jason Bay or David Wright.

Jason Bay is holding the bat too tightly. He’s got to loosen up that grip and just whip that bat around. His stance is actually better than it was last year when he led with his elbows. He’s just got to relax. He has to swing at the first hittable pitch too rather than taking a strike. Until he shakes this slump, he should forget about having “good” at-bats. He’s got to break out, and not necessarily with home runs.

Meanwhile, NBA fans will see the real LeBron tonight. Baskets? …..he’ll make them. Rebounds?....he’ll get them. Assists?....maybe not so many but some timely ones to his partners named Wade and Chris Bosh.