A Second Baseman for Beltran?

Okay, so the Mets are still stinkin’ up the joint. Santana should’ve pitched a perfect game if he wanted to really win, so he’s got no one to blame but himself. Yeah, it was Pittsburgh and anyone would think somebody on that sorry Mets roster could hit a Pirates pitcher, even a promising one like Zach Duke.

But these are the Mets, featuring Carlos Beltran, who couldn’t be bothered to try to steal second when down a run in that late inning, I forget which, it’s not important. What is important is that he just stayed there. Yeah, I know, you go for the win on the road, yada yada, Jerry goes with the book all the time, and it says you don’t go for the tie on the road.

Screw that! Screw Beltran and screw Manuel and his book. This is supposed to be a team that feels it’s still in the race. This is a team that needs to scratch for runs. But if it’s best player is going to lollygag there on first base when the team desperately needs to score, why should anybody else do anything?

This is one sorry situation. Dump Beltran. I’m tired of this. Somebody’ll take him off our hands. And he’ll play great for them, no doubt, but he won’t play hard for these guys, Minaya and Manuel. And since those two are the management right now, and possibly into the future, let’s start thinking about what kind of player we want in his place.

What do we need? Let’s see….

A relief pitcher would be nice but that’s not the biggest problem right now. Geez, we could use a second baseman, especially if Castillo is going to go away. I’m willing to give Ike Davis another year at first base. I know he’s not absolutely killing the ball but he’s a player and it’s just his first year in the majors. That guy could become a star.

There’s Reyes at short, he’s a keeper as much as he drives everybody crazy. Then there’s sorry-butt Wright who tries to play third most of the time. In the outfield there is Bay, or will be, in left field once he gets his head right, and Pagan could play center and Francoeur, who’s beginning to try to have better at-bats at least, in right field. He’ll do for now.

Thole looks like a keeper at catcher and Blanco can back him up, that’s not optimal but Thole has done some things that show promise, a lot like Mr. Davis on first.

The starting pitching has been amazing, all things considered….Santana, Dickey, Niese, Pelfrey and take your pick, either Takahashi or Misch.

But we need a second baseman. Ruben Tejada is not the answer. Let’s take a look at what’s available. And who might need a centerfielder like Beltran when he’s playing hard, the way he used to when he was a happy camper.

First, let’s eliminate some. Cano, sure, he would ever play for the Mets, then there’s Prado in Atlanta, a hell of a player, and Phillips in Cinci. I don’t think the White Sox would part with Alexei Ramirez either. Polanco in Philly is getting older so might be available but that would be like bringing in another Castillo, only better. I can’t really see the Brewers getting rid of McGehee either, too much power, the same is probably true for Dan Uggla.

There could be some other untouchables too, like Pedroia for example, but consider that we’d be offering up Carlos Beltran.

I know everybody seemed to want Orlando Hudson. Whether Mr. Hudson agrees is my question, and that’s assuming the Twins would part with him. Their centerfielder is Denard Span though, and he’s pretty good, but doesn’t have much power. Beltran would be an upgrade but probably an upgrade not really required. The Twins have Morneau and Mauer already, and Kubel so…….forget Hudson.

Kelly Johnson in Arizona is a very nice player, good hitter, but the DBacks have Chris Young in center. But, looking over in their left field, there is only Gerardo Parra. There’s a possible deal in the making. The DBacks could use an experienced player like Beltran to round out the youth in Young and Justin Upton in right.

The White Sox have an interesting situation with infielders. In addition to Alexei Ramirez, who actually plays short most of the time, they have both Gordon Beckham and a youngster named Brent Lillibridge who has some good numbers in limited at-bats. As streaky as Beckham had been, they might consider a move for a Beltran. Their outfielders are Alex Rios, Carlos Ruiz and Juan Pierre. Juan Pierre especially could probably be replaced. I’d love to get Beckham. But Lillibridge too is an intriguing possibility.

The Rockies have Clint Barmes manning the keystone sack and have a nice guy at third base in Ian Stewart, who can also play second base. Stewart is backed up by Melvin Mora, an experienced hitter. I’d be interested in either Barmes or Stewart. The Rockies need help in the outfield. Seth Smith plays left and Ryan Spilborghs plays right field for them. Neither inspires any fear in opponents.

Stewart’s batting .267 but has belted 17 homers, with a goodly number of runs and rbi’s. Barmes isn’t the hitter Stewart is but plays hard all the time and adds to a lineup, at the very least. Luis Castillo can back him up but he won’t be around forever….or will he?

How about Rickie Weeks from Milwaukee? That would be a coup. The Brewers outfield could definitely use a Carlos Beltran. Although they are solid in left with Ryan Braun, their centerfielder is Lorenzo Cain. Their right fielder is Cory Hart. Maybe Beltran would be just what the Brewers need. Rickie Weeks is batting .274 with runs and rbi’s in the 80’s and 70’s respectively. That would be a pretty even trade, Weeks for Beltran, especially if the Mets picked up some of his salary.

I never thought I'd be happy to see Beltran leaving.

Nobody Saves the Closer

Well, it's Friday the 13th and that can't be good for anybody. But the Mets are coming off another Santana victory, one for which he thankfully needed not one bit of relief. And Beltran finally broke out for three hits or so. But in the long run, losing your closer is not good, especially if he takes himself out of the fray. I won't re-hash he finer details of his violent temper tantrum (which has been widely reported) but from a purely baseball standpoint, the whole thing really stinks.

That sense of entitlement can really screw a person up sometimes. We've seen it with Tiger Woods, Ben Roethlisberger, Santana himself really and now K-Rod.

I remember being very angry at Pedro Martinez when he just shoved the elderly Yankees coach (his name is not coming to me just now) off his feet. So you can imagine how I'm feeling about K-Rod now. What a bum. I won't be wearing his shirt any longer. I don't care how many games he saves. When you beat up your girl friend's father for trying to protect his daughter, you're bad news. Go to jail. Stay there. But forfeit all your money too.

I feel the same about these rapists and all the habitual married womanizers. Get over yourselves. Join the human race.

All that behind me now. I don't know what the Mets'll do in the ninth inning now. They had enough trouble when they were just worried about how to get to K-Rod. Now there'll just be the big void. Oh, and Igarashi too. He may get through some situations but not the lion's share, that's pretty certain. Of course, anything can happen in baseball. I really believe that.

But percentages are against it. Unless he's one of those guys who gets way tougher when the chips are on the line, he just won't have the composure of a closer. I'm laughing as I write that last. How ironic that a guy who shows absolutely no composure in his personal dealings can keep his cool on the mound. Will his recommended anger management classes affect his mound performance negatively? You have to wonder.

But, even more significantly to me as a baseball fan, I won't really be able to even root for him anymore,. And since he is the closer, to root against him is to root against the Mets...very directly. More often than not, it's either K-Rod pumping his fist in the air or another Mets loss. Nobody saves the closer.

Just A Quickie

Baseball, it's funny. Last column, I blasted Jose Reyes, David Wright and Mike Pelfrey big-time. And I stand by that criticism. But last night, as the Mets "thrashed" the very tough Colorado Rockies, 1-0, Reyes got what turned out to be the game-winning sac fly and Pelfrey out-pitched the Rockies Ubaldo Jiminez, who has only been the best pitcher in baseball this season. Wright's frustrations continued from his vantage point on the very far side of the batters box.

But it was a great game. Pelfrey's stuff returned miraculously, everything was dipping down. Takahasi pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and K-Rod closed it out, no problem at all. Beltran got a key intentional walk to give Reyes an opportunity to bat, proof that Rockies manager Tracy doesn't waste his time looking at box scores. Reputations are a wonderful thing.

Of course, the Braves won again but at least the Phillies lost. And I have no doubt that the blue and orange will continue to struggle. But Niese will be going tonight against the Rockies Francis and I'll take that matchup any day of the week.

I can be thankful too that my thousand words of yesterday got lost in Microsoft Word somewhere. I won't be using that program anymore, thus saving me countless hours trying to figure out their new "intuitive" menus. I'll just chuck it all right into Netscape Composer (7.2) and hope for the best. I don't need no stinking spell check. I don't need no stinking word count. I'll just stop when I'm tired, which, today, might come any moment now. But it's a nice day, I won't think about the gigantic, unstoppable iceberg or the woes of the financial community, the worthlessness of the American dollar, general joblesness, or the lack of rain.

I won't worry about the Mets either. They'll do just fine without me, and Beltran too, for that matter. Beltran cleared waivers yesterday, no surprise.

At least the Yankees lost. That they lost to my second favorite team, the Texas Rangers (we don't need no stinking pitch counts) made it all the better. My third favorite team, the San Francisco Giants, lost to the Cubbies though and it wasn't that close. And Tim Lincecum got lit up pretty good, showing once again the frailties of pitchers, for anyone not named Ubaldo Jiminez.

I'm only now beginning to think about the football season. That the Jets didn't have the foresight to save enough money to sign the league's best cornerback, Darrelle Revis, is slightly disconcerting though. I guess I can't be surprised. They treat their own very shabbily and have since Tannenbaum took the helm. So there will be no Faneca, no Washington, no Revis maybe. They'll go forward with a rookie guard, LaDainian Tomlinson and whomever to man that corner slot. Good luck with that!

Rex Ryan and Woody Johnson are now assuming a "we don't need no stinking Revis" stance. And they've only offered him 5 million guaranteed. Shameful.

Just a word before I close re Isiah Thomas and his return to the Knicks. I've seen articles that absolutely kill him for a lot of different things. Everybody mentions the sexual harrassment, something I never believed, and everybody mentions Larry Brown getting fired. And I've even read what a fine evaluator of talent that he is! What a crock! Let me just say two words "Eddy Curry". Forget about the horrors of Jerome James, forget about Marbury and Hardaway, forget about everything else. Just the spectre of having the guy who picked up Eddy Curry, in the worst trade known to man, anywhere within ten feet of the owner is downright terrifying.

Okay, that's enough. Maybe if I stop when I'm tired, I'll write more often. (I think the Mets have finally begun to screw up my motivation....thank God for fantasy football).















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