And Back to Baseball.....

After a decidedly mediocre week of picks in Week 4 of the NFL action (6-7 against the spread thus far), it’s an easy matter to turn my head back to baseball. The Mets finally get to think about next year. The Twins and Tigers battle for the final playoff spot tonight. The Yanks are all set to play somebody. And Arod incredibly reached 30 homers and 100 rbi’s on his very last at-bat of the regular season.

That last fact is the most amazing stat of all. I’m not crazy about Arod but it is almost magical that he managed to attain still another baseball record in such a fashion. He had 28 homers and only 93 rbi’s entering the contest. Going into the sixth inning, he still needed two dingers and 7 rbi’s for his record 13th 30-homer and 100 ribbie season!

No problem for Arod. He hit a 3-run homer early in the sixth and, after the Rays walked Teixeira with two men on, for the sole reason of guaranteeing their man Pena would stay tied with Teixeira for the AL lead in home runs, Arod had his chance. He made the most of it too. I have to give him a lot of credit. Finally. Even if it could have happened to a nicer guy. He missed 28 games! Unbelievable!

Getting back to the Mets though, we’ll be seeing some changes very soon, and probably first with the coaching staff. It’s pretty much assured that their pitching coach Warthen will be replaced, a move that can’t really be faulted as the Mets staff led the league in walks. They may get a new third base coach as well, and the two moves taken together set a strong precedent for rewarding success and punishing failure. A good thing.

If the Mets do stay the course with their core players, they’ll only need a left fielder. I’ve read over and over that they need a first baseman, a left fielder and a catcher but that’s not necessarily the case.

Omir Santos showed a lot of promise as a clutch rbi guy for a good portion of the season, at least while I was still paying attention. Schneider really had a horrible year at the plate but he’ll be leaving. Yeah, they need a catcher but not a great catcher, not somebody who’ll break the bank.

At first base, who knows? They could re-sign Delgado if he’ll go for a limited number of years, say one or two. And Daniel Murphy, though not possessed of the power numbers required for a first baseman, certainly qualifies as a reserve at first. He did lead the team in home runs even if the number was only 12. He’s a young guy who can only get better.

That leaves left field and one proven pitcher. Left field should be easy. I’d love for the Mets to get Matt Holliday. I don’t think they will but they should. He’s a legitimate star and he only gets better when everything’s on the line. The Cards will probably try to keep him, but the pockets in St Loo aren’t that deep. If Holliday doesn’t become the World Series MVP, he may be available. After all, the Cards already have Pujols. Talk about an embarrassment of riches.


Holliday batted .313 this year with 24 homers and 109 rbi’s. After being traded to St. Louis, his numbers on the year improved dramatically. He smacked 13 hr’s for the Cards in just 2/3 of the at-bats he had in Oakland. His career numbers are .318 and, well, he’s basically your everyday run-of-the-mill 30 homer 100 rbi guy. He’ll be 30 years old in January.

Assuming the Mets can’t get Holliday, or if they’re just not interested, a more likely explanation although I have no idea why any team wouldn’t want one of the premiere players in both leagues, there are also some other nice players out there.

There’s Jason Bay, who was even more productive for the Red Sox, but he batted just .267 and he strikes out a LOT, with 162 K’s to Holliday’s 101. Another intriguing possibility is getting Hideki Matsui, who, despite garnering just 456 at-bats, hit 28 homers and knocked in 90 runs. He’s also the definition of “clutch”. Plus, how nice would it be to keep the Godzilla in New York?

There’re also some other possibly good choices but to my eyes riskier propositions. Rick Ankiel will be available and so will Andruw Jones. Then there’re Bobby Abreu, Vladimir Guerrero and former Met Xavier Nady, to take a bit of a step down. Most of these are either centerfielders or right-fielders but I’m sure Beltran may be ready to move to another outfield position that may be easier on his legs.

At first base, all things considered, I’d stay with Delgado, assuming he can be had reasonably. Available are Hank Blalock, Russ Branyan, Ross Gload, Nick Johnson and Adam LaRoche. While any of them could supply some power, it would be impossible for any of them to provide the leadership and continuity that Delgado would.

Then there’s the starting pitching situation. The possibilities there are almost too numerous to mention. But there are some big names, Bedard and Hudson, Lackey and Lee, Myers and Penny, Piniero and Prior, Sheets and Wolf, Washburn and Brandon Webb, who’d be one of my favorites if healthy.

For comic relief, Carl Pavano will be a free agent once again, currently serving his one-year contract out with the Twins after putting together a pretty nice year. Overall, he’s 14-12 with a 5.10 ERA with 147 strikeouts and just 39 walks.

The Mets situation is fixable. Easily fixable. Things would have to fall their way but don’t they always? I just heard that Jose Reyes will have surgery after so long dismissing the possibility. Beltran is still hurting a bit apparently. Wright can’t hit for power anymore. Delgado is old.

That’s the core. But can the Mets luck stay bad?