Mets’ Wagner was well armed on and off mound
Posted: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 4:16 PM
I don’t know Billy Wagner. He arrived to pitch for the Mets as I was leaving after four years as a broadcaster for the team. But we have -- albeit in different roles -- been around many of the same people.
I admire the hell out of Wagner. And that admiration is not just tied to the way he gave the Mets everything his left arm had in it before tearing a medial collateral ligament and having his season and perhaps his career end in sad fashion.
Several times in recent weeks, Wagner has thoroughly dismissed any link of the Mets’ improved play to the firing of Willie Randolph. Others have freely taken aim at Randolph. Most notable is Tony Bernazard, a former player turned union lackey turned assistant general manager of the Mets. Bernazard was never in Randolph’s corner and rarely missed a chance to let anyone within earshot know that. For reasons known only to Omar Minaya, the Mets general manager never stopped Bernazard’s whisper campaign.
After three and a half years, Bernazard’s wish was fulfilled and now he is serving up low-rent quotes to the New York media directly connecting the resurgence of Carlos Delgado to the managerial change of Randolph out and Jerry Manuel in.
Wagner has stepped in and indirectly called out Bernazard. It’s on the players, Wagner rightly says, as if a manager should be needed to motivate a $16 million player.
Should Randolph be held accountable for Johan Santana’s 2.47 post All-Star break ERA, compared to the unsightly 2.84 under Randolph? Santana won the game Sunday night against the Phillies to keep the Mets from getting swept and that is his reason or justification for existing in a New York uniform. A contract of $137.5 million is supposed to buy a team clutch wins like that and Santana lived up to his end of the deal and delivered.
No doubt the Mets have responded to Manuel. If anyone wants to make the argument put forward by Bernazard, I would think Jose Reyes would be the example. After all, any Mets manager should be judged in good part by the development of the team’s core. Reyes and David Wright are the Mets’ answer to Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams, cornerstones for a decade, and Reyes – if he can overcome a super slow start to September -- is headed for the superstar season that Jimmy Rollins posted last year.
Reyes will score 100 runs, should reach 200 hits with 40-plus doubles, 70-plus extra base hits and 50-plus steals. Were it not for Delgado’s drive, Reyes would be a top MVP candidate. And his numbers are virtually identical pre and post All-Star break. Credit to Manuel and the Mets for their rebound. They are still the division favorites with 12 “easy” games ahead against Washington and Atlanta and no more games with the Phillies.
Randolph is gone, destined to return I think to Yankee pinstripes. Let him be in peace. By the way, if we want to look at winning credentials over a career, take a peek at these revealing numbers:
NUMBER OF POSTSEASON GAMES:
Willie Randolph 47
Tony Bernazard 0
FIVE MORE SWINGS:
1. With no Wagner the Mets may still get to the postseason but I can’t see them advancing through the tense nights of October with their present cast of relievers.
2. Don’t dismiss Houston for the wild card. The Astros have 13 of their last 19 at home, seven with Pittsburgh and their final six with Cincinnati and Atlanta. They could be this year’s Colorado.
3. Milwaukee’s 2-5 week at home at the same time as the Cubs have struggled is costly for the Brewers. It may well cost them their best shot to finally overhaul Chicago. But the wild card is still the Brewers to lose.
4. How insane is the advance of youth in today’s game? Rookies Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw started Sunday’s NL West showdown game. Forget about the records -- this was a September pennant race game started by a pair of babies. They’re no doubt talented (Scherzer struck out 11 in five innings) but young.
And the first player from the 2008 amateur draft to reach the majors is San Francisco’s Connor Gillaspie, a third baseman from Wichita State. Thirty six days after signing, he is wearing the Giants’ Orange and Black. The young man who is 21 told the San Francisco Chronicle that he “just went through puberty two or three years ago.”
5. Brandon Morrow nearly became the second pitcher in MLB history to throw a no-hitter in his first start (we know Morrow has 100 relief appearances) Friday night. Why? The Yankees played in Tampa Bay Thursday night, flew six hours across the country and played Friday in Seattle -- and by the way, no stimulants allowed.
This is the travesty MLB must stop. To their credit, no Yankees offered travel as an excuse. But major league prices were charged for Seattle fans to watch a half-asleep team. Then again, that might look familiar to the stalwart fans of Seattle.
