Mets in need of a leader
Posted: Saturday, February 07, 2009 11:42 AM
Based on the bolstering of their bullpen this offseason are the Mets now the NL East favorites? Such a proposition is essentially New York-centric. The defending World Champion Phillies reside in the same division and they return their roster virtually intact (the lone question being Chase Utley’s health).
Florida stockpiles young talent. Atlanta is unsettled after an offseason in which the Braves whiffed on their biggest targets (Jake Peavy and Rafael Furcal) and Washington is simply a mess.
Where do the Mets find cause for hope? Optimists would say they addressed their biggest weakness. Adding closer Francisco Rodriguez and set-up man J.J. Putz should solidify the final innings. Mets fans must hope Jerry Manuel proves himself a manager concerned with the care and handling of his bullpen. Last year’s stretch run exposed him as a manager who tossed relievers aside like spent cartridges, a disposable approach that bred a disposable attitude among the relief corps.
The starters are unchanged and Johan Santana proved himself, again, as one of the elite in September. Once more the Mets will look among the unwanted for a fifth starter and the rotation’s depth will inevitably be called upon during a long season.
There is no power bat to anchor the corner outfield. Translation: There is no Manny Ramirez. And there is no indication of a late strike to sign Ramirez by the Mets.
The infield is unchanged which means the Mets hope for a renaissance from Luis Castillo or a lot of at-bats for Alex Cora. So the Mets are a team that is mainly unchanged with the notable exception of the bullpen moves.
What else does that mean? Nothing has changed inside the clubhouse. And there is where the truth lies about the Mets. All the talk about K-Rod and any other player is pure lip flapping until the Mets address their clubhouse problems, manifested in shocking collapses in consecutive Septembers.
With intent, the Mets have assembled the game’s leading cast of Latin players. That has created a larger clubhouse clique than normally exists (truth is that every MLB clubhouse has such a grouping). The best teams handle it well. And whispers I hear from close to the situation tell me the Mets’ clubhouse was borderline dysfunctional (as was outlined in this blog last September). Surely nothing on the field in the final pathetic days of last season would dispel that belief.
The Mets need a leader. Someone like Troy Tulowitzki, universally credited as the catalyst for Colorado’s 2007 run as a leader in both word and deed.
I saw David Wright arrive in the majors and quickly establish himself as a superb talent. I thought he would be his team’s leader but -- here I must take an educated guess as I am no longer a Mets’ broadcaster -- is it that he doesn’t feel comfortable commanding the large Latin contingent?
Jose Reyes, another superior player, is a playful sort while Carlos Beltran is simply silent. I am told that Carlos Delgado is the “godfather” of the clubhouse but does not seem to command the respect to lead.
Santana has been the leader through deed but I subscribe to the theory (as does Mets general manager Omar Minaya) that no pitcher can lead through word.
There lies the crux of the Mets in 2009. A huge payroll will once again field a talented team. They should contend. But no amount of success in the first 140 games will mean a thing for this team. No answers are forthcoming until September and in that month the Phillies know the truth and it isn’t pleasant for the Mets.
Now what really moved me this week was an interview I saw on SNY, the Mets’ cable network. It was at the Oliver Perez press conference to confirm his re-signing with the Mets. Perez’s agent, Scott Boras, was talking to a SNY microphone. I assume he had just finished hysterical laughter after fleecing from the Mets a three-year, $36 million deal for Perez. Understand that Perez received a nearly identical, $1 million less, which in baseball dollars is tip money, contract as Francisco Rodriguez.
A talented but erratic pitcher is making as much as the man who set the single-season save record. What all this means is any pitcher who volunteers for the bullpen needs counseling and while Boras laughs, K-Rod’s agent weeps as he tries to explain this to his client.
So Boras is talking about Perez and I swear these words came from his mouth. (I paraphrase as I write on an airplane crossing West Texas). Perez has proven himself against top competition and in the postseason and now he will look to complete himself with consistency against all teams.
I slapped myself and replayed the words to be sure I heard them properly. They were unchanged: Oliver Perez can’t be bothered to concentrate against the lowly teams in the game but he sure is there when you really need him. He’s getting $12 million a year or roughly $400,000 a start. And so those starts against bad teams, well the Mets can just write off $400,000 time after time as an operating loss because Perez isn’t psyched to pitch against the opposition.
Just as astounding as Boras’ words were the fact they went unchallenged on SNY. No surprise, I guess, but a team network proclaiming its independence (as SNY does at every opening) would never get a better chance to engage the game’s top agent after he utters such mind-boggling comments.
Perhaps Boras himself was giddy from trying to explain to one Manny Ramirez why starting pitchers of modest achievement like Perez can receive such riches while the great hitter stands on the sideline waiting for a dance partner.
Perhaps. But I think Boras was just drunk from laughter. Another heist was complete.
