Okay, now that the Mets were slaughtered by the worst team in baseball last evening, it's time to get real. Its seems that somewhere in the last year or two, NYers (and others) got the impression that the Mets were a championship caliber team. Certainly, the fans and the media bought into it. And it was easy to get excited when you just look at the talent that started flocking to New York beginning with Pedro Martinez in 2004. Before long Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado , Billy Wagner and Johan Santana. Add the emergence of David Wright, Jose Reyes John Maine and I could see how everyone thought this team could make a championship run. So when they struggled at the end of last season and continue to struggle this year, it's easy to criticize, point fingers and perceive this team as underachievers. Listening to the media use words like "disappointing" and "underachieving" is the common theme. But how about this for a novel thought.....The Mets are not a championship team! I could be wrong but I might be the only person who thinks the Met are NOT underachieving. I believe they are playing exactly to their potential. These guys are a .500 ball club, who have been playing .500 ball for more than a year now --plain and simple.
Sure, its nice, as fans, to get excited about the start of the baseball season. And sure, its good to hear that the players have high expectations of themselves, but all this talk about playoffs and a championship run is nonsense. It's no longer the beginning of the season; The Mets are about 80 games in already. Fans and players are only fooling themselves. I know the team is only 3 1/2 games out of first. But that's because the Phillies have fallen back to the pack; not because the Mest are playing inspiring baseball. They haven't given any indication they are capable of making a challange for a wild card spot or division title, much less the ability to win regularly. The team is 38-39 at this point. Do you think they can just flip a switch and become a contending team? It would seem that if the Mets would try to make a playoff run, they would probably need about 90 wins, a reasonable expectation for a playoff team. That being said, the Mets would have to go 52-33. Does anyone believe this team can suddenly play .611 baseball? You may recall the Colorado Rockies last year who got smokin' red hot and went all the way to the World Series, winning a staggering 21 out of 22 games before they were swept by the Red Sox in the World Series. But let's be honest, it was an abberation. A streak like that happens once every, oh I don't know-gazillion years? Do you really think it could happen two years in a row?
Look, this team can't hit or pitch. They don't have enough horses to put it all together. When the team hits, the pitching fails and visa-versa. Martinez and Delgado are only shells of themselves. I would not be surprised if the Mets fall further behind, they buy out the rest of Delgado's contract and just waive him. They already acquired right-handed hitting first baseman Andy Phillips earlier this evening, indicating they may platoon him with Phillips, which Delgado already said would not be acceptable with him. Martinez is in the last year of his contract and he most certainly won't be back unless he were to agree to a reduced role. There is no production coming from left field -- a traditional power position. Moises Alou, at 41 was the expected starting left fielder (that alone should have gotten GM Omar Minaya fired) after his red hot finish last season indicated he still had a lot left in the tank. But this guy has a history of regularly ending up on the disabled list and this year is no different. He already has been on the DL three times and I believe his day with the Mets will be over shortly.
Then there is Billy Wagner. A few years ago, he regularly threw in the high 90's (96-99 mph), often breaking 100 mph. But I can tell you from the time he arrived in New York, he NEVER pitched with that kind of velocity. He is consistently in the low 90's, ocassionally topping out at 95 mph. Carlos Beltran had both his knees scoped in the off season and he simply is not the same player he once was. Oliver Perez, who stepped it up last year (15 wins, with a decent ERA), after almost pitching his way out of baseball, appear to be on that path again. At times this year he has been atrocious. Santana has pitched well, but not great. But when you're paid $140 million to play once-a-week, well let's just say expectations can be unreasonable (Cy Young performance every time out on the mound?).
What's interesting here is (and maybe the reason why the fans still believe this is a championship team) that the Mets didn't acquire these stars as has-beens. They began to decline in Met uniforms, some becoming has-beens after they got there, specifically Martinez and Delgado who had great first seasons upon their arrival. When that happens, sometimes as fans, it's hard to come to terms with that. I mean, you've watched the player(s) perform and they produced in the past so when the slide begins it becomes difficult to identify if it's just a slump or the beginning of the end. And we hate to accept when it's the latter.
So its time for everyone to look at this team and realize the players who fans were accustomed to thinking of as great are no longer the same players they once were. Their skills have deteriorated and all that's left are their marquee names. Granted, the Mets do have some good players and some very good players but no really great players (certainly none that could carry this team by themselves) to take them to the next level and so they will never be more than what they are right now. So Mets fans, get over it. Win one, lose one, win one, lose one and that's it. Lower your expectations to fit with reality and this will significantly reduce your risk of heart attack (and upset stomach). OK? Got it? Good.
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