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Friday, January 29, 2010

How Can We Fix the Mets, Part I

If you're a Met fan, it's hard to take away anything positive out of last year's trainwreck of a season. And you'd be justified: they finished fourth in the NL East with only 70 wins, while missing the postseason for the third straight year. And somehow, they managed to fritter away over 149 million dollars that year, good for the second highest payroll in Major League Baseball.

Oh, the blame. Where do we place it? Where do we even start? Here's the breakdown:

a) Omar Minaya: It's pretty difficult to spend that much cash and not field a team that's at least respectable. Since becoming the general manager at the start of the 2005 season, he's failed in not only evaluating the talents and prices of free agents (e.g. Moises Alou), but also in replenishing the farm system, which during the last several seasons has ranked in the lower half of systems. Even in trades, Minaya has failed. Mets fans, do you remember how he acquired Oliver Perez? And in the same year traded away closer Heath Bell? But the key here is his prominent history of trade incompetence; as the GM of the now-defunct Expos, he managed to trade away prospects Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, and Brandon Phillips. Is it any wonder why they folded? No, fans: Minaya must go. No more of this. Weed the organization from the top; this is the road to recapturing success.

b) Injuries: Even taking Minaya's acquisition of injury-ridden players into account, it's clear that the Mets suffered a disproportionate number of major injuries last year. First it was Reyes, out for a large part of the season with two setbacks during rehab for his hamstring. Then it was Delgado, whose season ended due to a hip injury at around the same time Alex Rodriguez returned from his. And the pitchers! Two-fifths of their fragile starting rotation went down with Perez and Maine, and they lost set-up man and trade acquisition JJ Putz. The blame here goes to both the front office, and the Mets' medical staff. Seriously? When you can't bring your all-star shortstop from the DL after an injury that was supposed to be minor, what can you do?

c)Lack of Major-League Talent: The combination of the organization's incompetence and the number of injuries combined in 2009 to expose one of the Mets' biggest flaws: a lack of backup. Starting with the upper levels of the minor leagues, the Mets simply lack adequate fodder to fill holes. Now no one's expecting the farm to produce carbon copies of Reyes and Beltran, but it's still necessary to get a decent body. Let's face it, when you're signing Angel Berroa mid-season because he's the best you've got, something needs to improve.

What They Can Do

1. Redo the Front Office

Getting rid of Tony Bernazard was a start. Now it's time to oust Minaya. If you fix the heart of the ballclub, you're getting better decisions and fielding a better team.

2. Next Offseason is Key

Signing Bay was a good start, for sure. But the man doesn't pitch, and that's what the Mets need most. I'd look for them to target Brandon Webb, especially if he rebounds from injury. Cliff Lee is another option; they'd have to battle the Yanks and Sox for him, but they've won out before. Either way, the Mets can't afford to sign a mid-rotation guy. They need to win, and win big in the offseason of 2010/2011.

3. Get a Backstop

Yeah, if you follow the Mets you're pretty dismayed they lost out on Bengie Molina, who re-upped with San Francisco. But not all hope is lost: catching is always a big commodity, especially at the deadline. It will cost something, for sure, but the Mets must target a catcher now and work towards a trade, possibly for D'Backs catcher Miguel Montero or, if they prefer to pony up more for a younger guy, Texas backstop Taylor Teagarden.

4. The Draft

Last year's selections for the Mets in the amateur draft appear, at least early, to be less than satisfying. The Mets have the money, even after the Madoff incident. They need to scout better, put more money into making the right picks, and getting good domestic (and therefore well-profiled) players back into the system. It is important to note, however, that their international signings have been more successful of late.

And finally....

5. Be Creative

The front office, headed by Minaya or otherwise, needs to get working. Look for projects, players who had an outlier year in 2009, etc. Don't go for the same old "over the hill" type, go for players who are likely to make a contribution in 2010. Someone here needs to step it up, make moves, and help this team get back on track.

2 comments:

  1. I agree with you for the most part regarding the front office of the Met's, but I dont think that much blame can be placed on the Met's for the injury problems that they had. Other than Reyes' "injuries", I dont think much else could have been done. Im pretty sure that no one in the Met's front office had nothing to do with the David Wright incident, but its the Met's so you can never be sure

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  2. Yeah it's pretty good.....I'm just wondering when this is all gonna work out for the Mets. Stephen's right about the Mets injuries....but idk, we really do need some better trainers.

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