Tag Archives: Roy Oswalt

A few days ago Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post (yes they sometimes do real analaysis) wrote a spot on analysis of how topsy turvy the Metropolitans have been all season. Let’s forget that they do the Jekyll and Hyde routine home and away. Just look at their batters, the meat of which consist of David Wright and Jason Bay who must have some switch that they have to turn on fron time to time (how else to explain how they binge on opposing pitchers).

And then you have last night. A night in which the baseball world was drooling all over Stephen Strassburg’s destructive repertoire that should bring tears to all NL East teams for years to come. There was a pitcher working in Flushing who came to New York with very little fan fare other than being a top 10 pick and put on yet another dazzling performance, and the game was won on an 11th inning shot from another first round selection, which was set up by yet another home grown product’s home run in the seventh to tie the game.

At home they are invincible and yet away from CITI they just can’t seem to get it together. Which of course brings us to the dilemma at hand: Should the Mets pony up the prospects needed to bring in a 3rd starter?

That is the $64,000 question. But without a good understanding of what this team is, how can the Mets possibly take on such a huge risk? If Strassburg’s dominant performance or Pelfrey’s performance, or the fallout from the steroid era have taught us anything the most valuable assett a team can possess is a dominant young player. So teams nowadays are unwilling to part with the kind of young talent it would take to pry away a Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee.

As we currently stand, the Mets most pressing need is a stable bat in the middle of the line up, something Carlos Beltran COULD be if everything goes smoothly with his rehab and he comes back. But to wait and hope is a recipe for disaster. The late John Wooden used to recite this old axiom “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”

The Mets don’t have a potent enough offense to stop and say, all we are missing is another ace, though it would give them another guy that could take innings away from a bullpen that ranks as one of the top in terms of usage. So the Mets are going to be an interesting team to watch over the next month and a half. If Beltrans progress continues, he should be activated right after the July 31st deadline which wouldn’t help matters one bit. Over the next month and a half, if the Mets continue on their current path, the decision makers will be left with a critical risk they must take.

Do nothing and risk the chance that the team does well. Do something and risk that the team mortgaged their future for a rental who will only be here for a year and a half with injury issues (like Roy Oswalt) or a half year rental (like Cliff Lee who publicly stated he would test free agency). Entrusting the Mets front office with that kind of decision could be a recipe for disaster in the fans eyes, as they’ve seen deals like the Scott Kazmir deal blow up in their face.

Many teams are likely to stay away from such short sighted decisions that could destroy a team’s future, but the Mets play in the most demanding market in front of the most demanding fans (albeit few judging from gate receipts) and they are being judged by the most demanding press. If they do something, they could be blasted and if they stay pat and do nothing they will be blasted. Its a recipe for criticism that the Mets always get themselves into.

Granted the season’s 58 games old, and there’s 104 left, its already felt like a few seasons have played out with the way the Mets have transformed every 5 games almost. I’m not saying it hasn’t been exciting, but for those of us fans who constantly pull our hair out everytime this maddening team does something to undo all the goodwill a 9 game winning streak can do, we’d much rather have consistency. But that consistency needs to be reached on the road first before any decisions can be made about mortgaging the future for the final 2 and a half months of baseball. More than anything the Mets front office and their fans wish one of their multiple personalities would just stay for a month’s time so everyone can have a sense of whether we’re dealing with the home team or the away team.