So since I’m in a basebally mood, and I had intended to write this post before Jeff reminded me anyway, it’s time for my not-worth-a-damn opinion on how the Mets can be better next year. Mind you, this isn’t something I came up with today, but rather something I pretty much had laid out the day they lost it all in spectacular fashion.
1. Lose Carlos Beltran, Paul Lo Duca, and Carlos Delgado.
There’s no reason these folks have to stay. I never trust Beltran in a big spot. EVER. Want proof? Start with the last pitch of last year’s NLCS and work from there. Carlos Delgado? Can’t seem to find the ball, and can’t seem to stay healthy. Deadly mix. Paul Lo Duca? Not worth it. Ramon Castro is easily an every day starter, and Mike DeFelice did quite a good job as a fill-in this year. Castro and DeFelice would make a fine platoon at #2. Obviously, contractual obligations apply, but if I’m improving the team, this is where I look to do it.
2. Hold on for dear life to Alou, Wright, Martinez, Maine, Perez, Castillo, Green, Gomez, Reyes (see #6, though), Maine, and Schoenweiss. Everyone else is fair game.
Nuff said. Everyone else is expendable and should be treated as such. That’s not to say you run out and get rid of everyone else, but these folks stay no matter what happens and no matter who else comes and goes.
3. Stop with the 100 pitch bullshit already…
Willie Randolph is obsessed with 100 pitches, the mythical limit that pitchers cannot past lest they die. The problem with this is that even a good pitcher with a good game going hits that in the 6th inning, leaving you bringing in long relief night after night after night. By the end of the season, your bullpen has dead arms. That bullpen had nothing left at the end of the season, and it showed in every game they appeared in.
4. …And while you’re at it, take your pitchers out sooner…
The other problem Willie seems to have is when to leave a pitcher in and when to take a pitcher out. His management of the staff when it comes to a pitcher that doesn’t have his good stuff seems suspect. While he loves the 100 pitch limit, he also seems unwilling to pull the trigger and let a guy off the hook when he’s not pitching well. Oliver Perez on the Friday before the end of the season hit two batters in one inning. If that doesn’t demonstrate control problems, nothing does. He later went on to hit a third batter and Willie still left him in. His instincts need to develop. Hopefully that’ll come in due time.
5. Drill into their heads that they need to take more pitches.
This is one of those fundamental things that the Mets got wrong many times this year. Often the opposing pitcher would be struggling. I saw numerous multiple walk innings go by, with the next Mets batter to the plate swinging at the first pitch even when it’s obviously not sound. Free-swinging is fine, but when the other guy walks the two hitters in front of you, why the hell would you not make that same guy work a few pitches before you swing? When I was in little league, we would run laps if we passed on the “take” sign unless we got a hit. If we struck out, two laps. If we swung and missed, one lap. Eventually, we learned, and we ended up being one of the better teams in the league because of it.
6. Get Jose Reyes smiling again.
Up until September, Jose Reyes was the smiliest man on the team. After a dreadful September where he couldn’t hit a beach ball with a tennis racket (and actually, at some point during the middle of the month), Reyes lost his smile and, it seemed, his passion for the game altogether. He’s a sparkplug, and to be a sparkplug, you have to have passion, a smile on your face, and you have to ignite your team. While his base running has never been in question, if you don’t get the hit that puts you on base, you’re not going to steal a whole lot of ‘em.
And that, simply put, is how you improve the Mets. Not a lot of tinkering, really. I would’ve also liked to see Willie go altogether after last season’s crushing end, but I’m willing to give him one more year. He’s a good manager with some learning to do. While he wasn’t the one on the field, there is plenty of blame to be laid at the manager’s desk. When you come out that flat in a pivotal season game like the one on September 30th and you get your ass handed to you that badly, your team is flat, and it’s your fault.
Yes, they’re pros. Yes you shouldn’t have to motivate pros, but sometimes you have to light a fire under their ass and not just say “let the chips fall where they may,” particularly when your season is on the line and in your own hands.
Willie is going to be back. Minaya already said so.
Let’s hope the old habits don’t come back with him.