Long before the Mets were mathmatically eliminated from the Playoffs, all fans had already begun looking towards the future. Will Harvey opt for surgery? Will Flores and d'Arnoud perform well when given the chance? And, last but not least, will the 'scoreboard watching' fans witness the Mets be where everyone at this point wants them to be in the standings.......somewhere in the worst 10 in the league, which comes with a PROTECTED draft pick next June.
However, the actual players seem to have other plans. We all have to admit it. The players, through all the injuries, demotions, promotions, votes of confidence, and public critizecsims by their coach in the media, have continued to fight.
Starting with the captain. David Wright, even against the wishes of even the most diehard fans, returned to the lineup in a lost season, and went right ahead and smacked two opposite field (david wright style) home runs.
Then, on Sunday night, even with David Wright getting some well deserved rest, the team busted out 11 hits. Oh, and in case you were wondering, of the 11 hits on this night, 10 of them were by players who were not on the opening day roster. Not to mention the quality start pitched by a 30 year old journeman who also didnt appear on that initial 25 man roster, a rookie who was pitching for another teams minor league club, a 40 year old middle reliever, and a 40 year old-turned closer named Latroy.
Am I missing something here? I mean, it is not like the NBA, where you can lose your way to top pick, and then immediately insert said player into your starting lineup that following year. But still, all we have heard the past few weeks is about the importance of continuing to establish a strong minor league system, which would lose its momentum should the Mets actually spend money this offseason, and lose a first round pick.
Or maybe we should look at it he other way. In the end, baseball is still a game. And is not kind of the point for all of its fans to want to witness joy. Witness entertainment. And witness a win, anyway they can get it?
Juan Lagares, coming into Sunday nights game hitting an Ike-Davis-Like .174 during the month of September, produced 3 hits. Wilfredo Tovar, who basically spent the entire first half of the season also hovering around the Mendoza Line...... in DOUBLE A , showed up tonight and produced 2 big hits.
The consistency of the rookies (earning a job next year) is what Terry Collins has been preaching since all the injuries started. Maybe what the coaching staff should be focused on is consistency in attitude. An attitude of winning. An attitude that the organization reportedly is so proud of when it comes to the winning minor league teams and their playoff appearances and experiences for the top prospects.
Well, if winning in the minors has any kind of effect in an eventual promotion to the big leagues, then maybe the major league team should believe in the same thing. If you are on the field, go for the win. Believe in winning. Because................. "You play to win the games.....hello...."
I can see playing Wright because he's missed so much time and wants to convince himself he's healthy. However, I wouldn't mind seeing them field a team of Flores at 1B, Young at 2B (to see how he handles it), Tovar at SS, CenteƱo splitting time with d'Arnaud behind the plate (we've already seen Recker), Brown, Lagares and den Dekker against all kinds of pitching. Not only would it provide some good insight into who might be here in the future, but it could also help ensure the bottom 10.
ReplyDeleteBeside, Murphy looks like he could use the rest.
keep Duda on the field... he'll help the losing
ReplyDeleteYou can't blame those kids for busting it, playing hard and trying to win. They're playing for spots on next year's club. I think almost all of us are rooting for d'Arnaud, Lagares and den Dekker to do good, for Wheeler, Niese and Gee to continue to grow and improve, and Flores, Duda and Tejada (and maybe even Murphy) to showcase their talents and increase their trade value. If all those things occur, the Mets probably win.
ReplyDeletePhew, that was a close one. I hope Choo impressed Alderson.
ReplyDeleteWhat would a journeyman baseball players salary have been in 1995 to 2003 . He played with several major league teams for about two months a season back and forth from the majors and back to triple A???
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to know how much a personal friend made, an average, salary at that time
ReplyDeletemy guess.. in the $250,000 - 320,000 range
ReplyDelete