2/26/14

Reese Kaplan - Three Sides to Every Story


When you open the papers or read the blogs I can’t help but notice that the obvious agendas of the writers are not even being thinly disguised anymore.  There’s an old saying about how to interpret the facts – there’s your side, my side and the truth.

To wit, take the case of Ruben Tejada.  There’s the pro-Tejada camp who rave about his new found commitment, his toned body and his chance at redemption (with 2013 being the outlier).  There was even a piece about how the balls were just flying off his bat during hitting exercises today.  Then you have the anti-Tejada camp whose minions whisper that the team is unhappy with his conditioning and unimpressed with what they’ve seen thus far.  Finally, there’s the ABT group – Anybody But Tejada.  They’re the ones feeding the Stephen Drew, Nick Franklin (and to a lesser extent) Chris Owings rumor mill.  There’s been a plethora of Wilmer Flores-at-shortstop articles but the whisper campaign will likely begin within the next two to three weeks about how his range or conditioning make him incapable playing anywhere but Las Vegas.

Now there’s the Ike Davis situation.  Even before news broke about him hiding his injury from his team for fear of how it might make him look, there was a polarization among his supporters and detractors.  The “I like Ike” crowd feel that his 32 dingers what seems like eons ago is indicative of his real talent.  Unfortunately for them his performance since then is the textbook case of a batter who’s lost his way – kind of an offensive version of Steve Blass disease.  He put on a wretched display of some of the worst at-bats ever seen by anyone other than a career-long American League pitcher being asked to wield a piece of lumber when playing in an NL park for the first time (foreshadowing Bartolo Colon at-the-bat, perhaps).  Now with the news of his boo-boo surfacing there’s fresh fodder for both sides of this hackneyed debate.  Curiously, through it all you hear nary a word about Lucas Duda or anyone else getting an equal shot at first base. 

The outfield situation is a bit of an exception.  It’s a given that Curtis Granderson is deserving to be handed a starting role.  Perhaps a little less so is the curious and expensive acquisition of Chris Young.  Since this team routinely allows salary to dictate starting roles rather than results, he’s a shoo-in for another slot.  That leaves one vacancy that the entire fanbase is unanimously screaming at the top of their collective lungs, “LAGARES”, yet the guy who fills out the lineup card counters with “Eric Young, Jr.”  Hopefully some influence from the front office will resolve this one. 

The battle for 5th starter has similar extremism.  There are those fans who clamor for a promotion of Rafael Montero who has pitched in AAA with nary a blip to his stellar AA performance despite being in a hitter’s paradise.  Then there are others who trumpet Noah Syndergaard being jumped from AA to the majors based upon his minor league stats and his media machine (or maybe just seduced by the mythological nickname of “Thor”).  After wallowing in oblivion for most of the off-season, some people came to realize Jenrry Mejia was pitching at Matt Harvey’s level before he was shut down.  Yet there are reports out there saying that Matsusaka Daisuke (Dice-K) seems to be the early favorite to win the position outright.  The logic is that Collins prizes veterans, he has an opt-out if he doesn’t make the team, and the need for him coincides with the first 8-10 weeks of the season after which the team will deem prospects miraculously ready (coincidentally after the Super Two deadline passes).  I’m not sure where John Lannan fits into this mix as he has the same type of contract as Dice-K except to say that the rotation which tips heavily to the right side might benefit from another southpaw. 

Then there’s the battle for the bullpen which (if healthy) should easily include Bobby Parnell, Vic Black and Scott Rice.  After that it’s pretty much a crapshoot where a few weeks of Spring Training stats might determine someone’s future.  On the other hand, there is that niggling issue of veteran status that catapults declining relievers like Kyle Farnsworth and Jose Valverde into near locks to make the pen.  That choice could leave the majority of the other arms like Gonzalez Germen, the second half Josh Edgin, swingman Carlos Torres, newly acquired Ryan Reid and Joel Carreño, and minor league pitchers like Jeff Walters, John Church, Adam Kolarek and Jack Leathersich on the outside looking in. 

Then there’s the question of who will wear the tools of ignorance.  There’s the Anthony Recker vs. Taylor Teagarden (with a similar opt-out clause) vs. Juan Centeño debate for the role of backup to Travis d’Arnaud.  Recker and Teagarden supporters will highlight their occasional home run power whereas defensive-minded folks will support the singles-hitting Centeño who has hit over .280 each of his past few campaigns while doing stellar work behind the dish (including throwing out Cincinnati’s Billy Hamilton.


Anyway, these decisions have already been carved in stone in some cases, are fluid in others, and wide open in still others.  The only people whose opinions matter are not ours, the professional media nor the fans who buy the tickets.  It rests in the hands of the Wilpons, Sandy Alderson’s front office team and Terry Collins.  How capable they are is a matter for another column on another day.  

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