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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