Craig Mitchell -- A Met fan with Writer's Block....

Man, I have writers block. Nothing is coming. What’s left to write about? The Mets have been dissected,

analyzed, criticized, vilified and publicized.  The 2014 Mets are a giant tease. They offer us tremendous

pitching and a reworked bullpen in front of our eyes, while the offense limps along and shows no resiliency.

I could write about the Mets. But what do I write about?  I could write about Curtis Granderson, who has never given in or given up this year.  Starting horrifically slow and immediately drawing comparisons from Bobby Bonilla to Jason Bay to George Foster. But Granderson never gave in.  He waded through the boos and the catcalls and has rebuilt his season from the ground up.  He now finds himself batting .234 with 9 homers and 32 RBI and more importantly has a .358 on base percentage and is panning out to be the producer the Mets thought they were getting back in January.  

I could write about Juan Lagares. Currently on his way back off the disabled list for the second time this year,Lagares has been ev erything the Met shave hoped for, when healthy.  Among the league leaders in defensive war Lagares is a revelation in center.  There nary seems a ball he can’t get to. Offensively, he is growing into a star. Before leaving for the DL this past time, Lagares was hitting a sturdy .288 with 2 homers and 18 RBI. He’s emerging as a Met star of the future and an obvious fixture in centerfield. He’s due to come back next week. Met fans can hardly wait. Frankly, the less we see of Chris Young the better.

OK…onto Chris Young.  It’s not his fault. It’s not his fault that he’s a Met. Sandy Alderson has stated that he went out and signed Young to be “insurance” for Juan Lagares. Meaning

, if Lagares didn’t hit, we had Young. Alderson said he was hoping for Young to bat 240 to 250 and provide some pop. Well, that hasn’t happened. Young has been lost at the plate all year long. He has been a competent fielder, but frankly he hasn’t been terribly reliable there as well. While the Met investment in Young isn’t earth shattering, Met fans can’t help but lament his inclusion on the 2014 roster. Here’s hoping that Lagares’ return relegates CY to the bench and here’s extra, extra hoping the Mets find someone more desperate for a .200 hitting bench player than Alderson was and he gets traded for a low level prospect.

I could write about Lucas Duda.  Duda gets an unfair shake. He isn’t the second coming of Carlos Delgado, but he’s not a choker either.  Duda is the Met leader in batting average with runners in scoring position. He’s also their leader in home runs and is 2 ^nd behind David Wright in RBI.  He was the winner in the ongoing Ike Davis vs Lucas Duda competition at first base….by default. The fact that Duda is with the Mets right now is because his trade value was lower than Davis’.  Duda could be a lot worse.  He has grown into his role as starting first baseman. Meanwhile, a glance west to Pittsburgh and one might be surprised that out of the bright lights and high pressure of New York Ike Davis has not flourished. Davis is batting .250 with 4 homers and 18 RBI with the Bucks in 55 games.  Duda? In 69 games is batting .250 with 10 homers and 35 RBI and a team leading .806 OPS (Davis’ is .726). Duda has also shown a steadiness at first and a much more accurate arm. I wonder whose trade value is better now?

I could write about the enigma that is Daniel Murphy. He unquestionably is a terrific hitter. He’s among the league leaders in hits and has been batting near .300 or above all season long. While his defense is at best, adequate. He is making a case for inclusion on the all-star team. No joke there.  His base running which was such as strength last year has totally regressed this season. He has run the Mets out of several rallies and some games with seemingly careless blunders. But, I suspect it’s more of a case of him trying to do too much in an offense that is struggling. That aside, he is having a terrific season.

David Wright. The Captain is finding his way again. After seeing his average dip to .261, he found himself on the past road trip and is now batting .278.  Wright is not the leader the Mets need. He’s the leader the Mets have.  Wright is not the type to throw his helmet into the bat rack and get in the faces of players who aren’t giving 150% (I’m looking at you again CY). But Wright is the type of player that will go out day after day and bust his hump and lead by example.  Wright is a professional’s professional.  He’s been accused of towing the company line, but frankly what choice does he have? If he started calling out Alderson and Collins on their moves he would be considered a whiner.  There have been rumblings that Wright is regretting his long term deal. That’s all supposition. I guarantee you that didn’t come from Wright. Wright just suits up, goes on the field and gives 100% and he expects his team mates to follow suit. One thing I can say is, aside from certain exceptions. That is pretty much the case. You don’t see many players on the current roster dogging it.

I could write about how I think the Mets got it right sending down Travis d’Arnaud.  He spent the last 3 weeks ripping the Pacific coast league a new a-hole. Good. He will come back as a different player. Good move there!

I could write about how the Met bullpen has been reconstructed and has been thriving as the season has progressed. Carlos Torres, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Edgin, Dana Eveland and especially Jeurys Familia and Jenrry Mejia have all stepped up tremendously. We have watched a team eyesore grow into team strength.

I could write about Jonathon Niese. Niese has blossomed this year as the pitcher we always wanted him to be. With some run support his 4-4 record could easily be 9-2.  Niese’s name gets bandied around in trade talk all the time. Well, he’s under team control till 2016 and he’s the only left handed starter that’s major league ready in the whole organization. He’s not going anywhere soon. That bodes well for our future.

I could talk about Jacob deGrom and Zach Wheeler both of whom this week stepped up and showed us what’s to come. Wheeler is progressing in each and every start. His smooth motion and exploding stuff seems to get better and better. deGrom shows a poise that exciting to watch.  Congrats on his 1 ^st  ML win. Many more are to come.

I could talk about the very near future. I want to talk about a starting rotation in April of 2015 that’s Matt Harvey, Jonathon Niese, Zach Wheeler, Jacob deGrom and….well take your pick – Noah Syndergaard, Dillon Gee, Bartolo Colon, Rafael Montero, Jeremy Hefner? Sometimes I have to keep reminding myself that the near future looks very promising. And believe it or not, the Mets do have some commodities to trade for some bats. No, I haven’t drank the Kool-Aid. I can plainly see what the Mets have to offer.  I’m liking it. This off-season is going to be very, very interesting.  Hell, this trade deadline might be very interesting.

I could to write about all of that. But I can’t. Damn writers block.