THE WHEELS ARE STARTING
TO FALL OFF by Tom Brennan
We
can't even get to enjoy Jay Bruce, who though leading the majors in RBIs with the Reds, has 2
anemic games to start his Mets' career. Joining the Mets Syndrome - the feared JMS.
No,
since we traded for Bruce, Duda seems to now be out for the year. Cespedes
finally quads his way onto the DL, with a little help from his golf game, most
likely.
Heck,
Reyes was showing signs of being valuable, and he goes down. Cabrera
finally gets a hit with RISP and then he goes down.
Time to call up
Dilson Herrera - oh wait, we just traded him. Maybe we can rush Amed
Rosario - oh wait, he just pulled a hammy and is on the DL.
No one goes down for a week - just ask Matt Harvey, who has Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.
The
team is also suffering Chronic Bullpen Fatigue Syndrome due to Collins Acute Overuse
Syndrome (CAUSE) and the inability of starting pitchers to pitch enough to contact to
go an extra inning into ballgames. So the Bullpen Wheel is coming off the
Metsmobile.
And
of course Zach Wheeler is starting to throw to live hitters. They want to
be cautious so he is starting out pitching to 3rd graders. When they let
him go against 6th graders, that will be a defining moment in his eternal rehab
regimen. He is targeting 2017 - or is it 2018? Let me check my calendar.
With
Thor and Matz, we are two elbow chips away from seeing Rafael Montero and Rob
Gsellman join the rotation (actually, Raffie has had 3 superb starts and only
one so-so one since his return to AA and sub-100 degree temperatures, so he
might actually be truly ready - unless he needs dental work or something equally serious).
And
the hitters have RISP Syndrome, marked by cold sweats and blurred vision when
runners are in scoring position.
Currently there is no cure.
Yes,
ladies and gents, we are in mighty good shape. Those wheels that are
about to pop off as the lug nuts loosen day by day could lead to Wheels
Departure Syndrome. Something that it takes a winter to recuperate from.
Imagine that...an injury requiring time to heal! I wonder what would have happened if they disabled Cespedes in the first place as I'd suggested instead of having him at half capacity and further aggravating it.
ReplyDeleteThis just isn't our year, 2015 was special. Maybe we can limp into the wild card.
ReplyDeleteWhatever...we'll be in the mix again next year. I want the team to win as much as any fan, but after how awful we were I'm glad we've got a team that we can expect to be competitive. Injuries happen and there's nothing we can do about it.
The only thing that irks me was letting Murphy go to a hated rival instead of trading Duda and slotting him at 1B. Oh well, spilled milk and all.
This FO has done some good things... Primarily not panicking into trading away all of their prospects three years ago, and selling off some aging assets for future potential. But beyond that (and the Cespedes trade, which they only stumbled into after other choices failed to materialize, and which also cost them a kid who might well be a star) they have done a pretty piss poor job of building and managing a roster, dealing with injuries, and getting a handle on their manager's weird decision making. I have lost a lot of faith in this FO, and yet I have absolutely no confidence that ownership would make a good decision in replacing them, nor keep their hands off the tiller and allow a new GM to actually run the shop.
ReplyDeleteAdam, I agree with your front office/ownership assessment. That's why I wrote on the Yankees' brilliance on deals involving Miller and Chapman, only enhanced by the two later deals. We've made some good deals, but they are few and far between.
ReplyDeleteMichael, I wanted Murphy kept, as I've written. I did not project what I thought he'd do in 2016 if they kept him. If you asked me in November 2015, I'd have said I'd have projected Murphy at 40 doubles, 20 HRs and .300 - .310 if they kept him. He is making me look conservative.
Rees, I am with you - the perfect time was the All Star break - Cespedes already missed the prior Saturday and Sunday, and he did not play the first few games post-break. If he was DL'd, he'd have perhaps missed another week and healed it (if he avoided golf). An opportunity blown.