Paul Articulates - Throwing out the babies with the bathwater?

There is a weird vibe with this year's New York Mets.  They have some very talented guys, but that talent doesn't seem to rise to the top in a synchronized fashion.  One gets hot, the others not, and they limp from one series to the next doing just enough to win some of them.  Heroism or bust. This is not a championship formula.

Sure, we have all acknowledged that there are some holes in the roster that hopefully will be filled with some wonderful trade deadline deal.  But there are areas that are not considered holes that are still underperforming to expectations.

After an all-star week rest, the team returned to the field looking like anything but a rested bunch of pros anxious to get started with the second half.  Instead we saw sloppy defense, a lack of timely hitting, and relief appearances that gave us anything but relief.  What gives?

The word outside the clubhouse is that the team likes the manager, the manager likes his players, and everyone gets along really well.    On the surface, one would say that there is no dynamic that is distracting the players from focusing on their game.  Yet the results seem to point to more than just coincidental failure.  Since the end of April, the Mets are barely playing .500 ball with 35 wins and 34 losses. Some of those wins have come in spite of themselves, when the opponent does not take advantage of first pitch walks, runners left in scoring position, or defensive lapses.

So what is the matter with this group?  They are all trying to do well, grinding through the hot summer in the middle of a long season.  It almost seems like they are waiting for a spark to ignite them without knowing they are under water.

Something needs to shake this up.  With the trade deadline approaching and everyone talking about the top available players that David Stearns should go get, I am left wondering whether that will help.  Even though the team is not in a position where they would become sellers, they may need to do something completely different to raise the level of urgency.

We got the best player in baseball (arguably) this season but the team is not any better.  Would some mid-season acquisition of a mid-30's veteran really make a difference now?  I think not.  It will take something more dramatic, something that rocks the core of the team to break them out of these doldrums.  They seem to feel like they will be okay if they just run out there and play hard everyday, but I think they need to run out there like their professional careers are on the line.

If you look at the current roster statistically and draw a line at a .250 batting average, there is a very interesting group below that line.  It's all the Baby Mets.  The first generation prospects everyone was so excited about that has been brought along slowly, patiently, with trips back and forth to the minors to refine their skills.  But they are not pre-ordained to become the core of the new Mets - they are just guys that showed promise coming up that are being evaluated and adjusted.  

What if the Mets just said, "It has been long enough", and made them all available at the deadline.  If you offered Baty, Alvarez, Vientos, Mauricio, et al  would they get value for them?   Could they receive some sorely needed top tier pitching for them? Could they re-make the team around the next generation of prospects like Acuna, Williams, DeAndre Smith, Jacob Reimer? 

Now I am not saying that this is the best course of action because I don't give up on players that quickly and I am not a panic seller.  What I am saying is that lacking some dramatic move in the near future, I fear that the Mets are sinking into mediocrity.  Nothing cries "URGENCY" like seeing your team raise the bar of expectations by ejecting some good players under the bar.  Good is nice, but we need great! 

You could also toss out a few aging veterans, but I don't think the message gets across as well.  It is too easy to rationalize that they are older, skills are declining, and the team really is pushing a youth movement instead of pushing a performance ultimatum.

So if our bathwater is lukewarm, toss it out - with the babies in it.  Maybe it will be replaced with a new fountain of youth.  It is a pretty bold idea, but so is winning a championship for the first time in 39 years.