Don't Stop Believin' (In The Big Guy)

By John "Metstradamus" Coppinger
Posted Friday, August 24, 2007

I remember when the Carlos Delgado trade was made. I heard about it at about 8 AM, an hour that I’m usually in the dead middle of my best REM sleep. So hearing that the Mets traded Mike Jacobs for a guy who didn’t want to come to New York when he had the chance…well let’s just say I was a little bit cranky. So my initial instinct was to blast the trade, blast Delgado, heck I would have blasted my own mother if she made that trade.

Then I took a nap.

And when I woke up, I looked at things from a whole new perspective. And you know what? I felt a whole lot better.

So I’m skipping around the internet to find some people calling for Carlos Delgado to be dropped in the order, or even be put to the bench altogether. And I have to admit it makes me sad. Partly because I was the guy who, at the beginning of the season, basically predicted that Delgado would have a better season than 2006, not worse. And as you know, being wrong hurts.

But partly because I think people need to take a nap and see this thing from a fresh perspective. Now I’m not going to lie to you. I’m not sure what that perspective is. I slept for ten, eleven hours today and even while dreaming, Carlos Delgado struck out three times. But it’s interesting to hear people, for example, say that Shawn Green wouldn’t be a bad option at first base instead of Delgado.

Wait a minute here, is this the same Shawn Green that everyone was already buying a train ticket to the most remote part of the United States for? Really? The same Shawn Green that has produced 19 RBIs since the first of May?

I’ll give you all that Carlos Delgado is more streaky than a window washed with the cheap stuff. But let this serve as a small reminder that Delgado’s best streak came in the month of October, when he hit .351 with four HR’s and 11 RBI’s during the playoffs. This season, he’s been the same streaky Delgado that we’ve come to know and love (.188 in April, .273 in May, .221 in June, .323 in July, and .232 in August). If there’s one thing that worries me about Delgado is his lack of power. A drop of .118 in his slugging percentage from 2006 to 2007 is certainly cause for alarm. The good news is that he’s going to blow by his doubles total from last season (he already has 28 as opposed to 30 last season). The bad news is that part of the reason his doubles have gone up is probably due to some of last season’s home runs hitting the top of the wall this season instead of going over the wall.

I’m not willing to sell the farm on Delgado just yet. As much as some may not want to hear it, Delgado means as much to the rest of the guys off the field as he does on. To bench him now for long stretches of time would have a counterproductive effect on the team. You want to bench him every now and again to keep him fresh? Fine. But bench him? I wouldn’t even want to see Delgado dropped in the order. His presence was enough to make guys like David Wright and Carlos Beltran much improved hitters in 2006. Now that the Mets are currently somewhat healthy (knock on the wood which makes up my head), maybe the rest of the lineup will return the favor for Delgado. It’s certainly a chance that I would take rather than, say, drop him to sixth or seventh. Because Delgado most assuredly has one more hot streak in him between now and 2007. And if we’re lucky, that hot streak will come in October.

But I’ve been wrong before. And maybe after a nap I’ll feel different.
 

You don’t need a nap. You’re too energetic for that. Why not exert that energy by letting your fingers walk to The Musings and Prophecies of Metstradamus, where I will give one opinion, then take a nap and give you an entirely different opinion.