Midsummer Delusions

By Matt Himelfarb
Posted Thursday, July 17, 2008

There is an old saying in baseball that has probably been around as long as the game itself: “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it!” Like most clichés, this ranks somewhere in between “a good piece of hitting” and whatever baseball commentators usually claim are the “keys to the game” in their pre-game analysis, as among the more insanely overused and abominable principles of building and maintaining a roster. Unfortunately, such flawed logic is still present among many teams a little over a week heading into the trade deadline.

Such is the case with our own Metropolitans. Jerry “The Chairman of the Board” Manuel has already sworn by an oath that he will play the hot hand whenever possible, financial concerns and the departure of your former number one prospect be damned. As a result, all that is left for Damion Easley to solidify his spot as the starting second baseman is an official decree from the Chairman. This is a plus for the Mets, as Luis Castillo has proven himself offensively incompetent and is perhaps the most tainted error on Omar Minaya’s track record thus far.

Largely, however, the Mets recent turnaround can be attributed in large part to the awakening of Fernando Tatis. Tatis has provided sorely missed late-inning heroics and helped carry the Mets to a tie for first place with the Phillies as of this writing. Overdue as it is, the Mets nevertheless are finally living up to their expectations, much to the delight of a resurgent fan base.

People (I am talking to you Mr. Chairman); it is time to cut the bull.

Fernando Tatis cannot start. Omar Minaya is being self delusional and suffering from the “Don’t try and fix it” paranoia when he says Taits is “our guy”. Neither can this team win with their current outfield-by-committee approach from the likes of the injury prone Trot Nixon or Endy “The little engine that could not hit for his life” Chavez. The return of Angel Pagan and his .316 career OBP. means squat for a team that must find a permanent left fielder for the remainder of the year.

Lost in the middle of Tatis’s meritorious ascension from five years of inactivity in the Dominican Republic to capturing the hearts and minds of Mets fans today is doubts over whether he can handle the grind of the stretch. His .350 BABIP and egregious plate discipline simply does not support his already mediocre offensive performance.

Possible solutions might just be few and far between; the Pirates want a king’s ransom for both Jason Bay and Xavier Nady, as do the Rockies for Matt Holliday. Raul Ibanez, whom the Mets have long been rumored to be interested in acquiring, is a horrendous defender and thus hardly an improvement at thirty six over the Mets current crop of outfielders. In addition, the poorly managed Seattle Mariners will likely ask for even more than Dave Cameron’s proposed offer of Jon Niese and Mike Carp for the aging outfielder, and it is hard to see any team forfeiting a first round pick for his services next year.

Still, this cannot allow this team to once again rely on overrated veterans, which is why I propose the Mets start either Nick Evans or Mike Carp once in for all for the remainder of the year. Turns out I was thinking a bit over my head when I pondered the prospect of Evans becoming that missing spark plug at a time when the Mets were mightily struggling a few months back, and I soured on him when he was recently called up after his less-than-desirable debut in which he looked woefully overmatched (although that was more so because of my dismay with Valentino Pascucci still laboring in AAA). With that being said, despite playing slightly over his head in his first year in AA, Evans is an immensely projectable string bean with some legitimate power potential and is right on the cusp of being a top fifty prospect in the game right now.

Carp on the other hand, is more in the Lyle Overbay mold when it comes to his ceiling, and while Evans compensates for his inexperience in his first year in left field with his athleticism, Carp is probably best suited in the DH spot. Still, Carp has more experience overall in the minors than Evans, and boasts a higher OBP. and the advantage as far as plate discipline goes, giving the Mets another option.

It continues to baffle me when you hear scouts from other teams disparage both Evans and Carp when it comes to their trade value. As most insiders have reminded me, both players are stuck at offensive premium positions and the bar for the production is set very high. In warfare, they say, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” By the same token, if the Mets cannot trade ‘em, keep ‘em. Both options are far from perfect, but the Mets, one way or another, need to get younger and fix this mess.

Matt is a disgruntled, statistically- and politically-obsessed teenager and appreciates all words of encouragement at: matthimelfarb@gmail.com. You can also check out his blog: matthimelfarb.wordpress.com.