The New, 'New Mets'

By Mike McGann
Posted Sunday, June 29, 2008

It only seems like yesterday when we were all marveling at players in their late 30s and even early 40s continuing to play at a high level, seemingly pushing back the hands of time, forestalling old age.

Of course, now we know that it was, in large part, the combination of steroids, human growth hormone and amphetamines, the latter a baseball staple since before the days of McCarthyism. For better or worse, baseball is largely, if not entirely, drug-free, and it shows.

And so now we see both New York teams stuck with expensive, highly-paid rosters filled with veterans who are merely a shadow of their former selves. And while it would be easy to kill the respective general managers, Omar Minaya and Brian Cashman, up until recently, older players were excellent investments in general, guys with a firm track record and reasonable predictability. Kids? Kids are too hard to gauge. Even the good ones lack consistency and professionalism at times. And you never know which ones are going to pan out and which ones won’t.

Ah, but then Bud’s Little Helper™ was removed from the game. And suddenly, all the rules changed. Young starting pitchers suddenly became coin of the realm. Young outfielders with mad skills like gold. And the Mets and Yankees found themselves with a lot of old guys and not so many kids. And you can throw in the Tigers and a handful of other teams burned by the sudden aging of their rosters. Suddenly, teams like the Rays, Marlins and Royals are on the upswing, young, talented and devoid of high-priced veterans.

Just as the game changed in the 90s to a power-pitching, power-hitting game, now it has moved toward, young, non-chemically enhanced players. Athleticism matters again. Small ball matters again. And the grind of a 162-game schedule changes how the game is played and by whom with nothing stronger than Starbucks or Red Bull to use as a pick-me-up.

Have the Mets recognized these changes? Frankly, the jury is out. Omar Minaya loves veteran players — he traded for them as GM of the Expos and has conducted a virtual diaspora of the Mets’ farm system to add veterans such as Carlos Delgado and Luis Castillo. But then you look over the roster and realize that all is not lost. David Wright and Jose Reyes are still kids, and Carlos Beltran is just 30, right in his prime. Ryan Church, scheduled to return today, is 29. John Maine is just coming into his prime at 27, Mike Pelfrey is starting to show signs of becoming a dominant starter and is just 24. Even Johan Santana is just 29. And even Joe Smith, Carlos Muniz and Aaron Heilman are safely on the right side of 30.

So there is some youth right now. But it isn’t all about youth. You’ll need a few key veteran guys around to provide leadership, and frankly, some of the youngsters aren’t keepers (yes, I’m talking to you Oliver Perez).

But changes need to happen, and should start happening right now. First off, Moises Alou is done. At 42, his body has given up. He might be useful in a start-once-a-week, pinch hitting role, but the bench is chock full of guys like that already — so Moises should be pushed, hard, to retire. Now. Give Fernando Martinez a week to get his stroke in AA and then bring him up and make him the everyday left fielder for the rest of the season. Sure, the lineup will be too left-handed and the kid will struggle at times. But he’s the real deal — a rare talent.

Making that move means that Ramon Castro catches virtually all of the games against lefty starters, which is pretty much what’s going on now, anyway.

That’s pretty much the only major change that can be made in 2008, although I’d be all over the phones trying to deal Oliver Perez to an unsuspecting victim — while the draft pick might turn out to be the most valuable thing to get for him, with the Mets’ luck he’d accept arbitration, get $11 million and drive the fans, management and his teammates nuts for another season. Some team desperate for starting pitching and thinking they’re in the race might surrender something of value for Perez, something that could help the Mets in 2009 or 2010.

Which brings us to the Superfund site of the Mets’ roster, the right side of the infield. Luis Castillo is a shell of his former self. Is it the slow-healing knee injury or age? His range at second is, well, lousy. But he does turn the double play well and continues to be a heady player, even if he needs some prodding from new manager Jerry Manuel, to get out and play. And while his play bears watching, he’s going to be difficult to move, so the Mets could well be stuck with him for the next couple of years.

Which brings us to Carlos Delgado. Sure, he drove in nine runs the other day, and reminded us all of what a fearful slugger he was in his prime. Was. Those days are done, though. His defense is awful and his attitude seems to be badly impacting the rest of the team, despite being seen as a team leader by some. In a perfect world, he’d be shipped off to the American League — but that seems very unlikely. Regardless, Delgado can’t — and won’t — be back for 2009. Yes, of course signing Mark Teixeira makes a ton of sense, as he’s 28, a switch hitter and gifted defensive player. But a half dozen teams will be willing to spend the silly amounts of money required to sign him, so it’s far from a slam dunk.

But failing to get Teixeira might not be an unmitigated disaster, though. Why not platoon Nick Evans and Mike Carp there? With Ike Davis likely to be at AA Binghamton this time next year, the Mets will have options and a lot of money to spend on pitching and/or a stud catcher, not to mention keeping their first-round draft pick again, should they lose out on Teixeira. Carp may not be much of a defender, but he can flat-out hit.

So which old guys do you keep around? As tempting as it might be, you need for baseball and economic reasons to keep some of the old guys around. Castillo — mostly because of the limited options his contract creates, falls into the latter category. And while this probably puts me in the minority, I’d resign Pedro Martinez.

Yes, Pedro is fragile and probably will remain so. But despite his struggles, there’s a lot there to like. He hit 94 on the gun Friday night, with his fastball typically in the 91 range. So the arm is sound and the legs are sound, although it's granted the latter will be high-maintenance. His release point is a mess — and the change in pitching coaches might not have come at a good time for him. But no one is going to work harder to find it — and he will, whether it is in a Mets’ uniform or not, come back to pitch effectively. He’s both a leader and a teacher and has a lot of value.

So who else do you keep? I’m fine with Brian Schneider and Ramon Castro as my catching platoon. As part of the new reality of baseball, we’ll continue to see that catchers cannot catch 140 games any more. Many teams are going to a platoon, both to get the optimal offense, but also to keep their catchers fresh. With the shortage of catching, this is a pretty solid, if not spectacular duo, and I’d keep it around for at least 2009.

I’d keep the bullpen pretty much intact — when used properly, it’s not a bad group. I’d like to see some of the older guys weeded out and the next closer needs to be identified — as Billy Wagner seems unlikely to return after 2009. Eddie Kunz should be here sooner rather than later to see if he’s the guy. I’d probably deal Scott Schoeneweis at the deadline, especially if someone dangles young arms, since I lack confidence that his reasonably good 2008 performance is likely to be repeated and Willie Collazo probably could replace him. And Tim McNab ought to get a shot.

Marlon Anderson, Damion Easley and Fernando Tatis would get pushed off the roster in an effort to make it younger, more flexible and offer more opportunity to see what guys can do in the big leagues. While there’s not a lot in the minor league system — the New Orleans roster is a write-off — spring training 2009 could be an open call for bench guys.

You wouldn’t call it a rebuild, just a bit of tinkering to make the team younger and more athletic. But will Omar Minaya be willing to go in such a new direction?