Opinion: The Road Ahead for the Mets
In the Daily News, Adam Rubin frames out the off-season road ahead for Omar Minaya.
According to Bob Klapisch of the Bergen Record, Minaya must part ways with Aaron Heilman, Scott Schoeneweis, Luis Castillo and maybe even Ryan Church, while also giving serious thought to trading a player like David Wright or Jose Reyes.
Frankly, I need more time to think about a definitive strategy, which I will offer up in more detail over the next few weeks.
That said, thinking off of the top of my head, most important, the Mets need to field a team we, as fans, can be excited about and enjoy cheering for again. There are now too many people on this current roster who lots of fans just do not like. There are too many people who we do not trust. What’s more, the Mets need to look in the mirror, think about what has excited this fanbase in the past, and play to their base.
My hunch is that, in our heart of hearts, fans do not want to trade Wright or Reyes. These are our players, our home-grown stars, and, while Reyes was booed last September, and Wright this September, I do not think fans have totally soured on them. At the same time, they are not the reason the Mets have failed, and I believe their best seasons are still ahead of them.
Instead, as I said this morning, I believe the team must turn the page and re-fuel, not by trading Wright and Reyes, but by propping them up in to leadership roles. Make this their team. If they’re so great, let them prove it. The time has come to let them either lead this organization to the top of the mountain, or in to the abyss – either way, they’re the Captians.
In Wright and Reyes, along with Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran, and John Maine and Mike Pelfrey, and eventually Daniel Murphy, the Mets will have a tough, exciting, young nucleus with experience, who I believe are ready to take over this city.
At the same time, I believe the Mets should cut ties with Carlos Delgado, Orlando Hernandez, Castillo, Heilman, Schoeneweis, Damion Easley, Marlon Anderson, Oliver Perez, Moises Alou, Pedro Martinez, and others.
In their place, the Mets need to focus on filling in with role players with a reputation for being consistent and hard-working, even if they do not have the best stats on the market. This is not fantasy baseball. The ability to accumulate salary, age, on-paper talent, ticket sales and ratings will only get you so much loyalty – at some put, living up to your potential is necessary.
Also, like Gary Cohen, Mike Francesa and Ed Coleman have all said in the last 24 hours, Minaya should look high and low for a player like Pete Rose, who was the final piece of leadership for the Phillies in the early 80s, or Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter, who played the same role for the Mets a few years later, i.e., a gritty, win-at-all-cost veteran, who may be on the back-nine of his career, but who can push this team – not pull it – through the finish line. If you’re curious, just ask the Rays and Cliff Floyd and Troy Percival.
Again, though I need more time to think through a strategy, my gut tells me that Jerry Manuel and Minaya should stay on – although anything more than a guaranteed two-year deal would be foolish. I do not want either men to operate as a lame-duck manager, but too much security will limit ownership’s options.
I would look to free-agent talent like Orlando Hudson and Derek Lowe, players who are known to have a winning mindset, who work hard and fight. This off-season, Minaya needs to value reputation as much as statistics.
Lastly, from ownership to the GM down to the last man on their roster, the Mets need to get over themselves. You are not ‘a playoff team,’ if you do not make the playoffs. Stop over-selling yourselves. It does you no good – not from the media’s point of view, and certainly not from our point of view. You are not the team to beat – and even if you think you are, zip it and, instead, prove it on the field. Stop talking about meaningful games in any month, let alone October, and, instead, play hard, play smart and be consistent…right to the end.
