To regurgitate a comment a made elsewhere, Kenny Rogers aside, it’s rare that one man can generate equal amounts of anxiety/depression in Yankee and Mets fans, so full credit to Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr., who last night made his club the prohibitive favorites for the 2011 NL pennant with the surprise signing of highly coveted Cliff Lee. That Lee might’ve left somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 million on the table in order to return to Philly is a staggering blow to Brian Cashman, who comes out of the Winter Meetings having a) pissed off his aging shortstop and b) signed Russell Martin. Compared to recent events just south and north of the Bronx, it’s not exactly the haul anyone expected.
Under most circumstances, a rotation featuring Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton would have to be considered one of the game’s best. Adding Lee to the mix, however, begs comparisons to Braves/Orioles rotations of yore, and if nothing else, increases the likely asking prices Tampa and Kansas City will demand for Matt Garza and Zach Greinke, respectively. Don’t expect the Mets to be mentioned in connection with either player ; it will be a very long time before the Amazingly Destitutes are in the bidding for a top flight free agent ala Lee or have the pieces assembled to deal for a player the caliber of Greinke. But before you fall into a Benigno-esque tailspin of suicidal thoughts and poor grooming, consider the encouraging words of SNY’s Ted Berg, who reminds us the Phillies are halfway- to-decrepit.
As Mets fans, we think of the Phillies as invincible because the Phillies are the bad guys, and the ones that so often victimize our favorite team. But the cracks are starting to show. Probably not enough to slow them in 2011, but don™t go writing off 2012 for the Mets. Have you been watching baseball? Do you not realize how quickly things can go south for old players?
For a variety of reasons, the Mets could not sign Cliff Lee. They didn™t have the money and he didn™t seem particularly eager to pitch in New York. That™s fine, because the Mets should not have signed Cliff Lee. The Phillies™ decision is perhaps defensible since they™ve got an old team and an opportunity to win now and flags fly forever. They can worry about how they™ve got $80 million committed in 2013 to four players who are 33 and older in 2013.
God, that was really horrible. So, yeah, they might win a few more World Series and they have one of the best modern-day starting rotations barring injury, but one day these players will be, GASP, 33 years old!!! Is this guy for reals? I think that Mets fans would be happier if their team’s management just said “we’re re-building, come back in 3-5 years.”
seems to me that Alderson is pretty much saying “we’re rebuilding”. Openly. Maybe not “come back in 3-5 years”, but between sneering at the Werth deal and the relative transparency about bargain hunting, it doesn’t feel as though the Mets are being anything less than honest about their short-term prospects.
However, much as I’d like to believe most Mets fans are realists like yourself, Rog, the tabloids and yack-radio (much more than the blogs) prey upon the anxieties of insecure types (like me) who can’t witness a rival acquiring a high profile talent without totally fucking spazzing out. 85 wins or bust in 2011? Acceptable if you consider they’ll have $$$ to tinker with in 2012. But if the Mets are within, say, 5 games of the wild card spot at the deadline (entirely possible given the number of mediocre teams that manage to contend through mid-summer, better we acknowledge right this moment there’s not gonna be a blockbuster on the level of, say, Melvin Mora for Mike Boddicker (I kid, I kid)
I think I have a slightly different idea of what rebuilding is than most peeps in NYC. I actually do think they should re-stock the farm even if it means giving up on the few commodities they have in order to have a really good young team in 3-5 years, otherwise they’ll still have a large-ish payroll and not many wins to show for it when they could go Marlins-style and just torpedo the place and load up on high draft picks. I don’t see many other ways, unless Sandy Alderson has a magic wand and will make Oliver Perez not suck huge donkey balls.
But I do believe in addition through subtraction and in this case, not watching Omar Minaya spend Madoff’s Monopoly money on Jayson Werthless and Russell Martin is a positive first step. I guess I’m just annoyed that the above writer would rather try to rally the Mets fan base by trying to make a bunch of really awesome 33 year-olds sound like losers. Really, Mr. Berg, you don’t need to sugar coat it that much. I can handle a rebuilding with the best of them.
Uhhh, wtf has gotten into the Nats? A bazillion to Werth and now going after Greinke? They really think they can buy their way out of the NL East basement?