Yes, I am on twitter.
1. The Mets have the best starting pitcher in the NL in Johan Santana, but do not have a powerful rotation. They have the best closer in the NL in Francisco Rodriguez, but do not have an overwhelming bullpen. They have two of the better all-around players in the NL in Carlos Beltran and David Wright, yet do not have either a particularly effective offense or defense. And they are not a dogged or fundamentally sound team as anyone who has watched them run the bases can attest.
So what do we make of this particularly top-heavy roster? Yes, the Mets have assets, mainly in their major stars. But do they have template of a winning club? What exactly is their strength? They are 7-3 against the major league-worse Nationals and 23-23 against everyone else as they ready for a week against the Phillies and Yankees.
Perhaps the depleted Mets make a stand this week and next Monday we are all talking about how they survived this stretch and that says something positive about their character. But I don’t think this is a character issue. This is a roster issue and whether the Mets have enough good players behind their stars to prosper. After all, they don’t see the Nationals again until July 20.
2. By the way, the Mets are not the only NL East team with issues. The Phillies come into Citi Field with manager Charlie Manuel sticking with Brad Lidge as his closer, but having dropped Jimmy Rollins from the leadoff spot.
Lidge blew two games in Los Angeles over the weekend and the last time he was in New York, against the Yankees, he blew two, as well. Lidge leads the majors with six blown saves a year after he famously totaled no blown saves in serving as the backbone of a World Series champion. He also has a 7.27 ERA, seven homers allowed in 26 innings and a .306 batting average against.
In Ryan Madson, the Phils have one of the majors best set-up men. Madson has allowed no homers and has 31 strikeouts in 28 1-3 innings to go along with a .202 batting average against. But Manuel has said he is sticking with Lidge as his closer.
He also has said in the long run that Rollins will be the Phillies’ leadoff man. But on Sunday Manuel dropped Rollins to sixth in the order and hinted that he will leave the struggling switch-hitter there for a bit. Rollins has a .583 OPS, which is actually worse than that of David Ortiz (.596), who has raised such angst in Boston. Rollins is hitting .222 with a .261 on-base percentage and three homers.
Even with those problems with leading men, the Phils are three games up on the Mets in the NL East.
3. Joba Chamberlain has six quality starts (at least six innings, three or fewer earned runs), which is actually tied for the Yankee lead with CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett – and one more than Andy Pettitte. For those scoring at home, it is also six more than Chien-Ming Wang.
If you think Chamberlain should be in the bullpen, by the way, do you also think David Price should right now be in Tampa’s pen? After all, we saw what he could do last year as a reliever in the postseason just as Joba showed what he could do as a reliever in 2007. Like Joba, Price is not a finished product as a starter as he still has work to do with his changeup and efficiency (sound familiar). Like the Yankees, Tampa has the kind of rotation depth that would allow Price to slip into the bullpen, especially when Scott Kazmir returns from the DL. Like the Yanks, Tampa has the kind of roster that can win now, but has a weakness in the pen.
However, like the Yanks, the Rays believe that building a long-term powerhouse rotation is the key to being an annual contender.
If you are in the camp that Chamberlain should stay as a starter then here is one item to consider: James Shields is 27, Jeff Niemann and Andy Sonnastine are 26, Matt Garza and Kazmir are 25 and Price is 23; plus in Wade Davis (23), the Rays have another touted piece nearly ready to help. Thus, they have the rotation cogs under long-term control that suggest they are going to be factors for a while.
And this is another reason that the Yanks should learn definitively if Chamberlain is a full-time starter: Because – believe it or not – in this area the Yanks have to keep up with the Rays.
