1. In today’s Post I wrote this column about how it was not long ago that Jose Reyes and David Wright seemed on an arc to eclipse Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez as the pre-eminent left side of the infield in New York. That never happened, of course.
And what has been problematic for the Mets is that there has been regression in the games of Reyes and Wright at a point both should be in their primes.
Let’s eliminate Jeter, A-Rod and the Yankees from this discussion. Let’s just focus on the Mets. How can they be a good team without Reyes and Wright as special players? This would be like if Chase Utley and Ryan Howard had regressed in their prime, what would be of the Phillies?
The Mets signed Reyes and Wright to long-term contracts during the 2006 season, and they believed they had created stability for the future. They were young, homegrown, already thriving in their early 20s. Why would the Mets not believe that they had put the cornerstones of a foundation into place for a long time? That feeling was only accentuated as the team followed through in 2006 by nearly getting to the World Series.
Who would have believed that was going to be the last great moment for this concept? That mostly misery lay ahead.
At least Reyes and Wright remained mostly high-end performers in 2007-08 as the Mets crumbled at the end both years. Last season, though, Reyes returned to the injury horrors that visited his early career and Wright began to show troubling indicators at the plate, namely too few homers and too many strikeouts. Wright’s power has been there this season, but the strikeouts have remained alarmingly high, his performance erratic on both sides of the ball. Meanwhile, Reyes has mostly been without the sizzle that defined his career, his results and electricity way down.
I know it is fashionable to point to Oliver Perez or Jerry Manuel or some other issue with the Mets. But if Wright and Reyes were performing like 2006-2008, there would be a few more wins right now compensating for the other problems. Manuel’s seat might not be as hot, confidence might be imbuing this franchise.
Instead, I keep wondering about the future as much as 2010. I assume no matter how poorly Reyes plays that the Mets will pick up his $11 million option for 2011. But that is just an assumption.
The Mets probably know now – or should know – that they cannot build their team around Reyes and Wright. And that is an extraordinary setback for now and beyond.
2. If you read this space – as always, thank you – then you know I have been railing since spring training about Jenrry Mejia being in the Mets bullpen rather than at Triple-A working on refining his craft as a starter. I will not repeat the whole argument yet again. I will simply point out that if the Mets were looking at what was good for them from 10,000 feet and with some perspective rather than worrying about winning individual games in April or May, they would have known that their rotation was a time bomb. And if your rotation is a time bomb, you better set up all the safeguards you possibly can.
Mejia was about the most talented safeguard the Mets could try to put into position. But now, with 60 percent of their rotation in tatters, the Mets have one less good option to consider because Mejia is still in their bullpen.
And here is one other factor to consider: Privately the Mets tried to make comparisons between what they were doing with Mejia and what the Yankees did with Joba Chamberlain in 2007 and Phil Hughes last year. But there are important distinctions: In the two instances involving the Yankees, Chamberlain and Hughes were put in the pen with the season already in progress and with the Yankees already having established that they were contenders and, thus, in a position where some development interuptus might be worthwhile in search of a championship. Also, Joba and Hughes quickly ascended to being the eighth-inning men, meaning that they were in vital roles very quickly.
The Mets have yet to prove they are contenders. And Mejia – despite an injury to Ryota Igarashi and the fade of Fernando Nieve – has not assumed the eighth-inning role.
He certainly is not doing anything vital enough to stunt his apprenticeship as a starter any further. So when Igarashi returns from the DL this weekend, it is time for the Mets to finally wise up and send Mejia down to work as a starter.
3. Francisco Cervelli has been a revelation and a life saver for the Yankees this year. He has brought his defense and energy – the expected – and mixed it with unexpected offense. And the Yanks obviously need that to continue with Jorge Posada on the DL now.
But a veteran scout said this to me yesterday: “I am curious how he does now when he is The Man. When he was succeeding everyone still knew Posada was around as protection just in case, and that included Cervelli knowing that. Now the training wheels are off. It is all his responsibility for a few weeks and that creates a different level of expectation and stress.”
Now part of looking too closely at Cervelli’s offense is just plain unfair. It was inevitable that Cervelli’s production was going to fall, since no one expected him to become the first player since Ted Williams to hit .400. He currently is in a 1-for-10 that has dropped his average from .400 to .357.
Still, let’s keep an eye on Cervelli to see if the pressure of being The Man for a few weeks does wear on him at all.
