As if in a bad dream, David Wright is struck down.
After seeing David take the 93-94 mph fastball to the helmet during Saturday's game against the Giants, it's no surprise that the end result is a concussion.
Video of the play can be seen here.
As many a Met fan knows, the team did not exactly do Ryan Church any favors in 2008 by mishandling his concussion suffered against a Yuniel Escobar knee to the head during a late May game in Atlanta against the Braves.
The CT-scan on David Wright came back negative, so it seems that a concussion is the worst of Wright's worries.
What the Mets will do with David Wright in light of the concussion, one can only imagine. But the most sensible move, knowing that the team is not going to be in the postseason hunt, is to put him on the 15-day DL immediately and hopefully he'll be ready to play again come September.
Concussions are a tricky thing. Different athletes get affected by them differently. Most want to come back and play immediately, but as sports medicine has evolved over the years, it's been well-documented that the risk of additional concussions is far greater if you resume athletic activities too soon.
While in baseball, as compared to more physically contact-oriented sports (MMA, football, hockey), the overall danger of concussions is lower, you still don't want to risk your franchise player needlessly suffering any additional problems.
As the Mets continue to become more irrelevant in the postseason picture, that means the less games that FOX and ESPN are going to be televising with them involved.
However, the San Francisco Giants are 1.5 games out of the Wild Card hunt behind the Colorado Rockies, and 6.5 games behind the NL West-leading Dodgers, who have gone 13-15 since the All-Star Break.
Therefore, Giants in the playoff hunt on a Saturday afternoon gets FOX to air this game in the Los Angeles market. Works for me!
Despite the Mets woes of 2009, primarily due to overwhelming injury, fans still want to see them do well. It's more about "just win." Just get to the .500 mark now, and just plan for 2010.
Today's pitching matchup is a dandy. Johan Santana (13-8, 3.00 ERA) vs. Matt Cain (12-4, 2.44 ERA).
Johan Santana's last start was Sunday at PETCO Park against the San Diego Padres. He went 8 innings, giving up 1 ER, and went 2 for 3 at the plate with an RBI. He got the W in the 5-1 victory that prevented a 4-game sweep at the hands of the Padres.
The last time the Mets saw Matt Cain, it was on the losing end of a 2-0 shutout at AT&T Park in San Francisco on May 17. That was the game where Mike Pelfrey balked 321 times in a game. True story! (ok, it was more like 3, but that's still a lot!)
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(ALL TIMES PACIFIC)
Top of 1st Inning:
1:11pm: I'm getting my first look at the old-school inspired-"New York Giants" cream-colored uniforms that the Mets are wearing this There's a big N on the right side of the jersey, a big Y on the left side. It's pretty awful. Player names are not on the back either. But yeah, these unis kinda suck.
1:12pm: Eugenio Velez hits a pop foul into shallow rightfield which Francoeur, Murphy and Castillo all chase. Luis Castillo is the closest and gets his glove on it after a long run, but it falls out. The umpire ruled it a foul ball but the Mets may have caught a break cause it kinda looked fair. The official scorer ruled it an Error on Castillo.
1:13pm: No worries. Johan Santana gets Velez to strike out at the high heat. 1 out.
1:14pm: Freddy Sanchez hits a ball that almost tangles up 3B David Wright but he is able to field it and throw meekly to 1B Daniel Murphy who picks the throw out of the dirt for the out. 2 outs.
1:17pm: "Kung Fu Panda" Pablo Sandoval takes a walk on an inside fastball.
1:19pm: Johan Santana pulls the string on the 2-2 changeup which gets Bengie Molina desperately swinging and a missing for the K. 3 outs.
Bottom of 1st Inning:
1:22pm: Cory Sullivan smacks a curveball right to 2B Freddy Sanchez who throws onto 1B Ryan Garko for the out. 4-3. 1 out.
1:24pm: Luis Castillo slaps a single into LF to get on base. Castillo's BA just went over .300. I'm very pleased to see him having a rebound season.
1:25pm: David Wright flies out to CF Aaron Rowand. 2 outs.
1:26pm: Gary Sheffield looks foolish against Matt Cain, swinging through strikes 2 and 3. 3 outs.
Top of 2nd Inning:
1:29pm: Ryan Garko hits a broken bat grounder at SS Anderson Hernandez. 6-3. 1 out.
1:31pm: Aaron Rowand strikes out swinging at the famed Johan Santana changeup over the outside corner. 2 outs.
1:33pm: Nate Schierholtz hits a short bloop right into the glove of 3B David Wright. 3 outs.
Bottom of 2nd Inning:
1:36pm: Daniel Murphy lines a shot into LF but Eugenio Velez running in towards the ball makes a fine catch before diving. Usually you have to dive to make a catch but I guess this was more about balance. Either way, 1 out.
1:37pm: Jeff Francoeur flies out to RF Nate Schierholtz in foul territory. 2 outs.
1:38pm: FOX announcers Thom Brennaman and Mark Grace continue to talk about the Giants lack of offense, but tremendous pitching staff that has been keeping them in the playoff hunt. The Giants have the 2nd fewest number of homers in the NL (the Mets have the fewest) but are a winning team. It's not always about the longball, but the Giants hitting as of late has started to dwindle as they fail to score runs at all. Lincecum and Cain can only do so much.
1:40pm: Brian Schneider skies out to RF Nate Schierholtz. 3 up, 3 down. 3 out.
Top of 3rd Inning:
1:44pm: Edgar Renteria flies out to 1B Daniel Murphy who tracks it down running away from the plate before having a slight but harmless collision with 2B Luis Castillo, who was also chasing the ball. 1 out.
1:46pm: Matt Cain grounds out to SS Anderson Hernandez. 6-3. 2 outs.
1:47pm: Eugenio Velez hits a grounder just past the glove of Johan Santana on the mound but SS Anderson Hernandez is able to field it and throw onto first for the out. 3 outs.
Bottom of 3rd Inning:
1:50pm: Anderson Hernandez hits the first pitch he sees right back to Matt Cain, who fields it and throws onto first for the out. 1 out.
1:52pm: Johan Santana hits the ball hard but right at 2B Freddy Sanchez. 4-3. 2 outs.
1:53pm: Cory Sullivan flies out to LF Eugenio Velez. 3 outs. Mark Grace says we have a pitcher's duel here. Well DUH!
Top of 4th Inning:
1:56pm: Aaron Rowand swings at the first pitch from Santana, and flies out to CF Cory Sullivan. 1 out.
1:57pm: We're already in the 4th inning and it's not even been an hour .Grace and Brennaman note that the pitchers have been cruising at a very fast pace. Santana has spent only 16 mins on the mound so far, and Matt Cain has spent 14.
1:58pm: Pablo Sandoval scorches a ball into centerfield for a single. First hit of the game for the Giants.
1:59pm: Bengie Molina lines a ball into LF for a single. Pablo Sandoval moves to 2nd on the hit. I hope the wheels ain't coming off of Johan.
2:01pm: Ryan Garko flies out to CF Cory Sullivan. Pablo Sandoval tags up to 3rd base. 2 outs.
2:04pm: Aaron Rowand flies out to shallow rightfield, but 2B Luis Castillo makes a TWO-HANDED CATCH on the ball. 3 outs.
Bottom of 4th Inning:
2:07pm: Luis Castillo slaps a chopper over the mound and a charging Edgar Renteria at shortstop can't get a good grip on the ball to get "Mr. Infield Hit" Luis Castillo. And the BA keeps rising for Castillo, as he has both Met hits so far.
2:10pm: David Wright just got hit in the helmet by a Matt Cain fastball that seems to have knocked him out. Cain looks quite concerned and there's no question that was an unintentional pitch on an 0-2 count. The trainers are out immediately to check on him. He is clearly loopy and out of it, and he may think he's ok, but he HAS to be taken out of the game and make sure there's no concussion, or worse.
2:12pm: David Wright is up and walking, but he's out of the game. Fernando Tatis is the replacement at 3B. Since Wright was hit by the pitch, Tatis now on 1st base, Castillo moves over to 2nd.
2:15pm: Gary Sheffield may have gotten away with looking at strike 3, although the ump called it ball 3 instead. And then he swings at a high ball 4. Yeesh. Still a full count.
2:17pm: Gary Sheffield hits a long flyball into the left-center power alley, but Aaron Rowand tracks it down just in front of the warning track. Luis Castillo tags up to 3rd base. 1 out.
2:18pm: Daniel Murphy flies out to Nate Schierholtz in shallow rightfield. Luis Castillo tags up from 3rd base and slides around Bengie Molina to tag the plate and score the first Met run of the game. Fernando Tatis tags up to 2nd base. 2 outs, Mets go up 1-0.
2:20pm: Jeff Francoeur grounds out to 2B Freddy Sanchez. 4-3. 3 outs.
Top of 5th Inning:
2:23pm: Nate Schierholtz crushes a ball off the centerfield wall for a leadoff double.
2:25pm: Edgar Renteria strikes out swinging at the Johan Santana changeup inside. 1 out.
2:26pm: Matt Cain is up to bat and the fans boo him since he killed David.
2:29pm: Matt Cain strikes out swinging at the high heat. 2 outs.
2:30pm: Edgar Renteria hits a check-swing grounder just past Johan Santana on the mound but 3B Fernando Tatis charges the ball and throws onto first for the out. 3 outs. No harm from the leadoff double.
Bottom of 5th Inning:
2:32pm: Brian Schneider hits a weak grounder the opposite way towards 3B Pablo Sandoval. Sandoval fields it nicely and throws to first to get the slow Schneider. 1 out.
2:35pm: Anderson Hernandez grounds out to 1B Ryan Garko, who tosses over to Matt Cain covering 1st for the out. 2 away.
2:36pm: Johan Santana grounds out to 2B Freddy Sanchez, 4-3. 3 outs.
Top of 6th Inning:
2:39pm: Freddy Sanchez lines a ball past a diving Daniel Murphy for a leadoff single.
2:40pm: Pablo Sandoval lines a ball into leftfield for a single. Freddy Sanchez moves over to 2nd base.
2:41pm: Bengie Molina just misses a homerun off the first pitch he sees from Johan Santana, pounding the ball off the #14 sign in leftfield for a double. Sanchez scores the Giants' first run. Sandoval is over to 3rd base on the play, and Molina just makes it into 2nd base ahead of the tag. Tie game 1-1.
2:46pm: Ryan Garko lines a shot into centerfield that scores Pablo Sandoval to give the Giants a 2-1 lead. Bengie Molina moves to 3rd on the play. Still no out. The wheels seem to be coming off Santana. Tim Redding is now warming up in the bullpen.
2:49pm: Aaron Rowand grounds a ball up the middle past Santana, but SS Anderson Hernandez runs the ball down. He has a bit of trouble getting the ball out of the glove before shuffling it off to 2B Castillo at the last second to get the force on Garko at 2nd base. Bengie Molina scores, so it's now 3-1 Giants. 1 out.
2:51pm: Nate Schierholtz grounds to 2B Luis Castillo, who throws onto SS Anderson Hernandez at 2nd base to get the force on Aaron Rowand. 2 outs.
2:52pm: Edgar Renteria singles to leftfield. Schierholtz to 2nd on the play.
2:53pm: PItching coach Dan Warthen takes a trip to the mound to see why Johan Santana has fallen apart this inning.
2:54pm: Matt Cain strikes out swinging. 3 outs.
Bottom of 6th Inning:
2:58pm: FOX has footage of David Wright walking into the ambulance outside the ballpark. Good to see he's moving around, but he's obviously going to go through some tests at the hospital to make sure everything is good upstairs.
2:59pm: Cory Sullivan grounds out to 2B Freddy Sanchez. 4-3. 1 out.
3:00pm: Luis Castillo slaps another base hit to centerfield. 3 for 3 today, and the only guy on the team who is hitting Matt Cain today.
3:01pm; Fernando Tatis strikes out looking at a fastball that just catches the outside corner. 2 outs.
3:03pm: Gary Sheffield grounds out sharply to 3B Pablo Sandoval. 5-4 for the forceout at 2nd base. 3 outs.
Top of 7th Inning:
3:07pm: Eugenio Velez grounds out to SS Anderson Hernandez. 6-3. 1 out.
3:08pm: Freddy Sanchez skies out to CF Cory Sullivan in left-centerfield. 2 outs.
3:09pm: Well, it looks like Johan finally went for some payback. Santana throws way behind Pablo Sandoval, and the umpire issues warnings to both benches. That's a silly pitch considering Cain didn't intentionally go after Wright's head at all. Plus the ball didn't even hit Sandoval in the first place.
3:10pm: And then Kung Fu Panda Sandoval crushes a homer off the leftfield facade. Giants go up 4-1.
3:12pm: Bengie Molina gets hit on an inside pitch from Johan Santana, but it was off the elbow. Giants manager Bruce Bochy is out to argue that since the warnings were issued, Molina should've been ejected. Jerry Manuel has a conference on the mound while Bochy argues with Brian O'Nora. Doesn't matter much, as Jerry is making a pitching change now.
3:15pm: Sean Green now on in relief of Santana, pitching to Ryan Garko. Garko hits a shot into the leftfield corner but it's high enough that Gary Sheffield tracks it down. 3 outs.
Bottom of 7th Inning:
3:19pm: Daniel Murphy leads off the 7th with a single to centerfield. Travis Ishikawa is in at 1B in place of Ryan Garko.
3:21pm: Jeff Francoeur flies out to deep CF, but Aaron Rowand tracks it down. 1 out.
3:22pm: Brian Schneider grounds into a 3-6-4 double play. Ishikawa to Renteria to Sanchez covering first. 3 outs.
Top of 8th Inning:
3:24pm: Aaron Rowand strikes out swinging. 1 out.
3:25pm: Nate Schierholtz grounds a ball past a diving Luis Castillo at 2B for a single.
3:26pm: Edgar Renteria grounds out to SS Anderson Hernandez. They try and turn a double play but only get Schierholtz at 2nd. 6-4. 2 outs.
3:27pm: Edgar Renteria takes 2nd on a Sean Green wild pitch. Matt Cain is still in the game for the Giants, considering how well he is pitching.
3:28pm: Matt Cain strikes out swinging. 3 outs.
Bottom of 8th Inning:
3:31pm: Jeremy Affeldt warming up in the Giants bullpen, Nelson Figueroa warming up in the Mets bullpen.
3:32pm: Anderson Hernandez lines a ball into left-center field for a leadoff single.
3:33pm: Jeremy Reed is in to pinch-hit for Sean Green.
3:34pm: Jeremy Reed grounds to 1B Travis Ishikawa who looks at 2nd base before shuffling the ball back to Matt Cain at first base for the sure out. Anderson Hernandez moves to 2nd. 1 out.
3:35pm: Cory Sullivan ropes a ball to RF for a base hit that scores Anderson Hernandez from 2nd base. The throw from Schierholtz to the plate is way off the line, backed up by Matt Cain on the 3rd base side, and Cory Sullivan takes 2nd base on the play. 4-2 Giants.
3:36pm: Matt Cain is done for the day and booed by the CitiField fans. Jeremy Affeldt is coming in to pitch in relief for the Giants.
3:39pm: Luis Castillo is now batting from the right side against lefty Jeremy Affeldt.
3:40pm: Luis Castillo takes two ball 4's for a walk. Although one of them was called a strike. And that's it for Affeldt as Bruce Bochy takes a trip to the mound to go to the bullpen.
3:44pm: Closer Brian Wilson is on in the 8th inning to try and save things for the Giants. He goes ahead 0-2 on Fernando Tatis.
3:46pm: Fernando Tatis shoots a sinking liner into RF for a single that scores Cory Sullivan from 2nd base. Luis Castillo moves to 3rd on the play. The Mets are fighting back, and are now down 4-3.
3:47pm: Gary Sheffield flies out to RF Nate Schierholtz. Luis Castillo tags from 3rd again and scores a lot easier on this sac fly. Schierholtz's throw to the plate is on the fly so Molina has to jump and get it. Gary Sheffield takes 2nd on the throw home. 2 outs. Tie ballgame 4-4. Despite Matt Cain's performance today, he won't get the W today.
3:49pm: Daniel Murphy is taking the intentional walk with a base open.
3:50pm: Jeff Francoeur skies out to RF Nate Schierholtz. 3 outs.
Top of 9th Inning:
3:53pm: Jeremy Reed is in LF in place of Gary Sheffield as a defensive replacement. Frankie Rodriguez is in to pitch the 9th inning to keep the Giants down.
3:54pm: Eugenio Velez swings the bat, makes contact, but the ball drops right in front of Brian Schneider who picks it up and throws onto 1st for the out. 2-3. 1 out.
3:55pm: Freddy Sanchez hits a weak groundball towards 3B but Fernando Tatis makes a very nce play on the ball, throwing to first for the out. 2 away.
3:57pm: Pablo Sandoval grounds out meekly to Luis Castillo. 4-3. 3 outs.
Bottom of 9th Inning:
4:01pm: Brian Schneider grounds out to 1B Travis Ishikawa, who tosses on to Brian Wilson covering at first. 3-1. 1 out.
4:03pm: Anderson Hernandez strikes out swinging. 2 outs.
4:05pm: Jeremy Reed grounds out to 2B Freddy Sanchez. 4-3. 3 outs. We're going extra innings.
Top of 10th Inning:
4:08pm: Bengie Molina takes a K-Rod fastball deeeeep and into the LF seats. Giants go up 5-4. I thought Frankie was back in the 9th. Guess not.
4:10pm: Travis Ishikawa flies out to LF Jeremy Reed in shallow leftfield. 1 out.
4:12pm: Aaron Rowand flies out to 1B Daniel Murphy. 2 outs.
4:14pm: Nate Schierholtz grounds out to 1B Daniel Murphy who takes it to the bag himself. 3 outs.
Bottom of 10th Inning:
4:17pm: Giants closer Brian Wilson is still on the mound, which could be risky as he'll need to go 2.2 IP to lock it all down.
4:18pm: Cory Sullivan grounds out to 2B Freddy Sanchez. 4-3. 1 out.
4:20pm: Luis Castillo strikes out looking at a 99 MPH fastball on the outside corner. 2 outs.
4:21pm: Fernando Tatis flies out to Nate Schierholtz in RF to end the game. 3 outs. Mets lose it in 10 by a final score of 5-4.
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A valiant but unsuccessful comeback for the Mets who were down 4-1 in the 8th before tying it up and taking the W away from Matt Cain. However, Frankie couldn't hold the lead in his 2nd inning pitched, giving up a kaboomer to Bengie Molina and that was the ballgame.
The big story out of the game is David Wright getting hit in the head by a Matt Cain 94mph fastball. Wright was taken out of the game and to the hospital via ambulance to undergo medical tests. Hopefully he's ok, but I have to imagine he'll be kept out of the lineup tomorrow as well just to give the noggin a little healing time, even if he's cleared by doctors and there are no serious injuries to DW.
Tomorrow's Sunday matinee will pit Jonathan Sanchez against the ever-failing Mike Pelfrey, so things don't exactly look promising for tomorrow's game.
If you believed in hexes or curses, one could certainly understand the troubled case of the 2009 New York Mets.
A team where only 1 everyday starter has been healthy all season, who has lost his power swing to the point he's on pace for a career low in HRs, a career high in his number of strikeouts, and yet still has hit over .300 all season.
But the team has been without 3 of 8 everyday players for the majority of the season. Shortstop Jose Reyes, first baseman Carlos Delgado, and centerfielder Carlos Beltran.
The team was also without starting catcher Brian Schneider for half of April and almost all of May, who means a lot more to the team behind the plate than he does batting at it.
Ex-rightfielder Ryan Church also spent some time on the DL. As have Gary Sheffield, Angel Pagan, Alex Cora, Ramon Martinez and Fernando Martinez.
But we haven't even gotten to the pitching staff yet. Only two of the club's 5 pitchers in the starting rotation have remained healthy all year. Those two being Johan Santana and Livan Hernandez.
Oliver Perez spent some time rehabbing a sore knee, which at first was thought to be a phantom injury that the Mets came up with when he pitched so poorly to begin the 2009 season, but if one believes the Mets PR staff, and honestly, who knows these days... MRI results revealed that the injury was apparently real.
John Maine has had more shoulder problems this season, which is a thematic thing with him to the point the club can't possibly leave him in the 2010 rotation because his arm has never proven to stand up to the rigors of a full season. Despite his attempts at rehabbing the shoulder, things are not going well.
Tim Redding started the season on the DL, and the way he's pitched most of the time, one kinda wishes he had stayed there. There were even rumblings not too long ago that the club might release him outright, but additional injuries to the already-decimated pitching staff allowed him to stay on the club as a reliever.
Top setup reliever JJ Putz's elbow problems re-surfaced in 2009 to the point he needed surgery and may or may not return in September.
"Miracle" waiver pickup Fernando Nieve, who pitched very well in 3 of his 5 starts this season, with the 6th start being the one where he hurt his leg running out a grounder to first base, is also on the DL.
"But wait, there's more!" - Billy Mays
Today we added starting pitcher and one of the club's top prospects Jonathon Niese to the injury list, as he tore his right hamstring tendon off the bone while trying to make a fielding play at first base. Niese did an involuntary gymnastic-like split which his legs aren't quite made for, and suffered this season-ending injury as a result.
That makes it 9 players currently on the Mets' DL, and second baseman Luis Castillo just recently sprained his ankle while walking down the dugout steps, making him day-to-day.
When your starters go down, and your pitchers go down, and then your backups go down, and then your backups' backups go down... London Bridge can't be far behind.
It's early August, and the Mets are realistically, though not mathematically, eliminated from the postseason.
Not because of ownership. Not because of GM Omar Minaya. Not because of manager Jerry Manuel.
Because injuries are the great unequalizer in the world of sports, and they've turned a $149-million club into a team that can't produce.
If the Pittsburgh Penguins lost Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury, Petr Sykora, Kris Letang, Miro Satan, and Ruslan Fedotenko, would they have won the Stanley Cup this year? Would they even have made the playoffs? Certainly no Cup for a team without those players, and a very doubtful playoff position either.
This isn't making excuses. It's the unfortunate and stark reality of the situation that this ballclub is in.
So now what?
The Mets are now embarking on a 7-game West Coast swing against San Diego and Arizona. The good news is that San Diego is awful now. Except they were also awful last season, and the Padres swept the Mets in a 4-game set last June of 2008. Three of those wins by a score of 2-1, and that was with a lot more healthy Mets on the club.
As for Arizona, the good news is that the Mets have always done extremely well in games played in Phoenix. The bad news is that the Mets lost 3 of 4 just last week to the Diamondbacks at CitiField.
The postseason isn't the reality anymore. Now it's a quest for mediocrity.
Can this ballclub finish the 2009 season with a record over .500? With a record of 51-56 through 107 games, and 55 games remaining in the season, a realistic projection for this team puts them at 77-85. That most closely resembles the record of the 1991 Mets that finished 77-84.
Can they win 82 games, finishing a game over .500? The team will need to go 31-24 over the rest of the season to achieve that. Is that the greatest accomplishment this team can hope to achieve with less than 2 months to go? Sadly, the answer is yes.
On July 7, I wrote that the Mets 2009 season was pretty much over, as far as any chances the team had at making the postseason. And to illustrate that, I made a series of predictions as to how the team would fare over the rest of July.
Written July 7:
The Mets have their next 6 at home going into the All-Star Break. 3 against the Dodgers, owners of the best record in baseball, and the Cincinnati Reds. Figure the Mets go 3-3 over that span, losing the series to the Dodgers, winning the series against the Reds.
Correct.
Written July 7:
After the All-Star break, the Mets go on the road for 4 against Atlanta, 3 against Washington, 3 against Houston. If this were truly the 2009 Mets with all their healthy starters in the lineup, it would not be absurd to expect them to win 8-9 of those 10 games.
But without those starting players in the lineup and the team's inability to score runs at a consistent pace, the more likely outcome of that 10-game roadtrip is 4-6.
Correct.
Written July 7:
The Mets will finish up July with a 4-game set at home against the Colorado Rockies, and a 4-game set that extends into August (1 game in July) against the dying Arizona Diamondbacks. Over those 5 games, I'll give the Mets a 3-2 record.
Correct.
Written July 7:
Taking into account all the series remaining in the month, that would bring the Mets to a July finish of 12-14, and a total record of 49-53 through 102 games played.
100% correct. Now that I'm done patting myself on the back, the problem is, being right isn't good here because the Mets are still in this problematic situation of having to win 40+ games over the next two months.
Written July 7:
In a perfect world, you get back all your healthy players PLUS Billy Wagner in the bullpen by August 1, 2009. Maybe you already have some of then back already. But the Mets would then need to go around 39-14 over the rest of the season, and pray that other teams in the NL East encounter troubles of their own. While that's not impossible, it's certainly not very probable. Keep in mind that this is also assuming that the team doesn't suffer any additional injuries to major players.
Since I wrote that, none of the major names have returned, and several others have joined the ranks of the injured including Gary Sheffield and Fernando Nieve.
In fact, we're now learning that it's likely none of the major players will return until late August, with question marks still surrounding the returns of John Maine, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes. It seems that the only major players who have a fairly certain chance of returning to the ballclub are Billy Wagner and JJ Putz. Shoring up the bullpen is certainly a positive if your team is in the race, trying to make it into the postseason. Except this team isn't.
On August 1, the Mets stand 10.5 games behind the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies, and 6.5 behind the Wild Card spot. There are 6 other teams in front of the Mets in the Wild Card race.
There's no realistic scenario in which the Mets can somehow get into the postseason unless all of the other teams ahead of them lose, and the Mets end up on a 2-month tear. Without the major players, this is exceedingly unlikely if not impossible.
That takes us to the July 31 trade deadline in which the Mets made no trades. But how could they? Mets GM Omar Minaya has to know that they couldn't REALLY be buyers, despite his public statements during July that they would be, and that any potential players they could sell, were already injured. Under normal circumstances, the Mets could easily have traded either JJ Putz or Billy Wagner to a contending team before the July 31 trade deadline, had either of them been healthy. Alas, both are still rehabbing their arms. They're not exactly much use to anyone at the MLB level right now.
For all of the rumors about Roy Halladay, and the belief that the Mets, Angels, Dodgers, Red Sox, Yankees, along with 15 other teams, just HAD to get him, the Blue Jays didn't trade him to anyone. But sticking with the Mets for a second, they would've had to further deplete their already-bare farm system in order to obtain Roy Halladay for a year and a half, plus try and work out a new contract with Doc for after 2010 which would likely cost a team more money than Johan Santana got in 2008.
It's not that moving prospects is a bad thing, it's that you need to pull the trigger at the right time under the right circumstances on the right people. And in this case, none of those came to light for the Mets.
There seems to be a large number of baseball fans who believe that if you don't make a significant move by the July 31 deadline, that you are either dead in the postseason, or won't make it. We've seen countless examples to the contrary over the years, but that doesn't prevent fans from exhibiting their irrational knee-jerk responses when they don't get their way.
The Mets need to look towards 2010, and figure out what players are going to be on the ballclub then, and what holes they need to fill. What will they do with 1B? Are they going to stick with Daniel Murphy there over the long-term or perhaps re-sign Carlos Delgado to another season if he can come back and still play in 2009?
What will the Mets do at catcher? Do they go into 2010 with Santos and Cancel as the backstops, and let Brian Schneider go? Or are there other legitimate options the club has either in the minors or via free agency?
What will they do with the perennially problematic corner outfield spots? The Mets desperately need a full-time leftfielder. Will that be Fernando Martinez? What about Jeff Francoeur? Do you give him a new contract to play RF?
There are a lot of questions to be answered over the next two months, and only by playing the games will we find them out.
But one question which already has an answer is, "Will the Mets make the 2009 postseason?"
"No."
