The Mets Aren’t Struggling, This Is Who They Are

It’s about mid-way through the season and the Mets are below .500. They have been riddled by injuries, like many teams in baseball, and have been unwilling to move a few of their top prospects in order to jump start their ballclub. But if you were to listen to sports radio in New York, hosts and analysts would have you believe that this team is a few returning starters away from making a run at the World Series. Guess what? They couldn’t be more wrong!

Sure Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes would give a little bit of pop to a powerless, slow lineup but they can not turn this ship around by themselves. Every contending team in baseball has four sluggers that can make an All-Star team in any given year, but because these guys play in New York, GM Omar Minaya has lead you to believe that they are serious contenders behind Delgado, Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran.

Take a look around baseball. Minnesota has four players in Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel and Denard Span that are every bit as promising and more productive than the Queens Quad. Florida’s middle infield of Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla is head and shoulders above the Mets pair, but they also get help from role players like Jorge Cantu, Jeremy Hermida, Cody Ross and a tremendous young pitching staff. The teams without the luxury of a large payroll have been able to find ways to create runs, something that is unheard of in New York.

The prospects they are unwilling to part with remind me a lot of the Yankees youngsters from a few years back, when they wouldn’t give up Phil Hughes and Melky Cabrera for Johan Santana. RHP Bobby Parnell and CF Fernando Martinez are good prospects who will be in baseball for some time, but when you think you have an opportunity to win a World Series, you give up some youth in order to make a hard push.

Look what Milwaukee did last year, trading for CC Sabathia around the All-Star break. They actually believed that they could make a push for a title, so they rolled the dice. If Omar Minaya truly believed that this team was built to win now, Bobby Parnell would be in Cleveland and Mark DeRosa would be stirring up the Mets lineup.

The Mets do not have a boatload of talent in their farm system. They are not going to bring up Parnell and Martinez, followed by a hard hitting catcher and power hitting corner outfielder. They are going to have to buy those on the open market anyway.

The last move they made to fill these needs, they went to the Nationals in order to find players. The Washington Nationals? They thought Ryan Church and Brian Schneider were the last two pieces of a championship puzzle. When I saw their opening day lineup last season, after Omar Minaya filled the airwaves with World Series propaganda that winter, the first thing I thought was, “Ryan Church and Brian Schneider do not start on World Series teams.”

This offseason, along with adding a 40-year old Gary Sheffield, the Mets worked on putting together a formidable pitching staff. They signed Oliver Perez, who pitches when he feels like it, to a 3-year, $36 million contract and Tim Redding to a one-year deal. Luckily, they are getting decent starts from a guy who can’t throw over 85mph in Livan Hernandez. Livan Hernandez, Tim Redding and Oliver Perez do not start on World Series teams.

Next time you watch a Mets game, take a step back and dissect the team you are watching play baseball. Then try to picture Tim Redding and Livan Hernandez hoisting a World Series trophy while being surrounded by a smiling Brian Schneider, Ryan Church and Gary Sheffield. If it seems too outrageous to be true, it probably is.

Don’t be fooled Mets fans, the product you see on the field every night is not one that will bring you a title any time soon. Big changes need to be made in Queens but first the front office has to stop lying to themselves and their fans, leading them to believe that this club has any chance to win a World Series.