I've heard a lot about the Mets trading Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran by the All-Star break. While trading Beltran makes sense to me, trading Reyes does not. I'm not the GM though, so it doesn't really matter. This is Sandy Alderson's team and if he wants to rebuild it, he can.
The Mets are struggling right now and there is no doubt about that. They are tied for the second worst record in the league, are six games below .500 and are in last place in the NL East. But when I watch the Mets play I don't see a bad team. I see a team that is in almost every game they play, no matter who they are facing. They've had a couple of games when they've gotten blown out, but that happens.
When Angel Pagan comes back, this line-up can go toe-to-toe with any line-up in baseball. It has a nice mix of speed, power, and contact hitters, and they can put a lot of runs on the board. Unfortunately, the Mets haven't had their whole line-up healthy and playing yet this season. But with Pagan coming back soon, we'll be able to see it in full swing, no pun intended.
The main problem with this team is pitching. They have two our their key members of the bullpen on the DL right now in Bobby Parnell and Pedro Beato, and one of the best pitchers in baseball, Johan Santana, set to come off the DL in late June, early July. It may not seem like a big deal to get 13 or 14 starts from him this season, but when he comes back it will make the whole rotation better.
So what if the Mets are in the Wild Card hunt when Johan comes back? Is it so impossible to think? What if they start winning these one run and two run games and put together another winning streak? Is it possible that the Mets might look to add a starting pitcher at the trade deadline?
Maybe Mark Buehrle from the Chicago White Sox if they fall far enough out of it? Not a lot of big names out there that could be available, but they could add someone to improve their rotation. Maybe they'll look to improve their bullpen by adding Heath Bell or Matt Capps? A power hitter for the bench would also be nice. It's still hard to tell who will be available, but there should be some players out there that can help the Mets.
So let's say their line-up is 100% healthy, Johan comes back into the rotation, they move Chris Capuano to the bullpen, and they trade for, let's say… Heath Bell. Welcome back to New York.
Line-Up:
- Jose Reyes
- Angel Pagan
- David Wright
- Carlos Beltran
- Ike Davis
- Jason Bay
- Daniel Murphy
- Josh Thole
Rotation:
- Johan Santana
- Mike Pelfrey
- R.A. Dickey
- Jon Niese
- Chris Young
Bullpen:
- Francisco Rodriguez
- Heath Bell
- Jason Isringhausen
- Bobby Parnell
- Pedro Beato
- Chris Capuano
- Dillon Gee
That's a pretty nice looking team right there. Question is, will it be good enough to win enough games to get that Wild Card spot.
Maybe I'm just kidding myself and I'm in denial that this season is over and the Mets are going to have to trade my favorite players away. Maybe after the deadline Reyes, Beltran, Pelfrey, Rodriguez, Young, Capuano, and Izzy will all be gone. But hey, everyone else is talking about dismantling this team, why not try to just make it better?
