You know things are bad with the Mets when the big news on this blog is whether or not Sick of has been banned from commenting. (He hasn't, by the way).
But what can you expect when the team we all love to love has gone from exciting and refreshing to unwatchable and brutal in a mere 14 days?
A team that was hanging tough is now 6 games under .500, and by the time next Sunday night rolls around, could 10-12 games under. I don't expect them to win any games in Philly and if they get one from the Braves next weekend, I'd be happy.
Suddenly, 75 wins is looking like a real possibility.
At this point, who cares. People who haven't watched the Mets all season will dub this another lost season, another bust. Those of us who have watched every day know the team that takes the field tonight isn't the same one that battled for the first four months of the season.
But that is why Sandy Alderson, while rebuilding this team, needs to find players who can get it done over the long haul. He needs to find gamers, not guys who vanish at the first sign of trouble or worse - can't even stay on the field.
Sure, every team will have its up and downs over a season, but good teams, good players, overcome that stuff.
Can Sandy Alderson really count on Reyes to be healthy enough to justify a 5-year, $90M deal? Is it worth planning on keeping Murph at second when every time he plays there he suffers a massive injury? Clearly none of our bullpen guys are consistent enough to be counted on for a full season. In typical Met fashion, the one guy who's been able to stay healthy all year is Jason Bay, who would probably be just as productive if he were on the DL.
Let's face it, it's a mess. I feel bad for Terry Collins.
Sunday, with the go-ahead run at second and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Collins had two choices:
1. Let R.A. Dickey "hit" for himself and then start the eighth inning or
2. Send Willy Harris up to pinch-"hit" and then open the bullpen gate
If choice 3 were spending the afternoon with Yamphy, he might have taken it.
Every once in a while I read or hear people questioning Collins, and how this late-season collapse should reflect on him. I say it shouldn't. You can't make chicken salad out of . . . well, you know.
Anyway, maybe our boys will shock us this week, but with the Phils still stinging from a bad weekend in D.C., I'm not optimisitc.
Still, I'll watch.
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