Here’s what $132 million, a gorgeous new stadium, and a dented old homerun apple under the 7 Train gets you: hopelessness and diamond despair on April 14th.
The daffodils have barely faded and the Mets are done in 2010. Omar Minaya has given us exactly what every pundit, scout, and blogger said he’d given us all through this long, dreary winter – no realistic hope for this season, and no starting pitching.
John Maine looked finished as a major leaguer last night in Denver, just as he looked in spring training. His fastball has lost the life it once had, and Maine seems to have lost his concentration as well. The Mets admit his rotation spot is in jeopardy. Not so for Oliver Perez and Mike Pelfrey; indeed, the braintrust is going out of its way – ie, holding back Johan Santana – so as not to upset the formal order of this stellar rotation.
Jason Fry posits that it’s not early and I tend to agree, but Fry’s usually a non-shrill voice of experienced reason – and even he’s calling for Omar’s head:
The job security of Minaya and Jerry Manuel is a hot topic seven games into the season — every fan who called Gary and Keith tonight asked some variant of “When do they get fired?” But calls for their heads from fed-up fans are not new, and neither is the obvious lack of enthusiasm for them in the owners’ suite. The Wilpons, one hopes, are not having early concerns about whether it’s finally time to clean house. Because we’re far beyond that point.
We tend to focus on the starting pitching, because it’s just been so damned obvious to all that the Mets simply didn’t have a competent rotation. But the starters also effect the bullpen, which has been stellar so far. But that pen, with all its live arms, will be seriously depleted and over-worked by June if this keeps up. And do we really believe Jenrry Mejia should be part of that equation – oooh, maybe he’ll challenge Pedro Feliciano’s appearance record! – with the season lost (and yes, it is) shouldn’t we bite the bullet and let Mejia develop as a desperately needed young starter in Buffalo?
Then there’s Jerry “Unprepared” Manuel. Let’s just say the drumbeat has already started for a certain lad from Connecticut, given to wearing disguises in the dug-out…and scratching for some improbable wins.
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