Breaking up is hard to do - Part 2

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Let's recap, shall we?

1) I state (and still believe) that Pelfrey doesn't have a place on the starting rotation next year.

• Result - He throws a complete game and the Mets win

2) I state (and still strongly believe) that Bay doesn't have a place on this team anymore

• Result - Today Bay goes 3-4, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs

This makes me very nervous.  I'm afraid if I talk about the Mets that I want to keep on this team that they're going to start to slump.  Of course it's ridiculously arrogant to think that my tiny little blog affects the performance of the New York Mets, but then again, I'm ridiculously arrogant.

Not like Clemens arrogant, but arrogant enough.

Anyway, here are three people that I strongly believe need to be on this team next year.

1) Daniel Murphy

As a player, I LOVE Daniel Murphy.  How can you not?  He is absurdly focused on baseball.  In 2009 he was dressed in a suit getting off of the team bus and someone asked him why he was dressed up.  His response was something along the lines of "you need to dress right when you're in a pennant race." (Mets finished 70-92 in 2009).  He's so serious about baseball that if and when he gets married his wife will be the mistress in his relationship with major league baseball.

Everyone knows that his defense is exceptionally suspect, but it has gotten dramatically better this year.  Now, did I say that watching Murphy play defense is like watching a porn where all they do is have sex fully clothed with the hole cut out of the sheet?  Yes, that sounds like something I would say.  But the reality is that he works too hard to not become a decent second baseman.

Yes, second base.  Not right field.  Everyone thinks I'm crazy when I say that, but his offense is perfect for a second baseman.  Doesn't have a ton of power, but he carries a little pop (he did lead the Mets in home runs with a whopping 12 in 2009), and clearly will hit for average (currently 3rd in the NL with a .319 average).  This is a line drive hitting team starved for power, and the likelihood is that they'll find that power from an outfielder, not a 2nd baseman.  I don't know if the future of the outfield is with Duda, F-Mart, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, some kid I've never heard of, or someone they'll acquire, but whoever he is will probably play because of an ability to drive the long ball.

You know what's ironic though?  I think I would loathe a conversation with Daniel Murphy.  Every interview I hear with him sounds like he's fighting through his Aspergers to recall the Robert's Rules of Order regarding how to interact in a conversation.  He's a good looking kid who could probably pick up any female he wants in the greater New York Metropolitan Area, but I just can't see him having a natural, normal conversation with a female.  Watch an interview with him and tell me you can't imagine him having sex screaming things like "Give me that 0-2 slider in the dirt!"  I don't even know what that means, but it doesn't sound very nice.

2) Angel Pagan

I LOVE Angel Pagan.  Say what you want to say, but Pagan's fine.  His year got off to a very rough start, he played hurt, finally went on the DL, and just now is starting to look like the player from last year.  He's got an excellent bat, great speed, a wonderful glove, and no longer is doing the stupid base running blunders that had skeptics questioning his ability to play baseball at the major league level.

Imagine him 1-2 with Reyes next year (Yes, I also think that Reyes will get resigned.  I know, I know.)

1) Reyes

2) Pagan

3) Wright

4) Davis

5) Murphy

6) Duda?

7) *sigh*, Bay

8) Thole/Paulino

That, my friends, is not a bad line up, not even a little bit (well, Bay sucks.)  You can move Pagan down in that line up to give a little more depth at the bottom, but Jesus look at the speed 1-3.  Talk about wreaking havoc on the bases.

And as I'm writing this I'm realizing what a huge part of Carlos Beltran's Mets legacy will be.  Angel Pagan.  He mentored him over the years and I believe is a huge part of Pagan's success: past, present, & future.  Pagan will be fine and he will contribute greatly to this club.

3) David Wright

Some people love him, some people hate him. I think that he can finally start to be himself again for the first time in years.

The biggest knock against him is that he hasn't been clutch, and there's plenty of evidence to support it.  He batted .160 in the NLCS of 2006.  He was a major role player for both collapses of 2007 and 2008.  But how many of you can imagine going through all of that by your 25th birthday?

Then Citi Field got built, Delgado went down, Beltran went down, Reyes went down.  Willie was in and out, Jerry was in and out, Omar was in and out.  He was the only consistently healthy player on the team, billed as the future of the franchise, and played like all of that pressure would fracture his back (irony completely intended.)  His swing got long, his average went down, even his disposition on the field was negative.  

If this picture isn't a metaphor for someone trying to do something that doesn't fit I don't know what is:

Seriously, what superstar do you know looks like this?

Listen, Wright will never be a player that can carry an entire team on his back.  But this is a star that, if given the right circumstances, will be a very dangerous threat, and with this current team dynamic I think it's his time to dominate again.  Currently he's batting .455 since he's come back, obviously that will cool off.  But this team is built in a way that Wright doesn't have to do too much, he just needs to stay in his wheelhouse.

Well, one thing.  He needs to learn how to do the claw.

Seriously David, it's not that hard.

All this being said, I am still loving watching the 2011 Mets.  I hope they keep fighting every night, clawing their way to catch up to a Chipper-less and McCann-less Atlanta Braves.

Lets Go Mets!!