Articles Focused on the New York Mets. Opinions on the players, the rivalries, the standings and anything else that comes to mind.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The Backstop Back At Ya:First things first. It is easy to think that baseball players or not human beings. We have almost become desensitized living in the fantasy sports era. When Amanda's hurt we are a little too quick to see it as a free roster move and a little too slow to see that athletes are not TV characters.  24 was one of my favorite shows of all-time. I knew that during the finale they were not going to kill off Jack Bauer's character. What would be the point? He had already died four times. So here is hoping that Dillon Gee gets healthy and returns to form first as a person who has to live his life like the rest of us. Only secondarily as a baseball player so he can continue to give good innings.  With that said and my conscience clear I want to talk baseball and reality. As a Met fan I must always assume that if the 2 are ever one in the same, it is likely a stroke of luck, accident, accidental genius or a mild stroke.  But the reality as I see it remains. Our biggest weakness is in the bullpen. So using hour 41-year-old long man to fill the vacancy in the starting rotation seems unwise. (from everything I understand about Miguel Batista, he is quite the multitalented when Renaissance Man who can play the flute, discover the solution to the Energy crisis   By drawing an eight part formula the turns peanut shells into biodegradable Earth friendly gasoline that will only require us to fill our tanks once every hundred thousand miles, while juggling a soccer ball and leaving the Turkish carpet. Which is all great stuff... But we need a starting pitcher who doesn't make are already troubled bullpen weaker.) Now do me one favor. Have a look at Matt Harvey's AAA stats game by game. I understand they don't want to bring him up until they are sure he is ready. But what more can he do in Buffalo without becoming complacent. It is absolutely no secret that the Mets have no intention of treating any blue-chip prospects this year. How would you like to be him and know that there is an open spot in the rotation that he is definitely earned an opportunity to get only to find out that he still has to wait? Worst case scenario finds that he is not ready and returns to AAA with a better idea of what he has to strive for with the experience he gets at the show.  This situation is very time sensitive however. The trade deadline is less than a month away. It's better to know what you have soon than learn what you don't to late. Should a decent #5 starter become available at the right price we don't want to find ourselves wondering if Harvey was the best option all along.  The Backstop says its time open the Matt Harvey book. If it turns out to be a preface or the first of many chapters  we should learn now. Besides, we already have an idea of the best and worst Bautista will give us. How big of a disparity could it be?  At least this way we keep our long man for what he is here for. Mop up duty and the occasional quality start that to me would seem more the exception that proves the rule.  The one thing I would hate to hear is that they would step on Harvey's tail to prevent the arbitration clock from starting to tick. If that is the case then they forfeit the right to ever say "We are right in the thick of the race.  Why isn't anybody coming to see Miguel Bautista start against Steven Stratsburg." They will already have the answer whether they choose to see it or not. Backstop Believes....

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