TKO-Rod?

            Well, they did it. I thought they’d do it, I felt sure that they’d do it and sure enough they did. Francisco Rodriquez signed a three-year deal with those New York Metropolitans, and was soon joined by JJ Putz, who was traded from the Mariners. My first reaction to this bit of overkill was to write a panicked, angry email to one of my best friends that consisted of a four-letter word that rhymes with “suck” and isn't "duck," but that was so much more appropriate, under the circumstances.

            Upon further reflection, though, I have begun to feel much less upset than I was when I first heard the news. This might sound strange, but after I had walked under raindrops, considered the moon, and digested this signing and trade a bit more, I actually felt more proud to be a Phillies’ fan, even more so than I did a couple of days ago. In trying to look at this healthily, as a more distressing than usual reminder of just what it means to love the team I love, I came to a few conclusions, some of which might interest you:

 

1)    This sort of signing is just the sort of thing that really, really makes us hate the Mets. Their bullpen was a disastrous catastrophe last season, so they went out and got possibly the best closer in the world, certainly the best closer on the market this offseason. Some of us hoped that the Mets would go out and get someone like Brian Fuentes, but that was never going to happen. Omar Minaya is a big, splashy guy, and he went out and got a big, splashy player, just a year after he acquired the best pitcher on the planet. Really, this should not be all that surprising in the first place. This approach to problems is just classic Mets, through and through. And you know what? It hasn’t worked very well in the past, and it won’t work well now. Great baseball teams are very seldom bought.

 

2)    With the Mets moving into their new ballpark, the inconveniently-named Citifield, (insert economy/oversight joke) the team has wisely decided that it makes sense to go the extra mile so that they do not have a third (arguably a fourth) disastrous and embarrassing season. The Mets are still a flawed team, with a shaky rotation. Johan Santana is great, but he is followed by John Maine, who was disappointing last year, Mike Pelfrey who had a good season but is a little low on experience to be a #3, and question marks such as Pedro and his sore/strained/torn/pulled whateveritis, Jonathan Niese, Jason Vargas and Bobby Parnell. After dealing Endy Chavez in the Putz deal, their outfielders consist of Carlos Beltran, Ryan Church, Angel Pagan and Marlon Anderson, who you might fondly remember. Yep, that guy. Brian Schneider still sucks. The fact that they felt that they needed to make one of the top-5 signings this offseason is more than a coincidence. The Mets needed to go out and spend $37 million to make this happen, money that was spent more to avoid embarrassment than to ice the cake of a winning ballclub. There is an important distinction here. Holes remain, and I like holes on the Mets’ roser.

 

3)    Remember what happened the last time the Mets signed a hotshot closer? Call me crazy, but I thing we made out pretty well for ourselves with the Lights Out.

 

4)    Bullpens are the single most-unpredictable facet of baseball. While I could see Putz and K-Rod forming a very good duo at the back end of the pen, I could just as easily see that not happening, should one or both get injured, or melt under the pressure of those jerks in New York. Even assuming that Putz and K-Rod are healthy and effective, the Mets would have what amounts to those two studs on top of a lot of filler. You have to get to the 8^th.  This could be a tough bridge for them.

 

5)    Last I checked, the Mets were a bunch of entitled, whining, sniveling, wheedling little rats with no heart, who fold as soon as the cards are down. Jose Reyes is still an erratically exciting player, David Wright is still a meek Scott Rolen protégé, and Carlos Delgado will be even older than he was before. Just thought I’d mention it.

 

6)    Remember just 4 years ago when the Mets were busy signing Carlos Beltran and Pedro Martinez, simultaneously, waiting a year then trading for Carlos Delgado, all while Tom Glavine (who had seemed signed, sealed and delivered to the Phillies) was still an ace for the club, they had a highly-touted group of young players in the farm system, and they had new TV money to burn? Remember that? Well, look who’s talking now. The Mets are playing catch up.

 

I’ll tell you what. The 2009 season is still five months away, but I can’t wait to get is started. I can’t wait to hear Jimmy talk about how we’re the team to beat again, to watch Shane jog out to center and his adoring harem screaming his name, to watch Howard take K-Rod deep, to hear the fat lady sing. I’ve got hiiiigh hopes. I’ve got hiiiigh hopes…

Comments

[AJX]

I have to agree with you--the Putz and K-Rod signings will help the Mets, but are ultimately not nearly as big a deal as it might first seem. In keeping with your characterization of the Mets as a superficially-minded organization, they've mad about the most superficial move possible. The Mets have just spent a lot of money and given up a lot of prospects to pick up two players that won't participate in anymore than 140 innings next year. This cannot be underestimated. 400 innings will go to whoever they manage to dredge up for the last two spots in the rotation, and however nice the bullpen is, those 400 innings will be painful. Many games are not going to be anywhere close in the 8th and 9th innings and so, these two well-paid new "studs" are going to be getting a lot of afternoons off to watch the end of the 11-4 games against the Phillies. Unless closers go back to the Goose Goosage style (http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gossari01.shtml--particularly 1975-80) then they're simply not going to be a big enough piece of a team's winning to merit these kinds of flashy moves. The Yankees spending a lot of Sabathia... well, that's a different story.