In A Daze, In A Malaise, The Tampa Bay Rays

• Red Sox 3-Rays 0:

The Rays are staggering and stumbling toward the finish as teams who've had a smooth

season-long ride sometimes do; occasionally it costs them, occasionally it doesn't. I don't see this sudden rash of losing as affecting the team one way or the other once the playoffs start. Right now, it looks like the Red Sox are going to overtake them for the division, but all that's going to do is change the matchups in the first round. Simply because a team has an awful close to their season doesn't mean they're going to continue that in the playoffs.
The Tigers and Cardinals of 2006 looked like expansion teams over the last month of that season and both wound up in the World Series; once the playoff spot is clinched (and the lead the Rays built up will ensure they're going to make the playoffs no matter how many more games they lose), they should relax and get back to playing as well as they did earlier this season. Given the lead they built up, some adversity and guidance from the leaders in the clubhouse, how to overcome it and return to the solid baseball that got them into this position in the first place isn't a bad thing whether or not they win the division title; making the playoffs is the most important thing and the Rays have that sewn up.

• Angels 12-Yankees 1:

The statements uttered above about the Rays may not have been so clear cut had the

Yankees and manager Joe Girardi acted more quickly to prevent Darrell Rasner from blowing the game up last Thursday----Blog 9/5. It would be interesting to see what position the Rays would be in and how much panic would be going on if they were in the midst of a seven game losing streak.
The scuffle between the Yankees and Angels last night looked like it stemmed more from frustration on the part of the Yankees than any real animosity between the teams; it's a bad sign that the benches cleared and the Yankees, instead of getting fired up and playing better, looked like they packed everything in and let the Angels blow them out afterwards.
Hank Steinbrenner was quoted yesterday as saying that Girardi will be back next season----ESPN Story----but I don't think that's as guaranteed as the Baby Boss implies in his statement. What happens if the Yankees collapse completely over the final eighteen games and go 6-12 or somewhere in that area and end the season at 82-80? It's seen as almost a sure thing that Brian Cashman returns, but what happens if the Washington Nationals job opens up and the Philadelphia Phillies job is offered to him and he decides on his own to abandon ship? It's likely that the Yankees would promote from within with Damon Oppenheimer to replace Cashman, but if they go elsewhere for a replacement, what if the new GM doesn't want Girardi?
If George Steinbrenner were still running things, there's no question what the end result of

this season would be; neither Cashman nor Girardi would return and the money coming off the books with the departing free agents Jason Giambi, Carl Pavano, et al would be going into the pockets of C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira. People mistake Joe Torre's unprecedentedly long reign as Yankees manager as evidence that the Boss mellowed in his old age; maybe he was slightly more patient than he would have been fifteen-to-twenty years earlier, but Torre survived for one reason----he kept winning the World Series; other than that, he would have joined the long list of Yankee managers who were fired with or without their success and loyalty to the organization.
It's conveniently forgotten that Torre was days (perhaps hours) away from being fired in 1998 when the team started out at 1-4; he was able to right the ship in time to save himself and make history with a team that is widely regarded as one of the best in baseball history. Will Girardi be back next season? I'd say probably, but it's not a definite thing because if Hank gets angry enough and realizes that his bluster and threats are met with widespread skepticism and outright ridicule, he might just turn around and fire Girardi. It's at least in the realm of possibility.

• Billy Wagner out for the rest of 2008, 2009 and perhaps for his career:

Here's one thing I don't understand about this diagnosis, did he tear the ligament while he was pitching that simulated game on Sunday, or was it already an undiagnosed tear? And if

it was already torn, why did it take until Monday to diagnose it after he'd seen all of those doctors to try and find out what was wrong initially? That's neither here nor there I suppose, because it doesn't sound like rest and rehab were going to do much good; if the ligament was going to go, it was going to go. Wagner throws very, very hard and has been durable for much of his career, so it's no surprise that he's got a serious arm injury as his career winds down. The thing the Mets now have to decide is what to do about a closer for 2009.
For 2008, they're in the same position they were before Wagner was officially out for the season. I don't think they were expecting him back when he first went on the disabled list and were looking at it as a bonus is he was going to be able to return. Luis Ayala is going to close for the rest of this season as long as he's getting the job done and I have no problem with that. Ayala has handled the pressure, he throws strikes and has very good stuff. There are voices in the media, notably Mike Francesa on WFAN, who are implying that the Mets are walking the tightrope this season with Ayala, but in order to prove his point, he's twisting reality to suit himself. On Sunday for example, Ayala gave up a run and it was seen to be a struggle for him to record the final three outs against the Phillies in the Mets 6-3 win. Looking at the box score and taking the situation out of context makes it appear that way, but it's not the case.
Ayala did give up a deep drive to Andy Tracy that Endy Chavez caught by the left field wall; and he gave up a run, but the two hits he allowed traveled about a combined total of 75 feet with swinging bunts by Shane Victorino and Matt Stairs; they were lucky hits and no reflection on how well or poorly Ayala might have been pitching. From what I can see, Ayala is pitching very well and is handling the job better than anyone else the Mets have right now.
As for next year, the immediate speculation will center on the possibility of signing the impending free agent Francisco Rodriguez from the Angels or trading for Huston Street of the

Athletics. I would not pony up the $60-70 million it's going to require to get Rodriguez. As gaudy as K-Rod's stats are, he walks a lot of hitters; has a stressful, over-the-top motion and history has proven that importing big money closers is a wasted effort much of the time. While I don't believe the closer-by-committee strategy can work in today's game, I do believe that teams can develop a closer of their own inexpensively. I wouldn't touch Street either given how shaky he's been and the concern about his health; plus Athletics boss Billy Beane is like a predator waiting for a team like the Mets to panic if they look like they're desperate to make a splash and bring in a recognizable name.
What I would do is sign a veteran stopgap like Todd Jones or keep Al Reyes just in case the designated closer falters. If they try to move forward with Ayala or use one of their youngsters like Eddie Kunz or Robert Parnell, then this is the correct strategy; I would also seriously consider shifting John Maine into the role next year. Spending more money or prospects on a different closer would be a big mistake because there are other viable options that would work just as well, if not better.

• How does this affect Wagner's Hall of Fame candidacy?

This doesn't affect Wagner's candidacy at all because he wasn't getting in one way or the other. Rob Neyer wrote this in his blog yesterday:

And what of Wagner? This year he's been just about as good as ever, when he's been able to pitch. But how good will he be in 2010? I think he'll be pretty good. John Smoltz certainly was, when he came back. But Smoltz was only 34, and Wagner will turn 39 in 2010. Even if he's pretty good, we can't assume he'll be great. Which I'm afraid puts a real damper on his Hall of Fame candidacy.

Billy Wagner is not a Hall of Famer. Hall of Fame voters elect closers under

protest to begin with. If the truly great closers of yesteryear like Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage and Rollie Fingers had to wait for election, what would it say about a pretty good, but not great closer like Billy Wagner if he were even to receive serious consideration? In today's era, Dennis Eckersley was the first of the "one-inning save" closers who got in, but that's in part because he won a load of hardware as a closer (Cy Young Award, MVP, ALCS MVP); was a top six finisher in the Cy Young/MVP voting three other times; and was also a great starting pitcher early in his career. Mariano Rivera will get in on the first ballot because of the championship teams for whom he was an indispensable linchpin, but as for the others, it's a big question mark.
Trevor Hoffman is often referred to as a "future Hall of Famer", but I'm not so sure. I would have to think long and hard about voting for Hoffman because he has no hardware, has struggled in big games; he has finished in the top six of Cy Young voting four times (twice coming

in second). Hoffman has a better shot than Wagner does, but if these closers get in, it opens up a bunch of other names that would have a legitimate argument for their own induction. Those guys, including names like John Franco and Lee Smith, are not Hall of Famers. And Franco has something that Wagner doesn't since he recorded a huge save in the playoffs by striking out Barry Bonds as the winning run at the plate in game two of the 2000 NLDS. Wagner has failed miserably in big situations time after time. This injury and the possible end to Wagner's career doesn't hurt or help his candidacy because he ain't gettin' in either way.

• Reds 5-Brewers 4:

Strategically, there's no way to blame Brewers manager Ned Yost for this loss. He could

have left starter Dave Bush in to pitch the ninth given how shaky the Brewers bullpen has been; how well Bush pitched; and that Bush had only thrown 99 pitches, but Salomon Torres has been mostly reliable as the Brewers closer; there was no reason to think he wouldn't be able to hold a two run lead.
That being said, the Brewers are gagging again as the season winds down and it is very possible that neither the Mets nor Phillies are going to be left out in the cold in this year's playoff race because the Brewers are a likely candidate to collapse down the stretch. It's indicative of Yost's tightness that after Torres was hit with Corey Patterson's line drive and Yost ventured onto the field to watch Torres make a couple of warm up tosses to make sure he was okay, Yost's jaw muscles were contracting with such ferocity that he looked like he might spontaneously combust right there on the field.
Yost is eerily similar to another tightly wound manager whom the players tolerated and eventually mutinied against, former Astros and Angels manager Terry Collins. Off the field, Collins is said to be a very nice guy, but his tempestuous nature wore on the veterans in both of his

managerial stops and frightened the young players to the point that they were petrified to make a mistake. He was moderately successful because he had some talent to work with, but his teams were winning in spite of him and not because of him. In both of Collins's managerial stops, the players let management know that enough was enough with him and his temper. In his case, as with Yost's, a change was needed for the talented teams to make it to the next level from potential contender to true contender. If the supremely talented Brewers falter again, it will be partially because of their bullpen, but predominately because of their manager and a change is going to have to be made to someone more temperate if they want to win when it counts.

Billy Wagner Possibly Out For The Season

With the ragged performances of the Mets bullpen in Billy Wagner's absence, I don't expect to hear the "experts" in the media----specifically on WFAN where Wagner is reviled

because he's not Mariano Rivera----saying much of anything now that it's quickly being learned what life is like without any closer at all. Now that the pain in Wagner's forearm has moved to his elbow, where there's swelling and a question as to whether he's going to be able to return at all this year, the Mets have to do something. They have several options, none of which are very appetizing. Here they are:

• Hope that Brian Fuentes gets to them when the Rockies put him on waivers and make a deal:
  

Fuentes isn't great, but he's adequate and experienced; as the season winds down, the

Rockies fall out of contention and see that they're better off getting a more advanced prospect or two rather than the compensation draft picks they'll get when Fuentes leaves as a free agent, GM Dan O'Dowd will deal him. Number one, Omar Minaya isn't going to panic and give up a top tier prospect for a closer who may not be that much better than what the Mets have in their bullpen now; number two, it's hard to believe that any of the teams that will have to let Fuentes pass them by on waivers will risk allowing him to get to the Mets. The go-for-broke Phillies would claim Fuentes and give up far more than the Mets will be willing to, so it's unlikely that the Mets are even going to get the chance.

• Explore other options and outside the box acquisitions:

The Orioles have no reason to trade George Sherrill unless someone knocks them over with an offer, plus Sherrill hasn't been that great lately anyway. People are convinced that

there's something wrong with Huston Street and A's baseball czar Billy Beane doesn't deal players when their value is low unless he has no choice like with the oft-injured Rich Harden. The Mets supposedly inquired with the Mariners about J.J. Putz at the trading deadline and it was said that the Mariners were asking for the stars, sun and moon. If they're unwilling to trade Jarrod Washburn for Boof Bonser with Washburn's

contract, then forget about getting Putz.
Outside the box options could include Rafael Betancourt (who's been awful lately); or Trevor Hoffman, who'd probably be unwilling to end his career away from San Diego without some cajoling, and hasn't been very good either, but might be reinvigorated by a move to a new team in the big city with a shot at a ring; at least he's experienced and would probably get through to the Mets on waivers. New York fans would go into a frenzy at the tolling of the bell in the beginning of AC/DC's Hell's Bells signaling Hoffman's arrival.

• Use someone on their current roster:

There was a caller on the soon-to-be-renamed Mike and the Mad Dog radio show on WFAN

in which the caller suggested to host Mike Francesa that John Maine be moved into the role. Maine hasn't been able to get too far past five innings all season long, shoulder pain or not, so it's not all that bad an idea. Had Maine not been recently disabled with shoulder pain, the Mets might think about this more seriously and it would be worth a try, but that transition isn't easy to make for a healthy pitcher late in the season and there's no reason to risk Maine's longterm future out of desperation in a move that would be a tossup.
As for their other starters, Oliver Perez can't be trusted to throw strikes; and Mike Pelfrey

has been too good in the rotation. Here's an interesting thought: could Pedro Martinez do it? He wouldn't be bothered by the pressure; the adrenaline would light up his fastball; and he might get a kick out of it. Would he be healthy to do it three times in a week? They could ask him and it's not something to dismiss out of hand.
They could continue down the road they're on with the mixing and matching of using Aaron Heilman, Pedro Feliciano, et, al. Duaner Sanchez would've been the logical choice at mid-season, but he's not 100% (or even 90%) either. The Mets don't have to worry about the division getting too far away from them because the Phillies haven't been playing well and as I've stated a couple of times, there's something wrong with that team; and the Marlins are going to fade down the stretch.
None of these options are particularly enticing or realistic, but the Mets are in this situation and they have to figure something out because it doesn't look like they're going to have their closer, the former talk show target and prime example of observers not appreciating what they have until it's gone, Billy Wagner.

Chamberlain's Injury And The Yankees Silence

• Ominous signs or precautionary silence for Joba Chamberlain and the Yankees:

There are two ways to look at the Yankees silence regarding the MRI/X-Ray results for

Joba Chamberlain and the subsequent decision to send him to Alabama to see Dr. James Andrews: one, the results are positive and the team is treating Chamberlain with the same caution he's been treated with since he arrived in the big leagues before starting any kind of program or pitching him again; or two, the news is bad and they're getting an opinion from the best guy in the field as to the next course of action. I'm not going to hazard a guess as to what it is, but if Chamberlain is really hurt it's going to demolish the Yankees grand plan of handling their young pitchers.
The whole idea of integrating a young pitcher in the bullpen and slowly working him into the starting rotation is not new; the Orioles did it for years under Earl Weaver

and George Bamberger and they consistently developed durable and successful starting pitchers. The Yankees had done their homework on pitchers who were overused at a young age and burned out quickly before coming to the solution to have Chamberlain on a strict, game-by-game pitch count and innings threshold and using him as a reliever before making him a starter.
With the Yankees gentle and thoughtful treatment of Chamberlain, there are going to be excuses galore if Chamberlain is really hurt, but the silence can be seen as a continuation of the close-to-the-vest treatment Chamberlain has received in his career; or it could be that they're making sure that the bad news is accurate and are coming up with a story as to why their grand plan didn't work.

• Cardinals 6-Dodgers 4 (11); the Cardinals can't function this way:

I have to believe that when Tony La Russa re-upped to stay with the Cardinals, there were several factors at work: there wasn't a viable destination for him to leave and win immediately; the Cardinals have been his baseball home since 1996 and it's hard to leave after such a long-

term relationship; and he was told by ownership that if the team was in contention, some effort would be made to improve on the fly.

In looking at the team's roster and injuries coming into the season, management was probably hoping against reality that La Russa's genius would keep the team in contention without any belief that it might happen; but it has happened and as the season has moved along, the Cardinals haven't made any improvements whatsoever. Their strategy, aside from relying on La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan's brilliance, was to have their injured pitchers Mark Mulder and Chris Carpenter provide the mid-season reinforcements in lieu of trades. Mulder returned briefly and got hurt again and Carpenter has

pitched in two games so far this allowing one run in nine innings. The starting rotation isn't the Cardinals problem though; it's the bullpen.
Despite the fact that they won last night's game against the Dodgers in the eleventh inning, their tattered bullpen blew a four run lead in the ninth inning complete with another implosion by Jason Isringhausen. A team with designs on the playoffs cannot function like this where no lead is safe no matter the score and with no help from anywhere on the horizon because of the cheapness of the organization. With two teams in their division that have made drastic improvement (the Brewers with C.C. Sabathia and the Cubs with Rich Harden), the Cardinals were in no position

to stand pat. It might have been a strategy if they didn't have a collapsing bullpen, but something needed to be done.
The Cardinals are still winning enough games to stay within range of the Cubs in the NL Central and the way the National League is playing, they'll be around the top of the Wild Card standings until the end of the season, but a team can't continue running relievers to the mound who are going to blow what should be comfortable leads; not only does it chip away at team confidence, but as the season winds down, it stresses the entire team by increasing the amount of work they have to do to win a game that should have been easy.
While it's only a matter of perception in how and why the Cardinals didn't make any drastic improvements when compared to other teams who also didn't do anything to improve like the Mets and Rays, the difference is that it wasn't for a lack of trying or willingness to spend money on the part of those teams. The Cardinals put forth the excuse that their minor league system is short as it is and they didn't want to deplete it any further by trading away the few prospects they have; but that seems to be a cover story that, while viable, is really an excuse for saving money and hoping for the best. With the way their bullpen has continued to pour gasoline on the fire, it's going to be hard for them to stay in contention as anything more than a team hoping that none of the other contenders get hot thereby giving the Cardinals a chance at winning a war of attrition.
Even with all of the good work he's done this year and how he's been so loyal to the

Cardinals organization, eventually this is going to take a toll on La Russa who, at age 64, isn't going to want to put all this work in without proper support from the front office when needed. Other opportunities may be available after the season including Seattle (a team that spends money); Milwaukee (filled with young talent); the White Sox (eventually Ozzie Guillen's mouth is going to get him fired; and Jerry Reinsdorf has always regretted letting Hawk Harrelson fire La Russa); and San Diego (a nice place for a final job; he's worked with Sandy Alderson before; and they might be desperate enough to do something drastic after this train wreck). He's going to have options and with the way the Cardinals are penny-pinching, they'd probably be happy to get out from under La Russa and Duncan's contracts for someone cheaper if the duo really wants to leave. Such a scenario may be best for all involved because they certainly can't go on like this for another year because appreciation of genius can only go so far without a payoff and it doesn't look like there will be one for the Cardinals this year if they continue down this road.

• Mets 6-Padres 5:

Before anything else, I railed against the fact that Fernando Tatis was even invited to camp with the Mets in spring training; I railed against them calling him up; I railed against them using him and wasting a roster spot on him; but the guy has found a second baseball life after

his fall from grace. This is a player who hit 34 homers; drove in 107; scored 104; batted .298; had an OBP of .404; and slugged .553 in 1999; he also hit two grand slams in one inning that year and had MVP-quality numbers across the board; he then fell off the planet and was out of baseball in 2004 and 2005, played sparsely with little success with the Orioles in 2006; spent 2007 with the Mets Triple A team in New Orleans and was called up this year as little more than a journeyman veteran to fill out the bench. Instead, he's contributed mightily to the team with his clutch hitting and has regained a semblance of his power; he's also played solid defensively. I'm still halfway expecting him to revert to the player who couldn't find a job for so long; couldn't do much of anything for any team in any capacity, but all he's done is hit and hit in the clutch, so they may as well ride him for the rest of the season because he's earned at least that much given his stunning contribution.
Without Billy Wagner for at least the next couple of weeks, the Mets are resorting to a "bullpen by committee", but they may as well just throw Scott Schoeneweis out there as the

closer and hope for the best. Schoeneweis has done the job in spurts before; doesn't seem all that bothered by the pressure; has experience in playoff-type games and usually throws strikes. The other pitchers in the Mets bullpen haven't been able to handle the job in the brief tries they've received and the gigantic rookie Eddie Kunz has to be worked in slowly for what is likely his future job. Schoeneweis is the best option for the moment and that's who they should use in their current predicament.

The Momentum Theory Loses...Well, Loses Momentum

• Mets 6-Phillies 3:

Jim Leyland and Tony La Russa, two men who combined probably know more in-the-trenches baseball than any duo currently breathing, have always believed that

momentum stops and starts with the performance of the next day's starting pitcher. No matter how disheartening a loss, if the next day's starter delivers a stellar performance or just keeps their team in the game, the previous night's game is forgotten. Fans would be amazed at how quickly a professional athlete puts a poor performance behind him once the next game starts; this Mets game was a case of them facing a pitcher in Brett Myers who is at a crossroads in his career; having their entire bullpen ready for action in situations familiar to them (Billy Wagner won't get booed for awhile at least); and getting a required performance from starter John Maine of seven innings and three runs allowed under a reasonable pitch total of 104.
For every self-styled expert who thinks he's got his fingers on the pulse of an athlete like Mike Francesa from The Mike and the Mad Dog radio show, and who treated the loss on Tuesday like an epic catastrophe, one would think they'd learn by now that momentum comes from performance. If a player is slumping that's one thing, but the game on Tuesday could also be seen as one in which the Mets dominated the Phillies, but didn't execute when necessary for tack-on runs and their bullpen gacked up a lead because they weren't mentally ready to replace their All Star closer even for one game.
As for the Phillies, they're going to have to come to a solution with Myers and quick. There's something not right. The minor league assignment hasn't fixed much of anything that

was wrong with him and either he's hurt or he was affected more by the sudden switch in roles to closer last season than anyone realizes. They traded for Joe Blanton ostensibly to replace Adam Eaton in the rotation, but Myers hasn't been any more reliable than Eaton; if Myers isn't hurt and Tom Gordon is out for a lengthy period, they may have to keep Eaton in the rotation and use Myers back in the bullpen. Myers was reluctant to move back into the rotation anyway and his problem may be nothing more than the drug-like adrenaline affects of pitching almost every day in games the team has to win. J.A. Happ acquitted himself well in his two starts replacing Myers and Kris Benson is still down in the minors (his numbers aren't good and I don't even know if he's healthy), so there are options if they have to move Myers to the bullpen and don't want Eaton in the rotation either. If Myers is physically healthy, then the Phillies have to find out what's going on with him because they're going to need him to perform in some capacity if they want to make the playoffs as a division winner or Wild Card.

• Brewers 3- Cardinals 0:

In a blog on June 10th discussing the potential for C.C. Sabathia to get the Johan Santana/Barry Zito-type contract he's going to want as a free agent at the end of this season, I mentioned that the big lefty might have to go on an Orel Hershiser-style run of shutouts and

lead his team (then the Cleveland Indians) to the playoffs and World Series to guarantee the paycheck----Pinning Their Financial Hopes On The One Desperate Lunatic; well he's starting to look like he is going on such a run only he's carrying the Brewers on his broad shoulders instead of the Indians.
Three straight complete games and last night's virtuoso performance bring back memories of Hershiser's unbelievable streak; the acquisition of Sabathia for the Brewers brings back memories of the Cubs acquisition of Rick Sutcliffe from the Indians in 1984 in which Sutcliffe went 16-1 to carry the Cubs to the playoffs. Sabathia is reveling in his situation as the "hired gun" as David Cone used to like to call himself, and at this rate, he's going to hypnotize an owner to give him the money he wants.
One note about the Cardinals: it's very interesting that manager Tony La Russa allowed struggling closer Jason Isringhausen to pitch two innings and throw 31 pitches. Is La Russa planning to possibly move Isringhausen into the starting rotation or make him part of a "pieced together" starter with Todd Wellemeyer and the (possibly) returning Chris Carpenter? He's been so bad in late innings, using him for three or four innings isn't a bad idea and La Russa's got the guts to make such a move in the latter portion of a season.

• Red Sox 6-Mariners 3; Reds 9-Padres 5:

I'm still waiting for someone to explain why the Seattle Mariners have been considered a poorly-constructed, leaderless and embarrassing laughingstock and both GM Bill Bavasi and manager John McLaren have been fired and team CEO Howard Lincoln is under fire while the

Padres expectations were as high, if not higher, than that of the Mariners and there's not a similar righteous indignation at their humiliating performance this year. ESPN's Rob Neyer for example (with whom I agree and disagree on many things----I agreed most recently with the confusion regarding the Randy Wolf and Jon Rauch trades; and who, after my anger induced attack on him earlier this year, was a beyond-the-call nice and reasonable guy) is still referencing Paul DePodesta as a qualified baseball guy and I do not understand it. It's one thing to have a personal affinity for a guy as Neyer clearly does with DePodesta, but that shouldn't blind one to reality. I think Omar Minaya's a nice guy and a good baseball man, but I've criticized him when warranted. How is it that the Padres are not being raked over the coals as their performance, in many ways worse than that of the Mariners, is being glossed over and ignored for the travesty it's been?

• Speaking of embarrassing travesties, is this some MTV-teen reality show, or is it two of the most revered and canonized NFL franchises and one of the most beloved (especially by the media) players in its history?

So now the Brett Fav...ruh saga has descended into accusations and denials as to whether or not he used a "Packers-issued" cell phone to talk to the Minnesota Vikings about joining

them? These big, tough football guys are acting like members of the cast of The Real World instead of the cold, calculating military-style leaders and tough and oblivious to the elements performers they're portrayed as being by the NFL.
Those that are involved with the NFL in one capacity or another like gossiping as much as any teenage girl and this absurdity is to the point where it needs a resolution because all this is doing is bringing attention to a situation that is going to drag on until it's resolved and it's just going to get more and more silly.

Mini-Fallout For The Mets And An Absurd Panic

In the cosmic scheme of things this latest debacle, an 8-6 loss to the Phillies, won't mean much of anything if the Mets get two well-pitched games today and tomorrow from John Maine and Oliver Perez and win. The older I get, the more I believe the Jim Leyland-theory that momentum is only as good as the next day's starter. That being said, there are some things that need to be clarified about this game.

• Johan Santana didn't ask to come out of the game after eight innings, but he didn't fight to stay in either:

There are a dozen arguments to take a pitcher like Santana out after eight innings. A

three-run lead should have been safe with or without the closer and regardless of the opponent; he's going to be needed down the stretch and in the post-season(?) and it makes no sense to go over his normal workload for a relatively meaningless game in July; the Mets have a lot of money invested in him for a lot of years and going over his threshold four months into his first season with the team is a panic move; etc, etc.
But there are also viable arguments for him to go out and at least try to finish the game for his team. There's a difference between going above and beyond what a pitcher's used to in terms of pitch count and going slightly over what is normal; the circumstances----105 pitches through eight innings; the unavailability of closer Billy Wagner; that Santana came here to be the man the Mets have been missing since the

days of Dwight Gooden----dictated that he should have stood in front of Jerry Manuel and told his manager that he wanted to start the ninth inning; that it was his game and without Wagner available, his responsibility to try and close things out himself. Instead he allowed himself to be removed and again the question of whether his desire to win is secondary to his satisfaction of doing well enough to win even if the bullpen coughs it up.
The argument of star players who are reluctant to get down in the muck is always logically sound. When he was at his best as the most dangerous hitter in the National League, former Cincinnati Reds star George Foster responded to the Pete Rose criticism that he never got his uniform dirty by saying that he didn't run into walls because he didn't want to get hurt and miss substantial time and not be able to help the team with his bat; but sometimes a player must run into a wall; or a pitcher must go past that threshold of pitches to help the team win.
It's not like they were talking about him going from 115 pitches to 135-140. That would've

been extreme; he was at 105 pitches and could have thrown fifteen or twenty more as long as he felt all right and his mechanics were sound. Taking him out was the easily explainable maneuver (to their bosses and to the reporters) and that's what managers tend to lean towards rather than what might be best for the team. Thus far as manager of the Mets, Manuel has shown a strategic acumen that wasn't present in Willie Randolph and he's shown the ability to ignore certain orthodoxies that have become all-too-common, but last night, there shouldn't even have been a discussion or decision to blow up in everyone's face. Manuel should've asked Santana to finish the game and Santana should've demanded that he finish the game. He's thrown between 110 and 120 pitches in his career numerous times and it wouldn't have hurt him had he gone out there for the ninth inning with a short leash to try and prevent the short-handed bullpen from doing exactly as they did and blowing a game that the team should have won.

• A reporter's agenda is showing:

William C. Rhoden wrote an article in today's New York Times----Column----basically accusing Wagner of unilaterally deciding to take the game off, sitting in the clubhouse and shaking his head as his replacements imploded; that the Mets leadership from Jerry Manuel on down is lacking; and defending Willie Randolph as if the entire collapse from last season

and lackluster play during his tenure this season was somehow not his fault; he then suggests that the modern day version of Nietzsche's Superman, Mariano Rivera, has never once been unavailable when the Yankees needed him as the Mets needed Wagner last night. I'm here to tell you that Rhoden's agenda in defending Randolph is blatantly obvious and that he clearly pulled this vague accusation of a "lack of leadership" out of the air to defend Randolph and rip the Mets.
Wagner and the doctors decided that it would be better to give the pitcher's sore trapezius/shoulder another day of rest. It's not as if Wagner didn't want to be out there on the mound for the ninth inning. Wagner is a lot of things. He's shaky in big games and he's got a big mouth, but he's not an Erik Bedard/Carl

Pavano-style malingerer. This is why it's so difficult to be a closer especially in New York; if he goes into the game sore and blows the game or blows his shoulder out so he's lost for the season, he gets ripped for either not thinking about the big picture or for not being good at his job; if he takes the doctor's advice and gives his shoulder an extra day of rest, he's accused of fiddling while Rome burns.
One game is very small in the grand context of the last sixty games and beyond(?) that the Mets are going to need Wagner to pitch. If he got hurt, they'd be faced with the possibility of having to rely on their other bullpen pitchers who either don't have the mental aptitude or ability to close games as well as Wagner (even with all of his faults); then the team would be forced to overpay out of desperation for the likes of Huston Street or George Sherrill when their other needs (a corner outfield bat) should take precedence.
Regardless of how one feels about Willie Randolph on a personal level; or how they feel about the way the Mets botched his firing, I don't think anyone with an objective bone in his body wouldn't agree that it was time for him to go. The team wasn't responding to him and they weren't going to turn things around with him at the helm; the questions surrounding his job status had become stifling and the leadership that Rhoden claims is still missing was being ignored and dismissed while Randolph and Rick Peterson were still around. Even with

this one loss, Manuel has proven to be far superior strategically to Randolph and the team seems relaxed and at ease with him in the manager's office.
Mariano Rivera is not invulnerable. There have been times that even he has had to be rested because of a barking elbow. To imply that Rivera would have gone out to the mound in any condition (especially in a game in July) is piling on Wagner because he's not Rivera, but Wagner, even at his best, was never Rivera. He was never even Trevor Hoffman. He's a pretty good closer who throws hard and gets the job done most of the time. A player's performance has little to do with him being injured and Rhoden combines the two to indict Wagner as something that he's not. He is not a guy who doesn't want the pressure of pitching a big game whether he succeeds or fails.
To continue to try and defend Randolph is grasping at straws to find reasons for his demise other than that he had his major faults as a manager and it was past time for a change. No matter what happens for the rest of the season, it won't change that reality. And it should be remembered that even with the entire mess of this season----the injuries, botched firings, questionable decisions and infighting----the Mets are still one game out of first place and have the personnel to not only take control of the NL East, but to emerge

from a mediocre National League to make it to the World Series. As the Cardinals proved two years ago, once a team gets that far, they're still only four wins from a championship and everything that happened as they navigated their way there is conveniently forgotten during the victory parade and raising of the World Series trophy. In the end, this was only one game in July and that's what everyone needs to remember before panicking. It's not about the invisible and difficult to gauge expression of "leadership"; it's about performance and nothing more.

A Simple Question Regarding An "Ace"

• Phillies 8-Mets 6:
  

I have a simple question regarding Johan Santana: with the knowledge that Billy Wagner was unavailable for tonight's game, was it much to ask him to throw another fifteen or twenty pitches to bring his total to a not-out-of-line 120 to close the game for his team on a night they needed him to? I don't want to see one sour face or hear one word of complaint from Santana because the bullpen coughed the game up; if he wanted to make sure he got the win, he should've stayed in the game to finish it. He's the ace and he's getting paid like the ace, then he should finish the game; and if the closer isn't available, then 120 pitches isn't a lot to ask.