The New York Mets Are Stuck in Neutral and Sliding Backwards

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Decimated by Injuries, Poor Play, and Lack of Depth but Somehow Still Alive

Omar Minaya can continue to preach to the media about his club 'having the chips' to swing a major deal in the next few weeks to revive his fluttering franchise.

The reality is—he doesn't. The rest of baseball is awaiting his futile call. The price for any player worth his salt will be astronomical.  The reason?  Other teams know the Mets are in trouble and will bend them over a barrel in any type of trade.

Before I rant on the litany of ills that have plagued this team and its millions of fans, let me list some of the strange, but true, facts. The Mets have painted themselves into a corner and at any moment seem to be on the verge of collapse. But for some odd reason, they haven't.

But Baseball is a funny business. You can be down one day, up the next.  Enter the 2009 New York Mets. They get exposed by good teams and bad, yet manage to pick themselves up and keep on breathing.

As bad as things are, the team is only 1.5 games out of first place in the NL East and are right in the thick of the wild card race.

The Mets have the NL's top hitter in David Wright (.346), are second in the league in batting average (.273), on-base-percentage (.350) and with runners in scoring position (.283). They also have struck out the fewest times of any team in the majors (394).

Their bullpen problems have apparently been solved. Francisco Rodriguez is second in the majors with 20 saves. He has two blown saves, but he should have only one. The other was a result of a dropped pop-up at Yankee Stadium by Luis Castillo.

The rest of the pen has been basically reliable, too. This was the most glaring problem the franchise had the past few years and Minaya adroitly got it mended in the offseason.

The Mets have managed to stay afloat with stop-gap and fill-in players such as Jeremy Reed, Alex Cora, Nick Evans, Fernando Nieve, Tim Redding, Wilson Valdez, Ramon Martinez, Omir Santos and Argenis Reyes. 

The team has been crushed by injuries.  Two key pieces of the starting rotation—John Maine and Oliver Perez—are out indefinitely. Their eighth-inning specialist, JJ Putz, just had elbow surgery and may miss the remainder of the season.

In addition, Carlos Delgado, the team's primary power source, tore the labrum in his hip and is recovering from surgery. His return is also unknown. Jose Reyes, the Mets' catalyst and defensive centerpiece has a slight tear in his his hamstring and may make it back by the All-Star break. 

To top it off, Gold-Glove CF Carlos Beltran was in the throes of one of his best offensive seasons ever when his aching knees sent him to the DL on June 22.

These five players are an integral part of the Mets' spine and their absence has exposed the team's soft underbelly.  The depth they thought could carry them until the cavalry arrived doesn't seem to be adequate. The past two nights at Citi Field, the Yankees, who are experiencing drama of their own, walloped the the listless Mets 9-1 and 5-0. The latter saw the Mets held to one hit.

After treading water for a past two weeks, the Mets could be on the verge of a slow decent down the ladder of the NL East standings.

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