As much as the Mets don’t want to admit it, by calling up two of their top minor league prospects, they are planning for 2011.
Perhaps their thinking is that the young players is what energized them early in the season, but it’s too late for that now.
There are so many negatives that outweigh every potential positive. By bringing up Ruben Tejada and Fernando Martinez, a couple of veteran players are upset. Of course, Mets fans don’t care about feelings and they shouldn’t.
The problem is, one of those players means a lot to the Mets clubhouse. The Mets have said that Martinez will platoon in right field with Jeff Francoeur.
If Francoeur wasn’t already upset when he lost playing time to Angel Pagan, now he has every reason to be.
Although he was upset when Pagan took his job, he shouldn’t have been as Pagan earned it. This move though is a little strange.
Martinez hadn’t had a Major League at-bat all season, and has really been a bust so far. He was supposed to be an up-and-coming star young player that has never hit on the big league level. He has always been injury prone, having had knee surgery last season.
Francoeur has proven way more in his career between the Braves and Mets. He can occasionally get into a hot streak, which Martinez hasn’t shown, and he has a superior glove to Martinez, who isn’t an established right fielder.
Regarding the Tejada-for-Castillo situation, it’s a smart move on the Mets part, but it doesn’t mean it won’t get Castillo fired up.
It’s extremely shocking that the Mets went in this direction. Tejada was sent down for more seasoning at the plate, and Castillo was to play when he returned from the disabled list because of his contract status.
The positives did show in Saturday night’s Mets win, with Tejada making some stellar defensive plays at second, which Castillo wouldn’t have had the range to make. Defense is probably why Tejada is here.
But the thought of having both Luis Castillo and Jeff Francoeur on the bench for the majority of the games doesn’t make much sense. Castillo is virtually useless off the bench other than a need for a sacrifice bunt, and Francoeur as we’ve seen, can’t stay fresh as a pinch-hitter.
According to reports, Francoeur once again has asked Omar Minaya to be traded. For that to happen, he’d obviously have to be claimed off waivers by August 31.
The Mets have been desperately trying to deal Castillo but no one wants his bad contract.
Looking that the roster as a whole, the Mets now have three useless backups in Francoeur, Castillo, and Oliver Perez.
The reason why the Mets made these moves is because they’re holding open auditions for 2011. Fernando Martinez wouldn’t have a role, unless Carlos Beltran is dealt in the offseason. Jason Bay and Angel Pagan are locks to be back and starting next season.
Tejada, though, could replace Castillo assuming the Mets can rid of his contract. The Mets won last night’s game, and it had nothing to do with the moves that they made.
It had to do with their ace stepping up, and odd-man out Jeff Francoeur hitting a long ball. There wasn’t any renewed energy in a 1-0 win. The team was rather flat.
But the Mets, hovering around .500, have decided to start thinking next season. Now how disappointing is that considering where the Mets were in June?
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