BLINDED BY THE WRIGHT
Mets may face dilemma with David if captain struggles when he returns
Amid all the euphoria of the Mets’ sweeping into first place last week came two other separate but equally promising developments: David Wright declaring he may be ready to start playing minor league rehab games as soon as Monday, and Yoenis Cespedes saying he would love to stay with the Mets “for a long, long time.” Or so it seemed anyway. For, in Wright’s case, there is no way of knowing what kind of a player he is going to be, or how long his back will hold up, while, in Cespedes’ case, what would you have expected him to say? That he doesn’t expect to be here very long?
Much as everyone loves and respects Wright as the ultimate gamer and team man, and much as his determination to come back and be an everyday player and contributor to the Mets’ success is commendable, coming back from spinal stenosis and being even remotely close to a 20-homer/100 RBI, $20 million-a-year player is highly improbable. Even so, it will likely take weeks of steady playing time on Wright’s part for the Mets to be able to make any true determinations about him. Can they afford to do that in the middle of a pennant race? Especially now that they have Juan Uribe to play third base and supply a near-equal veteran leadership role in the clubhouse? It may well be that Uribe, now the one and only Met with a World Series championship ring, will turn out to be an even more important trade deadline acquisition by Sandy Alderson than Cespedes. In the big Mets picture, it is far more important for them to get Steven Matz back than Wright, if for no other reason than to lessen the innings load on their young starters.
Indeed, what happens if Wright does come back in the next couple of weeks and struggles? Will Terry Collins feel compelled to keep playing him anyway — and sit Uribe — because he’s the team captain and highest-paid Met? For Wright’s sake, his many fans can only hope he’ll be able to make his own determination in his rehab games — and if it is that he can still be a productive player, he then beats the odds and proves it fast.
As for Cespedes, the Citi faithful need to accept the fact that he’s a Met for the short term. For even if, in large thanks to his bat, the Mets are able to get to the World Series, they are not about to pay the four-five years/$80-90 million somebody inevitably will for a 30-year-old player. Nor should they, with Michael Conforto waiting in the wings to take over left field next year and Curtis Granderson under contract for two more years (and $31 million).
ROSE ANGST
Former baseball special prosecutor John Dowd’s latest salvo against Pete Rose —in which he claimed on a West Chester, Pa., radio podcast last month that Rose’s former memorabilia agent Michael Bertolini told him that he (Bertolini) not only ran bets for Rose but also procured underage girls “ages 12-14” for him in spring training — is nothing more than a pathetic (and potentially libelous) accusation by someone looking to protect his legacy (Rose’s permanent banishment from baseball) at whatever cost. The allegation was vehemently denied by Bertolini through his lawyer. Unless this outrageous charge is part of the contemporaneous file for which the commissioner’s office paid Dowd hundreds of thousands of dollars back in 1989 — and if it is, then Dowd and Major League Baseball had an obligation to bring it to the authorities — it’s highly doubtful it will have any influence on commissioner Rob Manfred’s decision as to whether Rose deserves some sort of reinstatement. Almost as outrageous was Dowd’s statement to NJ.com on Friday that his “underage girls” accusation about Rose was “blown out of proportion.”
“Dowd is a clearly desperate man who needs to just shut up about Rose,” said one baseball lawyer who’s had dealings with the former prosecutor. “What does he think? That Rose is going to take his place in the Hall of Fame?”
SPIN MANAGEMENT WHEEL
Now that the trading deadline has come and gone — and respected exec Dave Dombrowski has suddenly become the most attractive free agent in baseball after being released from his contract by the Tigers — the seats have gotten a little bit hotter for a number of GMs and managers. In no particular order, they are:
Jack Zduriencik — This was supposed to be the Mariners’ year, but with Robinson Cano’s $10-year/$240M contract already looking like a boondoggle and their 2012 firstround draft pick, catcher Mike Zunino, continuing on course as potentially one of baseball’s all-time “whiff-meisters,” the Seattle GM will be hard-pressed to survive a fifth losing season in six years.
Brad Ausmus — Dombrowski didn’t make a whole lot of mistakes in his 14 years as the Tigers’ front office chief, but hiring the inexperienced Ausmus to take over a veteran, postseason-tested team appears to be one. The Tigers have greatly underachieved for Ausmus this year and new GM Al Avila is already feeling pressure from fans to get a new manager.
Robin Ventura — Everybody loves the laid-back, congenial White Sox manager, none more so than board chairman Jerry
Reinsdorf, who rarely fires anyone. That said, the White Sox, after a winter of splashy, expensive moves, were primed to win the AL Central this year and never got untracked, especially after a brief winning streak up to the deadline that deluded them into holding onto pending free agent Jeff Samardzjia.
Dan Jennings — After agreeing to come down on the field and manage for the first time in his professional career, Jennings, who failed to reverse the Marlins’ fortunes, is headed back to the front office at season’s end. Look for Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria to choose the next manager himself.
A.J. Preller — The Padres GM also made the mistake of thinking his team was going to make a big stretch run to grab one of the wild cards and vindicate his (some would now say reckless) winter of trading a bunch of his top prospects for a lot of expensive square pegs to fill round holes. Preller could have considerably replenished his farm system by dealing off Justin Upton, Will Venable, Craig Kimbrel and others. Too late now.
Matt Williams — It’s generally agreed that what’s most wrong with the Nationals is their manager. He’d better find a way to win the NL East.