We already know the men who own the Mets have neither the will, the wisdom nor the wallet to give the people who root for their team what they really want: a franchise that doesn’t make them periodically want to walk around with paper bags covering their faces.
Lately, though, it isn’t simply the Cabinet of Stupid that has those fans shaking and scratching their heads. It is the manager — and possibly the general manager — who seem intent on making this team as maximally unwatchable as possible.
Friday night, for the fourth time in five games, Juan Lagares’ name was not in the Mets’ starting lineup. That fact alone is a puzzlement; Lagares already is considered one of the best fielding center fielders in baseball, and for a team whose wretched offense makes it lean constantly on pitching and defense, this is indefensible strategy.
But the explanation is what makes it borderline malpractice.
“Right now,” Collins said, before the Mets’ 5-2 loss, their third straight, “we’re trying to play the guys who can give us some offense. We’ve got to come up with some way to come up with some runs on the board.”
OK. That’s a logical slice of managing because, let’s be honest, the Mets probably won’t win many games scoring as many runs as they did the last two games against the Yankees. But please consider these three things:
1. Lagares did not start in either of those shutouts against the Yankees. He got one at-bat, and added a walk against the Nationals on Friday. He is as responsible for this latest drought as Marv Throneberry is.
2. Lagares isn’t hitting .236 (as Eric Young is) or .220 (as Chris Young is) or .240 (as Bobby Abreu is, after two walks and a single) or .189 (as Curtis Granderson is). He sits at .296, 56 points higher than any of the options Collins has utilized in those four Lagares-free lineups.
3. Lagares has slumped lately, you bet. But it also is worth noting his slide started on May 5 — the day after he had a three-hit game in Denver and was still benched in favor of Abreu for the start of a series in Miami. Apparently hot bats are more urgently required than they were 12 days ago.
This is just remarkably short-sighted thinking with a young player, presumably a cornerstone or the future, and it’s puzzling to know why the Mets would do this when a) Lagares is one of the few everyday players their fans want to watch — a secondary argument — and b) he also has been one of the team’s best players. He’s in a slump? That gets you benched around the Mets now? That must surely be news to every other player on the roster.
If this is Collins’ desperate attempt to solidify job security, it’s certainly a strange path, keeping arguably his third-most-talented player out. If it’s Sandy Alderson’s command because of how much the Mets paid other members of the outfield … well, that would be egregious; it also doesn’t explain Abreu getting two starts this week to Lagares’ one.
Of course, it might be simpler than that. The Mets, we have seen, specialize in awful ideas. Maybe it’s simply not contained to the marketing department and the ownership suite.
“If any of you guys have a crystal ball and you know when they’re going to hit it good, call me,” Collins said defiantly. “Call me early, so I can put him in there.”
No need for crystal balls. Just working eyes. The best way to score runs, best way to win games? Let the best players play. Every day. Only the Mets would try to reinvent a wheel that’s already flat.