A die-hard fan does not want to be pragmatic. The fan wants to be hopeful, maybe even delusional, especially when the calendar has just clicked from April to May.
It is still early enough to hold on to the best-case scenarios as a playbook, not a fantasy.
Yet here is what should be scary for the Mets, right now: So much has actually gone right for them so far, and they still have the second-worst record in the NL.
Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes are healthy and productive and, at the least, Jason Bay is healthy again. Ike Davis is emerging as one of the best young hitters in the sport. Daniel Murphy is making a go of it at second base. Francisco Rodriguez is not a distraction, but rather a capable closer. Chris Young is channeling Cy Young. Pedro Beato is a revelation and Jason Isringhausen is regeneration.
Yet the current result is 12-16. The first-month demonstrates that the Mets still do not have enough good players or a winning gene.
Just look at the Phillies. They have the best record in the NL. And they have not gotten a second of work yet from their best player (Chase Utley) or their closer (Brad Lidge). Their backup closer (Jose Contreras) is now on the disabled list, as is No. 5 starter Joe Blanton. Jimmy Rollins is on the Derek Jeter program for fading championship shortstops. Raul Ibanez is arguably the worst hitter in the majors.
Yet the Phillies are 18-9 because of, yes, a somewhat favorable schedule (it gets tougher over the next few weeks), but mainly due to their depth of talent, specifically in the rotation, and their organizational addiction to winning.
So this is where the pragmatism needs to come in, if not from Mets fans, then certainly from the front office. You don’t want to give up on the season before Mother’s Day. But the Mets are probably not good enough, which makes the early success of Beltran, Reyes and K-Rod so vital.
Maybe the Mets really will do something significant this season. If so, they will need Beltran, Reyes and K-Rod for that. And if not — if 12-16 is an accurate appraisal of the 2011 Mets — then improving future teams becomes the mandate. And Beltran, Reyes and K-Rod could become interesting trade chips to add prospects to a flimsy minor league base or to save money to redirect elsewhere (assuming the cash-strapped Wilpons will actually do that).
Before you say no team will touch Beltran, remember the White Sox grabbed Manny Ramirez at the deadline last year when Manny was making more than Beltran is now while producing limited power. Think, for example, about what another New York team with deep pockets might be willing to do if, say, Jorge Posada or Brett Gardner does not begin to perk up; the Yankees, after all, obtained an underperforming, overpaid switch-hitter (Lance Berkman) at last year’s deadline.
That the switch-hitting Beltran also has shown improved mobility in the field only makes him more attractive to many teams, in and out of New York.
As for Reyes: Why can’t the Mets have their cake and eat it, too? After all, they could trade Reyes in July to bulk up on prospects and if their front office really likes him and if there is money to pay him — two huge ifs — then the Mets could try to re-sign Reyes as a free agent.
The Yankees are not going to give up on Jeter in season (boy, the offseason could get interesting, though, if Jeter’s struggles persist). Still the Mets would find plenty of July suitors for Reyes considering the lack of strong shortstop play in the game (think Tampa Bay, San Francisco, Cincinnati).
As for K-Rod, he is right now on pace to finish 46 games, well below the 55 needed to trigger his $17.5 million 2012 option. No team is going to risk triggering the option on its watch and paying that amount.
So the only way to move Rodriguez would be to keep him on a pace similar to his current one or deal him as a set-up man.
As with Beltran and Reyes, that at least would become a possibility if K-Rod remains healthy and productive. As first months go, that is not something to excite a die-hard fan. But it should encourage a pragmatist.