And then there was one...

by Mike Trovato

The Mets were active on Monday afternoon, but the activity was not the trade many fans have been screaming for. Instead, New York recalled 20 year-old Fernando Martinez to replace center fielder Carlos Beltran, who became the latest Met to make the trip to the disabled list. The club also optioned Ken Takahashi to AAA Buffalo, and brought up pitchers Pat Misch and Elmer Dessens. Dessens pitched well in his Mets debut on Tuesday night, notching two perfect innings in the 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Without Beltran, David Wright is now the sole healthy member of the Mets quickly rotting core, and the loss of Beltran further diminishes an already pop-less Metropolitan lineup. Beltran is currently tied with Gary Sheffield for the team home run lead, which is not saying much, as both have just 8 home runs on the season. To boot, Gary Sheffield is also not 100%, and although he is still on the active roster, he has missed three of the last four games.

Their lack of potency at the plate was underscored yet again on Tuesday night, as Joel Pineiro hurled a complete game two-hit shutout against the floundering Mets, who are just 5-9 since sweeping the Washington Nationals earlier this month. With some help from Toronto and Baltimore, which pulled off back-to-back sweeps of the first place Philadelphia Phillies, Jerry Manuel's ailing troops have have stayed afloat in the NL East, but barely.

Just one and a half games separate the Mets and the fourth place Atlanta Braves, with Florida a half behind in third. So while the Mets are only two and a half behind the world champs, the next seven days entails the final two games against St. Louis, including a duel of aces between Johan Santana and Chris Carpenter on Thursday, followed by three games against the Yankees. Yes, the Yankees have been struggling of late, but unfortunately for the Mets, they will get the horns, opening the series against C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett before wrapping up and traveling to Milwaukee on Monday. Those three opponents are 115-97, while Florida finishes up against the AL East with two more against Baltimore and three against Tampa before hosting the 20-48 Nationals to kick off next week.

Obviously the Mets are hurting, and this is not the stretch of schedule to be sitting idly while the team is featuring Fernando Tatis in the cleanup spot. The Tatis experiment has only gone on for two games, and already he's rewritten the definition of "cleanup hitter" to mean "clearing the bases by hitting into double plays," not the more popular "empty the bases by being an RBI machine" description.

Don't get me wrong, I like the guy, and I respect what he's gone through to return to Major League Baseball. But when your manager is inserting a guy he is hoping will be the Tatis of last season into the cleanup spot, it's time to stir the pot just a little bit, don't you think, Omar?

With each loss, each collective lackluster effort at the plate, the talk is constantly about making a trade, making a trade, and making a trade. Realistically, no GM is stupid enough to ignore the Mets' desperation at this point, and any significant bat Omar Minaya could bring in would surely come at a price which I myself would not be willing to pay. I agree, something needs to be done, but there are other options.

As an executive in baseball, you would love for the answer to the worst case to be buried somewhere within your organization, with the task of sifting through your own talent to find the gem. Ideally, this would mean that you've done your job as a GM, having stocked your franchise with viable players. However, evaluating minor league talent at a Major League level is typically reserved for the roster expansion in September, or for teams that are bad enough, some time in August.

To me, bringing up Triple-A or even Double-A players three weeks before the All-Star break would be a sign of defeat, looking to next season less than halfway through this one. I'm as curious as anybody to see what's growing on the farm, but I'm not yet desperate enough to scrap the '09 blueprints. It's not like Delgado, Reyes or Beltran are done for the year. There is still hope for when the core returns, but in the meantime, the name of the game is staying competitive.

For those of you who have already lost hope, let me just put a few things into perspective. The New York Mets, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, have the best team batting average in the Major Leagues- .279. The New York Mets, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, have the best team on-base percentage in the Major Leagues- .358. The New York Mets, along with the Los Angeles Dodgers, have a .408 slugging percentage. Believe it or not, the Mets and Dodgers have also hit into the same number of double plays- 62, and the Dodgers have hit just one more double (135) than the Mets (134). Even more interesting is that LA has just 51 home runs, seven more than the next worst team- the Amazins. And the last I checked, the Los Angeles Dodgers have the best record in baseball.

So what does it all mean? Somehow, compared to the Dodgers, the Mets stack up offensively. The biggest difference between the two teams at the plate is runs scored, which says that the Mets are their own worst enemy on the base paths, because they're getting on base at the same exact rate as the best team in the league. Granted, the Dodgers pitching has been better, but when fans are calling out to Omar Minaya for help, let's take a step back and reevaluate what it is we really need.

Yes, there have been murmurs about Bobby Valentine, but seeing as he is under contract in Japan through the end of this year, I'll temper any Bobby V sentiments until at least the off season, if needed. Honestly, I don't believe getting rid of Jerry Manuel is the answer just yet, given that the healthy team he had last year produced admirably overall. Of course, I'm turning blind eyes and deaf ears to months rhyming with "kept member" because I'm plain sick of thinking about it. Maybe it's a coaching move, and since base running has been an issue, perhaps that means saying goodbye to Razor Shines- as cool as his name sounds.

Personally, I think this whole thing goes higher up than Jerry Manuel, and I'm talking about Omar Minaya, and even more so, Mr. Wilpon at the tip top of this gradually crumbling Mets mountain. But since Wilpon still has some shred of faith in Minaya and neither are going anywhere before October, let's focus on the parts of Omar's opus that must execute- the players.

The fans want pop. Not Michael Jackson pop, not Britney Spears pop, none of that. In all seriousness though, it's hard to make base running mistakes when the ball is on the other side of the outfield wall, so maybe the power bat is priority number one. Hell, make it two bats, and I have two that won't cost the New York Mets anything they don't have. No prospects, just cash. Because let's face it, if there is no guaranteed fix, why trade away potential for a solution that may not be the solution?

It's time to dip into the free agent pool, and there are two veterans available whose names I have not once heard mentioned, and I'm a man who listens to a lot of WFAN radio. Jim Edmonds and Richie Sexson. I'm aware that Edmonds is 39 and Sexson is 35, but here's a little more perspective.

Last season Jim Edmonds was picked up by the Chicago Cubs with the intention of platooning him with Reed Johnson. What they got was 85 games from the 8-time Gold Glover. The 2004 Silver Slugger showed that he still had something left, knocking 19 home runs and 49 RBI in just 250 at-bats. He hit .256, drawing 45 walks and logging a .937 OPS that was higher than any Met player in 2008. Granted, the sample size is half a season but the bottom line is, Edmonds still has something left, and to my knowledge has not officially called it quits. He is a natural center fielder, which the Mets need at least for the next couple weeks sans Beltran, and has filled in at both corner outfield positions and first base. Not to mention, those Gold Gloves can't hurt a team that could stand to make a few less errors.

Richie Sexson may be somewhat less appealing than Edmonds- frankly neither are particularly sexy options. His batting average over the past two seasons has been atrocious, but Gary Sheffield didn't exactly make consistent contact in batting .225 last year, yet Sheff has been a pleasant surprise this year. If you're going to try and catch lightning in a bottle with Fernando Tatis, why not with Richie Sexson, who at a hulk 6'8" would at the very least look threatening. It's not average you're looking for, it's power and with 309 career home runs, Big Sexy has it.

Hypothetically speaking, if the Mets were to take a shot and sign both Edmonds and Sexson, it would at least infuse some kind of threat into the heart of the lineup. Plus, with Edmonds being a lefty and Sexson a righty, DJ Filthy Jerry could alternate lefty-righty down the lineup. David Wright has been tearing it up with his contact-first approach, which is ideal for a number 2 hitter. That would send Murphy into the 5 hole, and almost by accident, the lineup could project rather nicely into several options:

1. SS Cora (S)
2. 3B Wright (R)
3. CF Edmonds (L)
4. RF Sheffield (R)
5. LF Murphy (L)
6. 1B Sexson (R)
   
7. C Schneider (L)
   
8. 2B Castillo (S)

1. SS Cora (S)
2. 3B Wright (R)
3. CF Edmonds (L)
4. 1B Sexson (R)
5. LF Murphy (L)
6. C Santos (R)
7. RF Church (L)
   
8. 2B Castillo (S)
   

1. SS Cora (S)
2. 3B Wright (R)
3. CF Edmonds (L)
4. 1B Sexson (R)
5. LF Murphy (L)
6. RF Tatis (R)
   
7. C Schneider (L)
   
8. 2B Castillo (S)

At this point I'd just like to see some kind of change, and if Minaya won't pull the trigger on a trade, free agency seems like a no-brainer if the Mets intend to hang around with Philly. Tatis should be nowhere near the cleanup slot, but instead filling in when Sheffield's 40 year-old knees ailing knees need the rest. The three batting orders I came up with allow Jerry Manuel the flexibility to distribute playing time amongst his outfielders, allot Daniel Murphy trial innings at first, and give appropriate rest for players who need it.

Of course what I've outlined here is hypothetical and may never work, not to mention that unless Omar stumbles across this blog and doesn't stop reading after my criticisms earlier, this will probably never happen. But hey, it's fun to play GM.