The Mets received more bad news this week when it was revealed that Ike Davis will have to rest for at least an additional three weeks before any decision is made on his bothersome left ankle. The ankle is simply not getting any better. There is talk of Davis undergoing microfracture surgery, which would of course end Davis’s season.
Bummer.
There was a glimmer of hope this week, though, as David Wright was cleared to begin his rehabilitation process, and that he might return to the Mets within the next three weeks or so.
These next three weeks then just may be make-or-break time for the Mets. This three-week window will allow the Mets to assess if they have what it takes to make a run at the postseason.
Will they become sellers at the deadline or will they stand pat?
Almost everyone seems to think they will be sellers and that a fire sale is imminent. The mainstream media just love perpetuating possible Mets trades. They love baiting possible players that are trade candidates.
Leave it to the Daily News to run with a quote out of context and make it back page news. Yesterday, the Daily News ran a story that intimated that Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) would love to hop across town and join the Yankees as a set-up man.
K-Rod maintained that the quote was taken out of context and that he is just open to any and all options. The news outlets just love to squeeze all the juice out of quotes and make it something it is not.
Just another day in New York.
One day there’s news that Jose Reyes is ultimately leaving Flushing via trade(on top of stories claiming there is no way he would resign with the Mets), and the next day it’s Carlos Beltran skipping town.
I’m not naive to think that it’s plausible that the aforementioned trio of players on the trading block will stick around to the bitter end, but for the moment, they are Mets. Let’s not treat them like they already have one foot out the door.
The Mets are getting by on emotion, adrenaline and scrappiness while trying to stay in the thick of things. The hope was that they can tread water until Wright and Davis get back.
Well, Wright appears to be on the right track, so that leaves Davis as the ultimate wild card. If Davis can show some progress in the next three weeks, and if the Mets are still just a stone’s throw away in the wild card standings, then maybe Reyes, Beltran and K-Rod stick around and the Mets try and make a push for the postseason.
However, if Davis’ ankle doesn’t heal properly and he needs surgery, and if the return of Wright isn’t enough while the Mets stumble when the middle of July draws near, then yes, perhaps it’s time to raise the white flag.
So much can happen in three weeks, but General Manager Sandy Alderson will likely view these three weeks as his window to gauge what direction the Mets will be on course for.
Indirectly, the future of Reyes, Beltran and K-Rod may come down to just how healthy Davis’ ankle is.
You can’t tiptoe around that.
Wright is due back on 7/15 if things go well. Davis will only be re-examined on 7/15. Then if he is alright we won’t be seeing him in a game until August, after the trade deadline. Sandy has said Reyes isn’t going anywhere and I believe him because the Mets would have to be overwelmed and no team will do that because Reyes is a rental since he stated he will not negotiate in season. If Wright is back we may see Beltran go, especially if the Mets fall furthur out of the playoff race. But if they are still close, mgmt needs to sell tickets so Beltran will stay. That leaves K-Rod. K-Rod saves games but the whole bullpen is ranked 13th in the NL. It is tough to trade your closer when the rest of your bullpen performs badly. Then again, can the Mets designate that much of the 2012 payroll to a closer? If Sandy were to export K-Rod in one trade and bring in another closer in another trade, that would be a solution. Some prudent multi player trades,(while leaving the future core of Reyes, Wright, Davis and Niese) could help this team now and in the future. All these decisions will have to be made way before Davis ankle ever heals enough to even play in a game.