Last August the Mets had 12 players on the disabled list at the same time. They were: Carlos Beltran, Alex Cora, Carlos Delgado, John Maine, Fernando Martinez, Ramon Martinez, Jonathon Niese, Fernando Nieve, J.J. Putz, Jose Reyes, Johan Santana, and David Wright.
Earlier in the season Brian Schneider, Oliver Perez, Alex Cora, Tim Redding, Ryan Church, Angel Pagan, Gary Sheffield and Billy Wagner were also disabled at some point or other.
After the Mets placed Delgado on the DL on May 21st, here is a list of players the Mets added to their roster:
Wilson Valdez, Emil Brown, Matt Watson, Lance Broadway, Pat Misch, Chip Ambres, Arturo Lopez, Jeff Francoeur, Angel Berroa, Adam Pettyjohn, Anderson Hernandez, Jason Dubois and Jack Egbert. It’s little wonder the team that started 21-15 ended up 70-92.
Meanwhile, the Phillies added Chris Coste (7/10), Pedro Martinez (7/15) and Cliff Lee (7/29) and cruised to the NL East title and eventually the World Series.
Flash forward to 2010 and the Phillies have placed the following players on the disabled list:
Joe Blanton, Brad Lidge, J.C. Romero, Jimmy Rollins, J.A. Happ, Ryan Madson, Brian Schneider (maybe he’s a jinx!), Carlos Ruiz, Chad Durbin, Chase Utley, Placido Polanco, Shane Victorino, Jamie Moyer and Ryan Howard.
While none of the Phillies’ injuries so far have been as severe as those suffered by Reyes and Delgado, it is still a lengthy list. Yet the club finds itself 2.5 games out of first place and in the thick of the pennant race despite having Utley and Howard currently on the shelf.
Since the All-Star break, the Phillies are 16-10 despite playing without Moyer, Howard, Utley and Victorino for all or part of that time. How have they done it? It certainly helps to have good starters and Philadelphia has used Roy Oswalt, Kyle Kendrick, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Blanton in its last five games.
By contrast, in August of 2009 the Mets started Mike Pelfrey, Tim Redding, Pat Misch, Bobby Parnell and Nelson Figueroa the last five days of the month.
Omar Minaya gets a lot of criticism but he never made a trade for the Mets as poor as the Cliff Lee to Seattle deal that Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro did. People like to complain about the contracts Minaya has handed out to Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez but by the end of his contract Ryan Howard will make those look like ashtray money losses.
But one thing Amaro does have all over Minaya is the willingness to make big moves during the season. Obtaining Lee and Martinez last year was huge and this year he stepped up and got Oswalt and a nice stop-gap replacement for Howard in Mike Sweeney. It sure beats Misch and Francoeur, the two big acquisitions Minaya pulled last year.
Friday the Phillies come to Citi Field to take on the Mets. Whatever slim chances the Mets have in the playoff picture hinge on winning (preferably sweeping) this series at home against a team it trails in the Wild Card race.
The Phillies come in battered but still playing great. If Philadelphia is able to win the three-game series, it will have the satisfaction of comebacks over the Mets in 2007 and 2008 plus showing how to win with multiple players on the disabled list here in 2010.
And that would be adding insult to injury.
I think I read somewhere, or heard, that in the last two or three years that the Phillies have traded 7 of their top ten minor league prospects.
Yea Minaya should try and win now,but one small thing we have on the Phillies is we should be positioned better in the future.
That’s a good point about the prospects.
I would counter that if you aren’t trading Stephen Strasburg, you’ve got to like to be able to flip prospects for Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt.
phillies farm was just rated as top-10 by Law and BA, and they are considered to have the most talent in the low minors. that’s how you win now and later.