Just Mets

Since starting the season 13-3, the Mets have gone 23-32 and have featured an uninspiring offense, a lackluster and limited defense, and an apparent unfocused brand of baseball overall.

In that process, the Mets have been without many of their primary players, not including David Wright who has been out since April 15, and have called upon fringe players to serve as their front line depth at the big league level.

Because of the rash of injuries and dependence on minor leaguers to fill the void, Mike Puma of the New York Post says team officials are not holding manager Terry Collins responsible, therefore his job is not in jeopardy for the moment.

Despite the sub-.500 record since late April, team officials continue to have a positive outlook on the club’s season due to the fact the club has treated water in the division and stayed above .500 overall, according to Puma.

That’s fair, but it’s also fair for anyone to question how long treading water is sustainable with this roster.

It’s fair to challenge Collins’ field managing skills and some of the strategy he employs. He has made some puzzling decisions over the course of his seasons here and this season in particular, specifically with the pitching staff. Many of them have come back to bite him and the club. It will never be known what are his decisions and what the organizational mandates are, but perception can certainly be considered reality.

Butte argument can’t be validated without looking at both sides of the issues.

A lot of the decisions, specifically in the bullpen, have been due to the fact players have been injured, overused and overworked and in some cases, it’s been due to underperformance in certain match ups. That has forced Collins to put people in positions where they’re uncomfortable, unfamiliar, and more likely to fail than succeed.

If anything, the timing of his moves are fairer to question than many of the actual moves themselves.

Having said that, Collins is once again tasked with managing a big league team full of minor league players at the front line. He says all of the right things in public, but he cannot be expected to succeed with the minor league flavor of the day at third base, a shortstop who isn’t a shortstop, and a talented but ill-prepared second baseman.

That along with severe underperformance among the outfielders – on both sides of the ball – is a large part of the 23-32 record since April 24. That doesn’t make him a good manager or the right manager for the a Mets, but there’s probably nobody who could successfully navigate these waters, Wally Backman included.

If the club was healthy with that same 23-32 over the last 55 games, perhaps the team would feel differently about their position on Collins right now.

Meanwhile, Puma says the front office is continuing to search for reinforcements outside the organization, but as has been the case up to this point, the trade market remains quiet and isn’t expected to begin heating up until mid-July as the trade deadline nears.

It remains unclear if the Mets will acquire the help they need to remain in contention this summer, especially if the Mets slip under .500 and fall further out of the division and wild card races by the times they are able to strike a deal. They have been reportedly connected to players such as Aramis Ramirez, Jean Segura and Ben Zobrist, but aren’t particular interested in the retiring and diminished Ramirez and feel they might be outbid for Zobrist, who already has drawn interest from the Cubs, Nationals and Yankees.

The problem is, the Mets need to acquire more than one productive player anyway, considering how badly the outfield has performed. That along with the seemingly lopsided deal the Braves and Diamondbacks made over the weekend makes the task even taller for this front office. Moves would require creativity, and involve some potentially difficult decisions in the outfield as well.

If the Mets eventually fall out of contention, that should not stop the front office from being active and looking to acquire players who can help starting next year. Whether it’s for 2015 or 2016, the roster clearly needs to be supplemented.

In addition, perhaps the Mets would consider moving Bartolo Colon and Daniel Murphy, two guys who can become free agents at the end of the year and neither are likely to be given qualifying offers anyway. If the Mets would be willing to absorb the money owed to them, that might help to at least clear roster spots and start the annual August auditions again by avoiding more awkwardness.

That’s probably not what Collins would want at the end of the final year of his contract, but if it gets to that point in the next six weeks, having blind faith on the remaining eight weeks of the season wouldn’t be sensible for the organization.