IT'S DO OR DIE TIME by Tom Brennan

Hey folks.  Yes, you out there with your Sunday morning latte in a Mets coffee mug…let’s think playoffs for a second.  Yeah, playoffs.  Remember those?

We Met junkies are reaching Do or Die time for 2014 and, as in the past several years, the Mets (through Wednesday, after the Braves whooped some Met toukas) are rapidly moving toward the "Die" option, unfortunately.  Like those Medical Alert commercials, we pan to the Mets on the floor in the living room, feebly and pitifully saying “I’ve fallen down and I can’t get up.”  Since Reyes left, we have turned swagger into stagger.  You can have some Met milquetoast with your latte, my friend.

The absence of true off-season boldness led the Mets to not be in the hunt for Jose Abreu, or to re-sign Marlon Byrd, instead standing pat for one of the D Boys (eventually Duda) at first and the relative bargain (?) at $7+ million for Chris "Mendoza" Young, one big multi-year deal in Granderson, and one 2 year deal in Colon.  How's that working out for Sandy and Fred?  “I dunno, that Abreu fella…could hit 60 homers, but he’d cost HOW MUCH, Sandy? Nah, next…”  Even Cruz…”Let’s pass on BOTH guys with 26 homers at the half way mark.  Let’s play station-to-station baseball.” I commute on the Long Island Rail Road daily – I HATE station to station.

Anyway, Duda is certainly (at under $2MM) giving our supreme leadership some 1B bargain value - but compared to Abreu, a bargain is not always a bargain - Duda has been fairly good compared to his peers, in all honesty, but that is only good enough to keep the Met overall offense in below-average range...when what it needed was an Abreu-like jolt.   Duda is hitting an astonishingly bad 6 for 55, with 3 RBIs, in “Late and Close” situations – I guess to him, late and close means “Hey, it’s getting late, that means I’m close to going home.  YAY!”  When the going gets tough, Lucas is an abject failure, according to that stat.  NOT a bargain.

Grandy has been coming around nicely, although I would sure love to see him nailing some game-changing hits – the kind that turns impending losses into exciting wins. 

Colon, once he rounded into shape, has almost become a jabba the hut (whoops, I meant juggernaut, sorry), so can’t argue with that one.

Chris Young?  Ever see those Tom Cruise movies where they peel off a mask and then you see the real face?  Chris just did, and he is actually Jason Bay!  In 601 plate appearances this year and last, he is hitting .199.  Hey just play him a little more – he’s bound to turn the corner – he has to – we paid him $7MM, and we can’t be wrong.  So just be patient.

Byrd, though, surged the second half of last year, when he was one of the best hitters in all of the NL.  Trading him for Black, Herrera and Becerra was a great move. Not re-signing him, though?  Hey, he was getting old, right, Sandy, so last year was a flash in the pan, right, Mr. Alderson?  Uhh…Not so.  Met went with Young to be….well…let's admit it - Cheap.  We are a Cheap organization, and will opt for Cheap unless there is no other alternative. 

So…Not So Great in skipping Byrd.   Byrd-brained, actually.  Because the Byrd Surge has continued.  Earlier this week, he stood at 19 doubles, 16 HRs, 48 RBIs, .268, in half a season.  Mets have to miss that output.  After all, I do.

And his contract is 2 years, $16MM, but even at his current playing prowess, it is unlikely to automatically vest for a 3^rd year unless his team allows him to – after all, he needs to do the following: Option for 2016 vests with 600 PA in 2015 or 550 PA in 2015 and a total of 1100 PA in 2014 and 2015. If the option does not vest, it becomes a team option.  If he is still going great guns from here until late 2015, the team will want him to vest for 2016 and he’ll play a lot and get up to that many PAs.  If not, his team won’t let him make it.

Jose Abreu and Marlon Byrd already have 42 homers and well over 100 RBIs in what, combined, is about the equivalent of one player-season.  Insert those two in the Metsie’s line up, and we arguably are in first place.  Filling seats with happy faces.  But the Mets don't “Do”, so they Die.  Die Hard.  Die Hard with a Vengeance.  Even Bruce Willis can’t save them.  And Bruce can do anything.

On the other hand, Yanks over the years have been Do-ers.  Had they not boldly signed Tanaka, and instead pulled a "Fred" and signed a Sean Marcum type, they'd be in full-blown Die mode right now.  But for the Yanks, Die mode is never an option for the Bombers, by George.  If they Die, they truly do Die Hard.

The Mets, by their policies, are bombers too - they bomb at the box office by not making the right bold moves. 

So do Fred and Sandy "bomb" the roster again as sellers at the break?  Whatever they do, with a presumably healthy Harvey returning to join a solid-to-terrific rotation, a strong bullpen developing, and (despite Thor's and Rafael's struggles this year) a minor league pitching tsunami that is getting ever close to the shores of Flushing Bay, these erudite owners / execs need to at least make sure 2015 is a true attempt at winning.

In 1985, it looked like the talent would bring us years of championships.  We got just one, and needed real breaks to squeak that one out in 1986.  This year is too far gone, most likely, but in 2015, this team needs to go for the title.  Because too much can foul up a plan for the future, and then what?  Eight more years of rebuilding?  Instead - win in 2015...and 2016...and 2017...and 2018 should be the motto. Who cares about "90 wins”? 

"WIN IT ALL" needs to be management’s freedom cry for 2015. Not 2016.  2015.

Do you disagree, dear readers (no, not you, Kim Jong Un)?  Perhaps you see hope in 2014 via upcoming trade moves. 

Like we urge hitters to swing at only good pitches, which deals are out there for the Mets that are the equivalent of a Sean Marcum 82 MPH “fastball” coming in belt high, down the middle, and screaming “hit me”?  Deals that are difference makers?   

So I ask you to put down your latte for a second, and think…

Which trades do you clamor for that they could do in the next few weeks that could give us a real chance at a 2014 come-from-behind conquest?  Or make us THE team to beat in 2015, not just one in the pack?  I want 1985 and 1986 again…don’t you?  Give me your blueprint.

Kiddie Korner: 

The Mets’ minor leaguers may not be kids, but at my age, they’re all kiddies to me.  So kudos to Jack Leathersich for breaking the 300K barrier faster than any Met in team history (maybe for all of baseball history, actually) with his 301 in 175+ innings.  (Whoops, nope, Craig Kimbrell struck out 302 in his first 175 innings in the majors – but Jack’s got the Minors title and heck, the Braves don’t count anyway – at least not in my book).

And Steve Matz, after that great start last weekend, we are working at rolling out the Citifield Welcome Mats for you.  Come home soon.

Greg Ynoa, it’s clear you knoa how to pitch, going 25-6 the past 2 years – keep it up, dude.  Enjoy the promo to Bingo.

And continued good health and a career re-acceleration to Luis Mateo in his return to pitching post-Tommy John.  Citifield this time next year, Luis?  That would be real aggressive, but let’s see.

And to answer the old TV show question, “Car 54, where are you?” I heard they are out searching for Michael Conforto, who agreed to terms but then went missing.  Maybe by the time you all read this, he will be safely in custody in Coney Island – or St. Lucie.  We can’t wait to see you strut your stuff, Mr. Conforto!  Suit up, s’il vous plait!

Hope you had a great 4th.  If asked if you are a Met fan, take the 5th. Have a great day!