RX For What Ails Us

It's mid-June, and the Yankees are beating us in the 8th inning of game 3 of this weekend series, 8-1. O-Hern got clobbered, and sadly threw few bad pitches - the Yankees just hit all of them! Although we won one game, we were clearly out-classed this weekend, and, no excuses, we should have played better- in a week when the supposed "SI Jinx" may have struck again. That being said, there are many things not quite working as they should right now. Without further ado, here is our prescription for shaking up the Mets - although we do NOT have any reason to panic!

1.) Bring up Sandy Alomar Jr., allow Ramon Castro to play more, DH Lo Duca wherever possible, or play him in left field, and allow either PLD or Castro to pinch-hit whenever necessary, which means that Alomar can be the 3rd catcher for such situations.

2.) Waive Aaron Sele and bring up Mike Pelfrey - allow Sele to catch on with a team that will use him, and allow Pelfrey to gain confidence in the majors while not relying on him as a starter while building not just confidence but arm-strength.

3.) Put Scott Schoenweis on the DL and bring up Jason Vargas- it's obvious that Scott is not well, and although he's a gamer, he's not helping the team right now. Vargas can go long or short, and it's a good chance to see what he has (again) on a major league level.




4.) In a similar vein, place Carlos Beltran, the ULTIMATE GAMER, on the DL and allow him to get healthy. Move Carlos Gomez to CF and let him roam, as he's made multiple, great catches and will at least not hurt us defensively in Beltran's absence. A healthy Beltran will bring us 2006-like numbers; the present version is on a collision course with 2005!


5.) Accelerate Julio Franco's eventual coaching career, sending him down to the minors to begin his coaching career while trading for the Reds' Jeff Conine. Conine can play in LF while Beltran is on the bench, and then can spell Delgado once in a while when Beltran comes back. He's a great veteran, has won and is supposedly great in the clubhouse- just what the doctor ordered!

6.) Play Ruben Gotay more- he's hitting well (when he gets to play), fielding well (when he gets to play) and can split time with Damon Easley. If they don't get Conine or another similar player, Valentin can move temporarily to LF until Beltran comes back.

7.) Demote Mr. Mota, until he reclaims his stuff, and promote one of the many AAA relievers (whoever is most deserving, in Mr. Peterson's opinion). Mota has looked eminently hittable, and he's not getting "back on the juice" so he'd better figure SOMETHING out! Better to have him find his game when he can't hurt us any more than his long absence already has.

8.) I'm not a huge believer in line-up "match-ups", but it seems that Paul Lo Duca is best from the number 2 hole, as he's not an RBI guy and works so well with Jose Reyes.

There are a lot more things that can be done, and goodness knows, no one is better-suited to "fix" things on this roster than our beloved GM, Omar! Just some food for thought, and some suggestions to get things going. Let us know what YOU would like to see...