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New York Mets: With Cespedes Out, Team Needs More

By Steve Contursi

Feb 26, 2016; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets manager Terry Collins (left) laughs as New York Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes (right) arrives at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 26, 2016; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets manager Terry Collins (left) laughs as New York Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes (right) arrives at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
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Without both Yoenis Cespedes and Jay Bruce in the New York Mets lineup together, the new Mets are the same as the old Mets 

Okay, you can say that the move by the New York Mets to place Yoenis Cespedes on the DL with a balky quad is unfortunate, but it isn’t exactly a surprise. But, you do have to wonder what’s going on in Mets world when Sandy Alderson has to publicly spank him for playing golf with Kevin Millar while he’s injured.

We could argue all day about the physical impact on his quad from a round of golf, but there’s no argument about how it “looks”. To the team, I’m afraid it looks more like a bitter reminder of the baggage that Cespedes carried to the Mets before he turned their season upside down last year at about this same time.

Alderson’s move to bring in Jay Bruce, while commendable, is still just simply a wash without Cespedes in the lineup with him. And, it’s hard to imagine that lightning will strike twice for the Mets with Bruce becoming the Cespedes of 2016.

Related Story: Is Terry Collins on the hot seat?

Make no mistake about it. This is still a struggling team and franchise that has little or no apparent direction home. It’s also still a team in which Terry Collins is on the hot seat every day trying to figure things out while Alderson inexplicably gets a pass from the media and, presumably the Wilpons. This is pointed out in this video that accents Collins getting a little heated answering the ongoing onslaught of questions about Cespedes…..

Regrettably, the “new” Mets appear to be just like the old Mets floundering in search of answers to explain what is becoming their version of the Washington Nationals of last year. Now, they are having to answer nonsensical questions like, “Why did you continue to play Cespedes with a nagging injury knowing that the day would come when he’d have to go on the DL? Well duh, did they have another choice, another power bat to replace him in the lineup?

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Still, it reinforces the idea that the Mets don’t have a clue. Remarkably though, they’re still just two games behind in the Wild Card race despite a 3-7 record over their last ten games. However, as Yogi Berra put it so succinctly, “It gets late early out here”, and the season is rapidly coming to a close with only 53 games left to play. 3-7 won’t do it and neither will 5-5.

In short, the Mets virtually need a miracle to remain in the race. And not only that, but limping in to the one game playoff shootout- and losing – or even winning that game but falling short of making it to the World Series again, is not going to sit well with the fan base given the expectations of the team in April.

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Moreover, it’s Alderson who is and should be on the hot seat now. It’s incumbent on him to relieve the pressure on Collins as well as the team by bringing another bat in to deflect what is bound to become overwhelming pressure on Bruce during the absence of Cespedes. We don’t need a reincarnation of Jason Bay here. Bruce can help this team for a long time in the future, but it’s not realistic to think he can do it all by himself. Your move, Sandy.

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