Is this really what the Mets need? Just two days after Jose Reyes is questioned by the FBI for his association with Canadian doctor Tony Galea, Carlos Beltran is the next player that the Feds want to talk to. We are not one day into spring training and the distractions and the suspicions begin. And somehow the Mets are supposed to stay focused and prepare for a season where there are a great number of jobs on the line.
But this is typical March fodder where we get to spend more time talking about the sordid details of things that are happening off the field than on the field. The past couple of spring trainings we have been blessed with the topic of two collapses and the psychological affects of those downfalls. We have endured a financial scandal where we all learned the difference between a Ponzi scheme and Ponzu sauce. And we put up with the typical back and forth jabs that go on between other teams in the division proclaiming they’re “the team to beat”. All of this “noise” seems to generate a whirlwind of controversy that follows the Mets like indigestion after eating bad Mexican food. When really all the Mets should be doing is figuring out how to put the best 25 guys together that’s going to help erase the ugly blemishes of past seasons.
Enough of blaming Tony Bernazard for ruining the Mets farm system, it’s time to look forward. Enough of blaming him for developing the 80 pitch go-the-opposite-way drill that apparently was the bane of the Mets entire season which played with David Wright’s head and haunted his dreams the entire winter. There must have been some other person (Manuel?, Minaya?) who thought Bernazard’s idea was a good one. Do I get to blame Bernazard for my car breaking down yesterday (I can’t believe I am actually defending Bernazard)? But the point being is that this team, for some reason, has more drama that circulates around them than a 16 year-old teenage girl with unlimited text messaging. The team has been a complete soap opera for too long and “As the Mets Turn” is not going to get the kind of ratings any Met fan wants. The distractions are abundant and the focus is little.
The Mets have far too much on their plate this spring to worry about anything off the field. They need to reestablish some credibility with the baseball community and most important their fans. There’s the issue of staying healthy. There’s the matter of trying to figure who the 5th starter will be and who will take over the setup role since Kelvim Escobar is nowhere near prepared to pitch. There’s the task of trying to re-learn how to turn on a hanging breaking ball and pull it down the line for extra bases rather than poking it the other way. So let’s hope that the FBI questioning is no more than a minor distraction and that Beltran’s connection with Galea is only about healing his injured knees and if HGH enters the conversation, it exits quickly and leaves no suspicions. Or that the only thing Reyes was involved with was a little blood “spinning” that helped to speed up his recovery and nothing more devious. Because the last thing any Met fan needs is another reason to feel embarrassed by the “games” that are being played off the field by this team. Here’s hoping the focus stays between the foul lines.
Oh, and by the way, did you see that Reyes hit a triple in his first spring training at-bat?
