Porcelain Dolls, Why Do They Keep Breaking?

Again TC is babying a young player. Last year he refused to move Flores off SS even though it made no sense to play Tejada at 3B, because it would be too much to ask of Flores. Now, Flores is struggling with the adjustment to being a utility IF, which is his obvious role on this team and could have been last year. 

Conforto has volunteered to try 1B. Why not let him practice the position and at least see what he looks like. Why make a blanket statement? I'm so tired of watching MLB teams treat players like porcelain dolls. 

If TC really won't try Conforto, how about Granderson? The guy plays fundamentally sound defense, is a great team player/leader, has a poor arm, and is an aging player with only 1.7 years left on his contract. 

Really, just buy a box of righty and lefty 1B mitts and toss them around the clubhouse. 4-6 weeks of Duda-free baseball requires more than Eric Campbell and Wilmer Flores to chip in.

Not to mention the need for a semi-regular 3B to keep Wright fresh. Mets, please be active instead of dragging your feet for a change.

Dark Knight of the Soul

If you are a super hero, your job is to handle adversity. To solve problems, stop the bad guys, and save the world. 

Not unlike pitching. So congratulations, Matt Harvey, AKA The Dark Knight of Gotham, you have finally experienced the kind of personal challenges that most people have gone through, although not in front of so many people, many of whom have no compassion for you. 

This is a time for deep introspection. To go away and find your Yoda. To stop trying harder and learn to try softer. To make this game fun for you again. 

Your problem is not one that can be solved by pitching again in five days for the Mets. You need to step away from the glare for a bit and start over one small step at a time. 

Don't fight it. Surrender to the process of stripping away the false self and discovering the authentic man underneath. Find your humility, friend. 

The only way to become the Dark Knight again is to surrender to your Dark Knight of the Soul. Be humble, ask for help from those wiser and more experienced than you, such as Bartolo Colon. 

Let go of the trappings of fame and power, and focus only on being your highest self. Control is an illusion. The only thing you need to control is your next pitch, whether it is in Port St. Lucie or Columbia, South Carolina. 

Many Met fans have compassion for you now. Be grateful for your life, and surrender the illusion of control. You will be back, better than ever. 

Yoenis Cespedes: the Good, the Great, and the Ugly

The Mets made the Amazin' and totally unexpected move of re-signing outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to a three-year contract with an opt-out after the 2016 season.

Now that the physical has been completed and the ink has dried, what exactly do the Mets have now? On the plus side, the Mets have at least one year of a multitalented player. 

He is powerful, fast, and posseses one of the strongest and most accurate arms in the game. His demeanor screams confidence and showmanship, which gets the home crowd worked into a frenzy when he is at his best. 

He is built like Bo Jackson and plays a lot like him. Does Yo know Bo? Cespedes is a great athlete, without question, and has already proven he is capable of carrying the Mets on his back in crucial situations.  What more could anyone want?

Well, here's the ugly. His list of weaknesses include:

*An unwillingness to attempt to run to first base on a dropped third strike

*A tendency to not run hard out of the box on long fly balls

*Lack of plate discipline 

*Difficulty with balls in the LF gap when playing CF (fear of contact)

*Maddening habit of turning into a soccer player at inopportune times

*Unwillingness to dive for balls in the OF

*Hard hands in the OF (in his 2014 highlight reel for the A's there were three balls that clanked off his glove leading to incredible throws)

*Weakness going to his backhand on fly balls (see his graph of catches in LF from 2015)

*Difficulty laying off outside breaking balls

So, all the uglies are fixable, and the goods and greats are talents that most players will never possess. The challenge for Terry Collins is to get to work on fixing what can be fixed. 

And an obvious change is a move to RF, where his skills fit perfectly, especially with a healthy Juan Lagares next to him. 

If I were the manager, Conforto and Cespedes would learn RF, Granderson would play LF and CF, and Lagares would start against all LHPs and when Colon starts.

Granderson needs to sit against LHPs, both for offensive and fatigue purposes. Conforto should play every day unless he somehow proves he can't hit lefties.

All in all, the Mets have a very good OF, and a better team to start a season than they have had since 2006.