Monday, September 15, 2008

Thin Ice

After some ups and downs over the course of 2 weeks, this Friday night the Mets began a steep decline. They've lost 3 of 4, with a culpable bullpen, and the Phillies have been hot. The sum of things? The Mets are a dangerous just a half game ahead of the Phillies.

The fact is that the Mets are in first place. And while they are hardly firmly entrenched there, their fate is in their collective hand (which, in terms of the bullpen, is kind of scary). Additionally, with Milwaukee's recent troubles the Mets could fall back on the Wild Card as a means to the postseason if the Phillies take the NL East.

If you look at things logically, the Mets should try resigning Tom Seaver to their ballclub and putting him in the bullpen. There's nothing to lose - he can't be worse than anyone else out there. And the potential benefits are great: He might be able to pitch better than the other fellows, in which case the benefit is obvious. Even if he can't muster that, perhaps he can influence the bullpen members, or teach them something about the art of pitching (which he probably knows something about - look at this). Even if that doesn't happen, he's such a popular figure that he will undoubtedly put fans in the seats. Added revenue could very possibly get ownership to spend more money on salary for other, perhaps better, players (see Johan Santana).

All in all, I think it's a no-brainer.