Views from the Promenade

Is it possible the Mets are heading back in the right direction? It’s not like either of the last two wins were pretty, but they were wins. Now is not the time for us to complain about how they’re doing it — every win is a plus. One day after a magnificent pitching performance by Mike Pelfrey, the Mets made it two in a row in today’s 9-8 come from behind victory over the Pirates.

This was definitely the right time for the Mets to play Pittsburgh. If I could magically alter the schedule for the Mets, they’d be playing the Nationals every day until Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran return. Until the Mets are reasonably healthy, they need to take advantage of every opportunity they get against the league’s doormats.

I’ve seen the reaction to today’s game fall into two camps:

1. “Wow, what a gutty performance by the Mets! They never gave up and showed real heart! It wasn’t pretty, but all that matters is that they won.”
2. “It’s nice that the Mets won, but wow, this does not look like a good team. I refuse to get excited.”

To be honest, neither of these reactions are outrageous. It’s true that there was a lot of be unhappy about in today’s game: Tim Redding looked awful, and K-Rod had a poor outing (not to mention, his two innings of work will likely make him unavailable for a couple days). On the other hand, a win is a win, and we should be happy with whatever the current Mets roster can give us. The fact that they’re hanging so close to the Phillies should give us a lot of hope, even if it’s not always fun to watch right now. Wasn’t the NL East supposed to be a strong division going into the season?

By the way, I’ve heard an argument made several times that the Mets shouldn’t make a trade at this point because one player can’t fix all their problems. While it’s true that no player they bring in will turn the current roster into a great team, that’s not the point of making a deal right now. The goal is to make the playoffs, and the Mets may not have to be a great team to do that. After nearly half a season, they stand just one game out of first place in the division, and nobody looks poised to pull away from the pack. If you don’t think that a big bat will fundamentally change the team, that’s fine (and true), but I have no doubt that a good player will make the Mets more than one game better over the second half of the season — and that might be the difference between October baseball or more disappointment.

I went out to dinner with my family tonight to celebrate a relative’s birthday. When we left for the restaurant, the third inning had just ended. When we returned home, it was the top of the 8th. In the time we were out, the Mets had failed to get a single runner on base, a streak that only ended with Carlos Beltran’s two-out single in the 9th.

It has become painfully obvious in recent weeks that the Mets desperately need to add a batter to bolster the middle of the lineup. Beltran and David Wright have been the only hitters that worry opposing pitchers in the lineup, and when their bats go cold (as Wright’s has once again in the past four games), the offensive grinds to a halt. Yes, Gary Sheffield and others have contributed, but I firmly believe there needs to be one more guy in the middle of that lineup who can put up big numbers.

The places we can add to are fairly obvious. The outfield situation is always in flux, so adding another bat here wouldn’t disrupt the team too much. Even better would be to add a first baseman; while Daniel Murphy’s defense at the position has been a pleasant surprise, he doesn’t hit like a major league caliber 1B, and we have no idea what to expect from Carlos Delgado when or if he returns.

Of all the names floated as who the Mets could acquire, my personal preference is Adam Dunn. Yes, he’d be a defensive liability wherever he’s put (I think first base makes the most sense), and that’s a legitimate complaint about him. Less convincing is the concern over his strikeout totals — Dunn might rack those up, but he also hits for power (18 HR, .541 slugging) and gets on base at a tremendous clip (.406 OBP), which are the two most valuable things a hitter can do. The strikeouts will frustrate you, but his production won’t. The biggest problem may be that, as Matthew Cerrone pointed out over at MetsBlog, the Nationals may not even want to trade Dunn.

There are other options, such as Nick Johnson or Aubrey Huff, who would both likely provide a boost over Murphy’s offense at first. Of the two, I’d prefer Johnson, although Huff may have turned some heads in the Mets’ recent series against the Orioles. In any case, the time to make a move is now — the Mets can’t afford to watch their offense flounder for another month before the trade deadline nears.