So Ruben Tejada, the shortstop nobody wanted, is suddenly winning games with his defense, making diving-stop double plays one night, then a dazzling ninth-inning relay throw to the plate on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, the starting pitching is there every night, the bullpen is finding a way, somehow, and Travis d’Arnaud is showing signs of living up to his billing as a catcher who will be here for the next decade or so.
The Mets have taken two of three from the Cardinals, they’re back over .500 after a dramatic 3-2 victory on Wednesday night, and right about now, their fans ought to be allowed to dream a little, anyway.
That is, if you thought their offense had a chance to be dangerous.
That’s the problem with this team, and unless you believe Curtis Granderson is about to start knocking down walls in Citi Field, it’s hard to see how the Mets are going to hit enough to make good on those dreams.
Granderson showed signs of life on Wednesday, anyway, singling to right when Michael Wacha was unhittable early, striking out nine hitters in three innings, and he later worked a walk out of a 12-pitch at-bat against lefty Randy Choate.
In doing so he raised his batting average to .125.
So it may or may not mean a thing, which is what made me think about calling a scout — one with past ties to Sandy Alderson — who was the first one last year, little more than a month into the season, to mention what he considered practically a sure thing:
“Shin-Soo Choo will be a Met next year,” the scout said then. “He’s everything Sandy wants in a hitter.”
At the time, neither he nor anyone else — except Scott Boras, of course — would have guessed that Choo would wind up commanding a seven-year, $ 130 million contract to sign as a free agent with the Texas Rangers.
In that case, as the same scout said on Wednesday, “I probably wouldn’t have been so convinced about him being a Met. I don’t know how much money Sandy had to work with (during the off-season), but I know he doesn’t like giving players those types of contracts.”
Instead Alderson signed Granderson for $ 60 million over four years. I really don’t think this is Jason Bay all over again, but I do think the Mets talked themselves into Granderson because they knew they had to sign a relatively big-name outfielder, and he came a lot cheaper than Choo or Jacoby Ellsbury.
There were obvious reasons to consider why Granderson might not be such a great fit:
His home-run power, the great redeeming quality for a low-average, high-strikeout hitter, wouldn’t play nearly as well at Citi Field as it did at Yankee Stadium.
And while Granderson had proven he could succeed in New York, the task of coming over to be a clean-up hitter and something of a savior for an anemic offense was a world apart from being a complementary player in the Yankees’ star-studded lineup.
Nobody expected him to look so Bay-like, but it wasn’t hard to envision how he might not live up to expectations.
We’ll see about that. On Wednesday He did break his 0-for-22 skid but he came up in a big spot, however, with the bases loaded in the fourth inning, he fouled out to third for the final out.
He’s hitting in the No. 2 spot now, which is one more reason to wonder: What if Alderson had gone for the big bucks and signed Choo instead? Then you might be able to make the argument the Mets were just one middle-of-the-lineup thumper away from being serious contenders.
Yes, it’s hard not to notice that Choo is off to a strong start in Texas, living up to his reputation as an on-base machine. He’s hitting .314 with eight extra-base hits and 14 walks, which added up to .432 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage. He’s also hitting .391 against lefties.
You know by now how much Alderson believes in a patient, work-the-count approach at the plate — and ultimately, on-base percentage.
Yet the Mets have the lowest batting average and slugging percentage in the National League, the third-lowest on-base percentage, and the second-highest number of strikeouts.
Would it have been worth the money to sign Choo? If the Mets were operating like the big-market team they’re supposed to be, then yes, even if he’ll be 38 when his contract expires.
But if Alderson only had $ 30 million to spend this winter, as it appears, allocating $ 18.5 million of it for one player would have been tough to justify.
On a per-season basis, however, Choo is earning $ 3.5 million more than Granderson. Even the Mets might have to call that a bargain at the moment.
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