The first thing we need to establish about the New York Mets is this: Rickey Henderson isn't going anywhere.
Not that the Mets wouldn't love to send him somewhere -- Seattle, Detroit, Siberia, the Arctic Circle, anyplace. But they can't.
|  | | Henderson's indifferent play made it easier for the Mets to waive him. |
They can't because no one would take him (not if it costs anything, anyway). And they can't because they need him.
Oh, they don't need the Rickey who couldn't find a way to score from second on a double Monday. They don't need the Rickey who thought he saw a detour sign on the road to second base last week. And they don't need the Rickey who has been spewing out important announcements that he's not going to Japan, he's not being paid properly and he's "not into it" in general.
But the Mets sure need somebody who could enable them to score a run without hitting a ball into the upper deck. And on a team on which 23 of the 25 players on the active roster stole fewer than 10 bases in the big leagues last year, that somebody has to be Rickey Henderson.
"With us, it starts from the top," said Mike Piazza. "Rickey's always been the guy who jump-starts our offense. When he gets on base, if he works a walk, hits a double or just throws a good at-bat out there, it's sets the tone. It's infectious. And that's what good offense is all about."
But good offense hasn't been what the Mets have been all about this year. After Wednesday's loss to the Phillies, the Mets are hitting .203 as a team -- last in the major leagues. They are also last in runs scored per game (34 in nine games) and slugging percentage (.337). And their 26 extra-base hits are barely half as many as the Cardinals have (50).
So if Henderson (.167, two runs scored, .257 on-base percentage) has been infectious this year, it's time for these guys to line up for their innoculations.
"Rickey's basically holding that team hostage," said one National League executive. "But as big a problem as he can be, he still gives them an element no one else on that team does."
And no, that element isn't back-page tabloid headlines. But with Bobby Bonilla gone (and leading Piazza in homers, 2-1, by the way) and Bobby Valentine on his best behavior, Rickey has sure been giving the Mets that element, too.
He's been one big soap opera from the minute he reported to spring training. But GM Steve Phillips says his leadoff man hasn't meant most of the stuff he's been quoted as saying.
"I think what happens," Phillips said, "is that people's interpretations of some of the things he says are different than the way I interpret them or the way he intends them. I really think that oftentimes, he means no malice by the things he says or the questions he asks or the things he does. But people don't always see it that way."
That apparent double-play ball on which he stopped running 25 feet from second base last week? Just a case, Phillips said, where "he thought it was going to be an easy double-play ball, and he peeled off. At least I know what he was thinking on that one."
And that statement a couple of days earlier about how he was "not into it"? He didn't mean playing baseball, Phillips said. He meant his contract.
"He wanted to see if he could get more money," the GM said. "And now that he knows he's not, it's all been settled down."
But for a situation that's all been settled down, it still seems to hover over a Mets team that many baseball observers are watching carefully for any signs of volcanic tremors. Valentine barely hides his disdain for Henderson. Officials of other clubs say Phillips has told them he "wants Rickey off the team." And if the Tigers hadn't backed off trading Bobby Higginson for Henderson at the end of spring training, he would already be off the team.
Now, though, they're going to have to live with him. And the only good news on that front lately is Henderson's announcement the other day that he's not talking -- "for a month."
In the meantime, the Mets may have bigger problems than just him. No team in baseball has a bigger disparity between its potential up side and its down side than this team. On one hand, the Mets have enough talent to win 100 games. On the other, with a manager, a GM and 10 players on the last years of their contracts, this could also turn into one long Jerry Springer Show. And even now, less than a month into the season, potential cracks are showing.
Nine games into their season, the Mets are in last place in the NL East. Their starting infield already had committed seven errors -- compared to the 23 all season by last year's starting infield. A year after allowing only 20 unearned runs in a whole season, they've already given up five this season. And with center fielder Darryl Hamilton hurt, their outfield defense has been equally shaky.
Their lineup seems too right-handed. Their seemingly premiere bullpen just imploded in back-to-back killer losses to the Dodgers and Phillies this past Saturday and Monday. There are questions about the back end of their rotation. Mike Hampton hasn't been his 22-4 self. And between snowouts, off days and their transcontinental schedule, the Mets haven't been able to establish any kind of rhythm. (In the first 15 days of their season, they had six days off.)
"We knew it would be a challenge, and it's been a challenge," Valentine said. "The word I'd use (to describe this schedule) is 'disjointed.' The rainout didn't help. The off days after all the opening days (in Tokyo, New York and Philadelphia) didn't help. ...
"And we'll pitch better," Valentine added, pointedly, without being asked, "before it's over."
If they don't, it may be some other manager's problem. But that's a New York Mets soap opera for another day.
Jayson Stark is a senior writer at ESPN.com. | |
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