It Takes a Village

One of my favorite features in the apartment in a little corner of Brooklyn Heights that I call home is the vase-type thing where I keep my old wine corks.

Whenever a new bottle is done, I, my girlfriend, or whoever else should have the honor, writes the date and a little message to ground us in the time the bottle was consumed.

Digging through the vase is like taking a little walk down memory lane. Fishing through the vase yesterday afternoon I saw the corks from June 20, August 2, and, fatefully, September 26, with a simple "Let's go Mets" scrawled on.

The cork did its job, it brought me back to the where and when we'd scrawled on it. The memory wasn't all positive; the hopeful Friday of September 26 was the beginning of the final, fateful weekend of the 2008 season. We went into the weekend tied with the Brewers for the final playoff spot; anything could have happened.

In the end... well, we all know what happened in the end. Before the finality though, the singular prize of the preceding offseason, Johan Santana, proved himself equal to every penny of his contract and every ounce of his hype.

Going into his final start of the season, the oft-repeated refrain was that a game like Saturday's, with the season on the line, was the reason we brought Johan in.

Sure enough, Johan was brilliant, tossing a complete game shutout on three days' rest. But brilliant as Johan was, he wasn't enough to win the weekend.

As we saw last year, the right acquisitions can go a long way, but more often than not, one offseason acquisition isn't enough to guide a team to a World Series. Johan was a difference-maker in Saturday's game. More importantly though, and through no fault of his own, Johan wasn't a difference-maker in the 2008 season.

* * * * *

This week, Omar Minaya will be in Las Vegas with the hope of unthawing the Mets' hot stove. Who will he walk away with? Franicsco Rodriguez? Orlando Hudson? Brian Fuentes? Kerry Wood? Inquiring fans demand to know.

Honestly, each of these players would help the Mets immensely. There's a cost-benefit analysis to be run on each of them; another blog can tell you which one to hope we sign.

As fans hopeful for next year, we'll all fixate on who we sign this week. As fans chastened by the past two seasons, however, we'd all do well to remember that no one player is going to get us where we want to be.

If Johan Santana, for all that he did, couldn't do it, none of the players available this offseason are going to do it either.

We know from recent Mets history that it takes a village to execute a successful season. Signing Billy Wagner and trading for Carlos Delgado were critical moves, but where would the 2006 Mets have been without, of all people, Jose Valentin?

Baseball's salary structure being what it is and the big-market/small-market dynamics being what they are, the Mets will always be in position to have, say, five really good players on the team. But what about the bottom five guys on the team? For all their riches, the Mets have had too many flawed players on the roster in recent years.

More often than not, those guys toward the end of the bench are the real difference-makers. They're difference-makers because in a 162-game season, you're going to have a lot of games decided without Johan Santana on the mound or David Wright at the plate.

* * * * *

By all means enjoy the week ahead; something fun figures to happen. But don't go into it thinking that the answer to all our problems is forthcoming. It takes 25 guys to win a division or a championship. No matter what happens this week, there's plenty of work left to be done.

Me, I'm hoping the Mets sign K-Rod and Hudson for second base.

But when I really think about it, I can't get away from the idea that what this team really needs is a Chad Bradford for the righthanded hitters in the 7th and a Joe Orsulak-/Matt Franco-type for the bottom of the 11th with a runner on 3rd and 2 men down.

- A.F.O.M.G.