No one knows better than Mickey Callaway that a week in baseball can seem like an eternity. Fortunes change overnight and then they change again…
It seems like a year, but it was only a week ago Monday that Mickey Callaway received one of those dreaded “votes of confidence” from the Mets hierarchy. Using powers that only Brodie Van Wagenen has, Callaway was told he is the manager of the Mets for the “foreseeable future”.
Which is rather strange, even when you consider the messenger since as far as I know no one can “see” the future, Mickey Callaway is presently the Mets manager, and that’s that.
The only thing that’s changed for the Mets is the team has climbed back to .500 during Callaway’s spell in purgatory. After losing five in a row, the foreseeable future for the Mets turned out to be a four-game win streak and a satisfying flight to the West Coast after a narrow victory over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.
Mets: Oh Dear, That Month Of June
The foreseeable future begins again with four games against the first-place Dodgers, followed by three against the surprising Diamondbacks. Returning home, the Mets then play the Giants (3), Rockies (3), the Yankees (2), Cardinals (4), Braves (3), Cubs (4), Phillies (4), and the Braves (3) to round out the month of June. And I dare say that’s about enough of the foreseeable future any Mets fan, or for that matter, Mickey Callaway wants to see.
At this time last year, the Mets were holding onto first-place in the NL East and Mickey Callaway wasn’t feeling the heat that was just around the corner. Come June, however, the Mets season collapsed with the team managing to win only five games the entire month.
From then on, the Mets tanked the remainder of the season, mostly due to the inactivity of the Mets ailing GM, Sandy Alderson. That, plus the fact no team fires a first-year manager who is on a $2.3 million contract.
Callaway And The Mets Can Win – Brodie Can Only Lose
Success for a team like the Mets is measured differently. They are what their record says they are – a .500 team. So if on July 1, the Mets are still a .500 team after facing the spike in competition in June, the team, its fans, and Callaway should be delirious. Nothing more than a 17-16 record over the 33 games gets them there.
The question then becomes – can the Mets do it? Or, will the Mets begin the month of July after having gone something like 13-20 in June? Followed by the next question – do the Mets become sellers at the trade deadline, instead of the buyers they can be if they are still playing .500 baseball?
It’s all part of the foreseeable future. Not Callaway’s though – Van Wagenen’s. Callaway is safe until Van Wagenen can come up with a solid replacement.
Stopgaps like Jim Riggleman won’t do, and the Mets would already have made the move if they thought otherwise. A Buck Showalter or Joe Girardi will more than do, but Brodie has zero chance of talking either into a mid-season hire.
So, it all comes back to Brodie Van Wagenen and what he can do to right the ship from a personnel standpoint that ensures against another total collapse in June. The trouble is teams are still in the “who are we?” stage and not yet in the let’s make a deal phase coming in July.
This must frustrate the hell out of a go-getter like Van Wagenen, but more and more it’ll be Brodie facing the music, and not Callaway, for the team he built during the offseason. Once heralded, Van Wagenen has become a wannabe czar, frequently making his presence known in the Mets clubhouse.
He absolutely owns Robinson Cano, Todd Frazier, and Jed Lowrie, all of whom look to be as old as they are. Critical pieces – all missing from the Mets lineup as they play against the Dodgers later today.
Back To Mickey Callaway – Where It Belongs
Ironically, it is Mickey Callaway and his continuing ability to piece together a makeshift lineup with players who have something to prove that can charge the batteries of the team in the foreseeable future.
In a scenario much like the one the Yankees are facing, J.D. Davis, Carlos Gomez, Adeiny Hechavarria, Aaron Altherr, and Dominic Smith all have a chance to step forward. Personally, and at the very least, each has the opportunity to be a trade piece in July.
We thought the last week seemed like a year. We can only guess how long the month or June will seem. 17-16, though, can be done. And my money is on the Mets and Mickey Callaway to make it happen.
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
