Oh Shit!

Met fans were living a high yesterday morning. They had just watched their team sweep the Braves for the first time in 21 years or so in Atlanta, ending what little hope the Braves had of catching the Mets. They awoke to news that the Mets were involved in discussions to land either Jason Schmidt from San Francisco, or Roy Oswalt from Houston. Then, rumors of an injury to a member of the bullpen started to swirl. Oh Shit!

The rumor was reported on a Philly blog, so many fans (myself included) took it with a grain of salt. Later, confirmation came, and with it, the high was deflated. Duaner "Filthy" Sanchez had been in a cab in Florida that was involved in an accident on I95. Filthy suffered a separated shoulder, and would be possibly out for the season should surgery be necessary. Possibly the most vital cog to the bullpen was done, and panic set in for fans. What would Omar do we wondered? How could we replace Filthy? Oh Shit! indeed.

Omar did what he had to do, trading Xavier Nady to Pittsburgh for Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez. In Perez, the Mets get a project, he is not going to help the team this year. The hope is that in the Spring, The Jacket can work some magic with him (though I believe The Jacket's contract is up at the end of the season, I will have to check on that) and return him to the form he showed in 2004 when he had 10+ K's per 9 innings and won 12 games. Since then, he has pitched poorly, finding himself in Triple A at the end of June. He will report to Norfolk. Hernandez was the Mets 8th inning guy last season, and would have returned if not for a nearly $3 million contract offered by the Pirates. He did not perform great this season in Pittsburgh, with a 1.60 WHIP, but the hope is that a return to Shea will help him recover.

As for Nady, who had come awake as of late, while he was a nice bat in the lineup, his fielding left a lot to be desired. Braves announcers on TBS this weekend are reported to have said "X marks the spot where you want to hit the ball". Now, I hate the Braves announcers possibly as much as John Sterling and Michael Kay, but there was a nugget of truth there. Nady's leaving opens the door to more playing time for Edny Chavez, who has done a very good job in a part time role this season (most fans were hoping for Tike Redmond over Edny in Spring Training, thankfully, Omar found another jewel). In addition, we will see the return of Lastings Milledge, who will split time with Chavez in right. Both are better defensively than Nady (forget Lastings' display in Fenway, that was left field in front of the Green Monster, most guys have a problem there in the beginning). As for the bat, well, the HR pop is gone, but Chavez has speed, allowing for more doubles, or at least steals, and Lastings has similar extra-base power, if not HR power, to Nady, as well as more speed.

Omar did not panic here fans. Something needed to be done. If he had not plugged the hole created by Filthy's injury, he would have been killed for that. Despite Omar using Nady this past offseason in the same sentence as Wright, Reyes and Beltran as a building block, he was never going to reach those heights. I do wish him luck, as he played an important role, but he is easily replaced.

The focus is of course now on Chavez and Milledge. They must both do their part to replace Nady. They are not filling huge shoes, but they are filling an important slot in the lineup. There is one other man under more scrutiny as of now, Aaron Heilman. This team needs the Aaron Heilman from the second half of last season. He is going to be counted on to take the 8th inning role now. He needs to forget about starting for the next 3.5 months, and focus on being an elite reliever. He has done it before, he can do it again. If it takes Omar going to him and swearing that if Aaron gets the job done now he will be in the rotation next year, so be it. If it takes promising to trade him if he gets the job done, do it. This team has the chance to do something special this season. All parts of the team must chip in. The lineup needs to stay hot. Guys who have slumped as of late need to turn it on. Jose Reyes must be the Jose Reyes of June, not April. Same for David Wright. Nady's absence can be made up for by the bats they have. The pen can replace Filthy to some extent, but runs will be needed. There is no time to dwell on the events of early yesterday morning, put it behind you guys, and get back to work.

Duaner, here's to a speedy recovery, for your sake. I am also thankful that the accident was not worse.

Let's Go Mets!