Mets Must Not Channel RFK with Matsui
By Howard Megdal ~ October 15th, 2009. Filed under: Howard Megdal.
Robert Kennedy ran an admirable campaign for the presidency in 1968. He famously said:
“There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why…I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”
But this is no way to run a baseball team. So however the Mets think signing Hideki Matsui would play from a public relations standpoint, they must steer clear of the Yankees’ designated hitter this winter.
Matsui’s bat looks enticing, of course. He posted an OPS+ of 128 in 2009, which would have been tops on the Mets among those with at least 400 at-bats.
But considering that Matsui is going to be 36 in June, betting on a repeat of that production is a difficult notion, even if there were no other warning signs. Of course, there are nothing but warning signs.
Matsui had a pair of knee surgeries in 2008, and the Yankees did not use him in the field in 2009.
Unless the Mets know something I don’t about rule changes, though, the designated hitter isn’t coming to the National League (thank God).
So you could play Matsui in left, something the Yankees saw fit to avoid entirely in 2009, and hope the restorative powers of rest allow him to play on a regular basis there.
Or you could play him at first base, a position he hasn’t manned since high school, and hope the skills he displayed there transfer to the 2010 major leagues.
I sang Old Man River in high school. No one would cast me in a Broadway revival of Showboat- except perhaps the Mets.
To see the difference between the Mets and Yankees, witness that the Yankees took every precaution with Matsui. Even if the Mets don’t sign Matsui, a good example of their planning was in the signing of Moises Alou in 2008 without a plan B in left field.
Bobby Kennedy was right about plenty in 1968, including Vietnam. But wishing and hoping is not how to run a baseball team.
