Notebook: Mets' Wright reflects on awful ending

by Ken Rosenthal

Updated: April 4, 2008, 7:11 PM EST 23 comments

Chemistry wasn't an issue when the Mets reached the NL Championship Series in 2006 — the team's diversity and camaraderie were celebrated in a Sports Illustrated cover story.

But with the Mets preparing to visit Atlanta this weekend (MLB on FOX, Saturday, 3:55 p.m. ET), the questions about this year's club go beyond Pedro Martinez's latest injury. Blow a seven-game lead with 17 to play, and group therapy does not simply end in spring training.

"Whatever could go wrong, went wrong," said Wright, recalling the final days of September. "Days that we hit, we didn't pitch. Days that we pitched, we didn't hit. It just seemed like a bad dream.

"But we had meetings. It was almost as if as a team, we were waiting for it to turn around and it just never turned around. A group of guys down the stretch started pressing a little bit, maybe tried to do a little too much. That just creates more of a panic, puts too much pressure on individuals rather than go out and playing as a team. The meetings are just ..."

Reminders?

"Yeah," Wright continues. "It's impossible to say, 'We started winning because we had this team meeting.' That doesn't make sense to me. Trust me, we did everything we possibly could. Everyone was on the same page, everyone was trying their hardest out there. But for some reason, things wouldn't turn around."

Wright, 25, is already one of the Mets' leaders, but on a team that features several prominent veterans, he is not the principal voice.

The Mets' most accomplished position players — center fielder Carlos Beltran and first baseman Carlos Delgado — mostly lead by example. Wright says he and shortstop Jose Reyes, 24, are allowed more input than most young players, and their influence only figures to grow.

Beltran, Delgado and Reyes are part of a sizable contingent of Mets players from Latin America. Some question whether a club so diverse can ever be fully united, but Wright — a native of Norfolk, Va. — scoffs at such talk.

"To me, a leader is somebody who can bring all that together, get everyone on the same page no matter what language you speak," Wright says. "That's the beautiful thing about baseball. No matter what language you speak, no matter where you come from culture-wise, you're here to achieve a common goal.

"Like it or not, you're around these guys for six or seven months. You might not like everybody. But you better respect everybody. If you're a good leader, a true leader, the way you play the game — being unselfish, giving yourself up for the team, only worrying about wins and losses — people buy into that no matter what language you speak, no matter what color you are. You play that way, guys respect that. They say, 'I want to follow in those footsteps.'"

Chemistry, Wright says, wasn't the problem last September.

"It's a misconception," he says. "We had pretty much the same core group of guys last year as we had the year before. But all of a sudden last year, (people were saying) we had problems in the clubhouse.

"It wasn't in the clubhouse. It was performance."

Pitching concerns in Philly

Jamie Moyer's stuff looked especially soft in his first start. (Tom Mihalek / Associated Press)

The Phillies' season is only three games old, but pitching already is an issue.

Tom Gordon, filling in for Brad Lidge as the closer, gave up five runs in the ninth inning to break a 6-6 tie in the Phils' opening loss to the Nationals, then needed 34 pitches to get through a scoreless ninth Thursday.

Jamie Moyer, the Phillies starter on Thursday, topped out at 81 mph, down from his normal 82 to 85, and his changeup suffered a comparable drop, according to a scout in attendance.

"When you're that soft," the scout said, "you've got to be perfect."

Moyer was not, allowing six runs (three earned) in 3 2/3 innings. The chilly temperatures surely didn't help him, and he might simply need more time to build arm strength at age 45. But the Phillies also are worried about Kyle Kendrick, who had a 16.43 ERA in three Grapefruit League starts. Meanwhile, Brett Myers must prove that he again can succeed as a starter after thriving last season in the closer's role.

Helms' next stop: To be determined

As big a flop as Wes Helms was with the Phillies, two of his former clubs — the Braves and Marlins — want him back, though not through a trade, which would require Helms' new team to pay his $2.9 million salary. Instead, they want him as a free agent if he is released, as expected, on Wednesday.

The Braves, Helms' original organization, lack even a hint of power on their bench. While Helms, a corner infielder, hit only five home runs in 280 at-bats last season, he would be more of a threat than the Braves' current options — Brayan Pena, Ruben Gotay, Martin Prado and Gregor Blanco. He also would offer more presence than Omar Infante, who currently is on the DL, or Scott Spiezio, whom the Braves recently signed to a minor-league contract.

The Marlins wanted to keep Helms after the 2006 season, when he hit 10 homers in 240 at-bats for them and produced a 1.098 OPS in nearly 150 plate appearances after the All-Star break. The Phillies, however, outbid them, signing Helms to a two-year, $5.45 million contract.

The Dodgers also like Helms, but their opportunities for playing time will reduce significantly once third basemen Nomar Garciaparra and Andy LaRoche come off the DL. Helms also would be less prominent as a bench player for the Dodgers than he would with the Braves or Marlins.

Giants' bright spot

The sooner the Giants trade Ray Durham and play Eugenio Velez every day at second base, the better off they'll be.

Velez, who turns 26 on May 16, would be a high-risk, high-reward defender at second, but his speed and offensive potential make him one of the team's most intriguing players.

"His hands are a little hard, but he runs like a deer, gets great jumps on the bases and has tremendous base-stealing instincts," one scout says. "He's a very interesting guy offensively."

For now, the Giants envision Velez as a super-utility man, but he is unlikely to play ahead of the team's two outfield reserves, Fred Lewis and Rajai Davis.

Durham, earning $7.5 million this season, ultimately could appeal to a contender in a reserve role. Velez might replace him before a trade even occurs.

Around the Horn

Could Freddy Garcia come to the rescue in the Big Apple? (Al Bello / Getty Images)

Johan Santana's National League debut — seven innings, three hits, two runs against the Marlins — was by far the best of his three Opening Day starts. The Braves will be a better test on Sunday, but still, the Mets should be encouraged. Santana generally is a slow starter — his 4.23 ERA in April is his highest of any month. ...

Come June or July, the Mets still figure to be the No. 1 choice of free-agent right-hander Freddy Garcia, who is recovering from major shoulder surgery. Garcia is good friends with Santana, a fellow Venezuelan, and they share the same agents. When Garcia visited the Mets camp this spring, Pedro Martinez grabbed a piece of paper, waved to Garcia and jokingly demanded that Mets GM Omar Minaya give him a pen, saying, "Here's the contract, here's the contract." ...

Outside of closer J.J. Putz, who currently is on the disabled list, no member of the Mariners bullpen had been on an Opening Day roster previously. "They've got good, young stuff — very good young stuff," one scout says of the Mariners' relief corps. "But it's still young stuff." The Mariners plan to use a closer-by-committee until Putz returns from a ribcage injury. ...

Red Sox right-hander Bryan Corey, 34, has never appeared in more than 32 games in a season, but that could change in his 14th year as a professional. One scout considers Corey more "usable" than the Red Sox's other out-of-options relievers, David Aardsma and Kyle Snyder. Corey throws strikes and can get more than three outs. Aardsma, 26, has better stuff and more upside, but the Sox are his fourth organization. Snyder, 30, is a swingman who, in the scout's estimation, "will always live on the edge." ...

And finally, a scout who recently saw Rangers center fielder Josh Hamilton was reminded of a phrase he learned from an old scout: "The good ones have antlers." Said the younger scout of Hamilton: "This guy has a head full."