Derek Lowe, Oliver Perez and the $150M Budget

Walk with me for a minute Mets fans.

First, let's take a stroll through Citi Field. My apologies for the weather.

Look at the fences...look at the dimensions...look at the beautiful architecture.

Is this a dream? Are Mets fans really deserving of all this largess?

Now close your eyes for a moment....think of the warm Florida breezes in February and March. Think about the hiss of the fastball and the popping of the glove. The crack as bat meets ball. The infield and dugout chatter. Now picture opening day and a beautiful 2009 in this new cathedral in Queens.

They are the sweet sounds and smells of baseball.

Now think about a Mets starting rotation of:

Johan Santana
Derek Lowe
Oliver Perez
John Maine
Mike Pelfrey

How truly wonderful would that be? Could it be a reality? If so, what would it take? Think about that rotation, together, for the next 3+ years.

Can the Mets afford to add another $25M to the payroll? Didn't they have a ton of money come off the books from the $138M they spent last year?

Haven't they lost the services of Pedro Martinez and his $12M a year? Moises Alou at $7.5M a year? El Duque at $7M a year? Jorge Sosa and his $2M a year? Scott Schoeneweis and his $3.6M a year?

Sure they locked down KRod and JJ Putz, and that cost $18M a year, but is there not room for more?

Was $138M last year really the most the Mets will spend?

If you could have those 5 starters--3 power pitchers, 3 righty's and 2 lefty's, a wonderful mix of youth and prime, fastballs, slider, curveballs, changeups and sinkers, locked up for 3+ years, would you do it? Could you do it? Should you do it?

The answer is yes, and the possibility is more real than the papers would have you believe.

The Mets Critical Moment in Time

The Mets enter August one game out of first place and play a grueling 29 games in 31 days, including 23 games in a row from August 5-27.

John Maine might be hurt, or he might not be.

Ryan Church is still not back.

Luis Castillo is still not back.

And then there's Pedro Martinez, and he alone just might hold the key to the rest of the Mets season.

Pedro fought his way back last year, fought his way back in Spring Training, injured himself in his first start of the year, fought his way back again, came back with limited success, tweaked himself again, lost his father to cancer, and he is coming back, again, tonight.

I am particularly proud of my comma use in the above sentence, and I am worried about Pedro.

In a best-case scenario world the Mets have 5 really good starters. This presupposes John Maine comes back next week, and a healthy and moderately effective Pedro keeps the Mets in ballgames through 6 innings.

In a worse-case scenario the Mets get back a broken down former star who can only get by on guile and an increasingly slow, and hittable, array of pitches. This scenario, coupled with John Maine's injury being more serious than the Mets are letting on, would most likely put the Mets in a situation where John Niese and a lot of luck will be required to win the NL East.

Personally I'm optimistic. In his last two starts before the groin injury Pedro looked good--his arm slot was higher and he had more life on his fastball. In the "groin game" he had only allowed 1 hit through 4 innings, and I recall remarking to my friend that "looks like Petey is back."

But the realist in me says that the groin and shoulder are there lurking, waiting, and that whatever we get from Pedro at this point will have to be enough. 4 innings? 5 innings? 1 start or 10 more?

It's the great unknown.

Regardless I am, as always, the eternal Met optimist and feel good that Pedro Martinez is on the mound.

An August 1st with a healthy Pedro, Maine, Church and yes, even Castillo, would surely have been a wonderful thing. If we can have "our guys" back and healthy by next weekend, then all will be well in Met Nation.

As for now we'll watch and hope....it surely is a critical moment in time.