Friday, July 30, 2004

Mortgaging the future?

The Mets are three games under .500 and seven and a half out of the wild card race. We're four games under .500 and a half game back of the Mets. How silly will a Benson trade tomorrow look if the Pirates win, the Mets lose, and we're ahead of them in the wild card standings?

All the we-won't-mortgage-the-future-for-the-present talk disguises the fact that Duquette is not looking to make a trade that helps the team this year. He's thinking long-term and using the phony "contender" status to justify keeping his best chips. The New York media provide cover by spinning his interest in our twice-injured and unproven ace as "keeping up with the Yankees." Is that the reason the Mets are pretending to be contenders? A likely story, I say.

Why are the Mets hot for Benson? The Mets seem keen because Benson has indicated he'll sign an extension with them. And, because they know he could be awesome long and soon. The Braves are also interested, the rumors run, because Benson, whose family now lives in Georgia, would do a deal with them on Sunday.

That's it: the Mets and the Braves don't want Benson for now. They want him for later. They want him for next year and the year after. They must figure that Benson will get more as a free agent in December than he'll take in a contract extension next week.

All the more the reason they should give up the nappy prospects.

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