From David Lennon in this morning’s Newsday :
Omar Minaya has almost zero support within the organization when it comes to trading for Sammy Sosa. As for Magglio Ordonez, Minaya said Wednesday that he will continue to investigate the rehabbing slugger, but the GM anticipates heading into spring training with Cliff Floyd in leftfield and Mike Cameron in right — unless Minaya changes his mind, of course.
“I would love to have that extra offense,” Minaya said. “We tried doing that with Delgado. With Ordonez, he is a free agent, we have talked about him, there’s no doubt he’s a great hitter. Will we explore that? We’ll probably just explore it. But all I can tell you is that I feel very comfortable with what we have right now. And if we have to go with what we have, I’m OK with that.”
Though all of the above presumes that Mike Cameron is ready to start the season , or that Cliff Floyd (never the fastest guy under any circumstances) can demonstrate slightly more mobility than George Wallace. The addition of Carlos Delgado might’ve been enough (in concert with the rest of the makeover) to propel the Mets back into contention in the tough NL East. As it stands, with Mientkiewicz’ Jason Phillips-like hitting attributes, finishing 4th behind Florida, Philadelphia and Atlanta (not necessarily in that order, but the Marlins have done enough to be considered the favorites) is a very distinct possibility.
Acquiring Delgado is a huge bolstering for the Fish. However, at this point, I really have to favor Atlanta in the NL East until they finally do not win it. Personnel match-ups and stat-geeking just doesnt seem to apply as somehow or another, year-in, year-out, at some point in the season the Braves quietly go on a 2 month run of winning games at a .700+ clip, the remaining 4 months they putz along at a bit over .500, and in the end, win the division with ease. Remember last spring where so many folks thought the Phillies were the going to knock Atlanta off the perch?