AJC Article

I thought I would share this article with you if you have not read it. It is good news.

Moves by Mets reek with panic

By Mark Bradley | Friday, July 13, 2007, 10:51 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Mark Bradley

If a blink can make a sound, that sound you heard Thursday was the Mets blinking. A first-place team fired its hitting coach and added to its staff one of the biggest Me-Firsters in the long history of baseball. A first-place team sought to quiet its recent palpitations by adding the calming influence of … Rickey Henderson?

Never mind that Henderson has never coached. Never mind that his contributions to the epic Braves-Mets 1999 NLCS were limited to exiting Game 2 in the second inning — an upset stomach was the reason given, though there were howls throughout the press box when the diagnosis was announced — and by allegedly retiring to the clubhouse to play cards with Bobby Bonilla while their Met mates were blowing late leads in the climactic Game 6.

The same Henderson was introduced Friday as the Mets’ new first-base coach. (Howard Johnson, who used to coach first base, is now the hitting instructor, replacing Rick Down.) If nothing else, Henderson’s presence should assure the Mets of always having a fourth for bridge. Beyond that, it’s hard to know what fueled Omar Minaya’s decision — manager Willie Randolph made it clear the GM had acted unilaterally — beyond a bizarre sense of panic.

Meanwhile, here in Atlanta, all is calm. Serene, even.

The Braves reopened for business Friday feeling really swell. “I thought we might be in first place, to be honest,” Bobby Cox said, and soon his team would draw within 1 1/2 games of the Mets by beating Pittsburgh while New York was losing to Cincinnati. And if you can’t be on top, running a close second to a leader so shaky it has turned to Rickey Henderson is surely the next-best thing.

It has become fashionable, at least in some shortsighted circles, to characterize the Braves as being too businesslike. If the alternative is hiring Rickey Henderson, then here’s to the bean-counters. Say what you will about this organization, but it never gets rattled, never makes a move just for the sake of generating some motion.

Said John Schuerholz, speaking of himself and Cox, each on the far side of 65: “We’re too old to panic.”

There’s a good chance the Braves will trade for a starting pitcher before the month is out. (Indeed, Schuerholz had a list of possible deals written on an index card, which he declined to make available to the media.) There’s no chance such a trade will be made in haste. These are the staid Braves, not the kneejerk Mets.

Every potential trade partner asks about Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Yunel Escobar, of whom Schuerholz said: “Those two guys are known to be two of the finest young players in the game.” Of Salty in particular: “I don’t have any intention of trading him.”

One more starting pitcher, Schuerholz conceded, could tip the balance of the NL East. The Mets are also looking hard, and so are the Phillies. “But it has to be one more properly talented starting pitcher,” he said. “Not just one more pitcher.”

Even if the Braves stand pat, Schuerholz likes this about his team: “Our guys have played very well against [the Mets]. Our guys know that, and the Mets know that.”

There is, however, one tweak this team might make involving a former Brave who just became a former Met. Julio Franco was released Thursday. “We like Julio,” Schuerholz said. “We like the impact he had in our clubhouse. There’s interest there, yes.”

The Mets just brought Rickey Henderson into their clubhouse and ushered Franco out. The Braves would welcome the latter back in some capacity and would never in a million years employ Rickey Henderson. That’s why the Braves became the Braves, and it’s why the Mets, for all their talent and money, are starting to look like their silly old selves.

This is what I like to see, the Mets in panic mode, while the Braves are at ease. It will be only a matter of time before the Braves get back in that familiar position...1st place. I also hope JS is man of his word, and doesn't trade Salty.