Angel Wink Cards

Loss puts Mets' status in focus

It was one game out of 162, except it actually was one game out of 17 that remained between last night and the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. And that's why the Mets' 7-2 defeat to the Phillies in Queens that dropped the Mets 8½ games behind the Braves in the wild-card sweepstakes represents more than simply a defeat in the middle of July.

Instead it represents reality while clarifying the task at hand for general manager Sandy Alderson over the next two weeks, for personnel decisions will now all be made through the prism of the greater, long-term good of the franchise without the pretense of weighing the club's position in the standings.

There aren't just 8½ games between the Mets and an improbable playoff berth, there are four teams between the Mets and the wild card. So even as manager Terry Collins, whose club has lost four of the last five to slip to 46-46, will manage each game to win, Alderson will general-manage to put the club in the best position for next season and beyond.

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That, of course, has been his charge from the moment he was hired. It remains his charge even though the Mets have surprised just about everybody in hanging around the periphery of the runner-up derby despite a murderous string of injuries to key personnel.

The Mets have played hard, they have hustled and they have been good citizens in helping the franchise restore its, ah, good name. But they're no more than a break-even team, and even with Jose Reyes and David Wright primed to return within the next 10 days, it's unrealistic to expect a charge at Atlanta and counter-productive to plot executive strategy based on a hope and a prayer.

"The big picture," is what Collins referred to before Vance Worley and four relief pitchers limited the Mets to five hits, all quiet save for Carlos Beltran's loud home run to dead center in the eighth.

"I think we have to have the approach, especially for the next three weeks, that this is the playoff run for us," Collins said. "We're looking at a short period where we're going to be getting David and Jose back, but I don't think you can ever escape the big picture."

The Mets spent $5 million to rid themselves of Francisco Rodriguez and the $17.5 million vesting option that hung over the operation's head as if it were the threat of a clawback lawsuit. If only a similar option existed for the team to escape the $35 million (including a $3 million buyout for 2014) owed to Jason Bay, mired in another one of those 0-for-17 streaks, following last night's 0-for-3, that seem to be on a loop.

Birth Announcements – My Little Angel Has Arrived! | Life on Healthy

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