(Neil Miller/Sportsday Wire)
Hey, I get it.
It’s something the Mets have to do right now, especially when they want to limit three-fifths of their starting staff’s innings this season.
But make up your mind already on this six man rotation. One day you’re doing it. The next you’re not.
And now, we have the watered down version of it.
The Mets plan to spot start Dillon Gee over the next month, but not going to a complete six man rotation.
“This game is about adjusting,” manager Terry Collins said. “It’s about making adjustments. If something’s not working, you’ve gotta adjust — hitters, pitchers, infielders, outfielders, it doesn’t matter. Managers also. So you know what, I didn’t like the looks of [the six-man rotation], I didn’t like the feeling in the clubhouse that was going on, I didn’t like the feeling in here — I just didn’t like it.
“So we’re gonna go back to [the five-man rotation], and we’ll just insert the sixth guy when we think it’s necessary. So it’s not a six-man rotation, it’s a five-man rotation where we’re gonna slip somebody in because we think maybe a day here as an extra day will help out.”
Collins thinks the media and the fans are making this out to be a big deal, blaming “drama” for all the controversy.
“We’re living in New York City, that’s where drama’s made,” Collins said. “Here’s something that could create some drama, that could be blown out of proportion when it was very minor.”
That’s fine, but he has to understand what this looks like to the general public.
The team put Gee into the rotation last week, where he proceeded to get lit up. Then the Mets abandoned the six-man and Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey took their lumps. So back in the rotation Gee goes, at least for one start.
Make up your minds already.
Everyone knows that the baseball season is a marathon filled with ups and downs. And after almost three months, the Mets are still hovering around first place.
Gee will probably be somewhere else before the year is out – as will Jon Niese – but you have to wonder if all this yo-yoing will hurt Gee’s value in the long run. Do you honestly think that he will be more valuable in a trade if he shuts out the Braves on Sunday? Probably not. Teams know what they are getting with Gee. He’s been in the league long enough.
Collins needs to just make up his mind with the rotation and stick with it. The Mets are notorious for making mountains out of molehills when it comes to minor decisions. This is one of them.
In about 45 days, all of this will be forgotten about and the Mets will probably have a rotation without Gee and Niese and their marketing department will be making up Steven Matz Day shirts.
Just make a decision already and stick with it. The drama comes from the Mets.