One of the most important concepts in building a winning team in any sport is chemistry. It is the one science that is the difference between winners and losers, and the New York Mets ought to know a lot about that.For the better part of the past two years, fans have heard rumors that the clubhouse had been divided among the players. For example, in 2007 Paul Lo Duca made an insulting comment about the Hispanic players in the room when he told the media that they, too, spoke English. Then last year, Billy Wagner wondered why the media kept interviewing him and proceeded to throw his Hispanic teammates, Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, under the bus, when he remarked, "Oh, gee, what a shock they are not here" in frustration that he had to answer for them.
It is this divide that might have spelled doom for the Mets in both 2007 and 2008, and in 2009 Manager Jerry Manuel has to ... better yet ... must find a way to get these players to work together and develop chemistry. That is why he must coax his players into NOT participating in the useless World Baseball Classic to be held during Spring Training.
The so-called classic rips ball players from their regular teams to instead work out with other players representing their home country in idiotic exhibition games. Right now, Reyes is scheduled to play for the Dominican Republic team; Delgado, Beltran and reliever Pedro Feliciano will play for the Puerto Rican team; David Wright will play for team USA, and, as if to make Met fans sweat even more, ace Johan Santana and closer K-Rod (Francisco Rodriguez) will play for the Venezuelan team.
In short, all the key pieces that must be in Port St. Lucie this February and March to fix what went wrong in 2008, will, instead, be in different parts of the planet, working with players they will never play with again and playing games that mean absoultely nothing except money and good PR for Major Leauge Baseball.
Granted all major leauge teams will suffer when the WBC comes like the plague this spring, but the Mets know that time is wasting and jobs are on the line in 2009. They have to win the NL East this year. They have to beat the Philadelphia Phillies and show them who's boss. They have to get to know each other again, trust each other and begin to rely on each other. The race to October begins in March, and the Mets must emphasize team chemistry and commitment if they are to turn their star-crossed fortunes around this season.
The only way to do that is to have all of their players sit out the World Baseball Classic and get right to work for the team that they all represent together, and not the country, or language, or race with which they associate themselves.
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