A Mets postseason is fantasy baseball

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla.

Beautiful night here at Digital Domain Park, and a boisterous crowd nearly filled the joint to watch the Mets take on a half-staffed Nationals club.

Perhaps those on site should have taken a mental snapshot. For soon enough, the opposition will be better, the weather worse and the results nothing to remember.

As the Mets head into the stretch run of their Grapefruit League schedule, we can safely declare that not enough best-case scenarios have come to fruition to propel any optimistic predictions for this club.

The notion of the Mets seriously contending for a playoff spot -- being relevant in September, in other words, and sparking ticket sales that ownership desperately needs -- seems like nothing more than a fantasy.

As one team official said this week, on the condition of anonymity, "We just can't catch a break."

The Mets took their one day off of the spring Monday, and that respite traditionally serves as a line of demarcation. When you return from the break, you make roster cuts, you play your regulars more and you start making important decisions.

So Terry Collins and the gang kicked off this important period by:

1) Touting Luis Hernandez for the starting second base job. Yes, the guy with a lifetime .584 OPS in 290 career major-league plate appearances, spread over the past four seasons.

"I like his enthusiasm," Collins said of Hernandez. "I love his defense. He's a switch hitter. He's a baseball player . . . He helps you win. That's one of the things I like about him a lot."

Collins' frustration is understandable. None of the trio of Brad Emaus, Daniel Murphy and Justin Turner has done anything to distinguish himself, and while Luis Castillo has enjoyed a productive spring, we know that he covers about as much ground defensively as a pebble.

Nevertheless, you can't start Luis Hernandez and expect to win ballgames. He's just too much of an offensive liability. If Collins can convince his superiors that Castillo has to go, then it would make more sense to start the season with Emaus and hope for the best.

2) Dialing down the expectations for Carlos Beltran. The rightfielder is scheduled to resume "baseball activities," Collins said, following a nine-day break because of an ailing left knee. "I'll tell you one thing I do not want to have happen, and that's a step backward," Collins said of Beltran. "We've made strides forward in the last two days, and I want to continue moving forward. "

Beltran is being handled like fine china -- again, understandably. But the best-case scenario of Beltran playing well and turning himself into July trade bait is currently a long shot.

3) Watching more mediocre pitching. Chris Young started and pitched adequately, allowing a run and four hits in 51/3 innings. His fastball hovered in the 85-86 mph range, however, and there's scant evidence to indicate that the tall righthander can succeed there.

His shoulder problems of recent years have sapped him of velocity. Ollie Perez, meanwhile, followed Young with two-thirds of an inning of so-so work.

The new regime shouldn't be blamed for what's coming. Sandy Alderson and company couldn't work miracles with such a low budget. They seem to know what they're doing, for the most part.

Now, though, they're running out of time. It's getting late early, as former Mets manager Yogi Berra allegedly said. Reality is going to bite.