Davidoff: Mets' future may be brighter than Phillies'

Do you remember your reaction when the Mets committed four years and $25 million to retain Luis Castillo, back in November 2007? I recall mine. It went something like this:

"Really?!"

And that same expression, voiced with that same mix of shock and contempt, hit the air earlier this week. When the Phillies signed Ryan Howard to that five-year, $125-million contract.

The last three years have convinced us of the Phillies' superiority to the Mets, and let's face it, a Mets' half-game advantage on April 30 won't change many minds. This Mets-Phillies weekend series at Citizens Bank Park should be compelling, but no one will draw grand conclusions from three games.

No, if you're looking for grand conclusions, take a step back and compare the two clubs' long-range plans. If you're a Mets fan, it should brighten your day.

When the Mets completed their sweep of the Dodgers on Wednesday, and with that a remarkable 9-1 homestand, manager Jerry Manuel offered this thought: "We seem to be very youthful. Ike Davis. Jose Reyes running around. [Jeff] Francoeur. Even the catchers. We appear this way at this point.

"We still look like we've got a lot of life. I think that's a key for us going forward. Hopefully, we can keep that type of spirit as we continue to play."

Forget for a moment that Rod Barajas is 35 and Henry Blanco 38, and ponder Manuel's greater point: How do you "keep that type of spirit"? How do you continue to play and look like a young team?

By staying young, naturally. By jettisoning players as they age and become less productive. Or, at least, managing that phenomenon by keeping older players on shorter-term deals.

In committing to Howard through his age-36 season - and by doing so even though Howard's current deal ran through 2011 - the Phillies committed the latest in a sequence of head-scratching decisions.

The Phillies now have $82.95 million committed in 2012 to seven players: Howard ($20 million), Roy Halladay ($20 million), Chase Utley ($15 million), Shane Victorino ($9.5 million), Joe Blanton ($8.5 million), Placido Polanco ($6.25 million) and Carlos Ruiz ($3.7 million). There are some very good players in that group. Yet unexpected stuff happens, and odds are that some of that group will be significantly overpaid at that juncture.

The Mets? They have $55 million committed in 2012 to three players - Johan Santana ($24 million), Jason Bay ($16 million) and David Wright ($15 million) - plus a $17.5-million option that Francisco Rodriguez can vest. So they're not quite ready to teach a class in payroll management. It's a little less money, though, and fewer players over whom to worry.

You can criticize the Mets for their moves of the 2009-10 offseason - their failure to sign another starting pitcher still might haunt them - but if you're a fan, you should at least breathe a sigh of relief that they didn't hand out any bad contracts like those to Castillo or Oliver Perez. Or like those the Phillies gave to Howard, Polanco and Raul Ibañez.

Nowadays, when someone says, "Really?!" about the Mets, it concerns their strong start. Even if the Mets slow down, if we see progress from young talent like Davis and Jenrry Mejia, not to mention young veterans like Reyes and Wright, then the Mets will have taken strides in the right direction.

And a year from now, we could have a debate on our hands as to whether the Mets are becoming the superior organization to the Phillies.

Really.