Despite Lee, Mets not conceding to Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies' Cliff Lee pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning of Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. (Oct. 18, 2009) Credit: AP
Just like everyone else following the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, Terry Collins thought it was strictly a race between the Yankees and Rangers.
So when Collins learned Tuesday that the free-agent lefthander was headed to the NL East rival Phillies, the new Mets manager described his instant reaction as "shocked. And I know better than to be shocked in this business."
It didn't take him long to realize the ramifications for the Mets. Adding Lee to a staff that already featured Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels gives the Phillies arguably the deepest and most talented rotation that baseball has seen in years.
The Mets, however, are keeping up a good front. The players and front-office personnel at Citi Field Tuesday for their annual holiday party for area schoolchildren all admitted that the Phillies improved themselves significantly, but no one was about to concede the division title quite yet.
"The acquisition that they've made, what they've done, they look like a tremendous team on paper," David Wright said. "But you play the games for a reason."
Collins called the Phillies' staff "in my opinion the best rotation in baseball," but he stressed he won't let his players even think for a second that they don't have a chance of doing some damage next season. He plans to address that issue right away in spring training.
"It will be brought up first day," Collins said. "They've got our attention, not that they didn't have it before, for sure. We've got some preparation ahead."
New general manager Sandy Alderson said he was "a little bit surprised" that Lee wound up with the Phillies, but he insisted it won't have any impact on what he's doing.
"We have our own plan, our own approach," Alderson said, "and this doesn't really change things for us too much."
With not much money to spend this offseason, the Mets have made only minor moves, such as signing reliever D.J. Carrasco and catcher Ronny Paulino.
Wright said he isn't frustrated by the significant difference between the moves the Mets and Phillies have made. And the third baseman is glad Alderson is confident enough in his strategy that he's not going to change his course of action just because the Phillies signed Lee.
"You can't go out there and succumb to certain pressures just for the sake of doing something," Wright said.
Carlos Beltran chuckled when asked if he's looking forward to facing the Phillies next season. "Yeah, it's going to be fun, man," he said, before rolling his eyes in a jokingly sarcastic manner.
It wasn't even three years ago when Beltran kicked off spring training in 2008 by calling the Mets "the team to beat," a statement that raised the level of discourse in their rivalry. Based on the different paths the Mets and Phillies have taken since then, it feels like eons ago.
But Beltran isn't ruling out the Mets next season, regardless of how good the Phillies look.
"On paper it looks great, but we don't know how it's going to work out," Beltran said. "We're all speculating it's going to work out great. And if you're a Phillies fan, you're going to say it's going to work out great. But if you ask me, I'll say, 'Well, I don't know.' "
Added Collins: "They've got to believe they can win and be able to beat them."
