Afternoon Baseball

Unless a miraculous comeback to match the tragic collapse occurs, the New York Mets have played their way out of the playoffs. The Phillies are winning, so if that holds up, there will be no one-game playoff.

And there goes the Mets' two-year gamble. Yes, they have youth, but it's not in the pitching. They gambled on Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernandez, on Billy Wagner, and in the field, on Carlos Delgado, whose fractured hand today ends his worst season since at least 1996.

Now, the Mets won't be terrible. But outside of some dramatic free-agent splash, their two-year championship window is closed. This is the window they opened by overpaying for Wagner, essentially.
So don't blame Willie Randolph entirely. Sure, he proved to be anything but a going-gets-tough manager (switch him with Lou Pinella, and the Cubs lose 90 while the Mets clinch Thursday), but the die was cast for him by management.

And hey, let's be appreciative of Brian Cashman. Yes, he's had duds, but he's also not mortgaged off the future. Or, he's stopped doing so, at least. There's challenges ahead, and probably no championship this year, but the team has a chance. And has fought for one. That's more than you can say about its neighbor in the city.