With Friends Like These ...

FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal must have it in for the Benedicts. First, Rosenthal writes that centerfield is a "glaring need" for the Washington Nationals. Now, Benedict Rick Ankiel is currently the Nat's centerfielder and while he is not enjoying much of an April, he has shown enough so far to compel the team to trade last year's Nat center fielder Nyjer Morgan. What really gets us, though, is this line: "In a perfect world, they would acquire the Rays’ B.J. Upton, who hails from the same part of Virginia as Nats third baseman Ryan Zimmerman." Yeah, and in a perfect world, I'd have Bill Gates' money, Paul Newman's style and Ernie Els' golf swing, but you know, sometimes we have to just make do.

Not yet satisfied, Rosenthal writes yesterday that the Mets need to trade shortstop Jose Reyes sooner rather than later. We are not blind to the fact that New York seems intent on blowing up its roster, and it looks like the Mets have determined the best way to avoid another September heartbreak is to become mathematically eliminated by mid-August. This to the side, Jose Reyes? Reyes is 27 and one of the game's best shortstops. Rosenthal touts Mets' shortstop prospects Ruben Tejada, Jordany Valdespin and Wilmer Flores, but isn't the point to have an All-star caliber shortstop rather than hope (against hope) for one?

Another thing - is this the same Ruben Tejada that was so impressive in half a season in Gotham absence last year (.213/.305/.282) that he finds himself back at Triple A Buffalo this year? Is this the same Valdespin who is now 23 and who hit .232 in a month at Double A Binghamton and is hitting .195 through two weeks there this season? And is this the same Wilmer Flores who absolutely nobody believes will remain at shortstop once he fully grows into his 6'3" frame (remarkably, Flores, who seems to have been around forever, is still a teenager)?

To put this another way - if the Mets were so confident in their shortstops of the future, would they have traded a modestly promising left-handed pitcher, Michael Antonini, to the Dodgers this off-season for the hitless wonder, 27-year old shortstop Chin-Lung Hu? We think not.

First Rick Ankiel, then Jose Reyes ... who's next?