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Since I can't seem to click twice online without seeing something about this... um... take:
FOX SPORTS, Ken Rosenthal, 5/1:
Mets general manager Omar Minaya says his team does not lack leadership. He concedes, however, that many of the Mets' biggest stars lack a certain "edge."
"We have good guys, solid professionals," Minaya says. "There is a smile on David Wright's face, a smile on Jose Reyes's face. But there is not an edge to them.
"Some people see edge as leadership. Sometimes, you need a little meanness to your game. Some people perceive leadership as meanness.
"I couldn't tell you that we have that type of guy. We have leaders. But everyone's perception of leadership is different."
Minaya says that Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado possess makeups similar to those of Wright and Reyes. He adds that two new Mets, outfielder Gary Sheffield and infielder Alex Cora, provide more of an edge.
Questions about the Mets' leadership and chemistry surfaced after the team lost Game 7 of the 2006 National League Championship Series to the Cardinals, then persisted when the club was eliminated on the final day of the season in both 2007 and '08.
The importance of intangibles is debatable, but Mets manager Jerry Manuel seemed to raise the issue again this week when he said of his offense, "our anxiety takes over and gets in the way of our performing."
Minaya understands the questions — "we've had championship (caliber) clubs the last three years and all we have to show for it is one playoff (appearance)" — but adds, "We've got makeup. We've got the right guys."
Minaya acknowledges that Phillies second baseman Chase Utley, one of the best players for the Mets' biggest division rival, "has an edge to him."
But the GM says that Mets left fielder Dan Murphy, a rookie often praised for his hard-nosed approach, can be that kind of player.
He also believes that Sheffield and Cora, two veterans who have played for World Series champions, can make the Mets more stout.
"When you add guys like Sheffield, guys like Cora, they give you something different," Minaya says. "We needed that. I think it will pay off in the end."
So... who's got the Edge? Sheffield? Cora? Santos? Is Murphy indeed the future of Edge? Who's edgier-- DabidRye, or a paper circle? Does Chase Utley's Edge come from his filthy hooker mouth? If Reyes has no Edge, that why do other teams find him so chafing? And does this talk of "Edge" remind anyone else of this:
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Get at me, SJR.
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