Out of the rubble of another disastrous ending for the Mets was an MVP-type performance down the stretch for Carlos Delgado. Delgado has been very streaky over the last two seasons having alternating bad months and good months in '07. In '08, Delgado started with a bad month which somehow lasted 11 weeks (that's an odd calendar). Many were calling for his head, and there were whispers of Carlos possibly being released.
But since a game against the Yankees on June 25th when Delgado drove in nine runs, he's been unreal, batting .308 with an OPS of 1.018 in his final 84 games to help the Mets back into the pennant race. For his efforts, the Mets rewarded Delgado by picking up his option for one year at $12 million.
There will certainly be questions as to whether Delgado can have another season like he did last year, or whether he'll start out '09 as he started out '08. And of course there will be questions as to what exactly will motivate Delgado through the course of the season. But I look at it this way: With Ike Davis moving through the minor leagues and being the Mets' heir apparent to Delgado at first, the Mets are better served to have a stop gap for a season or two at first rather than throw a lot of money and years at a guy like Mark Teixeira. That's money and years that would be better served being thrown at other people (Bullpen? Bullpen. BULLPEN!!!) And if you're going to have a short term solution there anyway, there aren't a lot of options better than Delgado.
