Is Renting Cliff Lee worth it?

I've been thinking about it, and would renting Cliff Lee really make sense at this point? We know that Cliff lee and his agent have said he is only wanting to be rented because he wants to test the free agent market. So, is renting Cliff Lee going to make a difference for New York?

Let's say, hypothetically, this is our team when we get Cliff Lee:

(Assuming Beltran is back at this point)

Reyes

Wright

Beltran

Davis

Bay

Pagan

Barajas

Castillo

Santana

Pelfrey

Lee

Niese

Takahashi

Do we have a chance to utilize renting him or are we just going to waste good and talented prospects for him? We'd be wasting such big Mets minors' name such as Wilmer Flores, Brad Holt, etc. Can this team use Lee to their advantage?

On paper, yes. A team would die to have some of this talent, let alone our lineup. On paper, our lineup is very heavy. If you throw around names such as Reyes, Wright, Beltran, and Bay, that is deadly. But after watching this team every day you see the flaws with all of them. Reyes pops up too many balls and seems to swing at the first pitch, Wright struckout as I wrote this sentence, Beltran would be coming off of a major surgery, and Bay is either hot or cold, just like the rest of the team.

This team is so streaky that you'd never know what's going to happen. Hell, Johan Santana chucks shutouts and the Mets can't get a measly run home while other games end them losing 8-6. There is never a coupe of people slumping and the rest of the team puts up numbers. It seems like this team is never just playing regular. A player is either hot, or a player is either cold. Why can't a Met player just play? It's ridiculous.

So, if we rent Lee and we keep up this .500 play, he'll most definitely leave. If he likes it here, likes the spotlight here and helps us get far, maybe he'll accept a contract that will lock him up in New York to continue success with the team. How likely is that?

Players must look at Johan Santana and really take into consideration if they want to risk spending a good chunk of their career trying to right the ship of a rocky organization. Who knows though, I guess we'll see this play out and go from there.

If I Were GM...

So, if I were GM I would make a lot of moves that would make sense. This club has more potential than a .500 team and everyone knows it. Making key acquisitions can change this all around and this is how I would do it. And this is in no particular order or importance:

1. Demote Elmer Dessens, promote Bobby Parnell.

Why is Elmer Dessens not in AAA? I don't think anyone can answer that. The only logical reason I can think of is that when they tried to promote someone, it got lost in translation and Elmer accidently came up and Omar was too chicken to say anything. I mean, why else?

Parnell can gas it up to the high 90s. That is a plus fastball that was able to throw past MLB batters last year pretty effectively but he was sent to the minors to work on his secondary pitches. But wait, isn't Jenrry Mejia IN the majors to work on his secondary pitches? Something doesn't add up.

2. Demote Gary Matthews Jr, promote ANYONE

Gary Matthews Jr. is batting .193 and has 1 RBI. That is not a player worthy of the major leagues. Why can't we promote something like Mike Hessman or Jesus Feliciano? Some say they're quadruple-A players and will not carry over their numbers to the bigs... So?? Will they hit better than .193? Would they not be so much better than 11/57 at bats?

The main argument I guess is that they can't play the outfield. If that is what is keeping GMJr on this squad then that is outrageous. Stick Tatis in the outfield, or even Chris Carter. This choice is obvious and is being handled very poorly.

3. Demote Jenrry Mejia after the All-Star break

I have recently accepted the idea of Mejia on the big league roster. If they see Jenrry as a top of the rotation starter, why not prep him by giving him big league batters to adapt against? He's done a great job and now that he's gotten his feet wet, my move would be to send him down. People were outraged when he was granted the bullpen role, but in all honesty, he is 20 years old. How can we say that this will mess him up when he probably won't be in a big league rotation until 2011, with 2010 being a stretch?

In my opinion, getting his feet wet with big league batters is a decent move to get him some of the action he'll be expecting when he is finally ready to fulfill the hype. We all know he's meant to be a starter and a 1-2-3 of Johan, Mike, and Jenrry will be nothing short of incredible.

4. Activate Beltran, Francoeur to the bench

Sorry, Frenchy, but when Beltran is eventually activated from the DL its bench warming or water boy duties for you. Frenchy won't even be a good bat off the bench due to his serious and almost concerning first pitch swing addiction. It almost looks like he just wants to swing at the first pitch and doesn't necessarily believe he got a good read on it.

Pagan has been real solid all season and I can't see him going back to the bench. I can see a RF platoon with Pagan/Frenchy with Jeff only hanging on due to his arm. I love Francoeur, he's a great guy and I love his passion, but I can't watch him struggle at the plate any longer. Hell, I can't even spell his last name.

5. Send Castillo to the DL, promote Reese Havens

I don't know if I'm breaking a certain Mets code, but I like Castillo. I'm not saying I love him, but he's been pretty solid this year and continuing his success from last season. He'll get on base, he'll steal a base, he'll give you average defense, he'll never strikeout. Watching him last night limping with that foot injury, yet also stealing a base, hustling down the line and making a couple of great plays really shows something to the fans. Nobody likes Castillo, but hey, he's not as bad as people say.

I want Castillo out, but he is a pretty solid second baseman for us. I say send him to the DL so he can get his foot a rest and promote Reese Havens. Havens can hit and field, so I think giving him playing time for the 15 or so days that Castillo will be on the DL will get his feet wet and prep him for a serious look he'll most certainly be getting next spring training. Worst comes to worst is he's not ready, and you promote Ruben Tejada or just give Cora the nod.

These are the moves that I would make right now if it were up to me. They don't seem outlandish and they don't seem like a stretch. I didn't add a Cliff Lee trade or a trade for another pitcher because that would be something that would take a while to accomplish, and these moves are meant to be active immediately.

Tell me what you think.. I think it's pretty reasonable.