by Peter L. Bosch

Created on: July 27, 2009

You heard it over and over about the New York Mets the last couple of years: the Mets are missing leadership. It has been a clubhouse concern since 2007 when the Mets gave up a seven game division lead in a little over two weeks only to follow it up by another second place finish to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008. With the Mets plagued by more injuries than the set of the fictitious Tool Time, the Mets have forgotten about the missing ingredient for the time being.

The media and fans are buzzing and mostly complaining about the season being lost due to the ill fate of most of their key contributors. What is lost in the discussions is that even if Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, John Maine and Jose Reyes were healthy, who was going to fill in the missing mentoring role for the hapless Mets?

The last such player the Mets had was Cliff Floyd. He was not only outspoken, but he was also a calming influence. The vet bonded with volcanic personalities such as Mike Cameron and Lastings Milledge. Cameron threatened to ruin the Met harmony when the club attained Carlos Beltran to play center field which pushed him out to right. Floyd was key in preaching teamwork and the threat never became more than a quote or two during spring training. When Milledge felt picked on, it was Floyd not the then manager Willie Randolph who got in his face and settled down the rookie.

The Mets in 2006 finished first in the National League East and came within four outs of making the World Series. With Floyd hitting only .244 with 11 home runs, the division winning Mets let Floyd go to the Cubs in the 2007 who went from worst to first while the Mets missed the playoffs. With hitting only .284 with 9 home runs, the Cubs then let him go to the Rays in 2008 who went from worst to first, making franchise history with their first ever playoff and then World Series appearance. With Floyd hitting only .268 with 11 home runs, the Rays let Floyd go to the Padres in 2009, who went from worst...to still worst.

The Padres showed that Floyd isn't a miracle worker, but simply a leader for a talented clubhouse, much like Phil Jackson is a good coach for talented rosters. With the Mets and Cubs stacked with talent, his calming presence is what was needed. While not actually saying that Cliff Floyd is Phil Jackson, he has proven his value over and over while not gaining much recognition for it as teams are always willing to let him walk. When B.J. Upton was upset over being benched last August for not running out a fly ball, it was Floyd who stayed and answered questions after the young outfielder slipped out. It was also Floyd who told B.J. Upton not to be the guy to ruin a special run.

Cliff Floyd is not the best leader in baseball, but you rarely hear anyone say that his teams are missing a guiding presence. Nobody really knows how the 2006 Mets, the 2007 Cubs or the 2008 Rays would have done without Floyd, but it is possible that it is not a coincidence that Floyd was a part of all three special turnarounds.

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