Ketchup On Your Ice Cream

Sorry, Friends.

2008-08-14T13:51:00.003-04:00

It's been a long 6 weeks. My apologies. We'll be back up and running through the end of this championship caliber™ season. Vote Daniel Murphy in 2008.

Whither Mike Carp?

2008-06-25T15:37:00.007-04:00

Let's play a game, shall we? I'll throw out a bunch of numbers and you tell me who the rightful owner is. Ready? Ok, here we go.

.230/.303/.399 with a scorching 87 OPS+

Did you say Carlos Delgado? The starting first baseman on a championship caliber™ team? You would be - correct!

Ok, here's a few more. Pay attention now.

.335/.405/.518 with an OPS+ better than 87

No, those are not Lastings Milledge's numbers. If they were I'd have died of an aneurysm already. Yeah, they are Mike Carp's numbers...how'd you know? Mr. Carp has been nothing short of a super-hero at Binghamton for the first 69 games of 2008.

Hey, I know it's AA ball. I know Mike has never had a year even remotely close production-wise to what he's accomplishing so far in 2008. But you know what? I don't care. And neither should you.

Mike Carp not getting at least a cup of coffee symbolizes everything that's wrong with this organization. Carlos Delgado is done. There is no more "when is Delgado going to heat up" discussion (rightfully so) - only chatter about "do you think we could even get a C-level prospect for him" (No).

He's been written about extensively. A few notable pieces come from MetsGeek and MiLB.com. Yet, how many Met fans even know who he is? They know who Abraham Nunez and Robinson Cancel are, but Mike Carp remains a mystery to the masses.

So why is he still in Binghamton?

In 2004 David Wright tore through AA at a .363/.458/.619 clip for 60 games. He was promoted to AAA for 31 more games and the rest, as the ol' saw goes, was history.

Ok, now this might be groundbreaking and I acknowledge that beforehand - I say, with all confidence, that Mike Carp should be promoted to New Orleans.

He will have amassed right around 30 games by the trading deadline and put the team in a position to see if he's ready to get the call to palatial Shea Stadium. If all goes well Omar can call him up to split time at 1B - a position left vacant by the trade of Carlos Delgado to the Chiba Lotte Marines for an autographed 8"x10" of Bobby Valentine.

Simple, right? There you go, the first step towards restoring order and sanity in the dysfunctional wasteland that is Flushing.

DISCLAIMER: Mike Carp is not equivalent to David Wright in any way shape or form besides a small sampling of numbers both put up in AA. And even then, Wright was better. I'm just sick and tired of watching the fervent opponent of Operation Iraqi Freedom swing and miss or hit dribblers into the shift. Thank you.

Sal from Bayside, You're on the FAN

2008-06-25T09:29:00.006-04:00

First time, long time. Love the show. Two comments and I'll hang up and listen to what you gotta say.

Listen, what's the story with this Jerry Manuel? Can you believe this guy? I mean, seriously, 3-4. They shoulda just kept Willie. At least the guy was a winner. What has Manuel won? The White Sox? Manager of the year? Who cares about that garbage, Willie was a Yankee.

Hey, listen don't cut me off I gots another point to make. How we doin' on time? Am I up against the 20/20? Ok I'll make it quick.

And this bum David Wright, I mean, are you friggin' serious? My kid fields ground balls like that on a regular basis and he's 4. You know, I got him dat big red plastic bat from K-Mart. Kids a natural, but back to my point. This guy Wright is a bum. Not a clutch player he needs to go. Maybe trade him for A-Rod see if the Yanks'll throw in Joba? I'll hang up and listen to what you gotta say.

Morbidly Appropriate

2008-06-24T15:28:00.003-04:00

I was sitting in Shea last night when David Wright booted the ground ball.

I told my friends not to boo so loudly because, hey, it's David Wright and the pitcher was due up next.

You know, the pitcher on the visiting AL team...the one that never hits. Yeah, the one with 8 career ABs and no hits, that guy.

And then it happened:

And it's outta here.

It was fitting. Because from now on if you ever have to describe life as a Met fan to another human being you can just roll a clip of King Felix going yard...the other way...off Johan Motherfucking Santana.

(H/T to USS Mariner for the screengrab)

Sic Semper Tyrannis!

2008-06-23T11:36:00.006-04:00

The afternoon commute for those of us with IQs over 60 and/or not named Vinny, Frank, or Sal just got that much more tolerable.

Neil Best of Newsday - of the outstanding Watchdog Blog - wrote yesterday that the days of Fatso & the Angry Puppy could be nearing their end:

Barring a change of heart, the partnership between Mike Francesa and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo is not expected to survive to see its 19th anniversary Sept. 5, industry sources with knowledge of the situation said.

It is not clear which host would remain on WFAN, only that it would not be both of them. One factor appears to be a fraying of their personal relationship in recent months.

At first I thought this was good news. Then, I realized that one of them would be staying. I can deal with Russo a little better than I can deal with Francesa, let's hope Doggie stays.

As for a possible in-house replacement? GC sums it up over at CSTB: "The odds of Captain Midnight aka Steve Somers being moved to the coveted afternoon drive slot are slightly worse than say, Richard Neer’s Wig being asked to host the program."

Hardwood Floors and Tuscan Tile

2008-06-17T14:38:00.003-04:00

He may no longer be with us, but my love and appreciation for The Jacket will never fade.

Fixing Victor Zambrano in 10 minutes aside, I think that Peterson is one of the better pitching coaches in the game. This blog was named after (what I feel was) his best quote ever, but on the day he was axed he may have set a new benchmark.

(From MetsBlog)

Rick Peterson then talked to reporters and, in standard fashion, used a ‘Mets are a House’ metaphor, equating himself to a hardwood floor that is being ripped out of a house in need of work, while Dan Warthen, his replacement, will be the Tuscan Tile of this new home.

I hope the sanding and refinishing goes well Rick, I really do.

Welcome Back to the Dark Ages

2008-06-17T09:11:00.003-04:00

There was a time and a place to make this decision.

It could have been done last Sunday, after one of the most deflating 4-game sweeps in recent memory.

It could have been done on a sunny afternoon last September after a certain toothless future-hall-of-famer shit the bed.

Instead, it was done in the middle of the night three time zones away while you and I were sleeping and once again the media knew about it before the team.

Classless. Cowardly. Dirty. You pick the adjective, I'm sure it will be appropriate.

Instead of learning from the Art Howe debacle, among others, the Mets organization destroyed any credibility it had left. What was the purpose of sending the entire staff on a cross-country flight - the night after a doubleheader, mind you - to axe them the next morning after a win?

I've wanted Willie out for a long time - but this organization is a joke. How do you explain making the biggest decision in years when 90% of your fan base is counting sheep? The mismanagement and laughable decision making that goes on within this ball club has reached new heights.

Midnight firings? Minaya still having a job? I'd say the rest of baseball is laughing at the Mets, but I really think there's just one huge collective cringe going on at this point. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008 New York Mets! What a fucking joke.

Cancel (The Season) & Omar's Bullshit

2008-06-16T09:05:00.004-04:00

"I can't answer that [whether Willie will be the manager for the rest of the season]. He is my manager today, and I have the right to evaluate him as we go along. Let me put it this way, he is always being evaluated...It's a situation that I'm constantly evaluating."

- The Best GM in Baseball

This is starting to get ridiculous. Omar, Freddie, and Jeff need to sack up and make a decision. Anyone who reads this blog knows I'm the last person to defend Willie Randolph, but this back and forth, hot and cold bullshit concerning Willie's job status is getting tiring.

Harold Reynolds made a good point last night on the postgame and I couldn't agree more: Until there is some certainty amongst the team regarding Willie's job status there will be an inordinate amount of pressure on the players - at least the ones who care about Willie.

Yes, they're professionals. And yes, they should be used to pressure, especially playing in New York. But it's hard to go out and play loose when you know that your next fuck up could mean your manager's job.

Not that this organization handles the firing of their managers gracefully. All you need to look at is how Freddie Coupons & Co. handled the departure of one Arthur Xavier Howe IV in 2004. It's always nice when the beat writers see your pink slip before you.

Instead of constantly evaluating Willie's performance why doesn't Omar sit down and evaluate this waste of a team he assembled. Sixth inning heroics aside, Robinson Cancel has no business on this roster. And as JF noted over at Productive Outs, the fact that Aguila was sent down to make room for Trot Nixon instead of Cancel is just migraine-inducing.

I Would Drape Myself In Velvet if it Were Socially Acceptable

2008-06-14T15:48:00.003-04:00

No words...

Oliver Perez: "Fuck You Country Time!"

2008-06-13T14:15:00.007-04:00

It's been a while since Mets fans have seen a stretch of baseball quite like we have the past week. There was a walk-off HBP, an elderly gentleman in military fatigues crushing a game-winning HR, and 46 Billy Wagner blown saves. What does it all mean? Mediocrity my friends, dewy-sweet mediocrity.

It's not as if we haven't known. As mentioned on countless other blogs and premium news outlets, the Metropolitans are a .500 team whose only (non)redeeming quality is the ability to play that .500 baseball not by intermittent stretches of 2 wins followed by 2 losses, but by stringing together 9-2 streaks where all once again becomes right with the world only to follow them with 3-7 B-horror movie-esque stretches of ineptitude.

2006 was it my friends. It was all Freddie Coupons & Co. needed to get your asses into the seats for the arrival of CitiField. The current team is just good enough that people will be duped into the eternal "You Gotta Believe" and just bad enough that even if you happen to be the Dalai Lama no amount of believing is going to make a difference.

The luxury boxes at Wilpon Stadium supposedly have a three-year wait to get in (admittedly hearsay, I believe Coop of MSF stated this on the FU Forums, but this isn't the NYT). As long as Omar doesn't run the 2002-04 Mets out there for the next 5 or so years people will show up and hemorrhage their cash on $9 beers while violently participating in "Everybody Clap Your Hands."

Enjoy mediocre baseball from a sub-mediocre organization. I'll be sitting right there next to you every step of the way.

With Bated Breath

2008-06-09T14:57:00.003-04:00

I can feel it in my bones. It's that time once more, friends. At some time within the next two days a Wally Matthews column should drop and I can guarantee it will be a virtual cornucopia of vitriol.

Cross your fingers that it somehow blames Ramon Castro's Jean-Paul Jean-Paul gaffe on the use of non-union pipefitters at CitiField while at the same time managing to suggest the Mets pursue David Eckstein while simultaneously dumping Jose Reyes' lifeless body into the East River.

A Whale's Vagina

2008-06-08T21:49:00.008-04:00

Ron Burgundy: Discovered by the Germans in 1904, they named it San Diego, which of course in German means a whale's vagina.
Veronica Corningstone: No, there's no way that's correct.
Ron Burgundy: I'm sorry, I was trying to impress you. I don't know what it means. I'll be honest, I don't think anyone knows what it means anymore. Scholars maintain that the translation was lost hundreds of years ago.
Veronica Corningstone: Doesn't it mean Saint Diego?
Ron Burgundy: No. No.
Veronica Corningstone: No, that's - that's what it means. Really.
Ron Burgundy: Agree to disagree.

I've been more disheartened as a Mets fan...but, I can't remember when. First, there was HBP. Then, there was the Wolf Pack outpitching TBPiB. Yesterday, 2-1 again. Today, Petey coughing up leads and Country Time shitting the bed in a way not seen since a warn summer day in the Bronx with a 4-run lead.

Yes, the previously 24-37 Padres of a city whose name was lost in translation hundreds of years ago dropped the Mets back to two games under .500 and sapped any momentum they might have had as well.

Now, the problems are glaring. Ryan Church is seriously fucked up. Fernando Tatis and Endy Chavez are the starting corner outfielders. Pedro isn't Pedro. Oh, and did I mention Abraham Nunez?

As an astute commenter on Metsradamus noted, the Mets need to play .656 ball (61-40) for the rest of 2008 to reach 91 wins. Remember that this is a sub-.500 team since last June 1st and think about how realistic that thought is. Then when you're finished think about how the Phillies are 13 games over .500 and how the Braves can't possibly continue to be this terrible on the road for much longer. Playoffs?

But hey, look on the bright side. If you have tickets for the final game at Shea like I do it will be that much more special - because it truly will be the last game at Shea.

On 7-3...

2008-06-06T11:34:00.003-04:00

You ever get that feeling that something's not quite right? You know, like when Fernando Tatis is the hero for your ballclub...and it's not 1999 and it's not the Cardinals? Like when you're starting left fielder has a .189 batting average and you're starting right fielder is one concussion shy of permanently having to wear those grandma-in-wal-mart-esque wrap-around sunglasses for the rest of his life?

You ever get that feeling that maybe 2006 was it? That maybe Yadier's big fly and Cliff's big K will be looked upon as the only chance the Mets had for greatness in the 2000's?

You ever think that maybe the core that was assembled by a guy that recalled Abraham Nunez from AAA just isn't good enough to compete with the Chutley/Howard/J-Roll trifecta? That if the Phillies ever find another decent - and consistent (sorry, Brett Myers) - pitcher to go back-to-back with Cole Hamels that the NL East is in trouble for a while?

Nah, me either. I trust my guys.

Where Was Jose Lima?

2008-05-26T14:01:00.002-04:00

R.I.P. Geremi Gonzalez. Struck by lightning on a beach? I can't think of a better way to go.

Laugh Your Pain Away

2008-05-24T15:13:00.000-04:00

And We're Back

2008-05-23T22:59:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the horribly infrequent posting - back for the summer now. Missing a week and a half makes a difference when the manager accuses the fan base and television channel of his employer of widespread racism, the team makes like it's 2000 and gets swept out of Turner Field, and the GM "decides" to fly into Denver to "watch" the team during the weekend set against the Rockies.

With all that being said, you know my take on Willie, the series in ATL was hard to watch, and we can only hope that Freddie Coupon fires Willie and Omar on the same day.

And just a random tidbit as I watch Oliver Perez slowly implode: Today on M&MD FranDog was steadfastly defending the "great" moves of Omar Minaya. They kept talking about the "Maine" and "Perez" deals as if those two players were the centerpieces and not throwaways by the O's and Bucs. Long story short, I hadn't listened to the two of them is a while and now remember why - they're idiots.

More tomorrow. Let's hope Fernando Tatis' moonshot can hold up.

Dear Elijah Dukes

2008-05-12T20:25:00.003-04:00

Kindly shut the fuck up. Thanks in advance.

Seriously...what's the matter with this guy? I can see cheering for one AB or so - but it's been constant, not to mention loud, the whole game. Figueroa should throw one into the Nats dugout by accident.

Late Night Radio Ruminations

2008-05-07T15:09:00.004-04:00

(If you ever want to talk boxing at 4 AM - call this man immediately. 718-937-6666)

After the postgame on WFAN last night, the overnight host - Tony Paige - made a comment that got me thinking. Why didn't Willie pinch hit for Castillo in the 9th? He had all the reasons in the world to make the move.

For starters, Luis was batting from the left side which automatically means the outfielders move in to little league depth. Easley was on the bench and available to play 2B. The only factor weighing against the move (in Willie's mind) was that Luis broke an 0-835 skid with an RBI-single in the 2nd inning.

Marlon Anderson career against RHP: .268/.318/.404
Luis Castillo career against RHP: .260/.327/.300

Luis Castillo last year against RHP: .291/.368/.330
Marlon Anderson last year against RHP: .307/.361/.489

Now, I realize all the team needed there was single to tie the game (presumably). But Castillo from the left side isn't a major league hitter. Opposing teams play him in the outfield like it's a 50+ softball league and it's obvious from his approach that Luis is up there to walk. Sorry, Luis -but last night the Mets needed a hit.

I know there's the argument that if Anderson pinch hits there you waste 3 players in 2 AB - Anderson probably doesn't go out to play 2B there if he ties the game, Easely does. And you'd have to pinch hit again for the pitchers spot. The bottom line is an old cliche -and I paraphrase - you can't worry about that shit when you're trailing by a run. Saving bullets doesn't help much when you don't get a chance to use them.

So yeah, Willie should have pinch hit for Castillo in that spot. There, I said it. Feel free to disagree.

You Seen Him?

2008-05-06T22:17:00.002-04:00

(Yes, I also have Photoshop)

EDIT: He's got the flu. You believe it? Killed like 50 million people in 1918! Rest up Carlos, feel better.

EDIT (11:35): Wayne Hagin just announced: "Hu's up" - What I would have paid to hear Howie Rose say "I don't know Wayne, who is up?"

Bob Melvin: Hey Anderson, You Suck!

2008-05-04T19:19:00.004-04:00

"Yeah we'll take our chances with you, pussy. That's right, that 5'2'' Dominican with no kneecaps who hasn't got a hit since April scares me more than you do. How's that taste?"

Now, I understand the thought of setting up the double play there...but Luis Castillo? Really? Please accept my thanks on behalf of all Mets fans Mr. Melvin, we applaud you.

The Movement Has Gone Mainstream

2008-05-04T01:09:00.008-04:00

Everyone's talking about it. Lots of influential people want him to go. Except me?

Now I'm always a fan for seeing Willie get the axe, but I don't think you can do it in May - at least with the team playing over .500 with some key names on the DL.

The time to fire Willie was last year - specifically the day after a certain not-devastated someone went 0.1 innings. You just can't do it now, not a month into the season that has seen the Mets go 2 games over .500 with Pedro and Moises on the DL, Raul Casanova starting 10 games, and Perez and Pelfrey battling it out to see who does the best Lima impersonation.

There was a time to fire Willie. That time has passed and not yet presented itself again. At the All-Star Break when the team is still treading water? Yes. Getting swept by the Phillies to fall more than 3 games back of the division lead? Yes. But not today, not tomorrow, not anytime soon unless the wheels come off in a big way.

But in all honesty there's not much to worry about. Judging how the team has looked in every game save for the extra inning win against the Phillies and Friday night in Arizona - the wheels shouldn't take that long to come loose.

Required Reading

2008-04-30T17:50:00.003-04:00

So Buzz Bissinger threw bloggers under the bus and Bob Costas and Bissinger attempted to throw Will Leitch under the bus...big deal right? It kind of is.

There are many, many good blogs out there - this not being one of them, and for someone as highly respected as Bissinger to condemn the entire medium based on a Deadspin comments thread is ridiculous.

As usual Ken Tremedous at FJM offered a insightful view on what transpired, read it and be impressed with how great the content on FJM is - I'll be studying.

Okay. So. "Costas Now."

Tonight, I was interviewed as part of that program's multi-part investigation of Sports and the Media. What followed the tape piece was a live discussion among Will Leitch of Deadspin, Buzz Bissinger of "Friday Night Lights" and "Being Very Angry," and of course the one guy you go to for any discussion of Sports and the Media: Braylon Edwards of the Cleveland Browns.

If you didn't see it, the discussion went like this:

Bob Costas: There are some criticisms about blogs. How do you respond?

Will Leitch: Well, I think some of them are valid--

Buzz Bissinger: I have to interrupt here. (to Leitch) Fuck you and everything you stand for.

Braylon Edwards: (to himself) I am going to kill my agent.

The argument I had tried to make in the pre-taped segment was: you can't say anything about "blogs," any more than you can say anything about any medium. There are good blogs and bad blogs. There are blogs that cover the personal lives of athletes, ones that cover only the games, ones that offer opinions, and even a few that quixotically and foolishly attempt to metacriticize the media as a whole. What Bissinger did that was so annoying to me was: he lumped all of these into one thing ("Deadspin," essentially), then took one article from one day and read it aloud from a file that looked suspiciously like it'd come from Joe McCarthy's safe, and read one sentence from it aloud. And furthermore, he seemed to conflate the actual blog and the people who write for it with the silly comments people make at the bottom of every article.

It's a big dumb ignorant mistake to do this. It's a big hot wet mushy smelly bonebrained mistake to (a) use one sentence from anything as a representative sample of the thing, much less as a representative sample of all blogs everywhere, and (b) to mix blog comments and blog articles. It's an even bigger mistake, in my opinion, to disparage the level of discourse on the Internet and use blog comments as an example. (And swear a ton while doing it, while saying that the Internet is "profane.") Picking a random blog comment and wielding it as a club to bash "blogs" is like picking a random romance novel off an airport bookstore shelf and saying, "This book sucks. Fuck you, Tolstoy -- your medium is worthless!"

For what I hope is the last time, but is clearly not: the level of discourse on Athletics Nation, and Baseball Prospectus, and SoSH, and Joe Posnanski's blog, is every bit as high (if not higher) than what you can read in the best newspapers in the country. Bissinger's hare-brained attempt to prove Leitch an uneducated oaf by asking whether he had read any W.C. Heinz (which failed miserably when Leitch had, in fact, read some W. C. Heinz) was a perfect example of the old guard's attitude toward the new guard: you little shits don't get it. You don't know how to write. You have no gratitude or appreciation for those who came before you. So: fuck you. (P.S. I have never really read your blog.) (P.P.S. Fuck you, though, anyway.)

There are sports bloggers (and message-board posters) who write very well, in my opinion. There are those who love Ring Lardner and David Halberstam and Robert Creamer and Roger Angell. They try to write well, and entertain, and contribute to the universe of sports reporting. Please read them, Buzz. If you find nothing of interest, you can swear all you want. (For the record, FJM is extremely pro-swearing. We just feel you should be funny while doing it.)

If there is anything tangible and helpful to take away from Mr. Bissinger's performance -- and it takes a good deal of chaff-sorting to get anywhere near this little nugget -- I think it's this: a lot of the discourse and sub-discourse (commenting) on the internet is, in fact, pretty shitty. This is not news, though, really. A lot of newspaper writing and editorial writing and every kind of writing is shitty. It's just not as immediate and anonymous and easily-accessed as Internet writing is. Thus, the net has this reputation, now, as being a nihilistic and thoughtless meetingplace for people to spew venom. Partially deserved, partially not, whatever -- point is, the part that is deserved can be altered. We can all probably do a little better in this realm, by making sure that whatever we write has an actual point, and some thought behind it. So, there's that.

Okay. I guess that's it. As the kids would say: [/serious and unfunny discussion of Internet journalism standards]. Coming soon: more swearing!

[Just added two clauses to this post at 9:25 AM PST -- the clarification about what Bissinger actually did (taking one sentence and reading it aloud) and the subsequent (a), (b) follow-up in the next paragraph.]

The Jacket: Live!

2008-04-29T19:52:00.004-04:00

The Professor himself joined Gary and Ron in the booth in the bottom of the 3rd inning. He educated and inspired much as one would expect.

Rattling off stats, talking about the process of the outcome but not the outcome of the process, BABIP on pitches down in the strike zone - and why couldn't he fix Victor Zambrano?

Some highlights:

"I don't know if anyone can tell me who won the first 2.5 miles in a marathon!"

"Fear, worry, and doubt start to enter your psyche"

"Our guys are professional glove hitters."

Bottom line - The Jacket is smarter than you...and he knows it. Victor Zambrano? - no problem. Nelson Figueroa? - no problem. Jose Lima? - everyone has their limits.

A Grand Central Station of (Wilpon Approved) Mets Information

2008-04-28T12:54:00.004-04:00

This is the video that got pulled from MetsBlog that Raissman wrote about:

As you can hear, it was filmed by that annoying stepdad of one of your elementary school friends who would repeat everything that was going on at sporting events. You wanted to tell him to shut the fuck up, but he did pay for your ticket and drive you to Shea so you sat there and let your ears bleed.

(H/T [as always] CSTB)

UPDATE: The best line I found on this "story" is far and away courtesy of The Gil Meche Experience's Pulp: "If Fred Wilpon Were Caught Eating Children, Would MetsBlog Note They're High In Protein?"

Congratulations

2008-04-25T10:10:00.002-04:00

According to Joe Benigno-Gazingo, there have been four grand slams given up by major league relief pitchers in 2008.

Three have them have come off of the Mets bullpen.

Willie Speaks

2008-04-24T13:27:00.004-04:00

On M&MD yesterday, Willie had a chance to win over my heart. Like every other chance he had though, he showed up late smelling like a strip club with body glitter on his shirt and lipstick on his collar.

Castillo will be the the number 2 hitter.

"He's one of the best two-hitters in the game, let's not fool ourselves" says Willie, "Omar brought [Castillo] here because this guy's one of the best two-hitters in the game."

"Church isn't a second hitter and you don't want to frustrate Jose in that situation."

He did go on to add he "liked" Church in the two-hole and may play him there more against lefties. But then he starting spewing shit along the lines of "if Church bats 2nd who's going to protect Delgado" and "we can't ruin Delgado's confidence right now." Basically, Luis was paid 16 million ridiculous tears-of-rational-Mets-fans-soaked dollars to play 2B and hit second in the lineup, so that' where he'll be hitting.

Glorious, glorious Willie-Speak. If anyone needs me I'll be sobbing on the floor of my bathroom.

The 2008 Mets: Your Season Has Come!

Mets Rebound From Getting Fukudome'd: Beat America's Team

2008-04-23T23:00:00.004-04:00

Meet Screech. Yes America, the Gnats named their mascot after a lovable Dustin Diamond character.

The Fukudome jokes will flow from now until he retires, I envy Cubs fans for that reason alone.

The good news: Filthy in the 8th inning, Wagner in the 9th, Johan going 7 without his best stuff.

The bad news: Castillo batting 2nd, Reyes looking silly, Castillo batting 2nd.

Highlight of the game: Wright's AB in the 9th inning. After getting embarrassed on the 0-1 pitch (he was almost down on one knee swinging at the slider), he showed great discipline and fouled off a few tough pitches before working out a walk and eventually scoring on Church's screamer. I know it's been beaten into the ground, but I don't think I've ever seen a hitter more comfortable in a 0-2 count than Wright.

Hey, Remember That Lineup That Wasn't Working? Let's Try That Again!

2008-04-22T11:53:00.004-04:00

Luis Castillo has always been a good player. He's had a longer hitting streak than any Met ever has. He has two championship rings. He's stolen over 60 bases in a season. He's had an OBP over .380 on four different occasions. He may have cured polio. He contributes large amounts of money to the Make-A-Wish foundation. Etc.

Luis Castillo accomplished all of the aforementioned feats because of his legs. Plain and simple - the man could run. Now, not so much.

So when Big Willie Style switched Luis out of the 2-hole and down to 8th a collective "what took so long" rang out in living rooms and sports bars across the tri-state area.

My question was, did it really matter? Now, the exceedingly small sample size being recognized, let's take a look.

During the 5-game stretch where Church hit 2nd and Castillo 8th, the Mets as a team hit .263 (48/182) and went 5-0. They averaged 4.8 runs per game.

During the first 11 games when Castillo hit 2nd and Church 6th, the Mets hit .264 (99/374), went 5-6, and scored 4.6 runs per game.

So the team scored 2/10 of a run more on average when Castillo hit 8th. I'm prepared to say that number would be much higher if Luis' switch to the 8th spot didn't coincide with Beltran and Delgado forgetting how to hit.

So it appears our intuitions were correct. Runs scored aside, the team won with Church hitting second. That alone would be enough to tell Willie to stick Luis, his bum knees, and his ridiculous contract in the 8th hole and let Lastings' replacement hack away...wouldn't it?

To the casual baseball fan, yes. But not to Willie Randolph. After the fun little 5-0 experiment with Church hitting second, the manager decided to switch back to the lineup that had his team one game under .500 for the first two weeks. What happened? What else could happen? They lost two games in a row.

Decision making at its finest.
_____________________________________________

Fukudome returns in just under two hours. Hopefully the Lincoln High graduate who doesn't coerce interns into sex in an Escalade can keep the string of strong starts going.

Two-Face

2008-04-20T23:43:00.002-04:00

As this young season has progressed it has been hard to get an accurate reading on exactly how good or bad this Mets team is. We know Ryan Church will come back to earth and we know Angel Pagan will come back to earth - but other than that, what do we really know?

In a perfect world you could argue that Carlos Delgado will bounce back and produce numbers similar to what he did last season. But can you say that with any conviction? His numbers have been steadily declining for two seasons - this may be the year where he hits rock bottom. Would you bet against him putting up a .230/15/50 this season? It doesn't sound too far fetched.

On the flip side one would say that David Wright will come back to earth a little as well. He can't possibly sustain a .344/.453/.721 line for the rest of the season...can he? Aside from the SLG coming down a bit, who is to say he can't? Wright has gotten better each of the last three seasons, who's to say he won't hit over .340 this season pushing 40 HR and a .450 OBP?

And as for Reyes, well, you just can't predict what he's going to give you aside from replay-worthy celebrations when he's on his game. Was last September a fluke or was last April-June a fluke? I'd cast my vote for the former, but who can be sure?

Maine and Perez are solid starters, but you never can be sure when they're going to have that giant meltdown. Pelfrey looks better, but it's much too early to tell. Big Fig has been superb - but can he sustain it for another month until Pedro returns? The one bright spot - as everyone expected - has been Santana. Booing aside, he has been everything he's been billed to be. You knew he was HR-prone, but the brilliance he flashed on Friday night is exactly why Carlos Gomez is patrolling centerfield in Minneapolis right now.

The bottom line is that 4/6 from the Phillies is exactly what we should have hoped for - and it's exactly what we got. Granted, Jimmy Rollins was absent for 4 games and Victorino absent for 3, but the Mets still played better baseball than the Phils for the first two series of the year.

Call me a pessimist, call me a downer, but doesn't something still feel wrong? You just don't know what Mets team is going to show up. The lifeless, uninspired bunch that showed up to play the Brewers last weekend or the energetic, fundamental-executing (aside from Luis Castillo not getting the bunt down in the 9th tonight) group that showed up at Citizens Bank Park this weekend?

And before you shoot back that it just seems that way because the Mets lost 2/3 against Milwaukee and won 2/3 from the Phils, I'd feel the same way if the Mets had lost 2/3 this weekend as well. If you watched both series you could just see the difference in the team. And as someone who is faithful to stats and objective analysis, that is something I realize sounds, well, stupid, but I don't think a fan of this team can deny it.

To throw in a cliche for the sake of cliches, I know it's too early to tell - I just hope that the team we saw from Friday night to about an hour ago shows up with regularity in 2008.

Willie: Omar, Please Get Off Manny Acta's Nuts

2008-04-19T00:36:00.005-04:00

Holy shit, I agree with Willie. We all heard about this last season and it seemed to go away for the most part, but it seems as if Omar and Tony Bernazard (that's a KOYIC assumption) were chumming it up with Manny Acta on the field before the past three games.

From Newsday's David Lennon:

This week's visit to Shea by the Nationals, a team managed by former Mets coach Manny Acta, again featured the kind of affection usually reserved for family reunions. Hugs, handshakes, plenty of laughs... "How does that happen? How does that become normal?" Randolph said. "I don't know. It's just foreign to me, that's all. I'm fine with, 'Hey, how you doing?' That stuff. I wish that we could enforce it more, really. They talk about it, but I don't really see anyone policing it. You can't force people not to talk to someone."

Like David Wright says further along in the article, I can see a hug to LoDuca or Lastings or a former teammate for Church and B-Schnied - but openly recruiting your next manager in front of your current manager is a slap in the nuts no matter how you slice it.

One could argue Willie deserves it for being such a horrendous manager, but if that's the case then Omar should just fire him and get it over with. Hugs and kisses at Nobu the night before is fine - hugs and kisses behind the batting cage is bullshit.

Read a Blog Better Than This One

2008-04-18T23:56:00.005-04:00

Productive Outs. Judge Roughneck has been consistently putting up quality posts since he started this week. Expect insightful and thoughtful commentary with a stat-centric focus. In other words, exactly what you hope to find here, but don't.

Anyways, Productive Outs had me at:

I know that Luis Castillo – who has been moved down to the #8 spot – is considered a more prototypical #2 hitter, but I have serious problems with that model. Conventional wisdom places so much emphasis placed on the #2 hitter’s ability to take a pitch, or to make contact with two strikes, or to hit the ball to the right side to advance the lead runner. These are all good qualities to possess, but they are all dwarfed by the ability to smack a double into the gap, whether or not a man is on first.

Good stuff all around, check it out.

Welcome Back

2008-04-15T12:29:00.005-04:00

As the Nationals head into Shea for three games this week, it will be interesting to see a few things. First, the reception that Lastings and Captain Red Ass receive and second, the quotes Willie will have about it. There's a little part of me that wants Lastings to beat the Mets at least once with a walk-off hit, or even just to have a big game - if only to see what Willie has to say about it.

Well, last year Pelfrey threw 77% fastballs and Milledge hit .318 off fastballs. Here's hoping Big Pelf keeps them outside and low.

EDIT 7:25: A scorched 2B and caught stealing third...not bad considering he was safe. Not to be outdone, Ryan Church had a nice AB against a lefty and hit one right back up the box for a single.

EDIT 8:04: Why is Church bunting? If it's on his own it's stupid - if it's Willie it's going up on the big board of dumb moves. Castillo, bunt. Church? What are they doing?

Bend Ya Knees: Week 2 / The Mets Can't Hit

2008-04-14T17:41:00.007-04:00

After a horrible, horrible loss to the Brewers yesterday, the only thing that can lift my spirits is to check out just how much we ripped off the Nats.

.308/.351/.442 - Yes, Lastings has drawn three walks so far! You know how many walks Ryan Church has? Three. Yeah, he's just as good.

And B-Schneid? He has two. Oh wait, that's passed balls - he has six walks! Right again - he's twice the OBP machine that Lastings is.

Alright, there's no getting around it - this team just can't hit. Outside of Wright, Beltran, and maybe Church against righties, who do you feel comfortable with at the plate? Angel Pagan is going to come back to earth and so will B-Schneid. Castillo is, in the words of B!T "the Juan Pierre Lite who at this point is basically just hoping to walk because he can't hit and can't run."

Delgado is a shell of his former self and won't accept it and start trying to use the whole field consistently. Whenever it looks like he's starting to hit line drives and go to all fields he crushes one into the scoreboard and gets pull-happy again for a month.

The fact is that once Pagan and Schneider come back down from their 158 OPS+ and .409 OBP clouds this team is going to score two runs every game if they're lucky. And it should be right about when that moment comes that the Willie Watch will commence. It can't come soon enough

Mex's Fashion Show

2008-04-10T11:38:00.004-04:00

IMFM beat me to it, but what the fuck was Keith Hernandez wearing last night?

Purple blazer, tan vest, blue striped tie.

If anyone can find a screen capture of the image of Keith in that outfit the beers will be on me.

It'll Taste Even Sweeter

2008-04-09T17:25:00.003-04:00

I couldn't agree with Cerrone more than this very moment. When they're calling for Willie's head at Metsblog, you know the masses are pissed. (H/T B!T)

...posted by Matthew Cerrone...

…i’m at a loss…it’s game six of 162, and i’m at a total loss…

…on one hand, i know that Willie Randolph cannot switch his message to one of ultimate fight, anger and win-now, because if he does that and the team loses just one game then what…he will not only seal his own fate, but he will seal his team’s fate as well…at the same time, his current message of turn the page, stability and long-season level-headedness may actually be having a worse effect, not just on the players, but on the fans as well…

JP over at Blastings! Thrilledge beat me to the punch, but I couldn't agree more. Willie's going to get canned - and it might not make a difference.

How long will the Mets allow this manager to perpetrate this message to his players: "we are here to earn paychecks, nothing more," a message that finds its way out on the field, into the stadium and the papers, upsetting our very notions of glory as sports fans?

Sit down, Lastings! No celebrations, José! We're not devastated. We're fine. You're the ones who are devastated. You fans, you boors in the seats. Get a job, loser.

How long? About a month, I think.

This team plays the way it's manager acts. Lifeless and not giving a shit. How's that champagne taste Willie? Is it even sweeter than you had hoped?

Bend Ya Knees: Week 1

2008-04-08T16:43:00.003-04:00

In games through Sunday 4/6 Lastings was hitting at a .267/.313/.400 clip.

Our own Ryan Church? Why he was hitting a robust .381/.409/.524! Brian Schneider you ask? .333/.409/.333 - sure he's not slugger but he's a better OBP man than Lastings! Isn't that what Moneyball was all about!

WE FLEECED WASHINGTON BRO! ABSOLUTELY FLEECED THEM! Church is soooooooo much better than that rapper from Bradenton. And B-Schneid? Johnny Bench 2.0 may seem like a stretch but, hey he's THAT GOOD.

Addendum: Does anyone remember when Aaron Heilman was a key trading chip and/or integral part of the bullpen?

A Little Help

2008-04-06T17:03:00.002-04:00

I've been on the Mets' baseball-reference historical box scores and play-by-play page for an hour trying to find the game from the past few seasons that ended the exact same way as this afternoon's game did - would-be game tying double is robbed because the first baseman was guarding the line.

Needless to say, I can't find it. If anyone remembers just drop a comment - it's gnawing away at my brain right now.

Fun With Small Sample Sizes: Part I

2008-04-04T21:40:00.005-04:00

Yeah, so I ripped off the title from FJM. Sue me.

After three games, Blastings! Thrilledge needs to close up shop. Because while Lastings may be hitting .294/.368/.471 with a 126 OPS+, he's no Ryan Church. Shit, he's no Brian Schneider!

                 BA  / OBP / SLG / OPS+

Ryan Church:    .385  .429  .615  184

Brian Schneider .400  .500  .400  152

But neither of these heroes of the first week can hod a candle to the immortal former Cyclone himself. The man who made all of us cringe as we thought of his name in the starting lineup. Yup, Angel Pagan is on pace to hit a super human .400/.500/.600 with a 202 OPS+! Take that sabermetrician basement nerds!

The scrappy Brady Clark, however, is on pace to do exactly what we expected: .000/.000/.000

Coming Sunday, the first of the weekly "Bend Ya Knees" and "TOAST!" Milledge and LoDuca updates.

Moral Police Alert

2008-04-04T15:05:00.003-04:00

H/T to CSTB for the pic

How many kids had to have spit in Phil Mushnick's juice box when he was in the 4th grade?

At the start of Nets' home games, a video is played for all patrons, a video encouraging all to civil comportment, to behave like right-headed humans.
But Wednesday, when the Pacers' Danny Granger fouled out, the Nets' P.A. system delivered the opposite message; it mocked Granger by blaring, "Hey, hey, goodbye!" Sure, nothing new, but it's still a kick-him-when-he's-down, bush-league bit, as if sports-minded kids need any more prompts to act like creeps.

Yeah! Take that Nets PA Announcer guy! You're such a mean old meanie! How would you like it if I play "hey, hey, goodbye" when you flush your kid's goldfish down the toilet, huh?

Not only does Mushnick manage to surpass even his own moral high road, but he throws in the subtle insinuation that children that play sports act like creeps in general. Well played Phil, well played.

Get out the popcorn, Maine/Hudson should be fun.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Your 2000 NLCS MVP!

2008-04-03T18:57:00.005-04:00

Mike Hampton will be taking the mound for the first time since August 19th, 2005 tonight. In that game against the Padres in '05 the "Atlanta starter/Denver public school advocate " as GC calls him, got knocked around for 11 hits and 7 ER in 3.1 IP.

The winner in that game for the Pods? None other than Metstradamus' frontrunner for the vacant fifth starter's spot himself: Chan Ho Park. In fact, in giving up 5 ER in 5.1 IP and gaining the victory, Chan Ho increased his win total to 10 while increasing his ERA to 6.07.

Enjoy Hampton, or, in the alternative, McGowan/Hughes on The Michael Kay Experienc...err YES.

Howie Rose Wishes He Could Move Like This

2008-04-03T11:33:00.003-04:00

For everything horrible I've said about John Sterling I have to admit, the man is entertaining. The enthusiasm is infectious! Link swiped from CSTB:

Blogosphere Round Up

2008-04-02T14:04:00.003-04:00

GC at CSTB questions if Pedro's injury is the revenge of Nelson De La Rosa.

Cerrone is optimistic that the injury isn't as bad as initially feared - but warns that the DL is probable and the replacement on the roster will be Nelson Figueroa

Coop wants to know why for once a season can't go off without a hitch

Metstradamus declares the Pedro is quickly approaching the El Duque area - "where your starts are much anticipated, yet nobody expects anything out of you anymore." I tend to agree.

Matt Artus at Always Amazin' has a good run down of the candidates for Pedro's replacement - Personally I don't see how Claudio Vargas hasn't been signed yet

And if there are any fantasy players that read this blog - be sure to check out Nine Bo Jacksons. Pretty much every sentence written is useful in some way and the tools Ike has designed to help with drafts are just plain nasty.

Unbelievable

2008-04-01T23:48:00.004-04:00

Mets lose Pedro, game on Andino’s walkoff homer, 5-4

Expect an unusually smug "I told you so" column from Wally Matthews tomorrow accompanied by a picture of our favorite columnist jamming a dessert fork into a #45 voodoo doll.

Out on a Limb

2008-04-01T18:44:00.006-04:00

BP's Prospectus Preview for today discussing the the Marlins having to face Santana and Pedro on back to back days:

The Marlins will therefore be facing, in back-to-back starts, arguably the best left-handed changeup and best right-handed changeups around. Martinez has used his change to strike out 10.2 per nine for his career, the third-highest rate of all pitchers in history (minimum 1000 IP), while Santana has relied on his for 9.5 K/9, the fifth-best rate all time.

If Pedro can be anything close to as good as he was in September last year for the long haul we may see 2001 D'Backs references thrown around pretty soon. And while I'm well aware that RJ and Schilling were both still throwing 98 with nasty offspeed stuff, I wouldn't be afraid to make the bet that the Mets eclipse the D'Backs record in starts made by the top two starters.

Just a quick refresher:

Schilling (2001): 22-6, 2.98 ERA, 155 ERA+
Johnson (2001): 21-6, 2.49 ERA, 188 ERA+

Let's take a Santana Cy Young season, and Pedro's first full season as a Met:

Santana (2004): 20-6, 2.61 ERA, 182 ERA+
Martinez (2005): 15-8, 2.82 ERA, 145 ERA+

It's possible if Pedro stays healthy. Enjoy Rick VandenHurk.

UPDATE 8:42: It's official. I am the jinx.

Opening Day Thoughts

2008-03-31T18:16:00.003-04:00

Horrendous Umpiring:

Hanley Ramirez struck out before walking ahead of Willingham's eventual HR in the 4th. Reyes was clearly safe when attempting the steal in the 6th. Santana threw at least 5 pitches where an expletive flew out of my mouth in between "where the" and "was that" - and if I remember correctly 2 or 3 of those times Keith, Gary, and Ron agreed. For those keeping score at home, that's one SB for the 2B umpire and 1 H, 1BB, 2ER for the HP umpire. This sport can't get replay fast enough.

Santana:

Having not watched a ton of spring games, all I can say is that his changeup is as good as advertised. The K of Ramirez in the 5th was one of those outs that the Mets didn't get down the stretch last year - it was nice to see.

The Bullpen:

Matt Wise looked underwhelming but his changeup does seem like it could be a great pitch for a one-inning guy. Willie still loves the Show - and I still strongly dislike Willie.

Bottom Line:

1-0

The One Thing I Miss About Captain Red Ass

2008-03-31T17:10:00.002-04:00

Dear Brian Schneider,

This is a hockey goalie's mask:

This is a catcher's mask:

Please make the appropriate adjustments. Thank you.

This Team Makes No Sense

2008-03-28T17:22:00.007-04:00

Put Ruben Gotay on waivers. Watch Ruben Gotay get claimed by the Braves. .318 against RHP - a great bat to have coming off the bench, a great bat to be able to fill in for the middle infielders. A Brave. An Atlanta Brave.

I don't think anyone expected Gotay to be a .296 hitter again, but he was a young player that could come in off the bench and fill in and hit against righties - how is he not on the Opening Day roster?

PECOTA's got him at .261/.329/.408 for 2008. His probable replacement (if he ever gets healthy) is Jose Valentin. PECOTA's got Valentin at .240/.312/.395. And to make it even better, Gotay actually wanted to be on this team.

Another probable replacement will be (again if he ever gets healthy) Damion ".252/.326/.417 in 2008" Easley.

Don't get me wrong. I love 'Stache and I love Easley - but Gotay deserved to be on this team, especially after what he did last season. Yes, he couldn't hit lefties. Yes, he didn't play an OF spot. But with Castillo at 2B who would need a rest probably once a week, what's the problem with having Gotay in there to start against RHP?

To exacerbate the problem, we all know that 'Stache can't hit lefties either - as evidenced by his .211 BA in 2006 and .226 in 2007 (as compared to .288 and .275 against RHP respectively). It would be cheaper - and probably safer - to keep Gotay on to platoon with Easley.

I'll be scratching my head if anyone needs me.

Sweet Hypocrisy

2008-03-25T15:48:00.004-04:00

Image swiped from Brooklyn Met Fan

I love it when Yankee fans don't get what they want and then proclaim that they never wanted it. From a Bugs & Cranks post entitled: Watching the Yanks is Better Than Watching Your Team:

7. Johan Santana is not a Yankee. That makes the Yankees less a group of mercenaries, and more a team with younger, unproven pitchers whom we should enjoy watching develop.

Are you fucking kidding me? As soon as the proposed deal was no longer Hughes and Kennedy almost every Yankee fan and their mother (and their frightening looking owner-spawn) this side of Brian Cashman wanted the deal done.

Now Santana is a "mercenary" and the Yankees are the epitome of a youth movement. But before you can even clean the blood up that was dripping out of your eyeballs from reading that bullshit, the author pulls out this masterpiece:

9. Even if the team sucks this year, many contracts are expiring and I know the Yankees will have the money to go out and pursue CC Sabathia, Japanese pitching phenom Yu Darvish and first baseman Mark Teixiera for 2009.

Hold on, let me get this straight. You're happy the Yankees didn't get Santana because he's a "mercenary" and you're thrilled about the youth movement -- but, if they suck this year you can go out and sign big names to fill the holes. WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

20 seconds ago you wrote that you're happy that the Yankees are mercenary free and without skipping a beat you advocate, wait for it, signing a mercenary.

Pure unabashed brilliance.

A (Not So) Tough Decision

2008-03-24T13:42:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, Willie Randolph announced his starting rotation. This news isn't nearly as exciting as it sounds because Willie didn't really announce anything. He told everyone that he had a solid front 4 and no fifth starter - but that's no problem because the Mets don't even need a fifth starter until the third week of the season!

Why there is even a discussion about the fifth starter spot is a mystery to me. There is a 24-year-old that throws 95 and a 63-year-old that topped out at 81 in his first simulated start. They both got knocked around - Pelfrey to the tune of an 8.31 ERA so far this spring and El Duque 5 runs in 3 innings.

Willie had this to say: “[Pelfrey and Duque] didn’t step up and distinguish themselves.’’

I think everyone can agree on that point - but what they can't agree on is why Duque is in the discussion. He has pitched in one live game, he got smacked around, and the season starts in a week. Start the season with a 4-man rotation and bring up Pelfrey as soon as you need a fifth starter. As for Duque, throw him in the bullpen or trade him I don't particularly care.

All Duque has done the past two seasons is get hurt at big times and leave this team with a gaping hole in the rotation. Pelfrey has shown flashes of brilliance (and admittedly flashes of mediocrity as well) and deserves a spot - at least to start the season. If it's May 15th and Pelfrey is routinely getting knocked around then we can get worried and start blasting the lack of starting pitching depth. As of right now though, Pelfrey needs to start.

Is he the next Doc? I think we've established that he isn't. But we need to find out if he's an upgraded cog in Generation K 2.0 or if he's someone that can contribute to this team now. Not including him in the Santana deal makes no sense of he's not going to get a chance to play and prove himself. There's nothing left to learn at AAA - call the Professor and get Pelfrey suited up, the season starts in 7 days.

Business Related Side Note

2008-03-15T21:46:00.003-04:00

As a huge baseball fan and notsomuch football fan I'm constantly reminded how football is America's "New Pastime" and how nobody cares about baseball anymore. I readily conceded that point to football junkies on a regular basis. So, you could imagine that I found this interesting. From Rany on the Royals (courtesy of bizofbaseball):

The combined revenue of all 30 MLB teams last season was $6.075 billion. By comparison, the NFL was at $6.3 billion, and several projections are forecasting that MLB will overtake the NFL in revenue in 2008. Furthermore, as Maury points out, the MLB Network hits the airwaves in a year, and as baseball has already very sensibly worked out contracts with the major cable and satellite providers to ensure most of the country will have access (unlike, say, the NFL Network), there’s likely to be a further bump in revenue over the next few years.

Jazayerli goes on to point out that the MLB Network will have daily viewer ship and breaking highlights for 6 months along with the fact that only the diehardiest of diehards want to watch 6 gours of the combine or the NFL Network in the offseason. These are generally good points all around, although I have to admit I enjoy watching the random hour-long specials on the NFL Network of the 1994 Cincinnati Bengals.

It appears that baseball is as healthy as its ever been -- steroids or no steroids. And it's nice to see.

Farewell Professor Reyes

2008-03-13T13:24:00.007-04:00

Adam Rubin reports today that Jose Reyes is officially retiring from Professor Reyes' Spanish Academy. We have reached a crossroads my friends. Today truly marks the end of another great era in Mets History.

Professor Reyes, you will be missed.

Don't Fuck With Marty

2008-03-11T11:09:00.007-04:00

Would you insult this man's baseball intelligence? You probably should, but that's not why we're here today. We're here to ask why he is such a d-bag in responding to mailbag questions that even hint at using stats as a way of looking at players.

I understand that 99.99999% of the emails that this guy receives are something along the lines of "Yo Marty, you think the Mets can trade Schneider and Pelfrey to the Tribe for C.C. and Victor Martinez - Love, Sal from Brooklyn," but Marty seems to be getting a tad feisty these past couple of mailbags.

In his latest mailbag, Marty Noble graces our feeble minds with his heightened baseball knowledge by tossing this "answer" out there.

Brian Schneider's statistics suggest he has a strong preference against batting eighth in the order. Between 2005-07, Schneider has batted .279 (.768 OPS) in 559 at-bats in the seven-hole but only .220 (.598 OPS) in 409 at-bats batting eighth.

To put it in perspective, that is the difference between Brian McCann and Jason Kendall. The trend holds for each of the past three years; Schneider's OPS has been at least 140 points higher in the seven-hole each year. Any chance the Mets bat Schneider higher due to his history of not producing at the bottom of the order?
-- Kevin K., Washington. D.C.

Put away the calculator for a moment and understand that a batter's place in the order is at least partially a function of what other players do well and poorly. Schneider is not going to bat first, third, fourth or fifth for the Mets. The more plate appearances available to players with higher on-base percentages, the more often the batting order turns over and the more scoring opportunities develop. And Schenider isn't an on-base guy no matter where he bats.

That said and with all due respect to the your number crunching, how many players do you suppose would hit more productively batting eighth with the pitcher behind them than batting elsewhere? And do you suppose the player the Mets would bat eighth in place of Schneider wouldn't be similarly affected?

Yes Kevin K, put away the calculator. Such machines frighten and confuse Marty. Notice the "I'm Marty Noble, bitch!" attitude in such phrases as: "With all due respect to your number crunching" and "do you suppose..."

I also didn't see where Kevin suggested that Schneider bat 1st, 3rd, 4th, or 5th. I only see where he suggested 7th. Based on the numbers Kevin K threw out there, this wasn't a suggestion that necessitated the holier than thou response of the great Marty Noble. A simple look at Schneider's BaseballReference page would have let Marty respond rationally by telling Kevin K that over the course of his career Schneider's splits in the 7th v. 8th hole are only .265/.244 and .725/.702 (BA and OPS). His marginally increased production could be attributed to many things, but the key point to understand is this: he can't hit either way.

I can imagine Marty on the phone dictating this acerbic response to his editor with the same smug grin on his face as in the above picture while the editor is still trying to understand why this guy doesn't just buy a goddamn computer.

And It Begins

2008-03-06T23:10:00.008-05:00

As everyone is already well aware, Moises is out for 4-6 weeks with a hernia. Since nobody reading here missed last season, it's safe to say that we can assume that means more like 6-8 weeks. Why is this inevitable injury such a big deal? I'm glad you asked, fellow sports fans.

It's a big deal because it exposes the ridiculously laughable lack of productive corner outfielders in the organization. Fiery comments about the Lastings trade aside, it's a touch comforting to know that even without the Lastings trade we'd be stuck in the same predicament -- except Da Edge would be in RF instead of the man who currently vomits everytime he sees daylight.

Omar held a press conference today to address the "Alou situation" and claimed that there was a good chance the team would fill the hole "with someone internal right now." I'd imagine so since there's nobody left to trade besides F-Mart and Niese and I'd imagine they're both untouchable right now -- but assuming Omar does stand pat, let's take a look at what will be coming out of the LF spot for the first month and a half to two months of the season. Drumroll...

Angel Pagan: Impressive so far this spring, but underwhelming for his career. His 2008 PECOTA looks like this: .249/.313/.389. Not terrible, but not what you want from a corner outfielder. He's good defensively though!

Endy Chavez: Oh, that's right. He's injured too! We know he's great with the glove - but we also know that when he plays every day he's just not a servicable option in a corner OF spot. 2008 PECOTA: .282/.334/.362

Damion Easley: Oops! Another one bites the dust. Plus the fact that he's an infielder.

Marlon Anderson: Another IF whose holes become glaring if he plays everyday. His PECOTA looks better than Pagan's though - but perhaps not enough to offset the defensive dropoff: .264/.346/.430

Now let's take a trip down trade-some-more-prospects-for-a-quick-fix lane and examine some options that are universally regarded as "available" should Omar decide to make a deal:

Xavier Nady: Perfect fit and would love to see it - but who are we trading to get him? 2008 PECOTA: .280/.340/.470

Matt Murton: Meh. In the words of BP: "Let's be honest, Matt Murton is a good, well rounded hitter, but it looks as though he's going to peak as about a .275-EqA bat, and you can subtract a few points from that for his propensity to make boneheaded plays in the OF" PECOTA puts him around the same offensive output as Nady: .295/.359/.462

Scott Hairston: Yeah. That'll work. .258/.332/.469 - Maybe if he could replicate his .644 SLG from last season's stint with the Padres, but I doubt it considering that number was preceded by a .222/.301/.358 performance in Arizona over the first half of the season. He has had a SLG above .600 in AAA but he strikes out a ton and doesn't walk nearly enough. The verdict? Let him stay in SD and forever curse Trevor Hoffman's name.

Nelson Cruz: Find a non-die hard who even knows who he is and I'll mail you a dollar. PECOTA's got him at .256/.323/.453 for 2008. Not terrible, but not worth giving up anything to get in return.

So that's it. That is your depressing tour of what one of the "power" positions will likely look like for April and most of May 2008. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008 New York Mets!

Worried Yet?

2008-03-04T11:47:00.004-05:00

Despite all the feel good "he broke down his swing and built it back from scratch" articles, Delgado still can't catch up with an inside fastball. And he's hurt again.

El Duque's many root canals are catching up with him. He hasn't even thrown batting practice yet.

Luis Castillo may not ever play in a spring game because his knees are held together by bazooka and masking tape.

Ruben Gotay's ankle may been broken and now we have to be ready to cross our fingers that Stache can make a much speedier recovery than expected and be on the bench for Opening Day.

Filthy Sanchez had an "underwhelming" fastball when he threw on Friday and hasn't even long tossed since. The Professor says that he's "still building arm strength."

Ryan Church had his possibly anti-semitic clock rung by Marlon Anderson and has to wear sunglasses to protect his sensitive eyes from the light.

And as if it couldn't get any worse, Wally Matthews ripped off an idea from the Mets blogosphere and penned a column suggesting "funny" slogans for the Mets to adopt this season. To add insult to injury, his final "witty" suggestion is "Wake Me Up When September Ends." Way to stay on top of those pop culture references Wally...but Benigno and Screech used the song for their fantastic montage of the final day of the season's highlights.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2008 New York Mets!

Juan Gone

2008-02-29T13:21:00.005-05:00

One at bat in the majors since 2004. One pitch from TBPiB. One moonshot over the outstretched glove of Pee-Hands.

The only thing that could have made it any more hilarious is if Moises' knee exploded as he leaped to try and make a play.

Our Prospects Are Good....Right?

2008-02-28T17:43:00.008-05:00

I know this is weeks late, but it was too funny not to post. Metsblog's Jordan Zakarin interviewed Kevin Goldstein of BP on Valentine's Day and this happened. I bolded the especially memorable parts.

Jordan Zakarin: One of the most intriguing guys in the Mets system is Scott Moviel – obviously has a high ceiling, but the Mets were seemingly recently burned with a big right hander in Mike Pelfrey. Are there legit similarities there, and can Moviel perhaps turn into a top of the line prospect?

Kevin Goldstein: I don’t see the similarities really, other than the tall, right-handedness.

Jordan Zakarin: So that’s a good thing?

Kevin Goldstein: Moviel is all projection, while Pelfrey has some really good stuff now — at least the fastball. Moviel is one of those players you can dream on — he could turn into a top of the line prospect, but keep in mind, that every system has this guy. The big, projectable pitcher. A few of them turn into really nice prospects, and most fall by the wayside. Still, to even have a player with that chance is a good thing.

Jordan Zakarin: Sounds like the Mets were pleasantly surprised with his initial performance, though.

Kevin Goldstein: Yes — he took very well to coaching, showed some early feel for a changeup, and threw more strikes than expected.

Jordan Zakarin: Okay, another draftee with upside, Brant Rustich – some say he had some of the best pure stuff in the draft – if he really did gain that command he showed in his pro debut, what’s his ceiling, and is there a chance he’s a starter?

Kevin Goldstein: He’s probably a reliever in the end. Rustich has very good raw stuff, but whoever said it was the best in the draft was smoking something. His fastball/slider combination gives him two plus pitches that profile best in relief, as he doesn’t have much of a changeup. The control hit seems like a total fluke, based on what he did at UCLA, and the fact that he wasn’t throwing strikes in Hawaii.

Jordan Zakarin: He was hurt while at UCLA though, right? He said that really hurt his command, when I talked to him.

Kevin Goldstein: Sure, but not always. It’s not like he was a world beater when his finger was fine. He’s mechanically a little messy, and until he consistently throws strikes, he’s not going to have a lot of believers in him… For a guy with an ERA over six in college, to still go in the second round, that tells you his stuff is pretty impressive — but he’s got a long way to go.

Jordan Zakarin: Okay, another draftee coming from the pen — Eddie Kunz – set up man, or potential closer? Did his tough pro debut take away some of the luster, or was he just tired from non-stop pitching the last two years?

Kevin Goldstein: I see him as almost a borderline closer. It could happen, but I’m not sold on it yet. I don’t think his debut really dinged him too much, even Mets knew that he wasn’t one of those college fast-track relievers and might take a bit to develop.

Jordan Zakarin: So he’s not on the Joe Smith track, per se?

Kevin Goldstein: Not unless he starts throwing a ton of strikes.

…as i said on Tuesday, big thanks to kevin, who took out a huge chunk of time to do another interview with me…

…it seems that the Mets still have some decent prospects, it’s just more an issue of a lack of real close-to-the-majors, high-ceiling guys…the thing is, kevin is more optimistic than i had anticipated about the big picture, maybe because the big league team has a real chance to win…but, there are some younger, further away, high-ceiling guys there, which is better than having just a bunch of future utilitymen…

…as i keep saying, this draft, in which the Mets will have three picks inside the first 33, will be very, very important…

Ok, now here is the first comment from the post (which was not by me, though I wish it was):

Comment by The Milledge Idiot
2008-02-14 12:55:36

Jordan: The Mets prospects are good, right!?

Kevin: No.

Jordan: They’re good, right!?

Kevin: No.

Jordan: I’ve heard great things, they’re going to be great!

Kevin: No.

That - as Kenny Bania would say - is gold.

I know it happens at the start of every Spring Training, but is it me or does it seem like the prospect hype is going a little above and beyond this season? The Mets have always overhyped their prospects. See, e.g. "Generation K." But this year on Mets.com, Metsblog, you name the official outlet, it just seems like there is a constant stream of "we have good prospects in the system, you just haven't heard of them!"

Not according to BP.

Dear Jon, Get Off Jimmy's Nuts

2008-02-26T11:25:00.007-05:00

Jon Heyman's aversion to rational inferences based on statistics is well documented at places like FJM, but his dislike of the Mets - or love of Jimmy Rollins - has never been that apparent to me. That is, until I read his latest contribution to SI:

The Mets may unseat the Phillies as NL East champions this year, but there's no sense in trying to beat NL MVP and trash talker extraordinaire Jimmy Rollins at his own game.
Quiet Mets star Carlos Beltran gave it a surprise shot when he got to camp, borrowing Rollins' exact line from last spring in declaring the Mets as "the team to beat." But as Phillies pitcher Brett Myers noted, "Sequels are never as good as the original.''

And then Rollins chimed in the next day, "Has anyone ever heard of plagiarism?''
Beltran, a nice, laconic, well-groomed fellow, stunned folks with his rare back-page fodder. But Rollins holds the patent. He gets all the credit, with only an assist from the Mets for their reaction last spring. "I thank the Mets,'' Rollins said. "They took it upon themselves to take it personally.

Beltran and other Mets types are understandably excited about the acquisition of ace pitcher Johan Santana. Yet the Mets should hold their tongues now for two very good reasons: 1) They had their chance last spring when Rollins spoke, but to a man, they were afraid to speak up, a reticence that was later reflected in the way they played -- scared; and 2) Philly beat the Mets to a pulp down the stretch, winning the last seven head-to-head games.

Beltran gave it a shot. But under the circumstances his words came off as a pale impersonation of the master.

Ok. Besides the excess verbiage (Laconic? Really Jon?), Heyman seems to imply that the Mets should have answered the challenge last spring when *The MVP* declared the Phillies "the team to beat." Jon Heyman, you're a moron. There, I said it.

I'll go out on a limb and say that the only people calling for any Met player to publicly answer Rollins statements were Vinny from Staten Island and Paulie from Bay Ridge - and they were both "first time, long time."

I can't remember a single person in the media that wanted a Met to answer Rollins. If I remember correctly, the opposite was true. Rollins was viewed as a trash talking SS on a historically losing franchise. Why waste breath in answering him? All anyone wanted the Mets to do was go out on the field and take care of business much like they did on Opening Day.

Now, after The Collapse®, Jon Heyman is talking shit about the Mets saying how they should have manned up and fired a shot back? Get the fuck out of here Heyman, you're embarrassing yourself.

Puff Piece

2008-02-25T14:44:00.003-05:00

(If you look closely you can see Fernando Tatis)

As JP at Blastings Thrilledge has already pointed out, the talented writers over at Baseball Analysts have been posting about the young guns ready to make an impact in 2008 from each division. This is what they have to say about the 2008 Mets:

The Mets are beginning to look a lot like the Yankees… by clubbing the rest of the organizations in their division with their checkbook. Mind you, the Mets are arguably more talented on the field at this point with the Yankees aging and a number of young players unproven. As a result of recent acquisitions, such as that minor trade that netted one of the best pitchers in baseball, the Mets do not appear as though they will entrust significant playing time to any rookies in 2008, barring a run on catastrophic injuries.

Music to Mets fans' ears! Well, we already knew that. Any Mets fan paying attention knows the only thing left in the minors is F-Mart. And most Mets fans are content with that for now seeing as how the depletion was the result of the Santana trade. So to recap: The Mets minor league system is barren...

Not according to the Mets!

The propaganda machine that I interviewed to work with - and was summarily dinged - churned out this beauty on Jonathon Niese this past week.

In case you hadn't been paying attention, Niese was drafted in '05 and spent the last two season in A-ball. His numbers aren't that impressive (4.29 ERA and 1.35 WHIP last year) especially considering it's in single-A. The one thing that stuck out for me is how dramatically he cut his BB rate from '06 to '07. Niese had slightly over a 2:1 K:BB ratio in 2006 and he raised to just over 3:1 in 2007.

In case anyone cares, Sickels ranked Niese the organizations #5 prospect (before the Santana deal) for 2008. He was ranked above both Humber and Joe Smith. Now I'd imagine it's a toss up between Niese and Eddie Kunz for the #2 prospect in the organization!

It's a sad, sad state of affairs. Emphasized by the fact that Jay Horowitz & Co. (aka "Marty Noble") felt the need to start hyping a pitcher who by all accounts will start a third straight year in A-ball with a career ERA of 4.09.

Don't fear Mets fans, help is on the way.

The Professor & His Balls

2008-02-22T15:55:00.004-05:00

Caption contest time! Post in the comments.

"Really Rick? Victor Zambrano? 10 minutes?"

Check out more pictures here. Happy weekend.

Jesus Christ

2008-02-21T11:32:00.004-05:00

Can't the world-beaters in the marketing department leave well enough alone?

I woke up to read this email this morning:

How can this team, a team who blew a 12...well you all know what happened, stand on a pedestal and offer a ticket package entitled "Team to Beat" Pack? I'd sign on for a "Let's Wait and See" Pack or even a "We'll Probably Win the Division, but Let's Not Jump to Conclusions" Pack, but "Team to Beat?"

There was a reason why it was so easy to root against the Phillies and Jimmy Rollins last season. I think it had something to do with a SS making bold predictions before the season started.

As Metstradamus has lamented, these comments coming from Beltran's mouth is one thing, having the team latch onto it and turn it into a marketing campaign is another.

The 2008 Mets: Let's Jinx This Motherfucker Before We Even Play a Game.

A Tale of Two LOOGYs

2008-02-20T13:44:00.008-05:00

JP's recent post examining the Mets bullpen over at Blastings! Thrilledge got me thinking about the state of the 2008 bullpen. Besides overpaying for Jorge Sosa and the return of the Sanchez not much has been written on the relief corps. I found that to be ironic, seeing as the bullpen played a large role in the Collapse® of 2007.

From a - very - cursory look at the stats it looks like carrying both Pedro Feliciano and Scott Schoeneweis this season will be a mistake that will likely cost Joe Smith, Matt Wise, or Filthy Sanchez a roster spot.

While many people claimed that Feliciano solidified his spot last season as a legitimate reliever, his numbers against RHB proved that while he wasn't terrible against RHB - there were still far better options in the pen:

Feliciano vs. RHB:   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS
                .221  .325  .371  .697

He was much, much better against LHB (.168 BAA, .211 SLG, .483 OPS) - his problem like in 2006 was walking too many batters.

Compare the numbers of the other members of the bullpen against RHB last season to Feliciano's numbers against righties.

                 BA   OBP   SLG   OPS
Heilman:       .218  .263  .305  .568
Sosa:          .202  .253  .296  .549
Smith:         .266  .361  .359  .720
Sanchez ('06)  .179  .275  .226  .501
_____________________________________

                 BA   OBP   SLG   OPS
The Show:      .316  .390  .574  .963
Wagner:        .209  .268  .318  .587

It's clear that Feliciano holds RHB to around the same BA as the better RHP in the Mets pen, but when the RHB make contact they hit it a lot harder and further (he also walks a bunch of them). In fact, the only RHP in the bullpen that was worse against RHB was Smith, and PECOTA and ZiPS project him to be much improved in 2008.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that while Feliciano isn't terrible against righties - he isn't great either, and he shouldn't be facing them with so many other viable RHP options in the bullpen.

Because Schoeneweis' numbers against righties are so awful his value would be maximized by making him strictly a LOOGY as JP pointed out over at BT. If you need anymore proof check this out (hat tip to BT).

It would appear, however, that carrying him as a LOOGY would force Feliciano into bigger spots (non 1-2 out situations) against RHB. As we have seen, RHB reach base against him at a far higher clip than they do other members of the pen.

However, Omar did sign Schoeneweis for way too much money and Willie will probably give him another shot to get everyone out this year so we should probably all brace ourselves for more moonshots exiting Shea over the head of a angry and frustrated Scotty Show. I, for one, can't wait.

Sorry for the rambling. None of this matters anyway - the manager doesn't know how to use the bullpen. Thank you Joe Torre.

Fail

2008-02-16T22:38:00.004-05:00

I miss Benny Agbayani.

Thanks to Riding with Rickey for the link to the Fail Blog:

Captain Red Ass Speaks

2008-02-16T14:48:00.005-05:00

Breaking his long silence since being named in the Mitchell Report, the author of the famous "my phone is TOAST" note on Dodgers stationary has expressed his deep sorrow and regret.

"In regards to Senator [George] Mitchell's report," Lo Duca said in a written statement, "I apologize to my family, all my fans and to the entire baseball community for [the] mistakes in judgment I made in the past and for the distractions that resulted. I am fully committed to being the best player and person I can be, on and off the field, for the Washington Nationals and the entire baseball community.
"I recognize the importance of my role in the community as a professional athlete, and I intend to focus my energies on making a positive impact in that regard. So that I can focus on making positive contributions and avoid creating further distractions, I respectfully decline to comment any further on the content of the Mitchell Report."

Good damage control Paulie, but you're still bat-shit crazy. Both for cheating on your playmate wife with Stoneonta's finest and trying to kill umpires after a strike two call.

Oh, and by the way, don't think that just because Crazy Eyes is off the juice he's not still going to go .500/6/36 in the 18 games the Mets play the Nats. The 2008 Mets: Your Beatdown at the Hands of LoDuca and Milledge Has Come!

Pedro's Juicing

2008-02-15T10:57:00.004-05:00

On eggs, mangoes and OTC pain reliever/fever reducers. Link stolen from CSTB:

Martinez did have some pointed words, however, for the reporter who once called him a prima donna.

“I have a small frame and when I hurt all I could do was take a couple of Aleve or Advil, a cup of coffee and a little mango and an egg — and let it go!” he said.

Martinez’s point: He wasn’t going to try human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing substance. In fact, he would welcome a more stringent drug-testing program in baseball.

“I dominated that era and I did it clean,” he said. “I can stand by my numbers and I can be proud of them.”

A couple Aleve? A badass if there ever was one. Juice on my friend, juice on.

Check It Out

2008-02-14T15:43:00.004-05:00

I encourage each of this blog's 4 readers to check out Rany Jazayerli's new blog about everyone's favorite team, the Kansas City Royals. Rany is a great writer (Baseball Prospectus, ESPN.com, etc.) and his insights on the Royals should be a good read for anyone interested in baseball as a whole.

As for the Mets...Filthy Sanchez is working out the hardest he has since he was 19 and Spring Training is officially underway. Since there's no catchy slogan this year, (i.e. Your Season Has Come!) let me be the first to make a suggestion -The 2008 New York Mets: Willie's Ass is On the Line!

We Need Answers

2008-02-13T11:44:00.002-05:00

The highlight so far of Jayson Stark's live blog of the Clemens hearings:

11:01 a.m. ET
Just a thought as the questioning of the Rocket gets rolling: Since he's under oath, any chance one of these Congressmen could ask Roger what the heck actually happened when he threw that bat at Mike Piazza? He didn't really think that was the ball, did he? Sorry to digress. Just thinking.

Enjoy the rest of the day.

Saint Tony

2008-02-12T15:45:00.000-05:00

Did you know that Carlos Beltran not only speaks English, but also follows his team in the offseason? Shove that in your pipe LoDuca. And while Carlos apparently doesn't have access to a television or internet access in beautiful Puerto Rico to follow the team on his own - he never has to worry about being up to date on essential Mets-related news and information:

"I paid a lot of attention to this," the Mets' center fielder said of his team's offseason, made prosperous with the trade for Johan Santana.
Assistant general manager Tony Bernazard kept him apprised by phone, but Beltran wants to look down the aisle of lockers in the Mets' clubhouse in Port St. Lucie, Fla., to see Santana.

Well thank you Tony! We could have a CF who didn't even know we acquired the BPInB if it wasn't for you!

And guess what baseball fans...Carlos doesn't yet feel 100%!!!!!

Beltran had both knees scoped over the winter.
"I don't feel 100 percent, but I hope to be by the start of the season," Beltran said. "I couldn't play anymore like that. I didn't feel pain as much as I did weakness.
"I just want to be 100 percent and to be able to do a lot more."

Ladies and Gentlemen your 2008 New York Mets! Your Collapse Has Come!

Big Wally Style

2008-02-08T20:28:00.000-05:00

Even when just about everyone in baseball is high on the Mets, our old friend Wally just can't resist being a big downer. Apparently Met fans haven't been sleeping for a week - they've been planning on all the different ways they're going to boo Johan out of Shea:

What will be acceptable production? Twenty wins? Twenty-five? Thirty? Or just enough to get them to October, when the judgment process will begin all over again. For all his regular-season brilliance, Santana's postseason record with the Twins was a so-so 1-3 with a 3.97 ERA.

I was waiting for the first opinion on Santana's playoff record. You got him Wally, he's a regular A-Rod in the clutch. What Wal-Dog forgot to mention is that after his first 3 rocky outings in 2002 and 2003, Johan has allowed 3 ER in 20 postseason IP - that's a 1.35 ERA but who's keeping track? Oh, and Wally...one more thing. In 2004 Johan pitched 12 innings in the ALDS against the beloved Yankees. His line you ask? 1 W, 12 IP, 1 ER. What a C-H-O-K-E-R! Destined to make an ass out of himself on the grandest stage of them all!

The rest of the column was Wally praying out loud that Santana crack under the pressure of playing in New York. Because honestly, if Santana goes 20-5 with a sub-3 ERA, what will The Keeg's former radio partner have to write about?

Remember how Mets fans made Carlos Beltran's life hell for his first season and a half? And how last year, Carlos Delgado could barely poke his head out of the dugout without being showered with boos? The good news for them is, they've moved down the payroll list. There's a new kid in town, with a bigger paycheck and, presumably, a bigger target on his back.

Yes Wally, Mets fans just can't wait to boo the living piss out of the best pitcher in baseball. In fact, I just dropped $250 on a custom-ordered "Overpaid" #57 jersey. Honestly, someone at Newsday needs to tell Mr. Matthews that when he needs to reach this far to bash the Mets he should just stick to bashing Roy Jones Jr.

Jealous Much?

2008-02-07T22:42:00.001-05:00

This link (and commentary) is swiped from Fire Joe Morgan...which is arguably the best sports blog on teh interwebs. The article is written by Rich Hofmann of the Philly Daily News, the commentary by KT of FJM (for anyone not familiar with FJM, the original article is bold and the commentary is normal):

The Mets themselves said all of the right things - third baseman David Wright said the Phillies were still the team to beat in the National League East, as did Randolph - but this was quite the welcome for Santana, the two-time Cy Young winner. And listening to the radio on the way home, you could tell it was clear that all of the pomp and circumstance has led Mets fans to the inescapable conclusion that they already have won the World Series, before the first golf club has been shipped to spring training.

Well, they did collapse last year, in horrific, almost 2004 ALCS Yankees-esque fashion. But they were 7th in the NL in team ERA, and 6th in Ks, and they really didn't have a #1 starter. Though their offense struggled late, if they had Santana last year, they'd've made the playoffs easily. So, despite Moises Alou being 58, and Glavine leaving, and Pedro being a wild card, you have to say that getting Santana makes them pretty effing tough.
And, in that spirit, Santana raised his hands at one point and showed off all the World Series rings he won in Minnesota.

Oh, wait.
Ha ha ha ha! He never won a World Series in Minnesota! What a douche. Only jerks and losers don't win World Series titles by themselves.
Santana has won 70 games in the last four years. Here's how the Twins have ended the season in runs scored in those four years: 12th, 8th, 14th (last), 10th.
"It takes 25 players," Santana said, more than once, in response to more than one question in more than one language. He seems a sincere sort, and he has been a great and durable pitcher (although only 15-13 last season).
His team had a .721 OPS. That's 13th out of 14 teams. The league -- the American League, mind you -- batted .225 off him with a .273 OBP. He had 55 more Ks than anyone on the Mets. And this was a down year for Santana.
His career ERA+ is 141. His career WHIP is under 1.1. He Ks 9.5/9 IP. His DERA is 3.20. He is left-handed. His change-up looks like it's being controlled by a dude playing RBI Baseball, who can maneuver it mid-air with a joystick. He is 28.
These are all things you could have written that would have been more relevant than "only 15-13 last year."

The RBI Baseball reference is gold. Pure gold.

Note that the sub-head is "

New York disgustingly canonizes new ace before he even pitches

I'm pretty fucking sure that it's ok to "canonize" Saint Johan before he pitches. A 141 career ERA+ entitles you to that kind of treatment. I'm sure if the Phillies had landed Santana Rich would have kicked him in the nuts threw a battery at his head and said "welcome to Philadelphia."

Since when is it over the top to hold a press conference after a major trade/FA signing and have the player talk to the media/take pictures with the team? Didn't they do the same thing at the Brad Lidge press conference...

And just for shits and giggles, Hofmann throws the obligatory collapse punch right at the end:

The Mets do not want to find out [what will happen if they are in a long divisional fight]... Because they just spent up to $150 million on one of those green Christmas-tree things you hang from the rearview mirror. They would hate to find out that it failed to mask the stench of 7/17.
(That's 7-game lead with 17 to play, not July 17th.)

I'm failing to comprehend how Johan Santana is the equivalent of "those green Christmas-tree things you hang in the rearview mirror." First of all, it's called an air freshener Rich. Second of all, does Santana smell like Pine Sol? Last time I checked making a trade for a dominant starter wasn't to mask the stench of a previous season - it was to make next season's team better.

But alas, that wasn't even the best line that Hofmann scribbled. My favorite part? The spot where he takes a swipe at the fact that Santana doesn't have any rings. You're right Rich, we probably should have signed Livan and his championship instead.

D-U-N Done

2008-02-01T18:43:00.000-05:00

According to Metsblog and ESPN news...Santana is officially a Met.

Celebrate.

We Still Have One Prospect Left!

2008-01-31T20:00:00.000-05:00

Attention, attention: This utterly fantastic piece of "artwork" is Used by Permission from Youth Change Workshops.

Voros McCracken manages to slam the Santana trade from both sides:

From the Mets point of view, considering that they look pretty incapable of developing a coherent plan for the future other than spend, spend and hope Wright and Reyes carry the lineup for the next decade, this is an excellent deal. If you don’t know how to use a scalpel, power up the chainsaw and carve away. The Mets are doing that by adding Santana to the rotation.

While the positive commentary vastly outweighs the negative commentary, those who are shining light on the dark underbelly of the Santana deal make some valid points.

I'd assume McCracken's premise is that instead of grooming their young pitchers for the majors, they shipped them off to the frozen tundra for one of the greatest pitchers of the past 5 years. Point taken. The fact remains, however, that the Mets held onto a pitcher who was once considered a "no-brainer" in Pelfrey and didn't give up their highest ranked prospect in Fernando Martinez. I understand that trading away Mulvey, Humber and Guerra was like taking a chainsaw to the farm system, but the deal also has the earmarks of a carefully prepared surgery as well (needed to get that scalpel reference in there somehow).

If Omar really took the McCracken-proverbial chainsaw to the body of the organization, he would have happily pulled the trigger at the Winter Meetings where we can only assume (based on the Red Sox & Yankee packages) that the asking price was much higher. Instead, Omar (again, I assume) trusted his instincts and sat back and waited for the price to get reasonable. When the price was reasonable (and nobody is arguing that it wasn't) Omar pulled the trigger. It just so happens that he employed both the chainsaw and the scalpel in executing this deal.

The second piece of not-so-happiness comes from JP at Blastings! Thrilledge. On the whole, JP isn't upset with the deal - it's the direction the Mets are headed in that he criticizes:

We won't forget [the collapse]. We will not be forced into optimism. And we will never give up hope that one day, the Mets will be an organization that develops young players and gives them starting jobs in the major leagues. As great as Santana is, his acquisition is a blow in that regard.

The Santana deal appears to be Yankee-ball at its finest. Trade away your young talent for a premier player. Well, we all know where that got the Yankees since 2001, and JP has reason to be concerned for the future.

I will not say the Mets philosophy will change and that they'll begin to develop prospects and give them a chance to succeed in the majors. I will say that as long as the Wilpon's are running the show, the constant pressure to win and compete with the Yankees - as asinine as it may be - will continue to permeate the organization as it has for as long as I can remember.

As fans, we should be thankful that we acquired the premier pitcher in the game in this deal. Based on past performance of an unnamed, semi-retarded BBTN analyst, Mets fans know that we could have traded those 4 prospects for a Gil Meche equivalent.

I don't condone the activity or philosophy of the Mets front office, nor do I think it will be beneficial in the long run - but for this trade, at least for the moment, the philosophy appears to have helped, rather than hurt, the team.

7.5

2008-01-30T12:47:00.000-05:00

Yes, seven-and-a-half. That's how many wins Johan Santana is worth over a replacement player according to Baseball Prospectus. Take a look at the PECOTA projections for Santana as a Met in 2008:

         GS  W-L   IP      H     BB   SO    HR   ERA   
Mets     32  16-8  225.0   184   60   239   25   2.94 

       SuperVORP  WARP   MORP
         56.8       7.5    $22,400,000

Granted, BP defines a "replacement player" as someone extraordinarily bad and if an entire team was made up of replacement players it would project to win 20-25 games in a 162 game season. But without Santana who were the Mets other options in the final rotation spot? Based on his aggregate performance last season, Mike Pelfrey, at this point in his career, isn't much better. In fact, in 2006 with very similar WHIP, ERA, and ERA+ Pelfrey's WARP was 0.3.

Assuming that Livan Hernandez would be manning that spot and not Pelfrey still gives the Mets around 4.5 wins this season, as Livan's WARP has been hovering around 3 for the past three seasons.

PECOTA also has Santana's homeruns allowed returning to 2004-2006 type levels. As Nate Silver notes in the BP article, Santana was always a flyball pitcher it just seems more of the flyballs are leaving the parks at this point in his career. Either way, one would assume that pitching at Shea would help this HR problem. Well, like most assumptions, that would be wrong. Based on park factors alone, Shea is more HR-friendly than the Metrodome. It would appear - based on the 2008 PECOTA projections - that last season's increase in HR allowed was either a blip on the radar or Santana will benefit from facing less potent lineups in the National League.

One Santana should also get a boost from making half his starts on grass instead of carpet which could also reflected in the 13 less hits PECOTA projects him to allow as Met instead of a Twin. The park factors back this up for 1B and 3B, and as you would expect with its bigger gaps Shea plays better for 2B hitters.

Any way you look a it the Mets added the premier pitcher in baseball without giving up their blue chip prospect or major league talent. Unless Mulvey and Humber are anchoring that Twins rotation and Gomez is making his 2nd AS appearance in 2010 while Johan is in Port St. Lucie rehabbing his (for the second time) surgically repaired elbow, I'd go out on a limb and say the deal was a good idea.

Done Deal

2008-01-29T16:54:00.000-05:00

Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via - as always - MLB Trade Rumors) reports that Santana to the Mets is a done deal. The package is supposedly what we all expected - Gomez, Humber, Mulvey, and Guerra.

This was just confirmed in the NY Daily News by Bill Madden and WFAN is also reporting it. Omar and Jeffy have 48-72 hours to work an extension out with Santana before the deal is finalized.

The fact that the Mets acquired the best LHP in the game without dealing our top prospect is even more impressive when you realize that both the Red Sox and Yankees best packages included their best prospects.

Santana, Pedro, Maine, Ollie, Duque. Who isn't excited?

Now I have to get that Baseball Prospectus subscription and finish the analysis of the trade...

Pedro's Small Stature and Fragility = Key to 2008 Mets Success?

2008-01-28T12:34:00.000-05:00

This is quite possibly one of the best ideas I've heard in a while. Tim Marchman suggests that the Mets would be better off using a 6-man rotation (at least to start the season). Thanks to Repoz for the link.

Maine and Perez both perform better on long rest, El Duque cannot make more than 25 or so starts in a season, and Martinez will presumably need extra rest; but none of this need be a problem. Assuming the Mets sign Livan Hernandez, they could put Pelfrey, Humber, or even Aaron Heilman a clear shot at a job by running a six-man rotation for a month or two at the beginning of the season, saving their best pitchers' arms for the stretch. Something like this could turn a weakness into a strength.

While the argument is strong, I doubt the Mets would ever entertain the idea. It's true that Pedro was kept on 5 days rest throughout September last season (if I remember correctly), but that was more a product of not over extending him and keeping him fresh for that oh so magical 2007 playoff run.

And while any Met fan will tell you that it appeared as if Maine and Perez tired down the stretch, the numbers back it up. Here were John Maine's ERA numbers by month:

Mar/Apr: 1.35
May: 4.50
June: 2.66
July: 3.56
August: 6.32
Sept/Oct: 5.93

1st Half: 2.71
2nd Half: 5.53

Remember that September/October had the near no-no in there as well.

Now, Maine's BABIP rose to .318 in the 2nd half from .253 in the first, but that could just as easily be the result of him leaving pitches up/losing velocity as it meaning he was unlucky.

Another interesting stat of Maine's is that his ERA in wins was 1.75 and - stunningly - his ERA in losses was 8.75. Compare that to a 4.02 mark in NDs and it seems to back up the fact that when things aren't going well Maine loses focus (i.e. mentally implodes).

Oliver Perez's numbers over the same period are as follows:

Mar/Apr: 3.86
May: 2.01
June: 4.06
July: 1.40
August: 5.19
Sept/Oct: 4.45

1st Half: 3.14
2nd Half: 4.04

Ollie's 2nd half numbers are skewed by his outstanding July, but his numbers also ballooned in August and September as compared to the rest of his season. Even more telling, his BABIP also skyrocketed from .240 in the 1st half to .312 in the 2nd.

In the second half Ollie walked 5 more batters and allowed 7 more hits in 12.1 fewer innings. From a cursory glance at the stats it seems as if his dropoff was simply from not going as deep into games which would make one assume he was throwing more pitches early.

And lo and behold that was exactly the case. Perez went 7 or more innings only twice from Aug. 1st on. Compare that to 9 outings of 7+ innings from Opening Day until July 20th. He was also averaging (roughly off the top of my head) the same number of pitches per start in about an inning less of work during the same period.

The same thing is true for Maine - only it began about a month earlier. Prior to July 5th (when Maine's ERA was 2.71 and he seemed to be a lock for the NL All-Star team) Maine had 9 outings of 7+ innings. After July 5th he had 3.

The empirical data - from a very brief look - backs up what every Met fan witnessed last season. We know the drill with El Duque. He'll miss a month if we're lucky. With Pedro you don't know what you're going to get. The same goes for Mulpelfumber. So, dare I say, what would the problem be with going to a 6 man rotation? Give Pedro and Duque the rest we know they need. Give Maine and Perez the rest that would probably help them be more productive late in the season. And assuming we don't sign Livan, give two of the three headed prospect monster a shot to make the rotation out of spring training.

I'd agree with Marchman, who (I'd assume) thinks this scenario looks better with one rookie and Livan than with two rookies; however, I'm not totally averse to doing it with two rookies either.

Who am I kidding. Bring on Livan, injuries, and another second half collapse!

EDIT: Jerry Crasnick (via MLB Trade Rumors) reports that it will be Kyle Lohse not Livan Hernandez if the Mets fail to acquire Johan Santana. So just go right on ahead and imagine the entire above mentioned scenario with "Kyle Lohse" instead of "Livan Hernandez." Just when you didn't think it could get any better...it does!

KOYIC Needed a Dana Jacobsen Related Post...So I Stole One

2008-01-25T22:19:00.000-05:00

From downrightnashty of Shoot Your Hopes and Dreams:

As a public service to anyone who currently works for, or is thinking of applying to that little Bristol-based network, I thought it would be appropriate at this time to recap what is/is not acceptable behavior for keeping ones job intact.

Sending around pictures of your penis like they are an office Christmas card: acceptable.

Trying to spark a debate about the media's possible bias towards black quarterbacks: unacceptable.

Getting completely and utterly shitfaced at a company roast and insulting the savior of over 1/3 of the world's population: acceptable.

Hugging an intern: unacceptable.

Hell of an organization you're running over there ESPN. Is it just me or did Harold Reynold's departure from BBTN coincide with the show going to complete shit? I haven't watched it regularly in over a season. The only thing I remember from 2007 is stumbling upon Steve Phillips and the Krukster bashing John Maine and then blacking out ala Kramer hearing Mary Hart.

Human (Post) Delay

2008-01-23T23:52:00.001-05:00

The analysis of the Santana trade (which will never happen) will be up by Friday-ish. Until then, enjoy these links:

An olllddddddd Yark Work piece by "Milledge" about the Milledge deal. I don't know how I missed it, but it's fantastic as is everything over at Yard Work
Metstradamus has an entertaining (as usual) post on the Mets LHP acquisition....RICARDO RINCON!!!
Endy's back for 2008 and 2009
David Wright would love for the Mets to get Santana...wow Newsday, you call this news?
Omar wouldn't talk to Jon Heyman (can you blame him?) but Jon had no problem calling the Mets frontrunners in the Santana sweepstakes

Enjoy the never-ending stream of Giants talk until 2/3

Oh The Pain

2008-01-17T21:55:00.000-05:00

As I'm working on my objective analysis of the prospects involved in the Santana trade I'm treated to this little nugget from MLB Trade Rumors:

"Olney talked to a talent evaluator who wondered whether the Twins might be concerned about Johan Santana's health. Reduced late-season velocity and less use of his slider could be signs."

Wouldn't that be the absolute last straw for any Met fan? Imagine trading for Santana only to find out he needs arthroscopic surgery in February and be out until August. I'm openly rooting for it to happen...it would completely sum up my entire existence as a Met fan in one painful press conference.

I, for one, would be willing to write a blank check for the audio of Joe Benigno's show the day after Omar announces that Santana is done for the season...ideally it would come on the same day as Humber is selected to start in the All-Star game for the AL.

Look for the real analysis of the trade this weekend.

It Shouldn't Even Be A Question

2008-01-14T01:47:00.000-05:00

(Way too lazy/tired to photoshop Santana's face in there...but you get the drift)

John Peterson at Blastings! Thrilledge posted this recently:

There will be great celebration by sportswriters and fans when the Mets acquire Johan Santana, but not at Blastings! Thrilledge. It will mean the Mets have lost...

It's true that Johan Santana is a fantastic pitcher, and would make the Mets the clear favorite in the NL East, instead of just the likely Champion. But to trade no less than four prospects, your best four excluding Fernando Martinez, and pretty much your only four besides, is just too much...

The offer as it stands, apparently, is Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey, Philip Humber and Deolis Guerra. This is already too much, but the Twins want F-Mart as well. And why not? The Mets have already shown how little they value their young players, how desperate they are to win now, at any cost...

Sure, the Mets add one of the best pitchers in baseball. But they will have to give him a large contract, and after next year will have to hand out even more money to replace Pedro and El Duque in the rotation, their young pitchers having been traded to Minnesota.

Next offseason the Mets will also have to retain the services of an outfielder, with Alou gone, Gomez traded and Fernando Martinez still developing.

All of these free agent signings will strip the Mets of their top-round draft picks, further depriving an already destitute farm system of talent.

When will this shit end?

Metstradamus was a bit more optimistic...but still wondered if Johan Santana was going to be the Mets fans version of Herschel Walker.

Alright. It's time to look at this from an objective viewpoint. This is Johan Goddamn Santana people. 3 of the past 4 years he has posted a sub-1.00 WHIP. His career ERA+ is 140. To put that into perspective the 2007 Met with the highest ERA+ (excluding Pedro's 3 weeks) was Ollie Perez at 120.

Santana gave up a lot more HRs than usual and saw his ERA rise over 3 last season and still posted a 130 ERA+ In other words, a down year from Johan Santana is still ten-percent better than the best pitcher we had last season.

Does this mean Santana is entering the downside of his career? I doubt it. He posted a better 2006 than 2005 and after coming off a super-human 2004 anything he does is bound to be criticized for not matching up. He's two years removed from winning the AL triple crown for pitchers and we're worried about Carlos Gomez?

And the worries about trading too many prospects are reasonable given the Mets history of horrendous trades (I won't yet concede the Milledge deal was a bust but you can). But this is different. This isn't Robbie Alomar and this isn't Victor Zambrano. This is arguably the greatest LHP of this generation who already has 2 Cy Young Awards under his belt and averages 220 K's per 162 IP and he's only going to 29 on opening day 2008.

So if the Twins want Humber and his underwhelming self they can have him. If they want Gomez and his freakish speed they can have him. If they want Guerra and his supposedly tremendous upside they can have him. And Omar'll even throw in Kevin Mulvey at no extra charge.

An opportunity to acquire a pitcher of Santana's caliber comes along once in a generation. Could Guerra turn into an ace in Minneapolis with Mulvey and Humber following in the rotation and Gomez swiping 100 bases a year and winning gold gloves in CF? They sure could. But I wouldn't bet on it...and I sure as hell wouldn't let that gamble stand in the way of acquiring a bona fide ace who will fill a void that this team desperately needs to fill.

A Cartoon Prophet

2008-01-14T01:28:00.000-05:00

We're one week and one annual Brett Favre collapse away from an ATHF character correctly picking the NFC Super Bowl representative (we'll leave the AFC out of this for obvious reasons).

Perhaps there's an opening on CBS for Carl when Cowher takes the Dolphins job?

The Carousel Continues

2008-01-10T10:45:00.000-05:00

From the Minneapolis Star-Tribune via MLB Trade Rumors:

Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune suggests the Mets might be the best fit for Johan Santana. He says they're offering four players, three of them pitchers: Deolis Guerra, Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey, and Phil Humber. It's a strong package.

The piece goes on to add that the Twins would pull the trigger right now if F-Mart was included (either as an additional player or replacing Gomez)

I say do it unless it includes both F-Mart and Gomez. If it's one or the other I think it's a no-brainer. Humber is a B prospect at this point, we don't know what Guerra is, and Mulvey projects as a #3 at best. The blue chip would be Martinez or Gomez and in my humble opinion it appears to be worth it (never forget Alex Escobar).

Will it get done? Probably not knowing this organization. But as the Yankees and Red Sox keep stalling and waiting the Mets chances keep increasing. Cross your fingers.

Filthy Sanchez Redux

2008-01-07T17:14:00.000-05:00

Fear not Miami Dominican food vendors, Duaner will be making at least 9 trips to Joe Robbie in 2008. In all seriousness this is a good move. If Filthy can return to two-thirds the man he was for the first few months of 2006 the Mets should have a solid arm to rely on in 7th/8th inning situations.

In other news...well the same story, the man who once hit two grand slams in a single inning was also resigned to play 3B in N'awlins in case the unimaginable...nevermind I won't even mention it.

Angel Pagan? Meh. Metsradamus wrote a great post on the move here.

W. Roger Clemens and the Crypt Keepe...Mike Wallace? Meh. More on that tomorrow after I peruse the lawsuit that Clemens filed today.

False Hope

2007-12-27T16:17:00.000-05:00

From LENIII in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

The Twins checked in with the Red Sox, Yankees and Mets just before everyone split for the holidays but nothing major appears to be heating up.

Yes, you just read the word Mets. Indications are that the Mets remain a viable destination for ace Johan Santana, and that the Twins like enough of their players that a deal could be worked out without shortstop Jose Reyes being part of the package.

Outfield prospects Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez have been mentioned in other reports as possible targets. Pitchers Mike Pelfrey, Kevin Mulvey and Phil Humber are considered good prospects but it’s unclear how much the Twins like them. And, it’s unknown if there are any established players the Mets are willing to part with (Reyes and David Wright seem untouchable).

This is pure speculation, but you have to wonder if the Twins would prefer to deal Santana to a National League team. Santana, a career .258 hitter, would get the chance to swing the bat. And, except for interleague play, the Twins wouldn’t have to face him during the regular season.

This is from the same guy who told us the Mets only had their name in the mix for "PR purposes" a few weeks ago.

The merry-go-round that is the 2007 offseason continues. At least we don't have to worry about trading for an overweight pitcher whose success is largely attributed to smoke and mirrors anymore - Jerry Crasnick at ESPN is reporting the Blanton talks have cooled.

If anyone's interested, Don Burke at the Star-Ledger had a nice piece about Kevin Mulvey and what it's like to have been "traded" about 500 different times already this winter. If worse comes to worse I won't be too upset with Pelfrey, Humber, and Mulvey battling for rotation spots. Not that it matters of course...whoever loses the spring training battle is guaranteed a spot in May when the bunion acts up.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T15:49:00.000-05:00

From Ketchup on Your Ice Cream to you...Merry Christmas

Johan Who?

2007-12-23T22:56:00.000-05:00

Yes Mets fans, that's right. Instead of a shiny new dominant LHP under your tree this Christmas morning the management that brought you a %20 ticket price increase is pleased to present The Jacket's newest reclamation project - Kyle Lohse.

A man who gave up a grand slam to Kaz Matsui - and no, it wasn't on opening day - is the starting pitcher that the Mets are "zeroing in on." This after they offered $40 mil/4 years for Carlos Silva only to be brushed aside by the Mariners. Yes, the career 1.368 WHIP Carlos Silva.

Omar undoubtedly has Tony Reagins and Josh Byrnes on speed dial frantically inquiring about Bartolo Colon and Livan Hernandez - just in case the whole Kyle "career 4.82 ERA, 1.432 WHIP, and 95 ERA+" Lohse thing doesn't pan out.

Thank you Mets, thank you Omar, thank you Freddy Coupon, thank you Jeffy, thank you, thank you, thank you.

And It Continues...

2007-12-21T13:10:00.000-05:00

The Mets are like your high school girlfriend who you always thought was a bit out of your league. She would tell you she really liked you and wanted to hang out but she was sick and then you would walk into the mall and see her making out with the captain of the football team. Your only thoughts would be, "I should have known, but thanks for leading me on bitch."

Thanks for leading us on Omar.

The Mets could have just saved the money they spent flying Omar and his crew to the Winter Meetings 2 weeks ago and just shoved it right back up their asses. Maybe they could have used it to not jack up my 7-pack price by $75....just a thought.

We all know already (thanks to MetsBlog and Metstradamus) that the Mets going after Santana was one big fucking joke. Thanks again guys, hell of an organization you're running in Flushing.

You see, I was under the impression that actually trying to get Santana would increase fan morale. I guess telling the fanbase that you're committed to winning and won't trade one of your young superstar infielders for Venezuela Johnny wouldn't be the "right thing to do."

So why not just lie to everyone instead? Inspire thousands of columns and comments on MetsBlog and normal amounts of columns and comments everywhere else by duping the fans into thinking that somehow the Twins were considering a package of F-Mart and Aaron Heilman's autographed Yadier Molina HR ball for the best LHP in the game over such other offers as the shoulda-been World Series MVP and two other top prospects or the once agreed-upon top pitching prospect in the game and two top prospects. We was duped.

In other news...Brian Schneider's wife is quite attractive and Matthew Cerrone was lucky enough to talk to her:

…lastly, i talked with his wife, jordan, for a few minutes, who is very sweet and seemingly quite excited to be in New York - and though they’re keeping their house down south, they are looking for a home either in Manhattan or in Connecticut like so many of his teammates…for what it’s worth, she prefers the city…

My only question for MetsBlog is why are state and borough names capitalized and not italicized but a real person's name remains uncapitalized and in italics?

We can only hope there will be enough cut-aways to Ms. Schneider in the stands with a horrified look on her face as Captain Red Ass and Da Edge combine to hot .750 with 42 HR over the 19 times the Mets battle the Nats - and you can see all these games from the Upper Reserved for only $55!!!

Thanks for systematically crushing our h

Blanton to Mets?

2007-12-20T16:46:00.000-05:00

Via MLB Trade Rumors...Buster Olney is reporting that the Mets could have Blanton soon - if they agree to trade Gomez, Mulvey, and Heilman. I'm inclined to believe that Heilman could be just as decent a starter as Blanton if given the chance so this deal doesn't quite make sense. If this were Dan Haren it would be a different story, but Blanton is an innings eater who doesn't walk many guys. The caveat of course is that he doesn't strike many guys out either.

He also pitches in a pitchers park now as it is in Oakland, so the "Shea will do wonders for him" argument is weak. He's been an average pitcher in the AL (career ERA+ 105, career ERA of 4.10) who's good for 200+ innings. I don't think it's worth Gomez, Mulvey, and Heilman....do you?

The Real-Life George Costanza

2007-12-19T13:30:00.000-05:00

(The key word is "tasteful")

From the Daily News:

"New York Yankees traveling secretary David Szen pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to filing a false tax return and admitted he failed to report more than $50,000 in tips from players and coaches.

Authorities said the tax loss was $10,285 based on underreporting of $53,350 over five years. The 56-year-old from Brookfield, whose reported 2005 income was $63,631, received tips ranging from a few hundred dollars to $10,000 for services provided to unidentified coaches and players during the baseball season.

"I was wrong, and for that I'm humbly sorry, your honor," Szen told U.S. District Judge Mark Kravitz.

Outside court, he asked for forgiveness and apologized to his family, employer and friends.

Szen, who took a paid leave of absence during the investigation, was fired Tuesday, said Howard Rubenstein, a spokesman for Yankees owner George Steinbrenner."

The worst George ever did was bang his secretary and give her an unauthorized raise. Shame on you David Szen, shame on you.

Wise Decision

2007-12-19T08:29:00.000-05:00

Omar, you may not be such a moron after all. Matt Wise has been a pretty decent pitcher in his career. Before beaning Pedro Lopez in the jaw last season, Wise was considered a solid reliever and a live arm.

He has a career ERA+ of 108 so he's slightly better than average - and if the Mets had an average bullpen for the last two months of 2007 the season may have played out a little differently. I'm waiting for the 2008 PECOTA to come out but the numbers seem to indicate that his best season in 2005 may have been a fluke. His BABIP was .190 compared to over .280 in the year before and after. His H/9 was considerably lower than his career average (5.4/8.4ish) and his strikeouts were way up. The most telling sign was his sub-1.00 WHIP compared to a career average of 1.21

All that considered, even when Wise wasn't at his peak he was a better than average reliever who gave 50-60 quality innings without giving up many home runs or walks. If nothing else, it's a step in the right direction.

Freddie Coupon Pours Salt in the Wounds

2007-12-17T17:02:00.000-05:00

Dear Fred,

Remember the letter you had Jeffy send us in October? Right after Toothless' horrific one-inning performance? You thanked us for our record-breaking support in 2007 and assured us that ownership was committed to providing the necessary resources to field a championship team.

Do you remember? Maybe this will jog your memory, "You deserve better results...Many thanks again for your record-breaking support." Ringing any bells?

So what did you do? You paid scouts to watch Jeff Fassero in Mexico. You were outbid by the Diamondbacks for Dan Haren. From all angles it looks like you'll be outbid on Santana. You've traded away our 23-year-old top prospect for the past 2 seasons for a 29-year-old who is arguably his equivalent with less upside and a catcher with a career OPS+ of 82. You don't seem to have learned from your mistakes.

Couple this with a historic collapse and team-wide who gives a shit attitude last September, and you have the makings of a quite pissed-off fanbase.

But leave it to you to figure out a way to pour a little extra salt in the wounds. Leave it to to you to add insult to the injury that was bad enough on its own.

Loyal Mets fans reward for record-breaking attendance and support to the bitter end? A 20% increase in ticket prices for the final season at Shea.

What's the 20% going towards Fred? Those Mexican leagues scouts' burrito bills as they type furiously on their blackberries that Omar should give a pitcher whose last decent season came in the 20th century a shot?

But rest assured, the biggest increases will effect the most expensive seats and there will be $5 nose-bleeds available for 36 games this year! Oh goody! If you want a decent ticket you're going to get final-season-at-Shea raped...but fear not, you can always sit in UR Row V for $5.

Thanks Freddie Coupon, you always find a way to top yourself.

Love,
Just one of many who contributed to the record-breaking support

Hat tip to CSTB for the image.

Conspiracy Theorists

2007-12-17T16:57:00.000-05:00

Speak English!

2007-12-15T14:04:00.000-05:00

I know John Rocker's site is making the rounds in the blogosphere these days....but I feel compelled to post this anyway. The fact that the homepage hasn't been updated in over a year worries me...will John still autograph a shirt for me and mail it to my house?

T-SHIRTS/AUTOGRAPHS: Many of you have inquired about Rocker T-shirts and how to get an autograph.
T-Shirts are available for sale, and you may send an item to Debi Curzio at PO Box 670927, Marietta, GA 30066 and John will be happy to autograph it and send it back to you.

Herbs From South America

2007-12-15T00:33:00.000-05:00

Add another well thought out excuse to the long list that includes flax seed oil and vitamin B-12. Herbs from South America. That's right. Herbs. From. South. America. Listen, we all could use a few more red blood cells. This, from everyone's favorite borderline hall-of-famer, Jim Parque:

"Either someone isn’t telling the truth, or steroids really don’t work because I was throwing 80, 81 mph before the report said I took them, and I was throwing 80, 81 mph after I allegedly took them..."

But what about the evidence Jimmy? The paper trail, the bottle of fucking Winstrol that you sent to a certain Rodamski character to "check out?" Did you want him to make sure they weren't steroids so you could feel even more self-righteous as you flushed it down your undoubtedly gilded and jewel encrusted shitter?

"Parque sent Radomski a bottle of Winstrol to ‘check out.’ Radomski determined it was ‘no good’ and discarded it.'’
[The Mitchell Report] goes on to say that Radomski had Parque’s phone numbers and address, as well as two checks from Parque totaling $4,800 that also were shown in the report.

Parque admitted to sending the checks and said he received in return ‘’a bunch of supplements, some creatine, vitamins, some stuff to increase my red-blood-cell count and some herbs from South America that were supposed to help with my injuries.'’

There you have it. Herbs from South America. There's a joke to be made in and of itself there, but I'm too tired to figure it out.

Hat tip to CSTB for the link.

Good Times All Around

2007-12-14T09:40:00.000-05:00

Quick side note, is there a better mascot than the "generic weight with muscle arms and a toothy smile" for anabolicsteroidspharma.com? I can't think of one off the top of my head.

Johnny Franco, #45, Mr. NYC Sanitation himself was on Boomer and Carton this morning and went on the record saying that Roger Clemens shouldn't be in the HOF. Pretty damning stuff coming from the back of the garbage truck. On that note, let's take a tour of the blogosphere shall we?

It's Mets For Me has the best montage of Captain Red Ass roid rage pictures.

Fire Joe Morgan takes John Kruk to task about his litigation skills.

Can't Stop The Bleeding's Ben Schwartz comments on Yahoo! Sports use of the race card.

Can't Stop The Bleeding's GC wins the award for best post on the "paper trail."

Neil Best over at WatchDog for some reason thinks that it's still football season - and links to his fine newspaper column on the debacle.

Awful Announcing links to the YES network denial of David Justice, and mentions the strange lack of the same for Fernando Vina.

Metstradamus is on his soapbox...and he gets props for the best picture so far.

Lone Star Mets is pretty upset with Todd Hundley.

The McFly weighs in and has the Mets winning in 2000 4-2....game by game analysis.

And last but not least, Brooklyn Met Fan wins for best line of the morning..."Matt Franco - big whoop"

Enjoy the syringes.

Bless You Toasted Joe

2007-12-13T23:40:00.000-05:00

Yes Joe, It's Toasted posted the "Adjusted Results" of the 2000 World Series based on the Mitchell Report. Check it out, it's worth it.

My favorite part (with regards to Game 2): "Comment: The juicers didn't help the Yankees on the offensive side, but 8 out of 9 innings were pitched by a cheater who almost killed the Mets' best player in a fit of roid rage -- and the Mets still only lost by 1. In other words, Game Two has to go to the Mets as well."

Well done.

TOAST!

2007-12-13T15:18:00.000-05:00

From pg. 208 of the Mitchell Report:

"Paul Lo Duca is a catcher who has played with three teams in Major League Baseball since 1998, the Los Angeles Dodgers (7 seasons), Florida Marlins (2 seasons), and New York Mets (2 seasons). He has appeared in four All-Star games. Todd Hundley referred Lo Duca to Radomski when Lo Duca played for the Dodgers. Radomski estimated that he engaged in six or more transactions with Lo Duca. In some transactions, Radomski sent the performance enhancing substances by overnight mail to Lo Duca’s home or to the Dodgers clubhouse and Lo Duca sent Radomski a check a week or so later."

Now we know why Omar was so shrewd in not signing Captain Red Ass....he had an inside source all along.

In other news, Hundley was also named so I'm giving the single season Mets HR record to Piazza. There's specific accounts of Clemens injecting himself during the 2000 WS so we should give that title to the Mets as well...Of course we probably would have never got to the NLCS in '99 because Todd Pratt was named too.

Hopefully you picked up the sarcasm there. It is shocking, however, to see how many mediocre to horrible players were (supposedly) juicing. Gary Bennett?!?!? Josias Manzanillo?!?!?!?!?!?!!? Yeah, the 'roids did a lot for their ability...

If you want to read a fascinating account of grown men attempting to inject unknown substances into their asses, failing at it, and then asking another grown man to inject their asses for them then by all accounts read the Mitchell report.

If you're like me and just don't give a shit anymore, it may be worth it for the unintentional comedy value. Take this gem of a note from LoDuca's lengthy section:

"Kirk, Sorry! But for some reason they sent the check back to me. I haven’t been able to call you back because my phone is TOAST! I have a new # it is [Lo Duca’s phone number is listed here]. Please leave your # again because I lost all of my phonebook with the other phone. Thanks Paul"

TOAST! That Captain Red Ass!

More to follow.

History Repeats Itself

2007-12-13T01:14:00.000-05:00

Since one can only subject them self to so many hours of civil procedure review...I have just enough brainpower left to copy and paste this piece by Tim Marchman from today's NY Sun. Why just cut and paste you ask? Well, because he's the journalist and put what I've been thinking for 2 weeks into just the right words:

"Every time the Mets make a fetish of professionalism (and do so at the price of talent), they regret it, as they do whenever they make a fetish of experience at the expense of youth, or play for the next year rather than the next five. When they do all these at once, as when they traded Kevin Mitchell and Scott Kazmir, the results tend towards the unforgivable. But they do the same thing over and over again, never learning from the past and never changing. General managers, managers, and coaches are fired, and the players grow old and retire, but the Mets are always the Mets — never accepting risk, always afraid of failure, and never quite as good as they should be.

The Mets should be a great team, and they can be. David Wright, Jose Reyes, Perez, and Maine all met or surpassed expectations this year, and the best of the team's veterans still have plenty left. This is a team that can succeed, wildly, for years. But for that to happen, the Mets have to trust talent, at every level and in every signing and trade."

As usual, I couldn't have said it better myself.

Your season has come!

You Pick Your New Wallpaper and/or Screensaver

2007-12-12T11:48:00.000-05:00

With all due respect to Metstradamus and his impeccable photoshopping skills... Doesn't the real thing hurt so much more?

Remember everyone complaining about the Mets not having any heart? Not playing with any emotion? Not caring about choking away a 7 game lead in the middle of September?

Apparently the solution was to get rid of the two guys who may have actually gave a fuck.

I was on board with the Milledge trade when it happened...now, I'm not so sure. The thought of Captain Red Ass and Da Edge combining to hit .500 with 20 HR against Met pitching in 2008 isn't particularly appetizing.

But rest assured loyal Mets fans, this upstanding gentleman who exited the clubhouse after the quite epic collapse looking like this should be fully healed and ready to go just in time for spring training.

No more stories of barely legal girls from Oneonta instead of smoking hot playmate wives. No more articulate rap songs praising the benefits of deep knee bends. Just someone named Carlos telling the media that this team is so good that sometimes they just get bored.

The Team! The Time! The Utter Humiliation!

Who to Believe?

2007-12-11T22:46:00.001-05:00

Everyone's favorite VORP-hater Jon Heyman reports today that the Mets round out the three teams left in the Johan hunt - the other two being a couple of teams from the AL East you may have heard of.

"And the Mets offered different packages of prospects that included either outfielder Carlos Gomez or outfield prospect Fernando Martinez but not both, declining to include the one extra prospect the Twins requested to clinch the deal according to people familiar with those talks."

Again, what are they waiting for? What other prospect do we have worth holding onto other than F-Mart and Carlos III? I'd throw in the Twins choice of 2 from the group of Pelfrey, Humber, or Mulvey. After all, the Mets would be acquiring a pretty decent starter in return.

But wait, Heyman's not done just yet, he's not content with simply giving us hope - no, he has to throw us into a full blown frenzy:

"Some Mets people actually thought they had the best offer at the winter meetings, even though Minnesota originally didn't see a way for the Mets to contend for him. Eventually, Mets GM Omar Minaya or his bosses may conclude that the deal is worth making not only to improve their on-field product, but also to change their 2008 spring storyline from their epic collapse to the '07 season."

Unfortunately this is the Mets MO - make a trade to save face or "change face." However, this is the one time it would actually not be a bad idea. If we have the best package - the for the love of everything holy get this goddamn trade done - as in right now. Please don't outsmart yourself Omar, we beg you.

All this hope and unbridled enthusiasm is summarily shat on by Matthew Cerrone at MetsBlog, who claims that the Twins want Gomez, Pelfrey, Humber, Mulvey, and more. I'd love to believe Heyman and think it's a hangup over one guy...but is Johnny Santana worth every pitching prospect we have (they probably want Deolis Guerra too) and Gomez or Martinez?

Tip of the cap to MLB Trade Rumors for both links.

Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

2007-12-11T00:32:00.000-05:00

I realize this is a week old...but I felt the need to put it up anyways. From Shoot Your Hopes and Dreams:

"Nats GM Jim Bowden has traded for both Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes in the last 4 days. On their own I love both trades. In tandem these acquisitions are a disaster waiting to happen. Ordinarily I'm the last guy to worry about team chemistry, but not since Hitler met Goebbels has a pairing had this much potential for damage. (No I'm not literally equating World War II with a couple of thugs. Don't waste your time in the comments section).

Despite his considerable talents, the Mets organization soured on Milledge's cocky attitude to the point were they preferred mediocrity to his presence in the clubhouse. While Milledge rubs people the wrong way, Elijah Dukes is a complete sociopath. He has six arrests under his belt. His wife has a restraining order against him for threatening to kill her. He just knocked up the 17 year old foster child of one of his relatives. Not a good dude."

Good times all around! And just think, we get to see it all unfold (probably from below in the standings) in the NL East!

Toying With Our Emotions

2007-12-10T14:17:00.000-05:00

Yes that's right, you heard me correctly, Johan Santana wants to be a Met. In fact, he's dying to be a Met. He's painted his summer villa in Venezuela orange and blue. He's been spotted in midtown in a #41 throwback. He's even made sure to alert the press that he always wears his seatbelt while riding in taxicabs.

This from MetsBlog:

"…having talked with a variety of people over the last few days, ranging from those who are connected to the team to people connected to player reps to those who work in media and for teams who are following the negotiations, from what i can gather, Johan Santana prefers to be on the Mets, where he can a) be in New York City, and b) get out of the hitter-dominant American League…

…the Twins are well aware of this, and are willing to accommodate his request, while also trying to maximize the level of talent they get in return…

…so, over the last few days, if not longer, the Twins have been speaking on and off with the Mets, who are willing to flood them with young talent, but who refuse to provide a major-league ready, immediate-impact player, like Jose Reyes…"

It's Mets For Me had this to say: "It maybe that similar stories can be found on other less-than-impartial sites around the interwebs, ("Santana wants to be a Devil Ray" "Santana wants to be a Rockette"), but invoking Santa's blanket no-trade and hoped-for preference is a recipe for an internet feeding frenzy in Flushing fantasyland. That sound you just heard was not grandpa's bladder, it was hope springing eternal. Well played, Matthew, well played. Let's get frenzied!"

Cerrone goes on to add that the hangup may be that the Mets are unwilling to give Santana the 7-year contract extension that he is looking for. If this is true (which admittedly there's probably much more to the story) why should this even be an problem?

When the Mets were looking to add an impact arm after the 2004 season and Kazmir debacle, what did they do? Oh that's right, they went out and overpaid for Pedro and gave him what everyone thought was too many years. Actually, it was too many years, but the move needed to be made and it re-energized a franchise that desperately needed a boost.

Santana in 2007 is not Pedro in 2004. There aren't any health questions, there aren't any size questions, there aren't any questions period. If this is the only hangup and a deal doesn't get done because the Wilpons all of a sudden wish to exercise financial restraint, there should be a mutiny.