The Mets were stellar in the first three games against the Giants, they stole a ton of bases (7 in one game), they hit with runners in scoring position and they even played defense.  Even though Carlos Delgado was placed on the DL (he is expected to be out until July at the earliest), they had plenty offense and were able to win the first three of a four game series. However, the Mets lost the final game of the series and as of last night, were swept three straight by the Dodgers.

The losses against the Dodgers may not have been so bad if the Mets had not played so bad. The Mets looked like buffoons; in game one alone the Mets committed five errors. It was also in that game that we got some insight into the true relationship between Ryan Church and Jerry Manual. Church made the biggest base running blunder of the season when he completely missed third base the Mets would have taken the lead in the top of the 11^th and would have handed the ball off to Frankie Rodriguez, but instead the Dodgers appealed at third and Church was called out. Manual totally threw Church under the bus, he didn’t bother to even argue the call, instead he literally turned his back on him. I for one like Church, but now I feel he probably has to move on considering the relationship between he and the manager.

Lets be honest though, the Mets didn’t just lose that game and the series because Church missed third, the Mets committed a ton of errors and have failed to hit a home run in 60 innings. In the Dodger series the Mets left 26 men on base and were 3-27 with RISP. Suddenly the bats are dead. Not only did the Mets not hit, they also didn’t play defense well either-the committed seven errors in the series, five in one game.

The Mets are in trouble. Manya has said that they will not go out to trade for a first baseman and feels that that position can be filled by who they have on the team right now, but after watching Jeremy Reed there, it is nearly impossible to believe that Omar is watching the same team we are because as FANS we can see that this little experiment isn’t going to work. Daniel Murphy had the opportunity to play first and actually didn’t look as bad there as he does in the outfield, but suddenly this guy’s bat has been very cold.

Not only is first base a concern but so is Sean Green and JJ Putz. Putz gave up the winning run in the last game of the Dodger series. I really don’t want to hear about adrenaline or lack thereof, you are being paid to do a job and if you are asked to pitch in the second or the eighth you better do what you are supposed to do, short of the fact that you arm is falling off, I don’t want to hear excuses. On that note, Sean Green stinks and I think the Mets need to chuck him, he is a nightmare out there, he can’t get anyone out. Look, I love the Putz and Green deal, for nothing more than it got Aaron Heilman out of town but if they can’t get anyone out, they’ll get the Heilman reception from the crowd.

If the Mets are going to throw in the towel, then do so. Let Murphy play first, bring up Fernando Martinez, add one of the young pitchers from Triple A, and play out the season, but don’t feed us a line of bull and try to make us believe that the Mets can win now with what they’ve got, because they can’t. Now…not only is Delgado on the DL, Jose Reyes seems headed there too with a calf injury. Also, I’m not making excuses for the Mets because of injuries, every team has injuries; I’m just questioning who is going to step it up. I do think it is interesting that with Delgado departing, David Wright heated up…

The Mets will wrap up their road trip with three in Boston over the weekend. Interestingly, this weekend the Mets and Yankees have the opportunity to help each other out this weekend as the Yankees will host the Phillies for three…wow, I might have to root for the Yankees (ugh!)

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The Cardinals swept the Mets in a three game series in St. Louis.  For the Mets, it was much of the same.  Terrible starting pitching and not hitting with men in scoring position.  The Mets left 41 men on base in the three games.  It was a piss poor effort by the Mets and I know we’re just one month into the season but if this is the product the Mets are going to put on the field, this is going to be a long season.  By the way, is now the time to thank Sport Illustratred for jinxing the Mets? 

Game 1: Cardinals 6 Mets 4  Another poor outting by the overpaid Oliver Perez.  Perez pitched 4.2 innings allowing four earned runs on six hits.  He walked five and stuck out four.  I know that Perez has good numbers against the Phillies, Braves and Yankees, and yes, those are big games for the Mets-games the fans really want to win, but if Perez can’t pitch to the teams in between those series, then he is useless to the Mets.  Really though, the Mets had this one and again, scored early and the bats died late.  Also, I’d like to stop hearing how the Mets should have signed Derek Lowe-I really believe that he didn’t want to pitch in New York; the only problem now is that the Mets will have to contend with him in their division-and it seems that Lowe is the only good thing the Braves have going for them at this point in the season.  This is also a game that Daniel Murphy would like to forget; terrible base running and even worse fielding did not really make this one of Dan’s best days.  I know the kid is playing out of position and at the beginning of the season, I felt the Mets were hoping that Castillo would get off to a good start so that they might have the possibility of moving him by or before the trade deadline and actually moving Murphy to second base, there is no indication that the Mets are going to do that it is merely wishful thinking on my part!  You can now point to two games that poor defense by Murphy has cost the Mets a win-I’d like to not have to hold my breath every time a ball is hit in his direction, it has become quite an adventure out there in left these days! 

Game 2: Cardinals 5 Mets 2 Oh look, more of the same.  Putrid pitching by John Maine put the Mets in a hole early, Maine gave up one in the first, two in the third and two in the fourth inning.  Maine walked five while only striking out two.  Again, the Mets left 11 guys on base;  Carlos Beltran continued to swing a hot bat, but David Wright seems to night be able to do anything at the plate when there is a guy on base-if the Mets are going to do anything, Wright has got to pick it up at the plate.

Game 3: Cardinals 12 Mets 8  Guess what happend in this game?  Oh-right, more awful pitching, more guys left on base, 20 to be exact.  Albert Pujols punished mets pitchers by hitting two homers (but what Cardinal didn’t get a hit?).  Not only did Livian struggle but Sean Green, who has been less than impressive stunk too.  The best thing about this game is, it was the last of the three game series which means the Mets return home to start a three game series with the Nationals.  Not that that will be a given for the Mets as they’ve had trouble with the Nats in recent years. 

Mike Pelfrey will return to the rotation on Saturday after resting a strained forearm-I can’t even predict what we’ll see.  There is talk that Mike Pelfrey (and possibly Oliver Perez) could be sent down if they don’t perfom well.  I’m sure it is just talk because what other options do they have? 

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Game 1 Marlins 5 Mets 4. The Mets wasted a great pitching effort by John Maine. Maine who hadn’t pitched since the end of August, was great in his return.  In five innings he allowed two runs on two hits (both homers) walked one and stuck out five, retiring 12 of the last 13 hitters he faced.  In all, the Mets stranded 14 base runners. It was a ninth inning pinch hit single by Jeremy Reed that tied the game at four; when Reed came to the plate, the Mets had gone 0-10 with runners in scoring position.  In all, the Mets would strand 14 runners finishing the game 1-12 with runners in scoring position.  Luis Castillo was a nightmare, at the end of the game, he was hitting .100 and had stranded six runners. While we can say all we want about it being early in the season; this is a problem of not hitting with runners in scoring postion (both for Castillo and the rest of the Mets) dates back to last season. The bullpen didn’t actually hold up their end of the bargain either. Sean Green, Bobby Parnell each allowed a run, and Darren O’Day allowed an inherited run to score (a guy Pedro Felicano left on base). 

Game 2 Mets 8 Marlins 4. This game was closer than it needed to be.  Livan Hernandez made his Mets debut, he looked good. Hernandez pitched six and two thirds innings allowing two runs on six hits, he walked three and struck out four.  Darren O’Day worked a scoreless eight inning but ran into some trouble when David Wright made a throwing error in the bottom of the ninth, O’Day faced one more hitter before Frankie Rodriguez came in to finish out the game.  I don’t know what is up with David Wright; we’ve seen him do some nice work with the glove but for whatever reason he can’t seem to throw to first.  As far as offense goes, Jose Reyes was 2-5 with an RBI double and a two run homer.  What is even more amazing, Luis Castillo was 4-4 with one RBI and three runs scored, he started the night hitting .100 at the end of the game his average went up to .375 (gotta love what the early season can do for the batting average).  Jerry Manual told Castillo that he needs to be more aggressive at the plate and for at least one night that worked.  Oh-David Wright did have an RBI in the game, but it was off the brick that Dan Uggla uses as a glove, and it came when the game was 6-2. 

Game 3 Mets 1 Marlins 2. Not much to tell here.  Johan pitched his ass off; but Josh Johnson pitched better.  Johnson owns the Mets and now has a 5-0 record against the Mets.  The hitters couldn’t get much going; they finally scored a run in the top of the ninth inning but fell short when Ryan Church flied out to end the game.  The bigger part of all of this is that Daniel Murphy dropped a fly ball with two out in the second; one run to scored and then Ronnie Paulino hit a single to drive in the second unearned run.  The New York press is making a big deal because Johan commented after the game that the differences in the game was the error.  There has been a lot of back and forth about what Johan said, personally I read the quotes in the paper and watch the post game interview and my opinion is…his comments weren’t a big deal. 

The Padres come to town for three games and the opening of Citi Field. The Mets will have Pelfrey, Perez and Maine pitching against the Padres.

Mets Blog

Well, it’s been awhile. I guess I’ve calmed down enough from Schoeneweis to finally write an ending to the season. My first thought is how could they possibly have done this again? Are you kidding me?  And of course, this was only worsened by the fact that the Phillies won the world series.  My Sports Illustrated arrived in the mail with them on the cover and I felt that sense of dread-can you imagine what it will be like when the Mets play the Phillies next season?  You would think that would be enough alone for the Mets to want to rise to the occasion next season, but then again, isn’t that what we said after the 2007 season?   

How is it that the 2008 season ended just like the 2007 season?  The Marlins spit in their eye two years in a row and laughed about it. The Mets?  Instead of fighting, instead of taking a cue from Johan Santana (who it turns out was pitching on a bum knee)-the Mets laid down and died.  This Mets’ team has no guts. How is it that nobody stood up and punched Hanley Ramirez in the mouth (figuratively speaking of course)? As much as I hate to say it, and I REALLY hate to say it, Shane Victorino (doesn’t he sound like a grade “B” gangster, Vic Torino, polyester suit and all) would not take this BS from anybody. And that’s basically what’s wrong with the Mets.

After Santana went out there on Saturday and pitched his guts out on one leg the Mets did almost nothing on Sunday. That’s why your leader can’t be a pitcher; he’s only out there every five days. The Mets need a fiery everyday player. The Mets need Keith Hernandez again. In the ’86 playoff against the Astros the Mets HAD to win game 6. There was no way they were winning a game 7 that year against Mike Scott. He was in their heads. So when the Mets had the lead in the ninth and Orosco on the mound, the story goes Keith went to Orosco on the mound and told him” If you throw any fastballs, anything but a slider, I’m going to kick your ass right here on the mound”. Is this true? Who knows? No one would admit it now. Not pc enough for the Pollyanna’s in the game today (of which Keith makes mention of almost every game…”It’s become such a gentlemen’s game” said with much disdain.) But this is exactly what they need, a kick ass, ask for names later leader.  Where to get one? I don’t know. And it’s hard to admit that. I don’t know who they need or what they need to give up to get this mystery leader.  

I can tell you that Scott Schoeneweis..GONE. Aaron Heilman…GONE, he can go pout about being a starter somewhere else. Can’t you just hear him? (whiney voice..”But I want to be a starter…”)  Luis Castillo…Gone Baby Gone!  Duaner Sanchez-Gone, go get arroz con pollo at 2am with someone else.  Moises Alou…can still hit, older than Ty Cobb…Gone. Marlon Anderson…gone pleeeese. Pedro Martinez..thanks for the memories (of Takin’ the money, not for big wins. By the way Pedro’s 32 wins as a Mets cost $1,611,424.00 each. Nice work if you can get it. ).  Ollie…probably gone with Boras as his agent.  We all know that we won’t see Billy Wagner as a Met again.

I waited to deal with the so-called “Core” players: Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado. There is a lot of talk here in NY of breaking up them up. I don’t think Reyes, Wright or Beltran are goin’ anywhere.  Carlos Delgado is a different story.  The Mets picked up his $12 million option. It would have cost $4 million to buy him out, so an outlay of $8 million.  There has been rumblings that they would move him if they could create a package with Delgado and assorted other pieces. Remember he didn’t want to come here anyway. He signed with the Marlins. 

Now the others:

Joe Smith-can be useful. Stays.  Pedro Feliciano…gotta get a couple a’ righty’s out once in awhile there Pedro. Stays.  Luis Ayala…looked good at times. Don’t think he can be full time closer but valuable. Stays  Ramon Castro…useful back-up-then again, he has to stay health-the past two years he’s missed significant playing time, he stays.  Nick Evans…young OF. Stays-Omar has said they think he can hit for power-I guess we’ll have to wait and see.  Ryan Church… him before concussions. Stays.  Brian Schneider…ok, can we upgrade?  Stays- But, rumor has been that Pudge is an idea for the upgrade-NO THANKS!  Daniel Murphy, you can hit, can you play second? Stays.  Argenis Reyes…like him. Hit .283 in AAA, how about here? Stays.  Fernando Tatis…came back to MLB to build church in hometown. Now that it’s built, will God still be smiling on him?  Stays.  Endy Chavez…was he still on the team after Manuel took over? Stays.  Damion Easley…like him, wants to be a gamer, hurt too much, old.  Probably stays if healthy.  Mike Pelfry…Duh!  Johan Santana …Like there is a question about this.  John Maine…Serious John though, can you put a guy away after getting two strikes and not let him foul off 30 pitches? Stays.  

So, where does that leave the Mets?  The Mets are in need of a left fielder, a second baseman, a starter and a closer. I think Derek Lowe is a gamer and Orlando Hudson would be a welcome addition at second. Can Evans and Murphy split left?  Did you see some of those fielding adventures they had out there?  Can you say Arizona Instructional League?  Will the Mets try to make Maine the closer?  He has the stuff. Can he pitch multiple days in a week?  He seems to get frustrated easily; can he handle the mental aspects of closing?  Uh…I guess there are a few questions the Mets need to answer right now. 

Here is my best guess:

Starting Rotation: Santana, Pelfry, Lowe, Maine and Niese.  Relievers: Smith, Feliciano, Kunz, Stokes, Ayala, and…your guess is as good as mine.  Infield: C Schneider and Castro, 1B Delgado, 2B Hudson, SS Reyes, 3B Wright Outfield: LF Evans /Murphy, CF Beltran, RF Church 

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