Tag Archives: Mets

July 28, 2010 · 1:23 pm

Another Shake My Head At The Mets

Maybe I’m just bitter and a sore loser. The Yankees biggest problem these days are how they will handle Alex Rodriguez’s 600th homerun ball.

Meanwhile the Mets remain, and I’m going to be polite, annoying. I use that word as a fan and not as some objective person writing a column about the Mets.

It would come off as arrogant to say I could do a better job at some of the key positions in management but if you look at the Mets recent track record I wouldn’t be too far off.

Pointing out the Mets warts is like staring at a leper and figuring out which one to pick on first. Its disappointing to say the least how this organization COULD be run and how it IS run. There’s a huge difference.

Being in the New York market gives one a major advantage financially right off the bat. Unfortunately if you don’t have smart and able minded individuals running the operation you will be prone to its pitfalls. And to say the Mets are prone to such things would be the understatement of the year.

My biggest regret is waking up and having to write these “shake my head” articles that do nothing but make me shake my head at what this Met team is.

Take for instance their current dilemma and major front page news: whether they should keep their coaching staff intact.

I’ve long been a fan of Jerry Manuel and I still think a guy with his personality is suited for the rigors of a management position in New York. To be short and sweet about it, to play/coach/GM in New York is incomparable to any other city. Apologies to Philadelphia, Chicago, and Dallas but we claim the title of “most demanding press corps” in the country.

He is calm, congenial and is able to laugh at himself which comes in handy when the pack comes calling. So one can assume that the demands of the job won’t interfere in how he manages.

If that’s true and I believe it is, then we need only focus on his managing abilities and to be frank, he’s just not that very good. I can bring up specific situations that had my blood pressure go up and down like Wall street but the fact is his collective body of work speaks for itself.

Throughout his tenure I made excuses as to why he wasn’t given a fair shake and this year, through half a season, I’ve seen that many of his moves lack any firm grasp of logic and that more than anything made me turn on Jerry.

Since the beginning of the season I’ve been on Howard Johnson who I personally blamed for David Wright’s regression because he was mimicking HoJo’s upper cut swing. It caused his strikeout numbers to skyrocket and his confidence to shoot low. The Mets during this 2-9* stretch rarely worked counts and constantly swung at first pitches which opposing pitchers caught on to regularly and got them out quickly. That’s approach at the plate and that lack of success warrants a change.
*= 1-10, come on, the Mets shouldve been swept out of San Francisco.

I never thought I’d say this but Dan Warthen has done a good job. The pitching staff and relief unit have done their job for the most part. I will not bash them because it doesn’t matter who they are, no team can win when the offense is only scoring two runs a game.

But Jerry has to go. His media appearances are getting tougher and tougher to stomach. At some point his material wore thin on me and every little thing bugs me about him. Even a screen shot of him will send me in a tailspin. I would think most Met fans are at that point with him as well.

Unfortunately, he’s not going anywhere until the end of the season I think. Omar Minaya is linked to Manuel. Their reigns run parallel to each other’s so one man getting fired likely means the end to the other so Omar won’t do Jerry in. He’s going to let Jerry sink or swim and he’s going to do what it takes for him to be successful whether its acquire a bullpen arm or a starting pitcher which means that the Mets are going to do what it takes to make a play for the playoffs.

And that very thinking is what is wrong with the Mets. They look to please the press by making what seem to be approved by the media kind of deals that keep the press off their backs but in doing so give the press license to take no blame for listening to them and making them look like a minor league outfit. They don’t have enough confidence to make a decision without taking into account what those “experts” may think.

For instance, the Mets find themselves in quite possibly the worst position. They are in playoff limbo; not yet contenders and not so far off that you can’t imagine a run. So whatever the Mets decide, you can be sure that the team will have to be able to back it up and who out of the Mets dying legion of supporters feel confident enough to believe that will happen?

What the Mets should do is be logical. I think they should go after Ted Lilly. Then let him walk once the year runs out. He will be a type A free agent which means two picks that can be recouped if he goes and signs elsewhere. Lilly is a serviceable pitcher and if I were the Mets I’d use him as a mentor to Jon Niese who has a slightly better fastball and a getting-there cutter and that 12 to 6 curve. Lilly can help him hone his craft further. His demeanor can help this ball club as well.

Its not to say that I think this team can’t make the playoffs. I just don’t trust them to, not with this current management structure in place. The Mets have too many holes to fix.

But if you had to ask me for solutions. Here they are:

1. FIRE JERRY MANUEL. “PROMOTE” OMAR MINAYA AND WRITE BILLY BEANE A BLANK CHECK.
I don’t have a sure fire replacement that I believe will come in and lead this team so it only makes sens that they restructure the team in the offseason. If I had to pick three options to manage the team it’d be:
A. Bobby Valentine.
B. Buck Showalter
C. Ozzie Guillen

I don’t know how many GM’s have the patience to deal with A and C, and A and B have never won a world series but each has its good sides as well.
Bobby V is a popular figure for Met fans and his arrival would bring rejoicing for Met fans.

Buck Showalter’s teams always end up better than how he finds them.

Ozzie Guillen’s managerial style may not always be pretty but he surely will get the respect of his team by flashing that world series ring.

I still respect Omar’s eye for talent evaluation but we need a new set of eyes to be at the head of day to day dealings and player decisions. Who better than a former number one pick of the Mets, Billy Beane. He would be able to work with any budget (knowing he worked in Oakland and with limited resources managed to bring in premium talent every year is like music to my ears.), and keep the farm stocked and be able to go out and spend.

2. SPEND ON THE FARM
When I heard that the Mets spent the fewest dollars on the draft in all of the major leagues I thought it was the most absurd thing I had ever heard of and more proof of how poorly this organization was run. The draft is the way to get cheap talent for longer terms, why would you not spend on that? The Mets should go back to spending on the farm and begin decreasing their payroll on the major league level, even if we have to toil for a few seasons. I’d rather restructure the major league team and work on bringing a better structure and better model to the franchise than hope and pray that $36 million pitcher Oliver Perez and $25 million second baseman Luis Castillo will turn around their declining careers. By the way I think if Minaya were allowed to do it that way he would do a good job.

3. STOP THE BULL.
This encompasses the silly medical follies like once again taking a player with concussion like symptoms on a cross country flights. It sounds ridiculous that it can happen again but Jason Bay is the latest victim of shoddy managing. Even if he said he was ok, I would have him see area doctors.
Also, the Wilpons need to be honest with the fanbase about their money situation. If you have it then go out and spend on the draft and go hard after Cliff Lee. Don’t think you are fooling anybody with the whole “we kicked tires and they were all flat” kind of response. Its crap and we can smell it from a mile away as a fanbase.
Look, the Mets are not the Yankees, no one is. But there are enough financial advantages that if the Mets are run smarter and more efficiently than in the past, they can compete. They play in the National League and it doesn’t appear as if ANY team is building a dynasty there so its open every year. The Mets have lacked direction and thus have become the kind of team going through the motions and in a state of flux.

4. WILPONS SHOULD SELL.
It sounds cruel but the Mets ownership team is staring at a very high mortgage and it doesn’t look like gate receipts are going to keep them at the head of the Mets table for too long if this continues. It serves them right. They have continuously bungled the franchise and allowed it to become a laughingstock. I’m not blaming them for the Madoff scandal, but I am blaming them for leading the fans on and blatantly lying to us about whether it would affect day to day operations.

Look, this plan will take 3-5 years to put into action, but I’d rather wait that and know my team was headed in a specific direction then continue to see my team be a laughingstock and keep going through the same mediocre season.

The Mets are not the Yankees. They don’t have to be in order to be competitive. The sooner the Mets realize that, the sooner we come to respectability.

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July 21, 2010 · 5:59 pm

Enough’s Enough- Jerry Manuel-ly guiding the Mets to the basement.

For the longest time I defended Jerry Manuel. I lived through the same disappointing finish in 2008 as 2007 but I said, he inherited a team mid season and if you extrapolate the winning percentage over a whole season he wouldve won 95 games.

In 2009 when a team wide plague befell the Mets I chalked up the poor record to an unforseeable set of circumstances.

But 2010 has been enough. I’ve seen all I’ve needed to see to know that Jerry Manuel has no control over the team and his lack of strategic skill has been on full embarassing display for all to see and mock.

I still think Jerrys personality is perfect for New York. You need thick skin and an innate ability to block out criticism and over the top headlines. Its even more important when you are fighting an uphill battle against the Yankees for the heart of the city. And by hill I mean Mount Everest.

But Jerry’s flaws are too big to be ignored. I’ve thought about how he managed to get himself off the hot seat during the first half and field a winner and perform above expectations and foolishly I believed he could keep it up.

Jerry’s problem is that he can’t manage a big league ball club and that becomes a problem when it comes to managing a big league ball club.

The list of puzzling moves include using Jennry Mejia in a relief role and using him off and on. His wearing out of Fernando Nieve and Hisanori Takahashi early on. His insistence of putting Jose Reyes bat righty while nursing an injured mid section.

Its those pressure cooker induced decisions that have me feeling that he’s acting scared and panic than sound baseball knowledge which does away with my theory that his personality doesn’t let the atmosphere of New York affect him.

Which brings us to this: Carlos Beltran should NOT be playing center field. I don’t care that he’s a good center fielder but Beltran has lost range and speed, something Angel Pagan still has, he’s becoming a liability.

Beltrans biggest contribution is being off the DL and with the group. Pagan’s wheels make him the better fit at center and the more defensively sound outfield. Its just common sense Jerry. He said it himself that the best players play and that should extend to where they play. Pagan should be the center fielder and Beltran should play left for Jason Bay. Give him a week off. Take him to the back and get him to re-learn how to hit or have a talk with David Wright.

Its as if joining the Met franchise has made him revert back to his first stint with the Mets, in their farm system.

The Mets are technically still in the race and should operate under the premise that they will remain. The Braves have pitching but not the great hitting that many think. The Phillies are going through a rough season themselves. In my opinion the division is wide open despite a 6 and a half game lead entering tonights action but I have no confidence moving forward with Jerry.

He knows how to manage the media but not his own team and that makes him a liability. When I heard Alex Cora yelled at teammates (of whom one was Mike Pelfrey, he of the 9 ERA in his last 5 starts and the 1.1 inning effort just Monday), I thought that’s awesome.

Maybe that’s what the Mets need, a fiery guy that can demand the teams attention. However Lou Pinella plans to retire after what should be the most trying of his career. Bobby Valentine continues to overprice his services out of every job but ESPN. Of course Wally Backman is an option but he should be brought up as bench coach so he can be groomed to eventually take over.

The Mets need a chews nails kind of guy to light a fire under them. They play with complacency but they run hard out the box usually. They have an interesting core that underperforms.

Don’t get me wrong, this team could just as quickly go on a tear and win 10 of their next 12 and climb back into it but I won’t be foolish enough to give credit to Jerry Manuel. It appears that everytime you do give him credit, the Mets eventually go on a sustained run of mediocrity that makes it hard for them to be rooted for. I’m done with the Jerry experiment and I’m sure most Mets fans are as well.

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July 19, 2010 · 6:43 pm

Owning Up

He was safe.

Even Henry Blanco, the man who made the tag said he was safe but Phil Cuzzi, the only voice that matters, said he was out. And the Mets were granted the second life and the kind of opportunity that had been far and few between.

Don’t get me wrong, the Mets aren’t unlucky. I used to think so. I thought last year’s team was so destroyed by injuries that nobody could have ever managed to win under those circumstances. Its hard to win when all your stars are either on the DL or headed there or out having the worst year of their career.

But then I began to take notice of some teams this year and that kind of excuse filled rhetoric was exactly the kind of nonsense that the Mets had fed its fans every year.

I’m convinced that the Wilpons think Met fans are stupid or don’t care enough. Maybe he’s under the delusion that we don’t notice little things that he does or we don’t pay attention when the team makes an official statement.

For example: Jeff Wilpon is quick to bring up the fact that his team has the National League’s highest payroll whenever someone suggests that he doesn’t spend money. Of course spending money doesn’t matter if it never nets you anything in return and as we’ve seen over the last few seasons having the highest payroll is more of a burden than something to amp yourself up by.

Or, when the Wilpons insist that their team will make case by case considerations for adding payroll and will tell whoever’s around that they didn’t lose as much money as everyone insists they had.

Well here’s a sobering fact: Bernie Madoff screwed a lot of people and if it makes the Wilpons feel better they weren’t the only ones to get duped. Sadly, like a compulsive liar backed into a corner, the Mets refuse to give a number.

Even more sad than all that is this: Mets fans would back off. They would understand. In this harsh economic climate we can understand someone coming out and saying we don’t have the money now and promising to spend more as they get more money in.

Issuing a public statement to that effect from the beginning would have made a huge difference in how the team was percieved. The fans would have given them a bit more slack to operate with, and in NY, the media can become a distraction as much as personal effects can.

Yet the Mets never took that route and refused to see what fans assume: that they have no money. The one thing the Wilpons have proven over the years is that they have a limit. That winning under their budget is how they go about things. The late George Steimbrenner never had such a hard figure to deal with. Many times you get the feeling that the other team in New York operates like a small market franchise and under a salary cap which creates this even bigger line between the Yankees and the rest of baseball: the Yankees even play by rules that their in state rivals don’t play by.

So clearly its not New York, its ownership that sets the Yankees apart.

And yet as a Met fan our teams own one of the top 5 payrolls in the sport and can only muster 70 wins. The Yankees on the other hand go out and win 100 and continue to replenish.

The ownership for years have failed to understand what the fans have wanted for years: a winner. An owner as relentless as the former owner of the other team was. An ownership group that will be up front about what’s going on.

Yet it treats us like children. It gives us excuses instead of solutions. It talks about what it does have instead of identifying what it needs to improve. In the end, if the Mets owners were honest from the beginning maybe the media wouldn’t roast them everytime they had a losing streak.

Maybe if they had owned up to everything like adults, the media wouldn’t play child like games in the press poking fun at them and using the Mets as a punchline and maybe they get a few breaks off the field on the back pages like they did yesterday in San Fran.

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June 9, 2010 · 5:26 pm

Will the real Mets team please stand up?

A few days ago Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post (yes they sometimes do real analaysis) wrote a spot on analysis of how topsy turvy the Metropolitans have been all season. Let’s forget that they do the Jekyll and Hyde routine home and away. Just look at their batters, the meat of which consist of David Wright and Jason Bay who must have some switch that they have to turn on fron time to time (how else to explain how they binge on opposing pitchers).

And then you have last night. A night in which the baseball world was drooling all over Stephen Strassburg’s destructive repertoire that should bring tears to all NL East teams for years to come. There was a pitcher working in Flushing who came to New York with very little fan fare other than being a top 10 pick and put on yet another dazzling performance, and the game was won on an 11th inning shot from another first round selection, which was set up by yet another home grown product’s home run in the seventh to tie the game.

At home they are invincible and yet away from CITI they just can’t seem to get it together. Which of course brings us to the dilemma at hand: Should the Mets pony up the prospects needed to bring in a 3rd starter?

That is the $64,000 question. But without a good understanding of what this team is, how can the Mets possibly take on such a huge risk? If Strassburg’s dominant performance or Pelfrey’s performance, or the fallout from the steroid era have taught us anything the most valuable assett a team can possess is a dominant young player. So teams nowadays are unwilling to part with the kind of young talent it would take to pry away a Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee.

As we currently stand, the Mets most pressing need is a stable bat in the middle of the line up, something Carlos Beltran COULD be if everything goes smoothly with his rehab and he comes back. But to wait and hope is a recipe for disaster. The late John Wooden used to recite this old axiom “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”

The Mets don’t have a potent enough offense to stop and say, all we are missing is another ace, though it would give them another guy that could take innings away from a bullpen that ranks as one of the top in terms of usage. So the Mets are going to be an interesting team to watch over the next month and a half. If Beltrans progress continues, he should be activated right after the July 31st deadline which wouldn’t help matters one bit. Over the next month and a half, if the Mets continue on their current path, the decision makers will be left with a critical risk they must take.

Do nothing and risk the chance that the team does well. Do something and risk that the team mortgaged their future for a rental who will only be here for a year and a half with injury issues (like Roy Oswalt) or a half year rental (like Cliff Lee who publicly stated he would test free agency). Entrusting the Mets front office with that kind of decision could be a recipe for disaster in the fans eyes, as they’ve seen deals like the Scott Kazmir deal blow up in their face.

Many teams are likely to stay away from such short sighted decisions that could destroy a team’s future, but the Mets play in the most demanding market in front of the most demanding fans (albeit few judging from gate receipts) and they are being judged by the most demanding press. If they do something, they could be blasted and if they stay pat and do nothing they will be blasted. Its a recipe for criticism that the Mets always get themselves into.

Granted the season’s 58 games old, and there’s 104 left, its already felt like a few seasons have played out with the way the Mets have transformed every 5 games almost. I’m not saying it hasn’t been exciting, but for those of us fans who constantly pull our hair out everytime this maddening team does something to undo all the goodwill a 9 game winning streak can do, we’d much rather have consistency. But that consistency needs to be reached on the road first before any decisions can be made about mortgaging the future for the final 2 and a half months of baseball. More than anything the Mets front office and their fans wish one of their multiple personalities would just stay for a month’s time so everyone can have a sense of whether we’re dealing with the home team or the away team.

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June 6, 2010 · 2:40 pm

Maybe its not all about Ollie?

While the investigation (though that may be too strong a term to use) on Ollie Perez’ suddenly aching Patella tendon, is well warranted considering the circumstances the real crime here to consider is Ollie’s continued insistence on not accepting a demotion in the minors where he could get valuable innings to work out his problems.

I love playing devil’s advocate but even here, Satan would have a problem taking Ollie’s side. Despite all wishes and wants by Mets officials, Oliver Perez, well with his rights to do so because of years he’s accumulated on the major league level, has refused to accept a Triple A assignment.

Maybe he sees this as a way for the Mets to stash him there and make him the highest paid Triple A player but the Mets are spinning this as Ollie being selfish as well they should.

But I can’t help myself on this and wonder about what it says about the Mets organization that they won’t just do the right thing and DFA Oliver Perez. No one would blame them, other than those who will say that it was the wrong decision to sign him to a big contract in 2008, but the goodwill they will have gained from letting him go will far outweigh negative criticism they will get from just keeping him on as dead weight.

The only reason I can have for keeping Oliver Perez at this point is: they have no money to just eat away. But isn’t it the same in keeping Ollie Perez buried in the bullpen? When asked what situations Jerry Manuel would put Ollie in, a clearly ticked off Jerry answered that it would be hard to find him spots. Meaning only in the most meaningless of situations, I don’t know, say the Mets were to ever get into an 18-6 game they could put him in.

But keeping him in there makes no sense. The Mets this week did send a subtle message to Ollie: they DFA’d Gary Mathews Jr, another useless body taking up valuable roster space. But the question becomes would they do that to a contract with $20 million left? Frankly speaking as a Met fan the Wilpons have never been been willing to admit when they were wrong on a free agent so cutting a guy in the middle of a major contract would be disastrous in their eyes so I don’t see them doing it.

But baseball franchises have gotten more efficient. More statisticians are making their way up the ranks of baseball front offices and are giving teams a new operating model to work with which show guys like Ollie Perez and Gary Mathews Jr as more of a burden and thus necessitating a cutting of the cord.

The other factor to consider here are Mets fans who have overwhelmingly NOT shown up to Citi Field because the Mets have failed to address some of the major concerns in the offseason. So if the Wilpons had problems before in the finance department the early box office hasn’t been good. Of course, if the Mets ever showed any semblance of a functioning organization (I’m still not sold on this building depth plan they are holding firm to- more like thank God these moves are working out), then fans would show up. The Mets are a top 10 franchise (earnings wise) in the number one market, so they should be able to dole out bigger contracts and be competitive for the top tier free agents. Yet this past offseason they consistently lowballed every major free agent and settled on Jason Bay (they had to pick up somebody right?) and stayed pat in the starting rotation when fans and columnists alike were imploring/pleading with the Mets to get consistent starters.

Despite finding some temporary solutions the Mets continue to ride the “whatever happens, happens” train which begs the question of whether its a sound gameplan to have fate driving the train. John Wooden the Hall of Fame (take your pick) had a famous axiom “be prepared and be honest.”. On both counts the Mets are found to be lacking.

But the Mets could do so much good by just simply stopping this cycle of nonsense with Ollie Perez and just cutting him. Forget this mysterious DL stint, its only prolonging the right decision that everyone BUT the Mets front office seems to know. Let go of Ollie Perez and it would be another step in the right decision. A small step, but a right one nonetheless and for this team, that’s huge.

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May 15, 2010 · 4:04 am

Marlins 7- Mets 2

The Mets went down to .500 after Oliver Perez’ latest meltdown which feautured 4 home runs given up to a Marlins team that coming in was scoring 3 runs a game.  More on that as we go on.

– Oliver Perez’ line: 3.1 IP, 7 ER on 9 H, 5 K’s, 3 BB, on 88 pitches (54 for strikes- 61%).  The big hit is what killed him today.  He gave up a 3 run home run in the 3rd.  Then in the fourth came three more home runs which just seemed like over kill.  I think Jerry Manuel kept him in the game to try and extend him just a tad but it was clear that he had melted down.  His head was out of the game and into the post game spread and the shower that was awaiting him.  The problem today other than his mental mechanics were the fact that he again kept getting down in counts.  Too many 3 ball counts forced him to throw the ball over the middle of the plate and for a straight fastball hitting team like the Marlins, that’s like playing into their hands.  The best part of the game was seeing him leave.  He jumped over the 3rd base line and if you were Jerry Manuel you probably almost wanted to ring his neck.  It seems as though he just never cares either way and it hurts to see him act like that.  He has the talent, how else to explain the days where he can be great, but those days are few and far between and now its becoming perfectly clear that those days are not coming back.  He’s completely regressed, both mentally and physically.  People may think that its too much money to eat, but he’s a waste of space.  Its time to DFA him and eat the loss.  The Mets can’t continue to have this guy on the roster, making starts.  In fact, I’m even opposed to seeing the bullpen door open and seeing him skip on to the mound.  Its not that he’s sucking, its that it seems like he doesn’t care and I know, from an outsiders perspective like mine, I don’t know but his inability to keep himself together on the mound is just annoying now.

Will the Mets DFA  him?  No.  They will demote him to the bullpen at the worst, or skip his turn in the rotation and put him on the DL with some fictitious injury so that he can make some minor league starts before coming back up.  But yes, he will come back up.  That’s the worst part, the fact that I know for certain that at some point this season he will be back to make a start, barring injury, and we’ll be right back to where we started.  Of course the Mets have no one but themselves to blame here with the 12 million a year contract they gave to him.  There’s no easy way to just eat 12 mil but the Mets need to do what’s in the best interest of the organization and not what’s in the best interest of the bottom line which again would go a long way towards convincing Met fans that maybe the Wilpons didn’t stash all their pennies and lose all their coin with Madoff.  But again, the point is, Ollie will be back Met fans.  We’ll have to live with it in some form through 2011.

– What more to say about the Met offense?  Well, in their defense when they scored those two runs in  the top of the 5th, I got excited and it goes back to what I’ve been saying.  As bad as this team has been recently, they’ve been fun to watch.  I know Met fans won’t see any solace in this, but its clear the team has a different mindset and they’re fighters.  Its these days where they show some fight that convince me that when they get hot, its up to their coach to convince this team that they can overcome any deficit.  As an eternal optimist it is my duty to inform you that the Mets will not completely be in this kind of funk for long.  There’s too much talent for this to go on and I have some ideas.  I realize that alot of Met fans have been longing for a line up change and I put a few together a few weeks ago when the Mets were facing similiar questions.  Yesterday I suggested that the number three hole be a rotating group of players of Wright, Bay, and Davis.  But now, let’s see some other line ups that could make sense:

1. Reyes

2. Wright

3. Bay

4. Davis

5. Barajas

6. Pagan

7. Castillo

8. Francouer

This is the line up that I like the most.  You put Wright in a situation where his OBP will actually help.  What’s interested me the most is that his defense hasn’t suffered while he’s looked like a mess up at the plate.  If someone can convince him to take those outside breaking ball pitches, then he will cut down on his strikeouts and force the pitcher to throw it down the middle. The two hole is the on base guy.  Ladies and gentleman: one of only 24 guys in the bigs with a .400+ oBP: Mr. David Wright.  I know it doesn’t sound as sexy but seriously it counts.

Another version of the line up could be as follows:

1. Reyes

2. Castillo

3. Davis

4. Pagan

5. Bay

6. Wright

7. Barajas

8. Francouer

I’d rather not bunch up three right handed hitters but at this point, you have to separate Wright and French who’ve been striking out almost every time up and Barajas will give those two guys some pitches to hit.  Either way, both need to start producing.  Also, you may be wondering why Pagan is batting clean up.  Ladies and gentleman, the Mets leader in average with RISP: Mr. Angel Pagan who came into tonight’s game with a .381 BA.  The numbers don’t lie, Pagan can rake and if given the opportunity I believe he could do it.
With both of these line ups as you can see, my vote is for Reyes to be moved back to his spot in the line up which is at the top of the order.  He doesn’t remember how to put a bunt down.  Mentally this, hitting in the 3 spot, has messed with his psyche and his beliefs.  He’s a lead off hitter, and as much in favor as I was with the move (I remember talking something about the Mets needing to be unconventional and having speed at the top of the line up), I must admit that this is not working out.  With as much a sample as we’ve had, its clear that the Mets must make the switch and move Reyes back to where he belongs: at the top of the line up as the table setter.  Packing even Reyes, Wright and Davis might not be such a bad idea either.  If we sink, we’ll do so with our homegrown talent.

– What more can be said about our bullpen who seem to have a new guy going 3+ innings a night it seems.  Raul Valdes came in and pithed 2.2 innings of perfect ball striking out 4 on 34 pitches.  Acosta and Mejia came in and shut down the Marlins the rest of the way.  By the way, the Met pitching staff recorded 13 K’s, 9 after Ollie left.  Its unfortunate these guys are seeing so much daylight but hey, when they come in, the opposing team doesn’t seem to have much success the rest of the way.  Imagine they put together a pitching staff that went 7 innings a night, this team would actually be, dare I say it, respectable.

– Mets losers of 5 of their last 6 face Nate Robertson in their next game.  He threw against the Mets at Citi Field on April 8th and struck out 4 in taking the win against them in 5 innings of work.  The Mets counter with the rejuvenated John Maine looking to get the Mets on the board in this series.

SEASON: 18-18

MY PREDICTION: 22-14

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May 15, 2010 · 2:38 am

Break-Up letter

I feel this is kind of rushed.  Its 8:31 right now as I’m writing this.  The score is 7-0.  Dan Uggla has hit his second home run in as many innings.  The Marlins have hit their 4th home run of the game, their third of the inning.  The Marlins hadn’t had a lefty hit a home run yet, until tonight.

This feels like a morning after article and I’m sure in the interest of fairness I should wait till the morning to write this but I can’t help it.  This feels like it needs to be said so I’ll say it.

Ollie, you and the Mets need to break up.  Immediately.

I dont want to wait till morning to say something I’ve been keeping to myself for the last few weeks.  To be honest, this is tough for me.  I’ve been one of Oliver Perez’s biggest supporters.  When the Mets signed him to that 3 year 36 million dollar deal, I defended the Mets.  I said that he was a lefty with tremendous stuff.  I would repeat Johan Santana’s proclamation that he had the best stuff on the staff.  I mean, the great Johan said that.  He knew something about pitching.  He had to know something that us couch experts didn’t know.

But I began to break down when I heard how out of shape he came into the season after the Mets gave him that contract.  During the worst season in recent Met fan history he epitomized the Mets: fat, lazy, and full of cash.

In fact, this has been the classic break up.  Think about Ollie’s symptoms:

1. He’s unstable.  The running joke for Met fans/broadcasters has always been the question upon entering the ballpark: What Ollie will show up?  Good Ollie or Bad Ollie?

2. He has something that makes him unlikeable. (sometimes with the mate, its his/her family or friends, but with Ollie its definitely its his contract.)

3. He was attractive at one point but nowadays that cuteness has wore off with the reasons stated above.

Look at Ollie’s 2004 season with Pittsburgh and you’ll see why people see so much potential in this guy.  This is his season in 2004 at the age of 22:

12-10, 2.98 ERA in 239 K’s in 196 IP, with only 81 BB’s, 2 CG’s and 1 SHO.  That’s an 11 K/ per 9!!!!

So the talent has always been there, but he never made it materialize in the last 6 years.  In fact, when the Mets got him just two years later, he was the throw in on a Roberto Hernandez deal.  Think about it, he was the throw in.

I’ll remember the good times we had.  I’ll fondly remember him coming out and throwing a heck of a game 7.  I’ll remember the biggest reaction I’ve ever seen from him coming from that Endy Chavez catch.  I”ll remember the days showing up to the park, knowing it was an Oliver Perez start and thinking “oh boy”, and then I’d see him be dominant over 6 innings.

But I’ll also think to the games like tonight where he just had no command and no fight.  When there were times I’d show up to the park for an Oliver Perez start and think “oh no” and see the whole game fall apart for him by the third inning.  I’ll remember him getting beat because he had portions of the night where he couldn’t throw a strike.  Where he just seemed to never care either way.  The Mets fired Willie Randolph because it always seemed like he didn’t care, but watch Oliver Perez after a start good or bad.  Its the same expression.  It just makes you upset.

So now what?  Well, we tell him to pack his bags because he’s not wanted here anymore.  We demote him to Triple A.  We let him go.  We toss him.  Its not that he isn’t skilled and he is young enough to resurrect his career so this does have the makings of it coming back to haunt the Mets.  But he’s not going to go anywhere on this team.  There’s nothing on this team that can fix whatever is messing him up time and time again.  This relationship isn’t working out.

I thought that I should take a break, take a walk, and get some dinner.  Two hours after starting this I still feel the same way.  Its over Ollie.  Its not just the aftermath of that ugly loss.  Its just the fact that this was the kind of loss that makes you say enough is enough.

Its over Ollie.  The Mets gave it a shot, but its over.  He needs to go.

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May 13, 2010 · 2:32 am

Nationals 6- Mets 4

Another rubber game, another loss as the Mets dropped it in the ninth when light hitting outfielder Roger Bernadina stroked his second home run of the game, season, and career against K-Rod to break a 4-4 tie.

-Mike Pelfrey’s line today: 5.2 IP giving up 4 ER, on 7 hits striking out 6 while walking 3, giving up a homerun on 119 pitches (74 for strikes- 62%).  By the way while those 6 K’s look good, he struck out the side in the first and in my mind didn’t make an adjustment when the line up came the second time around and ran into trouble in the second.  In the first he looked flat out dominant.  He struck out Nyjer Morgan on 3 pitches, Adam Kennedy on 4 pitches and Ryan Zimmerman on 5 pitches.  That was as efficient an inning as I’ve seen from a Met pitcher this season.  The second inning was led off by a double from Will Ferrell, i mean Adam Dunn, , a single by Cristian Guzman and then Willie Harris* walked to make the bases loaded.  Then he goes out and strikes out Roger Bernadina, strikes out Will Nieves and then comes the pitcher.  Gets a two strike count but Craig Stammen poked it past David Wright for a two out bases loaded single plating two.  Again, another Met pitcher unable to get his counterpart out in a big spot, with the bases loaded, and two outs.  He also gave up Roger Bernadina’s first home run of the year.  By the way Roger Bernadina is NOT a home run hitter.  Oye.  Over the next few innings he labored getting into deep pitch counts and unable to get that split finger over to finish off hitters as he did in the first two innings.  Craig Stammen came in the fourth and got another RBI this time after Will Nieves (former Met catcher of the future) hit a double after Bernadina’s homer.  Pelf dug himself too many holes and couldn’t go deeper than 2 outs into the sixth.

– The Met bullpen came in after Pelf issued his 3rd walk of the game with two outs in the sixth and Takahashi gave up a hit, then struck out Ryan Zimmerman to strand two runners.*  Pedro Feliciano, Fernando Nieve (who, let’s face it needs to have Dr. James Andrews on speed dial at some point in the season.) pitched 2.1 IP of scoreless relief.  Then came K-Rod and out goes the ball.  He gives up a go-ahead two run home run to Roger Bernadinha who’d never had a home run up until today’s game and he hit two, count em two home runs to help win the game for the Nats.  I’m not going to go too hard on the Mets but as far as sure things the Mets had coming into the season:

1. there’s Jason Bay adding power (out of his 32 hits, 11 are for extra base hits and only one of them is a home run) which has been a fail thus far.

2. K-Rod being a consistent closer.  Clearly the Mets didn’t get the young guy the Angels had when he was coming up.  I want that guy.

3. David Wright getting his power back.  Well something’s still there and its the strikeouts and its from last year.

4. Johan Santana.  I dont even need to bring up the Philly game do I?

As we know there are no sure things in life and thus let’s put those to rest.

*= Gosh I love this guy.  I need to learn some Japanese before I decide to come back to the stadium in hopes of getting his attention.  You know…from the second row in the upper deck.

*= ugh..Willie Harris…insert mean face.

– What I love a lot about the Mets are whenever Ralph Kiner comes to the broadcast booth and shares his wisdom, knowledge, and turns it into story hour with Ralph Kiner.  The guy is a natural story teller and with baseball losing a voice like Ernie Harwell, its becoming clear that these voices most closely associated with specific teams are becoming more and more rare.  Kiner takes you back to an older era.  I was able to visit the Met hall of fame earlier this year and see the old broadcasting names and I’m priveleged to have been able to hear a guy like Ralph Kiner growing up and still hear him whenever he pays a visit to the guys in the booth.  His most important point was that of the discussion of whether Reyes is a 3 hitter.  Kiner didn’t hold back and said “no” without even a moment’s hesitation.  I’m personally on the fence about it.  Frankly, there’s no one on the Met roster that’s hitting the tar out of the ball that you would logically think to promote.  You could talk yourself into Ike Davis but that’s only if your absolutely convinced that he’s a great hitter because like Ralph Kiner said “the 3 hole is for your BEST hitter.”  I’m not sure that Ike Davis is the best hitter.  David Wright could be that guy.

During the beginning of the year I was absolutely convinced that putting Reyes there would be the best option given that Beltran was out and the top of the line up would feature speed of Pagan, Castillo, and Reyes.  I also agreed with Mike Francesa when he said that it didn’t matter where a guy hit in the line up but as we’ve heard over and over again, Jose Reyes is the prototypical lead off hitter.  He’s been trained to get on base anyway, any how.  Now he’s put in a spot in the line up where RBI’s need to be had.  He’s not used to that and I now think that if Beltran comes back and takes the 3 spot in the line up, Reyes changes his approach back to lead off and begins to regress again and it never gives him the consistency that we absolutely need from Jose Reyes.  Its no secret that the Mets go where Reyes takes them so shifting him up and down the line up isn’t looking so good now that we know he isn’t that great of a 3 hitter.

By the way a funny moment when Reyes got thrown out trying to advance on a ball hit to his side.  Both Keith Hernandez and Ralph Kiner were jumping at the chance to groan and then go over the basic rule of baseball where “you never advance on a ball hit to your side with less than two outs.”  Its simple and yet Reyes does this every single time.  I don’t think that Reyes is as fast as we’re used to seeing him and so I’m always weary of where he thinks he is in terms of speed.  Maybe before his leg problems he would’ve been safe but its just not a smart play.  A few days ago he ran on the same play but the short stop never went to third with the throw.  Sucks that it had to be on a Met out, but a funny play no less.

– Subway Pre-Game Live was excellent today.  I usually fast forward through it but today seeing a few highlights I stopped.  Watching Chris Carter talk, it looked like he was nervous and was about to grind his bottom row of teeth from how nervous/excited he was.  Great to see the energy from the Animal and the fact that his intro-song* is “Real American Hero” (the Hulk Hogan theme for you non 80’s folk), just completes the image of a guy who was described by Josh Thole as a guy who “never sits down, not even to eat.”  Speaking of Mr. Thole, boy was he nervous.  I know it will take some time to get used to the whole t.v. experience for young Josh but its exciting to see some green faces just upbeat and smiling.  Like I talked about in yesterday’s game, the fact that these guys come from a different clubhouse and different culture where last year’s stench isnt there on them, it makes it all the sense in the world that they come in and contribute and can be impervious to the negativity that’s been surrounding this team.  Their general youth and excitement over being called up is so refreshing and something I love.  By the way, Thole wasn’t kidding, everytime an SNY camera caught Chris Carter, the guy was pacing around the dug out, stretching, getting some water.  Something.  Never sitting down.

– Bernadina didn’t just hit home runs, his diving catch to rob Francouer in the 5th inning saved the game for the Nats as that hit would’ve plated 3 for sure and broken the game open for the Mets who had rallied back from their second two run deficit to tie the game.  Of course their final two run deficit the Mets just couldn’t come back from and from there Matt Capps came and closed the door.  That’s 0-6 in the finale of a tied series.  Doesn’t bode well that the Mets can’t seem to win that rubber game.  Ever.  It doesn’t bode well that right now, the Mets have nobody that you can confidently say will go out and give you 7 or 8 strong innings.  You pray a starter goes 6 without giving up too much damage and hope that the Mets can chase the starter out and go to work on the other’s team’s relievers since the Met middle relief will go a long way towards keeping it competitive.  A tough pill to swallow but let’s look at the positive side and I promise you there is.  On a day when Pelf didn’t have his best stuff.  When the Mets went down twice they kept fighting and tied it twice.  They played with passion, enthusiasm and they have this new vibe about them that does well in one very important respect.  The major league season is a marathon and not a sprint.  This kind of confidence that they are building up will bode well come September when they are trying to summon the ghost of rallies past to help them in crucial games where a Wild Card berth or, dare I say it, a division could be on the line.  This is definitely not the team that they put out there last year and though they lost this game if they keep this kind of fight they won’t run into too many light hitting outfielders busting out the home run trot too many times.  The law of averages says so.  Though at this point I’m not too high on anything Jerry Manuel is saying, I do think that the Mets are on the right track in terms of mentality and overall effectiveness.  It was a cold, rainy, disgusting day and the Mets fought.  Its May and the team is fighting with a line up that’s only starting to get their big boppers going.

– I know what’s on everyone’s mind but I think Jerry waits a few days before making, yet another switch in the line up.  People are clamoring to have Barajas hit higher up in the line up, which I agree with Jerry Manuel (What’s wrong with me?!?!) is not a good idea.  The guy swings at everything and he’d be exposed batting higher.  People want Ike Davis up there, which might not be so bad of an idea but I think Jerry waits to press that button.  That’s a little bit of pressure on such a young guy but I think with everything I’ve seen from him, he’ll be up to the task.

– Finally, a moment of trepidation and joy.  Shoutouts to Matt Cerrone, founder of Metsblog- known place you can find me everytime I need to get my head out of the books in school, who linked the blog to his page.  Now time to find a tech savvy person to make this blog a bit more appealing.

Mets start a series against the Marlins in Florida starting tomorrow at 7 with Johan going up against Josh Johnson.  The Mets start a crucial road trip where they on the road against the Marlins for four, to Atlanta for two, then Washington for two.  How do I have them faring in this road trip?  I got them going 3-5.  Let’s hope I’m an idiot and don’t have a clue about anything.

SEASON: 18-16

MY PREDICTION: 21-13

LGM!

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May 8, 2010 · 12:40 pm

Mets 6- Giants 4

Almost two years since the last walk off win by the Mets, Rod Barajas hit a 2 run game winning home run in the bottom of the ninth.

– Mike Pelfrey was really good tonight.  I mean it.  7.1 IP, 4 K’s, 0 BB’s, 3 ER, on 8 hits and 85 pitches (61 for strikes- 72%).  He went into the 8th inning having thrown only 85 pitches.  In the 8th had he not let on the first two runners he would’ve went the distance.  He was masterful and we saw the old school Mike Pelfrey: pitch to contact and make them hit the sinker.  While the Giants may have the best average of any NL team, they do NOT have an explosive offense with much power so there was no need for Pelf to get cute.

– Its difficult to give any JUST one player the game ball so I’m going to give it to both Ike Davis AND Rod Barajas.  Both had two home run games.  Both had great plays in the ninth that helped win the game.  I know people will only look at the game winning two run home run that Barajas hit but that catch in the ninth inning was just downright awesome.  Its funny:

batters 1-6 were a combined: 4- 22 1 RBI, 1 Run scored, 2 BB’s, and 4 K’s.

Rod Barajas and Ike Davis: 4-7 5 Runs, 5 RBI’s, 1 BB, 1 K. (All four hits were home runs- incredible.)

– You always get excited when a rookie comes along and has a great stretch.  You get the feeling that this isn’t just a stretch.  Granted he has to stay away from the injury plague which the Mets have not been able to avoid but if he does, you get the feeling that he will be a really good player for a really long time.  The two home runs he hit were massive, mammoth home runs off Jonathan Sanchez who hadn’t given up a HIT to a lefty batter all season.  His first was so high that Gary Cohen had a tough time reading the trajectory of the ball, only after it smacked off the Pepsi Porch did his voice go into excitement/awe which was pretty awesome to hear.  His second was to the deepest part of the park and he did it with letting go with one hand which shows you the raw power this kid has.  The first was on an inside fastball, the second more massive home run was on a hanging breaking ball.  Usually hitters don’t do well against same side pitching but he’s 7 for 10 against lefties.  He’ll eventually hit righties so he’s getting to the point that he’s an everyday player as he should be.

– Speaking of which, the ninth inning gave me goosebumps because the guys turned into fans calling the game.  Hearing Cohen yell safe, NO OUT! when Francouer bunted/swung at that pitch was just awesome.  This was just minutes after Cohen went crazy on the Ike Davis catch which I’m gonna tell you right now, is going down as one of the greatest Met catches of all time.  For those who didn’t get to watch the game, well TOO BAD, but let me try and describe to you the degree of difficulty on it.

Top of the ninth: K-Rod in to protect a one run lead.  He’s already given up the lead with a pinch hit home run by John Bowker to tie the game at 4.  Bengie Molina comes in and strikes out to make it two outs.  Aaron Rowand reaches first on a single.  A terrible balk call on Frankie Rodriguez which put Rowand on 2nd.  Then Mark DeRosa hit a ground ball up the middle which Luis Catillo of 2002  comes and gobbles up in his glove preventing Rowand from scoring the go ahead run.  Amazing play by Castillo one of the most hated Mets for really no reason.*  Then Pablo Sandoval after fouling off a few 0-2 pitches, pops one up on the first base side.  Ike Davis goes over for a look, sees how much room he has to make the play, gets to the railing, and then jumps over the railing to make the catch, do a dive and stick the landing.  AMAZING.  At that point I didn’t even scream, I just put my hands over my head and looked on with shock at that play.  What a great play.  Two amazing defensive gems to save the game for the Mets!

Bottom of the ninth: Francouer bunts/hits a slow roller to third which is scooped up by Pablo Sandoval and he barely beats out French at first.  Later replays showed that the call was correctly made by Angel Hernandez but the call by the guys was classic:

Cohen: and he’s safe. NO. OUT!

Hernandez: (in the background) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The crowd was booing the play and Manuel ran out on to the field.**  After a few minutes the replays showed that Hernandez had the right call so everyone settled down.  Ike Davis draws a walk.  Up comes Rod Barajas and he just absolutely blasts it out to the left field corner for a two run home run which looked like it would die at the warning track but had just enough pop to go over the fence.

*= For those who don’t know, Luis Castillo has a bad contract that Mets management was dumb enough to give him and yet he’s given most of the blame for accepting.  Yeah.  Like none of us wouldn’t.

**= Every time Manuel runs out to the field, he has his head down as if he’s going over his arguments to the ump so he won’t look like a fool.  I do have another theory and that is, the Swithin Titus theory, named appropriately.  Everytime I have to go up in front of a large gathering I’m always aware of myself walking or moving so I tend to get real stiff and try to walk as cool and calm as I can so I don’t trip or fall.  Its basically a defensive measure to make sure I don’t do any classic blooper reel stuff.  It works about 60% of the time.

– After a wild series against the Reds in which they got beat on two 10th inning walk offs and had a ninth inning home run themselves sandwiched in (Mr. Barajas himself), the Mets are suddenly finding their late inning heroics thanks to the Reds who have been absolutely magical.  You always look for one or two games as the turning point in the season and I think that their last home stand, there was that game where they turned all that negativity surrounding them in Citi Field and used it to get them going.  They’ve won 8 straight at home and are just cruising now in a home ball park that last year was murder for them because of its dimensions.  They hit four more homeruns here and it seems as though the park is getting smaller to the Mets now that they have some boppers up and down the lineup.  While people may make something of Bay’s struggles, he’s always been a streaky hitter who will find his power stroke at some point and get going.  I’m not too worried about him and Wright is also becoming one of those guys that at the end of the year will end up with 25 HRs, 100 RBI’s, and a .310 average somehow.  I dont know how these guys do it, but they do.

– Huge bounce back game for Pelfrey after getting shelled by the Phillies on Saturday.  Tomorrow Johan gets his turn at turning things around against Todd Wellenmyer a guy the Mets traditionally have had great success against.  Then again we said the same thing against Jaime Moyer but we all know Moyer has that old thing down pact having pitched almost a decade in his forties.  Mets go for their second straight against the Giants at 1:10.  Hopefully this game was that turning point to get them going.

The SEASON: 16-13

MY PREDICTION: 16-13

By the way, I have them winning the next two games.  I hope I didn’t jinx it.  LGM!

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May 5, 2010 · 11:45 am

Mets 5- Reds 4

A great win by the Mets who finally managed to get the big hit when it counted.  Important to note that Fernando Nieve making his umpteenth appearance gave up the lead but Rod Barajas came in to clean it all up.  We’ll get into that and yet another managerial blunder that’s beginning to take me to the other side of the Fire Jerry Manuel debate.

– First off, that’s two very impressive outings by John Maine.  6 IP, 6 K’s, 2 BB’s, 1 ER (2 R), on 4 hits and 102 pitches (62 for strikes- 60.8%).  The good thing about it was that by the 5th inning he only had 79 pitches.  If he had one quick inning he could’ve gone 7.  His new strategy is working, by using primarily fastballs in different spots and trying to throw people off and using the offspeed stuff as a complementary pitch instead of the one he throws all the time.  He’s getting more swings and misses because he has good movement on his fastball.  It tails away from lefties and comes in on righties which makes it a very tough pitch for sluggers to extend on.  There will be moments like the Brandon Phillips homerun where he’ll put it where people can extend but for the most part he kept it out of the zone.  So that makes it two consecutive nights where the unknown quantities of the Met rotation gave excellent efforts.  That’s also two straight nights where the Mets almost lost because the Reds were able to come back.

– The Mets offense seemed to show signs of life last night scoring 5 runs, 3 XBH, 2 home runs and a double by Reyes.  Barajas took the first pitch from closer Francisco Cordero and smashed it.  I love watching his home runs because right off the bat, it looks like its going to leave the stadium, bounce on the freeway and go right into the ocean.  I mean he crushes balls when he gets it.  As the old saying goes, he never gets cheated.  The first inning was especially sweet since it started off with 3 consecutive hits against Met killer Bronson Arroyo.  The top three guys got basehits and got Angel Pagan home which is the way it should be.  The first three guys get on, a single can score two, a double clears the bases and that’s the beauty having all that speed on the bases.*

*= The guys made a very good point about the Mets offense.  Right now, they aren’t getting the big hit, they need to rely on forcing the situation and that’s the formula to the Mets success even in 2006.  I remember it like it was yesterday. Reyes gets on, dances on first threatens to steal, hit and run, Castillo busts one through the hole and Reyes ends up on 3rd.   Beltran comes up and singles and Reyes scores.  Now, just replace Reyes with Pagan and Beltran with Reyes and you have the formula to the Mets first run of the game.  Its important that the Mets get back to their identity which is speed and forcing the issue with the guys that get on base.  We have good speed 1-5 (have you seen Bay on ground balls? The throws are barely beating him to the bag.  One day a fielder is going to get lackadaisical and he’s going to make it in a big spot, I’m calling it already) and it can come in handy when you need to score runs on singles with men on 2nd.  All five of those guys can score with their speed which doesn’t put much pressure on guys to get extra base hits to get them to score which is good.

– Ok, so I understand why Jerry brings in Fernando Nieve.  I do.  He’s been good for him this entire season whenever called up on and even up until 2 outs, Jerry looked like a genius.  But, he did give up the two back to back home runs which could’ve ended in disaster given the Mets recent history in being unable to get the big hit.  They were fortunate that Barajas got the home run but again, it could’ve ended badly.  My point is this: you have unofficially given the 8th inning role to Pedro Feliciano who’s done a terrific job.  Yes, he pitched the last two nights but if that’s his role then that’s his role.  Nieve needs to be rested.  Manuel brings him in for long duty, for an inning, and then in the 8th.  My point is, he doesn’t have a clue as to what Nieve’s role is except as his favorite button to push whenever he needs a lead kept safe.  Meanwhile, you have Jenrry Mejia coming in the 7th getting what kind of experience exactly?  IF he’s going to be the ace of the future he serves no purpose right now as a 7th inning reliever.  You either give him high leverage situations OR you get his butt back to the minors to stretch him out.  But back to defining roles.  You’ve seen these guys over a month now and you’ve given Feliciano the 8th on more than one occasion and he’s come through and now you’re giving Nieve the role?  Clearly Jerry has no clue and is now just bringing in Nieve just for the heck of it and actively ruining what is a bright spot on our bullpen.  I’m not suggesting bringing in Manny Acosta, but what I’m saying is you have to be smart in the way you use these guys this early in the season.  By July, Nieve’s arm is going to be in a sling and we’ll be shouting for Manuel’s neck for ruining what was one of the more dependable arms in the bullpen for overuse in April and May.  These are the kind of decisions that come back to haunt you.  Don’t you think the papers are going to suggest that Nieve is running out of gas (even though that pitch that Votto hit was 95 on the gun) in May and going to say that Manuel is ruining him?  Come on Jerry.  THINK!

– The Mets close out the series with Niese going against Johnny Cueto today in a day game.  The Mets are attempting to win the 4th of 5 series and hoping that the Niese from Friday shows up again.

THE SEASON: 15-12

MY PREDICTION: 15-12

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