Archive for July, 2010

My first remembrance of the trading deadline was back when it was June 15th. The Mets got a big piece of their puzzle when they grabbed Donn Clendenen. The Mets have their roots in pitching and defense, and his whopping twelve home runs got the fans attention. My all time favorite Met was indirectly involved in this deal as well.

June 15th eventually became July 31st, and July 31st is beginning to give way to August 31st. All the back pages are touting the Yankees’ pick ups, Lance Berkman and Austin Kearns. The Mets traded Mike Jacobs, to the Blue Jays. He will head to Las Vegas, which for some strange reason is the home of the Jays AAA team.

There are a lot of ifs to rest of this season. If Jason Bay wakes up from his concussion and suddenly remembers that he is Jason Bay. If Mike Pelfrey reverts to his May days instead of his summer daze. If Carlos Beltran plays at just three fourths of his capabilities, If Jerry Manual writes the same line up for more than two days. I could go on and on, and then take a lunch break, and go on and on after that.

There is a buzz about Omar Minaya in the air. What is he up to? Will the Mets make a deal or stand pat? There were complaints about how he handled the hot stove over the winter. If you take a look back, all the pitchers fans were hoping he would get his hands on are now hurt. Everyone laughed when he signed R.A. Dickey.

The phucking Phils gave up J.A, Happ for Oswalt. The Mets equivalent to Happ would be Jonathan Niese. Does anyone want to see Niese go? Most teams were asking for Ike Davis or Josh Thole, and again, the majority of Mets fans would not want to see them blossom on another teams turf.

The excitement of a new toy would be wonderful.  A clean slate, some fresh energy. Fans are drooling for something to happen. I’m glad that up until this point, with about eight hours to go, the Mets’ best prospects are still the Mets’ best prospects.

Jennry Mejia is off of the DL in time for the trading deadline. For me, and for most fans, the best move the Mets can make today would be to  show Ollie la puerta. This way the team can at least stop playing a man short.

The bats are back. Mets have scored a lot of runs since they got back home. They showed some grit trying to get back in games that  most people would have figured they was no way they could win.

We’ll see how the day pans out. Do you want the Mets to do something just for the sake of doing something, or can we live with that fact that once again, our GM let July 31st pass by as if it May 2. Omar standing pat over the winter worked out pretty well, time will tell if the same strategy will hold up as well in the heat of the summer, as it did during a cold and snowy winter.

The good news is the Mets overcame a six run deficit, the bad news is they still lost. For the life of me I can not understand how the Mets can play so many games being a man or two short. They played at least eight games with out Reyes being available, now they are going to go three or so games with out Bay, plus there is the great ‘agujero negro’ that is Oliver Perez.

Maybe Jerry figured it would be easier to watch Albert get one hit against Raul, than to play three more innings and have to watch Perez walk in six runs.

It was nice to see them fight back, it just seems like the way the roster is now, they started the game already in a hole.

Maybe the trade deadline will bring some much needed help.

Any one who wished that Jerry Manual would not be the manager when the Mets opened their home stand against the Cardinals got what they were hoping for. The universe does have a wonderful sense of humor, Jerry was suspended for one game, and will be right back on Wednesday.

Mets played a great game last night. I’m pretty sure that just about every Met fan thought here we go again when the Mets were down one run in the first inning. Jon Niese established himself inside, and got out of a few jams, most of the caused by fielding miscues.

There was something about the way David Wright was throwing last night throwing that bothered me. All of his throws seemed a bit slow and labored. They did not seem to be natural, like he was going against his instincts. Maybe he has been working on throwing and is trying to get the new technique down pat, of maybe he is protecting his arm.

Beltran had a nice night at the plate on the base paths. He has so few at bats that two or three hits can raise his average fifty points, and an 0-fer will bring it down just as much. I still want to see him bat second, and Castillo bat eighth.

Josh Thole has his chance to cement himself in the line up, or earn a ticket back Buffalo. Thole will catch Dickey, Niese and Takahashi; Blanco will catch Santana and Pelfrey.

Johann on the hill tonight… Lets Go Mets!!!!

Looks like everything is going to stay the same with the Mets. Same manager, general manager, hitting coach, etc etc etc. There are many different stories out there today. Ownership is hoping that this cry for Jerry’s head will turn out like the last one, with a nice long win streak.

If Wright is tired, and the team is slumping, how the hell can a tired player help them win? Give the guy a break, let him catch his breath and come out running. And when he comes back, fine him $10,000 for every inch his back foot is out of the batters box. He has pushed himself so far back in the corner, at least one shoe length out of the box. He is stretching at  pitches right down the middle, and lunging for the outside pitch, and ducking back at the inside ones. In essence, he is out the moment he steps to the plate.

Here is my two cents worth. 1) Dump Ollie. You can’t win playing with twenty four guys, when all the other teams have twenty five. Who cares if he does well somewhere else. He has proven he can not pitch in NYC. He made a big pay day out of a few high profile outings in his early Met tenure. Every time this guy is in a game, the chance for losing has increased ten fold. Big deal if it took you fifteen hours and $200 to cook your Thanksgiving dinner, you have to get rid of the carcass at some point in time. You can not keep it hanging out in the back of your fridge where it’s taint spoils everything around it. You can’t hide it in soup and add a bunch of ingredients that can not stand on their own. Even though it once tasted so good, the time comes when you have to scrape the plate and move on.

2) Get a set lineup. Define the roles of each man in the line up. One day the third place hitter is there because he can drive in runs, the next day he is there to set the table. Pagan is growing and maturing on the big New York stage. He is the understudy who catches the fancy of a few critics who ignore one or two flaws and deem him the next star.

3) Stop playing for one run. It seems like every move that Jerry makes is geared to pushing one run in. It makes me crazy when he tells the lead off or second place hitter to bunt with one out . The pitcher all ready tried that, you wasted one out, now you are going to waste two?

I really would love to get that May and June feeling back in August. I am amazed at what can happen once the calendar flips. One time I when I was in the car biz, I had a wonderful September. As soon as October came around, I went from the top to the bottom of the sales board in few short weeks.

Time is running out. That fishy smell in the air is not Newark Bay, it’s the Marlins getting a bit too close for comfort.

Off day today, Mets limp, or should I say crawl home, battered and bleeding from their left coast nightmare.

There is still time to make a move on the division and the wild card. It appears that the front office is getting together sometime today, or tomorrow to assess the state of the team. The head most likely to roll will be HoJo’s.

Personally, I don’t think Bob Melvin is the right replacement for Jerry. Backman would be my choice, but not until spring training. Bring Tim up from the Bingo’s or Ken from the Bisons and let them give the team a fresh voice and hold the fort down until Wally gets a full season managing in Brooklyn.

There is enough talent and time for someone to come in on an interim basis and guide the Mets. They need their lineup changed, one day Jerry says his third place hitter is there because he is the best hitter with runners on base, and the next day says that he bunted with his third place hitter because he really sees one, two and three as the table setters, with the big bobbers behind them. No wonder this team keeps skidding if the manager doesn’t have his feet firmly planted on at a basic concept that he can hold one to for more than a day.

The Royals and Mets are talking deal, bad contract for bad contract. Deal could include Frenchy, Perez and Castillo… uh… no Cora. This would be about getting rid of things in your attic that you once thought were wonderful. One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.

Santana skillfully served strike one to almost every batter he faced.  He stopped the Mets skid, and raised the bar for the rest of the team.

Mets got a gift run in the first inning. Two men on, Wright strikes out with Castillo trying to steal second. The ball got there at least half an hour before Castillo, he didn’t even bother to slide. Then the second baseman dropped the ball and Castillo is safe, and Reyes steals home courtesy of the Dodgers poor defense.

Nice job by Ike Davis hitting a fifty three mph bugs bunny curve over the center field wall. He saw one two pitches earlier and was able to wait it out and send it dead central.

Santana pitched great, and all the outfielders made great plays. This game could go down as the Jason Bay game. He was moved down to the seven hole, he crashed in to the fence; crashed into the wall; and he drove in three runs on single.

Pelfrey on the mound today…. please don’t tell him it is July, he needs to pith like it is May.

Once again, great pitching without a lick of offense.

Frenchy says he would be open to a trade, not sure who he would fit well with. his arm is great, and if and when he gets the pitch he wants, he hits the crap out of it. Problem with this is, every team knows that, and will only throw that pitch by accident.

Mets designated Fernando Nieve for assignment. He has gone from Nightly Nieve to No More Nieve. His release has Jerry written all over it. He keeps using the same guys over and over again, and then when they are spent, he tosses them aside and they become forgotten souls, wasting a roster spot.

Some people out there are blaming the latest skid on Beltran. Beltran did not come up until after the All Star break, and the Mets limped into the break winning just one game in a week. Beltran is not a clubhouse cancer, he can back his perceived lack of clubhouse leadership with his bat and with his glove. Castillo  is incapable of either one of those. The streak may have begun with Carlos in the clubhouse, Carlos did not tell Jerry to bat Reyes second and only swing from one side, and Carlos did not choose to take a pitcher out of the game who is pitching well just because the current custom is one hundred pitches and you are done.

What if the rule was one hundred losses and your done? Jerry would have been back in Sacramento some time ago.

Mets in need of win, and Beltran is sitting. I can see Barajas and Bay on the bench for the night. Beltran hits, he needs some protection in the line up, and as much as I like Ike, he is not protection, especially, when he has Jason Bay behind him.  Would be nice to have at least seventy percent of the Jason’s production for the last three yeas or so. He is so lost right now.

Wright is back to lunging at outside pitches and striking out. When the bats get quiet, base running mistakes begin to mount. Two many guys thrown out stealing the last week or so.

Mets recently made two moves that are sure to help them score some runs. They bought up Ollie Perez, and they signed Chad Cordero. Omar, you are supposed to help your team score runs, not the other team.

It looks like R.A.Dickey has got got a case of Santananitis, pitched a good game and lost. What happened to the bats?

I have been a Mets fan for over forty years, and I can never remember a season like this one; up, down, in, out. It is a roller coaster  season for sure. Braves are hot, and the phucking Phillies have a few injuries to deal with. The Braves are going to run through walls for Bobby, it is his last season, and he would love to go out a winner.

What would the Mets do for Jerry? Laugh it up after a loss? Way to go Alex Cora for calling people in the locker room after last nights loss. You play the Diamondbacks to fatten up. If are going to be a pennant race, you need to beat teams like this at all costs, not come up short 13-2 or  look dead and after the DBacks score early in the game.

Can’t say much more about last nights game. Outside of the three good innings of relief, it was brutal to watch.

Pelfrey needs some help. He is pitching a much slower game than he had been during his winning days. Fast ball seems to coming in to high, and his sinker not has heavy as it appeared when he was winning.

If the Mets are crazy enough to swap Thole for Perez on the roster, there is going to be a huge public relations nightmare, not to mention a few extra men on base, either those that Ollie walks, or the runners that Thole and his .500 batting average would have had  a chance to drive in.

Dickey on the hill tonight, he pitched a great game last time out, but did not get the win. Since he was the first pitcher out of the gate after the All Star game, he will be facing the other guy’s ace more often, so games like his last may become more common.