Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A Call to Arms

Just about 24 hours to the trade deadline now, and although things seem set, at least as far as any big moves in Major League Baseball, there still could be a few surprises. The Yankees are still interested in pitchers, and sorry Seattle seems to have one extra. The Mets could use some arms in the pen but there doesn't seem to be much available.

At least one thing remains abundantly clear, though, as we approach the deadline. You just can't have too much pitching. Witness the Angels John Lackey no-hitting the Red Sox for 8 1/3, the Cubs Carlos Zambrano out-dueling Ben Sheets of Milwaukee and even our Oliver Perez shutting down the Marlins for most of the evening down in Miami.

The Cubs sure seem loaded with arms but they added still another one in Jeff Samardzija, last seen catching passes all over the field for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The tall, rangy Samardzija is just 23 years old but has already picked up a save for the Cubs , who are presently locked up in a death match with the Milwaukee Brewers.

World Series Champions usually wind up having a little bit of everything, or a lot of one thing, and that thing is usually pitching. At this point, it seems that the Mets and Cubs have it on the Senior Circuit and the Angels have it in the American League. Starters and relievers, they have it all.

Aaron Heilman of the Mets seemed to confirm that last night when he helped nail down the win against the Marlins by pitching two crucial shutout innings after walking the first two batters he faced in the 7th inning. And Billy Wagner had another impressive outing in the 9th.

This next week should be very revealing as to whether the Mets can overcome a couple of injuries to their staff. John Maine's MRI revealed a strained shoulder, but he may be good to go for Sunday while their old pro Pedro Martinez, who at last call was battling through an arm problem that put undue pressure on his hip. Yet Pedro will probably try again soon, and what a nice surprise it would be if he can finish up the season.

If Pedro can produce over the remainder of 2008, he would be one of the only gambles the Mets have taken on aging players that will have worked out. Luis Castillo certainly didn't help but he at least played some games. The same can't be said for Moises Alou or El Duque. And Marlon Anderson has been a disaster, depending upon one's expectations, I guess.

If Maine and Pedro can keep on keepin’ on, the Mets will be looking good. It’d be Santana, Perez, Pedro, Maine and Pelfrey to finish out the season, a combination that I could certainly live with. The Phillies, Marlins and the rest of the NL may not.

No teams in the National League can compete with that starting rotation, although the Cubs come pretty close. In addition to Zambrano and Rich Harden, they can throw three other quite capable guys at you in Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis. The Brewers come close with Sheets, Sabathia, Bush, Parra and Suppan but their relievers have been suspect.

Can anybody stay with the Angels though? In addition to Lackey, they can throw another Santana at you, a fellow named Ervin. And then there’s Jon Garland and another Weaver named Jered. Their fifth guy is nobody to sneeze at either, in the person of Joe Saunders, who is an unbelievable 13-5 with an ERA just a shade above three. Wow!

The Anaheim bunch also have the pen with Francisco Rodriguez and Scott Shields, although the rest of the staff isn’t that strong, offering some hope to contenders. If the starter they throw at you can’t go 7 innings, there will be some scoring chances until you reach the eighth. Good luck!

Of course, Red Sox fans may be wondering what’s wrong with Beckett, Dice K, Lester, Wakefield and Bucholz. That’s an easy one, Wakefield and Bucholz. And, besides Papelbon and Okajima in the pen, there aren’t any other fellows there you can go to with confidence. And, unlike the Angels, who have the better starting five, they will have to visit the bullpen more often.

Another wildcard might be the Sox of that other color, the Chicago White Sox, who can throw Buehrle, Vasquez, Danks and Floyd at you. But their fifth starter is weak, and so is their bullpen. Aside from big Bobby Jenks, the closer, there’s really nobody else.

The perennial playoff-dwellers, the Yankees, alas, are coming up short. If the Mariners can outlast them in their bid for Jarod Washburn, they’ll be hurting with Mussina as their ace, followed by Pettite and Chamberlain, but Rasner and Ponson certainly don’t inspire much confidence.

If they can pick up Washburn though, their chances look much rosier, as they do seem to have a pretty good pen, not just Mariano but an improving Farnsworth and the hot newcomer Edwar Ramirez. Veras isn’t too shabby either.

Of course, pitching isn’t 100% of the game. There’re some other required pieces as well. But the Angels seem to have shored up their lineup by acquiring the brute first baseman, Mark Teixeira, from the Braves. And, even if he winds up just being a loaner, he’ll certainly give them confidence down the stretch this season.

So, although all you might see on ESPN this week is news and more news concerning an even more famous arm, that right arm of Bret Favre, and where it will wind up this year, the real news for me will concern pitching arms, as those more closely relate to success than do the arms of quarterbacks, who, after all, need strong performances by about 44 other big and fast bodies.

So pay close attention. Watch those arms and where they’re going. That movement will probably decide this year’s Series winners.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Manny Happy Returns

Well, Thursday's the trading deadline in MLB and it's at this time of year that General Managers earn their money, or not. If a team moves early, as the Yankees did last week in acquiring Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte, it gets the pick of the litter. The longer a team waits to make a move, though, the more sure it can be of what it's competition will look like after the deadline.

The Yankee moves addressed specific weaknesses, really, and make them a believable contending team. Even with their fairly good record and their recent run of wins, they were weak in the outfield and needed middle relief, and specifically a lefty, so that's what they got. I'd give them an edge to take their division now.

For the World Champion Red Sox, at least as this is written, have even bigger problems. Problemo Numero Uno starts with Manny, of course, the curiously injured Manny Ramirez, who is doing his darnedest to manipulate a trade from Boston, so he can clean up in free agency, and happily eschew Boston's first of two 20 million-dollar option years

They say in agent-land that Manny can do better, and word has it that he's looking for another four years at about 25 million per year. And, while he may not wind up getting that much, if he becomes available at all, he probably could get more than 20 million and more than just two more years.

So, from a purely business standpoint, I can't blame Manny for his latest shenanigans, except for a natural curiosity as to why he took the contract in the first place. Manny will be 38 two years from now, and it'll be a lot easier to negotiate his final contract now at a spritely 36.

Of course, the court of public opinion in Red Sox Nation seemed firmly anti-Manny as last night's game with the Yankees began, and Manny seemed to have orchestrated the whole affair, what with his comments on playing in Iraq. But by the end of the evening, after Manny's 3 for 5, two-double and two-rbi night, his hugs with Big Papi, and a huge win over the Yankees, public opinion seemed to have swung a bit in his favor.

It's ironic though that Manny'd be better off with public opinion against him. Unless Boston were willing to renegotiate his contract right now to his satisfaction, a highly unlikely scenario indeed, Manny'd be better off somewhere else. Surely, there'll be a team willing to accede to his demands. He has been and arguably is the best pure hitter in the league.

Unfortunately for Mr. Ramirez, Boston has the option, two successive options, in fact. And, unless they can secure some benefit from a trade, either now or later, they'd be foolish to just let him go.

What they have to weigh for themselves is just how much of a pain in the neck Manny can really be. I mean....he wasn't even trying before. But he can’t just tank the rest of the season, no potential suitor in its right mind could ignore that.

Boston hasn't gotten where it is by being stupid. Under the shrewd tutelage of young Theo Epstein, the Sox have shaped and re-shaped their team from their curse-breaking World Series win in 2004, and repeated that feat just last year.

And, as it’s another contract year for their popular All-Star catcher, Jason Varitek, I think Boston will trade Manny and keep Varitek, regardless of whatever outcry there may be in Beantown, assuming they can get some significant value in return. Of course, they have to make that decision before they exercise their first option.

It’s difficult to say who might want Manny. After all, he’s not a youngster anymore. But he has been very consistently great in that batter’s box. I’d think an American League team would be more interested, for the DH possibilities alone. After all, Manny has never been a Gold-Glove in the outfield, but he sure can play balls off that Fenway wall.

Manny could be a significant draw too. There’s nobody who can command more attention than Manny, at least not for any fun-loving sports fan. Look for an American League team from a major city outside the AL East to make a play before the deadline… Detroit, Chicago, some place like that.

Of course, the Red Sox would need to get an outfielder, or even two, in return, as their young Jacoby Ellsbury hasn’t been knockin’ em dead this year. And the suitor would no doubt have to get some indication from Manny as to whether a long-term contract was in the cards at all. Otherwise, why give up anything valuable?

So the Red Sox could look significantly different by Friday. Will the Yankees take the chance that their chief rivals won’t look quite different by then? I don’t think so. Look for the Yankees to pick up still another pitcher for their pennant run. After all, if it isn’t Boston, it’ll be the Angels who’ll be in their way. And the Mets or Cubs in the National League.

The best player who may be available is the Rockies Matt Holliday. The Rockies won’t be able to afford him next year. But I don’t think the Rockies would drop dead for Manny Ramirez. I think the Rockies will be looking for some nice young pitchers.

The Mets of course need an outfielder. And New York would be a great place for Ramirez. I had even heard on the radio a proposal of offering Beltran for Ramirez and Ellsbury. Although I wouldn’t like to see it myself, who knows? Stranger things have happened. But can you just see Manny playing left field at Shea when he’s 40? I can’t.

Seattle presents an interesting possibility for Boston. They could really use an ace like Jarod Washburn. And, if Seattle had once warmed up to Alex Rodriguez, they could certainly get very used to Manny Ramirez. We’ll soon find out.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Thankfully Wrong....

Okay, I was wrong. The Mets weren’t in trouble after all. It didn’t matter that they lost a really tough on on Tuesday night, that Jerry Manuel hadn’t let Johan Santana finish the game, or that the Phils knocked three different relievers around to the tune of six runs.

Within a few hours of my Wednesday column of doom, the Mets would come back. John Maine survived and Jose Reyes helped cement the win in Game 2. And last night, Oliver Perez and Carlos Delgado did even better.

But, best of all maybe was the way they did it in Game 3. Phils starter Jamie Moyer had pretty much shut the Mets down while Oliver Perez had stymied the Phils even more spectacularly. But with the score tied at 1 in the eighth, Perez got into some trouble, hitting Ryan Howard with a pitch to load the bases. Stepping up to the plate was none other than Jayson Werth, who had slugged a huge homer off Perez in the 6th to tie the game.

And who should Manuel call on to bail the Mets out of a jam? None other than the unflappable Aaron Heilman, another of those up and down Mets relievers. But Aaron was up to the task last night, blowing a couple of fast balls by the big slugger, followed by another that had a little too much of the plate and Werth drove it a long way once again.

But this time, you could see that centerfielder Carlos Beltran had a bead on it, and the Phils threat was suddenly over. Perhaps motivated by their near demise in the top of the eighth, the Mets struck gold in the bottom half.

Robinson Cancel, who is becoming a bigger cog in the Mets wheel, singled and moved to second on Reyes’s bunt. After Phils reliever J.C. Romero snagged a broken-bat liner off the bat of Endy Chavez for the second out, he intentionally walked David Wright to load the bases for Carlos Delgado.

So there it was, lefty on lefty, with the game on the line. Carlos, who hadn’t had much luck against Romero in the past, nevertheless hung tough and managed to drive an outside pitcher’s pitch to the opposite field, scoring Cancel and Wright to spot the Mets to a 2-run lead. The Mets intrepid cleanup hitter had done it again.

And, just as he did in Game 2, Billy Wagner came on in the 9th to get two fly balls from Victorino and Feliz, and, after allowing a base hit, retired 2007 MVP Jimmy Rollins on a hard ground ball. The Mets would end the day in first place in the National League East and solidify their lead in their head to head contests with the Phillies.

It must be pointed out, though, that while Wagner was ultimately able to close out both Games 2 and 3 for the Mets, nobody knew that on Wednesday morning. If I had known the Mets would have Wagner available for the rest of the Series, my outlook wouldn’t have been nearly so miserable.

To his credit, Jerry Manuel was gracious after the game, and did not harp on the fact that Mets fans were upset, or that every beat writer with a pen and a keyboard had been prophesying his team’s doom.

He singled Oliver Perez out for his fine 12 K performance and talked about Delgado, not just for his prowess with the bat, but also for his leadership in the clubhouse. Jerry was pleased that Carlos’s staggering success at the plate would only enhance his standing as a leader in the clubhouse.

Could that be the key to Delgado’s surge at the plate for Manuel, an acknowledgement of Delgado’s importance as a leader? Is it possible that Willie didn’t appreciate his efforts, or wasn’t able to express his regard in the same way? I guess we’ll never know unless some cable station does a reality show on an out-of-work baseball manager.

It’s not that important now, of course. For whatever reason, the Mets are doing much better than they had under Willie. Whatever peccadilloes Willie had are irrelevant now. The Mets can look forward to a brighter future, with better hitting for sure and more timely pitching as well.

And, looking forward, the immediate future looks hard. The Cardinals come to Shea with a better record than the Mets, followed by a series with the surprising Florida Marlins, who have been hovering around the top spot in the division all season long.

The biggest question now is whether the Mets should pick up an outfielder. Once again, Ryan Church is hurt and may be unavailable for some time. Moises Alou is unavailable. The Mets have been doing well by surrounding Beltran in left and right with Fernando Tatis, Marlon Anderson, Endy Chavez and a kid named Nick Evans. But will they do as well in September and October as they are now?

While I think the Mets could stay pat and survive, it’s probably not the optimal solution. I’d like to see them pick up Xavier Nady. Xavier used to be the Mets rightfielder before he was unceremoniously traded away. After the Mets lost Duaner Sanchez to injury in 2006, they picked up Roberto Hernandez from the Pirates and last night’s hero, Oliver Perez.

While Nady was once thought to be just a part-time player, Nady’s hitting .330 this year with runs and rbi numbers in the 50’s for the lowly Pirates. I’d love to see him back again. He was never a great fielder, but he’s one of those guys you feel comfortable with at the plate. He’d look good in blue.

I understand the Pirates are asking the world for him now. Maybe they’d like Oliver Perez back in the black and gold. That won’t happen.

But if the Mets can’t make a trade, I think they’ll be ok. With or without another outfielder, they’re too tough to just fold under pressure.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Overthinking the Easy Ones

How many times have we seen it before, with other teams, with other middle-relief guys who try on the closer's hat? They don't have a prayer. So it was with the Mets last night as they wasted a fine performance by Johan Santana and a 3-run lead to lose the opener of their three-game set with the Phils, 8-6.

What I don't understand is why Santana came out of the game at all. He was doing quite well, thank you. I can understand saving your starter when you have your closer in the bullpen, but when you don't, bite the bullet and have your starter try to finish the game, especially if it's one of the biggest games of the year.

But Jerry Manuel didn't do that. He decided to see what he had in his pen. He found out. He thought Duaner Sanchez could be a closer. Wrong! After three straight hits off Duaner, he went to Joe Smith, who did manage to induce a harmless ground ball that Reyes flubbed.

Why he took Smith out is another mystery because his replacement, Pedro Feliciano, did worse. In fact, nothing Manuel did last night worked out in any way, shape or form. Except for starting Santana, it was all down hill from there.

The handwriting was all over the wall, even before that sad ninth inning. They sent Endy Chavez home twice to get thrown out, one time with nobody out. It just didn't make sense. It seemed as if they were tempting fate, asking themselves "what can we do to turn a ridiculously easy victory into a damaging and embarrassing loss?"

Once again I’m left to contemplate what a strange game is baseball. A team that seemingly had everything going for it entering a series, a team that pretty much had its way with the Phils for eight full innings, loses it in the ninth in spectacularly horrid fashion, thus losing not only THIS game but also any momentum it had going in.

Okay, I’m done now. Coulda shoulda woulda. So Jerry Manuel blew a game. He’s won way more than he’s lost, and maybe he had this one coming. Who knows what Santana said to him after his eight innings on another hot, humid night at Shea? Who knows why he took out Smith, the only guy in that ninth inning who did anything right?

Last night Manuel lost much of the faith I had in him. The biggest game of the year was in the bag. He gave it back. Santana had thrown 105 pitches. He felt fine. Wagner was hurt. Sanchez had pitched two big innings on Sunday. I don’t understand what he was thinking. No thinking was required.

I can’t even discuss it anymore. A team as stupid as this one doesn’t deserve to win anything. Manuel thinks wins are cheap. He’s never heard the old saw “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”.

So the game that was in hand is now lost. Now the Mets face the Phils with lesser starters, less confidence and still no closer. The Phillies now have the edge in this all-important series. The Phillies delivered the big hits. The Phillies made the plays in the field. The Phillies have everything but the manager who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

There must have been an old Willie handbook in the dugout, that one entitled “How to Lose Games with the Better Team”.

How many games can a team give back over the course of a season and still win? This team has given back about 20 games on the season. And counting.

Can they turn it around? Yeah, sure they can. With Delgado scorching the horsehide off the ball, and with horses like Beltran and Wright in the lineup, anything is possible. They have the best starters in the league. But it’s less likely for sure. It’ll take a little time to get over such a bad loss.

That Reyes reverted to making the big mistake doesn’t bode well either. His decision to reach for the second base bag when a flip to Easley would have done nicely kept the rally going strong. Instead of being up two with two men on and one man out, it became bases loaded once again with nobody out.

Although I understand the switch to Smith when Sanchez wasn’t doing the job, I don’t comprehend at all the switch to Feliciano. Smith had done his job. He got a ground ball when he needed it. Why switch to Feliciano? And then Heilman once the game was irretrievably lost.

But it was really all over much earlier. That would be when Santana came out of the game, much to the Phillies delight. The guy who had frustrated those heavy-hitters all night long would be on the bench. Wagner wasn’t a possibility. The Phillies licked their lips in anticipation. They could win this game after all. And did.

Of course there is a flip-side to all this. All Manuel really did was put the game in the hands of his relievers. It didn’t work out, but many would say he made the right move, all those pitch-count people, all those folks with fresh pitchers at the end of the season, for teams that will have lost way more than they will have won.

I’m already regretting all the nasty things I’ve said. Manuel hasn’t made many mistakes since he’s assumed the reins from the dead team he took over from Willie, a team with tired veterans, with a shortstop always looking over his shoulder, and with cleanup hitters gone bad.

So we Mets fans have to be patient with a mistake, even if it did come at the worst possible moment, against the worst possible opponent. For once, Manuel overthought the situation, and was caught counting chickens down the road, saving his ace for some game in October.

He just forgot that you first have to get to October.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Big Series at Shea

The Mets did it again last night, they impressed the heck outta me. Everybody's doin' sumthin' - Reyes, Beltran, Wright, Delgado, but also guys like Duaner Sanchez, Ramon Castro and still another Reyes named Argenis. They came back and then held on to beat the Reds 7-5 and everybody played a part. What a nice way to come to Shea....against the team sharing the top spot with them in the NL East!

Even though Mike Pelfrey, after about a month of superior pitching, finally came back to earth, the Mets just did what needed being done to keep themselves in the game and then put some pressure on their opponents. Duaner Sanchez was my favorite last night, although Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado made good cases for MVP’s of the game.

Big Series at Shea ! When was the last time we felt that? I mean, actually feeling GOOD about it? Johan Santana is just 8-7 this year, but you have to feel pretty confident with his matchup against the Phils newly-acquired Joe Blanton.

Then it’s John Maine against Brett Myers, and neither of them are lighting it up statistically, but I’d rather have Maine. On Thursday, it’ll be brain against brawn as the surprising old Jamie Moyer matches pitches with the brilliant but erratic Oliver Perez.

So, the Mets starting pitching will be good, the relievers have been pretty steady, all things considered, and, for once, the lineup seems pretty formidable too. For power, we have Wright, Delgado and Beltran. And a bunch of pains in the neck, led by the biggest pain of them all, Jose Reyes.

Reyes has now scored 71 runs, is batting .300 and even has 10 homers and 43 rbi’s. If triples mean anything to you, he is the all-time Met master of the triple. He’s stolen 33 bases. Yeah, Jose can be a HUGE thorn in any opponent’s side, and did I mention he’s a pretty flashy shortstop too?

Yes, the Phils have a big job ahead of them. Not that they don’t have some formidable weapons themselves, guys like Utley and Howard and Rollins, Werth and Jenkins. But are they jelling like the Mets are right now? That would be a decided NO.

I almost hate to say it. The managerial change energized these Mets. Big-time. Even though they would seem to be missing a couple of pieces. Like a couple of outfielders. But the fill-ins have been pretty amazing.

Damian Easley at second base has been steady Eddie, Fernando Tatis provides another pretty serious power threat when he’s swinging the bat well, and Marlon Anderson seems to finally be coming back to the land of the living. This new Reyes is another guy they plug in at second, in the field and in the lineup too, and he just keeps delivering.

Jerry Manuel has been a lifesaver, seemingly providing EXACTLY what these guys needed to perform as a team. You can feel the confidence boost as a palpable thing. Same guys, different level. When the game is on the line, they get tough.

One surprising statistic from Sunday’s game is the 32 men the Mets left on base. The Reds left 5 men on, yet the Mets were able to pull it out. This is a game the Mets could surely have lost in the old days. The old Mets wouldn’t have been able to overcome that much adversity.

Of course, you have to play the games. It’s great to count chickens but you have to keep performing. But you get the feeling that this team will keep it up. They’re having fun. They’re winning. Even when they aren’t at their best.

Against the Reds, it was like a game of who’ll blink first. And yesterday, after a couple of big strikeouts and Met plays in the field, it was the Reds who would bat their eyes. It was an error in the field that propelled the Mets to the victory, Edwin Encarnacion’s bad throw to second short-circuiting a potential double-play while scoring a run for the Mets.

Baseball is a funny game, a game of fine nuances that most people miss, if it weren’t for some fine analysis by guys like Keith Hernandez. There’re quite a few decisions being made on every pitch. It’s the combination of all the variables that produce the result. In the case of the Mets, those results have been very good, so they’re combining those variables really well.

It’s not just Jerry Manuel either. It’s that new pitching coach Warthen, who seems to be helping Oliver Perez especially, and it’s Omar Minaya, who’s juggling these guys in and out, Argenis Reyes and Nick Evans especially as of late.

What are some things to worry about? (I wouldn’t be a Mets fan if I didn’t worry about SOMETHING).

I worry that Santana will serve up some home run balls to those Phillies bangers, not just Howard and Utley, but Rollins and Jenkins and Werth too. And then there’s Met-killer Pat Burrell.

I worry about the Mets coming home to Shea, despite the fact that they’re 28-18 at home. I’m hoping the fans can keep their cool through any rough spots. This team doesn’t need to have any reservations about themselves. This is a team that rolls when it’s feeling it, and a bunch of booing never helps anybody “feel it”.

I worry about the Marlins too. They’re 7-3 in their last ten games and they’ve got some fearsome hitters, all young and feisty. And they just beat the Phils 2 outta 3. They have their own pains in the neck, no one bigger than a guy who has scored even more runs than Reyes, a guy named Hanley Ramirez.

And I worry that, should the Mets NOT win the NL East, they’ll have a little trouble making the playoffs. Both the Cards and Brewers in the NL Central have better records than the Mets. They may not catch the Cubs but they’ll be serious contenders for the wildcard.

Friday, July 18, 2008

The Chemistry Set

How'd you like to come back to the dugout after a big hit and get high-fived by Carlos Beltran and David Wright? And finish the night in first place. Well, that's what Fernando Tatis got to experience last night. He was one of 8 different Mets producers in a game marked by some shaky pitching, some nice hitting from both sides, and comebacks, lots of comebacks.

Ten is good. Ten beats 9 and 11 would be heaven. (No, I didn't really say that). I thought the streak would end at 9. It certainly could have. They were up 2, then down 3 in a flash, then down just 1, then up by 1, then down by 2 before finally ending it up by 2. Wright, Beltran, Easley and Delgado were strong at the core of the lineup while Delgado and Tatis did their best to extend that middle. They even got something out of Nick Evans and Marlon Anderson.

So last night it was hitting. Carlos Delgado was especially impressive, I thought, not so much for his power but for his nice little dump-job single over the shortstop into short left field. If Carlos the Elder doesn't watch out, he may find himself in the National League RBI race. In the last month, he's driven in 23 runs, second only to Jermaine Dye. While he still has a long way to go, with just 55 ribbies on the season, it's conceivable that he could catch a lot of folks.

So there was a lot to be happy about....again. But there were some rough spots on the pitching side of things. Johan Santana wasn't Johan Santana last night. But Aaron Heilman reverted into, well, Aaron Heilman. Johan gave up a 5-spot in the fourth inning, including a couple of dingers, but what the heck, Jake Peavy gave up 4 home runs in his game so it was a strange night all around.

Heilman just allows too many baserunners, base hits and walks too. Last night he managed just 2/3 of an inning, and his three baserunners were inherited by Scott Schoenweis, who tried like the dickens but still wound up allowing them all to score before recording the final out.

It was interesting that Manuel replaced Heilman as soon as he did. And, even though Schoenweis wasn't able to avert the damage, it was the right move. Jerry managed his head off last night, replacing pitchers all night long. And they were the right moves. That they all didn't pan out is secondary.

Those pitching moves do a couple of things. First, they check the momentum. Second, they give the opposing batters something different to look at. But they also keep your team in the game mentally, and that showed last night too.

Who woulda thunk it? The Mets from April and May wouldn’t have come back even once. These Mets came back again and again, continuing a predilection not only for increasing leads but for coming back too. It’s something on which Manuel focused, and it’s working out for them.

Yes, the Mets are finally in first place, tied with the Phils at long last. But the Phils picked up a pretty fancy pitcher yesterday, and the Marlins aren't far back. The Mets need to keep it going, and it'll be up to John Maine tonight, who hasn't been quite as overwhelming as have battery-mates Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez, at least not lately.

Tonight will be a good test for him and the Mets as they face the Reds Bronson Arroyo, who can be very good or very bad. We’ll see whether our local boys can get another win to extend that streak, against a team that had had a fairly nice run themselves as of late, before they ran into the juggernaut. The Reds are a very respectable 10-6 since June 28th.

Those Reds sure can hit a little bit. They were calling Adam Dunn Dave Kingman last night but he looked like more to me, as a batter anyway. He does have a little trouble keeping his feet while rounding the bases. And Ken Griffey Jr. is pretty much as advertised. Then there’s Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto, not a lineup that can be taken lightly for sure.

And baseball is a strange game. A pitcher can, all of a sudden, pitch lights out. Batters can get cold. For no reason whatsoever. And then there’s the law of averages. How many teams win more than ten in a row?

But the Mets played last night as if they really, really wanted that tenth win. They certainly didn’t play like a team resting on its laurels. From the manager to the pinch-hitter, they were definitely paying attention, as if they knew the slender thread that separates winning from losing is a very thin one, and as if they were determined to fend off that first loss, for, once losing, who knows what will be on the other side?

The Mets had every reason to lose last night. Not only was there the streak, but there was the break too. Surely they couldn’t be expected to put one more win up on the board. But they did it, in a pretty spectacular fashion too, a fact that I’m sure was not lost on the Phillies, or the Marlins, for that matter.

The Phils have already picked up Joe Blanton from the seemingly inexhaustible inventory of pitching in the Oakland A’s organization. All in all, a smart pickup for them, given that the guy eats up a lot of innings, has pitched really well in the not too far recent past, and will probably pitch better in a pennant race.

Omar Minaya may be burning up the phone lines, but somehow I don’t think so. We haven’t heard one good rumor. I suspect he’ll make a move when he feels that he has to do so. Chemistry after all is a delicate thing.

And the Mets have some right now.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Pitching and Pageantry...(and catching too)!

What an All-Star game!! For a National League aficionado, my lasting impression of it will be Russ Martin catching Nate McLouth's peg from centerfield on the short hop, then whirling to nail a hustling Dioner Navarro at the plate to send the game into the 12th, making his bid to join the legion of fine catchers of yesteryear.

Then he did it again in the 12th on the receiving end of a Dan Uggla dart to once again keep the game tied, nicely blocking the plate to cut down Carlos Guillen of the Tigers, the AL's designated extra-innings guy. Martin also made some beautiful throws to second; on one occasion nailing his man.

An All-Star game should be a chance to watch the best players in the world go head to head and last night's affair afforded quite a few opportunities to do just that.

Yeah, there was all the pre-game excitement, the Stealth aircraft and all those stars from ages past, and the poignant moments with the Boss. George Steinbrenner showed the courage to make an appearance despite his health problems. And there was a terrific rendition of "God Bless America" too.

But we saw baseball at its finest. There was the overpowering starting pitching with both teams scratching to score a run. Although the Rockies Matt Holliday did manage to catch up to a high fastball and send it into the right field seats, the other runs were scored through good base running and sacrifice flies.

There would be good pitching all night long. The game ended, in fact, with two pitchers who were not supposed to make an appearance at all, Scott Kazmir for the Americans and Brandon Webb for the Nationals. If the game had gone any longer, the managers for both sides would have been excoriated for their shortsightedness, and we may have seen position players taking the mound.

But the game mercifully ended in the 15th, predictably enough on one last sacrifice fly. This time, there would be no final outfield assist. Michael Young’s fly ball would end it. Corey Hart’s peg didn’t quite have it and new catcher Brian McCann had a chance but it was not to be. The game was over.

The good pitching came from all sides, American and National, starters and relievers alike. Mariano Rivera delighted the home crowd with a typically great outing, appearing in the ninth to relieve Francisco Rodriguez, who had walked the Cubs Aramis Ramirez.

With a man on and one out, Mariano initiated the delivery of a decidedly handy strike’em out throw ‘em out double play. After he fanned Ryan Ludwick on a very nasty pitch down in the zone, his catcher Dioner Navarro sprang up to throw a strike to Ian Kinsler, thus nailing pinch-runner Carlos Guzman at second, thus ending whatever hopes the Nationals had in the ninth.

You have to be lucky in life and Mariano is. (Yeah, I know, people make their own luck, blah-blah-blah). He stayed on in the tenth, much to the delight of the crowd. But he gave up consecutive singles to Russ Martin and Miguel Tejada with just one out.

But here was Mariano at his finest. Here was the tough guy who had just the right pitch for just the right occasion. He needed a ground ball for a double play, and that’s what he managed to deliver, via a nice breaking pitch down in the zone to the remarkably unlucky Dan Uggla. And one couldn’t help but notice Mariano’s acknowledgement of his infielders after the play, just the right gesture for just the right moment.

Mariano is a class guy. He was earlier seen giving pointers to some of the finest arms in the American League, on his cutter by all accounts, another graceful gesture by an unassuming guy. Besides, he knows they’ll never throw it as he can. There’s watching and then there’s doing.

It was especially painful for a Mets fan that Mariano’s “thing” followed Mets closer Billy Wagner’s allowing the tying run to score in the eighth. The Rays’ Evan Longoria smacked a ground rule double to left off a tough pitch to plate Grady Sizemore, who had greeted Billy with a single to right. But Billy did manage to get out of the inning, inducing Justin Morneau into a weak grounder, then making the play himself for the out.

And the Mets David Wright couldn’t do much either, but he did strike out once on a pitch that had every appearance of a ball. David and I certainly thought so but the umpire and Jonathon Papelbon did not. ( It was altogether a forgettable performance for our Metsies, but we’ll see you at the World Series).

Papelbon made out better in the game than he did in the papers, but only barely so. He got killed in the NY tabloid of choice for a totally innocuous remark, but in the game he was victimized too, watching helplessly as Navarro’s throwing error advanced Miguel Tejada to third, who scored on a fly ball by Adrian Gonzalez.

Red Sox representation was not to be totally denied on this night though. It was J.D. Drew’s two-run homer that tied the game in the bottom of the 7th and he wound up being the MVP of the game.

But the real story of the game was pitching. George Sherrill, an unheralded relief pitcher for the Orioles, could have been given the MVP. He pitched over two scoreless innings in the clutch, striking out Adrian Gonzalez with the bases loaded in the twelfth.

Ryan Dempster of the Cubs gets kudos for his striking out the side in the American ninth. And Colorado’s Aaron Cook looked really tough in the tenth, surviving two Dan Uggla errors by inducing three ground balls in a row against some really tough hitters, Sizemore and Longoria and Morneau.

Yeah, it was mostly pitching and pageantry but I’ll remember the catching too. And those very nice pegs to the plate.

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Monday, July 14, 2008

Finally Getting It

I'm a Mets fan and I couldn't be happier! How many times has anyone heard THAT this mostly sorrowful first half of the 2008 baseball season ?

As late as the fourth of July, the Mets were showing good signs but were still 5 1/2 out. Since then they've scored, if my counting is accurate, 54 runs and allowed just 13. That translated into 9, count'em, 9 straight wins, almost a fortnight of steadily increasing fortunes as our local heroes won game after game after game. WOW!!

They got it from unlikely guys. They got it from the stars. They got it on the mound. They got it in the field. They got it at the plate. They got it from the pen. They got it from the starters. Well, you get the idea. Jubilation !

Last night it was the Mike Pelfrey show. The day before, it was seemingly everybody on the field, Reyes and Beltran and five stingy pitchers. For their first game in Colorado, there was Ollie Perez throwing in 6 good innings behind Reyes and Easley.

Before that, their final game in San Francisco, Fernando Tatis and those relievers bailed out a somewhat shaky John Maine. Johan Santana showed what he could do the day before, he and that relief staff shutting out those Giants while Ramon Castro went 2-4 and delivered a big home run. Mike Pelfrey outpitched Lincecum before that with the steady Carlos Beltran hitting the big one.

But it all started in Philadelphia. The Mets had lost the opener of that four game set 3-2 but had won the next two before that final game in Philly. That game would decide whether the Mets were content to just split with the division leaders. They were not.

Although the Mets staff was belted around for 9 runs in that one, the Mets were one better. The top of the lineup, Reyes and Chavez and Wright, wouldn't be denied and Billy Wagner bailed out centerfielder Carlos Beltran from taking too much heat for what had been viewed as a questionable decision to throw a man down at third base. (It was a great throw and it would have been the third out and the end of the game). That was the biggest game of all in this unlikely streak, the one where the Mets showed some real grit against a determined and talented bunch.

But another true Mets believer might point to that third game in Philly, the one that Wagner let get away from Oliver Perez but Fernando Tatis saved, delivering a huge two-run homer in the top of the 12th to bail the embattled Billy out. John Maine pitched a good one the day before to take that second game in Philly, the Mets coming alive in the eighth and ninth behind guys like Easley and Delgado, Schneider and Chavez.

That's just an overview though. Much more could be said. You could point to the Mets new-found ability to tack on runs to early leads, something their new skipper had pointed out to them. You could point to their prowess in the field as guys like Easley and Tatis, Chavez and even a rook named Evans made light of the absence of more established players named Church and Alou and Castillo.

But the most overpowering feeling of all about these Mets is that they are just getting it, feeling it, or whatever way you’d choose to characterize a team that feels comfortable with itself, and that’s having fun, happy with its new direction and what very probably is a lighter feeling around the clubhouse.

For Jerry Manuel can actually be funny and usually is. At the same time though, he’s thoughtful and comes up with new ideas, things they’d either never heard before or just forgot. Here’s a guy who’s light enough for Reyes to deal with, and yet heavy enough to yank even the great Pedro off that mound when required.

Whatever the actual chemistry behind this Mets resurgence, man, is it ever welcome! You have to feel the Mets have turned the corner, and maybe they’ll never have to look back. Even with the break coming on, a break that might and probably will spell the end of the winning streak.

For the Mets have been getting outstanding performances from some very unlikely sources, guys out of the past like Easley and Tatis and Chavez, and guys from the future like big Nick Evans and still another speedy Reyes named Argenis. At some point, these wunderkinds may begin to falter.

But that’s the “glass half empty” side of things. Why shouldn’t they continue to perform? Easley and Tatis have done this baseball thing for a lot of years, and who says they can’t view this as their swan song, a chance to finally come out of the shadows. And isn’t it a good thing that what had once been viewed as a tired, old team has been re-energized with some talented and spirited youth?

The “glass half full” side of me says that these guys don’t really have to do it forever. Second baseman Luis Castillo returns from the disabled list after the break. And right fielder Ryan Church, who outperformed everybody before getting hurt, might be returning. It turns out that his recent headaches weren’t lingering concussion symptoms at all, but more related to migraines.

Manuel’s biggest challenge of all might be his management of these returning players into the lineup. It’s sort of an old baseball adage that guys don’t lose their positions due to an injury. Will Manuel sit Easley for Castillo? Or will he be able to spot Easley at the other infield positions? Will Chavez sit again when Church comes back?

As difficult as it may be to manage the return of the regulars, you get the feeling Manuel will handle it. He’s been there before, for Expos and Marlins and White Sox and you just know he’ll manage it. And so does his team

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia

What a tough choice for a suitable subject today! I could have chosen to feature Rafael Nadal, who finally knocked off Roger Federer after so many attempts at Wimbledon. I could have crowed about my pick of Venus Williams against her sister the day before. Then, there was the All-Star Game, and the stupid picks the fans made this year.

But do I really care that much about Rafael Nadal? Wasn't it pretty clear he'd eventually knock off Federer on grass? That the match wound up being a classic is cool, that it rivaled that famous Borg-McEnroe final in '80 is even cooler, but what could I add to the volumes already written on that match?

And are this year's All-Star team selections that much more flawed than in previous years? Should I really get that upset by the fan's selection of the Red Sox's Jason Varitek as the catcher? Should I lament that the Rays' rookie sensation Evan Longoria was ignored? Yeah, I could, but isn't baseball about pitching and defense, and doesn't Varitek, for all his offensive struggles, call a great game, game after game? And how many rookies EVER made the All-Star team?

And yes, I did pick Venus over Serena, mostly based on Serena's tough semifinal match against Jie Zheng while sister Venus breezed versus Dementieva. And yes, I also mentioned Venus's great past performances at Wimbledon, her great serve, even compared to her sister's, and her proximity in Wimbledon history to the truly great female players of the past, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova. But it's done and maybe I should just leave it at that.

All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia. Even at the risk of borrowing from the great W.C. Fields, who had suggested those words for his epitaph back in 1925. For it was in Philadelphia where the Mets had squandered last year's pennant hopes. It was those Phillies, the feared Mets nemesis Pat Burrell and a host of others, Jimmy Rollins, who eventually won the MVP, and Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Yes, and even a little bit of Jayson Werth.

But that was last year. And, despite losing one game to the final inning heroics of Jayson Werth yet again, these Mets finally got it right last night by holding on as a team, by taking the final game of their 4-game Philly set to take the series, 3 games to 1, and thus edge closer to their long-time nemesis entering the final week before the All-Star break.

A split in this series would have been devastating, worse than kissing your sister, for, after having built a 10-1 lead in game four, to lose it 11-10 would have been like kissing your sister’s ugly dog, at the very least.

But it didn’t come to that. Billy Wagner, after having treated us to some further 9th inning excitement, finally got the door firmly shut by getting the previous night’s hero on a lazy fly ball to right. And, in doing so, he got a number of his teammates off the hook, which makes the victory even sweeter. Another week-long harangue of Carlos Beltran by the NY press would have been more than this writer could have endured.

Carlos was charged with a throwing error in the 9th that allowed a run to score and that put the winning run at second base. At Jerry Manuel’s press conference after the game, I heard one writer even describe Beltran as “stupid”. To me, that’s a totally inaccurate depiction of a play, that if made, would have resulted in the third out of the inning, thus ending the game right there with our locals grinning from ear to ear.

That the error was charged to Beltran at all is to me almost inconceivable. David Wright tried to tag the baserunner an instant before the ball arrived. If he had waited another millisecond, that runner would have been out. Game over.

There is no better play in baseball than the outfield assist. They are very seldom seen at all, to any base, but from centerfield to third base is probably the most difficult play of all. The angle is impossible and the distance is formidable. But great outfielders with great arms can and do make the play on occasion, and Carlos Beltran made that play last night. David Wright did not.

And nobody backed up third base. Hey Billy, nice pitching but you should have been there. I would have appreciated some acknowledgement of that after the game. And David could have said something too, but maybe he was too busy watching the voting for that last All-Star berth.

Carlos Beltran is the best player on the Mets, period, exclamation point! He does it all, at the plate, in the field, and in the clubhouse. He’d be even greater if he didn’t almost always take two strikes, usually some very hittable pitches, in favor of swinging at that last breaking ball.

But he does that for a reason, to work the pitcher, to get the starter out of the game, to no doubt listen to his coaches. And he made that throw last night to end the game. And it was on the money.

Pedro Martinez was great last night too. He gave up just two earned runs and pitched into the sixth inning. Every other Mets pitcher gave up at least that many runs going just an inning or so. Tony Armas, Aaron Heilman and even Wagner were awful, comparatively speaking, although the Phillies must be credited for some of that comeback. Pedro Feliz of the Phils especially hit a very difficult pitch.

And Jerry Manuel was almost as great, getting thrown out of the game once again for questioning an umpire’s call. While it was always beneath Randolph’s dignity, Manuel doesn’t worry about things like that. He worries more about protecting his players, about working the umpires, and about motivating his team.

It sure seems to have worked in Philadelphia last night.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Gee Whiz! Jie Zheng !

Nothing I've seen this week gave me quite the same feeling of exhilaration as watching Zheng Jie scare Serena Williams in the second set of their Wimbledon semifinal match, eventually won by Ms. Williams 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).

After having been more or less smoked in the first set, Zheng ran Serena around for the first six games of the second, eventually going up 4-2, only to have Serena come back in the seventh game to break back, all of which eventually did manage to break Zheng's back But not before the fiery little Zheng had Serena on the ropes, driving her left, driving her right, testing her forehand and backhand and speed.

Much to Serena's credit, she showed she had all those things, especially the speed. And the serve, always the serve with these Williams sisters. They seem to have no equal on grass, not when they're in shape, which they obviously both are at this juncture.

But Zheng goes about 5'4". A faster and more powerful woman at that height I'm sure I may never see again. Not on tennis courts at any rate. What a shotmaker ! In that great second set, Zheng had to turn it up, had to take some risks, and she came up aces. No, not literally "aces". Alas, she was short on those. Otherwise, we may have been watching a Venus-Zheng final tomorrow. Surely, Serena didn't want a third set.

Not that there's anything wrong with an all-Williams final. Venus is no slouch on grass herself and possesses an even more formidable serve than her sister. She's fast, changes directions well, and with those long arms of hers, it's almost impossible to pass her on anything, even the finest volley. You don't see many forehand or backhand winners down the line against Venus.

Serena holda a 3-1 edge in matches against Venus. And their father once maintained that Serena would eventually go further in the game. He knows their games better than anyone. But I think he was considering the single-mindedness of Serena rather than their actual games. And on surfaces in general, not on the turf.

I’d like to say it’ll be a matchup of power vs. finesse, but that’s not entirely true. Neither sister has a huge edge on the other in either quality. It’ll come down tomorrow to which sister wants it more. Doesn’t it always between the great ones? In any sport you can think of?

There’s no question, though, that Venus had the easier semifinal. Venus played Elena Dementieva, the queen of the Russian female contingent, which is prodigious. But Elena has trouble with her serve at all times, and it was no different against Venus. Williams the elder smoked Elena in the first set, and, although Elena staged a nice comeback of her own in that second set, you never really considered the possibility of an upset.

So Venus will come into tomorrow’s match feeling fresher and less beat up, but will those advantages outweigh Serena’s feeling of confidence she gained playing that little Chinese whirlwind? Who knows, maybe still one more pressure-packed situation will break her.

That is, unless Serena wants it so much that she’ll go through anything to hold still another Wimbledon title. Surely at this point in their careers, both sisters have given some thought to their rightful place in tennis history. And their prowess in that crown jewel of them all.

Venus will battle for her 4th Wimbledon title while Serena will battle for her 3rd. Venus is two years older, of course, but at 28 years of age, Venus still could win a few more. I think Venus’s game is more suited to that hallowed place than is Serena’s, and I think Venus will want it more, or at least just as much.

Whatever the outcome, a very deserving tennis player will have won it. Hopefully the weather will allow for an uninterrupted match, although, come to think of it, Serena will take an edge after any stoppage in play. There is no finer actress than Serena. And nobody who has more of a knack for turning chance into opportunity.

But I thank the fates for Zheng, who introduced a measure of heart and pathos into this 2008 Wimbledon. Zheng shocked the world, not to mention the All-England Lawn Tennis Club, by, first, getting into the tournament as a wildcard, and before too long vanquishing Ana Ivanovic, the newly proclaimed tennis number one.

She then ripped into Agnes Szavay, the 15th-ranked woman, and beat her in straight sets, making it 8 straight sets of undefeated tennis for her. Then it was Nicole Vaidisova's turn. Nicole finally gave Zheng a bit of a problem, but still lost in three sets6-2, 5-7, 6-1. After the ignominy of losing that second set, Zheng really turned it on, dark hair flying hither and yon, sneakers scorching the Wimbledon earth, and the willowy Czech didn’t have a prayer.

Pardon me if I had been getting bored of the women’s game, even if Ivanovic in the number one spot was something of a lark. For too long, it had been the same chorus of Russians and Czechs, every once in a while throwing in a Frenchwoman or even an Italian here and there. And all with seemingly the same game, power and shot-making from the baseline, all big, all power, back and forth, all match long.

The men’s game is even worse, Federer and Nadal, Federer and Nadal ad infinitum. And again in the 2008 Men’s Wimbledon final. Ho-hum.

So, take some time out to watch this women’s final. It’ll truly be matching the finest women’s grass players in the entire world. That they’re sisters makes it that much more intriguing. That Serena has the edge in grand slam finals vs. her sister adds a smidge, that Venus has the edge at Wimbledon a little more.

But only one of them had to beat that Chinese fireball. My guess is that it will have taken its toll.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

For Want of an Outfielder...

As bad as the Mets looked against the Cards, there are a few reasons to look forward to the rest of the season. This feeling was reaffirmed after a close look at the differences between our locals and the best team in baseball right now, the Tampa Bay Rays.

Say "Rays" and most baseball people in the know will think "pitching", as Mike Lowell of the Red Sox did the other day when asked if he thought the Rays will be around for the entire season. The Rays' ace, Scott Kazmir, is now 7-3 with a 2.28 ERA . Their number 2 is hard-luck James Shields, just 6-5 but with a 3.70 ERA and one hell of a right cross. Three, four and five are named Garza, Jackson and Sonnanstine and have combined for a 19-13 record with an ERA around 4.00. Just those 5 guys have fanned 342 batters.

Say "Mets" and most people will think "mistakes", but their response earlier in the season, at the very start, would have been "pitching". And Johan Santana has been great halfway through with a 3.01 ERA but just a 7-7 record. Number 2 starter Oliver Perez, despite his ups and downs, is 6-5 but with a relatively high 4.98 ERA. Starters 3, 4 and 5 are currently listed as Martinez, Maine and Pelfrey. Their combined record is 15-14 and, if Pedro's currently anomalous 7.12 ERA isn't included, Maine and Pelfrey are just a bit above a 4.00 ERA. And those five have struck out 328 batters.

The Mets compare favorably to the Rays on the relief front as well. Billy Wagner has an ERA under 2.00 while saving 18. Troy Percival has one more save but sports an ERA of 3.54. The Mets main setup guy, if they can be said to have one, is Duaner Sanchez. His ERA is just 3.89 thus far. The Rays main setup guy has been J.P Howell, who sports a more respectable 3.00 ERA. The Rays other relievers, Wheeler, Glover, Hammel, Miller and Balfour don't outshine the Mets group, statistically at least.

Despite Aaron Heilman's problems, for example, his ERA is just 4.68. I would have expected a much higher number. But Mr Heilman has apparently thrown a lot of good innings too. I must admit to not recollecting those quite as well. In any event, the Mets have a nice mix of relievers, with lefties Feliciano and Schoenweiss and some quality in Joe Smith. All in all, the Mets relief staff outshines that of the Rays.

So the Mets staff compares pretty favorably as a whole with that of the Rays, on an overall basis, at the very least. So why are the Rays sporting the best record in baseball while the Mets wallow in the muck and mire of the NL East?

It's the outfield. The Mets have only two real live major-league outfielders. I'm referring to Carlos Beltran and Ryan Church of course. Most teams have three, never mind the Rays. Endy Chavez is a defensive specialist. He's batting .248 but has just 6 rbi's. That's ridiculous. Marlon Anderson is batting .196 with almost no production of any kind. There's hope for Fernando Tatis who, after all, can boast of a .283 BA but his production has tailed off lately. And then of course there's Moises Alou, the Carl Pavano of outfielders.

The Rays not only have three genuine outfielders, they're pretty good ones, among the best in the American League. Carl Crawford, BJ Upton and the tandem of Gross and Hinske, sometimes supplemented by Jhonny Gomes have scored 177 runs and driven in 166. Although Metsies Beltran and Church have combined for 93 runs scored and 89 ribbies, Chavez, Anderson, Alou and Tatis have combined for just 35 runs scored and 32 runs batted in.

The Mets picked up Trot Nixon, nice move but he's on the DL already. The Mets still need another outfielder desperately, one who can produce runs, not just a warm body opposing pitchers can target as a second pitcher in the lineup. The situation wouldn't be so critical, maybe, if the Mets were stronger at second and behind the plate. But they're not. The Mets lineup can definitely be worked, quite easily.

The Mets infielders compare favorably to the Rays from a production standpoint, Longoria vs Wright, and certainly Reyes vs the Rays shortstop Bartlett. At second base, Castillo's stats are about even with those of Iwamura and at first base, Delgado surprisingly has better numbers than does Tampa's Carlos Pena.

The Mets infield defense has been pretty bad though. Third baseman Wright's FPCT is just .942. Longoria's is .975. Shortstop Reyes is at .966, Bartlett at .972. At second, Castillo has a FPCT of .980 while his counterpart on the Rays, Iwamura, sports an incredible .997. Delgado's FPCT isn't really that bad at .988 but Pena's is ten points higher.

<>So, it comes down to picking up an outfielder, a real live outfielder who can produce and who is not named Alou. Or Caspar the friendly ghost. Not a defensive guy who’ll cringe with runners on base, or a retread from another decade. I’m talking about a man (or woman) who could legitimately expect to vie for a starting position on a major league club.

And the infield defense needs to pick it up, beginning with Wright. There is reason to believe that they will. Wright’s current .942 is 12 points lower than his numbers for the last two years. Reyes’s .966 is 16 points lower than his .982 from last year.

<>As for Delgado and Castillo, Manager Jerry Manuel has already outlined a plan to substitute Tatis for Delgado as a defensive replacement late in close games. That change should alleviate the lack of range shown by both men on the right side.

It seems relatively simple. The Mets need to make a trade for an outfielder. Maybe they could use one of those good relievers as bait. Come on, Omar, make a few calls