C'mon Alderson Do Something!

Well, the Mets and Terry Collins pulled out all the stops to finally win a game after about 7 excruciating losses in a row. They did it not by eliminating relief appearances per se but by inserting starters in relief roles. Gee, do you think Terry is sending a message?

I get it, Terry. Hopefully, some of your relievers are tuned in. The one true reliever Collins did use was K-Rod, and, after providing a little angst of his own, Rodriguez finally closed the game and the losing streak out. Thank the pitching gods he didn’t choose to throw a strike to Chipper, the Mets-killer. I’ll take a little angst, and Chipper on first, rather than a game-tying dinger just about anytime.

Meanwhile, Dillon Gee finally got his chance and absolutely made the most of it. Assuming that yesterday’s performance wasn’t a total aberration, that makes three starters Mets fans can count on half the time. Those would be Dickey, Niese and Gee. The supposed ace of the staff is still doing his best John Maine impersonation and Chris Young will hopefully return soon.

The lineup I so looked forward to seeing in the spring has yet to take the field, thanks of course to the fragile one, poor baby Jason Bay. God forbid his intercostals should give a little twinge. Meanwhile, even without Bay’s seeming abdication of his responsibility to the Mets, two players I thought I could count on, Angel Pagan and David Wright, have totally stunk out the joint.

Wright plays only for himself. No matter what the situation, he’ll be swinging for that right field fence every time up. This isn’t lost on opposing pitchers, of course, so they’ll keep taking advantage of Wright’s stupidity and arrogance. So Wright will just keep striking out or flying out to right until he’s hopefully traded.

Angel Pagan has been horrible. He looks totally uncomfortable at the plate, all scrunched up in his ridiculous crouch, taking the good pitches while waiting for a suddenly timid Reyes, except for yesterday, finally attempt a steal. Reyes finally seems to have gotten over his hesitation and hopefully a resurgence of Pagan’s bat will follow.

Of course, all things haven’t been bad but you can’t win if only 3 or 4 players are pulling their weight. The only Mets anyone could possibly be happy with have been Ike Davis, Carlos Beltran, Josh Thole and Jose. None of the second basemen are working out, neither the vapid David Murphy nor the light-hitting Brad Emaus. I make myself sick rooting for Willie Harris to get another big hit. That’s totally absurd. I can’t sustain any interest this way. I’d rather watch some more pleasant comedy series.

I just heard that Bay will give things a try this Thursday against Houston. What a guy! I just wish Madoff had taken Bay’s millions. He certainly hasn’t done anything to deserve such good fortune. To quote Ralph Kramden, “the applicant is a BUM”.

Things are seldom as bad as they seem though. After all, the opponents have been mostly tough ones, the Rockies, the Braves and even the Marlins have very good pitching. In fact, the only putrid series result was the loss to Washington, a team that, while better this year than in previous seasons, is still not the equal, all things considered, of the Mets.

Another disturbing thing has been the Mets propensity for making the big mistake. Daniel Murphy has the baseball instincts of a cockroach, not that that makes any sense at all, but I did pick the right bug. There’s no rally killer like the guy with his head up his butt on the bases.

But Pagan has looked terrible in center and Beltran has looked awful in right. Is Willie Harris really our best outfielder? Omigosh!

Notwithstanding all the Mets foibles, they have to look better against the upcoming Astros, D-Backs and Nationals than they have versus the Rockies and Braves. Maybe all the Mets will get their confidence back when matched against opponents they think they can beat, starting with Mike Pelfrey, who never seems confident about anything.

Not that he should. That he won 15 games last year is a mystery to me, except that I do recall his ball sinking a lot and yet still maintaining control. That guy is gone. On a team that needs some leadership, the veterans are badly letting their teammates down. Of the core players, only Jose Reyes has shown himself to be the same guy he was in some (well, a couple anyway)of his wonder years.

And I wonder how much Collins has to do with this lackluster play. Is he one of those managers that veterans find impossible to play for? That was supposedly his history. And I could well believe it. You won’t find a more boring speaker, one who says the same thing over and over and over again. I find myself wishing he’d use a synonym once in a while.

In any event, this Mets team is clearly not having a good time, not enjoying the game, and not playing aggressively. They’re playing like a bunch of guys just going through the motions. It’s really hard to watch a team like that. Compare that lassitude to the Rangers or the Rockies or even the Phillies. There’s just no comparison.

And let’s stop the nonsense about Daniel Murphy. Yeah, yeah, he’s a nice guy, I’m sure, and nobody tries harder, yada yada, but the man can’t play the game. How many years of stupid clumsy baseball do we have to see from this guy before we get him out? I’ve had it with Murphy; his time is up.

Bring back that smooth-fielding little guy who played second base last year. Luis started to hit toward the end of the year and he was a terrific defender to watch, a guy who could turn the momentum of a game with a magic glove and good arm.

Come on, Alderson. Do something.

Three Words for Mets Panners

In mid-winter every four years, a young man’s mind must surely turn to the thrill of watching the sport of curling….a cold and slick variation, it would seem, of horseshoes or maybe bocce, except for two crazed assistant sliders who accompany this foot-long disk down the ice, somehow magically determining whether the disk will attain its target. Gimme a friggin’ break….and pardon my Latvian.

Latvia, of course, was in the Olympic news as they faced off against their captor Russians in ice-hockey. That thriller could be witnessed on MSNBC also while the regular NBC affiliate carried the ever more popular men’s (using the term very loosely) ice skating. Woo_Hoo!!

And all that nonsense is still more interesting than college basketball and the NBA, where too many teams are chasing too little talent in a star system with not enough stars to go around. And the Knicks might even get Tracy McGrady…about 6 or 7 years late…all in what I’m almost sure will be a thwarted attempt at picking up one of the five or so superstars in the game.

Thank God for baseball. Thank God for the Mets. Thank God for the National League. And damnation to all the rest…the hated Yankees, all Steinbrenner’s money, all Cashman’s Verducci pitch-count crap, the designated hitter rule and finally, all those alleged Mets fans and prognosticators just lambasting Mets management for just about every move they make…or don’t make, as the case may be.

My USA-Today Sports Weekly now informs me in their early-season power rankings that the Mets are the 22nd best team in baseball. I hear on the radio that they’ll finish no better than 4th in their division. What baloney!

How does a team that was a title-contender in 2008, a team that lacked only relief pitching, drop so far in every man’s opinion? Here was a team that picked up that needed relief pitching in 2009 but here also was a team that was then unlucky enough to lose its three biggest stars to injury.

At the same time this Mets team experienced every possible malady known to mankind. They lost one of those relief pitchers very early too. They lost just about every player for significant portions of the season, including their #1 starter, Johan Santana.

And, in order to just get through that stinking 2009, the Mets did some good things. They picked up Jeff Francoeur from the Braves to play right field. Along the way and into 2010, the Mets got arguably the best left-fielder in baseball in Jason Bay. They also picked up two very decent pitchers out of Japan and one Kelvim Escobar who could turn out to be as good as a number two starter, or at the very least, a nice long reliever.

Okay, so they didn’t pick up a second baseman to replace the guy who hit friggin’ .300 and did his job in every conceivable fashion. And they didn’t renew Carlos Delgado, one of those stars who went down in 2009. The one glaring error, but only in retrospect, was the re-signing of Oliver Perez for big big dollars. Failure, thy name was Ollie.

Most of these alleged Mets fans will also point to the failures of Daniel Murphy at first base and do not relish seeing him man the position for 2010 as well. Not me. I think Murphy will improve a great deal over his 2009 season. Most young players do. And he’s got Keith Hernandez in his corner, a hot corner, teaching him the finer points of defense….and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s talking some hitting as well. Keith has never been bashful.

So let’s re-hash and simplify. All those Mets-panners say we’ll get nothing out of either Japanese pitcher, nothing out of Kelvim Escobar, nothing out of Jeff Francoeur, oh, and lest I forget, nothing out of Mike Jacobs, who they acquired for power at first in the event that Murphy continues to do nothing.

Well gee whiz, guys, I think that’s God-awful pessimistic thinking, even for Mets fans. The only real missing piece from 2008 will be Carlos Delgado. Instead of replacing his power at first base, the Mets have added power in left field. And I’m sure every fantasy baseball player in the land would take Jason Bay over Carlos Delgado, any day of the week.

Oh, and Carlos Beltran will probably return in June. He’ll miss April and May for maybe 35 games. That leaves only about 125 in which he’ll play. Chances are he’ll be the old Carlos Beltran, the 5-tool guy who does everything. April and May will belong to Angel Pagan and Gary Matthews Jr., either of whom I’d take over a lot of centerfielders in the game.

So here’s the lineup in June….
1. Ss Jose Reyes – switch - .286 – 100 runs, 50 sb’s
2. 2b Luis Castillo – switch - .292 – 70 runs
3. 3b David Wright – right - .309 – 100 runs, 100 rbi’s
4. Cf Carlos Beltran – switch - .283 – 100 runs, 100 rbi’s
5. Lf Jason Bay – right - .280 – 100 rbi’s
6. 1b Daniel Murphy – left - .275 – 70 rbi’s
7. Rf Jeff Francoeur – right - .271 – 90 rbi’s
8. C Omir Santos – right - .260 – 75 rbi’s
9. P Pitcher

Before Beltran’s return in June, there will be a deficit in left-handed power as Wright, Bay and Francoeur all bat from the right side, which is somewhat problematical unless Pagan bats in the middle of the lineup and really doesn’t hit for power. (Detractors will assert that Francoeur and Wright don’t either).

Catching has also been cast as a problem but I don’t think so. Anyone watching Omir Santos knows that he hit .260, and chipped in 40 rbi’s in only 280 at-bats. I suspect two things…one, that he’ll be even more productive with more at-bats and two, he’ll continue to improve as 2009 was really his first year in the majors. Santos could probably deliver over 80 ribbies in 2010.

Let’s go Mets!

Fingers in the Dike

Finally, the break! Whew! A reprieve.

My favorite baseball team finished out the first half just about as well as they could have, which is saying a lot really. With stars such as Francoeur and Murphy, and some pretty good pitching, all things considered, the Orange and Blue took that last series against the Reds after losing two of three from the Dodgers. And, oh yeah, the Phils took out their brooms before that.

Some of you may be saying, “Yeah, but it’s just the Reds”. To you I say, “Yeah, but it was the friggin’ Phillies and Dodgers too and they ain’t chopped liver”.

If you’re a Mets fan, you have to try to be optimistic. These players are playing their hearts out. They may be losing to the best teams but they’re holding their own, so to speak, with the rest of the league. And the schedule gets easier after the break.

Since the hitting hasn’t really been there, you have to recognize the good pitching, starting with that monster of a closer, K-Rod. I’ve never seen a tougher closer, and that includes Billy Wagner. It includes Mariano Rivera too, by the way, but why pick on Mariano?

Second in line for kudos would have to be Johan Santana. Stopper, leader, smart, tough as nails, that’s Mr. Santana. And he hasn’t really had his best stuff lately.

While the rest of the team has been on a slow trip to hell, Francisco Rodriguez and Johan Santana have lived up to their reputations and have kept a bad team only mediocre. Over the course of a 162 games, that’s not as insignificant as it may sound. If the Mets can be thankful for anything, it’s for those two guys.

On the batting side of things, the heroes become a lot harder to identify. I have to say David Wright has been himself, which is to say, pretty damned good overall but not so hot in July. He has just eight hits this month and just two rbi’s. It’s tough when there’s nobody getting on base and nobody who scares the opposing pitcher hitting behind you. But he is batting .324 overall and he’s starting tomorrow in the All-Star Game. So…..

I think Sheffield deserves some kudos. He’s forty years old, playing for a few hundred thousand dollars only, and doing all the things he was brought on board to do. That’s way more than anybody expected. And he’s the only real power threat. Wright has just five dingers on the year.

Everybody else has to get better. Cora is steady in the infield but usually produces almost nothing at the plate. Much the same could be said for Castillo and Schneider. Pagan will be a little better but hasn’t yet performed up to expectations. At least, I hope that’s the case.

Ryan Church was just beginning to look a little better at the plate before the trade that sent him packing to Atlanta. But he can’t hit a breaking pitch. I think Francoeur has way more upside and obviously, so did GM Omar Minaya. He’s somebody to worry about whereas Church really never was.

The depth chart currently shows a pretty decent lineup. An outfield of Pagan, Francoeur and Sheffield is not one to sneeze at. The infield is still particularly weak with Castillo and Cora manning the inside spots but what might hurt even more is not having more power at the corners. Not only has Wright failed to hit the long ball. Daniel Murphy hasn’t done nearly enough to provide power at a power position, first base.

Even with Murphy’s failure to hit though, he can surprise you in the field as he did last game with a beautiful grab on a foul ball. But let’s be honest, a .314 on-base percentage just doesn’t cut the mustard, especially if batting second.

The last Mets lineup though, the one that scored nine runs against Cincinnati, actually resembled a major league lineup. It featured a speedy Pagan leading off and a number two hitter in Castillo who can actually get on base and move the runner over. Wright’s a legitimate 3 and Sheff a legit number 4. Francoeur at 5 seems a good fit and I think Murphy will feel more comfortable at 6. It’s only fitting of course that Schneider and Cora should bring up the rear, but, compared with other teams’ 7 and 8 hitters, they don’t really lose a lot. And Cora has some speed and savvy on the basepaths, thus not slowing down Pagan or Castillo at the top of the order.

The bench isn’t bad either with Tatis to spell Murphy at first and Argenis Reyes to spell Castillo at second. In the outfield, Jeremy Reed has done pretty well so far and will back up Pagan in centerfield.

The starting rotation now reads Santana, Pelfrey, Livan Hernandez, crazy Ollie Perez and Fernando Nieve. Every one of those hurlers should give them a chance to win, even if Livan will bore us to death and both Perez and Nieve may tire in the fifth inning. That’s what relievers are for, right?

And that could be the rub. In order to stay in the hunt, the relief corps has to produce more than they have thus far. Except for K-Rod, nobody has really dazzled, especially not Sean Green. He has to start earning his money. Parnell has to be more consistent. I’m hoping Redding, Dessens and Misch can perform better than a law firm their combined names suggest. They may be getting a lot of action, especially on every fourth and fifth day. And Feliciano has to keep getting outs from those lefties.

So life is not over for our locals. By splitting with LA and Cincinnati, they stayed in contention at the break. They’ll start the 2nd half in fourth place but still within striking distance of the Phils, only 6 ½ games ahead.

But I’m thinking wildcard. The Phils may be too much.

Is This the Bottom?

Let’s see, first base, um, we have no first baseman. I mean, Murphy played the position, and very nicely too for his first time, or any time, but he doesn’t hit like a first sacker. Second base? Well, Luis Castillo is ok, I guess; doesn’t do much with the bat though. Shortstop? Well, nope. We have no shortstop. Jose is hurt and Cora is hurt. At third we have Wright and in center we have old reliable Mr. Beltran.

Who played left and right fields? Argh, who cares? Whoever they were, either Jose Pagan or Ramon Martinez or Church or any one of seemingly countless little guys with bats in their hand. The catchers do nothing either. Castro has been very boring, Schneider’s always hurt. Omir Santos has nothing.

This has got to be the bottom. Even if the Metsies managed to pull this last game out, things would still have been pretty grim. Only the pitchers have made things look respectable, but right now the Oakland A’s or the Giants look like Murderers Row compared to this horrid lineup of pushovers.

Well, it was the Dodgers, I guess, and they have pretty good pitching, to say the least. But things don’t get any better. Now our local heroes head out to Boston. It’ll be Johan Santana against Dice K coming off the DL in the opener and that might be the only possibility of an advantage in that series.

After the opener, hopefully a win, then it’ll be Pelfrey against Beckett and Redding against Wakefield. I can’t wait to see these cream puff Met batters try to hit Wakefield’s knuckler. If the Mets can win one of the three, it’ll be amazing.

Talk radio is driving me crazy too. Nothing like rubbing it in. Nothing like hearing how bad Minaya’s doing and Manuel’s doing ad infinitum. Manuel especially is taking a beating, and he really doesn’t deserve it, not with this lineup. I thought he could have batted Sheffield in the 9th cream puff number nine but, you may have guessed, Sheffield hadn’t taken batting practice as he was not feeling well.

This is excruciating though, I must say. Listening to all these Yankee fans, pretending to be Mets fans, calling in to THE FAN to urge Minaya to pick up Nick Johnson at first base. Nick friggin’ Johnson. The only guy who ever thought Nick Johnson was anything special was Brian Cashman. He was deluded enough to think Johnson was better than David Ortiz.

And speaking of Big Papi, he finally broke out of his homerless slump tonight by putting one over the wall in centerfield. So our boys will have him to worry about too. It wasn’t enough that they had Bay and Youkilis killing the ball, along with all the other real live threats in their lineup, Ellsbury, Drew, Lowell, et al.

Geez, maybe this isn’t the bottom after all. Maybe we won’t even take one game in Boston. Santana did get knocked around a bit in his last win. And Dice K, if he’s returning off the DL, has probably regained his form; otherwise, why bring him back?

Well, I guess it’s high time to look at the bright side. There must be a silver lining somewhere, or maybe just a copper lining. Church can’t be as bad as he looks, can he? He can only get better, going from horrible to mediocre would be nice.

And Daniel Murphy, judging by his debut at first base, really may have found his spot, which can only help him at the plate. Feeling comfortable is one of the keys to hitting. You have to be relaxed. You have to feel good about yourself, much as all those steroid abusers feel before crushing another dinger.

And Sheffield will be back Friday. He’ll make that lineup a little deeper. Reed really isn’t that bad. Ramon Martinez will have gotten that first game out of his system. That’ll give the Mets honest-to-God major leaguers at every position. Let’s not think about depth at this juncture.

And maybe after winning 11 in a row, maybe a huge swing back to the depths was in order with the universe.

But what happened to hitting the ball to the opposite field? Church NEVER tries it. Neither does Tatis. Neither does Castro. And they look foolish trying to pull outside pitches. They deserve benching, but the Mets can’t afford to bench anyone and still have major leaguers on the field.

But a change is needed. And not in management, in players on the field. I’ve seen enough of Church for sure. Dump him, just as he dumped the Mets the other night. I’m tired of seeing his sorry butt on the field, and even more tired of having people feel sorry for him. He’s a bad player. Get rid of him. Get another outfielder.

And while we’re at it, why not dump Schneider too? He obviously doesn’t play too much anyway. Sore fingernail, sore butt, give me a break. El Dumpo for him too. Undo that trade made for Lastings Milledge and LoDuca. Boy, do I ever miss LoDuca.

The good news, though, is that this can’t go on forever. And there are some good things happening in other sports. Hey, Orlando beat the Cavs in one hell of a Game 1. The Knicks and Nets will both get some pretty nice basketball players in the draft.

And if that’s not good enough for you, you can always check out Mark Sanchez in the latest GQ. WOOHOO!!

Mets? Boo!!

I’m embarrassed. I root for a team that has no left fielder. I root for a team that can’t care enough to slide. I root for a team that almost never produces with the game on the line, a team with a stupid lineup and even more stupid players

This team looks for ways to lose. Who can root for a team like this? This was the worst Mets loss yet. And that’s saying something. They lost a game they should’ve won, that’s nothing strange, that’s happened lots of times before.

That was usually because of relief pitching though. Last night’s loss featured my favorite Met, Carlos Beltran, fail to slide at home in a tie game. That has to be a first. Almost as painful was seeing a guy I’ve been pulling for, Daniel Murphy, make another huge error in left field.

Some things we’ve seen before. We’re used to seeing Oliver Perez blow up in the fifth inning. We’re used to the whole team leaving men on base. But this 2009 version of the Mets seems to seek out failure with a verve seldom seen on a major league baseball field.

I’m off the Jerry Manuel bandwagon too. All the moves that worked last year are coming up deuces in 2009. I hate the lineup. Why does Beltran have to follow Delgado and precede Church? Church pays no attention to the man on base. Twice last night he took Beltran out of a stolen base.

And this lineup simply doesn’t work. Beltran has speed that shouldn’t be wasted in the fifth spot. Murphy should be sent down to AAA Buffalo. Maybe that will calm him down. He’s not such a powerhouse at the plate to warrant a major league team, supposedly a contending team, playing a guy who can’t field his position. I was all for giving him a chance. He’s had his chances and has fallen short. He’s not ready..

Give me Castillo at the 2 spot, especially now that he seems to have found his way at the plate. Wright can’t handle the three-spot. Wright doesn’t hit with men on base. I don’t care what his batting average is. Move him down in the lineup. Beltran should bat third. To recap, that’d be Reyes, Castillo, Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Church, Tatis, Castro and the pitcher.

While I’m ranting and raving, maybe Manuel should be put on notice too. His management of the team in Sunday’s game was ridiculous. We needed a bunt to move the runners over. We didn’t get it. Not only didn’t we get it but we had a guy at the plate who probably was incapable of doing it. That would be Tatis. We have a strong and versatile bench. It’s not being used.

I’m so sick of bad baseball. Maybe Beltran should sit down for a game or two as well. Let him know his butt is expendable. A player with his talent should be an inspiration, not a guy who makes the big mistake.

A contending team, a hopeful pennant winner, just can’t live with a guy in Murphy who has a coronary episode every time the ball comes his way. And he had his own chance to slide at the plate but passed, instead electing to step on the catcher’s hand? I still don’t know what he was trying to do.

Perez? What can you say? He walked in a run in the fifth and then the new relief guy, Fossum, walked in another. I’d recommend long relief for him if we had a stronger starting rotation. But we don’t. We have Maine, Pelfrey (maybe) and Livan Hernandez. Perez throws at one speed. He needs another pitch. And a brain.

I hate to say it but the Yankees are playing good baseball. Their centerfielder made one of the greatest catches I ever saw last night to rob Giambi of a triple….well, maybe a double being that it was Giambi.

Pettite looked good. Damon looked good. Heck, they all looked good. They play as if they care, even with all those stars. Too bad they’re playing in front of so many empty seats. With their new ticket pricing, the Yanks finally turned all that arrogance back on their fans. I listened to horror stories of Yankee fans all afternoon, already expensive $190 seats that were raised to $590. Unbelievable. That team and those fans deserve one another.

So maybe I should just calm down. I can still afford a Mets game. Their tix may be exorbitant too, but I could at least justify going to one or two games a season. If Mets tix jumped as the Yanks tix did, I’d abandon the team entirely. Talk about insults!

Manuel will maybe stop being such a genius and start doing some smart things again. And maybe he’ll start holding players accountable for their failures. God knows he needs to. And maybe Minaya will get him some honest-to-goodness help, not in the form of a Sheffield or a Fossum.

He really shouldn’t need any more help though. Manuel should be able to win games with the hand he was dealt. He’s got to instill a sense of urgency in his guys though. Virtually every game they’ve played thus far has been close. They never seem to pull away. They either eke out a close win or EEK! out a close loss.

As they did tonight. BOO!!