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.

Joba's Bad But Omar's Looking Good

Joba Chamberlain is a better pitcher than he showed yesterday. He would have to be, wouln’t he? I hadn’t seen such tentativeness since Aaron Heilman. Did he throw any fastballs? It surely didn’t seem so.

The Yankees, my Dad says, are not a good team. He just doesn’t think they’re that good. Well, I guess I’d have to agree, given this little information. If they keep babying Joba and making him neurotic, it would appear, their chances are all that much slimmer.

Maybe it’s Jorge Posada that doesn’t agree with him. Posada had missed a lot of the Joba action last year. There were surely a lot of calls for breaking balls. And if a catcher can’t call a good game, it doesn’t really matter that he hits a little bit. One thing is for sure. If Joba has another game like this last one, I’m going to hide my Joba tee shirt. He looked that bad.

But the rest of the Yanks don’t really look that bad. I really don’t like Cano but he sure has been knocking the cover off the ball. Jeter looks really good too. Teixeira is starting to hold his own. Damon hasn’t been bad. Matsui has looked a bit off. Anyway, I’m not sure I agree with Dad on this one. The Yanks look pretty good to me, if the relievers hold up at all.

The Mets, what can you say? They did just enough to win last night, thanks largely to Sheffield, whose 500th tied the game late. It was a big big home run. And then Luis Castillo wins it for them with a slap to the left side, to deep short to score Delgado with the game-winner.

In one fell swoop, Omar looks like a genius. There have been no bigger targets of derision for Minaya than his acquisition of Sheffield and his retention of Castillo, or, better put, his failure to pick up another second baseman. Well, Castillo is hitting .387 and has fielded the position pretty well so far, better at least than Murphy has fielded his. And Sheffield showed what he can do at the plate. Big time.

Sheffield is now just 1 for 5 but that big knock should count for 3 or 4 hits. What a shot! And what a shot in the arm for our local heroes. I know Livan Hernandez was happy. He was off the hook after pitching really well and making one big mistake. Well, everybody was happy. I know I was happy.

So the Mets are even again at 5 and 5. They’ve lost three one-run games so far though. They haven’t been hitting in the clutch and were lucky to win last night, lucky that two old guys both came through when the game was on the line. If not for those two fellows, there would have been still one more one-run loss.

The Mets starters just haven’t been good enough. Livan has been pretty good despite his giving up that big homer last night. And Santana has been himself, which is to say….great. Then there’s Perez, who’s been himself also, which is to say….crazy. Maine and Pelfrey haven’t looked good at all, but not overwhelmingly bad either. And now Pelfrey’s a bit knicked up. Maybe it’ll help.

That relief pitching sure looks good though. Green, Putz and K-Rod. Jeez. It’s really kind of refreshing. If the starters pick it up even a little bit, I think the Mets will be in good shape. They can live with average performances from the bottom of the lineup, which in recent days had seemed like a long,long, long, bottom, starting with Church.

But last night they weren’t bad. Church managed to walk twice, Castro and Castillo each got a couple of hits and Luis had the game-winner. If they can pick it up a little on a more consistent basis, anything’s possible.

But we probably shouldn’t count on that core being so strong all the time either. Delgado’s been amazing, Beltran too but not last night, and Murphy’s been better than expected. Reyes is always a threat when he doesn’t over-slide the bags. (I pick on Jose because he deserves it sometimes).

So even with sketchy starting pitching, the Mets should be tough. They should be better than a .500 team as they are now. They have two more to play at home with the Brewers before taking on the Cards for three more in St. Louis. Those five games will help me guage just how good or bad they are as a team.

Time to wrap this up now. Santana just struck out Fielder and Reyes stole second. It looks like a good Mets start today, and if Castillo and Sheffield, who are both starting today, can continue to help out a little bit, it should be the beginning of a nice winning streak.

And Omar will continue looking good.

Mets All The Way

How unprecedented was this? Two new stadiums opened, and the Mets opened the nicer one against the Red Sox?

David Wright says it’ll be a lot of fun for all of us. He also talked about having it be a pitcher’s park with big gaps to suit his Mets team, which shows that he’s already thinking about how far they’ll go. And that’s a good thing.

Sports Illustrated says the Mets are going to win the whole thing. But Mets manager Jerry Manuel dismisses that notion. He knows his team has to learn to perform down the stretch, to hit in big situations, to hit to the opposite field, to make contact more often, and all those other things they haven’t done in the last couple of years.

The Mets are picking up Gary Sheffield. I understand they got him to replace Marlon Anderson as a utility guy and pinch hitter.. Let me try to look at the bright side of this. Sheffield can hit, some people say he’s a good team player, and in the last couple of years, he’s been hurt more than he’s played. So I won’t have to look at that dour countenance every day. And I don’t agree with Omar that Sheffield has that much upside, not anymore.

What this does is shut up all those fans who knocked Minaya for not picking up the big bat, especially a right-handed bat. That makes me think it was just a political move, something to ingratiate himself with the fans and with the critics. It’s still not clear as to how this will affect Murphy’s time, and Tatis’s time, both of whom are infinitely superior to Sheffield in my mind.

In any event, Sheffield’s negative affects won’t be enough to derail the Mets run to the NL East division title. They fixed the bullpen, they have just enough starting pitching (although we may see some really uneven performances from Perez, Maine and even Pelfrey). The lineup is our same happy Metsies but with an invigorated Castillo, a steady diet of Murphy and Evans and Tatis, and enough depth to outlast any conceivable injuries.

Everybody wants predictions. It seems it’s the the thing to do. So, let me give you my drift on the season…..

NL East – Mets, Florida, Phillies, Atlanta, Washington

The Phillies just can’t get it done again with that starting staff. Myers and Hamels and pray for rain. Florida will amaze with an extra year of maturity for all their young guys and some very decent pitching. Besides Nolasco and Johnson, they’ve got a young’n named Chris Volstad and there’s Anibal Sanchez too. Atlanta and Washington…ho-hum…. .

NL Central – Cubs, Cards, Reds, Brewers, Astros, Pirates

The Cubs are loaded for bear. Everywhere you look, there is strength. The starters should be amazing, five good ones, Zambrano, Lilly, Dempster, Harden and Marshall. The bullpen sports Gregg and Marmol. The lineup is outstanding with steadiness all around. The Cards look strong too but too many holes still. The Reds and Brewers will be competitive, the Astros are old and sick, and then there’s the Pirates.

NL West – Arizona, Giants, Dodgers, Rockies, Padres

I hate to agree with my brother but he’s right. He asked, “Can you name one Dodgers starting pitcher”? I was able to name exactly one. The Diamondbacks look awesome in comparison. And if the Dodgers don’t win it, why should they even take second? The Giants will surprise with Lincecum, Zito, Cain, Randy Johnson and young Jonathan Sanchez at the helm and enough relief in Wilson, Affeldt and company to make up for any holes in their lineup.

NL Wildcard – The Marlins steal it from the Giants on the last day of the season.

AL East – Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, Jays and Orioles

The Rays luck with their healthy starting pitching can’t be expected to continue. The Yankees will have trouble getting the ball to Rivera with the lead. The Red Sox just seem to have everything. The starters match up well with anyone, including the Yankees. They have way better relief and a lineup that doesn’t miss Manny all that much. Unless Vernon Wells has the season of a lifetime, the Jays have no shot and then there’s the Orioles, improved but still looking up at the rest of this tough division.

AL Central – Indians, Twins, White Sox, Royals, Tigers

The toughest division to pick, any of these teams could win it but the Indians will have the best combination of pitching and hitting. Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona, Carl Pavano and Westbrook upon his return provide lots of innings and a strong relief corps featuring Kerry Wood, Betancourt and Perez to outclass the Twins, whose starters will still need another year of seasoning. Liriano, Slowey, Perkins and Blackburn for the Twins…just too much youth there. This will be a real crapshoot though and nobody’d be happier than I’d be if the Royals somehow prevail. Good pitching…Meche, Greinke, Horacio Ramirez, Joakim Soria and Farnsworth but a weak lineup keep them an also-ran.

AL West – Angels, Rangers, A’s, Mariners

The Angels lineup is really powerful with Guerrero all fixed up, fleet Torii Hunter and Chone Figgins and seasoned veterans and hitters in Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera will be too much for the rest of this division, even the Rangers, who’ll be handicapped by their uneven pitching. The A’s too will be much improved with their acquisitions of Holliday, Giambi and Cabrera but the talents of their unbelievably inexperienced starters will not outweigh their lack of seasoning. Just too much to ask. Seattle has a really nice pitching staff in Hernandez, Bedard, Silva and Washburn but Griffey and Beltre have had their day. It was yesterday.

AL Wildcard – Texas Rangers steal it from the Yankees on the season’s last day.

Playoffs – NL – Mets take it from the Cubs in seven.
Playoffs – AL – Red Sox take it from the Rangers in six.

World Series – Mets over Red Sox in 7 tough and memorable games. Beltran MVP.

April Fools

Gary Sheffield really outdid himself this time. It takes real talent to get a club to release you and still collect your 14 million dollars. But the Tigers did just that and you have to wonder why. That’s a lot of money to just fritter away.

Ya see? It’s not just Jerry Jones who pays players big money only to let them go. Now it’s the Tigers and Gary Sheffield.

As has been widely reported, Sheffield has 499 homers in his 21-year career and he no doubt looked forward to hitting 500. Did he possibly try to negotiate for more money based on the added value of hitting his 500th in a Tigers uniform? With Sheffield, anything’s possible and that may be the only explanation that makes sense.

Even if their primary motive was to publicly insult Sheffield, 14 mill is a lot to spend just to make a statement.

Are they all crazy in Detroit? Well, there’s Jim Leyland, of course, who never cared too much about normality. Detroit is the Motor City and the home of other colossal failures such as General Motors. And let’s give the Detroit Lions their due. They’ve stunk out the joint for about a decade, at least.

This is really very mysterious. You have the fact of the matter, a fait accompli. Then you have the Yankee fans who all seem to hate him. Then you hear former teammates publicly saying that he’s a good team guy. Judging from some of the quotes attributed to good ol’ Gary, those teammates probably never had a nice long talk with him.

It certainly is entertaining. My only interest in Gary Sheffield stems from his fantasy numbers which had usually been very good. He was hurt a lot the last couple of years and things probably weren’t going to get that much better. But still, 14 million bucks?

At least the Tigers didn’t get a stimulus package.

Nor did the Broncos for that matter. They’re trading Jay Cutler, one of the top young quarterbacks in the game. The new management apparently didn’t worry about their quarterback’s sense of pride or loyalty when they offered him to the Patriots for Matt Cassell.

Bronco fans never question anything but even they will have a problem swallowing this little pill. What they get in exchange will ultimately determine just how badly their management miscalculated. I’d expect the Broncos to demand an established arm in any trade to minimize their downside risk, in terms of both performance and perception.

That would leave the Jets out of the mix. Of all the teams I’ve seen as potential suitors, a move to the Cleveland Browns would make the most sense. They’ve got two established quarterbacks in Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson. Taking a chance on either one would almost certainly yield better results than a trade for an Orton from the Bears or a Jackson from the Vikings, for example.

It’d also be somewhat ironic, having a dumb move started by a former Pats assistant (Josh McDaniels) and competed by a former Pats assistant (Eric Mangini). Whatever their football skills, their capacity for diplomacy, almost certainly handed down from Belichick, certainly diminishes their overall value as coaches.

Belichick’s genius for defense covers up a lot of trouble on the diplomacy front. What do McDaniels or Mangini bring to the table? We New Yorkers know what Mangini brought. Process, process, process … blah blah blah, and what appeared to be a general malaise that affected the whole team.

There are several other surprising things in the sports pages these days but nothing else that could be called April Fools jokes. Plaxico visiting Giants training headquarters was pleasantly surprising to me, while newbie Yankee centerfielder Brett Gardner getting the start over Melky Cabrera (or anyone else they could have acquired) was less of a shock.

Yankee centerfielders…..let’s see, the earliest one I actually remember is Joe DiMaggio. Then there was Mickey Mantle. Those two fellas alone manned the position for over 30 years, and I have to grudgingly admit they were probably the best centerfielders in the game except for the say-hey kid, Willie Mays.

But there were some other good ones since 1968, Bobby Murcer, Bernie Williams and Ricky Henderson come quickly to mind, and I’m anything but a Yankee fan. So it seems slightly incongruous that a Brett Gardner would get the chance to play there.

But maybe it’s not so strange. Joe D and Mickey were home grown and so were Murcer and Bernie Williams. Nobody ever became great without an opportunity and maybe Gardner will put up some numbers, if not on the order of a Mickey or a Joe D, maybe at least those of a Mickey Rivers. Would you believe Roberto Kelly?

Gardner had an inauspicious start in 2008 but I’m willing to forget that. He is hitting .385 in the spring though, and that’s not too shabby. But that dwarfs his minor league batting averages over the last few years. He batted .296 in his last year in AAA though, and scored 68 runs in 94 games.

That projects to 117 runs scored over 162 games. Imagine how happy the Bombers would be with that! He’ll probably steal about fifty bases too. He’s not a home run hitter but he doesn’t have to be in that lineup. Even if we discount those minor league numbers to major league probables, he’d still score about 100 runs.

So it’s April 1st, and if we can’t have the start of the regular season as we have had in other non-Classic years, it’s nice to at least have something to think about. The Knicks and Nets certainly haven’t done anything lately to hold our interest.

So be happy with what we have. Crazy managers, crazier general managers, and hopefully a continuation of some long traditions. But nothing really compares to Sheffield’s situation. He could even wind up have the last laugh. If money means anything, he ‘s already had the first.