Good Morning Mets Fans!

How sweep it is!

After taking the first two games in relatively easy fashion, the Mets used the hot bat of Jeff Francoeur, and the positive energy of skipper Jerry Manuel, to come back from a 5-0 deficit and complete the sweep of their Florida rivals.

The Mets fell behind on another sub-par outing by Takahashi, who gave up two long balls yesterday and  did not look sharp, especially after the first time through the order.  Not willing to quit, the Mets chipped away and benefited by Fredi Gonzales strange deicion to pull Ricky Nolasco after only 82 pitches.

That move ignited the Mets.

Jeff Francoeur is hot---boiling hot--at the plate, and he proved his mettle again yesterday with a tying, three-run homer in the seventh inning.  It was the big blow that keyed two rallies that put the Mets on top and upped their home winning streak to 8 games.

"I know this is a big yard but I knew I got that one," said Francoeur, who is batting .500 (18 for 36) during his 10-game hitting streak. "I was sure nothing was going to stop it."

Prior to the Francoeur bomb, Angel Pagan demonstrated why he has become one of the most valuable men in the lineup.  Pagan smoked a two-run single in the sixth and scored the go-ahead run when Ike Davis grounded into a double play in the eighth.

"Right now our offense is a lot better than three or four weeks ago," Pagan said. "We can do more things and I think this comeback helps us. ... We just kept fighting."

David Wright chipped in with 3 hits and continues to mash.  His strikeouts are down, and he is driving the ball with authority.

The Mets are now 18-4 in their last 22 games at Citi Field. They have the best home record in baseball, including 22 home wins.

"This was one of those games that tests your character," catcher Rod Barajas said. "That tells you what you're all about. That was an awesome win being down 5-0 early."

The Mets also received a big boost from their skipper.  I've been tough on Jerry all year, but he definitely out-managed his counterpart yesterday. Manuel kept the team positive, and he also put Angel Pagan in motion on a key full-count pitch to Bay, with great results as Bay stroked a single that sent Pagan to third, where he ultimately scored the key run.

"We've been taking chances and our baserunners are making good reads," Manuel said. "We felt like if it's a breaking ball we might get a stolen base. The only thing you worry about is hitting a line drive at somebody, but with people moving around it's a lot harder to hit a line drive at someone. If you do, you just tip your cap."

The bullpen, for the most part, did their job.  Igarashi had a rough time of it, but Elmer Dessens, Pedro Feliciano and Frankie Rodriguez were all up for the task.

Feliciano got the win, to go 2-2 on the year, and Frankie picked up his 12th save of the year.

The Mets are off today and face the Padres at home tomorrow.  We all get a chance to breathe and enjoy our coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Florida (28-30)	0	0	0	1	0	4	1	0	0	6	10	0
N.Y. Mets (30-27) «	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	1	x	7	12	2

Player of the Game

New York
J. Francoeur	AB	4
	R	1
	H	2
	HR	1
	RBI	3

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Good Morning Mets Fans!

How sweep it is!

Three games, three wins, zero runs allowed...an amazing feat for the Amazins.

Mike Pelfrey took his turn on the hill to try and close out the sweep, and he did so in grand fashion, holding the Phillies to zero runs on three hits over seven shutout innings.  The most impressive part was that Pelf didn't have his best stuff, but he worked out of trouble with double play after double play and enough movement on his pitches to fool the Phillies all night.  When they did hit the ball, the Mets defense was more than up to the challenge.

How good was this three game, three shutout sweep?  The last time the Mets accomplished it was in September 1969, also against the Phillies, and yes, that team did something pretty spectacular that season.

Pelfrey, in his typical humble manner, said, "Luckily, we were able to keep it going."  He added, "I think your job is to put up zeros, I thought I was OK."

Big Pelf is now 7-1 on the season and has become an ace before our very eyes.  He has a sparkling 2.54 ERA on the year and has won his last three starts.

The Phils were held to just four hits, all singles, and could not get anything going against the big righty, though they did manage to draw five walks, helped by an ump with an oddly shaped strike zone that floated from batter to batter.  Pedro Feliciano and Frankie Rodriguez ensured the shutout with a scoreless inning each, and Frankie notched his 9th save of the season.

It's no coincidence that the Mets had their best series of the year at a time when Jose Reyes is at his hottest.  Reyes has 6 multi-hit games in his last seven, and, you guessed it, the Mets have won each of those 6.

Angel Pagan had two hits and made a beautiful diving catch in CF.  Pagan, who at one time was on the journeyman path, has made himself into a very good player.  The baserunning mistakes are gone, he is more patient at the plate, and he is hitting the ball to all fields.  While he isn't a star, Pagan has served notice that he is a player that can change a game with his glove, his bat, or his feet.

All in all just a terrific showing by the Mets, who now stand only 2 games out of first place.

It was a 3 round knockout punch to the Phils.  And while these games didn't move the Phils out of first place, they certainly served notice that the 2010 NL East is going to be one hell of a wild ride.

Enjoy your coffee!

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia (26-20)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1
N.Y. Mets (25-23) «	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	x	3	9	0

Players of the Game

New York M. Pelfrey IP 7.0 H 3 ER 0 BB 5 K 5

New York J. Reyes AB 4 R 1 H 3 HR 0 RBI 2

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Of Mice and Manuel

The Mets are below .500, and I am here to hold Jerry Manuel partially accountable for that.

Jerry is not a good manager.  He is not a good tactician.  He doesn't put together a good lineup.  He doesn't know when to give guys a rest.  He certainly doesn't handle the bullpen well.

While I think Jerry is a great guy and well liked by his players, he is not a winner and he should be relieved now.

During his tenure with the Mets, Jerry has put up an overall .490 winning percentage.

Rk   Year Age                Tm                 Lg    G   W   L W-L% Finish
1    1998  44 Chicago White Sox                 AL  162  80  82 .494      2
2    1999  45 Chicago White Sox                 AL  161  75  86 .466      2
3    2000  46 Chicago White Sox                 AL  162  95  67 .586      1
4    2001  47 Chicago White Sox                 AL  162  83  79 .512      3
5    2002  48 Chicago White Sox                 AL  162  81  81 .500      2
6    2003  49 Chicago White Sox                 AL  162  86  76 .531      2
                                                                           
7    2008  54     New York Mets        NL 2nd of 2   93  55  38 .591      2
8    2009  55     New York Mets                 NL  162  70  92 .432      4
9    2010  56     New York Mets                 NL   37  18  19 .486      4
                        Chicago White Sox  6 years  971 500 471 .515    2.0
                            New York Mets  3 years  292 143 149 .490    3.3
                                    Total  9 years 1263 643 620 .509    2.4

Jerry has a difficult time sitting his "star" players.  To whit, Jeff Francoeur is hitting .102 with a .148 OBP and .102 Slg % in the month of May, yet Jerry tosses him out there day after painful day while other options sit on the bench.  Francoeur finally gets a day off today after striking out 16 times in his last 11 games with just 4 hits.  During Francoeur's brutal stretch he has left a slew of men on base.

Jerry has "hunches" based on "gut feel" and uses them with regularity.  One of those hunches was to bat Jose Reyes third despite the fact that he was struggling and coming back off a long layoff.   This move hurt two players as it moved David Wright out of the 3-hole to fifth in the order.  Moreover, he had Reyes bunt out of the three spot in the order on numerous occasions, which is absolutely the wrong thing to do.  Keith Hernandez was positively apoplectic when Jerry did this, and every Met fan I know agreed with Keith.

Despite the fact that the Reyes experiment was a dismal failure, Jerry again stubbornly refused to change, and I personally believe Omar Minaya had to intervene to have Reyes put back to his rightful position at the top of the order.

Jerry's other issue is the 2 hole hitter.  His utter ignorance when it comes to advanced baseball statistics is baffling.  Rule #1--you want your best hitters to get the most at-bats (see above, re: David Wright)

Jerry ignores rule #1 every time he puts out a lineup that has Luis Castillo or Alex Cora batting second.  Jerry loves the scrappy guy that can bunt in the 2 hole, but that thinking went out the door in the early 90s when stats showed how ineffective bunting and no power is at the top of the order.

The bullpen.  The Mets have the #1 and #2 players in ALL of baseball in appearances.  Fernando Nieve and Pedro Feliciano have appeared in the most games and that trend shows no sign of slowing down--until they get injured, which is inevitable given their current workload.  Jennry Mejia, who is but 20 years old, has appeared in the 12th most games in ALL of baseball.  This is a pace that will likely ruin the young man and prevent him from reaching his potential.  Jerry has no objection to throwing Mejia out there in utterly meaningless blowouts.  It's criminal.

It's time for Jerry to go--the game has passed him by, and it's likely that he was never in it in the first place.

I've posted the 20 major mistakes Jerry has made in 2010 before, but in case you missed them, here they are:

1. Refuses to set a lineup based on OBP, Slg, OPS to maximize production
2. Double-switched his best hitter, David Wright, in extra-innings so that his emergency catcher and pinch hitter, Fernando Tatis, would remain available in the off-chance Rod Barajas got hurt
3. Insistence on starting GMJ to "get him going" with pitiful results
4. Assigning a permanent batting slot for the 2nd baseman(batting 2nd) 
5. Frank Catalanatto hitting cleanup
6. Changing pitchers for L/R matchups before the pinch-hitters are announced into the game-- twice in one inning (see: the St. Louis Grand Slam loss)
7. Batting GMJ leadoff
8. Batting Tatis ahead of Frenchy Sunday night
9. Using Feliciano on Sunday night down 10 which led to him being 4 days in a row and perhaps indirectly to Cabreras HR
10. Warming up Feliciano on Friday night with an 8-1 lead in the 9th
11. Warming up his closer 10 times in an extra inning game
12. Jacobs hitting cleanup
13. Telling Francessa that Takahashi couldn't come in to the Sunday night Phillies massacre earlier b/c he was taking a dump
14. Not using a Mejia in extra innings against a lineup with only one good LHB
15. Fernando Nieve: Every. Effing. Day
16. Putting in Mejia against a lefty then pulling him after a walk and bringing in Pedro against a righty
17. Taking Jose Reyes Out of the Leadoff Spot
18. Jerry's refusal to move Bay out of the cleanup spot
19. Having Castillo bunt against a position player pitching
20. Said Pelfrey couldn't start 3 days after getting the save because his arm may be tired out...then goes on to start him

Good Morning Mets Fans!

Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco were afterthoughts this past off-season as they played second banana to the Benjie Molina.  If they were a musical duo, they'd have been called Garfunkel and Oates.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum, and the fans that fill the forum known as Citi Field are certainly grateful

Henry Blanco took a cue from Rod Barajas and blasted the Mets to victory in the 11th inning--this just one day after Barajas hit his walkoff bomb.

Blanco's blast enabled the Mets to win their 9th consecutive home game and sent the fan faithful home with a lot to cheer about.

"That was exciting to see Henry come up and hit that home run," manager Jerry Manuel said. "We swung the bats well the last couple of innings but I was wondering where we were going to get some runs."

"It was a fastball pretty much right down the middle but I never thought it was going to go out," Blanco said, "so I just keep running hard and see if I can make a triple. But I guess it went out."

Johan Santana pitched a strong game, going into the 8th inning on a very reasonable pitch count.  When two men singled their way on board in the 8th, Jerry Manuel made the switch to the bullpen with nearly disastrous results.  The bullpen couldn't hold on to Santana's 4-3 lead, and the Giants tied it on RBI single off Pedro Feliciano by Aubrey Huff.

I tend to beat up on Jerry's handling of the pitching staff, and yesterday was no different.  You have your ace on the mound, in the 8th, at 101 pitches, and an overworked bullpen.  In that situation the best move was to leave Santana in; instead Jerry goes to Nieve and Feliciano, both of whom are on pace to pitch in well over 100 games.  They gave up back to back singles and the lead was lost.

Enough is enough Jerry...the well is not endless, and when the Mets start playing back to back games of 10 or more, as the upcoming schedule shows, you're not going to have the guys you need because of all this ridiculous early season overuse.

That said, there was a lot of good news from the bullpen.  After Mejia recorded the final out of the 8th, Frankie Rodriguez came on and pitched two very strong innings.  Then Takahashi, the crafty Japanese import came on in the top of the 11th and once again pitched brilliantly.  He got the win thanks to Blanco, and afterward, he called Barajas and Blanco "My big brothers." 

It was another win in what is looking more and more like a very competitive and hard fought NL East.  The Mets are showing a lot of heart and grit--they are an easy team to root for.

Just imagine this club with Carlos Beltran.

Scoreboard
Final 11th	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	R	H	E
San Francisco (17-12)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	10	0
N.Y. Mets (17-13) «	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	5	7	0

Player of the Game

New York
H. Blanco	AB	5
	R	1
	H	3
	HR	1
	RBI	1

Enjoy your coffee!

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Jerry Manuel's Top 20 Mistakes of 2010

We're 5 weeks into the season, and Mets manager Jerry Manuel has already made 20 enormous mistakes that make you shake your head in wonder.

Credit to Mets Refugees for compiling these...I truthfully don't know whether to laugh or cry.

For each mistake, Jerry gets another pin, and at this rate, he will look like a porcupine by 1 June.

1. Refuses to set a lineup based on OBP, Slg, OPS to maximize production
2. Double-switched his best hitter, David Wright, in extra-innings so that his emergency catcher and pinch hitter, Fernando Tatis, would remain available in the off-chance Rod Barajas got hurt
3. Insistence on starting GMJ to "get him going" with pitiful results
4. Assigning a permanent batting slot for the 2nd baseman(batting 2nd) 
5. Frank Catalanatto hitting cleanup
6. Changing pitchers for L/R matchups before the pinch-hitters are announced into the game-- twice in one inning (see: the St. Louis Grand Slam loss)
7. Batting GMJ leadoff
8. Batting Tatis ahead of Frenchy Sunday night
9. Using Feliciano on Sunday night down 10 which led to him being 4 days in a row and perhaps indirectly to Cabreras HR
10. Warming up Feliciano on Friday night with an 8-1 lead in the 9th
11. Warming up his closer 10 times in an extra inning game
12. Jacobs hitting cleanup
13. Telling Francessa that Takahashi couldn't come in to the Sunday night Phillies massacre earlier b/c he was taking a dump
14. Not using a Mejia in extra innings against a lineup with only one good LHB
15. Fernando Nieve: Every. Effing. Day
16. Putting in Mejia against a lefty then pulling him after a walk and bringing in Pedro against a righty
17. Taking Jose Reyes Out of the Leadoff Spot
18. Jerry's refusal to move Bay out of the cleanup spot
19. Having Castillo bunt against a position player pitching
20. Said Pelfrey couldn't start 3 days after getting the save because his arm may be tired out...then goes on to start him

Is It Time to Talk About Feliciano as an All-Time Great Met?

Pedro Feliciano came in last night and did what he seems to do every night--pitch, pitch well, and walk off the mound.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

As Gary Cohen is so fond of calling him, he really is Perpetual Pedro.

You won't find any Feliciano jerseys in the stands, his baseball card is worthless, he doesn't make the big bucks, and he can still walk around in the mall and hardly get noticed.

But he is a star for us.

In the last 4 seasons Pedro has averaged 79 appearances per year, and he has led MLB in appearances for the past two seasons.

For his career he has a sterling 3.21 ERA, and his ERA from 2006 through now is 2.92.

I asked on Twitter the other night, "Is it time to start calling Pedro an all-time great Met?"

The answers came back quite varied.  Some folks agreed, and others compared him to an NFL punter, ie, a specialist.

If we look at his career numbers we can see that he's actually faced righty's more than he's faced lefty's.  To be specific, he's faced a righthanded batter 743 times, against 645 for lefthanders.

But now comes the rub--

Righthanded batters hit .269 with a .781 OPS against him, whereas he dominates lefty's to the tune of a .210 BAA and .571 OPS.

That said, overall he has been outstanding.  His combined totals show a pitcher who gets guys out.  His combined BAA is .241 and the OPS against is only .683.

Looking at the top 5 Mets pitchers in appearances, we see Pedro already in 3rd place, just 19 games behind Tom Seaver.  He is 313 games behind John Franco, the all-time leader.

So while Pedro is not a dominant starter, or a closer of renown, he certainly is one of the premiere set-up men in the game.  He might just be the best set-up man the Mets have ever had, or at least in the top 2 or 3.

Though he developed primarily in the Dodgers farm system I'll call him a homegrown Met as he pitched extensively at Norfolk before honing his craft enough to stick in the big leagues.  I'll also add in the fact that he's only pitched for the Mets at the major league level.

Bottom line:  He may not truthfully be an all-time Met great right now, but he's certainly getting there.  In my book he is an "all-time good Met", and that is more than enough to satisfy this Mets fan.

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER
J Franco	48	56	3.10	695	0	0	0	276	702.2	683	279	242
T Seaver	198	124	2.57	401	395	171	44	1	3045.1	2431	953	870
P Feliciano*	20	13	3.21	382	0	0	0	4	322.2	292	129	115
J Koosman	140	137	3.09	376	346	108	26	5	2544.2	2281	994	875
J Orosco	47	47	2.73	372	4	0	0	107	595.2	480	207	181

Good Morning Mets Fans!

We had a lot of fun on Twitter last night following the game.  For those of you wanting a little fan interaction, I really recommend it.  All of the bloggers and beat writers are there, and it's very enjoyable.

It's even more enjoyable when the Mets win, and thanks to Rod Barajas 9th inning herioics, a win it was.

I think Rod needs a slogan.  How about:

The New and improved Rod Barajas, now with even more "A-Ha!"


Barajas solo shot in the ninth inning rallied the Mets to a 5-4 victory.  Truthfully, Rod's heroics should not have been needed, but Jerry Manuel insists on pitching Fernando Nieve until his arm falls off, and Nieve showed a few cracks in the armor in allowing two 8th inning homeruns to the Reds, which erased the Mets 4-2 lead.

Barajas shot was an absolute bomb--Reds closer Francisco Cordero put one right in Rod's wheelhouse, and the sturdy catcher knew exactly what to do.

Barajas now leads the Mets in dingers with seven, which is also the most by any catcher in baseball.

"He's been impressive in that manner," manager Jerry Manuel said. "He's had some big hits at some big moments."

Perpetual Pedro Feliciano got the final out in the eighth and got the win, and Frankie Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in five tries.

"It's good to win a close game," said David Wright, who hit the other solo homer. "That's something we have not been able to do a lot of this year. Hopefully this gives us a little momentum."


"You don't want to be a team that diminishes a winning streak with a bad streak," Manuel said. "You want to right the ship."

David Wright's homerun came off of Bronson Arroyo, who pitched well, but not as well as he had in the recent past against the Mets.  Jose Reyes is rounding back into offensive shape.  Reyes chipped in with two hits, a run-scoring single in the first and a double in the sixth inning.

There were some very good signs from John Maine as well.  The lanky rigt hander pitched 6 innings and allowed only one earned run.  He also K'd six batters and walked two.

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets (15-12) «	1	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	1	5	8	1
Cincinnati (13-14)	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	4	6	0

Player of the Game

New York R. Barajas AB 4 R 1 H 1 HR 1 RBI 1

All in all a very satisfying win.  Enjoy your coffee!

More Proof of Jerry Manuel's Ineptitude

As if there weren't enough proof out there already, let's look at Jerry's big move of the night.

With one out in the 8th and a man on second (pitcher Adam Wainwright hit a double off Toni Stoner), Jerry brought in Pedro Feliciano to face a lefty, Skip Schumaker.

Tony Larussa countered with switch-hitting Felipe Lopez, who battled before striking out.

This brought up righthanded hitting Ryan Ludwick and Jerry's big decision.

Now most managers would have all of the numbers at their disposal to make the choice:  do I leave Feliciano in, or do I bring in a righty?

And what exactly are those numbers?

For his career Ludwick bats .286 against righthanders and .241 against lefthanders.  Now that's interesting, but wait, there's more.

In 2010 Ludwick is hitting .235 against lefty's...yup, 4 for 17...he has a .278 OBP against them.

Against righty's?  A solid .296...8 for 27 with a .345 OBP.

It would appear to be a simple decision--keep Feliciano in the game.

Jerry's call?  Bring in the righty.

This is very typical of the problem with Jerry Manuel...he only thinks in terms of righty vs righty and lefty vs lefty.  He doesn't appear to have the capacity to think past the basic left-right matchup to use statistics and pure fact.

We see this when he constructs his lineup...he desperately pencils in names to go lefty, righty, lefty, right regardless of starting pitcher vs player tendencies, actual performance, and historical matchup.

Look, I beat up on Jerry as much as the next guy, but when the numbers give you an advantage, you take them.

In this case the numbers clearly favored keeping in Feliciano, but as we know, Jerry is not a "numbers guy".

So we wind up with another Mets loss, and another pin for the voodoo doll.

Mets 2010 Season Prediction

The Mets will be better in 2010 than they were in 2009, the question is how much better?

While many pundits are predicting a long season, I believe there is reason for hope and that the Mets will compete well and challenge for the division.

Let's begin with a look at the positions:

Catcher. In the off-season I thought the Mets would fare best with a youth movement, both here and at first base.  Last year's catching duo of Brian Schneider and Ramon Castro are long gone, and I truly felt Josh Thole could handle the job provided the Mets added a veteran caddy.  Instead of going with this plan, the Mets added a bunch of veteran backstops, and two of them are poised to handle the catching duties in 2010.  Both Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco are pretty sound defensive catchers with power and a canny knack for not getting on base.  I do think these guys will help the staff and do what doctors promise to their patients--do no harm.
Verdict:  Upgrade

First base. First is the other "youth movement" position.  Ike Davis had an outstanding 2009 minor league campaign, followed by a brilliant fall, and an even better spring--he goes to the minors.  Daniel Murphy, a big-time punching bag in 2009, had a steady spring, especially defensively.  Unfortunately for Mr Murphy, he tweaked his knee and start the season on the DL. It looks like once promising slugger Mike Jacobs has won the role as the opening day first sacker.  Jacobs has a very long swing, strikes out a ton, and plays defense like my grandmother--but he is a super nice guy and he'll hit the occasional long ball when his bat somehow finds the ball.  Fernando Tatis, who had a horrible spring, figures to get some playing time here as well.  I really would have liked the Mets to go with Chris Carter here.
Verdict:  Status Quo 

Second base. Let me start by saying I actually like Luis Castillo a lot.  That said, Jerry just uses him the wrong way.  He hit for average last year, and his OBP was terrific, but the man has no business in the 2 hole.  He bunts too often, has zero power, and his range at second is more limited by the day.  I am certainly OK with Castillo at second this year, but he should bat 8th--period.
Verdict:  Status Quo

Third base. Mr Met David Wright needs a big season--and he is going to have one.  Last year he was a mental train wreck, and he suffered more than most from the AAA lineup the Mets put out in 2009.  His power is back this spring, and he looks like the David Wright of old.  I think he'll hit 30+ homeruns with a ton of doubles and RBIs while playing slightly above league average third base.
Verdict:  Upgrade

Shortstop. Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose!  He's back, and he could be back on opening day if the Mets weren't so gun shy right now with injuries.  Jose is going to bring the go-go Mets back and spark the entire lineup with his talents.  With Carlos Beltran, David Wright and Jason Bay behind him in the lineup, Reyes can easily score 120 runs in 2010.  He is going to miss the first 5 games of the season, but that's fine if he stays healthy the rest of the year.  I am expecting the best season of his career.
Verdict:  Upgrade

Outfield. Call me crazy, but I think the Mets 2010 outfield might be the best the team has ever had.  Jason Bay is a tremendous hitter and veteran presence who will provide the stability and power that the Mets never seem to find in their leftfielder.  Carlos Beltran, who should be back in a few weeks, is one of the premier centerfielders in the game.  He is a true five-tool player and a clutch performer.  Jeff Francoeur seems to have a new lease on life.  If he gets on base at anything above a .330 clip, the rest of his game will be there, including excellent defense, an agressive attitude, and a wonderful clubhouse presence.  This group will delight Mets fans all year--after Beltran gets back that is.  I am confident in Angel Pagan and Gary Mathews to fill in well--both guys are big time talents that add a great deal of depth to the team.
Verdict:  Major Upgrade

Rotation. Oh boy--this is the tough one.  The Mets really failed to address rotation concerns this off-season.  Johan Santana was lit up regularly this spring, but you just know he's going to compete for the Cy Young this year.  After that, it's a game of who knows?  John Maine has one excuse after another.  I expect him to battle all year, and struggle a lot.  A 10-15 record would not surprise me with a 4.50 to 4.80 ERA.  Mike Pelfrey is the real wildcard--he looks great from a physical perspective, but his pitches were really flat this spring.  That could be a function of him working on stuff, or it could be that he's lost some of the sink on his fastball.  Regardless, I do think he is the most overcoached pitcher in the rotation.  Oliver Perez might be done.  With the spring he's had, the Mets might be wise to send him to AAA for a month--the issue is there aren't many other options other than to start him wit the big club--and hope for the best.  Jonathan Niese had a solid spring, and seems ready to resume what looks to be a promising big league career.  Expect at least 15% of the Mets starts to come from pitchers other than these five.
Verdict:  Status Quo

Bullpen. The Mets bullpen looks pretty strong to me right now.  Francisco Rodriguez is a gamer--yes he had some health issues, but he's had a really solid spring, and there's no reason to think his 2010 won't be anything short of outstanding.  The setup man job was won by default by Pedro Feliciano.  This is not great in that Felciano excelled at his specialist role and has for quite some time--he is death to lefty's and can pitch almost daily.  Takahashi seems like a great fit, and he will definitely get some starts mixed in with his long relief role.  Kiko Calero should get the final spot--he will become a fan favorite.  The other members of the bullpen, which could feature Jennry Mejia (60% chance of him making it per Adam Rubin), are a decent mix of talents that should provide Jerry Manuel with a lot of options.
Verdict:  Upgrade

Prediction. While the Mets aren't on anyone's radar scope as anything near a favorite, they are also much better than many of the fourth and fifth place finishes that are being spouted by various pundits.  The team is solid offensively, has a true Ace, a great closer, and there is serious potential lurking in that starting rotation.  The bench is the best the Mets have had in a while, and the bullpen is really stocked with arms of different flavors that could be a real difference-maker in many a close game.

Survey Says.....

86-76, third in the NL East, miss the playoffs by 3.5 games.

Domo Arigato Mr. Hisanori Takahashi

Lots of reports out there that the Mets are on the cusp of signing Hisanori Takahashi to a minor league contract.

From the NY Times:
The Dodgers, Orioles, Red Sox and Padres also offered minor league contracts, but the Mets made the strongest offer. According to the report, Takahashi would make roughly $1 million if he cracks the major league team, with a chance for an additional $500,000 in performance incentives. Takahashi, who turns 35 in April, posted a 3.70 ERA over 10 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants. The veteran southpaw was a starting pitcher in Japan, but has been projected by many as a reliever in the United States. If that holds true, he would have a chance to be the second left-hander out of the bullpen behind Pedro Feliciano in New York.

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Jerry Manuel Fails Baseball 101

I read with a chuckle how Jerry Manuel ripped his players after last night's disappointing loss. Jerry got on Angel Pagan for misplaying a Doug Davis line drive into a 2 run triple. He ripped Daniel Murphy for venturing too far off the bag on a potential double play ball. He also finally decided tonight to give David Wright his second day off of the year.

Jerry--look in the damn mirror. Who the hell intentionally walks the #8 hitter in the second inning of a game?

That incredibly bad decision set the tone for the entire game.

Augie Ojeda has a .328 slugging percentage on the season, yet you deemed him such a threat that he needed to be walked--in the second inning!

I'm all for this type of maneuvering later in a game where it could force the opposing manager to go to a pinch-hitter, but walking the #8 hitter in the second inning is just stupid.

You're telling your starter he can't get out Augie Ojeda.

Then, if that wasn't enough, you went back to the intentional walk again in the 5th inning.

At this point it was a 4-2 game, with one out and a man on second. Up comes Mark Reynolds--you know, the guy that has 151 strikeouts on the year.

Now is Reynolds an excellent power hitter? Yes, he certainly is. But again, it's a 2 run game in the 5th inning, and you have a strikeout king at the plate.

We now go to the seventh inning--it's 5-2 Diamondbacks, and who do you bring in to releieve?

38-year old journeyman Elmer Dessens.

Yes, in a 3 run tight game, in Arizona, you opt for Elmer Dessens to keep you in the game.

Never mind that your bullpen, with the exception of Frankie Rodriguez, had the day off on Sunday because of Johan.

Never mind that Pedro Feliciano has only pitched one third of an inning since August 4th.

No, let's go with Elmer freakin Dessens here.

Brilliant.

Moreover, when Oeltjen, a lefty, was announced as the pinch-hitter you could have automatically went to Feliciano, especially since Manny Parra, another lefty, was to follow.

So you could have had Feliciano face back to back lefty's. And oh by the way, after Parra was Reynolds, a righty, followed by Montero, another lefty.

So that was three out of four lefty's due up but you stuck with Dessens, who lefty's have hit for a .309 batting average in his career.

Brilliant.

After the 8th it was 7-2, and the Mets 9th inning comeback wasn't enough.

So sure Jerry, rip on the players for their effort....I'll rip on you for your brain's lack of effort.

Good Morning Mets Fans!

Raise your hand if you enjoyed the hell out of that game last night. Yup, me too. It was a long one at 3 hours and 11 minutes, and it was also quite dramatic and finished with a bang.

A bunch of folks are writing rather disparaging words about Ollie Perez today, but I thought his start was pretty decent. His overall line was 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 BB and 7 Ks. Not bad.

Yes it took him 112 pitches to get through those 5 innings, but his stuff was there and I thought the ump pinched him on a couple of really good pitches that went for balls.

Since his return Ollie has gone 1-1 in 5 starts and given up 2, 3, 4, 3, 2 earned runs in those outings to lower his ERA by nearly two full runs per game. Right now he has one undoing--walks. In those same 5 starts he has walked 7, 4, 6, 4, 5...terrible.

So with all that said, I truly believe Ollie is on the brink of a few 7+ inning games where he walks 2 or 3....the line is that fine with him right now.

I could write all day about last night's game--the brilliant at bat by Brian Schneider that resulted in a 400 foot double, the gutsy at-bats by Alex Cora, the continued streak of DW, another RBI from Jeff Francoeur, the brilliance of Pedro Feliciano, the wonderful pinch hitting of Omir Santos and Angel Berroa and of course, the 5 RBIs and Grand Slam of Angel Pagan.

It was that kind of game.

Instead, let's look at the Mets stars of this 8 game effort that's produced a 6-2 record.

David Wright:
12 for 27, 9 Runs, 4 Doubles, 2 HR, 6 RBIs

Jeff Francoeur:
7 for 29, 10 RBIs

Angel Pagan:
10 for 35, 6 Runs, 3 Doubles, 2 Triples, 7 RBIs

Daniel Murphy:
10 for 29, 6 Runs

Alex Cora:
9 for 26, 5 Runs

Corey Sullivan:
6 for 20

Luis Castillo:
7 for 25, 7 Runs, 6 Walks

Notice anything? Yup, you got it--no one is going crazy and carrying the team by themselves.

What we have here is a team that is getting hits together, creating runs together, picking each other up. Toss in the occassional longball and the wins keep piling up.

This is what we all said could happen when the stars went down--get enough runs for the pitching staff to do their thing.

The plan now is to keep winning games, get a few more pieces back, and get to September no worse than 3 games back in the wild card. If the Mets keep playing like this, it could even be closer than that.

So enjoy your coffee and root like hell for Big Pelf to keep this thing going....one game at a time.

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Arizona (45-59)	1	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	1	6	9	1
N.Y. Mets (50-53) «	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	4	x	9	12	0

PLAYER OF THE GAME
A. Pagan	AB	4
	R	1
	H	2
	HR	1
	RBI	5

New York Mets
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Angel Pagan, CF	4	1	2	5	0	1	0	.295
Luis Castillo, 2B	5	0	0	0	0	1	3	.294
David Wright, 3B	4	1	1	0	1	1	0	.325
Daniel Murphy, 1B	4	1	1	0	0	1	1	.247
Jeff Francoeur, RF	4	1	1	1	0	0	0	.257
Cory Sullivan, LF	2	1	1	1	1	0	0	.269
a- Fernando Tatis, PH-LF	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.242
Alex Cora, SS	3	1	2	1	1	0	0	.253
Brian Schneider, C	3	1	1	1	0	1	3	.212
b- Omir Santos, PH-C	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.263
Oliver Perez, P	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	.333
Bobby Parnell, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
c- Jeremy Reed, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.259
Tim Redding, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.077
Pedro Feliciano, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
d- Angel Berroa, PH	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.146
Brian Stokes, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Francisco Rodriguez, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	35	9	12	9	3	6
a-struck out for Sullivan in the 8th
b-singled for Schneider in the 8th
c-hit into fielder's choice for Parnell in the 6th
d-singled for Feliciano in the 8th
Batting
2B - Angel Pagan (7, Boyer), Alex Cora (10, Scherzer), Brian Schneider (8, Scherzer)
HR - Angel Pagan (1, Zavada)
SF - Angel Pagan (1)
RBI - Angel Pagan 5 (12), Jeff Francoeur (53), Cory Sullivan (4), Alex Cora (13), Brian Schneider (22)
SB - David Wright (23, 2nd base off Boyer/Snyder)
Team LOB - 6
Fielding
DP - Cora-Castillo-Murphy
PB - Brian Schneider (1)

New York Mets
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Oliver Perez	5	6	3	2	5	7	1	7.03
Bobby Parnell (BS,4)	1	2	2	2	1	1	0	4.20
Tim Redding	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6.99
Pedro Feliciano (W,4-3)	1.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	2.51
Brian Stokes	0.2	1	1	1	1	1	1	3.50
Francisco Rodriguez (S,24)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.06
WP - Oliver Perez (1)
Pitches-Strikes - Oliver Perez 112-67, Bobby Parnell 21-14, Tim Redding 3-2, Pedro Feliciano 15-11, Brian Stokes 13-7, Francisco Rodriguez 3-1
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Oliver Perez 3-4, Bobby Parnell 1-1, Tim Redding 1-0, Pedro Feliciano 2-2
Batters Faced - Oliver Perez 25, Bobby Parnell 6, Tim Redding 1, Pedro Feliciano 5, Brian Stokes 4, Francisco Rodriguez 1

Game Information

Attendance - 39574

Game Time - 3:11

Temperature - 77

Umpires - Home - Jim Reynolds, First Base - Field Culbreth, Second Base - Jim Wolf, Third Base - Gary Cederstrom