2008 Mets!!! LETS GO METS!!!

I hate to jinx it, but Wagner's been absolutely dominant this year. I'm getting to the point where I actually trust him with a 1 run lead.

Great win yesterday. That's the kind of win that can galvanize a team. 4 out of 5 since Randolph got his "vote of confidence". Hopefully that's a sign of things to come.

 

Church and Castillo back tonight.

Get the earplugs ready though for the deaf-wishing combination of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan.

 

With the 4 out of 5 and the fact willie probably got himself til the all star break at least Im holding out hope that he learned something from this. When he benched Delgado, which we know was a long time coming, it was right after the meeting and Minaya and the Wilpons told him to not worry about how much someone is making. It had to sting Delgado that he was the only one who sat those two days.

Now maybe im just overly optimistic and trying to find anything good about willie, but maybe just maybe he was/is trying too hard to be liked by the players instead of just doing his job?

 

also if we do fire willie...im officially on the wally backman bandwagon.

He started coaching in 1997 and has done the following:

1999 Western League Championship with Tri-City
2002 Southern League (AA) Title with Birmingham
2004 California League (A) Title with Lancaster (Sporting News Minor League Manager of the Year)
2006 South Coast League Title with South Georgia

 

Maybe. Willie's always been considered a "players' coach". He's never been much for lighting a fire under someone's ***. Maybe he's succeeded with Delgado.

You can keep your bandwagon, thanks. I'll hitch a ride elsewhere. I'd like someone who's managed above AA ball, for starters. For another, Backman's background is checkered, to be kind: DUI, bankruptcy, harassment, allegations of spousal abuse (later dropped), and then, rather disconcertingly, this episode:

There was also the incident with that announcer in 2007, which was blown out of proportion. The announcer alleged that Backman attacked him, which was later proven untrue, but here's the thing: if he has a hard time handling some dip**** announcer for the Anderson Joes, how on earth is he going to deal with the vultures of the NY media?

 

So on if we go out and get milton bradley and some other hotheads and criminals he'd be perfect Phunwin.

 

Carl Everett is playing some Indy ball in New York, why not just sign him to a FA deal?

 

Man did ollie suck tonight! 1/3rd of an inning/6ER. Get rid of the bum. Keep Vargas and Pelfrey in the rotation behind Johan, Pedro, maine. Ollie and Delgado and a prospect not named Fernando for a 1b that doesnt blow. Come on Omar, get it done.

 

Muniz down, Vargas to the pen. Pedro is back tonight

 

2 and 1/3rd, handful of walks, 1 er

 

Well 7 of 9 now with Maine's win today. His first W in 4 starts. Reyes with a strong game 4/5 hr-2 runs-2rbi-sb.

Maybe theyre actually responding.....On to SD for 4

 

Sorry, late to the dance.....

So, why does his use of "My Guys" set you off?

 

I'm kind of wondering that, too.

 

I dont go ga ga over the MLB draft the way I do for NFL or NBA or even a lesser a extent NHL, but I loved those two picks. 1B is a definite need long term and Davis has excellent bloodlines as he is Ron Davis' son who played for a number of years. Havens I think long term will become a 2b but I think he will carry an above average bat at this level relative to his position.

We had 3 more top 100 picks as well...
33 New York Mets Brad Holt RHP UNC Wilmington (Glavine/Braves) ...no scouting report yet
68 New York Mets Javier Rodriguez OF Purto Rico he Mets are always heavyweights in the international talent market. They should make another splash on July 2 when the international signing period begins, but they already scooped up one talent from outside the United States, grabbing outfielder Javier Rodriguez in the second round with the 68th overall pick.

Rodriguez was one of the top talents in Puerto Rico last month heading into the Excellence Tournament, which attracts a plethora of scouts, crosscheckers and scouting directors. Rodriguez improved his stock there further, showcasing execllent bat speed, athleticism and pure hitting ability to establish himself as the top prospect on the island. - Baseball America

100 New York Mets Kirk Nieuwenhuis CF Azuza Pacific U

134 Ratliff, Sean Stanford U CF L/L 6'03" 225 1987-02-24 JR
MLB.com:
Hitting Ability: He's not a pure hitter, not being consistent enough from at-bat to at-bat.
Power: He's got pretty good power and showed home run pop to the pull side.
Running Speed: He grades out as average, at best.
Base running: He handled himself OK on the bases.
Arm Strength: He wasn't tested in this game, but he's shown a strong arm as a guy who's done some pitching.
Fielding: He's playing CF now and looks OK, but he may not be able to stay there in the future.
Range: He has average range in center right now.
Physical Description: Ratliff is a big, strong, left-handed hitter.
Medical Update: Healthy.
Strengths: Power bat, with home-run potential.
Weaknesses: Inconsistency. He hasn't shown the ability to make consistent contact.
Summary: College power hitters are always going to draw interest, even inconsistent ones. Ratliff hasn't always been able to make consistent contact, but he manages to show enough to remain intriguing. A center fielder for now, the team who thinks he'll turn his sometimes power into something frequent enough to man a corner spot will take a chance on him.

164 Doyle, Charles Coastal Carolina U C L/R 6'00" 200 1986-03-24 SR

194 Satin, Joshua UC Berkeley 2B R/R 6'02" 1984-12-23 5S

MLB.com has video analysis on some of the guys I didnt post additional info on if anyone is interested....

I thought this little note would interest met fans as well:Jimmy Rollins pulled for not running out a pop-up

According to Scott Lauber from the News Journal, Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins was pulled after the fourth inning after not running hard on a pop fly to shallow left field in the third.

Lauber writes, “It seems highly unlikely that Charlie Manuel would pull the reigning NL MVP for lack of hustle, but thus far, we’ve received no status report on any possible injuries. Typically, when a player is injured, we receive an update a few innings later.”

By the way, in searching for an image of Rollins, I stumbled upon his webpage, JimmyRollins.com, which, when the page loads, greets you with a song that sings, “M.V.P., the most valuable, M.V.P., oh, so infallible, M.V.P.”

 

AUGH! What a ridiculous way to lose a game!

I have always hated, and continue to hate, the practice of walking the bases full. I hated it when Bobby Valentine did it in the 1999 NLCS, and I hate it now. The chances of a player grounding into a double play are generally about the same as his chances of drawing a walk, maybe less in the case of Paul McAnulty, who's quite good at drawing walks. You take away the pitcher's margin for error, to boot.

Also, with men on second and third and 1 out, why is Scott Schoenscheisse pitching when Billy Wagner's been resting for three days? The continued refusal of MLB managers to think outside the predefined "save situation" boundaries continues to baffle me. Why on earth wouldn't you want your best reliever, who's been damn near unhittable all year, in the game in a situation like that? Why wouldn't you say to Wagner "look, this isn't a save situation, but we can lose the game right here, so we're trusting you to pull our asses out of the fire."

You'll notice I'm not specifically blaming Willie Randolph here. That's because just about every major league manager would have done the same two things: walk the bases full, and stay with a middle reliever/setup guy. It's stupid, stupid, STUPID! Stupid, I tell you!

 

Wagner hasnt been resting 3 days. he pitched Weds during the day game and tuesday night after Blowenweis allowed SF to make it a save situation.

I do agree that with 2nd and 3rd and 1 out there has to be a strikeout pitcher or groundball guy in the game. thats not Schoenweis. And since Smith and Feliciano had been used its not them either. That leaves Heilman and Wagner. Wagner had pitched 2 straight days. But Heilman was warming up. ya, hes been terrible but he still K's more then 1 per inning which is exactly what you needed to get out of that inning.

 

I'm a moron. I was looking at the ESPN game log and saw that he had pitched 6/3, and thought "well, today's 6/3, so he's had three days rest". Unfortunately, the game was on 6/5, and in any case, the game log didn't reflect that he pitched 6/4. So, okay, maybe using Wagner three straight days is a poor idea. The strategy still sucks, though.

 

If there was any doubt about Johan's toughness let it be known that the dude's new nickname is nails.

While attempting to bunt Chavez over in the bottom of the 5th after a leadoff double he got hit by a fastball in the shoulder. Not a foul tip, just straight bunted and missed and drilled. Then he gets the bunt down (Adrian Gonzalez made a brilliant play). Ran the bases fine. Pitched the 6th (victim of his own error). But he stayed in and looked normal. So good news/bad news. Bad news that we scored 1 run with 1 out and the bases loaded that inning after Hairston made a ridiculous play on a wright blast.

 

Good luck today bro's.

 

Damn we suck. If its not one thing its the next. Delgado gets hot (i.e. by hot i mean average above 240) and wright and beltran sucked all series and wagner gives up his 2nd 3rd and 4th earned runs of the year on one swing by Tony Clark. Congrats on a 2-5 road trip vs crappy teams.

This isnt willies fault but its the karma. Willie, Ollie, and Heilman must go. Trade Ollie and Heilman with Delgado for a 1b who can hit...and field since Delgado made his 8th error of the year today which is absurd for a 1b at this stage.

 

I think the Mets should make a serious run at Kevin Millar. The guy is not only a gamer but great in the clubhouse and is a leader (something that the Mets don't have). Plus he can play both 1st and also LF or RF, granted he's not the best defensively but won't do any worse than Delgado or Alou out there. I think Omar should try and get Millar, I doubt he'd cost them much either.

 

MEET THE METS, BEAT THE METS!!!!

My Phillies are making a mockery of the NL East. Sweeping those Atlanta Braves who were 25-8 at home, and starting to pull away from everyone else.

Phillies got the best starting pitching in Moyer, Myers, Hamels, Kendrick and Eaton..........
the best relievers in Lidge, Gordon, Romero, Durbin and Madson.........
The reigning 2006 MVP (Ryan Howard), 2007 MVP (Jimmy Rollins) & sure thing 2008 MVP (C. Utley).

THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES RULE

 

This has been brought up before bro and I agree. Its evident that Wright and Wagner are the only 2 willing to grab any kind of leadership role. Millar cant possibly be worse then trying to resurrect Fernando Tatis from 10 years ago.

One of the guys who will help that cause is Jose Valentin and he seems to be almost back from his 2nd torn acl in 3 years. Not sure how much he can give us but I know he'll swing a decent bat and make a positive impact on reyes.

 

The best starting rotation? Youre losing it bro. You have exactly 1 pitcher in that rotation with a whip below 1.25 and era below 4, Hamels, and he hasnt had his yearly injury yet. And dont tell me it wont happen because its happened every year hes been a pro either at the minor league or major league level.

Your offense however...now that is deadly. The best pitching would be that of the Mets. Our offense is incredibly inept at hitting with RISP as only Alou and Castillo (yikes) are above 280.

 

Yeah I figured it was bought up before, as is this name: Nady. He'd be perfect for the Mets right now too. I'm not too familiar with the Mets farm and not sure if they have any chips to get him (obviously they're not trading Martinez). Maybe Heliman for Nady?

 

Ya its been brought up before. Theres 2 things holding it back though. 1 is that Nady starts like gangbusters every year. 25 of his 62 career homers have come in april or may...meaning the rest of the year is pretty useless to him and to the team that has him. Two is that for the first time hes getting a chance to play everyday in Pitt and Im not sure thats a situation he will want to leave. Now Id dump Heilman for a sack for turds on fire but Im not sure thats the right move for this team.

We need something more along the lines of a Jason Bay or Adam Dunn who would provide a more permanent solution in LF and a Mark Teixeira at 1b. I love Alou but hes too unreliable and this team simply cant afford him anymore. If we want to do it this year they have to trade Fernando to plug the holes but personally Id rather go the other route. If you arent going to do that then you may as well trade Perez (Houston, NYY, among others could use him), Pedro (who doesnt need more pitching?), Delgado (wherever) etc because if you cant score we cant win so you may as well rebuild the farm.

This has to be the most frustrating team to watch the last year and a half. Same story and there is nothing done to fix it except the same "These are my guys" speech. Omar definitely takes some of the heat on this. Jose Guillen may have a loudmouth but those 47 rbi would be leading this team right now. And thats 1 for every AB Alou has taken this year.

 

Yeah, Nady has come up before. More than a couple times, actually. In fact, the Nady-Cameron deal almost sparked a fistfight between me and Boik. Seriously, we were going to meet in a parking lot in Utica to settle the issue. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, as neither of us wanted to drive three hours.

I wouldn't mind getting him back, however, because he could play three positions where we either have an injury prone player (Alou), a lefty who struggles against LHP (Delgado) or both (Church). If they'd give us Nady for Heilman, I'd take that in a heartbeat.

 

This is probably a bad time to bring it up, but you do know that we had Bay and traded him (and Bobby Jones...the crappy one) for Jason Middlebrook and Steve Reed, right? Boy, that Steve Phillips...what an eye for talent.

Omar definitely deserves some heat, but not for passing on Guillen. Loudmouth or no, his .292 OBP isn't something I want in my lineup, 47 RBI or no. If you look at that lineup, and the number of low-OBP guys in it, it's clear his 47 RBI are a statistical fluke, and he's in for a decline.

Personally, I prefer to give Omar a hard time for counting on Moises Alou to stay healthy and not having a reliable Plan B.

 

They put up the stat early in yesterday's game against the Braves...the Phillies starters lead the NL in innings pitched, 389 after Eaton's effort.

That is the key. If that holds up over the season it means the bullpen will still be fresh and that's what separates the winners from the losers in October.

The only hope for you Mut's fans is a Marlin's sweep over the Phightins.

 

Are the Mets in last place yet?

 

You mean there was a good Bobby Jones?

 

Yup which was the epitome of the steve phillips regime....do something smart like claim bay from SD as I believe a Rule 5 pick and he gets traded a year later....

I know you didnt think we actually drafted Bay...We had like 3 scouts during the Steve Phillips era

Well thats kinda the point. Guillen would be in Alou's spot. Id rather have a low OBP hot head thats somewhat reliable then a high OBP injury prone AARP member that is on the field for 50 games a season. Guillen for all his flaws plays good D and usually carries a better OBP then the crappy one this year. Further hes a good RBI man. Runners in scoring position hes hitting 273, RISP and 2 out hes hitting 317. That would be good for 3rd and 1st on this team. That would probably override the importance of OBP in this instance for a couple of reasons.

1. Guillens OBP is lower then usual because hes in such a bad lineup. He doesnt walk much, but he walks more then hes done this year.
2. He had a horrendous start and now hes on fire. The first 125 AB's or so (til May 9th) he was hitting 189. Now hes hitting 266. Typically April and Sept are his worst months so the slow start is normal for him. For his career his OBP is about average however when hes played on good teams like seattle last year and anaheim in 2004 his OBP was slightly better then average. SO he seems like a player who basically plays up or down to the types of players around him.