» New York Mets

So here we sit, a couple of weeks into the season, and the New York Mets are sitting at .500. At 6-6 the Mets have shown many of their strengths and of course some weaknesses as well. Let’s face it, besides Johan Santana, there is not much certainty as to what you will get from the other 4 Starters.

Maine, Perez, Pelfrey, Hernandez, and now Figueroa are all a bit unpredictable to say the very least

At the plate I see some serious potential for this team. Castillio, Delgado, Church, and of course the usual threats (Beltran ,Wright, Reyes) will, in my opinion, continue to produce. The clutch hitting will come, and I get a feeling that when everything starts to click there will be a vast improvement in this part of their game.

Tomorrow the Mets take on the Saint Louis Cardinals. They certainly will have their work cut out for them as the Cardinals will most certainly bring their offense against Mr. Perez.

Let’s Go Mets!

Wow….on a night where we saw Gary Sheffield’s 500′th Home Run (Congrats Mr. Sheffield!) we also saw some more exciting fireworks from the bat of…..Luis Castillo.

Bottom of the 9′th….two outs, Runners on Second and Third…and Boom, Luis comes through with slap infield single to the left side of the infield. It was a glorious win for the Mets…they had to have this win after coming from behind (again) after giving up a 3-0 lead gotten in the first inning. 

To make a long story short, in the 9′th, we saw (another) clutch hit from Carlos Delgado to lead of the all important bottom half of this inning. Bobby Parnell also looked excellent (again), Putz looked strong, and David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Luis Castillo all did well at the plate (along with Delgado of course). 

So the Mets are 5-5 now…but what is more than the record is the ever growing confidence in Castillo, and the BUllpen as a whole. Confidence will lead to wins, and this is something the Mets are gaining each day. The only true issue so far….starting pitching. My gut feeling tells me that this will get better over the next month.

Let’s Go Mets!

My wonderful wife showed me this story this morning: Yahoo News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090415/lf_nm_life/us_usa_civilrights_baseball;_ylt=Aqd_qRmbM1UvuqQJA8qu4y4LMxIF) reported that a man was ejected from Yankee stadium during the August 26th (Yankees vs. Red Sox) game’s God Bless America song. He attempted to go to the bathroom, but stadium police did not allow this. The police did say that he was being unruly, smelled of alcohol, and they ejected him so others wouldn’t have to be subject to his behavior, however, as per Yahoo, an officer also said “if the [ejected fan] didn’t like this country, he should get out of ‘it’”. If true, this statment alone makes this story horrendous and absolutely despicable, and I don’t think I’ve ever actually written the word despicable down to explain anything.

I hope nothing like this ever happens again. It is unconstitutional – in state, in basketball, in school, and in baseball.

On a related (religious) and very funny note: I think it was last year on April 16th, a 14 or 15 inning game against the Washington Nationals- I’ve never seen so much religion in one AT-BAT. Jesus Colome of the Washington Nationals was pithing to Jesus Flores. Angel Pagan of the New York Mets was on 2nd base. Ryan Church was up at bat. Who won the game? It was a walk-off Base on Balls by none other than SHAWN GREEN – just kidding – it was Brian Schneider…Sounds Jewish though. haha.

Daniel Murphy looks to be a perfect two-hole hitter and a fantasy baseball stat provider. Thus far, in 2009 he’s batting .296 with a .345 obp, including a Home Run in his 3^rd at bat. In 2008, he hit .313, but, considerably more significant was his .397 obp. His offensive approach and surprising patience, will provide Jose Reyes a chance to run and David Wright a chance to drive in someone other than (and in addition to) Jose Reyes. I see Murphy providing the following fantasy line:

93runs-15homeruns-73rbis-6stolen bases-.283avg-.357obp.

I think Daniel Murphy is exactly what the Mets needed in so many different ways. Probably the only way, he’s not extremely needed, is that he hits left-handed, however, this guarantees him hitting 2^nd all year (without any slumps) because the Mets wouldn’t bat Delgado-Murphy-Church-Schneider back to back. I think Reyes(s) Murphy(l) Wright(r) Delgado(l) Beltran(r) Church(l)/Sheffield(r) Shneider(l)/Castro(r) Castillo(s)/Cora(l) is what they will go with all year. Maybe against phenomenal lefties, he could hit toward the bottom of the lineup, but I would say at least 85% of his at bats comes from the 2-hole.

I posted this factor in my first post of the season – NL East Projections/Previews, but I think one of the most important aspects surrounding Daniel Murphy, will be the Met’s ability to trade Fernando Martinez. Maybe they want to keep him for RF, which of course, they should (if he pans out), but I really think we should trade him in addition to one of our top SS prospects (Wilmer Flores/ Reese Havens) and one of our top P prospects (Jon Niese/Brad Holt/Eddie Kunz) for a top notch starter, such as Roy Halladay, Erik Bedard + Jose Lopez, or Jake Peavy. I think Fernando Martinez is expendable because of Murphy; Havens/Flores is expendable because of Reyes; and even our 3b prospect, Jeff Marte is expendable because of Wright. Why not trade these pieces for another starter and 2b while we’re at it:

If they deem Jeff Marte effective, this allows the Mariners to also trade Adrian Beltre(3b), and they then can have a successful fire sale. The Mets lineup and rotation would look as follows:

This trade would not only make the rotation and lineup look significantly better, but the Mets would have Johan Santana – Erik Bedard – Oliver Perez (Lefty-Lefty-Lefty) against the Phillies. I guess I’m subconsciously dwelling on the Phillies, but METS… PLEASE DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE BRAVES – AND MARLINS!!!!!

Hello All,

I wanted to continue the post series on the Mets position by position outlook for 2009, and I figured I would move from Catchers right onto 1B.

So as far as I can tell it comes down to two main players:

1. Carlos Delgado

2. Nick Evans

Let’s start with Carlos Delgado.

We all know Delgado finished off quite strong last year, OK very strong. He had incredible second half and I must admit I was quickly converted into a Delgado fan closing in on August and September. We all know his defense is average AT BEST, but he is capable of making a great play once in a while.

There isn’t a Mets fan out there that would object to Delgado providing another 25 HR, 110 RBI season. Experts expect Delgado to deliver another above average season in 2009. He silenced the doubters in 2008. It is once again time for him to silence the critics.

It’s worth noting that considering Delgado’s age and injury history that we should expect a few bumps on the long road that will be the 2009 season.  But hey,  he’ll have a backup in Nick Evans, presuming Evans makes the roster.

Moving onto Nick Evans:

Nick spent last year platooning with Murphy out in left field and may start this year in Buffalo. I am sure Nick hopes that Carlos Delgado has a full season like he finished last year, but Evans will be ready, if needed to fill in for Delgado, in case he slumps or comes up injured. Evans is a natural first baseman and will definately be a capable backup/replacement if and when the time comes to do so.

So overall I am pretty comfortable with the 1B position in 2009 for the Mets. Not their greatest strength, but certainly enough (or sometimes more than enough) to get the job done.

Let’s Go Mets in 2009!

Ok, so the Mets’ bid for a perfect ST has gone down the toilet, but hey, their bats certainly werent the problem!

On offense, we got to see Bobby Kietly’s first home run of the spring, a three run blast. Church, Rivera, Beltran, and Delgado also contributed to the hit parade.

On the mound: Livan Hernandez made his exhibition-game debut with two scoreless innings and appeared to be quite effective. His primary competition for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, Freddy Garcia, was not at all effective. He walked three, allowed two hits and four runs — two earned — in two-thirds of an inning. \

Overall, in the first three games, we have seen more than 20 runs total out of the Mets, and we are seeing some other promising things as well. Livon is certainly making his bid for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, and I would love to see him eat some innings for the Mets all season long.

Coming next, the Mets take on the Tigers, where Niese and Parnell will show us what they’ve got. Let’s Go Mets!

Ok, so moving on from # 5 – The Lack of Zito – we move to something Minaya did act on. The acquisition of Oliver Perez from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Another huge steal came as Minaya traded Nady for Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez.  The Pirates had given up on Perez, but he’s already back to form with the Mets. Three-fifths of the current rotation came via shrewd trading by Minaya.

Ok, Ok…I know Nady is pretty solid, but we all know a (sometimes) tough lefty is a seriously valuable asset as a starter. Oliver Perez fits this bill perfectly. Although he is somewhat unpredictable, when he is on, he is simply a nightmare for opposing teams all over the NL (and AL ☺ )

In 2007 Oliver Perez went 15-10 with a 3.56 ERA and in 2008 Perez went 10-7 with a 4.22 ERA. Although these numbers are not overwhelming, they are still winning numbers, and I feel they will continue to get better. I feel that the Mets new pitching coach has already started to reach Perez, and that he will surpass the 15 win mark this season.

Anyways, that’s it for now, stay tuned for number 3!