I know there is a bad feeling surrounding the Mets with the whole Madoff thing and Johan Santana getting hurt, but I'm getting why everyone is putting the Mets in bottom tier of baseball. Sports Illustrated even went as far as to predict them finishing below Washington in the NL East. I'm sorry but tell me what Washington did to get out of the NL East basement. Jayson Werth? My friends and I would discuss how someone is going to make the mistake of giving Werth a ton of money to anchor an offense. Losing a guy like Adam Dunn hurts their lineup more than getting a Jayson Werth. But this isn't about Washington.
I've seen Vegas win totals range anywhere from 74 to 76. I'll happily take the over and be on my way. I'm a pessimistic fan at heart but last year was a disaster season for the Mets and they still won 79 games and I don't know how you look at this year's team and don't think they are going to be better. Santana being out is a blow but I don't think that alot of the "question marks" going in to the season are going to play out in favor of the Mets:
Jose Reyes: I'm a big believer in the contract year. Unfortunately I do not think Reyes will be a Met next year because they won't be able to afford him
Carlos Beltran: He definately not going to be a Met next year but he is also playing for one more big contract. I think Beltran is soft and could have played through some of his injuries and didn't. If this was any other year, do you really think he'd be pressing for Opening Day. I expect him to be in the lineup throughout the year.
Jason Bay: Granted, he just got hurt and we don't know the extent yet but I'm going under the assumption that it's going to be a 15 DL stint and he's back. Bay will never be a 30+ homerun guy at CitiField but he is a professional and in a way his season was very much like Beltran's first season. It's tough to remember now but he put up some solid seasons after he got used to New York. Bay is going to be fine.
Brad Emaus: Addition by subtraction. He has to be better than Luis Castillo.
Josh Thole: I don't consider him a question mark. He's decent enough putting the bat on the ball but he's not here to be an offensive catcher.
The Pitching Staff: It's lacking the number 1 with Santana out but Pelfrey is solid, Niese should be acclimated with a full season in the big leagues and not fade down the stretch again, R.A. Dickey...ok...I consider him a question mark. He pitched over his head last year. Even if his ERA is a run higher I'll take it this year. They are injury risks but Chris Young and Chris Capuano have been solid MLB starter in their career. Coming to CitiField is the perfect spot for them to resurrect their careers. I don't imagine they'll both stay healthy for the whole year but only one of them has to make it until Santana comes backs.
Bullpen: I'm not too worried about K-Rod. He was on his way to having a solid season before it got derailed. Bullpens are crapshoots year to year. It feels good to be rid of the Raul Valdez and Fernando Nieve types. The Mets were right not to re-sign Pedro Feliciano. Jerry Manuel worked him in to the ground the last few years and he's already starting the season on the DL with the Yankees.
I'm not saying the Mets are going to compete for a Wild Card or anything but all these magazines and websites are putting the Mets down with the dregs of Major League Baseball. The Madoff this has cast a black cloud over the franchise right now but it shouldn't have a direct effect on what happens between the lines. I'm pencilling them down for 82 wins, 1 game above the Marlins for 3rd in the NL East.
Showing posts with label Baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baseball. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Why Do The Mets Hate Me?
The Mets are not a good baseball team. There is no bill of goods that could have been sold to Mets fans that would have made us believe that they had a shot to compete for the playoffs this year. I understand that it's only 8 games in to the season and I really hope I'm eating crow for this in September but I'll bet you I'm not.
They went out and got Jason Bay. That's great. You can always use more offense but going in to the season, the Mets had one pitcher (Johan Santana) that will probably finish over .500. You can make a case for Pelfrey to finish (at most) at .500 or a game over but that's not impressive if you consider he is probably their "number 2" starter. Going in to the season anyone with any common sense knew that nothing good could possibly come out of having John Maine and Oliver Perez make up 40% of your rotation. Omar Minaya says that after weighing what was out there against what we know Maine and Perez can do based on them each winning 15 games a few years ago it was worth the risk. It blows my mind to think that me and the Mets front office are watching the same players.
Even with them keeping Maine and Perez to start the season, there are a two things the Mets could have (or still can) do to make me happy that doesn't involve any trades or free agent signings. I'll speak for the whole Mets fan base with these:
1. They should have kept Nelson Figueroa and sent Jenrry Mejia down to AAA as a starting pitcher to start the year. Someone with any Common Sense Index had to know the Mets were going to have starting rotation problems. Figueroa could have stepped in as a spot starter or came in and gave 3 or 4 inning out of the bullpen after John Maine finishes throwing his 100 pitches and 3 and 1/3 innings. And I know the Mets strive to be like the Yankees but does it even have to reach down to messing with a good young arm. The Mets say they like Mejia as a starter. So what good would have come out of them having Mejia pan out as an 8th inning guy? Having the front office go back and forth about whether or not to start him or keep him in the pen. Then maybe have him lose all his mystique like Joba Chamberlain. Maybe come up with a cool name for his pitch and inning counts as they convert him back to a starter. The Jenrry Policy? Mejia Regulation? And to top all of this off, the Phillies claimed Figueroa off waivers. So apparently he wasn't good enough to make a team with obvious pitching deficiancies but he's good enough for the best team in the National League.
2. Bring up Ike Davis, Ruben Tejada and Fernando Martinez. That's just throwing us a bone. Fernando Tatis and Mike Jacobs are not doing it at first. Ike Davis raked in Spring Training and is continuing to do so in AAA. I am a Daniel Murphy apologist and I was okay with him coming in to the season as the Mets first baseman. As it is, Murphy is not going to be ready for a few weeks. What's the worst that happens bringing Ike Davis up? He gets his cup of coffee and he gets sent back down if he doesn't perform better than Murphy would and the best case is that your first basemen of the future is ready now. I'm not saying Tejada is any great shakes but this is more a way to officially end the Luis Castillo era. To me, he's the face of this failure. I get bad feelings everytime I see him. What is Angel Pagan and Gary Matthews Jr doing in centerfield that is blocking Martinez from playing until Carlos Beltran gets back (for the record, I do not think he's coming back)? Fans like to see the young guys. For better or worse, we have shown up for Alex Escobar, Lastings Milledge and Martinez' first starts at Shea. When your team isn't good, fans at least can get in to seeing the young guys. By throwing these average re-tread type players out there every night you're not doing your ticket sales or the product on the field any favors.
They went out and got Jason Bay. That's great. You can always use more offense but going in to the season, the Mets had one pitcher (Johan Santana) that will probably finish over .500. You can make a case for Pelfrey to finish (at most) at .500 or a game over but that's not impressive if you consider he is probably their "number 2" starter. Going in to the season anyone with any common sense knew that nothing good could possibly come out of having John Maine and Oliver Perez make up 40% of your rotation. Omar Minaya says that after weighing what was out there against what we know Maine and Perez can do based on them each winning 15 games a few years ago it was worth the risk. It blows my mind to think that me and the Mets front office are watching the same players.
Even with them keeping Maine and Perez to start the season, there are a two things the Mets could have (or still can) do to make me happy that doesn't involve any trades or free agent signings. I'll speak for the whole Mets fan base with these:
1. They should have kept Nelson Figueroa and sent Jenrry Mejia down to AAA as a starting pitcher to start the year. Someone with any Common Sense Index had to know the Mets were going to have starting rotation problems. Figueroa could have stepped in as a spot starter or came in and gave 3 or 4 inning out of the bullpen after John Maine finishes throwing his 100 pitches and 3 and 1/3 innings. And I know the Mets strive to be like the Yankees but does it even have to reach down to messing with a good young arm. The Mets say they like Mejia as a starter. So what good would have come out of them having Mejia pan out as an 8th inning guy? Having the front office go back and forth about whether or not to start him or keep him in the pen. Then maybe have him lose all his mystique like Joba Chamberlain. Maybe come up with a cool name for his pitch and inning counts as they convert him back to a starter. The Jenrry Policy? Mejia Regulation? And to top all of this off, the Phillies claimed Figueroa off waivers. So apparently he wasn't good enough to make a team with obvious pitching deficiancies but he's good enough for the best team in the National League.
2. Bring up Ike Davis, Ruben Tejada and Fernando Martinez. That's just throwing us a bone. Fernando Tatis and Mike Jacobs are not doing it at first. Ike Davis raked in Spring Training and is continuing to do so in AAA. I am a Daniel Murphy apologist and I was okay with him coming in to the season as the Mets first baseman. As it is, Murphy is not going to be ready for a few weeks. What's the worst that happens bringing Ike Davis up? He gets his cup of coffee and he gets sent back down if he doesn't perform better than Murphy would and the best case is that your first basemen of the future is ready now. I'm not saying Tejada is any great shakes but this is more a way to officially end the Luis Castillo era. To me, he's the face of this failure. I get bad feelings everytime I see him. What is Angel Pagan and Gary Matthews Jr doing in centerfield that is blocking Martinez from playing until Carlos Beltran gets back (for the record, I do not think he's coming back)? Fans like to see the young guys. For better or worse, we have shown up for Alex Escobar, Lastings Milledge and Martinez' first starts at Shea. When your team isn't good, fans at least can get in to seeing the young guys. By throwing these average re-tread type players out there every night you're not doing your ticket sales or the product on the field any favors.
Monday, April 5, 2010
A Look at the MLB Over/Unders for 2010
Red = I think the team is going Under their Win number Green = I think the team is going Over their Win number
Arizona - When Brandon Webb comes back, the D'Backs have as good a 1-2 combo as there is. The being said, I definately do not see them finishing above Colorado and Los Angeles and it's debatable that they can finish above San Francisco in the NL West. I don't know if there is enough wins out there to get them above .500
Boston - I think the Yankees are a lock to win over 100 games again this year. Boston lost a lot of pop in their lineup and are still the favorite in my eyes for the Wild Card but with Tampa supposedly improved and even Baltimore picked to win a few more games, I'm not seeing the AL East with a team over 100 wins, a team over 95 wins and another over 90. The wins have to suffer somewhere so I'll go with the team that made the most changes to their roster.
Chicago Cubs - I'm thinking some addition by subtraction this year getting rid of Milton Bradley. Alfonso Soriano loves new hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo from his time in Texas and I'm hoping he can also get Geovanni Soto back on track. I think they'll challenge the Cardinals.
Colorado - Even though they lost 15 game winner Jason Marquis, they have 4 good arms in their rotation and maybe there is a chance that when Jeff Francis comes back from the DL he can get back to being a top of the rotation guy for them again. The winner of the NL West should be able to get more than 85 wins.
Minnesota - I'll take the over for the Twins every year until they do me wrong. Losing Nathan might cost them a few wins if nobody picks up the slack but I'll take my chances. They generally figure it out.
Oakland - I like the potential of their staff especially if Ben Sheets can pitch some innings and Justin Duchscherer can come back from injury but I don't see where any offense in coming from. Once again I think they bring up the rear of the AL West.
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Since I live in New York, I'll also go on record as saying I believe both New York teams will be Over their numbers this year.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Referendum: Big Mac Comes Clean
Wow, have I done a complete 180 on this subject. Its clear to me now that I wrote the previous blog post a bit prematurely. I was basing my post on McGwires statement instead of waiting for his interview with Bob Costas on the MLB network. During that interview he repeatedly denied ever using steroids for performance enhancement, but instead claimed they were always for health purposes. He also appeared to deny a link between steroid/HGH use and increased performance, which absolutely no one in America believes. So, in essence he did what many others have done before him. He apologized, he admitted use, but never fully acknowledged the complete spectrum of the impact those steroids had.
I do believe that his admission was heartfelt and painful, but it was incomplete. In fact, he claims his record setting homerun seasons were a result of him "learning how to hit" and not because of steroids. Wow. I mean, are you serious? Bob Costas summed it perfectly by saying this, "I think he is extremely contrite about what he did...but its just strange that he cannot make, what seams to many of us, to be an obvious connection." "The sticking point is the unwillingness to acknowledge that steroids contributed to his stats during his years in the late 90's." And as I stated in my previous post, it was going to take a complete admission to be taken seriously. And finally from Costas, "I think he would've come pretty close to an A if he had been able to acknowledge that his performance had been boosted by steroids." Unfortunately Mark, that lack of acknowledgement does not get you an A. And therefore, you fail.
I do believe that his admission was heartfelt and painful, but it was incomplete. In fact, he claims his record setting homerun seasons were a result of him "learning how to hit" and not because of steroids. Wow. I mean, are you serious? Bob Costas summed it perfectly by saying this, "I think he is extremely contrite about what he did...but its just strange that he cannot make, what seams to many of us, to be an obvious connection." "The sticking point is the unwillingness to acknowledge that steroids contributed to his stats during his years in the late 90's." And as I stated in my previous post, it was going to take a complete admission to be taken seriously. And finally from Costas, "I think he would've come pretty close to an A if he had been able to acknowledge that his performance had been boosted by steroids." Unfortunately Mark, that lack of acknowledgement does not get you an A. And therefore, you fail.
Big Mac Comes Clean
I'd like to start off by saying that I have become an enormous Mark McGwire detractor over the last decade. The hero from the Bash Brothers poster in my childhood bedroom holding a huge bat and leaning on a cop car has become a distant memory and has since replaced by an emotionless record breaking fraud. Its hard to say whether he or Barry Bonds is the poster boy for the steroid era, but you could argue either one and certainly find your reasons. That being said, I am, for the first time in this era of baseball, satisfied with the admission given by McGwire today regarding his steroid use. So many times have athletes avoided the issue (see Clemens, Sosa), given half-truths (see A-Rod, Giambi), or outright lied about the issue under oath (see McGwire, Palmeiro) that it was refreshing to see a complete admission today. I know this has become a very stale subject, but today's statement from McGwire was significant in its comprehension and honesty.
He stated that "I used them on occasion throughout the 90's, including during the 1998 season. I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played in the steroid era." I admire the fact that he admits the long tenure of his steroid use, specifically mentioning the 1998 record breaking season. It would have been just as easy to be vague about his steroid use and what effect, if any, they had on his career but he chose not to. His numbers obviously support that they had an enormous effect (his 3 biggest HR years were 1997,98,99) and that's what makes this so refreshing. The link between steroid use and performance was so obvious that only a complete admission would be taken seriously, which is why I never thought we would see it happen.
In this age of false records and impure idols, I respect the fact that Mark McGwire was willing to unveil the truth today. Whether or not it was because of his new position as hitting coach for the Cardinals is irrelevant to me. Other players have managed to dodge the truth for years and have their steroid use seemingly forgotten about. McGwire has cemented the fact that his legacy will be forever tarnished and his steroid use will never be forgotten about, but for him, and for baseball, that just might be a good thing.
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