Blue and Orange dot net

It’s less than a full month into the season and normally I’m the first person to say, “it’s too early to panic.”  Seriously, I am.  But this is an exception.  IT IS TIME TO PANIC.

And here’s why:

After today’s sorry loss to the Cubs (8-1), the Mets have now lost nine games.  Of those nine games, the Mets have fallen behind early and failed to score more than 1 run five times.  That is ugly.  The simple fact is this: when this team gets down, they give up.  Don’t believe me? Take a look.

APRIL 6 @ ATLANTA: The offense is shut down by John Smoltz.  No big deal, right? Smoltz is still a great pitcher, a true ace, and losing to him is not a big deal.  But Smoltz only pitches 5 innings, and Mets fail to do anything productive off of the less-than-impressive Braves bullpen.  They squeak out a single run in the 9^th but that’s only because David Write is great.  Final score: 3-1, Braves.

APRIL 8 vs. PHILADELPHIA: The boys in blue and orange lead 2-0 on a solo HR by Delgado (this was his last positive contribution to the team) and a fielder’s choice by Ryan Church.  But that’s it.  After Church’s RBI (which is an RBI on paper, but the dribbler was barely touched by his bat) the Mets scored nothing after the 4^th inning.  The could not scratch out a run off of an ancient Jamie Moyer or the “terrible” Philly bullpen (Gordon, Romero, and Chad Durbin). What’s worse is that they left runners in scoring position in the 5^th, 7^th, and 8^th innings!  Once again, they simply gave up on trying to score. Final score: 5-2, Phillies.

APRIL 12 vs. MILWAUKEE: Again, the Mets scored 2 early (both in the first inning) but then they failed to score more than a single run the rest of the game.  This was Santana’s homecoming, and, while he wasn’t light’s out, he was still good enough to win.  But the Mets couldn’t score anything against Ben Sheets, despite being very hittable.  They left runners in scoring position in the 1^st and 2^nd innings, and then proceeded to do nothing the rest of the way.  Final score: 5-3, Brewers.

APRIL 21 vs. CHICAGO: The Cubs jump out and go head by 2 in the 4^th inning, and once they’re behind, the Mets just stop.  The offense is anemic, scoring just one lone run.  Reyes led off the game with a single, and if I had known that this would be the high point of the game, I would have stopped watching right then.  Final score: 7-1, Cubs.

APRIL 22 vs. CHICAGO: This was a repeat performance of the game on the 21^st.  The Mets fall behind by 3 after the 4^th inning, and again manage only 1 single run.  That’s it.  This, just like the day before, was a winnable game; the underwhelming Mets bullpen gave up runs late and put the game out of reach, but had the offense found a way to get something—anything—done earlier, it would have been an entirely different ballgame.  Final score: 8-1, Cubs.

So what’s the point to all of this?  Simple: The Mets seem to be lacking a sense of caring.  The heart just isn’t there.  It’s what was missing last year and it seems to be missing already now this year.  People will tell you that the bullpen blew it for them in September of last year; others will say it was the manager’s fault; I say it was a lack of heart.  I didn’t like the team that lost those games, but not because I’m not loyal or because they were losing or because I’m a fair-weather fan.  I didn’t like that team because they just looked like they gave up.  The Phillies deserved to win last year because they never gave up: they came from behind a ridiculous number of times last year because they had heart.  This team, the 2008 incarnation of the New York Mets, so far, has no heart.  And if this keeps up, it’s only going to get harder and harder to root for them.

I say this to my students all the time (I’m a teacher): I will work as hard for you as you will for yourself, but I won’t work harder.  The same thing applies: I refuse to care more about the Mets wins and loses than the players on the team. They need to show that they actually care or they’re in danger of another disappointing season.

For a guy who just signed a $25 million deal, Luis Castillo sure doesn’t sound like he’s all that enthusiastic about playing all that often. 

Castillo commented to the NY Post yesterday that “Sometimes I do [need  a rest].  When I play three or four games in a row, maybe I can get a day off.  I’m going to talk to Willie about it.” 

In case you missed that last paragraph, let me say it again: Castillo needs a rest after play for “three or four games.”  Three or four games.  Three.  Or Four. 

It would have been understandable if he were suffering from some temporary injury, one that was causing him to tire easily or be more vulnerable to injury or fatigue.  But there is no injury that I know of. He had surgery on his knee over the off-season, but it’s supposed to be fine by now.  Plus, there is not indication that his request for time off is a temporary thing.  The implication in his statement is that he will need that break for the rest of his career. 

Let’s do some math here.  He is signed for three full seasons after this one.  There are 148 games remaining in this season, and then 486 to go from 2009-2011. That’s a total of 634 games he has, games for which he is guaranteed pay.  If he is going to take a day off every 3.5 days, that means he’s bound to miss 181 games, which is more than an entire season.  All of these numbers are, of course, excluding playoff games and spring training games. 

I want to like this guy.  He’s a Met, the Mets are my team, and when I do the math, that means I should like him.  But the way he plays, combined with the slump he’s in to start his season and the huge contract he undeservedly signed, just make my liking him impossible. 

I’m officially starting the countdown:  only 634 more games until Luis Castillo’s contract is off the books.

Last night looked like another sequel in a movie we’ve seen too often.  Mets take an early lead; bullpen blows the lead, Phillies tie.  Shaky Mets reliever puts a runner in scoring position to take their first lead of the game late with one of the Phillies’ bit hitters at bat…and here’s where we went off script, because Scott Schoeneweis got Chase Utley to ground into a double play with the Phillies poised to take the lead in the top of the 11th.  Then, in what was really an event off-script, Jose Reyes hit a two-out double, and scored the winning run on a single by Angel Pagan, and the Mets escaped Shea with a 4-3 win in 12 innings, drawing first blood in the Mets/Phillies rivalry.

I’ll be honest, though – I think the Mets may have received a gift tonight.  Replays at the plate show that Reyes may have been out, and because the game was in the 12th inning, I think umpires will be more likely to give a call like that to the home team because at that point, they just want to go home.  Still, it was close enough to where I don’t believe it was a grievous error to call him safe, and hey, at this point no Met should ever refuse a win against the Phillies.  After the home opener went so poorly, the Mets really needed to take the next two games, and it’s a great pick me up to finally win a close and late one like this.

I didn’t see the early parts of the game, so I can’t comment on how John Maine looked, but I can comment on how his stat line looked, and that’s not particularly good.  Five hits and five walks with only one strikeout in 6+ innings means he was getting bailed out a lot.  This is a patient team, a really capable hitting ballclub, so that can explain the walks, but it still seems that something may be off with Maine since the season started, because he hasn’t resembled the pitcher we saw in spring yet.  It is worth pointing out that through six innings, he had only allowed three singles, a double, and the five walks, and then he got hit hard to start the 7th with a home run by Pedro Feliz and a double by Chris Coste chased him for Pedro Feliciano, and that none of that damage before the 6th allowed a run.  Still, he can’t keep pitching in and out of trouble, because eventually, the runners are going to score.

Then there’s Aaron Heilman doing his best Guillermo Mota impersonation in the 8th, allowing a solo homer to Ryan Howard to start the inning (why not leave Feliciano to pitch to Howard before bringing Heilman in?) and then allowed the tying run to score.  I don’t want to make excuses for Heilman, because he hasn’t pitched well at all, but I also think Willie is overusing him.  He’s already pitched in five of the Mets’ eight games for a total of 6 IP.  He’s also getting crushed by left-handed hitting, which makes Willie’s using him against Howard even more suspect.  I wish they’d get away from 7th and 8th inning roles all together, because I feel it’s not always the best use of the Mets’ best relievers, but they really might need to consider giving Heilman a few days off and trying other pitchers for the 8th.  I also have a strong feeling that Duaner Sanchez can’t come back soon enough.

Carlos Beltran continues to struggle at Shea Stadium, and while he drove in a run and scored, he also had two prime opportunities to send everybody home today late in the game and couldn’t pull the trigger.  For whatever reason, Beltran hits significantly worse at Shea than he does on the road; I guess Shea just isn’t designed for his swing, for whatever reason.  Hopefully, Citi Field will be more to his liking.  David Wright also had an 0 for 3, and he’s cooled off considerably since starting off hot against the AAA pitching of the Florida Marlins.  He did draw two walks and steal two bases, putting himself in position to score an insurance run and a game-winning run in the 8th and 10th (Jose Reyes was on third, as they both stole as part of a double steal) but Beltran and Delgado couldn’t get them home.  At least these instances didn’t come back to haunt the Mets, as they so often do.

The Mets and their bullpen will get no day off, as Opening Week continues at Shea tonight against the 6-3 Milwaukee Brewers.  Nelson Figueroa will get his first start for the Mets, opposite Manny Parra.  I don’t think the Mets were hoping to have a tired bullpen going into this game with the Brewers, as Figueroa is untested, to say the least, but at least they should get some time off on Saturday, with Johan Santana starting. Tomorrow’s game starts at 7:10 on SNY and WFAN 660 if you’re in the car.

Two and Out?  Seriously?

Okay, did we learn nothing last year as Mets fans?  Guess not.

Did winning the first three games of the season against the defending champ Cardinals in 2007 guarantee a great season?   Hardly.

So does splitting the first two games of the season automatically means that our World Series hopes can go out the window?  Apparently.

The NY Daily News headline: Pedro Martinez’s injured leg puts season on shaky ground

The NY Post article: “Pedro Martinez heard a pop in his left hamstring last night. Was that the sound of the Mets’ World Series hopes bursting along with it?”

The New York papers seem only too happy to bring up the less-than-exciting possibility that Pedro Martinez will be missing an extended amount of time.  The Mets said to expect he’ll miss four to six weeks, which means he’ll be back sometime during mid-May.  To miss, this isn’t a big deal at all. 

Think about it: Pedro was virtually MIA for all of last year.  Glavine is gone (thankfully) and replaced with Santana (anyone not happy for that swap?).  Maine and Perez are a year older and wiser, yet both are young and strong and in their prime, and both figure to be better in ’08.   Pelfrey starting in the 5-spot is every bit as good as the parade of has-beens who started there last year (Chan Ho Park, Brian Lawrence, etc.).  So what have we really lost?  Nothing.  The only significant change is whatever more Santana gives us then Glavine would have. 

I’ll take that deal any time. 

Mets fans, relax.  Pedro will be back and he’ll be good.  And in the meantime, the staff will be just fine. 

It is official; our long national nightmare is over.  USA Today is reporting that the Mets have traded Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey, Phil Humber, and Delois Garcia to the Twins for Johan Santana, pending the results of a physical and if the Mets and Santana can agree to a long-term contract extension in the next 48-72 hours.  The big victory here is not only landing Santana, the best pitcher in baseball the past 3-4 seasons, but doing so without trading Fernando Martinez (the team’s top hitting prospect and likely successor in LF or RF) and without trading Mike Pelfrey (who is still young enough and has good enough stuff to where he could be a stud pitcher at some point).

This leaves the team with six starting pitchers heading into spring training, a certifiable ace in Johan Santana, an aging, injury-prone but still awesome Pedro Martinez, solid #3’s and #4’s in John Maine and Oliver Perez, and a spring training battle between Mike Pelfrey and Orlando Hernandez for the #5.  That’s a damned good rotation.  Backed up by a solid lineup with David Wright, Carlos Beltran, and Jose Reyes, and…man, this is a great team they have here.  I am excited and pumped for the season to start, and I’m not sure I would have said that a week ago.  What a day today wound up being – Johan Santana is a New York Met.  Congratulations for Omar Minaya for getting this done, and leavine enough in the pipeline that shouldn’t be too far depleted.  What a coup.

Not really, but still… this story made me at least pause for a minute.

We all know Josh Hamilton’s story, and anyone with even a small heart is hoping for him to succeed this year.  But they took that hope to a new level in Cincinnati yesterday during the season opener.  Hamilton stepped to the plate to pinch hit in the eighth inning and got a standing ovation from the crowd.  He actually had to step out of the batters box to smile, and, after flying out to left field, the crowd gave him another standing ovation. When he went back to the dugout, all his teammates greeted him with handshakes and high fives. The crowd knew what that kid has gone through and how hard he’s tried to get his life back together, and they let him know that they were there for him.

I want all of you who are reading this to think about this story.   You’re here probably because you’re a Mets fan, so you’re familiar with the fun that is New York sports.  If a guy like Josh Hamilton were making his big league debut for the Mets or the Yankees (even for the Knicks or the Giants or the Rangers), what would the crowd do?  Would we cheer him?  Would we give him a warm welcome and make him feel comfortable?  Or would be hardly pay attention and take the mindset that we shouldn’t bother getting attached and assume that he’ll fail soon enough anyway?  In a town were we can’t decide if we hate ARod or Osama bin Laden more, would be embrace this former drug addict or would we shun him?

Cincinnati cheered him and gave this kid hope.  I say, good for them.  If I were a Reds fan, I would be proud of my peers.

So please, allow me a moment to take back all of the harsh, crude things I shouted at “Mr Red” and “Gapper” a couple summers ago in Cincinnati.  Mr Red, while you are undoubtedly a ripoff of Mr Met, you did a good job modeling a positive outlook to all of your fans.  To you, I extend an olive branch and hope that you will one day forgive me.

Because right now, we’re all in a holding pattern.  I have already discussed frequently the cat and mouse game being played by the Mets and Barry Zito.  It continued this week, with David Wright offering to give him a tour of New York, Willie Randoph saying he’d love to have him here, and Omar continuing to talk about how strong he thinks the rotation is.  Meanwhile, Zito’s agent Scott Boras has been otherwise preoccupied with the Daisuke Matsuzaka negotiations, and Zito was wined and dined by the Rangers, with him expected to come to New York next week.

I think this is something that will be over, one way or the other, by next week.  I think Zito would prefer to be a Met, but being a Boras client, he also wants a big payday.  The Rangers are usually Boras’ sucker of choice, since Tom Hicks is usually dumb enough to agree to pay whatever price Boras wants, only to be saddled with a contract he doesn’t want and is desperate to get rid of two years later.  Right now, from the Zito camp, the question I am thinking, “Is Boras using the Rangers to drive up the Mets, or is he using the Mets to drive up the Rangers?”

Then there is the Mets.  How badly does Omar Minaya want Barry Zito?  Does Omar really feel confident with this rotation going into 2007?  Does Omar Minaya think that Barry Zito will be the pitcher they need to make the World Series next year?  We’ll know this by next week, if Zito does tour New York.  At that point, it would stand to reason he won’t leave without an offer.  If Omar really, truly wants Barry Zito, he will make him an offer he can’t refuse.  If he’s comfortable with what he has, and can take or leave Zito, he’ll stand by his guns and watch as Zito signs with the Rangers.

We’re going into the home stretch here.  It is impossible to figure out on a day to day basis where the Mets really stand on Barry Zito.  I have a gut feeling that Omar Minaya isn’t comfortable with the rotation he has, realizes that no Mets pitcher reached 200 innings last year (only one had even 170 innings last year), which overworked the bullpen, and Zito will, if nothing else, give you 200-230 above average innings next year.  He may not want to make the big offer to land Barry Zito, but I suspect he’ll feel he has no choice in this market but to do so.  I don’t think he’s in love with Barry Zito, but I think he realizes that Zito is somewhat necessary for a team with World Series aspirations.  My prediction is a week from today, you will be able to start shopping for “Barry Zito 49″ jerseys at Mets.com.  But I’ve been wrong before.

Today is Black Friday, and I am stuck at work with nothing to do.  That’s right, not a single piece of work has filtered in for me to do, and it’s a pretty nice autumn day out, and I’m stuck at my work computer with no actual work.  This is putting me in a not-so-great mood to begin with.  But doing some simple web surfing, sometimes you find some articles written about the Mets so mind-numbingly stupid, you thank the Good Lord you have a Mets blog devoted to ripping apart pieces of literature like this.  Thanks, Wallace Matthews.  You just helped me kill part of my day.

On the joyous occasion of Thanksgiving Day, let us take a moment to thank the New York Mets.

That’s a good idea, Wallace.  I mean, after all, last year they were a hair away from making their first World Series in six years, they had the best record in the National League, and were a genuinely fun team to watch from April to October.  Not a bad idea at all.

Last week, the club gleefully announced its sweetheart stadium deal that will hand over to them, rent-free, tax-free and finance-charge free, a virtually limitless source of income for the next several generations of Wilpons.

And in return, they give us Moises Alou.

Well, they needed a left fielder.  They also did not need a long-term solution in left field, because they have a highly-regarded outfield prospect who is on the verge of being a full-time outfielder named Lastings Milledge.  A lot of people are writing him off after the Mets signed Alou, but if the Mets really lost complete faith in Milledge, wouldn’t they have pursued a longer-term solution in left?  Anyway, I’m getting off-track; the Alou deal was perfectly reasonable.  It’s a one year deal for a bargain, considering what lesser-lights like Juan Pierre and Garry Matthews are getting; I’d be willing to bet Alou out-performs both of them, and for less.

And Jose Valentin. And Orlando Hernandez. And let us not forget Damion Easley.

Well, they fill holes, again on the cheap.  Valentin is hitting eighth and playing second base; even if he doesn’t repeat what he did last year (and percentages say he won’t), he’s still the Mets’ #8 hitter, and won’t require the type of commitment a player no better, a guy like Mark Loretta or Adam Kennedy, would require. 

Orlando Hernandez is rotation-filler; the Yankees have shown what happens when you overpay for rotation-filler (ask Yankee fans what they thought of the Jaret Wright Era).  Damion Easley is a utility infielder.  I mean, who cares one way or the other about the signing of a utility player?  All in all, these were all fiscally responsible deals that fill holes the Mets needed to fill.  They didn’t need superstars in left, at second, or in the #3 rotation hole.  They just needed warm bodies who won’t be completely terrible.  And oh yeah, free agency has lasted one week so far.

These four gentlemen have one important thing in common. They are all old, verging on ancient. The youngest is Easley; he turned 37 on Nov. 11, a month after Valentin. The oldest, of course, is El Duque, whose official age is also 37, but whose actual age can only be verified through carbon dating. Then there is Julio Franco, the only active Met who can get into Shea on a seniors pass.

Somewhere in the middle sits Alou, 40 years old and more importantly, healthy enough in 2006 to appear in just 98 games. That is one more than the man he is expected to replace, Cliff Floyd, who was let go because, well, he gets hurt too often and misses too many games.

The only one of those players who will be expected to play every day is Alou, and he was signed for a relative bargain compared to what other outfielders on the market were going for.  You can bring up Cliff Floyd, but Floyd had the worst season of his career last year, and may actually have less in the tank than Alou, despite being younger.

What this means is that the Mets have done the near impossible. They have managed to find themselves an outfielder not only older than Floyd, but equally infirm.

If there is logic in this sort of thinking, it must exist on an intellectual level I am incapable of comprehending.

Have you seen the money teams are shelling out for outfielders this offseason?  Juan Pierre got five years/$45 million, despite an OBP of .328 the past two seasons and twelve career home runs.  Gary Matthews just had the first season of his life which could be classified as even “average,” and got 5 years/$50 million.  Signing Alou is a risk, but it’s only a one year risk that won’t cost the Mets much money, and will give the team flexibility to go after an area they really need to upgrade (pitching).  They didn’t need to sign offense this off-season.

Clearly, the Mets learned nothing last year about the fragility and unreliability of old bodies on a baseball field. They claim to be “building” off their near-miss/collapse (your choice) of 2006, but the only thing they are building is a nursing home. Right now, it is a toss up which will be retired first, Shea Stadium or half the Mets roster.

To kill the Mets for not being a young team is ridiculous.  Their three best players (Wright, Reyes, and Beltran) are all under 30 years old; Wright and Reyes are both under 25 years old.  The key players are under contract through 2009, when the Mets open CitiField; everybody else is really just filler around them.  That’s what “building” a team means.

And you know what I call 2006?  A near miss, because the team just missed going to the World Series.  The Mets were tied at 1 going into the ninth inning of Game 7 of the NLCS.  They were one or two hits away from going to the World Series.  If you want to look for a collapse, look at the Yankees, who had the best record in baseball and lost in four games to the Tigers in the ALDS.  To call 2006 a collapse, especially with all the key players from the offense coming back, is ridiculous.

They passed on Alfonso Soriano, who would have owned leftfield until Jeff Wilpon was old enough to shave, and if they make a big expenditure this winter, it is likely to be on Barry Zito, who at his best will merely be one more slop merchant in a rotation of junkmen.

Wait, you’re going to kill the Mets for not signing Soriano?  Really?  Did you look at the contract he signed?  Eight years, $136 million.  They will be paying Soriano until he’s 38 years old, well past the end of his prime.  If the Mets had agreed to those terms, or god forbid if they had surpassed those terms, it would have been financially irresponsible of Omar Minaya.

As for Zito, I think a #1 or #2 starter is a more pressing need at the moment than another bat in the lineup.  The Mets will score 800-900 runs with or without Soriano.  The problem is going to be run-prevention, especially if they don’t resign Glavine, and there’s no way the bullpen will be as effective as it was this past season.  Zito is the best starting pitcher in the market, who despite throwing “slop,” has been very effective the past few seasons, and having Zito in the Mets’ rotation makes it better than not having him.

And that is another lesson seemingly lost on the Mets. You sign a comparatively-young outfielder — Soriano is 30 — for seven years, you can bank on seven years of high-level production.

Soriano signed for eight years, not seven.  In order to sign Soriano, they would have had to give him at least as many years as the Cubs offered.  Anyway, let me make sure I’m understanding…it’s a good idea to sign a 30 year old player up until after his prime is over, and when there’s almost no way he’ll be worth $17 million a season at the end of that contract?  This is a good idea?

There’s no guarantee that the Mets (or, in this case, the Cubs) could count on ONE year of high-level production from Soriano, let alone eight.  He just had the best year of his career; before that, he put up “good for a second baseman” stats.  If he declines back to that level, he will be above average, but not great, and certainly not a $17 million player.  There’s no way the Cubs don’t regret that contract within a few years.

The Mets once did sign a comparatively young outfielder to a seven year contract worth $17 million a season.  His name?  Carlos Beltran.  Only, he was two years younger than Soriano when he signed his deal, and his contract is one year shorter, meaning when Beltran’s contract runs out, he’ll be at the end of his prime. 

Soriano and Beltran are the same age, but the Mets will only be paying Beltran for five more seasons, whereas the Cubs are on the hook until Soriano is 38.  Also, both players just had the best seasons of their careers, but Beltran’s was significantly better.  If you’re going to spend $17 million a season on either Beltran or Soriano, I think most people are taking Beltran.

You sign a pitcher for seven years, you can bank on many trips to Birmingham, Alabama and the office of Frank Andrews, orthopedic surgeon. Take your pick from the laundry list of potential disasters: rotator-cuff blowout, Tommy John surgery, torn elbow tendons, dead arm syndrome, etc.

The Mets haven’t signed any pitchers for seven years.  The longest contract the Mets currently have committed to a pitcher is Pedro Martinez, who is signed for two more seasons.  What are you talking about?  Unless this somehow relates to Zito, but as far as I know, the Mets haven’t even exchanged figures with Scott Boras yet.

So far, they have spent like the Florida Marlins and signed like the Kansas City Royals. They take and take and take from the good people and bad politicians of this city, and they give you back Moises Alou.

Free agency has lasted a week.  So they didn’t commit themselves for eight years of Alfonso Soriano, a contract that would have cost them Beltran money for a player who isn’t as good as Beltran.  Sometimes the best deal is the deal you don’t make.  The focus this off-season will be starting pitching, which is what it should be, and they will likely sign a starting pitcher.

This isn’t the Yankees we’re talking about.  The Yankees wind up losing money between their $200 million payroll and the luxury tax.  Are we to kill the Mets for building a better team for less money that is much more financially responsible?

And comparing the Mets to the Marlins and the Royals after a WEEK of free agency is utterly ridiculous.  Coming into free agency, before signing a single player, the Mets had $84 million committed in contracts to Mets players in 2007.  The Marlins and Royals paid out $73 million in contracts in 2006 COMBINED. 

The Mets will add payroll in 2007.  They will likely wind up paying out close to what they paid in 2007, if not more, and will once again field a competitive team that should contend for a World Series spot.  To smash the Mets for not spending dollars recklessly as they did during the Steve Phillips era is dumb.

Even on Thanksgiving Day, being a Mets fan remains a thankless task.

Maybe if you’re an utterly ingracious dummy.  Personally, I’m thankful that the Mets aren’t signing players to white elephant contracts that they won’t regret in four years, and are looking to spend the big money where they need it.  But that’s just me.