Sunday, September 16, 2007

Rollins and other musings

Looks like Jimmy Rollins was close but off a little with his pre-season prediction. He should have said, "I think we are the team for the Mets to beat in the NL East..." Apparently other teams do not share the same problem the Mets have against the Phillies, and particularly against 44-year-old Moyer and his bloated 5+ ERA.

Remember how everyone was celebrating the brilliance of Braves GM Schuerholz? Looks like it hasn't done much for them. In fact, they parted with an impressive top prospect (Saltalamacchia), and next year they'll likely have to part with Andruw Jones to re-sign Teixeira. The mistake they made was in thinking they were only one player away from winning the division. Only their arrogance could truly have believed that - the current Braves are a shell of the team they used to be.

Finally, the red sox continue to bring up dominant rookie after dominant rookie - they must have the best farm system right now hands down. Latest is jacoby ellsbury, their blue-chip top OF prospect. He has been nothing short of spectacular at MLB level: in 20 games he has a .394 avg, .621 slg %, 3 HRs, 14 RBIs, and 5 SBs. That includes 2-2 w/3 RBIs in yesterday's mauling of Yanks. I notice that unlike many Mets, he uses a level swing that (gasp!) actually makes contact, rather than a fugly uppercut going for the fences. Maybe there's something to that after all...

5 comments:

Fredo said...

Sorry. I'd love to read your post but I'm too busy listening to "Shady Brady" for the 53rd time.

SheaHeyKid said...

The mets are a joke. They are the most overrated "NL-best" record in a long time. Their sloppy play is more suited to a minor league or spring training game; certainly not that of a team that is serious about doing anything in the playoffs (or even making playoffs for that matter). Their bullpen is horrific, and I put up Mota's effort today as Exhibit A as to why I would pick Pelf over Mota out of the pen. I've seen enough of Mota's 5+ ERA and .267 BAA. Reyes better get his head out of his ass and start playing better at the plate and in the field.

SheaHeyKid said...

Sorry, I apparently meant Mota's 6+ ERA. What a joke.

Right now the Mets need to decide what their bullpen is going to look like assuming they make the playoffs, and start getting those guys into the rhythm. If Joe Smith is in and Pelf is in, start using them in the roles you anticipate seeing them in. With less than a month to go this is NOT the freakin' time that the Mets should be ironing this out: it should have already been decided months ago. But because Willie and/or Omar were unwilling to pull the plug on the Sele / Scho / Mota "experiment", now we are left at the 11th hour to try to get guys up to speed on roles out of the pen.

Assuming, of course, that Omar & Co. don't actually make the laughable decision that Sele / Scho / Mota should be on the playoff roster.

We are paying a severe price for not having Sanchez, Bradford, and Oliver this year. Just like the Jetties pathetic porous O-line is paying for not re-signing Kendall..

SheaHeyKid said...

Interesting analysis on metsgeek, performed as a result of the same thing I was also swearing at my TV at the other day: willie pulling feliciano for mota when francoeur was up. Sure enough, right on cue, francoeur promptly singled off of mota.

Turns out that not only is feliciano a better pitcher than mota, he's better against righties.

SheaHeyKid said...

Why do the Mets insist on sucking? They do realize there is an alternative, right?

Nice to see they are running themselves towards 2nd place as fast as they can.