So we split 4 with the Jankees.

Whadya know, that makes for a .500 win percentage.

Sounds about right.

Double Header goodies

This was nice to see--

Pelf was dealing with base runners all night, but that's not too surprising: 7 lefties (or switch) in the Yankee lineup. He got the big outs he needed.

D Wright was 4-for-5 with RISP in Game 1.

Delgado's peformance was ridiculous. Maybe he'll figure he's done it all and can retire now?

Castillo blows. It's good he scored 5 runs in game 1 because he cost us almost as many in the field. Then he took the o-fer in game 2, leaving 6 on base.

Pedro didn't get it done. Must've been the pressure of squaring off against Ponson.

Blowenweis made a return appearance. Hadn't seen him since last year.

In the crucial AB's in game 2, here's what we got:

2nd inning
Reyes up, bases loaded, 1 out: meek infield pop
Castillo up, bases loaded, 2 outs: groundout

3rd inning
Castro up, bases loaded, 1 out: GIDP

I don't know if he'll get anywhere...

...but at least he's saying the right words. I've been complaining for a long time that the Mets are a miserable batting team, with no sense of game rhythm, and no sense of in-at-bat adjustments. They also typically seem to give up with 2 outs in an inning, effectively wasting 9 outs (or 1/3rd) of every game. Contrast that with Mariners who have scored a ton of their runs against us this series with 2 outs. Whether Manuel gets through to these players is unknown, but at least he's laid the issue right out there.

"Our approach trying to get the players to understand there is a flow and rhythm to the game and to try to get their best at-bat when it is somewhat critical to the outcome of the game," Manuel said before last night's rout. "There's going to be a lot of talking about changing the flow and rhythm with two-out RBI hits.

"We have a lot of work to do on our offense, period."

"We have to understand what pitchers are doing to get us out in different situations," Manuel said. "I'm talking about the context of what brings winning baseball."

As for the double ejection...

if you didn't catch the video you can see it here.

Beetz and I were discussing this while it happened, and Gary Cohen's call was right on--the ump was baiting Beltran. Sure, Beltran shouldn't have faced the ump when arguing the initial call, but he never left the batters box and quickly turned his focus towards the pitcher. The ump is the one who walks out in front of the plate to make a spectacle of the whole situation. Then the ump is the one that initiates the contact/bump with Manuel. And tossing Beltran (which you don't see b/c it happens while the camera is following Manuel back to the dugout) at that point is just gratuitous. The Mets probably should have protested the game.

As Beltran points out, any manager or player would be disciplined for making contact with an ump, I wonder if the league will discipline Rungee?

BTW, I didn't notice it in live time, but check out the dugout, and particularly D Wright, when the camera is following Manuel back to the dugout. When Beltran is ejected, they go NUTS.

Stymied by talent

So the Mets couldn't get it done tonight against Dickey. When you face the best, you can't expect to win. After all, as Gary Cohen just said, here are Dickey's numbers in his last 18 starts:
1-11 8.94 ERA

The Mets have 0 runs through 6 1/3 right now. What more could you reasonably expect?

Do the Wright thing

So tonight Wright is not starting a game for the first time this season. I complained all last year that Willie was overplaying both Jose and Wright, and they really should sit out at least 5-10 games during the season.

Curiously, the Post had this to say: Right or wrong, the Mets will be without David Wright tonight against the Mariners. The debatable decision by Jerry Manuel is part of the manager's plan to rest the starters in order to freshen them up for the long haul.

I'm not sure why that's a debatable decision; the guy has played in every game this year, and all at 3B except for one as DH. Of course you need to rest him; the numbers support that. The above plot shows season OPS averages for Wright, Reyes, and the scorching-hot Chipper Jones. Whereas Reyes' #s have been increasing and Chipper's roughly held steady, Wright's #s are steadily declining, screaming out for a breather.

How will the chips fall?

Tonight's game at Shea is very interesting on many levels. You have two teams that have drastically underperformed; both have new managers as of last week; and both have their aces on the mound tonight. It's also Manuel's first home game as the new manager, and it will be interesting to see how the crowd responds to him.

Here are some interesting points to consider. In favor of the Mets: Santana is 6-0 with a 2.42 ERA in his last eight starts versus the Mariners, and 7-1 with a 2.92 ERA in nine starts and seven relief appearances all-time against them. Seattle has the worst record in MLB, and the 3rd worst offense (in terms of runs) in MLB (worst in AL).

On the other hand, New York, though, has lost each of Santana's last three starts. The left-hander is 1-1 with a 5.27 ERA in two interleague starts this season.

Seattle will counter with Felix Hernandez (6-5, 2.87), who has posted a 0.95 ERA and a .184 opponents batting average en route to winning four straight starts. We've never faced Hernandez and the Mets generally stink against pitchers they've never seen before - even horrific ones - so this doesn't bode well.

It will indeed be interesting to see how it plays out. Now would be a great time for Johan to have his first truly dominant performance of the season, a complete game with under 2 runs.

Stay classy, New York

From the NY Post:

Angry Mets manager Jerry Manuel ripped Shea Stadium fans yesterday, comparing them to cow manure for booing beleaguered reliever Aaron Heilman.

ht: Drudge

Now that's just funny

So Manuel's only been on the job a week and already he's made several 'notable' comments. This one is just plain funny:

Manuel also invoked NFL coach Bill Parcells' infamous reference to then-Patriot receiver Terry Glenn as "she" instead of "he" by using the same term for Reyes.

"She acted up with me, and she had a day off," Manuel said of Reyes.

Talk about making it clear who's running the team! I like it, I'm glad someone is willing to lay down the law with Reyes. It's a necessary action for his continued growth and improvement, and I've been calling for it for a long time now.

Pelf

SHK and I had a conversation about Pelfrey about a week ago, and the same things I was saying still apply.

The kid is clearly a serviceable part of big league rotation right now. Doesn't mean every start will be great, but more often than not, he's keeping you in the game.

The transformation that this guy has had, from a body language standpoint, is unbelievable. I don't know if it correlates to the stats. I haven't taken the time to look at a game log. But I will tell you this--if you look at his first 3 starts of the year, and his most recent 3 starts, he looks like a different pitcher. He seemed so nervous and, frankly, afraid to challenge opposing hitters before. He seems content to drill a 95 MPH 4 seamer into the zone now and let the chips fall where they may. That's an amazing amount of progress, and my guess is, it would reflect in his stats.

The exciting part about Pelf is you get the sense he's about to have a surge in confidence. With his arm you know he still has plenty of room to improve still.

You can't be serious, part 2

Wow. All I can say is, wow.

About what, you may ask? About our new pitching coach. The other day after being canned Peterson had a hilarious quote claiming that he [Peterson] was like a hardwood floor that was being ripped out to upgrade to Tuscan tile. All I can say after reviewing the data is that if Peterson is a hardwood floor, Warthen is the equivalent of a pothole-plagued dirt road covered with horse manure. Well played Omar/Wilpon, well played.

You can't be serious

Better get to know Tony Bernazard a little better, because according to the Daily News he might be our next GM.

Let's right this ship

The question Mets players have to ask themselves now that Willie-watch is over is, do you want to keep sucking and making excuses, or do you want to play?

Let's look at two teams: Team A is 46-29 and sits in first place, while Team B is 35-36 and sits 5.5 games back in 3rd place.

Team A's ace has a 3.87 ERA with 89 Ks while Team B's ace is even better with a 3.04 ERA and 91 Ks. Team A's #2 starter is essentially out all season on the DL, and their #3 starter has recently missed several weeks on the DL. Team B's #2 starter has been on and off the DL, but their #3 guy is sporting a 3.87 ERA with 70 Ks.

Team A's closer has 21 saves with 3 blown saves, a 1.95 ERA, 0.87 WHIP and 41 Ks. Team B's closer has 16 saves with 5 blown saves, 2.10 ERA and 0.97 WHIP with 35 Ks. Edge to Team A, but not huge.

Team A has 2 sluggers, one of which is currently on the DL and has had a sub-par year, with only .252/13/43 (BA/HR/RBI). Their other slugger is also having a down year by his career #s, with .295/15/49. Team A's leadoff batter is .281/.363/51/23/34 (BA/OBP/R/RBI/SB).

Team B has 3 sluggers, all of which are down this year, but two best are .278/12/54 and .270/10/48, roughly the same as Team A. Team B's leadoff batter is .297/.359/52/29/26, better than Team A.

So why are the Red Sox blowing us out of the water???

Yup, looks like the Mets finally got the right guy for the job

From today's Daily Spew:

No, Jerry Manuel wasn't glad he had to make a point about his authority as manager one batter into his first game at the helm.

Manuel met resistance from a helmet-tossing Jose Reyes on Tuesday night, when the shortstop's left hamstring tightened and he didn't want to leave the game. Reyes eventually headed for the showers, and shortly afterward apologized to Manuel for the well-intentioned insubordination.

"I told him next time he does that I'm going to get my blade out and cut him. I'm a gangster. You go gangster on me, I'm going to have to get you. You do that again, I'm going to cut you right on the field," quipped Manuel

You need to have players and manager sharing a common world view. I see good things happening.

ht: Drudge (!)

Jose Reyes by the numbers

A look at Jose's monthly BA and OBP over the last 3 years. Talk about fluctuations.

Willie reax, part deux

So Willie has come right out and disputed Omar's version of events. According to Willie he was under the impression from Omar's comments on Sunday that he was safe for now but two of his coaches were going to get axed. He says he was stunned he was cut and he deserved better.

I wish the Mets had a real front office instead of a bunch of no-talent ass clowns.

I'm guessing the Metties might need a new PR guy...

Focus

Here's what it sounds like:

Lackey, asked if he saw a good opportunity to go after the Mets because of the distractions, said "I see a good opportunity to go after everybody every start. It's not my problem."

Here's what it looks like:

7.2 IP, 6 H, 7 K, 1 BB, 1 R

Willie Reax

Vaccaro at the Post summed up my feelings pertty well:

What a crowd, these bums are, all of them, from the Wilpons at the top to Omar Minaya down below, all of them who conspired to botch this firing worse than any firing has ever been botched. Ever. You wouldn't trust these guys to run a 7-11, let alone a National League baseball team. What a joke. What a cowardly, dastardly joke.

That said, I've got beef with all the people who've been clamoring for Willie's firing but now want to complain over the manner it was handled. Enough already. You don't get the satisfaction of getting the new manager you wanted, and also get the self-righteous indignation over Willie being disrespected, all at the same time.

And the chief culprit: Joe Benigno. Could there be a less intelligent individual for WFAN to subject millions of listners to each and every day?

Replacing Willie with Manuel was ridiculous. The players whose effort seems to wax and wane are the ones who control whether the Mets will finally play to their potential or not. Beltran, Delgado, Jose, Pedro. That, and whether the Mets can get Alou and Church healthy.

If those guys get focused and the team gets healthy, they'll win, regardless of the manager. If not, then the Mets will keep losing.

Even if the Mets rip off a .650 win % the rest of the way, there is zero chance you'll be able to convince me it's because of Jerry Manuel.

If Earl Weaver, Tommy Lasorda, Whitey Herzog or John McGraw were available, fine. But there is no one--no one--out there who is going to make the difference.

To axe a good man and a good organization guy midseason, coming off 3 wins in 4 games no less, makes about as much sense as being a Mets/Jets fan.

Bueller? Bueller?

Fredo? D.C.? Anyone?

The fat lady has sung

And so it ends for Willie, Peterson, and Nieto. As I've said before, Omar is at least equally to blame as Willie, and the way in which he handled this whole thing speaks volumes about his poor leadership and management skills. To drag this out as long as he did, to leak the names, and then to make them fly all the way to CA only to can them at midnight is just pathetic. Omar is easily coming out looking like the biggest loser in all of this. And I'm interested to see why Peterson got axed.

Slip 'n slide

No, I'm not referring to the Mets standings in the NL East, but rather to what the Rangers players were doing on the Shea tarp Sat night during the rain delay. Check it out.. My how the Metties have fallen.

Mets coaches

Rumors are swirling that Randolph might be spared for now, but Peterson and first base coach Nieto might be canned today. If so, I give up all hope for the Mets under Wilpon and Minaya.

First, Nieto has to be so far down the list of why the Mets are underperforming that canning him reeks of scapegoating rather than dealing with the real problem. As to Peterson, unless they are blaming him for heavily influencing decisions about which pitchers the Mets should keep or trade for, this move makes NO sense. Peterson was widely considered one of, if not the best, pitching coaches in MLB when we acquired him. Since then, I have seen nothing to suggest otherwise. I have yet to see any pitchers perform worse under Peterson than elsewhere, and he certainly has achieved higher performance out of many (Sanchez in '06, Maine, Duque, Bradford, Oliver, ...) Again though, if he has been the primary source for guiding which pitchers we've pursued, then he certainly bears a lot of blame.

Mets acquire Nixon

At first I thought they meant Otis Nixon, but it turns out we got Trot.

We gave up "cash considerations or a player to be named," contingent, I would guess, on whether Trot sticks with the club and contributes.

He's been in AAA this year, hitting well. He hit .288 in the second half last year, but only .251 for the season.

Hey, with Church and Alou both on the shelf indefintely, giving up nobody for a guy who could fill a role seems like a no-brainer.

And his personality will also be what the team needs more of, according to Wright:

"He's a hard-nosed player... He's a guy who's going to go out there and get dirty. He's a guy that plays with a lot of intensity, and I think that's a good thing both on the field and as a clubhouse guy. He's been on a championship team. He knows what it takes to win and he'll go out there and give you something day in and day out."

The only shame is that he doesn't hit from the right side.

Random collection of thoughts

1. Well played Billy, well played. You single-handedly almost gave the Mets what would have been the most deflating loss of all season after vomiting all over Pelfrey's best game ever. How is it even possible to not get the job done in that situation, by giving up a 3-run bomb?

2. After Alou re-injured himself again last night, it is time to bench him. When he comes off the DL next time, he should no longer be considered the starting left fielder; he should be a bench player. I realize no other options on the team come close to what he can do offensively, but the simple fact is that his constantly interrupted schedule does more harm to the team than good. First, by continuing to start him the few times he is healthy you are preventing one of the backups from getting more regular PT that could improve their game by getting into a rhythm. Second, it is mentally deflating to the team every time he gets injured. But, if he is no longer considered first on the depth chart, this is irrelevant. Use him as a pinch hitter, use him as a backup if Chavez needs rest, whatever, but he can no longer be considered #1 in the depth chart. If this means you need to make a trade to get a legit starting LF, so be it, get it done.

3. Bartolo Colon: 4-1, 3.41 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 22 Ks to 7 BBs. Why do I mention this? Because it is yet another example of how much better the Red Sox scouting staff is than the Mets. Here's a guy that was essentially a free agent, cost nothing to get, and has been tremendously solid for Red Sox. On the other side, we get Lima, Vargas, ...

4. Speaking of the Sox, they remain in 1st despite no Schilling, no Daisuke, no Ortiz, and a sub-par season from Beckett. So they find a way to win, despite difficulties with the anchor of their team, their #1-3 pitchers. Also interesting that their players seem to excel after a first season of adjustment. Specifically, Daisuke, J.D. Drew, and Beckett all had average to poor years their first season with Sox, adjusting to new team and new league. However, in season #2 they all dramatically improved. I've never seen any type of player development like that on the Mets. Makes you wonder about our coaching staff..

Omar

Omar has only one decision to make immediately:

A. Replace Willie, or
B. Swap out significant amount of team before trade deadline, or
C. Continue to stick head in sand.

Bottom line, Willie + this particular set of players = losers. You can either choose to change the manager and hope a new personality can properly motivate these players, or if Willie's your guy then you have to change out a lot of these players. But to continue to believe that you can do nothing and somehow things will just turn themselves around is absurd. Not only do the Mets now have a rock-solid record of mediocrity (82-83 record over their last 165 games), they are sitting on a ton of injuries and show no prospects of improving.

Mister Vargas

One IP

2 ERs

Blowing the Mets' lead.

A fine example you set.

I guess wagner's seen better days

In regards to recent losses, Wags' thoughts:

"It makes you want to puke," Wagner said. "If I didn't have four kids and a good life, I'd kill myself right now. That's how bad it is. I'm a little bit more than just a baseball player. I have other things. But if I didn't ..."

Damn! Even for me, that's harsh. I'm disgusted by this team, but still, that's rough.

Put a fork in 'em

The Mets are done. They are the very definition of mediocre: they've played .500 ball for over 160 straight games, they score exactly as many runs as they give up, and they are right in the middle of the pack in the NL in almost every statistical category (ERA, BAA, BA, R, RBI, E, Fld % ...) They are poor in all three aspects of the game: pitching, hitting, and fielding.

Claims of 'just wait until so-and-so gets back from the DL' are pointless. As if this old, broken team is going to go the rest of the season without significant injuries? To expect that Alou, Duque, Pedro, Castillo, Valentin, Castro, Delgado and others won't be spending a big amount of remaining season on DL would not only defy common sense, but also a consistent 2+ year track record. And even if they did, it wouldn't change the fact that the Mets are poorly coached at the plate (as seen by number of stranded runners), bullpen is poorly managed by Willie, and the team doesn't play with a win-at-all-costs attitude.

Jose Jose Jose

Guess who's about to lead the Mets in BA? Jose Jose Jose. Thanks to his month-long hitting tear he's now up at .292, only 8 points behind Church's .300. Considering how hot he was in spring training I was surprised he came out of the gate so slowly, but maybe he's turned it around now.

Guess who's reverting to '07 form? Blowenweis. And kudos to Willie for keeping him in the game after he walked THREE STRAIGHT to start the inning, demonstrating he clearly had no control. This, after he just blew a game a few days ago. I don't know, maybe a good idea would've been to pull him after the first two walks. But that's just me, and what do I know? After all, I certainly don't manage the most mediocre and underperforming team in baseball.

I just knew it

So the TB Rays came to town this week to play the BlowSox. TB entered the 3-game series up 1.5 games, and the Sox were without Daisuke, Schilling, and David Ortiz, all due to injuries. Despite that, somehow the Sox didn't draw their nemesis Kazmir, and I just knew that they would sweep the series to take back 1st place. Sure enough, that's exactly what they did. They beat TB last night despite the fact that in addition to all those injuries, they also lost Ellsbury to injury in the game, Crisp to a fight, AND they had a heated shouting match between Manny and Youkilis. We never should've switched this site or MetsGeek to support the Rays; they've just been jinxed.

Smoltz is done

He will have season-ending (and possibly career-ending) shoulder surgery. This is a tough break: I like and respect Smoltz a ton, he is an awesome pitcher and seems to be a nice guy. This is certainly a huge blow to the Braves, especially with the usefulness of Hampton uncertain.

All I know is, the Mets need to pick up Teix in the offseason, assuming Los bravos don't trade him this year.

Church

As bad as the Mets have been to watch this year, Church has been the one positive. As impressed as I've been with his bat, perhaps his arm is even more impressive. This clip is just one of several brilliant plays he's made, which show both his talent and hustle.

Rotation Solution

This one gets easier and easier.

Clearly Ollie's head is shot. And his arm doesn't seem much better right now. I've been an advocate of sending Pelf down to the minors for the Steve Trachsel Reclamation Special but Perez needs it waaaaay more.

To further clarify the issue, Pelf and Vargas are both pitching well and Vargas is out of options so we'd be guaranteed to lose him. Muniz has options but has pitched well (last night being the exception but at that point, who cared?), so why mess with guys getting the job done?

I can't seem to wrap my head around what Ollie's major problem is--poor mechanics, lack of focus, concerns about performing in a contract year (doesn't explain past seasons though). Maybe Omar should offer him some kind of deal now for fair money, i.e. 4th or 5th starter cash, and take some pressure off of him. Let him feel like he's gotta work for his supper and maybe he'll feel the hunger...

On the other hand, maybe he just plain sucks. Pittsburgh gave up on him for crying out loud and he was pitching much better for them. Where do we draw the line? We have reached the point of "fish or cut bait" and something's gotta change...

3 interesting facts I found at Mets.com

1) Utley has homered in 5 straight. That guy is sick.

2) Smoltz is off the DL and could be closing tonight.

3) The Mets have introduced "Los Mets con Nosotros"

Metties

Kudos to Fredo on the new video montage, very nice set of highlights. However, I think you are missing perhaps the most important image in Mets history, shown above.