Just to keep us current

Most recent Mets rumors at MLB Trade Rumors.com:

1) Mets view Marquis as backup plan at best.

2) Per the LA Times, Mets have inquired about LF/3B/1B option Mark DeRosa with all of his "34 year old replacement player" credentials.

3) Mets were in preliminary talks about a 3 way deal to get Kevin Millwood, but everything's on hold at least till the winter meetings in two weeks, or if the Rangers start taking stupid pills.

4) Mets want Bengie Molina to catch.

5) In the big picture, this article from a week ago hits most of the key points. Mets are going after Lackey. Mets are looking for speed and defense rather than power in left, with Chone Figgins the target of choice rather than Bay or Holliday. With so little power in the lineup, the Mets better be seriously investing in pitching, which apparently, they are planning to.

6) And finally, with the bang-my-head-against-the-wall quote of the day comes this one: SI's Jon Heyman apparently tweeted that "Mets GM Omar Minaya likes Luis Castillo more than any of the 29 other teams do."

Can't. Even. Comment.

I'm not going to find the link

but in reading yesterday's Newsday, I saw that Omar will be talking to Delgado this week down in PR.

TIFWIW.

Welcome BACK

Introducing your new Brooklyn Cyclones head coach, Wally Backman.

Quote of the Day

Comes to us courtesy of Mike Westhoff, the brilliant Jets special teams coach:

The Jets’ special teams unit, solid all year, allowed Ted Ginn Jr. to return two kickoffs for touchdowns — one for 100 yards and another for 101. Special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff said it was “the absolute worst” performance by any of his units in his 27 NFL seasons.

“It’s just a bitter taste,” Westhoff said. “It’ll go away ... when they’re lowering me in the grave.”

Congrats to the Fish

They picked up the gift "W" and managed to carry it back to their barrio in their baby blue unis, despite getting outplayed most of the game. It's pretty hard NOT to win a game when the opponent gives you 3 touchdowns in a five minute span on two kick returns and a gift wrapped fumble return for 6.

Jetties offense was obviously much more productive than the Fins O in the second half (even in the first), and ditto with the Jets D. Total yards for the game: Jets 378, Fish 104. So much for the wildcat.

Refs were obviously paying attention to D.C.'s plea and returned the favor for the game in Miami, with several huge calls--most especially the phantom illegal motion call that negated the Jets 2 point conversion. Obviously, if it was a 3 point game, the Jets would have kicked a 35 yard FG to tie it and send it to OT instead of going on 4th and 10 in the final drive. Also, the mysterious down by contact on the fumble by the Fins receiver didn't help much either; especially since the Fish went on to score their only offensive TD on the same drive that they actually turned it over.

Of course, then you have the Jets complicity in the game, which is what made it a total gift to the Fins. You can start and end with the vanishing act pulled by the special teams unit, when they pulled a matador D move, leading to 100 yd+ kick return TD's for Ginn on two consecutive kick offs in the 3rd quarter. That that has only been done once in NFL history tells you how absurdly poor the kick coverage was, and how lucky the Fins were to come away with victory.

There were also myriad mental errors for Jets players. Getting called for a false start the first time they wanted to run a two-point conversion, forcing them to settle for a kick. Keller pulling up on an out pattern when he would have had an easy catch if he had run his route, and that catch would have extended a crucial second half drive. Edwards running the wrong route on a 3rd and goal in the first half, forcing the Jets to settle for a FG. Shonn Greene handing the ball to Jason Taylor for 6 the other way.

And of course, some blame has to go to the coaches. After sticking to the game plan and running successfully most of the day, they lose their nerve down the stretch, when the Jets were in 4 down territory and could have sealed the game with 4 3 yard runs. It was 1st and 10 from the Fins 16 or thereabouts, the Jets have 2 timeouts, the Fins have note, and the the Jets have 1:50 or so to work with. It seems obvious that you could run 8 straight running plays at that point and still control the clock, leaving the Fins no time to comeback should the Jets take the lead. The Jets had run the ball effectively most of the day. Why they choose that moment in the game to run 4 straight passing plays is a mystery to me. Unless it was meant to be some psyche rescue for Sanchez, letting him lead the comeback win. If that was the plan, it obviously backfired horribly.

Prediction

Pedro gets rocked in game 2.

Decisions decisions

Yankees. Or Phillies.

Yankees. Or Phillies.

I'm going Phillies for 4 reasons.
1. Can't ever pull for the Yanks (unless they're playing BlowSox or Los Bravos)
2. I actually like the Phillies players and attitudes; the Mets could use that.
3. Got to go for NL so I can stop hearing about how much better the AL is.
4. It puts pressure on Wilpon to maybe man up and clean house so his organization doesn't look like the bunch of circus clowns it is in comparison.

Sorry DC

But you know it's coming, especially after the picture you posted below!

Tough choke loss for the fish today. I mean, big time choke.

Meanwhile the Jetties handed the Raiders their worst home shutout ever. Jones and Greene look solid, and nice to see that Ryan's emphasis on cleaning up penalties this week in practice really paid off.

Aw, It's OK...

From Rex Ryan's press conference last night:



"Greatest D in NFL history" takes it on the chin and the best offensive plays were fake punts and questionable penalty calls.

Nice...

Funny, funny stuff

From mlb.com:

The collapse of the 2009 Mets was comprehensive. It involved so many facets of the operation that the organization has been razed from the top down, starting with the dismissal of the GM, the manager, and most of the coaching staff two coaches already have been dismissed or reassigned, several players expressed doubt that they will return, and several people in the Minor League and player-development departments have been exiled.

Two coaches have been dismissed?

Wow.

We're Not the Worst

Well, with the Tigers' "historic" collapse, our meltdown in '07 is no longer the worst.

But they limped to an 11-16 finish that made them the first team since 1901 to miss out on the playoffs after holding a three-game lead with four to play.

So Omar's got that going for him.

I couldn't get out of the way of this one

anymore than Austin Powers could have dodged that steamroller.

You knew it was just inevitable.

Luckily, I got to see it, hear it, taste it, right from Jeff Wilpon's mouth:

“We demand better and we expect better. And to me, (Jerry) and Omar deserve a chance to come back and right the ship."

See you in Spring '11.

Sorry DC

Unfortunately looks like Valentine won't be our man in 2010... There's always next next season I guess.

Bunch of interesting Mets stuff from the Post

Jason Marquis wants to come to the Mets.

Murphy seems to be turning the corner and adjusting to the pitchers' adjustments.

Jay Greenberg says the Mets need to think pitching before hitting this offseason, and that any homerun hitter will likely be overpayed and underproduce at CitiField.

In the "day late and a dollar short" category, Omar says he's willing to trade his "core players."

Mean Green Machine

The Jet D has yielded no touchdowns through two games, and are playing with an aggressive posture I haven't seen since the sack exchange. Bart Scott seems to be the vocal leader of this emerging force:

"I know everyone was thinking, 'OK, two minutes, Brady time. March down the field, tie the game, go for two and win the game,' " linebacker Bart Scott said. "No, I'm not used to that. I've never been a part of that. Maybe people expected that time would run out [on the Patriots]. No, maybe we'll stop them four times and then it's time to warm up the [bleeping] bus."

Food For Thought

From MLB Trade Rumors:

Offseason Outlook: New York Mets
By Tim Dierkes [September 17 at 11:00pm CST]
Next up in our Offseason Outlook series, the Mets. Their commitments for 2010:

C - Omir Santos - $400K
C - Josh Thole - $400K
1B - Daniel Murphy - $401K
2B - Luis Castillo - $6MM
SS - Jose Reyes - $9MM
3B - David Wright - $10MM
IF - Anderson Hernandez - $400K
LF - Angel Pagan - $575K+
CF - Carlos Beltran - $18.5MM
RF - Jeff Francoeur - $3.375MM+
OF - Cory Sullivan - $600K+
OF - Jeremy Reed - $925K+
1B/LF - Nick Evans - $403K or OF - Fernando Martinez - $400K

SP - Johan Santana - $21MM
SP - John Maine - $2.6MM+
SP - Mike Pelfrey - $1.3125MM
SP - Oliver Perez - $12MM
SP - Jon Niese - $400K

Other candidates: Fernando Nieve - $414K, Tim Redding - $2.25MM+

RP - Francisco Rodriguez - $11.5MM
RP - Pedro Feliciano - $1.6125MM+
RP - Sean Green - $471K+
RP - Pat Misch - $402K
RP - Bobby Parnell - $400K
RP - Brian Stokes - $410K
RP - Carlos Muniz - $402K

Other commitments: J.J. Putz - $1MM buyout

Non-tender candidates: Redding, Maine, Nelson Figueroa

That puts the Mets at about $105MM, plus arbitration raises to Pagan, Francoeur, Sullivan, Reed, Maine, Feliciano, Green, and Redding (some of whom will likely be non-tendered). The Mets are in the $110MM ballpark after entering the '09 season with a $149.4MM payroll. Omar Minaya should have $35-40MM to patch his team's many holes.

The Mets have a strong core of superstars, and their collective health almost has to improve in 2010. I don't see the logic behind trading Reyes, Wright, Beltran, or Santana.

The Mets need a catcher, first baseman, and corner outfielder. They may be competing with the Braves for certain first base and left field candidates. But the Mets also need at least one solid starting pitcher as well as bullpen help.

The catching market is weak, but pairing someone like Gregg Zaun with Thole makes sense. First base presents more options. Who's a bigger health risk - Carlos Delgado at 38 or Nick Johnson at 31? Johnson's .428 OBP is hard to ignore.

The market is flush with left fielders. With so many needs, I have a hard time seeing Minaya take a run at Manny Ramirez, Matt Holliday, or Jason Bay. Johnny Damon, Bobby Abreu, and Jermaine Dye are more reasonable targets. With Castillo, Johnson, Wright, Beltran, and Abreu, the Mets would potentially have five .400 OBP players. Zaun (assuming the Rays let him go), Johnson, and Abreu could be signed for less than $25MM in 2010 salaries.

With the remaining money I'd attempt to lure Randy Wolf from the West Coast while also pursuing Erik Bedard, Brad Penny, Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano, or Ben Sheets for a one-year deal. Admittedly there wouldn't be much left to spend on relievers, but decent arms can be found for a million or two.

Certainly the Mets could use top free agents like Holliday and John Lackey. However, the available money would be better used to acquire four or five sensible free agents. Let's hear your recommendations in the comments.

Catch the Latest Craze

It's MetsSloppily, courtesy of WSJ. Good stuff.

Scott Kazmir dealt

A few random thoughts:

1) The Rays made a deal here that could never have been done in New York. From MLBtraderumors:

Rob Neyer at ESPN says the Rays' rotation shuffle from Kazmir to Wade Davis cuts their playoff chances from 10 percent to 8 percent and opines, "Giving up two percent in exchange for three talented young players ... well, on paper that's a move you'd be thrilled to make, every day of the week."

Think New York fans would have accepted the logic of trading a front line starter, not getting a big-ready player in return, while you were still in the hunt for the postseason? The downside to a two-team city is the competition to win "now" prevents this kind of long-term thinnking.

2) It takes some of the sting out of giving Kazmir away that the Rays are willing to give up on him already. Of course, if we'd have had him in '06-08, who knows where that would have landed us.

3) In unrelated news, I've been trying to figure out what team to root for the rest of the way that still has meaningful baseball to be played. Truth be told, it could easily be the Jankees, b/c I have lots of respect for the core of their team: Jeter, Posada, Mo, Tex, CC-- all guys who are great and play the game the right way. And I always liked Girardi from his playing days to his Marlins days. However, they are the Jankees, have the biggest d-bag of them all (A-Rod) vaccuuming up cash, the Steinbrenners, and one of the most obnoxious fan bases of all time. That's enough, on it's face, to prevent me from actually pulling for them, despite the fact they have some good guys.

The BlowSox? Can't do it to SHK. He's got to live with their s.

Cardinals and Cubbies would always be good options. But nothing compelling there. Sweet Lou is great, but Soriano? The Cards are easy to root for, but there's just no juice there for me right now.

But then I came across this last issue of SI. It had an in-depth on Lincecum and Cain. And how a team with two great pitchers, both completely different characters, has a shot at the playoffs despite one of the worst lineups ever. An all-pitching team, right up my alley. Oh, and they just happen to also be my legacy team. The team I should've been rooting for my whole life. If only.

So I'll root for the long shot Giants the rest of the way. And try to forget that it would put a smile on Russo's face. My Grandmother would've approved, anyway.

Odds

What do you suppose Vegas would have put the odds at to start the season that ALL of the following Mets players would be on the DL at the same time for extended periods this season?

Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Johan Santana, J.J. Putz, John Maine, and Oliver Perez?

As you all know I'm not a fan of Omar's and I think he blew his shot to help us by not making big trades of our core in the offseason. That said, this injury list is completely incomprehensible to me. It just defies logic.

Mets for sale?

If only this theory turns out to be true...

Shocking

Have you heard the "good news?" The inept Mets ownership that is the Wilpons declared that Omar will be back next year, and therefore so will Jerry.

And therefore this fan will not.

Mr. Blutarski and the Mets

0.0

which is the Mets chance of making the playoffs, according to AccuScore.

Parnell gives me something to get excited about...

From MLB.com:

In his second Major League start, Parnell tossed six shutout innings, allowing just three hits while walking none and striking out seven in the Mets' 3-0 win over the Giants at Citi Field.

Parnell (3-4), who threw 68 pitches in 2 1/3 innings in his first start in San Diego last Saturday, was far more economical and effective this time. He scattered those three hits, not allowing a runner to reach scoring position. Although manager Jerry Manuel said before the game that he wanted to see more offspeed pitches from his starter, Parnell threw mostly fastballs. He mixed in his slider rarely but successfully, getting three of his seven strikeouts on the pitch.

Cora: David is the Wright kind of leader

From the Post:

"It's very easy for us as ballplayers to deviate from our plan, our preparation, and he doesn't do that. And he's showing everybody around here that, hey, for whatever is going on around us, we've still got to show up and do our thing because there's always a chance. And I think showing guys like that, he's showing a lot of leadership."

I can't say it's the strongest statement in the world, but I certainly agree with the sentiment. Wright is the kind of guy you build a club around.

Just one more week...

...until the NFL preseason starts and I can put yet another miserable Mutts season behind me.

And so the cycle continues.

The 80's Are Back, Baby!

How do you not love a pitcher that looks like this:



And it's even better when he gives up a slam to Pagan...

Did anyone else catch Omar's "apology" to Rubin?

It was a fiasco almost on par with the original press conference. It was like a bad Rickey Henderson imitation. "That's not Omar Minaya." "You guys know Omar Minaya."

This guy's personal credibility is completely blown up. Once the trading deadline passes, would it be that much of a surprise to see him canned in August or Sept.?

WTF?

If this rumor is true, and we passed on opportunity for Kazmir as well as possibly Crawford, then I just don't get how Wilpons' keep Omar.

The Rays have shopped Kazmir around a bit, even calling the Mets, who expressed initial interest but nothing more. Tampa is trying to see if they could trade Kazmir, Carlos Pena and in the right blockbuster even Carl Crawford to free up dollars to make a bigger trade. The Rays are most focused on seeing if they can add Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez in one trade, though they continue to call on Halladay, as well.

That's about right

This headline says it all.

Minaya Calls Out Daily News Reporter; Mets' Season Descends Further Into Farce

It's time for the Minaya era to come to an end. The guy is unable to assemble and maintain a winning management team. His handling of the Randolph firing was atrocious; his behavior at the Bernazard firing press conference was bizarre at best; and his lack of explanation as to the poor medical/strength conditioning staff is unacceptable.

The Mets continue to be nothing more than the punchline to a bad joke. It is time for a new direction.

Hey Fredo,

Looks like some fans agree with you that change in ownership is not impossible. A protest on Wilpon's lawn is apparently scheduled this week according to Post.