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The Mets (10–9) lost to the Cubs by the score of 8 
to 1 in Chicago this afternoon.
For a recap and boxscore, go to SNY.tv.
…Nelson Figueroa looked strong, and fought through a few slippery situations to keep the Mets in the game…however in the fourth, following an at bat in which the Mets were unable to score, despite having the bases loaded, the Cubs were able to pick up three runs after also getting the bases loaded, which was helped out by a boot and bobble from Angel Pagan on a one-hopper towards the wall in right field…
…what’s worse, like Regis said to me on e-mail, how many small villages did the Mets leave on base today…seriously…
…specifically, in the fourth, as mentioned earlier, with Angel Pagan on second and David Wright on third with one out, Willie Randolph sent pagan and wright in motion, but Carlos Beltran walked to load the bases…right call…wrong execution…then Carlos Delgado popped out, as did Damion Easley to end the inning…lots of action…no runs…
…later in the sixth, the Mets also had the bases loaded, but could only muster one run on a fielder’s choice…
…i understand lilly can be mind-numbing, but he was hittable enough to the extent that runners were in position all day long, so it is possible to get on base against him…but, it’s apparently impossible to bring them 90 extra feet…ugh…so, so frustrating…
…speaking of delgado, also in the fourth, a weak ground ball was hit to easley, but delgado became confused and drifted aimlessly away from the bag, confused as to whom would be covering first…the runner was safe, instead of ending the inning – and, naturally, a run scored when the next batter hit a single…
…frankly, any day on which Henry Blanco is intentionally walked to face Ted Lilly – the pitcher – and the pitcher reaches base to continue the inning, it’s going to be a frustrating day…
…i’d complain about Jorge Sosa, but i’m out of words…
…so, swept by the Cubs, if you can call it that in a two-game series…this team is 10–9, but there are issues…
The Mets will play the Nationals tomorrow night in DC.
Not that he was the reason we lost today (scoring 1 run is the reason) but it’s way past time to rid ourselves of Jorge Sosa. Muniz was effective during his time up here. Let’s give him a chance and cut Sosa loose.
argh, you beat me to it. This is 2 nights in a row he came into a manageable game and made sure that no Mets fan would bother watching the 9th inning. He’s beyond awful. Also, can we call a moratorium on these 2 game series for the rest of the year? We’re 0-4 in 2 game sets, and 10-5 in the regular 3 game sets.
Oh well. They had lost 2 in a row last time they opened a series with the Nats, and rolled off 5 straight wins: time for them to do it again.
I agree 1000% Sosa is trash, at least Heilman is starting to look a little better, very little.
Spot on! And hows this for power. The Mets have 10 home runs so far, the least amount in the National League!
He’s not the whole problem, but a lot of this rests squarely on Carlos Delgado. We all know Beltran’s useless when he has a whelp behind him. Now if he had Moises Alou playing like the geriatric hitting machine he is behind Beltran, I bet we could see Beltran start to come to life. But as long as Delgado can be pitched to, Beltran’s never going to see a fastball to hit. I’d also consider flipping Wright and Beltran occasionally when Alou’s not around. Wright delivers far more quality ABs and handles more different types of pitches than Beltran. He’d be better suited to having limited protection in the lineup (which until Beltran starts hitting, he already has anyway).
Aside from that, I think its just a bit odd that Ryan Church has two homers against lefties and has torn them up and yet none against righties and has looked kinda meh. He’s only had one XBH against a righty. As a result, he’s slugging a whopping .581 against lefties and a meager .350 against righties. Something’s bound to give here.
I’d also credit a bit of this to Reyes’s .320 OBP. Everyone’s going to get more pitches to hit when he’s flying around. He’s starting to have some better ABs and been hitting the ball well, but he’s been very aggressive and not drawing his walks the way he did early last year.
Having Alou replace Brady Clark on the roster and Angel Pagan in the lineup will definitely add some pop, and more importantly, RBI production. But the question is how long can it last? If I’m Omar, I’m keeping very close tabs on my three B-Mets first baseman. Especially Carp. He’s been absolutely ridiculous so far.
What a disgusting, uninspired performance.
Next stop on the Double-Play Express: Washington DC! All aboard!
Making stops at 4, 6, and 3.
If you miss the Double-Play Express, you can catch the Pop Up Local right behind it.
for one i am glad we got this anemic loss out of the way early today.
Let’s reel in Carp, and hope that he can fish us a few runs this year with his .400 average.
Har har har.
I think Delgado has to sit these next two games. His struggles on offense is clearly affecting his defense.
Willie should have benched Delgado as soon as he failed to cover first. Let’s face it, Willie is not much of an in game manager. His one supposed strength is that he is a player’s manager and they play hard for him. Delgado flailed on two ground balls earlier in the game that another first baseman might have had. OK. He’s old and can’t bend down. But when he forgets to cover first base on a routine ground ball to second base, because he’s just not paying attention to the game, you have to pull him right out, on the spot.
he has to be embarrassed. willie has no problem throwing his kids under the bus but man will he stick up for his crappy veterans.
Did you hear what Gary said during the game about the play last night?
Willie said he knew the rule and that Lee should have been out but he didnt think anybody else noticed so he didnt bother to say anything? Really? Good managing.
That is bull—-! Willie didn’t know the rule; and, if he did, to defend not going out to argue it because he didn’t think the ump saw it is just lazy. I would fire Willie just for that.
Willie is scared to death of delgado….. I’d be shocked..
Can we please get one pitcher in our bullpen who can get a guy out after a teammate makes an error? Steve Trachsel-itis is no longer welcome here I am sick of Heilman and Sosa…a guy makes a legit or mental error and it almost looks like they stop trying and have decided to scapegoat the error-maker, ENOUGH.
Also Joe Smith and one of Felic or Show has to go, we have no place in our bullpen to have 3 separate pitchers who cant pitch effectively to more than 2 batters in a row…I mean these guys cant even throw a full inning and Willie is forced to run them all out there every friggin night…
I cant believe Im sayign this…Hurry back Matt Wise!!
I’m fearing that this bullpen is burning out/burned out already. Sosa, Heilman and Smith have pitched too much too soon. Delgado is an absolute mess, Beltran is in a huge slump and Randolph messing with the order after winning five games in a row is just plain mind blowing.
Agreed. Smith has pitched 11 times in 19 games. Thats a ridiculous pace. He’s on pace for tired arm again.
They beat him into the ground last June. At this pace he’ll be lucky to get that far this year.
Delgado is just frustrating. What is really scary is that he is as healthy as he is ever going to be. Can you imaging how bad he will be if he gets an injury to go along with general suckitude?
This year, IMO, Omar has to make a preemptive strike on the team. After drifting for a big chunk of last year, and of course struggling at the end, you cannot just let the team drift along, hoping things straighten themselves out.
Not sure what the right moves are (hey, that is Omar’s problem), but at some point, Willie and Delgado have to be in play. Castillo is too much to hope for. But, maybe other moves can be made.
And yes, calling up a guy like Carp that is red hot is a viable option. As is cutting Delgado, or benching him.
This team is going to undergo big changes for 2009 anyway. So, either make the moves early to try and win (but please, no more shot vets!), or cut the fat, eat the $, and get a head start with some young guys.
Give it another month (mid-May), and take action to address any lingering problems.
The real test will be next week if ALou is back. That will give you the best line up possible, and if that ain’t good enough, do something quick.
Although I think they were wrong to do so the Blue Jays just showed some cojones by releasing the Big Hurt and Frank Thomas is MUCH more productive than Delgado at this point. I wish the Mets front office for just once in their live would sac up and cut a veteran player who is washed up. It’s a sunk cost, so why not release Delgado, give him his money, and let Carp et al. out produce him for the remainder of the year.
the good news is that next year el duque, delgado, alou and pedro’s salaries will all be gone, the bad news is we owe them more than most countries have in gdp and they are much needed if we have any hope. i’m already looking forward to the 09 team as this team outside of the young guys is not entertianing to watch.
I know its already been posted that Willie won’t do it…but if he isn’t going to bat Church 2nd he at least has to bat him 5th…I know its only 19 games into the season but I do not even know how many more runs this team would have scored if they had Church batting 5th instead of Delgado who is clearly all but washed up…
SOSA MUST GO!!
This team looks more and more like an also-ran every game.
- Sure, Beltran will come around, but other than Wright the offense is filled with liabilities (even Reyes is inconsistent at best). And that’s with Church, Schneider and Pagan playing waaay over their heads. If you think the Mets have trouble scoring now, just wait until they regress towards their career averages.
- Maine and Perez have not turned into the seven inning pitchers they need to be, meaning the bullpen has to go three or four innings every four out of five days. They can’t keep that up, and this series showed that the strain might already be too much.
- Speaking of the bullpen, Willie can’t keep making switches after one batter during the sixth and seventh innings to get the right OOGY in. He once hated going by “the book”; now he’s a slave to it.
- There’s no guarantee we’re going to see Pedro and/or Duque for the rest of the year (and “the plan” featured each of them getting 20-25 starts each). Same goes for Alou for that matter; he’s just as likely to tear something running down to first in tonight’s rehab start as he is to join the team this weekend. He can’t be considered a savior.
- To put it mildly, the bench stinks.
All in all, this looks like an 85-win team.
I’m not jumping off the Sosa bandwagon yet.
He’s an every other year kind of pitcher. He’s wearing out his welcome here, something he does every place he pitches.
Was there ever a Sosa bandwagon?
It was more of a rickshaw…
It’s only 19 games, but I smell trouble. If you take out the sweep against Washington (which is the worst team in the division and one of the two worst in the league), you have a 7-9 team that hasn’t done anything especially well. Not only is Delgado in a fog, but Beltran has been cold as ice. And Reyes is hit and miss. Castillo looks like the second coming of Roberto Alomar, only worse (though a nicer guy maybe). And the bullpen is a disaster. Heilman has been well-chronicled, but Sosa is a disaster. Show is a disaster. Smith has been better than I expected, but that’s not saying much. And Feliciano has not been the same since the 2nd half last year. Outside of Duaner and Wagner (who would have thought that), the pen is as bad as anyone else’s.
Omar has to be thinking about some serious face-lifting mid-way through or the last season at Shea will be like most of the first 43.
Yeah Show and his 3.37 ERA has been terrible!!!!!! Feliciano and his 2.08 ERA equally as bad!!!!
No people its just Sosa and Heilman sucking it up, and unfortunarly Joe Smith is getting worse with every outing.
Feliciano’s ERA is misleading, his WHIP is 2.54.
ERA is an unreliable stat for middle relief since they can allow runs to score that are attributed to other pitchers.
Please respect statistics by not misusing them in this fashion.
willie burned out smith’s arm last year, and he is doing it again
The cupboard’s bare, folks, unless you want to trade an F-Mart for a spare part (and his value has likely dipped with his slow start at Bingo).
The team you see and the guys on the DL are all there is. They have to swim together or they’ll sink together.
I agree. There’s really not a lot of moves we can make, if any.
Wow!
Today was just as bad as it’s ever been for a Mets fan at Wrigley. First off, the Cubs have an excellent team, and their fans know it. I looked around to see so many of my brother and sister Mets fans, and the dejection was just sickening. Even when we chanted Let’s Go Mets, you just had the feeling that this group with Casanova and Clark and Easley wasn’t going to do sh–.
I felt so tense and embarrassed the entire game. I just hated it, and the Mets seriously have been one of the most important parts of my identity since 1969. When they play the way they did today, it was like having some really awful part of your family exposed in public, especially in front of hostile people.
In Chicago (my adopted city of 13 years), they love to get arrogant and chant “New York Sucks” when they’ve got the game sown up. I’ve never understood this. I just can’t imagine Mets fans doing something like that, as if we would even care to run down Chicago. Aaargghh! It must be born of some deep, chasm-like inferiority. Dunno. I mean, I feel sorry for CUbs fans (’69 and all), but they can be such ridiculous A-holes. Anyway, I can see saying Phillies Suck, but not Philadelphia ( not like I love that city!)
But to get to the point, the bullpen worries me more than the increasingly hopeless situation Delgado appears to embody (horrible at the plate and in the field). I confess I don’t have the answer to how to use these relievers properly, but Sosa is like Benitez and Mota combined. I know he’s pitched some good innings for us, but he looks worse than awful. As others have pointed out, Smith cannot be worked like this; Feliciano is due more work, but they yank him right away. As a fan, I cannot see the rhyme and reason with how these relievers are being used except when we are winning. WHen we’re losing it looks like a complete pitching crapshoot.
I just wanted to die when Cedeno hit the granny. I can’t remember Wrigley being that loud in a long time. Deafening and nauseating.
Left home feeling so pumped for the game, and the Mets just looked like garbage. Even with bases loaded, etc., it had little to do with great at-bats or great hitting. Pathetic from start to finish.
If Randolph isn’t screaming at people and throwing some crap around the locker room, then I don’t know what the F- he’s thinking. It’s no longer acceptable to “stay calm and work through it” when a wonderful baseball club plays a disgusting brand of baseball.
Let’s Go (and WIN some G-Damn GAMES) Mets!
If Delgado is still this bad in game 70 then we can talk about releasing him…It is much more likely that Delgado bounces back to a point where he puts up #’s just a tad below his #’s in 2006 than it is for Angel Pagan to be this amazing all year….basically its been 20 games lets talk about a benching and then move from there…
and by the way fan favorite Marlon Anderson should be the first ushered out, if he cant get on base he provides no use…and Id rather leave Delgado on this team as a pinch hitter at least he puts forth some good swings Marlon looks compeltely lost.
It’s hard for me to get on Marlon this early. I just think he needs more playing time and with Delgado struggling. starting Marlon tomorrow might be a good idea
I consider myself one if not the biggest Delgado fans. But, if the Jays let go of the Big Hurt and moved on. Why can’t the Mets do the same with Delgado? It’s painfully clear that his time is up. It is a sad day when the thought “Wow maybe the Mets can replace Delgado with Thomas” actually crossed my mind. If you are going to do it it needs to be done early in the season so that the effect has time to go away in the club house. Sosa can accompany him out of town as well since he too isn’t cutting the mustard. Let’s see what this Carp guy has…. A young Jacobs suprised when he was called up, why can’t this Carp kid do the same????
Que triste ver el bajon que a dado delgado………SAD!!!!!
They don’t have to release him just don’t bat him 5th…move him down in the order first and see how he responds to it
I guess it’s just that I can’t bear seeying my Rican brothers struggle like that. And I have really lost faith in Delgado….. his bat speed is really slower than ever. You could just tell it’s not coming back.
Because the Big Hurt demanded to be released….thats why.
Well, it was brought about by the Jays cutting his playing time. So at least they took a step in the right direction.
Why do you think he demanded to be released?? It’s not like an old aging slugger is going to go up to the manager and ask to be benched……You get my point right??
Do you know how much the Jays are paying Thomas? I think it’s 9 mil or something around there.
I agree with metman, when Alou comes back just move Delgado to the 6th or 7th spot and see what he does.
Not that Sosa is the reason we lost the last few days, but this guy is a mirror image of Mota off the HGH. 2 days in a row, a 3-run homer and now a grand slam. Even though once in awhile he comes through, it doesn’t outshine the times when he doesn’t. Willie needs to try some new guys in the bullpen, they may actually give this team a chance to win late in games. We aren’t going to win games 1-0. It’s a shame that our pitchers go out there, let up 1 or 2 runs in a game and then bullpen comes in and blows it for them! It is early, but thie situation does not look like it is getting better. It is more like a continuation of last year.
I actually think the Mets have the talent to quite handily win the division (in spite of Delgado). However, I worry about the fact that they’ll have to try and win it in spite of an incompetent manager. It never made sense to me why Omar let a team as talented as the Mets be headed by a wet behind the ears manager (from the AL!).
And, the end of series Willie job approval poll will be posted when, exactly????
Oh, that’s right. It has disappeared altogether.
The only way we turn around this pitiful season is to put pressure on Willie. He is terrible at managing a bullpen and was the main reason we got killed down the stretch last year. We also need to pull a “Frank Thomas” and get rid of the huge piece of crap called Carlos Delgado. Everyone EXCEPT Willie sees that his guy is over the hill and can’t even hit a 85mph fastball. Time to change things up NOW until its too late.
Right now my beef with Willie is the lineup more than anything
No pressure is going to be put on Willie.
Where would the pressure come from anyway?
The Wilpons surely don’t want to pay him to go home. Omar (who seems to get a pass on a lot of bad decisions) doesn’t want to lose his fall guy.
I can’t stand Willie, but this is one group that is going to ride him out for as long as they can. If they miss the playoffs he’ll be gone at the end of the year. They’ll have to eat that. Other than that, don’t expect anything else to change.
Yeah, that was pretty bad. Why have the poll if it doesn’t get posted?
I haven’t been here very long, but I know a favorable Willie poll was posted. Why wasn’t the unfavorable one? Seems like if you’re going to take the time to participate, you should expect to see the results posted.
When was the last Willie poll?
The most recent one was now about a week ago and at last check, it was at 41%. That was never posted in the upper left hand sidebar like it was when it was at 58% and and over 80%, respectively.
Now it appears that it now longer rotates through with the fan confidence rating.
My guess is that it would be down around Pres Bush level. I bet Pres Bush would be a better in game manager. Not trying to talk politics here. Just saying.
Well, silver lining is that Brady Clark got his ABs today while Church sat. That move gets Clark ready to go for his starts in New Orleans this weekend when Alou returns!
Well done, Willie. Brilliant! Zephyrs fans thank you!
reading this made me throw up a little in my mouth
On a completely unrelated note, can someone explain to me how the Braves ALWAYS have Smoltz and Hudson going against the Mets whether it’s a 2 or 3 game series? How is it even mathematically possible?
because Bobby Cox wants to win the division while Willie wants to take it a game at a time
…and I’m a Willie supporter (nearing the end of the rope though)
santana was brought here for tomorrow’s start.
against the mighty Nationals, great…
No….to stop any losing streaks…..and by God he better do it!!
i’ll be very happy if the mets crush the nats and marlins (and other terrible teams) all year and played slighty above .500 against the best teams.
i watched the yanks and red sox do it for a decade to make the playoffs.
That’d be fine, and you are right as far as making the playoffs. Though,
1.) Aren’t they 7-9 against all teams not called the Nationals?
and
2.) Hard to win in the playoffs if you struugle to beat winning teams.
I know what you mean about Smoltz and Hudson, every time it seems.
There’s no “seems” about it, it’s literally EVERY time
Always seems the same with Zambrano and the Cubs, fortunatly, we don’t have to see them as much.
There seems to be a “Power Outage” in New York! And Con Ed has notihng to do with it!
Omar:
Please, Omar. Bring up Mike Carp.. give the kid a chance. He can’t do any worse than Delgado.. can he??? Can you please get rid of Heilman?? PLEASE???????????
sosa pitches everyday….. …..what the hell do you think is gonna happen……..?
when’s the next fan confidence poll?
Willie needs to go.. along with the two other clowns!
Delgado is done, or so it seems. A George Foster-esque mid-season release could only help at this point.
A Sanchez/Wagner combo to finish is pretty darn good. The problem is getting to them, which means getting the most out of your SPs. Pulling Maine after four against Atlanta, Perez in the 6th against Philly (while he was pitching a shutout), Pelfrey after five against Philly, Maine after six against Philly (after giving up a single run) and six against Chicago yesterday, Perez after 4 1/3 against Milwaukee, and so on…time after time Randolph pulls his starter in a close game and asks the most mediocre players on his team–the middle relievers–collectively to carry the heaviest load. In the process he overworks them, further reducing their effectiveness down the road.
Even today, by pulling Figueroa after giving up that single to lead off the sixth, he asks his manifestly mediocre middlemen to get six outs at minimum. He continues to put these guys into a position in which they’ve demonstrated over and again that they are less than reliable.
Who would you rather have pitching in the seventh inning of a close, low-scoring game: John Maine, Oliver Perez, Johan Santana and even Pelfrey or Figueroa; or Smith, Sosa, Schoeneweiss, Feliciano or Heilman?
Bats seem lifeless, no clutch hitting whatsoever. The bottom of the lineup is bringing nothing. Things started to gel with Church in the 2. They need to go back to that and have Schneider back in the lineup.
another bright side: we will have plenty of time to spend on grand theft auto IV this weekend!
I’m not as worried about the pen as some of you are. Right now scho is pitching better, smith has been pretty good. Sanchez and wagner as well. Heilman and Feliciano have been so so, and sosa bad.
I’m not to worried about feliciano, i think he’ll get it together. Heilman will as well, but we have to stop using him in the 8th inning. He is not an 8th inning pitcher. Sanchez needs to be the setup man. Heres the thing, if sanchez and heilman both had the same stuff i’d take sanchez to pitch the 8th 99/100 times. Why? Sanchez has that 8th inning mindset, he doesn’t look scared out there. Pressure doesn’t get to him. Its been pretty evident since the 2006 nlcs that heilman is not an 8th inning guy.
There’s no doubt the lifeless Delgado is done. Once Delgado ans Heilman are gone things will fall into place. Who else is going to screw up as much as they are? Ok.. maybe willie!
I don’t think it is completely his fault but if we continue to play .500 ball through May I would fire him. It could not hurt. As for Delgado I would bring up Abreu first and platoon him as Abreu is RH. If Delgado does not get it going then I would release him and bring up Carp to platoon with Abreu.
Sosa goes 3-2 to every batter, and sometimes he’ll hang a slider, sometimes he won’t….everyone knows what he is throwing….is that really the type of guy you want out there in a big situation?
Not me.
The thing that worries me most about this team is delgado, and willie. like its been documented, we go on a 5 game win streak, things were clicking on O with church in the 2 hole. Why does willie move him out of there? Then he gives him the day off today for a guy that won’t even be here in a week in brady clark? As a result we’ve scored 6 runs in 3 games! and four of those have come in 1 inning.
Willie is afriad to make changes. He wants to be joe torre? well torre had the balls to move arod down to 7th a couple years ago in the playoffs. When alou comes back he should be in the 5th spot with church in the 2. Is that gonna happen? I doubt it. I don’t understand why.
The formula we had over that 5 game streak was working, reyes, church, wright were hitting. we were scoring early, getting good starting pitching and good bullpen work. It was a good formula. Why change it?
You know… Benigno and Evan had a great idea the other day.. Platoon alou and delgado at first and leave pagan in the OF. I like this!
ALOU CAN”T PLAY 1B.
Neither can Delgado but at least Alou hits.
Honestly, Alou can’t play left field either. I’m sure he’d be no worse than Delgado at first.
So what would we do when Wright airmails a throw to first and Alou goes down for the rest of the season trying to catch it?
There is just no way that Alou at 42 years old and coming back from an injury is going to learn a new position. If he was doing to do that then the entire time he was rehabing and we have not heard anything about that. Maybe you should tell him to stay in AAA and work on it for a few more weeks while we miss his bat.
1B = Angel. Do it.
Not a bad idea as he has options. Send him to the minors when Alou comes up and let him work on it. However, please understand that we would still have one of the lightest hitting 1B in the league.
We already do.
You can’t get much lighter than slugging .294
No doubt, I am just saying that Pagan will be better than Delgado offensively but not up to normal 1B standards and is no longterm solution. Thus is it worth the time to send him back to AAA to learn a new position?
Playmaker:
Willie is way too loyal to the vets… that’s not a good thing. He lives and dies with them… you can’t do that in NY, willie shoudl know better!
This team is beyond frustrating it gives me stomach pains…
I hear you. The worst part is that I am actually going to go home shortly and watch the replay on SNY tonight after following this whole debacle all day at work…I think I am more pathetic that Delgado’s attempts to hit a curve ball.
Not sure why Beltran’s walking on a 3-2 pitch with the runnners in motion was the “wrong execution.” The reason the manager calls that play on a 3-2 count is because the batter doesn’t have to swing at one out of the zone. No reason Beltran should swing at a ball there unless it’s a pitch he likes.
Teufel:
It hurst so much, it’s funny sometimes. I was driving on the Taconic today while listening to the game and i was punching my steering wheel.. now my hand hurts.. thanks Mr. Delgado.
I hear you. The worst part is that I am actually going to go home shortly and watch the replay on SNY tonight after following this whole debacle all day at work…I think I am more pathetic that Delgado’s attempts to hit a curve ball.
The biggest problem is Delgado. He’s finished and he’s not going to improve. They will wait until much later to make a move, but the longer they wait, the more games he’s going to cost them with his glove, bat, and poor baserunning.
They should cut him as soon as possible and just eat the contract. The A’s are looking at picking up Frank Thomas, and if they do then Mike Sweeney may become available. He’s making peanuts so he won’t cost a lot. He can platoon with Marlon and Easley at first base for the short term.
In the meantime, promote Carp to AAA, and let him get his feet wet there. Play him exclusively at first base. If he does well, then he can be promoted in the event the Sweeney-Easley-Marlon platoon doesn’t work out.
Anything is better than Delgado. Even a struggling rookie, because you know at least there’s upside there. I think Carp can hit at least .200 in the majors. His defense can’t be any worse than Delgado’s. His energy and baserunning has got to be better. And you know he won’t be bored.
This team is showing the signs of a sub .500 team. It’s going to be interesting to see how much of a lift santana gives them tmrw. Their execution on offense has been horrible. I feel as though this is a 4 man lineup. It’s like 1-2-3-4-9-9-9-9-9. Beltran will get out of his slump because he is still drawing a lot of walks. Also, he isn’t getting anything good to hit, he is completely naked in this lineup. Also, Church has to move back to the 2 hole. The decision to move him back to the 6 hole cannot be justified. Also, if this team continues to play this kind of uninspired baseball through early May, about 2 weeks into Alou’s return, Omar must think about firing Randolph. He still reeks the stench of last year. Quite frankly this whole team outside of David, Beltran, and Church reeks the smell of last year. He is a horrible in game manager, and chemistry is overrated, teams have chemistry when they win no matter who is managing.
Well put.
bring olerud back!!!!!!!!!
This team has also shown signs of an above .500 team. And the decision to move him back to the 6 hole can be justified whether you like the decision or not. You can say it’s the wrong one but there are other opinions especially with Schnieder out and Delgado and Beltran slumping.
“the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” ~ ben franklin
As Franlkin continued to drink and abuse women only to get the same results over and over again and not be respected by many people in his own country at the time. Many people thought Franklin was insane.
he may have been crazy but there is no historical record of him bringing in a reliever, watching said reliever issue an intentional walk, and removing said reliever immediately.
No but he did intentionally electricute himself.
how can the move of church to the 6th hole be justified?
Because he can actually drive in a run. With Schnieder out the bottom of the order would have been a complete automatic out from 5-9.
they were going to be outs anyways. the top of the order was clicking. why take that away from them by putting castillo in a position to recieve one more at bat a game than church. in the end, it proved to be a stupid move by willie because the team has scored 6 runs in 3 games, and they are 0-3. inexcusable.
this whole argument conveniently ignores that schneider also completely sucks offensively. the production difference between fricking SCHNEIDER and CASANOVA should have zip zilch zero effect on the guy that bats between REYES and WRIGHT.
Do you really think that swapping Castillo and Church caused the entire offensive problem? Besides it does not matter if I agree with it, point is that a case could be made.
My fault straw I was not aware that a guy hitting over .300 sucked offensively. Why hate on Schneider that way?
there are certainly more and bigger problems to take care but the 2-hole issue is the one most easily solved. i mean, we did rip off 5 wins with one lineup and like none recently with these others. i don’t really see how you or willie can dismiss this.
i like schneider behind the plate and with the staff but he has been a poor offensive player his whole career. better than casanova, maybe, but not by enough to make any difference to the rest of the lineup.
besides, the only way to defend the pagan missing two starts and church one is by arguing that they aren’t as good as their hot starts. you can’t then turn around and make like schneider is the big difference making masher at the bottom of the order based on not even as good as start.
Problem is solving one hole right now creates another hole somewhere else. Lets see how things look with Alou and Schneider back in the lineup. If Alou breaks down and Delgado continues to struggle and Castillo continues to be lower than last seasons numbers then we can panic.
and if you were the manager, with that attitude, i would have a little more faith. but willie doesn’t panic. he trusts his guys. until about the second inning of the last game of the season.
bottom line, you might be able to explain these moves with some really complicated convoluted logic, but do you really think that’s what’s going through willie’s head? i think it’s more like “HATE ROOKIES. LOVE OLD MEN. WILLIE LIKES EM TOASTED.”
Do you really think that Willie wants to lose games? He knows his job is on the line.
However, what good would it do for Willie to panic? We can all we want but what would it even look like for a manager to panic?
panic? no. make changes that actually attempt to fix things? yes.
Play a guy a day or three away from AAA over one of your hottest hitters when your 4 and 5 hitters are a mess? No.
it seriously frequently feels like the man is employed by the other team.
Do you think he wants to win or lose the game?
Willie is managing to cover his ass so he can get another job someday on the basis of his +.500 record in the cauldron of New York. Willie takes no risks, he always plays the safe move. He “believes” in his vets so they never badmouth him when they leave.
What risks? like starting Castillo in the 2 spot, or bringing Heilman into a close game? I could use fewer risks.
So now Willie is trying to just stay average so he can leave NY. You guys are great. He is an average manager who makes good and bad decisions but is utimately a small part of our problems right now.
Move Delgado to 7th when Alou returns behind Church and Alou. Platoon him with Abreu until he starts hitting. If he does not then release him and bring in Carp to platoon with Abreu. I would actually be interested in seeing what that platoon could do. It’s a 7 hitter so either way he does not break the team IF ALOU can come back.
I have to disagree with you on this one man. I think if they are going to demote Delgado to a part time role, or a bench role, he is going to be completely pissed off. He’ll reek havoc by complaining, and probably manipulate Willie into playing him everyday because he is a, “veteran”. Willie of course will oblige, and play him. It has to be all or nothing with Delgado. Either he’s on the team and playing everyday, or out, meaning cut. Abreu isn’t the answer either. He’s old. Carp, if he continues to produce like he is through May, they have to consider bringing him up and playing him every single day. Just like they did David when they brought him up in ‘04. The kid is 21 and has an insane 1240 OPS. He has 52 TB’s in 18 games! That is insanity. Obviously he will cool off, but he has show for a few years now that he is a good hitter, and he shows patience at the plate.
Abreu is 31, (same age as me :( ) he is right handed. I would like to bring up Abreu just because if he is sitting the bench it is not hurting his future. Then like I said if Delgado does not get it going I would bring up Carp. Then Carp would not have to see many tough lefties while he is adjusting to the ML’s.
yeah, but like i said, delgado isn’t going to accept a part time role. it’s not in his character. i’m sure he’s still under the impression that he is an elite slugging first baseman…which is isn’t. it has to be all or nothing with delgado.
If he does not start hitting he will get less than a part time role anyway. Remember this is a contract year for him, maybe he would see the thought of only seeing RHP for a little while as a chance to get him going. Who is going to resign him next year even as a bench player the way he is playing right now. So at this point in his career he is not going to get a starting job next year anyway.
That being said if he does not accept the role then he should be released, (unless he starts hitting of course :) )
Decent idea, and I like bringing up Abreu for a cup of coffee. Problem is who do you send down to make room for a 1B? This roster is pretty tight at this point.
Clark until Alou is back and then Endy. Endy is just over kill on this team. I would trade Endy for a reliever right now.
i’m conviced that Willie, Heilman and Delgado are the demise of this team. GET RID OF ALL OF THEM AT ONCE, OMAR!
I was at Wrigley today, and I assure you, our 5th hitting 1st baseman looked worse in person today than he possibly could in HDTV.
It’s not just his hitting. That’s a no brainer. He’s horrendous.
Watching him on the field is even worse. He cannot field a groundball unless it is hit directly to him. ON 3 PLAYS TODAY, the Cubs reached base solely due to him. 2 sharp singles that got through 1st base occured becasue he stood on the bag while the pitch was thrown. If he, like any other average 1st baseman, had slid over with the pitch after holding the runner on…2 of those balls would have been playable. Then he stood flat footed on the botched coverage on the grounder to Easily. Unbelievable.
They say that professional sports move faster, and the guys who play the game effectively are those who keep up with the speed. To the best, the game actually appears slower. Well, it is so clear that the game is moving way too fast for Delgado to be even remotely effective. He looks old, slow, unconfident, clueless, and worst of all…impartial.
I know nothing about ‘Win Shares’ I can actually care less about the concept. But I will venture to say that Delgado’s win share total this season is in the red.
he’s been on the red since 2007
So.. if we didnt have Santana our fan confidence would be:
62%? 52%? 42%?
I understand that delgado is making a lot of money, but when you suck…. you suck… time to sit down.
Send down Brady Clark (sorry brady, you havnt had enough opportunities to make it your fault) and bring Carp up……
if Carp can’t do better than Delgado, then put him back in and lay in the bed you made.
I think you bring up Abreu for NOW. Then you move Carp to AAA and then to MLB if Delgado is truly done.
put anybody on first.. just ge rid of him.
I like Carp, but do you guys realize that he is in AA right now? He might be really cold facing the likes of Sheets, Hudson and Zambrano. Abreu is a better choice, altho I’m not sold that it would help the team to have multiple guys who can only play 1B.
I’m for moving Delgado down in the order, but he isn’t getting “fired”.
Actually having another guy to play 1B might actually free up Easley. You could not give Delgado a day off against a LH and Castillo a day off a at the same time as Easley is really our only IF sub.
I hear you, but isn’t Marlon/Easley able to handle a Delgado/Castillo day off? That’s also assuming you’ve demoted Brady Clark at that point.
Would’ve been good to try Church or Clark at 1B during Spring training, but I think it’s too late for that now.
They gave Clark a mit but I don’t know if he played any.
As for Delgado Castillo not at the same time. I just think we need another IF and having a true 1B to back up our weakest link.
Been saying it for awhile Sosa=Mota. Let the insults from the nieve begin.
LOL, nieve=naive
Damn, you fixed it b4 I could insult your spelling. Nice one.
a note on the poll in the thread above … how can 23 people be concerned with the starting rotation …. johan is getting sharper, maine despite not being sharp is getting enuff results .. perez has been good to very good despite not going deep into games yet .. pelf and nelson have done everything u can possibly want from a 4 and 5 starter… keep your team in the game and dont give up runs early …and pedro end duque on the horizon … even if they add just a little, we have a very good staff
Gilch, 10-9 brings out all the worries, regardless of what is real. Seriously, tho. The pen is getting killed by lack of off-days.
Dang. I’m never going to hear the end of this. I am a diehard Mets fan, but I live in Illinois somewhere close to Chicago, surrounded by Cubs fans.
Just respond with what have the Cubs done lately! Its been awhile for them.
just say “Bartman”, then run.
lol. I might just do that.
Being Mets fans is a family affair. My son wrote this comment, and we think our family are the only Mets fans in town. I even received a call from a colleage right after today’s game finished to mock me. I guess I will need to invoke 1969 one more time.
yeah, I am so glad Willy ” has confidence in his guys”
two words
Julio Franco ( how long did it take for the mets to cut a guy hitting .091?)
Garbage…….I don’t care how early it is, this team looked impotent today
I can’t stand all these people on here with the long 162 game season wrap, or hey ….come on….. it was Zambrano
I, for one, want this team to compete for a world series, and teams who compete to win it all should be able to beat any **ckin pitcher any **cking where at any given time
enough with this underdog loser attitude
save it for your politically correctness quasi informed discussions, HOW ABOUT SOME PASSION!
this post would have just make me more angry and depressed if i did not read it to myself in the voice of lionel hutts
that ad was a misprint, it should have said
NO, money down!
…poor Phil Hartmann, he did Troy mcclure and Lionel hutz
David Wright seems to be the only guy who is disgusted by these losses
I mean I hate talking about last year because it is such a gimmick now, but you do remember that nausea in your stomach, are you not feeling it again?…I am!
Shouldn’t you be studying for your law degree? Law is your life, man. WS ain’t until October. Prioritize.
whoops, back to wills trusts and future interests….
Posting is addicitve…
Save yourself. For the love of god, don’t end up like the rest of us.
Ugh. I hated future interests.
so we should beat every ACE ?
I, for one, can give the team a pass a few times a year when facing the likes of Zambrano, Oswalt, Webb, etc ….
however, today was a different story…. awful
No, we should not beat every ace, every time, but most people on these boards would have you think that Zambrano is simply unbeatable and give Willie and the boys a pass
look at his ball/strike ratio last night
Maine kept us in the game, the rest of the mets did not
If you expect this to be an elite team, having a defeatist attitude is only a self defense mechanism
True but on the road against another good team and their #1 you are only going to win that game 3/10 times at the best.
Do you know how upset the Cubs fans would have been if they had “blown” a home start by Zambrano?
…in an effort to track Willie Randolph’s Job Approval Rating among fans, i plan to run the following poll at the end of every series and will track the results with a graphic in the sidebar…
Do you approve of the job being done this season by Willie Randolph as manager of the Mets?
Yes, I approve
[…]ShareThis
Posted in Poll, Willie Randolph on April 3rd, 2008
..i had posted this earlier, but for some reason it stopped logging votes…so, let’s try this again…good luck…
Do you approve of the job being done this season by Willie Randolph as manager of the Mets?
No, I disapprove (59%, 2,377 Votes)
Yes, I approve (41%, 1,625 Votes)
Total Voters: 4,002
Loading …
ShareThis
Posted in Poll, Willie Randolph on April 14th, 2008
What happened to this poll it dissapeared went Willies support fell below 50%????
I think he determined that the poll was not valid because it just changed based on who won that series and turned every post into something about Willie. A series is just to short. I am sure after the 5 game winning streak it would be much higher than after a 3 game losing streak.
The poll was about Willie thats exactly the point. Willies approval rating. Maybe then a poll should have been taken after the 5 wins to make Willie look better.
I don’t get your point. My point is that Willies approval rating changed too drastically based on wins and loses.
I never changed my vote.
And, its absense starting with when it dipped beneath 50% is notable. Of course it is more of an events-related poll than the team confidence rating. The team rating poll question inludes the new network and stadium. The Willie job approval is just that, a job approval number. Events affect such polls in the political arena and in the sports world.
So what?
Matt had to know that would be the case, but decided to start running the poll anyway. He posted the results when they were positive as a sticky that alternates with the confidence rating poll on the pper left hand sidebar. As soon as the results were poor….it disappeared.
That is the issue readers have. It is….odd.
Personally, I’d prefer to give Matt the benefit of the doubt that the SNY/Mets affiliation has notg inter fered with his editorial independence. Matt has always been a straight shooter. Indeed, some of Matt’s posts have been more critical since th SNY deal. I hope he continues to be independent. But, people are understandably confused by the disappearance of the poll.
I think it happen when this site was almost overtaken with negative comments. You know your self that this site got almost ridiculous for a few days. I just think he realized that he messed up by puting up something that was doomed to be invalid based on the way the wind was blowing. I did not change my vote either but the percentage went from something like 80 to 40 in one series that is just silly. Besides I think we will see the poll again but it should be once a month not every 3 games.
All that you said would be fine by me ….if it had been said by Matt as explanation for the poll’s sudden disappearance in a bad stretch.
It didnt go from 80 to 30 in one series it went to about 50% first then below 50 the dropped
Since we’re tossing around 1B ideas….how about we look to the Diamondbacks. They may part ways with Chad Tracy, who has played some 1B, if they really believe in Reynolds. Thing is, no way can we give them anything of substance as they are already a better team than us.
Not a bad idea if he is available. However, what would they want or need? Maybe Sosa and Endy :)
I’m still voting for Kendry Morales!
Than you, thank you. As the creator of that suggestion I take full credit in the lack of it being possible. But I can still wish.
I’ve been hoping for it for as long as he’s been languishing on my fantasy bench.
Truthfully, he is perfect fit. Switch hitting young 1B with power, with options, being totally ignored.
What do you think LAA is looking for?
Maybe Heilman?
It seems too obvious, right? Maybe Omar will surprise us.
You have to think that Omar is quietly shopping Endy and/or Pagan, too.
No market with LAA for either Endy or Pagan, however. They have 102 OF.
yeah, clearly – i meant Endy/Angel in terms of shopping for a 1B somewhere other than LAA.
Maybe I will spend some bored time looking for another 1B that we can never get.
I recommend Conor Jackson.
Well I vote for Prince Fielder or Albert Pujols. Come on at least be realistic. Jackson was NL player of the week last week. He is going no where.
Keith Hernandez. He’s tanned, rested and ready!
Hey old man, you are often critical of the Mets (however usually rational). How about some suggestions on how to fix the team, besides firing Willie and Omar and……
Not sure if you are referring to me…and if you are 31, as mentioned above – I’m a year older than you…but, I digress.
I would have fired Willie the day after the end of last season. Bring in a veteran NL manager who is a bit of a taskmaster. Omar would be on notice. Castillo gets 3 year deal, maybe an option…nothing more. I never would have let ChadBrad go in 06 then turn around and sign the Show to a multi-year deal.
Delgado you are stuck with due to contract – though I would have fined him for the “bored “comments last year, and benched him tooday for his too bored to cover first base play. I would have found a replacement or platoonmate for him this offseason also. I would not bat Castillo second until/unless he heats up and Church cools off. I would not take a season and a half to figure out the double-switch.
I would not play a guy ticketed within days for AAA over one of my only hot hitters.
Most of all, I never, ever, ever would have hired a manager with zero managing experience (minors or majors) whose entire career as a coach and vast majority of his career as a player was in the dumbed-down league.
But if your point is this team just isn’t that good, no matter who is managing it or what moves are made….well, then, welcome to the pessimists side of the world. And, if so, wouldn’t Omar be primarily to blame for contructing such an expensive failure?
I have no clue what is on Omar’s mind as far as what to do at first. We could have grabbed a few players at the end of spring training for nothing, such as Justin Huber. Maybe he is hopeing to get one more year out of Delgado and then go after Texiera?
That would be foolish to count on Tex at all. He will command over 20 a year and with us needed at least 2 pitchers that’s really risky. I thik that we should find a cheaper solution at 1B and let Carp develop a little.
I’ll be Omar was thinking, “Gee, I’m on the hook for $16 million for this stiff for one more year. I hope he can still produce, or else Metsblog will get me fired. You know what I mean?”
You read his mind. That is spot on.
I have no idea what’s going on either, but doubt Tex is in our future. Mets have a ton of money coming off the books but there are several holes to fill. No way I would resign Moises, Pedro, Duque, Castro, or any of the umpteen other injury risks on this team. That’s over thirty million coming off the books. We need first, left, and a middle of the rotation guy, possibly two if we can’t sign OP. Maybe Fernando will be ready and OP will give a slight hometown discount. That may leave some money for Tex, but I’d rather beef up the pitching some more.
Our best hope is that Fmart is ready to play next season in LF. That saves the Alou money and basically covers Perez’s raise. Then you use Pedro and Elduque’s money to bring in another 1/2 pitcher such as CC or even less commitment with Sheets. That still leaves you Delgado money for 1B. If you could get Morales then you could even get better pitching.
kudos for the Morales idea…..why are we not GM’s again?
Excellent idea, thereal!
We desperately need a healthy and productive Alou……which is quite obvious.
Here’s a quick run down of a sample lineup w/ Alou:
Reyes: offense cant get it going w/o him
Church: Solid so far; but can it keep up?
Wright: where would we be without him
Beltran: lost at plate right now; very streaky
Alou: a hit machine but????
Delgado: totally lost; probably for good
Schneider: a solid 8th place hitter
Castillo: kills us in key at-bats
P: most lack bat skills
The order can vary depending on Willie’s mood. The only solid proven guys in the lineup are Wright, Beltran, and Reyes. It’s hard to count Alou because he’s usually hurt and it will happen again sometime.
Those key 3 players have tendencies to be a little streaky. When they are, our lineup is a black hole. I love the Mets but this team is seriously lacking offensive punch. If it were a slump I wouldnt been concerned. However guys in this lineup have dissappeared or have gotten hurt for too long……..too long to start to wonder.
I still think the starters are solid.
Moves need to be made in the bullpen.
Some quick suggestions:
Willie and Omar can decide to let guys like Delgado, Heilman, and Sosa kill us.
Move Heilman out of 8th inning finally. Put Duaner there.
Move Sosa out; Call up Muniz.
Call up Mike Carp for first base; rest Delgado. If he still shows he cant cut it later this year then cut him. Give Carp the AB’s. We need a little youth anyway.
Mets need to make some noise for this year and to sell tickets in Citifield. Will Omar and Willie sit on their hands and not face these decisions? Is it really a slump?
Not that this is a new point — but it is just inherently more difficult to cheer for an old overpaid hack like Delgado than to forgive a kid for the same offense.
Look at teams like Cleveland, Arizona. They are so easy to root for, because the payroll is so low and the guys are so young.
Look at the guys who put the games away for Chicago this series: Felix Pie (born 1985) and Ronny Cedeno (1983). They have Soto (1983) in a key spot also.
We have Jose (1983) and everyone else is 25+. When you look at our roster the EARLY 1970s are in full bloom.
Of course I make the trade and love Santana, but I miss Carlos Gomez’s spark — even if he hits .220. He still loves baseball, at least.
Bring up Carp if only because he was born in 1986!
This whole team is a mess this is just a continuation of last year at the end win 3 or 4 then lose 3 , Delgado is not the only one who stinks what about beltran and why is willy giving church a day off when we need a win ,dump delgado or transfor him to the bench bring up carp or pick someone else up in a trade .Maybe we could package sosa and heilman for something that resembles a reel 1st basemen. The end result if this idiot Randolh doesnt go we finish in 3rd place and if that does happen will this team be able to realize that we have chips like perez and heilman that might be able to net us a decent player or will wthey hold on to them because of a hope that some miracle will get us in the playoffs
What is Willie suppose to do? He puts the best lineup out there everyday, if you bench delgado who plays first base? Marlon Anderson? Last time i checked Marlon was hitting UNDER .100 and he is the only guy he can play first everyday. I have no problem giving Church a day off…he has look tired over the past two games, get him rested, get castillo rested and go with a full lineup againt a divison rival with our stopper (Johan) pitching. As for trading pitching for a tempory fix at first is just plan DONKEY thinking. Relax.
No one is mentioning trading pitching for a tempoary fix. If you are saying Morales he is by far not temporary.
Don’t know where you get your info, but the age thing is overblown.
ESPN does a roster analysis page which has the Mets Average age at 30.8 Clevelands at 28.5 and Zona at 27.6
I know the Mets and Astros have the oldest average age (thanks to the DL squad), but it’s only 3.5 years older than the youngest, the Marlins.
Of course the averages will be close together, because almost all active players are between 25-35. That’s a skewed way of looking at it.
Who would you rather be batting .200? A Delgado that has been on a total downward slide with no indications of improvement, or a 21 year old kid mashing his way to the top of the minors, who almost certainly will have trouble will the best major league pitchers?
I would pick the kid 10 times out of 10. At least he has potential.
it’s easy to choose between what is real and what is hypothetical. the hypothetical choose wins 10 our ot 10 times.
You think Carp really makes the jump form AA to the majors right now? You are dreaming. If you say Abreu, I give you some cred, but Carp…get real.
wow, that was awful spelling. Delete me now, Matt.
They’re probably not counting the DL, which is averaging 44 years of age between three guys right now.
Consider today’s dreadful lineup:
Reyes (1983)
Pagan (1981)
Wright (1982)
Beltran (1977)
Delgado (1972)
Easley (1969)
Casanova (1972)
Clark (1973)
Pitcher
Who was it that said our lineup is 1-2-3-4-9-9-9-9?
If the Mets average age is 30.8, its because our pitchers are holding it down, and Pedro, Duque, and Alou aren’t being counted.
The 30.8 does include the old people and it is brought down by Wright and Reyes as much as it is our pitchers.
I don’t doubt that you’re right, it just seems impossible. Who does the average count?
sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/roster?team=nym
We need Giuseppe Franco to become Mets manager, after all, he wouldn’t put his name on a product that doesn’t work…
stop with the daily lineup regimens!
Jesus,
I thought this was Groundhog Day….
a bad play in the field and WHAMMO… game is out of hand.
Very disappointing. Although, The Cubbies have put together a pretty fine squad this season. Hats off to them. They beat us fair and square today (not last night, when Lee should have been called out for interfering with that ball outside of third base).
Too many mental errors today too….. Reyes going home instead of starting the 6-4-3
Delgado not covering first base!?!?!?!? He’s a firstbaseman for the love of christ!
Not only is he KILLING us with his bat, he is now killing us in teh field too.
He has got to go.
Omar must make a move with delgado or things are going to get very embarassing. How long will they keep him in the lineup when his BA drops below .100? He is disgracing himself and his lazy attitude is a cancer on this team. Dump him now omar!
Both Oakland and Tampa have about 4-5 extra firstbasemen that they don’t know what to do with, and yet we limp along with Delgado, who is quite possibly the WORST firstbaseman in all of MLB.
This season has been TOO predictable. Before the year started, the concerns were:
1) Delgado might be done
2) The elderly (Alou, Pedro, El Duque) might spend all year on the DL
3) The 2008 bullpen is the same crap bullpen that killed us in 2007
4) Willie is asleep in the dugout
So far this year, we’ve seen:
1) Delgado is done
2) The elderly are on the DL all year
3) The crap bullpen is crap
4) Willie is in REM sleep
I mean, seriously, how predictable is this?
Thanks Omar!
1. Clearly the case after 19 games
2. We are definitely losing b/c old guys are on the DL
3. Crap is crap…no doubt about that.
4. Yes, Willie has never changed a lineup or a pitcher. must be sleeping
Who can argue with that analysis?
Also consider that in the offseason we also read these incessant nuggets:
4. Church/Schneid for Milledge was a major mistake.
5. Omar must get an ace…do it Omar!
6. Who the hell is Nelson Figueroa?
Man, memories are selective and really short around here. Maybe we can call it Metzheimer’s disease.
I am not saying that we are or will be a good team but lets put things in perspective. Atlanta lost tonight to the Nats 6-0 at home with Smoltz pitching. They are 10-10. Phillies are still playing but are currently 10-10. We should still be competitive all year, thus we will all have one of the most stressful years begining to end in recent memory. We will most likely never do well enough to put it away or poorly enough to be put away. Sounds fun.
Boy, that’s the most depressing “glass half full” post I’ve ever seen. Sadly, I agree with you. Although I do think this team has the potential to get better, if Beltran gets going and if Alou can come back soon and stay healthy for a few months (oh please oh please oh please). I would love to see us call up Carp: as others have said, he can’t be any worse than Delgado, plus if he sucks, it’s so easy to make fun of him by just switching the a and the r around in his name. Laughter will be had by all.
Does anyone else REALLY wish we had broken the bank for ARod during that 3 day stint when it looked like we could get him this offseason?
My biggest concern is Delgado, but not far behind is the bullpen and Willie which are tied together. He uses the bullpen like a little league team. He makes sure everyone gets in every night to play. They are going to all be done before the all star break, except for Wagner, who only wants to be used in save situations…whaaaaaaaaa! Whaaaaa!
Sosa will be gone once Wise comes back. Any way Nick Johnson becomes available?
Get Heilman and Sosa of this team! Make them a package and trade for a strong arm. Or better yet, add Delgado to the package and get a 1st base RBI machine!
Delgado is a huge concern, but Willie’s usage of his players is sooooo suspect. He never puts them in a position to succeed. Church was raking at #2, so lets move him. Castillo struggles at #2, but is starting to find a grove at 8, lets move him back to 2. The pen gets used every night, and then we wonder why Heilman, Sosa, Feliciano are ineffective on a long road trip. Pinella made Willie look like a rookie today when he brought in Feliciano. He set the bait and he took it without flinching. If Soto gets a hit there, everyone would be going nuts, but thanks to the ball in the dirt and the intentional walk, it became a non-issue. Just another bone-head move that Willie gets away with and is never mentioned again.
Perhaps if Feliciano can throw strikes instead of 4 balls in a row to the guy he is supposed to get out he will be more effective.
I doubt he will get burnt out with his 4 pitch walks that he seems to be doing nightly.
That wasn’t the guy he was supposed to get out. Pinella announced Ward so that Willie would pull Smith. Willie did and brought in Feliciano and Pinella countered with Soto, who he was going to have to bring in anyway since it was that catcher that was coming out. So…Lou got the match-up he was wanted, while Willie was outmanuevered…probably not even realizing he was outmanuevered.
this is the weakest mets team since 2005.. bullpen is unreliable and delgado has past his time, konerko was available over the winter, he would be perfect for this team
They were the preseason favorite to win the NL. The pieces are there, they are just misused on a regular basis by a manager who doesn’t have a clue. You can’t expect the pen to pitch 4 innings everyday, and you can’t blame the starters when the manager has a quick hook. If 2 guys get on in the 6th inning, its an automatic call to the bullpen….regardless if the guy is throwing a gem.
Willie is turning Sosa into this year’s Mota. Just keep on trotting out the same guy, Willie, never mind any over use because, hey, Joe Torre did it that way in the Bronx. You’d think he’d learn from over using a guy like that, but no, he just keeps on trotting him out there because ‘he’s just gotta work through it’.
With that kind of thinking, this team’s going nowhere. They play without any heart or chemistry, it shows everytime Beltran strikes out looking with men on base and Delgado pops up to the pitcher in an RBI situation. Toss in a beleaguered bullpen because Willie’s clueless ways and you’ve got a recipe for a 3rd place finish behind the Phils and the flippin’ Marlins. And that’s being generous.
After reading through all these comments, I realize its been easy to lose faith in some of our players. Personally, I think Heilman will be fine, he’s streaky. He got those big outs against the Phillies and that Cubs game cant be blamed on him (already losing plus the Reyes error). Sosa looks like hes prob more bad then good, maybe hes gone when Wise comes back. Schowenweis gets out lefties, and not much more. Delgado is looking like hes a $16 million waste. But hes here to stay, so is Castillo, Showenweis, and Heilman. Maybe Sosa is the one guy who could leave, but who knows.
Point is, we got our hand, now we gotta play it, whether it looks good or not. I can guarantee Mike Carp isnt winning us a pennant, neither is Carlos Muniz. Easley is good, but hes not an everyday player anymore. So instead of complaining about whos sucking, lets get behind these guys and support them, cuase I dont see many of them being moved.
you must think you are in st louis or something…i remember fans were booing in 2006 when we had a double digit lead and we had one bad night against pitts…the team is built to win now???? and we have a manager in training…i say we get a new manager cause we cant replace all the players…willie may be a nice person butcha know what leo said…
You know it is just Damn frustrating being a mets fan right now. I know what is new, but we have a bull pen that can’t get anyone out. We have a veteran over paid first baseman that couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. And we have a manager who don’t know the rules or set his team up to win. He takes his starters out too early, over uses his bullpen and has the team in the wrong defensive allignments. We need a change I don’t know what that is, but something.
The thing that really bothers me about the attitudes regarding, ‘Well the rest of the division is not doing well, so we’re ok.’ Baloney… Your goal is to win and your goal is to put our division away as soon as possible… Not hold on, tread water and make it t the end…
Throw the kill punch as early as possible… Win… No excuses, long season, etc… Just win…