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In his blog for ESPN.com, Peter Gammons examines what we know and what we don’t know about the current Mets organization.
According to Gammons, despite yesterday’s vote of confidence in Willie Randolph, the Mets are just 77-83 since last May, however:
“We don’t know why Carlos Beltran sometimes plays as if he’s lost, or why Jose Reyes pressures himself out of focus, or if the Mets do the things they do because of overrated talent or underappreciation of the expectations that any big East Coast market presents. We don’t know the extent of misunderstandings on different levels of Shea Stadium. We know only that the Wilpons and GM Omar Minaya do not want to blame everything on a man who has represented dignity and championships before this managing job, one who endured a 2007 collapse that has left him scarred by a public asterisk.”
As some of the solutions to Minaya’s problems, Gammons suggests that the Mets ‘blow something up,’ such as trading Carlos Beltran, cash and ‘pieces’ for a package with Alex Rios and A.J. Burnett, or acquire a player like Scott Hatteberg, Kevin Millar or Ryan Freel, who ‘would change the mix.’
…i am so tired of this…what is wrong, what can be done, how do we fix this, who needs to be fired…in my experience winning fixes everything…enough said…
…added to by Matthew Cerrone…
…yes, but winning doesn’t happen with the simple flip of a switch, or from just hoping it will happen or believing that it can…a) you need to be consistently better than the opposition, which i am not sure the Mets currently are, and so b) to improve the team, and better on a consistent basis, roster changes may need to occur…like it or not…
Einstein put it best when he essentially said, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
…fact is, this roster, this group of talent, with this group of leadership, is just a .500 team during the last 160 or so games…and so, it’s hard to trust they’ll magically be better if no additions or subtractions are made…
77-83 = .481
That is quite piss poor. Also Matt I’m almost certain that it was Benjamin Franklin with that quote and not Einstein.
nope…einstein.
Ben Franklin said it about 100 years before Einstein. Although both are credited with it.
Beer is proof that God loves us, and wants us to be happy.
That’s old Benjie . . .
Heres a trade… beltran and heilman for rowand and lincecum?
Is that a joke? It must be a joke. Oh, OK…
How about the entire Mets for the entire Cubs? That should send a message.
how about the entire mets team for xavier nady?
He’s like the Bugs Bunny of the MLB
Think we can trade Castillo for a major league ready bat boy?
Or at least a bat boy that is under 300 pounds. How can a team with a $150 million payroll have the most out of shape bat boy in the game. Unacceptable. He once had to get a broken bat that made it’s way onto the outfield grass on a hot day… I thought he was going to have a heart attack. Fire the bat boy to shake things up!
I think they should replace the bat boy with Mackey Sasser. Have Mackey throw out the first pitch in every home game. Just so everyone can laugh by the time the starting pitcher is being jettisoned from the game.
I would make that trade in a heartbeat. Lincecum is the filthiest young pitcher in all of baseball, and even though rowand left the banbox in philly he has done a pretty good job in SF. That being said, um why would the giants do this?
I like freel in terms of guts, like a nails type, but he also happens to be a bad baserunner and fundamentally average, don’t we have that already?
Bring in Buck, how can you hold a press conference to say your manger is safe? Could there be any more of a distraction? No matter what Willie has been undermined and there is no doubt he doesn’t have the players “full” support. They know what is going on and although they are pro’s the writing is on the wall, maybe in pencil, but its there. Bring in a rules guy, a disciplinarian.
and it begins…..
sure gammons suggests to trade beltran and u want to do it. no one wanted to trade beltran an hour ago. fact is no one plays center field like him and we need that. period, beltran till the end of his contract and hopefully longer if he is healthy
Agreed. If you want to make a splash trade Reyes. He has much more trade value than Beltran. I would not do either yet but to suggest trading the best CF in the league is just wrong.
I am sooo in favor of trading Reyes. I think he has absolutely no clue when it comes to playing fundamental baseaball. I would trade him to some obscure team for minor leagures in a heartbeat. It seems when he first came up he did everything to get on base now ? he acts as if he is too good to do the “simple” things to help the team win. I am sure he has been “asked” to do the things a leadoff hitter needs to do but either he is too STUPID to understand or just refuses. I think he needs to go to a place – team that has a good deal of talent that needs a shortstop and we get some good fundamental young players for hiim.
I don’t know what team you’ve been following, but Reyes has ALWAYS struggled with drawing walks, seeing a lot of pitches, and all the things you want in a leadoff hitter. ALWAYS. Jose is a dynamic player. He has some power and that part of his game could be developed. I think Jose wants to hit HR. He did hit 17 in 2006. His OBA might never approach .400 but I could see him hitting 20-25 HR and 50 doubles out of the 2nd spot in the order. Wanna shake the team up? Bat Cassy lead off-he gets on base, makes the pitcher work, has 9 steals alrready despite his bad knees, and can’t really hit the ball past the infield anyway. It was a very long time ago that Reyes projected as an ideal leadoff hitter. I see him being more like Rollins and Ramirez-speed doesn’t have to be the only part of his game. Pagan can also hit well in the leadoff spot.
Agreed.
We are not trading Beltran. Aside from Reyes, he may have more pure talent than anyone on the team.
Gammons’ other suggestion, about adding a new player or two to the mix, may be more doable.
So, how about this—
Trade for Millar
Bring back Valentin.
Mix in Pedro, and you have some verve and personality, and maybe that will translate.
So you think we should keep Beltran and his superb bunting skills?
At least Beltran is doing things to help the team win.
Not his fault that the three guys behind him pretty much failed. Bases loaded and 0 out, you have a chance to break the game open and don’t do it. Situations like that will cost this team wins.
When Church is down, you’ve got Deldisastro and his .220 average behind you and Shneider to follow and you get paid 18mil a hear and you’re hitting cleanup YOU DON’T BUNT!
People on here want Delgado to bunt and he is paid just as well.
Forget Delgado, he’s done, we’re talking about Beltran here. His team is burning all around him and he’s passing the buck by bunting in the cleanup spot. It is a horrific play and I’m just calling him out on it. He opened his yap to tell us how the Mets are the team to beat in the NL this year, what, are we bunt the other teams to submission?
He is in the cleanup spot, however what is a better situation? Bases loaded with nobody out or first and second with nobody out?
Exactly.
Hasn’t willie said in the past that he doesn’t like it when his “big boys” bunt? Glad to see that his players listen to him. But yeah, let’s trade the whole team but keep the manager, logial decision.
Are you serious? Everything and anything is better than depending on Delgado and freaking speedy gonzales behind him. Why are you even arguing this, you saw what happened!
I did see what happened, but did he get on base? Were they giving it to him? Beltran hasn’t exactly been tearing the cover off the ball (or hitting into the best luck) lately either. That, coupled with the fact that Jorge Cantu is challenged defensively, and I have no problem with it.
Just because the Mets only got one run out of it, doesn’t mean it’s a bad play. If he bunted to move the runners over, that would be a bad play. Not to mention, Delgado has been hot lately.
For all of this team’s failures, I don’t see how you can pinpoint a single successful play. I would do it again. I call that heads up baseball.
Terrific, the play has been blasted all over the airwaves and by every single baseball analyst but you know better. You are getting the team you that you deserve while the rest of us see plays like this and are bouncing off the walls. By the way, not that I need their validation, but Mike & Dog have been killing Beltran on this very point for the last 20 minutes.
I like the idea of blowing something up, the mix certainly needs to be changed. Cutting Delgado loose would not bring us anything, but trading someone who has value I am all for. Anyone but Santana, Wright or Reyes is up for offers as far as I am concerned.
I think Wagner is a guy who, at the deadline, would net a nice package.
Someone said yesterday Wagner has a no trade clause in his contract
so does Beltran.
Wagner is not going anywhere. I think Reyes should be made available.
Think we could get a guy like Kazmir (plus a minor leaguer) for Reyes and Ollie? I know Ollie only has this year remaining on his contract, but he has shown that he can beat the Yankees (something Tampa has trouble with). Reyes is obviously the biggest piece in the trade.
then who plays shortstop?
The only player I would consider trading Reyes for is Hanley Ramierz.
And last I checked, the Rays do pretty well against the Yankees overall.
This year they are playing well vs. the Yanks. But Kazmir is always worked really hard by the Yanks anyway. The point I was trying to make is that we could probably get a young ace pitcher for Reyes and Ollie. It doesn’t have to be Tampa.
It’s evident that the Mets are not going to dominate anyone and slug them to death like they could in 2006. So, why not go to war with a staff of Santana, Maine, Kazmir, and Pedro?
The only one you’d deal Reyes for is Hanley Ramirez?
Dude, you would be lucky to get Yuniel Escobar for Reyes.
Is it me or have the Mets conceded the season?
Reyes! Reyes needs a stretch of a few triples a few doubles, some stolen bases and he’ll be untouchable. Though the players make the plays, it is the coach thats why he is there and thats why he gets paid. the braves arent better players, they have a better coach. franceour is no reyes, church or alou and escobar is no reyes. the players reflect the coaching staff. division in the clubhouse falls on the coach, the clubhouse is his responsibility. Willie may be an exemplary individual but he’s not a good coach. he may have won championships as a player, but he’s not a good coach.
The Mets UNFORTUNATELY do not have a replacement for Delgado. I think Delgado is fed up with New York and is just playing it out this year. He had that ONE good year in ‘06 and we couldn’t get over the top. It seems the Met players just don’t or cannot put themselves out physically to play winning baseball and a few are just playing out their contracts. Delgado certainly falls into this category
Great comments Matt. I can’t stand when all these people keep saying these stupid cliche’s like winning cures everything or if they were winning we wouldn’t be talking about this.
We aren’t winning and have not been consistently winning for a year now.
Fire Willie, don’t fire willie, fire Omar, don’t fire Omar, fire the hitting and pitching coaches, trades, relaeses, whatever. I really don’t care at this point who is to blame or what they need to do.
They just need to do something different because it’s not magically going to change. When people say it’s still early all that means is there is enough time for things to change. it doesn’t mean that thing are going to change simply by wishing and hoping and countin on thing to change.
I agree … I’m glad to see that Cerrone is moving past the denial stage. Unfortunately, the people in charge of the team are still in denial and it doesn’t look like anything is going to change any time soon. The time to “blow this up” was last October … it’s long overdue.
Yes, but it’s only a small step from saying “winning cures everything” to saying “we need to ‘change’ to win.” To make real progress, you need an idea. What change? Be specific. If you have incomplete info, at least explain where you need more data.
My own personal opinion is that Willie needs to go, whether or not everything is directly his fault, and that if Beltran would be willing to be traded (I almost guarantee he would be), they can explore shipping him out for prospects if the new manager doesn’t give them a shot in the arm. Then, during the offseason, do what they should have done last off-season. Top down organization audit. If you find a lack of progress in scouting and player development, expunge Omar.
Oh, and can Bernazard yesterday.
OK well if I were Omar I would have gotten a new manager and staff last off season. Anyone who was a free agent, Castillo, Easley, Alou, etc … I would have not brought ANY of them back. Start new. Last year was a problem … start new. Now we’re stuck because he brought back all the same pieces that didn’t work … along with a few tweaks.
This team needed more than tweaking the misfits. They needed to start fresh. It’s too late for that now. What’s done is done.
Also, saying what you would have done last year is not constructive either. What do you want to do NOW? If you’re going to criticize, it’s only fair to have a plan. We’re just fans, but all the same, just complaining is kind of pointless.
OK … I said it then, numerous times. If you paid attention you would have heard me say it many times.
Now … fire the manager and the staff. Get Delgado off this team. That is all you can do at this point now.
Sorry if you think I’m complaining. What would you call it that you do?
Constructive complaining. And no, I’m not going to go poring through the comments section looking for where your plan is laid out. You want to “blow everything up.” Fine. That’s a plan. Great. Let’s do it. I agree on Willie, and I wouldn’t mind losing Omar now, either. Also agree on Delgado. Eat the salary. It’s what the Mets are doing already.
Who do we trade?
Who to trade … hmm … I would seriously try to trade Oliver Perez, Aaron Heilman and maybe Endy Chavez.
Only problem with Heilman is they should have traded him 2 years ago … as I’ve also been saying. Now his value is shot.
And yeah … eat Delgado’s salary. Just let either Carp or Evans play first base for now.
We need to trade ollie and aaron for some good rookies. Look at the diamondbacks. imagine if we got rookies and they played like the ones one the d-backs. Trade ollie and aaron to the reds for cueto and jay bruce. then consider trading jose (ONLY TO THE AMERICAN LEAGUE)
I beginning to believe that the Mets really BS’d us this year. I mean look at what they went into the year with. Delgado, definitely declined big time last year, then you have a forty year old LF who couldn’t possibly play all season long and costilla, who can barely run on two bad legs. I cannot believe that anyone on the the Mets thought they were going to be competitive with this team going into the season. they BS’d us to believe it to build up something for the new stadium and now it is crashing in all around them. Look at this lineup who are the fearsome hitters on this team? tell me? I cannot believe the Mets honestly thought they had any chance of being serious this year with this team?
if beltran went to toronto, his knees would literally blow up after 3 or 4 games of running on the turf they have there.
I believe he has a no trade clause as well. A.J. Burnett is injury prone and Alex Rios isn’t having the kind of year we all expected him to have either.
Maybe this is an argument for a change of scenery, but I’d rather stick with the guy who has had success here in the past.
How about we start with getting rid of Delgado. The guy has done nothing but kill rally after rally. He has not gotten a big hit all season, and there’s reason to believe he is a cancer in the clubhouse. Start there and see what happens.
On some radio show on the FAN yesterday afternoon, the host proposed doing something radical like cutting Delgado and bringing up Carp (and Evans) to play 1B. He said that would definitely send a message throughout the clubhouse – and particulary to Castillo – that no one is safe, contract or no contract.
Of course, that is a lot of money for the WIlpons – or any team owners – to eat.
yeah, likely cost about the same as firing Willie with 2 years left on his contract. Change is not cheap….
Delgado is money spent which we are getting nothing for anyway, I am for cutting him and seeing what happens,
How is cutting him and getting nothing out of him that much worse than what the Mets are getting out of him now? Yes he has eight homers, but he’s bordering on an automatic out in clutch situations. And right now he’s hitting fifth! The Mets’ lineup is a joke without Alou and Church. I’ve said for 10 days now that Willie has to go because a change needs to be made, but maybe cutting Delgado on the spot would carry more weight in the long run.
I think blood needs to be shed on someones part to show the team that someone will be held accountable for failure. You can fire willie, and I would not complain. But I think cutting delgado would not only be more fair, but also would send a stronger message to the team.
The Delgado money is already spent. If you release him, you’re not “eating” it.
What’s better use of that spent money? Playing a garbage player, or playing a minimum-salary player who may be more productive?
Yes, it will only cost them the major league minimum for the remainder of the season. And he was never in their plans for 09 anyway.
I would like to see this, and cut anyone else who is not a Wilie favorite. Show them that Randolph is in charge if you are going to keep him.
i agree. bring up mike carp. see what happends. nick evans is showing signs of becoming a great hitter. imagine if carp is the same. you see evans hit a bomb to the wall yesterday. he has power and contact!
look Beltran is not a big rah rah shish boom bah guy, but how in the world are you going to replace his production, addition by subtraction does not make sense, he has been hitting is some of the worst luck imaginable this year, he has hit at least two dozen balls that have absolutely tatooed outs.
his babip for April was .254 and is now .342 for May and that was still in a month where he was being routinely shortchanged by tough outs.
Beltran should not be traded … but the philosophy on his role HAS TO CHANGE. He is not a star player. He’s paid like a star player and his contract is dictating his role. It’s a big problem.
They have to realize that Beltran is not a cleanup hitter … he is not a guy that puts the team on his back … he never will be.
He’s a VERY GOOD COMPLIMENTARY player. He needs to be treated as such … he needs to be a number 2 hitter who plays great defense.
The spotlight has to be taken off Beltran and the role he is filling has to be ADDRESSED, like it should have been a while ago.
If he is not a #4 hitter then he is a #5 hitter. He has been our best RBI man since he has been here. That would look real good in the #2 spot, especially with Reyes not getting on. Plus don’t give me the Reyes needs protection crap? Why? If they don’t want to throw him strikes then take the friggin walk.
and he has a phenomenal OBP.
The real … #2 … #5 … fine … nothing I’m saying is set in stone. My point is … they dictate his role by his contract. This organization continually does this. They try to put square pegs in round holes all the time.
Beltran is clearly NOT a cleanup hitter. He’s not a guy who puts the team on his back … never will be. He’s not Piazza in his prime. They want him to be, but he’s not.
They have to accept the fact that he’s overpaid and his role should not have anything to do with how much money he makes.
…and just curious … where did I say anything about Reyes or Reyes needing protection? I’m talking strictly about Beltran and his role on the team.
Well I think it’s more the fact that Delgado went in to decline and Wright is our best hitter. Thus who else hit’s cleanup?
He did not start out as our #4 hitter and had a big contract then too.
Last year when Willie switched Wright and Beltran moving Wright to the #3 spot and Beltran to #4 they both played much better.
It’s about maximizing your lineup. If Beltran is coming up constantly with no one on base batting 2nd and Castillo is contantly coming up with no one on base batting 8th behind Delgado how can either one be used to their potential?
I do not disagree that Randolph has to at least consider shaking up the lineup…
Castillo, Reyes, Beltran, Wright, Church w/Head
or
Reyes, Beltran, Church, Wright, OH MY GOD WHAT WOULD HIT FIFTH…
but I would be open to seeing either of those employed.
Thereal … no offense … but Beltran and Castillo seem to be a real sore point for you. No offense.
I think that is the problem when you move Beltran up and Castillo down. It makes the back of the lineup terrible.
No just being realistic based on our current options.
As for the Castillo Church points. That’s a bad comparison because if you take Church out of the 5 spot it’s not like Castillo is going to hit there. Do you really think that Church will have more impact driving in runs batting behind the pitcher and Reyes who is not getting on base or behind our best OBP guys in Castillo, Wright and Beltran?
Why waste Church in the 2 spot?
I’m sorry…I should have specified that Church was just an example. My point is that Castillo batting 2nd doesn’t get us much despite his .360 OBP. We need someone who can drive the ball in that spot. He should bat 8th, but only b/c we cannot get rid of him.
Let me ask…..What good is a high OBP if it only get you to 1st base, the guy in front of you moves up one base more, and you rarely drive in runs or score runs anyway? I typically feel that OBP is one of the most important metrics, but Luis Castillo’s .360 OBP is a mirage. We don’t really get much production out of it. He’s a damn enigma.
And you know what?…Church/Castillo is not a bad example. Ryan Church has nearly half the # of plate appearances in the 2 hole than Castillo does, but he has scored just as many runs. Now that is telling. Runs is what wins ballgames, since86. Not OBP.
And who bats 5th? I don’t care. I want to set up our RBI men with RBI opportunities. And I refuse to sacrifce that just so Delgado/Evans/Schneider/8th hitter can have those same RBI opportunities. Granted, Beltran/Wirght have to look at themselves in the mirror and get their heads out of their @sses, but I believe they will begin to hit.
Assuming all healthy, my lineup would be this (I never do this…I can’t believe I am doing this.):
Reyes
Beltran (or Church)
Wright
Alou
Church (or Beltran)
Evans/Carp
Schneider
Castillo
and yes…Delgado has been euthanized in this scenario. And I am SOOO close to giving Castilo the same dodage and calling up that Reyes kid from NO to play 2nd.
CHURCH IS THE RBI MAN YOU ARE TRYING TO SETUP. Sorry for the caps but I don’t think I am getting through. If you want to move Church up move him to the 4 spot.
And it’s still a bad example for Church in the 2 spot because on this team he is our leading RBI man.
And 1/3 of those RBI’s came from him batting 2nd!!!!
Regardless…my premise is Castillo is more of a waste at the 2 spot than Church is wasted at the 2 spot.
But take Church out of the entire convo. Address the Castillo point. You have yet to even dance to that one. And I simply cannot wait to hear it.
Trading Beltran would be colossally stupid; the Mets wouldn’t do it, and the Jays probably wouldn’t want Beltran for Rios and Burnett anyway. Even if they did, I don’t want A.J. Burnett (again). Too much injury history.
Some team would probably give some kind of prospect for Delgado if the Mets paid some portion of his salary. That’s what they have to do. Dump him like the Heat dumped Shaq. :)
I disagree with you about Delgado. Unless the Mets paid his entire salary and his $4MM buyout for next year, I truly believe the Mets couldn’t even get a B level prospect for him. Also, I wouldn’t call getting Shawn Marion for Shaq a “dump.”
Well, that’s the thing, right? The Heat magically turned over-the-hill Shaq into in-his-prime Marion. I wish the Mets could make deals like that, like when the Sharks got Thornton, etc.
But I realize those are salary cap-ish deals, too.
It’s funny how it seems whenever the Mets inquire about someone, the other GM wants the moon and more for said player. Take Nady, for example. I don’t know about the new regime in Pittsburgh, but the old one would have asked for something like Pelfrey (when he had trade value) and F. Martinez. Even Bowden wanted something stupid for a declining Chad Cordero. Meanwhile the Braves can make deals like Horacio Ramirez for R. Soriano.
trade OUR BIGGEST PROBLEM OLLIE AND HEILMAN. i think also it is time to give up on pelf. trade him before he loses interest to other teams. heilman ollie and pelf and carp (or fernando) for kazmir and upton.
lol, i hope this trade proposal isnt serious??? your joking right??
It is Omar’s fault; don’t know where his draft skills went but they are not here…Willie could use more spunk, heaven knows, but the problem is too many OLD players on the downside (Delgado, Pedro, Alou), or players who are first rate but cannot seem to be the driving force of a team (Wright, Beltran); or players with a ton of skills who don’t have a clue (Reyes) about basic things like base running and basic defense.
A shake up IS a good idea; Einstein is right! Funny how Church being out has made the wheels fall off–he HAS been the Mets best player this year.
If Karp can play first, let’s bring him up and see how his bat is platooning with Delgado; if F Martinez is at all ready, bring him up…drop Castillo to 7th once Church returns, and have Beltran hit 2nd AND LEAVE HIM THERE; Wright 3d; Church 4th (?); bring up an OF from New Orl; and cut somebody–like Theo did, w/o sentiment–like Marlon or Endy.
Pitching wise: Pelfrey and Heilman to NO to work on stuff, incl. trying to start Heilman and then get a bag of balls for Pelfrey; pick up Freddy Garcia, hope Pedro can pitch and dump Ollie. NOT an innings eater, but an all or nothing pitcher who got lucky in his arb year.
We need 4 and 5 starters who can eat innings without a worse result than we get now from our 4 inning wonders.
Oy.
Carp is lefty, won’t platoon with Delgado.
F. Martinez is injured.
When Martinez is back from his injury, I would give him a week in AA or AAA, then bring him up. Keep him up unless he falls on his face. Need to inject some youth into this lineup.
We have other players who are much more ready than Fmart. No need to rush him.
Have you even bothered to see FMart numbers this year?
The guy is not ready for MLB anytime soon.
As a matter of fact I have seen his numbers this year. I also know what I saw in Spring Training. I know his numbers are down, but I don’t want to replace Alou with a 30 year old AAA outfielder who is having a good first 2 months of the season.
I am more interested in what FMart can develop into as opposed to how he is presently faring. Simply put, I want to put a long term solution into LF. Not a band aid. If he falls on his face, you ship him to AAA for the next few months. At least give him a taste of the big leagues and give the fans something to cheer about. Too much negativity will solve nothing.
So Danny1986, don’t assume I’m misinformed because I’m thinking a little bit outside of the box. Why does a player have to be on an unbelievable hot streak in order to be promoted? Scouts agree he has the tools.
Scouts also agree that he is no where near ready.
I’d rather see Fernando Martinez struggle, knowing there is upside there.
I think most Mets fans would rather see that, than sending Easley, Endy, or Marlon Anderson out there.
Just an opinion.
Apologies for appearing derogatory. So many people here claim call-ups and fantasy trades and see litle beyond the surface. Didn’t mean to put you into that group.
As for FMart…he does not have to be on an unbelieveable hot streak in order to be promoted. But he also shouldn’t strikeout nearly 25% of the time nor 7 times more than he walks.
he doesn’t have teh plate control right now. An injection of Youthful exhubariance is not the answer if it’s not coupled with brains and discipline. That is called chaos.
I wouldn’t trade Beltran unless we get good value, it would feel like buying high selling low, and I think we all think Beltran will start playing better, and has been improving.
I don’t know who you can really trade on this team… Delgado and Castillo are probably untradeable… We want to keep Church, Wright, Reyes… we don’t have a LF to trade… Maybe we can trade Schneider for another “meh” player, but we might as well keep him…
Wagner has full no-trade.
The only three guys that might bring back stuff, in my mind, are Perez, Beltran, and Heilman….
Beltran has a no trade, so you will need to give his blessing…….and somehow I don’t see him OK’ing a trade to TOR.
Releasing Delgado (who I like) would be a start because it is painfully obvious that try as he might, he is a shell of his former self and just isn’t helping this team. I would work on the bench a little bit – I posted some thoughts on that a few topics back – but it consists of getting rid of Easley and Anderson – bringing up Pascucci and A. Hernandez (you can use Valentin for A-Her if he’s ready) and send down the 3rd catcher if you’re never going to use Castro for a Pinch Hitter anyway.
Of course you see if anyone is stupid enough to take Castillo off your hands……not that I think he’ll have a bad year…..I just think the whole contract is nuts.
And IMO, you gauge the market for Reyes and Perez………Perez may have some value – and he may be expendable if you truly feel Pedro is back and ready to contribute. And Reyes…….if he continues to be wildly inconsistent, his value will never be higher than it is right now….so it never hurts to see what is available. Of course we will never get enough back in return to justify that trade….so we’ll ride it out…hoping he gets his head on straight.
Player I would trade in a minute: Oliver Perez, Mike Pelfrey – Reyes. I think that is enough “meat” to get some very decent players. Regardless how “inconsistant” the two pitchers has been one is twenty four and the other won fifteen games I think any team that is looking for pitching would take them on a chance .
We’re not getting a fair deal from anyone right now. Everyone knows what our situation is. We are desperate.
Pascucci for Phil Huighes. They need a 1B’man in 09 in the Bronx.
so do the mets
i was kidding
They have shelly duncan
I think we’ll all be happier Met fans when we’ve adjusted our expectations to match reality. This team isn’t a World Series contender like we were led to believe. We have some young players with potential that underperform far too often. We’ve got quite a few older players on the downside of their careers that can play well on a given day but are always a sneeze away from the DL. The net result is a decent team (85-88 wins) that can compete in the NL East if no one else gets hot. Even if we do limp into the post season, we probably won’t go very far.
There, now that we understand, we can go back to our lives and be happy when the Mets win and not so shocked when they lose.
id rather see a team with evans/ carp lose then delgado and alou. at the very worst you know these kids are only going to get better and its always fun watching home grown talent.
I agree. I think a big part of rooting for a team is the anticipation of a better future. With the current team, there is no anticipation of good things to come. Only dread for another dismal collapse.
Bring on the youth movement. Get rid of all the creaky old guys. I’d rather watch a team that has a chance to surpass expectation than a team that consistantly falls short of expectation.
Another dismal collapse? you have to be winning to be able to collapse. We’ll be 9.5 back of the Marlins by the end of this series, having to leapfrog 2 other very good teams btween them and us to even sniff first place. The ship is sinking. I wonder if some of the passengers on the titanic also refused to believe it until the bitter end
Wow, you must be on the wrong blog comments page to write something this reasonable, reality-based, and sensible. 100% correct on all counts.
It is time to treat 2008 like 1983, when we had good young players and had just gotten Keith and had Gooden in the minors. We have Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Church, Santana, Maine, and Wagner as our bedrock for 2009. This is a pretty good foundation, and when we head to Florida in Feb 2009 without Pedro, Duque, Sanchez, Alou, Schoeneweis, Wise, Delgado, Anderson, Easley, etc, we will be ready to be a young, fresh team.
This year we are an 85–88 win team, and nothing more. Sure, I will be thrilled if things turn around, but it is not realistic. Nor it is all Willie’s fault.
Finally, continuing to create a poisonous atmosphere by booing and making the players hate the fans and continuing to build a wall between them and us is absolutely worthless and counterproductive.
Thanks for this great post!
Great job yourself there Kingman.
Thank you for those 2 HRs you hit for me on my 7th birthday back in ‘82. Appreciated it. And you were my favorite Met…….and then Lenny came.
Trading Beltran does not make sense to me. I understand that you have to give up something to get something, but who is going to replace his defense in center? And even though he has started out slow he is still one of the best offensive centerfielders out there.
This team does need to be shook up, but don’t make a change just to make one. Get rid of the guys that aren’t helping the team (Heilman, Delgado, Endy, etc.) You cannot trade an gold-glove winning all-star CF for two guys that are at bese decent.
I agree, the time is not right for a firesale. First get rid of the dead weight. Delgado, Easley, Heilman, Anderson, Wise, Elduque, Pedro, etc. Then bring in youth to replace them. You are not giving up you are just trying to change the makeup of the team. Allow new leadership to emerge.
did you purposely leave Castillo off that list?
Yes, he is fine for 2nd base. I have no problems with him. The rest of those guys have contracts running out this season or have no use on the team.
fine for 2nd base. Absolutely awful in the 2 spot.
On a team where we see players cast in in heightened roles contrary to reality (Beltran as the offensive leader, Pedro as the savior, Wright as the leader, Delgado as the RBI power threatetc..)…Luis Castillo role on this squad is an incredible mis-match and he fails just as much, if not more, as anyone else.
Delgado, Easley, Heilman, Anderson, Wise and Elduque would not get you a ticket to another team’s game, never mind a good player in return.
Who is saying that you are trading all of them. Wise and Elduque would just be released. Delgado you look for another team’s salary dump like what we did with Mota and pay the difference if needed. Easley, again who cares. If he can’t pinch hit, what good is he? Heilman should be able to net something.
you know, the second I saw Heilman warming up early last night for an extended relief appearance I said “Could it be that he is now on the Joba plan?” (of course…after I said “HEILMAN!!! WTF!!! It’s almost as if WIllie already has his July Eurpoean Vacation planned!!”). Seeing Peflrey crap the bed againwith zero control of the K zone, and knowing Heilman’s relief struggles and motivation to be a starter, perhaps that would be a positive gain swap? With Pedro coming back (knock on wood)…you have a Santana/Maine/Pedro/OP/Heilman rotation. Hmmmmm.
I honestly have no issue with Heilman going back to starting. couldn’t hurt.
PLEASE CUT DELGADO AND CASTILLIO!!!!! WE CAN BELIEVE IN CHANGE!!!!!
YES SHE CAN!!!!
This is seriously one of the worst sports columns I have read in a long, long time. Not only is Gammonds obnoxious as he whines about how mean all of us NYC racists are to poor Willie and ’socially responsible’ carlos delgado, but his baseball suggestions are stupid. Why would carlos accept a trade to Toronto. And sure, maybe adding Ryan Freel would be nice….any suggestions as to how to make that happen, Mr. Gammonds?
What a jerk.
Hear hear, just an atrocious column all around.
I don’t care if Willie wins the Nobel Peace Prize, in my opinion, he’s an awful, terrible manager, period. I don’t care if Carlos Delgado cures cancer, he is absolutely useless as a New York Met. That’s what I care about Gammons, not who is “socially responsible” and “decent.”
Jesus.
Jeez, spell his name right and no one said the fans were racist, but I will tell you flat out, a friend of my mine was at the game last night, and the verbiage being hurled at Carlos Delgado did not equate to “boo you are doing a bad job”
Well, people who make a racial issue out of it are obviously wrong, but I think equally obviously the vast, vast minority.
And Memorial Day might not be the best day to heap praise upon Carlos’ keen sense of ’social responsibility’.
Bottom line is that he is not a likable character. From his old antics in Toronto, to his vanishing act in front of the press, to his obnoxious outburst at Heyman, to his ‘boredom’ comments last year, Met fans are sick of his act. Dump him.
beltran isn’t getting traded so stop playing fantasy baseball. if beltran reyes and wright are not the cornerstones of the franchise as they looked like in ‘06 then the Mets are in trouble. you can’t burn down the team like the As and the Marlins cause it plays in new york, there is a new stadium to fill and a network that needs to sell ratings . There is no help coming from the minor leagues for the foreseeable future. if these players continue to produce at this level the last 162 games of mediocrity will seem like nothing. i can just imagine in 2012 someone saying “the mets are 2 games under .500 in their last 512 games”.
Look, it’s becoming painfully obvious that we have to bite the bullet on this year because we don’t have the team to win. Analyze our starting players position by position against the other teams in the NL East and objectively see where they rank. With the exception of Wright, Beltran and Church, our guys are pretty much the third or fourth best at their positions and our pitching isn’t strong enough over the other teams to overcome those weaknesses. And now our bench stinks.
We have to take the money saved on Delgado and others and absolutely sign Texeira for first base so that Beltran go back to being a complementary player. And if we get a leftfielder who can hit (Nady?), we can survive a year or two with Castillo at second if he hits eighth. But the key is still getting Reyes to play to his potential and to pick up one more stud pitcher behind Johan.
I do not think Beltran ever wanted to sign with the Mets in the first place, especially when Boras tried to give a discount to the Yankees so Beltran can play with Bernie Williams. Secondly, I would actually trade Beltran, some “pieces”, cash and Heilman (MAYBE) for Alex Rios, Adam Lind and Shawn Marcum.
What garbage and old news. Beltran wanted to be here and has played his ass off since he has been here. He just does not gritt his teeth when he does it.
While I love Beltran and he hustles more than some people give him credit for, Boras giving the Yanks a discount for his services is true.
Oh, and if the Mets want to go after one of the Jays pitchers, McGowan is the guy you want. Marcum isn’t this good, and McGowan’s numbers this year don’t indicate how good his stuff is.
real, i know how much ya luv softee, but last night you had him wright and reyes in the cross hairs…….
I am not saying that he is not struggling. I am saying it makes no sense to trade him. Do Beltran, Wright and Reyes need to step up? Big time. But trading them is just plain stupid at this point.
i’ll agree with that , which is why i stopped short of saying i wanted rowand… it’s fantasy ,so why bother…
at this point the answer will have to come from within or it wont come at all..
If we can get that, I’d do it in a second, but I don’t think Toronto would do it. I don’t see the benefit for them.
The only Blue Jays that would make a Beltran deal even a remote possibility would be a Vernon Wells and BJ Ryan deal. Especially if you are sending Beltran, pieces, and Heilman.
That being said. I wouldn’t give up Beltran for anyone, unless a Josh Beckett/Dustin Pedroia deal comes up. In other words, no chance.
The problem with this roster is at the top.
Randolph continues to make changes to 5-7 in this roster, when the real problem is 1-2.
Reyes is very exciting, but his OBP is way to low for a leadoff hitter. Either he needs to get that up, or he needs to bat somewhere else.
Castillo is a piss poor #2 hitter and shouldn’t be batting anywhere in this lineup but 8th.
At this point, Randolph should just pick the lineup out of a hat and see what happens….instead of doing the same thing every night and expecting different results.
Actually Castillo has the 4th best OBP on the team and 3rd best on the current lineup. Maybe he should bat lead off and Reyes 2nd. Then maybe Reyes would take a pitch?
Castillo is a bum. His OBP may be good, but he can’t hit the ball out of the infield. Eventually pitchers will start throwing him strikes and his OBP will be lower. Plus, the 4th best OBP on this team isn’t saying much.
Some people say the definition of Madness is doing the same thing but expecting different results.
Castillo really sucks…..He is terrible in the #2 spot….WIllie must bat him 8th……Omar’s mistake should not handcuff the team by having him bat 2nd to justify the ridiculous contract omar gave him…
Please use a stats to back up your arguement that Castillo is a terrible #2 hitter.
i thought the guy above who said beltran needs to be looked at and used differently, was the best post yet…..
If it is true that Beltran has a no-trade clause (I have no idea), wouldn’t one think that the most respected writer in Baseball would know this before suggesting fantasy baseball trades? That would be a serious journalist error, and embarassing.
You guys want to talk about HOT SEAT? Guess who is on the biggest hot seat as we speak?
Johan Santana’s agent.
meaning?
“Dignity and Championships”
The Mets are absolute kryptonite to those 2 things.
cmon people, beltran is the best center fielder in mets history, you can trade a guy like that and he is in his prime. wright, reyes and beltran are going nowhere
considering mets cf history ,thats not saying much.. but agee was no slouch…. dosnt have the flashy beltran compiler #’s but he was better..
Freel would be perfect and I would trade Endy for him straight up. He has a spark and plays with heart! He can teach some of these players a thing or two about hustle. You need to start shaking up this roster. I think when Pedro gets back he will have an impact but he is not a savior. He is throwing 90MPH and feels good. That is a good sign behind Johan. Perez needs to build more confidence and Maine maintain consistency. I think you keep Vargas and demote Pelf. That is a formidable rotation and it helps that Vargas is 5-1 against the Braves and Perez does well against them also. Need to string together a few victories and get moving along here. I think they can turn the tide here with consistency.
Don’t knock Beltran…..he plays his arse off and is a gamer. He has played injured a lot, more than anyone thinks.
Reyes
Beltran
Church
Delgado
Wright
Alou/Evans
Castillo/Valentin
Schneider
Could it be worse than what they currently have?
You want your #4 hitter to be batting .215 with a .294 OBP? I want Delgado to hit 8th.
Reyes
Castillo
Wright
Beltran
Church
Evans/Alou who
Schnider
Delgado
you make a solid point with delgado and then go and put castillo 2.
Again, at this point there is no better option. He has the 3rd best OBP in the current lineup.
I think it’s only a matter of time before Valentin supplants Castillo as the everyday 2B.
I’m beginning to hope that Castillo gets “tired” and keeps on asking Willie for days off. He SUCKS!!!!
I really don’t care what his OBP is. OUTFIELDERS PLAY HIM 75 FEET OFF OF THE INFIELD GRASS. HE IS OF NO USE TO THIS TEAM.
Again what does it matter where they play him if he is STILL getting on base?>
Did you notice the way castillo slapped at the pitch for strike three last night? Pathetic….when the team is behind castillo makes you want to vomit with his lackadaisical attitude……and gimpy knees….
lackadaisical attitude? That’s a great stat there.
Gimpy knees with a lazy attitude yet he STILL GETS ON BASE AND IS 2nd on the team in SB.
Not bad for a guy with slappy disease.
real,
i know you watch baseball. what do your eyes tell you about castillo. do you think he has a chance at driving in a runner from 2B with 2 out? no shot. outfielders play him 200 ft deep. it is like having an extra pitcher in the lineup. i really don’t care what his obp says. my own eyes tell me he sucks.
he isn’t a cancer. he isn’t a bad citizen. he is just an overrated (even in his prime) player. he can’t hit, he can’t run anymore, he isnt’ the 2b he once was. if you want to bat him 8th in a lineup including ramon castro, i can deal with that. any other day of the week, he is part of the black hole of this lineup (with schneider and endy)
THANK YOU!!!!
now prepare for only 1311 words left before since86 says “you know, maybe you have a point”.
make that 1311 posts.
Reyes
Beltran
Wright
Church
Evans/Alou
Carp/Tatis/or anyone not named Delgado
Castillo/Valentin
Schneider
I just don’t get the idea here. Beltran has been and still is one of our best RBI man. Why move him to a spot that he will get few if any?
Then bat him third for a while – I would just like to see if you can get him going a bit.
Ok that’s not a bad idea, 3rd or 5th. All is pending on Church however.
Reyes
Castillo
Wright
Church
Beltran
Evans/Alou
Schneider
Delgado
That might be a change that would work?
I would try it.
That sounds like some runs…anything to give this team a slap in the @$$ and to change it up
I keep hearing Luis Castillo is a crap player…From Met fans. Is that true? Of course not. Its not surprising met fans call him a crap player when they’re rivals have a power hitting 2B Chase utley, 2B Robinson Canoe.
Castillo is not a power hitter, He’s a proven winner with a lifetime 300 average for a reason. But no we have to look like a video game line up don’t we? Where reyes goes Castillo should go, With jose getting the bat going i’d have castillo in the 2 hole for situational hitting, and I’d slide Church in front of delgado for run production
Delgado bashers i’m sure you were quiet in 2006 when he was picking up the offensive slack during the postseason with a struggling david wright.
Whether this team is good or not, Playing well or playing poor, You need to support the team. The team needs a pickmeup from the fans . If this team doesn’t make the playoffs again….What are you gonna do? This is sports, I could think of worse things.
Mostly agree, but Delgado may be finished. Often, you are stuck with the last year of an aging player’s contract. Its the price you pay for the good times (2006). i.e., Piazza.
There should be no issue in releasing him if it makes the team better.
Castillo has no business putting on a major league uniform. It is pretty much embarassing that he can’t hit the ball out of the infield. I’m not looking for a video game lineup. I am just looking for someone who can hit the ball hard.
HE SUCKS!!!!!!
No someone who comes on here with their own vendetta that even changes their screen name because of a role player on a team that the super stars are struggling, Sucks.
real, i don’t have a personal vendetta.
maybe sucks is overboard. this team has a million other problems, but having him in the lineup gives us zero pop in the bottom. i agree that the only place for him in the lineup is the 2-hole. but, that doesn’t mean i think he is a 2 hitter.
there is really nobody on this team that i have very much confidence in right now at the plate. even when he is streaking (see 30+ game hitting streak a few years ago), he doesn’t scare or excite you.
you know what ticks me off: when these national reporters act like they know the mets based off looking at their record and stats. sorry peter, but the fans at this site, matt cerrone and friends, and beat writers like adam rubin follow this team everyday. we dont just look at stats and make suggestions as to the crazy trades the mets should take. jose reyes “pressures himself” into losing his focus- what the heck does that mean? Carlos beltran looks lost- thats his expression, but he doesnt play like hes lost… i feel like there are few players in the league who consistently hit the ball hard but to the wrong spots. anyways, peter, how about you watch more than 3 mets games and then make your judgments.
By the way…..since 1991, how many years have us fans absolutely hated our club vs the # of years we’ve had reason to love our club?
What a disgrace
that would be 4
Painfully, this is the first time i can truly remember ‘hating’ a mets team. True, post 2000 years were really bad, but I never had a reason to really love any of those guys, so I didn’t hate them. 2000 was mostly a rush, a thrill, unexpected and pleasant. 2006 was awesome – come from behind wins, passionate play, clear focus on the goal (their talk in ‘06 spring training about how they knew what they had here and not spoil a good thing) – is so far in the past its painful. I really do hate this team, and it hurts so much to admit it.
Ummm….much of the 90s teams, the late 70s-early 80s, many fairly easy to hate.
But, at least many of those teams wre just plain bad and expectations were low. And this group of washed-up former stars and assorted bad complementarr pieces is just maddening.
Believe it or not, some of what ails the Mets is actually what is currently ailing. We really miss Church in the 5 or 6 hole.– since he pushes down Delgado (who has started to hit, by the way.)
We do need to retool the bench– you might see Omar go after a guy like Millar in place of an Easley, and then bring back Valentin– but the extent of this will depend on how competitive we are about a month from now.
I know we have a very fragile team right now, but if we could get on a good run– 10-5 over the next 15 or something like that, we will feel alot better about the team, even though that would only put us 2 games over .500. To me, June is the most important month of the season for us. If we can turn it on and win 18-20 games, the team could take off…
Problem is, why would Baltimore trade Millar? They have gotten off to a great start, considering expectations.
this team also should not be broken up… we have talent, we just need the manager to make everything come together. hopefully things will mesh and we could make a run at the wildcard, or even the division. its a long season, and as frustrating as the mets have been, its too early to throw in the towel
“hopefully”, championships aren’t won because you hope for them. i hope for girls to come knocking on my door every night but that doesn’t happen. there is no fight, and no urgency. there is never any sign of life in willie. soemthign that doesnt show life wont cause others to get excited and fired up.
“His family”!! cmone on gammons. I wouldnt be surprised if that guy all over the newspapers with the orange fire willie sign is his nephew. The icing on the cake was when he tried to argue the delgado home run at yankee stadium and mid argument he hung his head. HE HUNG HIS HEAD. what fight has anyone ever won where mid-fight, they are frowning at the dirt. give me a break
Beltran in May: .311. Enough said.
Gammons is an idiot and needs to see a dentist
The Mets suck. I’m not denying it anymore. I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up in last place this year and for years to come. Our farm system is horrible. We have no young pitchers or young infielders/outfielders that are gonna come up and make an impact like the Angels, Red Sox, Yankees, etc. have had players do. I don’t care what minor leaguers we have that “might” make it to the bigs. We have no “sure thing.” Only players hitting the market are over-the-hill veterens and I’m over the Mets signing players like that. It’s gonna take awhile to get to where we need to be so brace yourself. We might have to face the facts and just rebuild. It’s not gonna be too fun opening CitiField next year with no hype for this team.
BLAME THE PLAYERS YOU LOSERS!! STOP WITH WILLIE!! THEY ARE PAID BIG TIME TO PERFORM AND THEY ARE ALL D O G S!!! INCLUDING THAT OVERHYPED STIFF DAVID WRIGHT!!
look at it this way. imagine your a brillaint student and yu’ve excelled in the past. and you go in a classroom, and your teacher stands there motionless and doesnt say a word. then brings a guy in named aaron or jorge to screw you over. you wouldn’t excel
Is that you Willie?
…in my experience winning fixes everything…enough said…
Exactly what experience is that Brandon? Being a Mets fan, what have you done or seen that tells you winning fixes everything? I’ve been a Met fan much longer than you have and I’ve never seen a team underachieve as much as this current team has, yet still be able to win and “fix everything” like you say. You can’t expect this team to flip a switch and start winning as they are currently constituted. Changes need to be made, whether it’s the manager, the players, or both. Then, maybe they’ll start winning.
Sorry George Thomas if you have been a Met fan so long you would recall the great under achievements of 1989. 1991, 1992, 2002 and 2003.
This team has not yet hit that level.
My statement was that “I’ve never seen a team underachieve as much as this current team has, yet still be able to win and “fix everything” like you say” meaning that when a Met team is underachieving, they don’t just start winning out of the blue and make everything all better. Either they make changes, or they don’t and continue to underachieve, like the teams you refer to.
Omar said yesterday now’s not the time to make trades because most teams aren’t looking to deal — either they’re not out of it or they don’t know what they need. I agree a shake-up would be good. And I’d trade anybody if it brings back quality we need. I just don’t know that it’s so easy to trade Beltran in May. Because we don’t have enough talent at AAA, it’s hard to grow from within. And so maybe stocking some high AAA talent for the players that aren’t working is a recipe for future success. Removing the big problems like Delgado, Castillo, Ollie Perez, isn’t easy. And in the pen, you just never know who is going to implode next (ok, Heilman on a regular basis, but the others don’t get a pass either).
I would trade wagner in a heartbeat (don’t know if he’d waive his no-trade clause). He’s the kind of guy who could bring back some valuable upper tier young talent. And he’d rid the team of a constant distraction. It doesn’t look like we’ll need him for the saves anyway.
Why would you get rid of our best relief pitcher/closer? Wagner is a winner and he is gutsy and tough….why would you get rid of one of the few players on this team who have a pulse? If this team gets any quieter personality wise the players and fans will fall asleep in the middle of games…
Because he can bring in some young quality players, which the other bums won’t.
OK, I might get flamed for this, but I think it needs to be said. If the Wilpons dropped Willie yesterday, then the race issue is back on the table, front and center. And they would face a potential lawsuit for wrongful termination — and at the very least — tons of bad PR.
And then you could have Al Sharpton and every other wacko out there telling folks to stop going to Met games, stop watching SNY and there will be “Support Willie Walks” throughout NYC and blocking the Holland Tunnel some really hot Friday afternoon.
The Wilpons are not as dumb as portrayed. And I am certain they have had employee issues before.
When they lose 2 of 3 to (or get swept by) Florida, then lose 3 of 4 to the Dodgers, Willie will get replaced — their reason will be because the team will be “too far behind.”
All the potential furor of the race issue will have subsided. And it buys them a little time to find a suitable replacement, whoever that may be.
Just my two cents.
Sorry, could not disagree more. The Wilpons have all they need to fire Randolph. They had it last September and they still have it. Their hands would be considered totally clean.
And they have millions of Citi sponsor $$$. And Citi would like to keep a nice healthy image and as many consumer checking accounts as possible.
Welcome to business decision making 101. What’s right and logical is typically covered in the back of the textbook.
@koosman
lol That was really thought out. Definitely more then 2 cents
I wouldn’t put it past the Wilpons to be afraid of the race issue. Look at frigging Gammons’ divisive, politcally correct take. What an ass. . . .
Aren’t they putting The Jackie Robinson Rotunda into Citi Field? Give me a break already…
dude….i’ve been stating it all along. Sharpton cannot wait to picket the Citi Field construction site the second Willie gets the Axe.
Not b/c it is right. Or noble. Or legit. Only b/c it is profitable. Oh…and also b/c no one has the b@lls to stand up to that glory hound hypocrite.
You’re clearly not an employment lawyer. They are simply waiting for the dust to settle.
No, I’m no “Employment Lawyer” but I’ve fired my share of underperformers:
The same individuals who hired him in the first place will fire him
Biggest collapse in history of baseball
Kept him still, and gave him another chance
Talented team in jeopardy of falling out of contention
Subordinates appear unmotivated
Media circus follows him everywhere causing a distraction
This is sports and entertainment industry, not the same as your office.
Rubbish. They fired a manager for whatever reason they want, with or without cause. Just ask every white manager they’ve ever fired.
So they’re afraid to fire Willie because they fear Sharpton’s racial extortion? Doubtful.
The problem with this organization is that it is always looking for what’s best at the moment. The minor league system has been wiped out with the exception of a few players.
I know it may be a tired argument, but look at what the Arizona Diamondbacks are doing. The fact that the Marlins locked up Hanley Ramirez should scare the Mets. Not only are the Marlins drafting well, but they are signing players from key trades to long-term deals. Ramirez is only the beginning. Also, look how many of those Diamondbacks are locked up with long-term deals. Some of them will just be entering their prime when they expire.
Baseball is a young man’s game now and we have seen what drug testing has done. Teams are starting to change their philosophy. Hell, Oakland was the pioneer. I’m not saying the Mets have to go all Moneyball, But something at the top of the organization has to change.
I thought with Jeff Wilpon getting more involved, more emphais would be put on stockpiling the minor league system. I when I mean stockpiling, I mean having enough talent that a Johan Santana deal doesn’t kill the system. Other teams are doing it, why not the Mets?
The Mets shouldn’t have to sign Luis Castillo to a four-year deal if they had a replacement ready in the minors. The Mets have a replacement in leftfield, but he’s not ready yet. The Mets need to find guys who will be ready with just a couple of seasons in the minors.
This change in philosophy will have no impact on this year, but the Mets absolutely need to keep the future in mind and it’s just not happening right now.
Couldn’t agree with you more. The “win now” philosophy of the Wilpons and Omar has only saddled us with a gang of AARP-eligible underachievers with extended contracts and decimated the farm system. From a rebuilding standpoint, we are now in a worse position than in 2005. And with a Moneyball approach, this fan base is just not going to tolerate the years it will take to rebuild this franchise.
The overpaid aarp guys don’t have a contract for next season.
Castillo and El Duque certainly do.
Based on this view, you can argue that Omar ruined this franchise from day 1. He went into “win now” mode and signed class A free agents, which destroyed the farm ability for a few years by losing picks. He hired a bad manager, he overpaid for old hurt players (am I right that the Sox picked Clay Buchholtz with the Pedro compensation pick???)
Omar promised us a team built to compete for the long term. Instead he delivered us 2 good years and a long-term mess.
You know what? Fire him.
We traded away all the good pieces for Santana. There is not a single prospect at AAA that anyone would want. The AA team has some legit guys who are a year or two away.
Omar is not going to trade Beltran, Wright or Reyes. The rest of the lineup won’t yield much.
This team is a reflection of their manager. He is shell-shocked, mostly because he took the bait on the black manager issue and it blew up on him. There are way too many black and hispanic coaches and managers in sports to think a double standard applies. I think initially there was a distinction, but we moved beyond this type of thinking, or at least I have.
Willie is a former Yankee.
He makes Clueless Art look charasmatic.
His team is underperforming
Before we change the ingredients in the casserole, which might actually be good enough, lets try and get a cook who can make the ingredients work.
Willie won’t be fired until after the All-Star Game (if the Mutts continue to lose). Clint Hurdle has invited Willie to be one of his coaches for the All-Star game at Yankee Stadium.
managers have missed the all-star game for being fired, if the Mets get swept by Florida I believe something gives.
I hope you’re right. It would be odd to see Willie sitting in the Dugout without a uniform on.
Clint Hurdle…. how come we never looked at him when we hired Wilbur? Well, maybe we did and he was over qualified?
How about Wally Backman?
Free Wally!
DAVID WRIGHT STINKS HE IS A BUM AND A STIFF!! TRADE HIM FOR PEDRO FELIZ!!!
Wow, that is some interesting garbage you got going on there.
reincarnation of metsarebest
Phillies fan flying under the radar. They won a ton of games in the 2007 playoffs.
in fact….just as many as we did.
duh!!! we are just realizing now that a change is needed? either add or subtract something, or else nothing will change, period.
I think that DELGADO is the main problem here. He and castillo.
They have no leadership skills, show no signs of coming out of these horrible ofensive slumps, yet they are up there oin the top step dancing with Reyes WHILE THE TEAM LOSES 10 out of 12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STOP FKN DANCING AND TAKE SOME BATTING PRATICE!!!!!!!!!
I HATE THESE DANCES AND CRAP THESE PLAYERS DO WHEN WE ARE LOSING!!!!
DROP DELGADO!!!!! HE IS A HREATLESS BUMB!!!!! HE IS THE MAIN REASON FOR ALL THE TENSION AND PROBLEMS IN THE CLUBHOUSE!!!!!
DROP DELGADO
DROP DELGADO
DROP DELGADO!!!!!!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CAps lock.
I wouldn’t necessarily say Delgado has no leadership skills. He is the first one to the mound when a pitcher is in trouble, not Wright, Reyes or Castillo. That is a form of leadership Delgado is showing. And for him to do that despite his own struggles probably means a lot to his teammates.
I agree, but he is clearly finished and I think he should be released if his performance doesn’t improve shortly. That is the best argument for his release.
Is that you omar talking about delgado’s leadeship skills? Junno?
So what you’re saying is Trade Reyes?
that was to Boooooo
Im saying delgado is a piece of crap player this year, and needs to go..
He is not a leader, i dont care what he does to talk to pitchers, whatever… does that work? Has delgado ever calmed down Ollie or Maine? Dont think so..
He is an overpaid overrated player that hates the fans, hates the USA, and deserves to go…
So you don’t like Delgado?
Whats up fellas….its been a while since I posted. Took a few months off, but now I’m back for those of you that hate(d) me.
This post is 100% right. Delgado is the old man who knew of success back in the day, and even though the game has passed him by refuses to adapt. I really think that many(at the minimum the young latino’s) look at him as a role model. They think that his style of play and attitude are to be modeled after. I can see him saying something to Reyes along the lines of “Dont listen to Willie. You play your game. Blah Blah” I could be way wrong, but it just looks to me that in the locker room when Willis around they respect him, and the minute he turns his back they just keep doing things the way they wanna. Could be wrong, but I think Delgado is ABSOLTLEY the A1 problem with this team…
You may be right that Delgado is the main problem, but it has far more to do with his hitting ability than his inability to lead, as the latter has limited to no real impact when the former is not happening.
how many games is church going to be playing at 18% before they dl him?
The thing that I am most dumfounded about is the fact that he only gets dizzy when he runs, so he can’t play the field. So, I am assuming they keep their fingers crossed that he strikes out when he bats, so he doesn’t have to run?
the mets should swap heilman and pelfrey, make heilman a starter and maybe he becomes a decent starter, pelfrey should be ok in the bullpen if he locates his power sinker
heilman wants to be starter, if he learns a third pitch like a cutter or slider, he should be fine
by the time we get heilman stretched out to pitch past 4 innings, it will be July. Then again, Pelf hasn’t made it past the fifth in a while either.
We should hire Mike Scott as a pitching coach.
Players are well paid. From Joe smith at $300,000 per year to Carlos Beltran at 17,000,000, these guys make far moere money than 99% of us.
That being said, they are human. You can get inside their heads, they can over think. The manager is under fire for losing and for speaking his mind. His team feels this pressure. You can’t start making changes to the players expecting it to work. We all know that there is no one player that can spark a team. Even LeBraun James needs help. Changing the rock that is weighing this team down is the only solution.
Who the heck is LeBraun, is that the new FB coach at WVU?
I think he is an NBA player. You know, the same league with Kobiyashi Bryant.
The players, meaning Beltran, Delgado, Wright. Reyes, and a few others place the blame on thmselves in inteviews and articles. Its good knowing that they have an understanding of the obvious.
Okay, so now what are you going to do about it guys? You have fallen apart for almost one full season and even had a winter off season to think about it. The same thing is happening. There is a difference between talking a good game and playing one on the field.
It just might be time for pulling up the moving van. if you can’t be motivated by last Septembers collapse and make it part of history, then the fans have every right to boo and not show, now and at Citi-Field. You are not putting out for us but we are paying top dollar for what – an alleged MLB team playing less than Double A quality ball?
Its great theat Reyes hit two HRs last night. His errors accounted for six runs in two straight losses. Who got in his face about staying focused? Carlos Beltran? Please…!
Yo Fred and Jeff, get the moving van ready and get rid of everything that has contributed to this situation from the GM to the Bat Boys! We’re tired of talk – TAKE ACTION!!!
Can I get my “Fanwalk” brick back? I want to put it to better use as a paperweight.
I usually don’t post on specific player moves because I look at the team as a fan. I am emotional and tend to overreact. But, in the spirit of things, I think that i will take my first stab at it.
Pitching Staff:
Send Heilman down to AAA to work on his stuff. Keep him in the bullpen, but stretch him out to make him the long man. This will also allow him to “audition” for other teams if he succeeds in the long role as a possibe starter.
Throw Ollie’s name out on the trade block to see what kind of interest there is in him. Maybe hearing his name as trade bait will fire him up a little.
Abandon the whole “set-up” man idea until the pen gets it together. With the lefties and righties they have, the match-ups should always be in the team’s favor.
Offense/Defense
Float Delgado’s name out there for a trade (maybe a package deal with Ollie) to judge interest. If no real offers surface, let him know that he is going to start sharing time at 1B with our young guys. He can either go with the plan, or be cut. I don’t want to call it a platoon because he would be sharing time with other Lefties.
With the walks and the ability to bunt, try Castillo at the lead-off spot. With Reyes batting second, Beltran 3rd, Wright 4th. Followed by Church in the 5 spot, Alou 6th, Delgado/1B 7th, and BS in the 8 hole.
Maybe “demoting” Reyes will get him to shape up. It just seems to me right now that the guys are “comfortable.” They know that there isn’t anyone that is goign to actually challenge them for a spot.
In ‘06 alot of these guys were trying to prove something. .Wright and Reyes were still trying to prove themselves as legitimate pros. Beltran was proving to fans that ‘05 was just a fluke. Delgado wanted to prove that he was really the hired gun everyone talked about. Why isn’t anyone talking about this?
Maybe being complacent has more to do with this season than the end of last year.
cut delgado midseason and see how fast beltran requests a trade because he doesnt like how “the organization handles their players”
There’s a one word answer for that – “BYE!”
Or “See Ya!!!”
just spice things up…cut delgado and let carp/evans platoon between 1st and LF until alou comes back…send a message, change the mojo, and change the lineup a bit…
Castillo
Reyes
Beltran
Wright
Church
Carp/Evans (depending on lefty/righty pitching)
Schneider
Carp/Evans (depending on left/righty pitching)
[Pitcher]
i thought leadoff hitters were supposed to get on
Exactly, that’s why you move Reyes until he starts getting on.
Castillo is getting on base better than any one besides Wright and Beltran (with Church injured)
Reyes OBP = .335
Castillo OBP = .361
.361 > .335
What do you mean by “get on”?
castillo gets on at times that don’t matter, when there r two outs, or he’ll draw a walk in the 8th. he’s been anything but consistent , i dont know how anyone would lobby for him beign a leadoff hitter at this point inhis career. anytime its essential for himt o get on he grounds out weakly. everyone has been flipping out about omar giving him a 4 year deal, now u want to make him the leadoff hitter. forget numbers, u know very well hes not a consistent or reliable and this point in the mets sorry story
Why on earth would I completely forget numbers? Reyes should be the leadoff hitter but he is just not getting on base. Castillo is, switch them to send a message to a star Reyes that a role player is taking your place.
As for Castillo’s meaningless hits, last time I looked he lead the team in the following
RISP= .333 with a .480 OBP
RISP2/outs= .368 .538 OBP
But why would I look at numbers.
Castillo has an OBP of .480 with 2 outs and an OBP of .538 with 2 outs and RISP. In those situations, he’s batting .333 and .368, respectively.
Correction, the .480 OBP is with RISP, not with 2 outs. His OBP with 2 outs is .424 (with a .333 batting average), which is, obviously, still stellar.
haha, beat me to the punch
You know what, I’ve checked again. I’ve been quoting his actual stats, you know, what actually happened in the real world. I should have been quoting his perceived stats, which are the stats that the ingorant fanbase attributes to him. Okay, his perceived OBP is .025. I know, pretty bad right? Until you look at his perceived OBP with RISP, coming in at a mere .001. Boy, can’t get any worse, can it? Yes, yes it can. His perceived OBP with RISP and 2 outs? Negative 5. Simply unbelievable. But understandable for someone with a perceived age of 79.
LOL your best post of all-time.
Haha, I misspelled ignorant. Hahaha, classic. Dunce cap = on me. I’d go sit in the corner, but since I work in a conventional office, I’m already sitting in the corner… just like everybody else….
well i guess my only rebuttal then is to fire willie
what would also help is that the fans need to stop freaking out. im all for willie being fired and the players being held accountable, but we are making it worse for ourselves. life is less enjoyable if we are constantly screaming about the mets sucking. the players clearly dont seem to care and they get paid. we get nothing. we get jacked up ticket prices and 8 dollar beers. lets all pack it up, they arent worht our money, our cheers, or our boos. only provides for any empty wallet a sore throat and a broken. this is my plea to the fans. forget the mets and forget 08, because they have forgotten us.
That actually makes sense.I hope so.
Whether you blame willie or not,the mets need a change.
While I agree that our team as currently constructed has some serious problems going forward, and I’m all in favor of making changes (even major ones) to help us win, I’m mystified by the notion that we need to make wholesale changes for the reason that we’ve been playing about .500 ball for the last 160 games with “this roster” as if there have been no changes in that time. Compared to 160 games ago, we’ve changed 3 of 8 slots in the regular lineup, and our current rotation has only two starters (Maine and Ollie) from that time. Almost half the lineup and the majority of the rotation isn’t “change?” We may not like the changes made (although imagine how much worse we’d be without them) or lack of different changes, but it’s not like there haven’t been any.
Keep Reyes where he is! He is on a 12 game hit streak and on a 20 something game onbase streak. He is not the issue. We are all hungover from 07. They are going through a rough stretch no doubt. But we are only 4 games behind one of the real contenders in the division. 4 Games. Not 14. The season is not lost yet. We get Pedro back next week hopefully for a while too! Call me an optimist but I have not lost all faith yet.
He’s also got a 5-game “doing something stupid” streak going, doing stuff such as shanking an easy DP grounder or getting picked off base.
He never puts it all together. Once he starts to field again his hitting will go into the tank.
And he had the temerity to do a stupid HR dance in the dugout yesterday?
LOL!!! ALOU COMES BACK!!!! LOL LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!!
Guffaw!!!
EL DUQUE COMES BACK!!! LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL!!!
PEDRO COMES BACK!!!! LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL!!!
stop! I got it
As some of the solutions to Minaya’s problems, Gammons suggests that the Mets ‘blow something up,’ such as trading Carlos Beltran, cash and ‘pieces’ for a package with Alex Rios and A.J. Burnett
I don’t like that package but how about Beltran for Torri Hunter?
How about sitting Delgado? everyone wants to cut him and eat his salary, why doesn’t the manager just marginalize him? Why hasn’t tatis played more? put him at first for a few games and have delgado take a rest? The guy is killing us but the manager runs him out there day after day, and now in the 5 spot each night!
Well he did just hit HR in 3 straight games but yeah I agree it’s time to platoon him when Church comes back.
In all fairness, Delgado does have 8 homers and 25 RBIs, fourth on the team. Not that I’m defending him or anything but Delgado is one of several problems on this team. One big issue over looked is why is Wright struggling against righties this year where as he has done well in the past? Why is Reyes making so many mental blunders? Why isnt there a solid back up for Alou, knowing his injuries? There are just so many problems with team that we all overlooked. I believe there is still time to turn it around but it isn’t going to be one or two small moves.
I think that with Pagan and Endy that Omar assumed that would be enough to get by. Then Endy sucked and Pagan got injured. I am not saying that either of them should start for a contender but that had to be his thought process. Plus Easley and Anderson had played OF as well. Who was there really to bring in this season to backup Alou?
Pelfrey and Heilman should have gotten rid of them i the offseason, if everything else stayed the same the Mets would have won at least 7 more games.
Also, the absence of Pedro, specifically Pedro from last Sept is key.
Like I said before the season you needed another guy who was a #2, #3 pitcher (Blanton type, young, good, durable). This team needed to have at least 2 #1’s (Santana, Pedro), and the rest of the squad no less than #3 quality (Maine, Blanton, Perez). We did not get that and again we have languished with Pelfrey in the #5 spot, and we are surprised when we lose 7 out of his 9 starts, though 2 starts he should have won.
With Heilman, the team has no consistency going into the 7th and 8th innings and Sanchez is still finding himself.
If EVERYTHING ELSE stayed the same Mets could easily be 30-19 instead of 23-26.
So you want a change? Get rid of Heilman, trade him for mid-range prospects and send down Pelfrey and turn him into a reliever.
And pray for a healthy Pedro, in the meantime bring Figgy back.
WILLIE CANT MARGANILIZE HIM HE IS HIS “BIG BOY” LOL
Utley is in a slump LOL
heilman is mopup. delgado is not even the biggest rally killer on the team. CASTILLO can’t hit the ball out of the infield and beltran hits 107 with 2 out risp. This team is embarrassing. they shouldnt show up tonight. bring up the zephyrs!!!!!!
shut up dude. go back to your phillies blog.
bottom line is I said it before the season that the Mets have 0 power, absolutely no frigging power…Alou is on pace for like 20 games, and that Pagan would not keep it up…So now we’ve been left to Endy Chavez who is an auto-out and Nick Evans a nobody rookie…
Whether its signing Bonds, or someone like that, or making a trade (problem being we have next to nothing to trade) this team has to do something b/c they are going the wrong direction fast. The biggest problem with Willie as I’m sure most of us all agree is that for whatever reason this team shows absolutely no fire or passion on a regular basis…this has translated to sloppy play (reyes errors lately among others), and L after L. You cant win if you dont score any runs, and the pitchers are going out there thinking they have to pitch perfectly to win a game, another recipe for underachieving and disaster. Rock this boat, fire willie, fire minaya for providing 0 power and an awful bullpen
That a great idea, get Bonds!!!! I mean that in alll seriousness, can he be that expensive at this point?
But, pen is ok, it’s just Heilman who sucks, I can even live with Smith who is as hot & cold as they come. But Heilman & Big Pelf are toast.
Get Pelf some coaching in the minors make him a reliever and send up whoever is hot in the minors (SP & RP).
What is the big deal with the Mets? They are only lacking good offense, good defense and good pitching…. haaa
i think that a youth movement might be exactly wah t this team needs
if the Mets get a bunch of young players up here maybe that would mature Reyes a little bit b/c he would have to be a role model and young players learning from Wright is never a bad idea
Wagner didn’t say retirement after this year. He said retirement when his contract is up, after next year.