Brandon Eddy

Read: ESPN Chats
By Brandon Eddy - Sep 23, 2008 4:03 pm

At ESPN.com, both Buster Olney and Rob Neyer held chats today and the Mets were one of the many discussed topics.

Olney had the following to say when asked if the final game at Shea will be relevant or will the Mets have already ripped out the fans’ heart:

“You don’t want to hear my answer. I really think the schedule is going to hurt the Mets this week. The Brewers get to play the Pirates, who have lost 11 of their last 16, and then the Cubs over the weekend, and while Lou Piniella has every intention of competing to the finish line, the reality is that by Friday or Saturday, a lot of his decisions will be shaped (and rightly so, by the way) by preparation for the post-season. He’s not going to pitch Kerry Wood on Saturday and Sunday against the Brewers, for example. He won’t pitch Carlos Marmol in extended outings. He won’t overtax his starters. If one of his position players is playing 85 percent, he’ll get him out of there. That works against the Mets, who have to play the team nobody wants to play, the Marlins. But hey, who the heck knows…”

During Neyer’s chat, he was asked who’s neck is on the line if the Mets don’t make the playoffs, in which he replied:

“(Omar) Minaya, perhaps, but he might be given credit for the team’s big comeback in the second half. I guess if I were Minaya’s boss, I’d want to know if he’s learned anything from this season.”

…as far as the schedule is concerned, i don’t care who we play or where we play…perform like there is no tomorrow and we shall see what happens when the dust settles…talk is cheap, just play ball…

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90 Comments

Comment by There's Always '09
2008-09-23 16:08:24

talk is cheap, just play ball…

Coach Coughlin. Is that you?

Comment by Brandon Eddy
2008-09-23 16:21:27

Hey, didn’t it work for the Giants?!?!?!?

Comment by There's Always '09
2008-09-23 16:34:07

worked very well. i was sitting in the corner of the end zone when plax caught that ball.

i take full responsibility for this mets mini-collapse. i used all of my sports luck on winning the super bowl lottery for season ticket holders. sorry guys.

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Comment by docgood86
2008-09-23 16:08:50

LETS GO METS! LETS GO METS! Lets start thinking positive and go out there and kick some butt!!!!

 
Comment by Furioso
2008-09-23 16:11:29

Excuse me….but based on the pen, Omar never learned his lesson from LAST season.

Time to get a GM who’s not on a learning curve

Comment by ravi3
2008-09-23 16:19:39

The funny thing is that most of us thought we had the makings of a good pen when the season started.

Ultimately, I think the one mistake made by the front office was putting too much stock in the return of Sanchez. If they had known he’d come back like this, I’m sure Omar would have tried a bit harder to bring in a capable set-up guy. As a result, we were only left with Heilman. Aaron was very good in the set-up role, and had been from ‘05-’07, able to get out both lefties and righties. Whatever caused him to regress this year, be it the injury, or whatever it may be, was the biggest blow to the pen. After Heilman proved to be ineffective, the rest of the relievers went down with him.

Comment by ridethesnake
2008-09-23 16:37:08

I am a huge Omar fan, but –

to put stock in Sanchez is not the mistake. It is not doing anything about it once you KNEW he was not what you hoped. Had he returned to the dominant setup guy we once saw, with Heilman in the 7th, and the other guys (Smith, Feliciano, et al) filling in the specialists role, we’d have a monster pen. But with Heilman having a terrible year and Sanchez not returning to form, Omar sat on his hands in August. Not to mention Wagner had the muscle spasm in his shoulder in late July (before trading deadline).

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Comment by Moises
2008-09-23 17:06:06

Exactly…Nobody thought that Matt Wise and Wagner would get hurt. Nobody knew Sanchez would be 1/2 as good as he was pre-accident. Nobody knew Heilman would forget how to pitch. Would have been nice if Register was still around, but Joe Smith was pitching better than him at the time (I wanted Joe to stay too).

I think the pieces were there, but the Mets are very unlucky. It is not all Omar’s fault. However, if someone were not going to return next year, I’d rather see Omar go than Manuel.

Let’s go Mets!

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Comment by bkfitz
2008-09-23 16:51:33

Who did you think he should have signed? You want Octavio Dotel for 3 years or Scott Linebrink for 4? I don’t.

 
 
Comment by dykstraw
2008-09-23 16:12:16

there’s like 14 guys in this bullpen and none of them can get anyone out

who’s fault is that?

Comment by Furioso
2008-09-23 16:22:42

The GM

 
 
Comment by nobeers
2008-09-23 16:12:22

Castillo and his contract along with the persistent bullpen problems are enough reason to seriously question Omar’s ability to be GM.

Comment by GodJesusSantana
2008-09-23 16:53:40

But without that contract who woould have played 2b on opening day?

 
 
Comment by MacD81
2008-09-23 16:13:28

My fingers are going to be nothing more than stubby nubs by the end of the weekend.

 
Comment by ridethesnake
2008-09-23 16:14:13

“The Brewers get to play the Pirates, who have lost 11 of their last 16…”

wow, four more losses in a row and they will have the same streak as the Brewers do now. How about:

“The Pirates get to play the Brewers, who have lost 15 of their last 20″

Comment by nobeers
2008-09-23 16:16:17

The thing that you fail to realize is that even the worst teams stop losing.

The sad thing is that the Brewers are still just about tied with the Mets and they are awful, what does that say about the Mets?

Comment by ravi3
2008-09-23 16:20:28

Its sad, but then remember where these two teams were in the standings when the Mets came back from the dead in July.

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Comment by HitTheSinkerBall
2008-09-23 16:17:36

At least starting next Monday we can start some hot stove talk on this blog lol

Comment by There's Always '09
2008-09-23 16:20:07

Yea. We need to trade for Santana.

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Comment by HitTheSinkerBall
2008-09-23 16:21:13

We need Ervin Santana to go along with Johan

 
Comment by There's Always '09
2008-09-23 16:34:56

Maybe we can get the real Carlos Santana to sing when Johan and Ervin come out…rather than a recording. It’ll be Citi Field’s version of Ronan Tyner.

 
 
 
 
Comment by jimyager
2008-09-23 16:16:25

I am torn, I want to watch the games, but, I cant enjoy it when they blow it. I know that late in the game when the Cubs take the lead its over. I have NO FAITH in this team and dont think they can come back and win. When the going get tough the METS roll over.

 
Comment by roccobox
2008-09-23 16:18:15

Omar should go whether we get in or not, Castillo, the bullpen, not trading for relief help, not picking up an OF while at the same time actually believing Alou would be around….not good

 
Comment by imtiredofguiseppefranco
2008-09-23 16:19:03

If and i mean If this team played up to their potential, we could beat anyone in the mlb.

Comment by janss36
2008-09-23 16:24:43

I completely agree…

 
 
Comment by mrBill aka DWright
2008-09-23 16:19:19

“(Omar) Minaya, perhaps, but he might be given credit for the team’s big comeback in the second half”.

…. which still means NO October baseball! He should be treated the same way Willie was. If not worse.

 
Comment by HitTheSinkerBall
2008-09-23 16:19:29

We should get some odds up on out of the Mets 14 relievers who will be back next year

Comment by There's Always '09
2008-09-23 16:22:15

Billy Wagner 1:1,000

 
 
Comment by There's Always '09
2008-09-23 16:20:58

Blog trade proposal that is sure to get me publicly stoned (not high):

Wright, Maine, FMart, and Niese for Halladay and Rios.

Comment by MetsLv31
2008-09-23 16:32:53

You sure you aren’t already stoned (high)?

Comment by There's Always '09
2008-09-23 16:36:57

Listen, in no way would I be blaming this collapse on Wright or Reyes. However, I am saying this team will need a major shakeup that it didn’t get following last season.

Of all of our players that could net us a guy like Halladay, Reyes and Wright are the most realistic ones. They are young, relatively cheap, and under control for a few years.

And hey, I was just responding to the hot stove call.

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