Paul Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer had choice 
words for the Mets, and Phillies RHP Bret Myers responded to Francisco Rodriguez’s team-to-beat statement, according to the Adam Rubin of the Daily News.
… i can tell from the e-mail people send me that they expect me to be all hot and bothered by this stuff… but, the fact is, i just don’t care… the Phillies can say whatever they want… and we, and the team, need to take it… the only way it stops is by the Mets winning… end of story… so, K-Rod, and whomever else wants to talk smack from Tradition Field, zip it… please, prove your value on the field with actions, not words…
{ 89 comments }
f the p
Brett Myers is a WIFE BEATER!!!
K-rod has proved his worth. so he can talk all the smack he wants. we beat the phillies last year. we just could not beat the fish. Philly fans are dirt just like there reporters. they could win 20 years in a row Philadelphia will always be a notch below NY in everything.
Whats so funny is that the phillies think we have a facination with them, but who were the ones who had to mention the Mets after they won their championship? its really ridiculous!!!
I disagree Matt, let Krod talk all he wants! I want the Mets to think they’ll win and to have some swagger about it. It’s not impossible to talk a big game and play it too. Plus I think it’ll be a lot of fun if they trash talk and then go out and dominate the NL East this season.
(don’t worry, I’m knocking on wood)
Ahhh, the newly beloved word “swagger,” soon to be dead and gone faster than Weezy’s “bling bling” — hopefully.
Im getting tired of all this, Adrian from “Rocky” said it best “Just Win.” – I can’t take losing to these guys again. If the economy gets worse and we lose to these guys again, not sure i’m gonna be around in 2010, My heart is not gonna make it and im only 27!
While the Phillies definitely stepped up, and won the whole thing in 2008, they simply didn’t show up in the games against the Mets. The Mets embarra-s-sed the Phillies in head-to-head play. Someone obviously forgot to tell the Mets that they needed to beat all of the teams they played, other than the one from Philadelphia.
Don’t get me wrong, the Phils did everything they needed to do last season.
However, they looked very, very silly talking about the Mets in their post World Series and parade comments, when they couldn’t even beat the Mets on the field. That’d be like Andy Roddick losing the first match of a double elimination tournament to Roger Federer, then going on to win the whole thing. Only to talk trash about Federer during his victory speech.
Again, the Phils are the World Champions. They earned that. But it certainly wasn’t their play against the Mets that got them there. They lost that battle. It was the Mets losing to the other teams that eliminated them from the division title.
And the Phillies only made themselves look very childish by talking about a team that they couldn’t beat on the field, during their celebrations.
They embarra-s-sed themselves and their fans with that childishness, and because of that, they gave the Mets every right in the world to talk trash back.
Afterall, if was the Phillies, not the Mets who didn’t show up during their on the field encounters. In head to head play, the Mets ultimately were the better team. It was all of those other teams that the Mets couldn’t, and the Phillies could beat that made the difference in 2008.
Well said, Daaaaaaarryl.
+1
As I said before, I think people are misinterpreting K-Rod’s words and their intent. He said it more as a vote of confidence for his new team rather than a boast and challenge. Read the entire context and it becomes clear.
Marty Noble says the same thing in one of his mailbag pieces on mets.com. If Phil Sheridan wants to get his panties in a bunch over what was said, that’s his choice. But he’s making much ado about nothing.
Quick correction: Brett Myers is in fact right-handed.
Unless by LHP you meant “lady hitting pr*ck”. Which is accurate.
Of course that was what Matt meant…
I’m really surprised that Myers doesn’t get more grief for that incident, since he’d definitely deserve it.
Unfortunately, spousal abuse is only a baseball misdemeanor. The media is more concerned about so called “greater” crimes such as steroid use. From the media’s vantage point, a player can beat his wife and but still make his next scheduled start but if he take steroids he has “shamed” the game.
Sadly enough, yes.
How do you think the Phillies are goingto take to K-rod’s mound celebrations after he strikes out Chase Utley for the last out of a game in CBP. I can not wait to see that.
In his latest article to Newsday, David Lennon looks at the starting rotation for the 1st 5 days of the season:
‘With the Mets opening the season on the road at Cincinnati and Florida,
here is how the rotation stacks up for that first week:
Name vs. team starts w-l era at team strts w-l era
1. Johan Santana vs. CIN 3 1-0 6.75 at Cin 1 0-0 11.25
2. Mike Pelfrey vs. CIN 3 1-1 4.43 at Cin 2 1-0 4.85
3. Oliver Perez vs. CIN 18 9-4 4.02 at Cin 10 4-2 3.91
4. John Maine vs. FLA 6 3-1 2.75 at Fla 4 2-0 3.22
5. Tim Redding vs. FLA 11 4-4 4.98 at Fla 5 3-1 3.82
While adding: ‘Now for the disclaimer: That’s a long time from now, it’s a-s-suming everyone stays healthy, and Redding still has to fend off challenges from Freddy Garcia, Livan Hernandez and Jon Niese to maintain his grip on that No. 5 spot.’
we should be hoping Livan is able to win the spot as that would really give our middle relievers some rest.
having Ollie, Maine, Redding is a row is not good for the bullpen
if Redding is in the rotation then the rotation should be Santana, Maine, Pelfrey, Ollie Redding
Livan was one of the WORST starters in the majors last year. Worse than Redding. I don’t see how he would be any better than Garcia or Redding.
yes he was awful in 08 but if he WINS the spot then he obviously is pitching well.
200+ IP and ERA of around 4.80 or under as the 5 starter is great.
we don’t want Feliciano and Green to be worn down again in september…
Stop with the stats! Watch the game, ok?
Seriously, whoever wins the spot deserves it — be it Redding, Garcia or Livan.
The question is why you said the bullpen would be better off if Livan wins the spot? They might be worse off if you’ve going by recent history.
I wasn’t questioning whether or not someone who wins the spot deserves it, but your as-sumption that if Livan wins it the team would be better off.
Why would you alter the rotation if Redding wins the 5th spot?
Maine should definitely start the 4th game of the season. He has an ERA of 2.75 against the Marlins, and an ERA of 9.88 against the Reds… so yeah.
do you want Feliciano, Green and Sanchez all pitching 3 games in a row???
No, but unless the 3rd, 4th and 5th starters each only go 4 innings that’s not likely to happen.
Ollie, Maine and Redding each average less than 6 IP per start.
so thats over an inning before Putz enters the game in the ninth.
Feliciano would probably be brought in all 3 of those games…
…to pitch to one LH hitter, thus totaling 1 IP total over the 3 games in your scenario. The bullpen is going to have at least six, and likely seven pitchers. You seem to only be acknowledging 5 of them.
the long reliever only goes in when its a blowout and/or Ollie implodes and the other reliever will probably pitch far less innings than the other 5
oleo, do you even watch the games?
Livan averaged less than 6 innings last year. Why are you so in love with him?
I highly doubt Manuel is going to think “heck we’re not getting blown out, I can’t bring in my long man for an inning.”
You contend these guys “average less than 6IP.” OK. Livan also averages less than 6IP as VCarver notes, so how is he an improvement? Furthermore, these are average outputs. Your scenario implies that all of these guys will simply meet their average exactly every time. Reality suggests that it’s more likely they will fluctuate, saving the bullpen from the horrendous overtaxing you’re forecasting.
If Livan pitches like he did last season he wont make the team but if he wins the spot then obviously he’s returned to his old form and the old Livan is better than Redding and Garcia.
oleo, do you even watch the games? : )
Do you know that lots of starters start out the season strong and then totally crap out at the end — especially the older farts like Livan?
Just because he pitches well in spring training doesn’t mean he can keep it up. He started out well for the Twins last year before totally crapping out.
Geez. In this age of PEDs testing, these old farts can’t get help anymore to get them through a long season.
OK oleo I finally get your perspective, but in my opinion, the old Garcia is better than the old Livan and I’m rooting for Garcia to be the one that is healthy, performs well and wins the spot, in large part because although they are both allegedly the same age, I believe Garcia is actually younger, and also because throughout their careers Garcia has the better WHIP. Fewer baserunners allowed by the 5th starter is going to help the bullpen
hebner, I also don’t believe Livan is just 34. Plus, he’s declined a lot the last two years and how about these splits last year?
5.44 ERA – 1st half
7.28 ERA – 2nd half
That’s ugly.
if Church, Murphy, Castillo and Schneider can get clutch hits like Ruiz, Feliz, Werth and Dobbs did last season then we should have no problem winning the division.
couldn’t agree with matt more. the phillies won the world series last year and have won the division 2 years in a row. how is it that the mets are the team to beat? the freakin defending world champions are in the division and somehow we’re the team to beat. talk is cheap, please just win
Being “the team to beat” implies winning is in your hands, that you do not need something to happen to someone else for you to prevail. Without the Mets imploding two years in a row the Phils would not have won the division two years in a row. Say what you want to about choking, the Phils were in the right place at the right time – nothing more. The Phils didn’t win, the Mets lost. They were the team to beat, and with the improvements (pen, back end of rotation, pitching depth, no more Willie) they still are. The other areas of concern were there last year and can’t really be worse this year.
nonsense. one year is an anomaly, twice is a trend. you can say ‘the mets gave it to the phillies’ all you want. fact: the mets haven’t won enough the past two years. it’s painful to hear players talking junk when the franchise consistently does not get the job done
Matt Cerone of MetsBlog.com has spoken… so all you athlete listen up.
LOL
Not for nothing but who really cares what was written in the Philadelphia Enquirer?
the phills lost the battle(head to head vs mets) but won the war(world series). Im tired of this “team to beat” crap and we should just leave it on the field. I guess they are trying to develop a rivalry since the braves are not what they were anymore…..
we defenitely are the team to beat mainly because we have a better team…that doesnt mean we should say anything..krod should keep his mouth shut, but then again he really doesnt know everything between the mets and phillies..all i kno is that our pitching staff is one of the best in the game
i can see johan. maiine, and pelf anf krod all making the allstar game this year..and even putz too…i think ollie is gunna play like usual (10-16 wins) and i think our #5 spot is gunna be very productive, garcia and niese getting the majority of the starts, with redding in the pen and livan nowhere in sight
I’m still hopeing we get a LF so we can possibly send Murphy down after say a month in the majors to get comfortable and then send him down to the minors to learn 2nd base if Castillo struggles. I’m still hopeing for the future in 2011.
C-Reese Havens (pull a Russel Martin and put him behind the plate)
1B- Ike Davis
2B- David Murphy
SS- Jose Reyes
3B- David Wright
LF- Matt Holliday
CF- Carlos Beltran
RF- Fernando Martinez
Line-up: Rotation:
Reyes Santana
Murphy Pelfrey
Wright Maine
Holliday Perez
Beltran Brad Holt
Fernando Martinez
Ike Davis
Reese Havens
Santana
Meant to have the rotation seperate.
Rotation:
Santana
Pelfrey
Maine
Perez
Brad Holt
Thats a good young team right there. Bullpens are flexible but even Krod our closer in 2011 will be fairly young. Hopeing we sign Holliday next offseason. ::fingers crossed::
Just my take, prob unlikely though.
what happened to Niese?
I’m sorry your right I always saw Holt and Parnell as being bullpen guys anyway. Neise seems to have a good future with this team and our system seems to love him so I don’t think he’s going anywhere.
I have to disagree with you Matt,
1. As some have said earlier KROD’s statement is more a vote of confidence than talking smack.
2. This idea that Mets need to be quiet is a defeated mentality. Mets must believe they are team to beat and to heck to those that don’t like that they B-E-L-I-E-V-E- this.
3. KROD is only saying what most every fan on this blog believes anyway. If we can say it how can we tell him otherwise.
4. C.Hamels slapped these Mets in the face on our station he laughed at us selling his WS. DVD as he called us chokers. If these Mets have any pride they must make him eat those words at every turn in 09. If not then break this team up.
5. KROD did what a leader should do (Wright) shows and proclaims confidence when others don’t.
I’m a fan of the confidence that must be behind KRod’s statement, but at this point I’d prefer that it be more of a quiet, inner confidence. He’s new here, I’m giving him a mulligan.
From what I have heard from Ed Coleman on FAN, KRod did not know about whole “we are the team to beat” story. So, I’m sure he did not mean to cause any kind of attention.
But who cares if he meant to say it or not. I like the fact KRod is confident in the Mets and he’ll be staring down Rollins as he walks towards the dugout with 3 STRIKES BABY!!!!
Just stupid media people trying create a story.
Seriously, WHO CARES ?
What?!?, THAT’S not awaiting moderation?
Why would that be awaiting moderation?
Why would Randy Mulligan?
Funny that this threat got posted just as I got an email from the Phillies about buying tickets for this season. I went to a Mets-Phillies game at CBP back in April and bought tickets through their website (that’s how I believe I was sent the email). In the email there was something like “As a loyal Phillies supporter”…I wanted to punch a hole through the computer monitor.
You should send a reply
Lets get something right here. In 2007 the Bullpen blew it for the Mets. Omar didn’t address it. To start 2008 an outfielder made the guarentee and the bullpen blew it again. No in 2009 the CLOSER is making the statement! He’s the one that’s going to have to back up his talk and i love it! Now if the mets could just drop Castillo… (And to put Castillo in the 2 hole would be a HUGE mistake!!! He’s NEVER driven in more than 50 runs in a season!) Dump Castillo, eat the money, and bring up a kid from the minors.
Seriously, these teams should clear the benches every time they play this year.
If any of them talk smack, they should automatically get some chin music.
BTW, who gets the 5th spot. My bet is on Freddy with Redding in the pen and Livan in AAA.
We should clear the stands everytime Phillies fks come to Citifield
If it was wrong (misplaced) for J-Troll to say in the ‘07 pre-season (after the Mets had won the division in ‘06) then it’s wrong for K-Rod to talk that nonsense too…and wrong for Beltran before him. Talk truly is cheap,a nd when the Mets had the opportunity to put some muscle behind all that talk, Shoewenweis was giving up 2 in the 8th of the last game of the season. STOP TALKING, and go play! Don’t just beat the ‘philes head 2 head, step on the necks of the Nats and Marlins when you have the chance. STOP TALKING and DO!! all the talk from the Mets rings hollow now.
It is never wrong to talk as long as you back it up.
This mentality of lets not say nothing that way if we lose again we don’t look bad is a joke.
Mets will look bad regardless of what anyone on team says if they do not win in 2009.
Does the word swagger mean anything to anyone? this team needs to do 3 things in 09 regarding KROD’s statement:
A. Believe It
B. Own It
C. Live It
I sometimes think people are not aware how important it is for Mets to go deep in postseason in 09 is. If they fail to make postseason KROD’S statements will be the least of our problems.
People
KROD DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THE WHOLE “we are the team to beat” STORY
I guess that answers my question below…
Does anyone else find it a little odd and hypocritical that Jamie Moyer went out of his way to chastise AROD for taking steroids, and yet he hasn’t said a peep about the fact that he’s in a rotation with a brutal wife beater (which anyone with a lick of perspective knows is 1000 times worse than taking a performace enhancing drug)?
Same thing with Oswalt. He hasn’t said crap on Clemens and Pettite.
Cheating in the game is a separate issue.
I give Moyer credit for saying something. I can’t say the same for Oswalt. AFAIK, he hasn’t said anything about Pettitte/Clemens.
a player has no obligation to comment on his coworkers.
I don’t expect anyone of us to make any comments if one of our coworkers or neighbors was having an affair, or beating his wife, or doing drugs or whatever.
its has nothing to do with him…
If I know a coworker is beating his wife, you’re d*mn right I’m telling somebody…
you know what i meant
My point was that spousal abuse like alcohol or drug addiction issues are personal problems that don’t effect the integrity of the game. But steroids do and I think public pronouncements are warranted here, teammate or no teammate. Hence I think Moyer’s words are commendable.
As for Oswalt, Clemens and Pettite were not his teammates anymore when they were exposed to be cheaters. And as I recall, he didn’t offer up any words of criticism when they were outed. So his criticism of A-Rod now sounds hypocritical.
As for personal issues like spousal abuse, I’m sure the other phillie players don’t condone this.
A major league pitcher beating up his wife in public and being allowed to continue his job doesn’t damage the integrity of the game? How do you define integrity?
Violence against another human should always be deplored whether within the confines of baseball or not. It is NOT a baseball issue.
It does not affect the integrity of the game in the sense that you know that when you see a score of 7-4, spousal abuse had nothing to do with it. When someone on one of those teams cheats with PEDs, that’s a different matter.
K-Rod can say whatever he wants….in fact we need more of this.
We need the swagger that we had back in 2006 – as far as i am concerned this division is the mets’ to lose just as it has been for the past 3 yrs.
We smack the Phils when we go head to head. The Phils just got hot and played a weak field in the NL postseason to get to the WS where anything can happen.
I hear what you’re saying, but in my opinion, you play the schedule you’re given. The Phillies beat the opponents they had when they had to, the Mets didn’t, bottom line.
Yea, i feel you. Hopefully everything falls into place. I’m starting to like this team more and more.
Johan should just go out there and buzz Shane Victorino just for being Shane Victorino….
hey, i just had a heated debate with metsfan46 about castillo, hudson, and reyes. and a little bit of valentin for some reason.
You realize that he’s like 12, right? Try to take it easy on him.
yeah i know, i was just giving my opinions. and im pretty young too. he knows that
they are both kids
but i always write like an adult so people would respect my opinion….. so much for that…….
hopefully we can bring in a guy like Dye at the deadline to give us a clutch RH bat at minimal cost for september
Reyes
Beltran
Wright
Delgado
Dye
Church
Castillo
Catcher
and if Murphy can play 2nd that would be huge if not then having Murphy and Tatis on the bench to pinch hit for Castillo and Schneider late in games would be great
no need to bring in dye if murph and tatis do the same thing this year…
well if Murphy and Tatis combine to bat .292 with 34 HR and 96 RBI out of LF i’ll get you something from the ice cream man…
don’t get your hopes up though…
Here’s an idea: why doesn’t this damn team decide that the “team to beat” is the one they’re actually playing that day/night. Take care of the season one game at a time, and stop this foolishness about which team is the team to beat.
the object is not to beat the Phillies its to make the playoffs.
i could care less if they beat us every series as long as we make the playoffs thats all that matters…
we shouldnt be losing a series to the Marlins, Nats and Braves every september
precisely.
I love how the Philly press makes it seem like we went and got K-Rod because of Lidge’s success (like we never had a closer before).
F the Phils, they are now worse than Atlanta in my book.
I don’t feel that K-Rod meant any harm. Joining a team like the Mets must make any player feel like they’re on a winning team, regardless of the recent history.
I’m sure K-Rod knows the about the collapses, but has he been following closely, no. Why? Because his team was busy making a post-season run, not sitting at home listening to the SNY talking heads.
K-Rod seems like a good nature guy, and it is not his fault that he had positive things to say about his new team. No, I blame Jerry and Omar for not sitting down with all new players and saying, “listen, this is the New York media, and anything you say will be twisted and slanted to bring you down, so keep your mouth shut!”
Good for K-Rod and good for the Mets. What? Do you think David Wright would ever make a comment like that.
yea i could care less either but do ppl really believe that K-Rod had no idea about this whole “Team to beat” thing.
dont be naive K-Rod knows exactly what he was saying and was he trying to insult the phillies no but he knows whats going on…
First of all, shouldn’t k-rod be able to say anything he wants, doesn’t he have the all time save record?
Second, isn’t every team the “team to beat” if you don’t beat anybody you’ll never win. This is all so stupid, its a stupid phrase and people should stop freaking out when somebody says it.
Third, yes, somebody needs to step up and on top of that, K-Rod’s statement wasn’t even any sort of challenge, it was as people said above a vote of confidence, something that is missing on this team. They do need some attitude
Fourth, somebody(pelfrey, santana, jj..) has to throw at Rollins or Victorino, we can’t let them walk all over us again, let them know we play to win and its 2009, leave the past in the past
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