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The Mets will face Nationals LHP Scott Olsen tonight, marking the first time this season the team will face a left-handed starting pitcher.
Yesterday, Jerry Manuel told reporters he will likely start the 
right-handed hitting Fernando Tatis and Gary Sheffield in the outfield, while sitting Daniel Murphy and Ryan Church.
My guess is Manuel will put Tatis in left and Sheffield in right, and bat them in the sixth and seventh slots in the lineup, while keeping Carlos Beltran batting third and David Wright batting fifth.
Either way, from what I can tell, Sheffield better have a good game, if he hopes to stay with the team beyond May 1.
Personally, I think he is causing confusion on the roster.
Look, if he was going to hit well and be a presence, it was a worthwhile signing, because it would only cost $400,000. He’s looking better at the plate, but he’s just not getting the results; and so, aside from making outs, he must also be making life difficult for Jerry Manuel, who has two outfield corners and four players to fill them, one of which is a rookie, in Murphy, who does nothing but hit and who needs to play every day if he is going to get better on defense, and another in Church, who is the second-best defensive outfielder on the team and who is also hitting .333.
I realize it has only been 15 games, but if he continues to struggle, and Manuel needs the roster spot for a relief pitcher, I say cut him and let Murphy, Church and Tatis find order in their well-earned and necessary roles on the team.
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agreed…shef has complicated life for tatis mostly. He needs to get regular ab’s in order to get in shape. He was cut for a reason from detroit. Like you said matt…he really needs a good game.
o for four
out the door
Gary Sheffield is hitting .111 and plays over Fernando Tatis who hit 290 last year and had the most clutch hits on the team and over Ryan Church who is hitting .333.
COULD THE MANAGAMENT BE ANY MORE INEPT?
I could not agree more. i was for signing Sheff, but not at the expense of force feeding him playing time. It’s ridiculous, Church is playing 4 days a week right now and being sat agst righties.
110% Agreed.
Um….he’s started what, 4 games?
And if you watch those games, he’s hitting lasers. And drawing walks. Ugh, I’m tired of Mets fans. It was a dumb acquisition at the time, but it’d be even dumber to cut Sheffield now.
Excellent commentary, Matt. Totally agree.
I love the Mets. I wish they could get it together. I don’t like when they look so foolish…
Time to make drastic changes. The odds of coming back from a start like this are small and there is no reason to think things will get better any time soon. Go young in the rotation — dump Hernandez and bring back Niese. Send Parnell down to reconvert him to a starter then get rid of Ollie on the best terms possible. Sean green hasn’t distinguished himself, but hard to know what to do about him.
On offense, who knows? Wright has been a big culprit for a long while now. Very little clutch hitting and too many strike outs have killed this team for over a year. I think you almost need to scrap the team and start over, but that’s hard to do in season, especially this early.
I just don’t see a path to winning with this group.
Wow, if you feel that strongly about it, you should just go and watch the NHL or NBA Playoffs and save yourself the trouble.
“The odds of coming back from a start like this are small”
can’t tell if you’re being serious here. it’s april bro. the odds of coming back are small. what are we, three games under .500 in april? i know things look bad, but get a grip.
“get rid of Ollie on the best terms possible”
they just signed him to a three year $36 mil contract. i don’t think they’re trying to get rid of him after three starts.
and just so you know, there is no chance in h-e-l-l they are scrapping the team
Hang on there – I agree with parts of what you are saying, but to say “the chances of coming back are small” is a bit over the top. First of all, aside from the Marlins (who are falling back to Earth), this division is separated by 3 games, and yes, that includes the Nats. While there is every chance that we will look back to some of these games, should the team lose the division by a game, the NL East has not been lost.
I find it interesting that there is already talk about firing coaches and sending down pitchers, but at the same time, if the change was made a little earlier last year, the Mets may have in fact been playing in October.
I was just looking at our starters ERA. 7 or 8 is good, right?
yea, the higher the better
if we get to 10 we’ll be unstoppable
This is just crazy. How can you keep platooning Church? And Tatis, who did much for us last year, has hardly seen any playing time.
Gonna look at signing and/or trades, I think we need to be looking at SP….
Who would right bring you in a straight up deal for a starter. he is young and has a pretty favorable contract . Is he enough for Halladay? Oswalt?
* He being Wright
Wright or Reyes and a minor league pitcher…someone like Kunz. For Halladay and BJ Ryan.
I guess you guys plan on winning every game 1-0 or 2-1 ???
If we had Johan and Halladay, that would be a possibility. We are scoring some runs right now with Wright basically doing nothing besides making errors in the 9th inning to make K-Rod look bad.
For the record, trading Wright straight up would get you a better pitcher than Oswalt, who is declining, or Hallady, who is what – 5 years older?
D-Wright would get you a top notch young starter or 3.
Also, trading him is an awful idea, on any level.
Oswalt is not as good as Halladay and is off to a rough start. You can get him without having to give up any core player.
Sheffield was a good signing. He should have been signed on the terms of a spot starter/pinch hitter. Regardless of his .111 batting average, he is still a threat to hit a 3-run homer in the 9th inning when we’re down by 4.
Who else here wanted Manny and Lowe but were eventually tricked into thinking they knew what they were doing and thought by the first week of april maybe they knew what they were doing and the team would be solid and then they signed Gary Sheffield and were totaly confused at the time but still optimistic and now has realized maybe they have no idea what they are doing at all?
That might be the longest sentence withour punctuation that I have ever read.
To answer your question, the sheff move isn’t likely to work out, but you can see the logic behind giving it a shot, as long as he is on a short leash.
But in general, sometiems it is hard to see the big picture they are working under.
haha punctuation is for sissies. i never had any faith in the wilpons because of 0 division titles in twenty years but i really used to be confident in omar even after the first collapse. but a second in a row and the old washed up players that have passed through this team really makes me question if he knows what he’s doing. Shouldn’t a team in need of some grit and hustle take in a player like Hudson or Eckstein, not another washed up old guy who is just concerned with hitting his 500th home run. Could we set a worse example for our players, one of which admittedly didn’t slide into home plate for fear of injury? Anyone here thinking of winning at all costs? ANYONE?
Sheff is pretty much pointless for the Mets at this time. If he isn’t going to be a pure bench guy (PH), and he can’t play adequate defense, why have him? The fact that he doesn’t seem to be much of a hitter anymore doesn’t help.
He is just Julio Franco all over again.
agreed and good comparison to franco. The way i look at it, shef got us to get rid of marlon anderson. Shefs history im sure as a power threat is losing its credibility. Shef is behind in his game and while it would suck to let him go after hitting 500 with us..im sure people wont lose sleep over it. Evans would be the man to benifit from that imo
Evans is hitting .102 in the minors. That’s incomprehensible. He won’t be anywhere near the majors unless he figures out how to hit a baseball again.
Ahhh. But it’s a powerful .102. He has three homers. This means he’s having a better season than Sheffield and Shef is in the majors. Explain that!!!
Simple, Evans is playing every day. Sheff is not. If Sheffield was, he’d have better numbers than .102. Believe me.
oh i didnt know evans minor league numbers but i was just saying most likely he would get the nod. Im sure he still would even though his numbers have not been great only because he has major league experiance and omar likes him. Besides he gives us versatility as he can play first and outfield….compitantly.
i feel bad for johan, he has to spend his prime years playing for a team that is okay with wasting it’s best home grown players ever developed in Reyes and Wright by surrounding them with heartless garbage. Can we trade him to a team like the Dodgers where he deserves to be?
I really hope there is sarcasm in that statement.
I pretty sure he is being compensated handsomely for his services…why would you feel bad for him?
You want to trade Johan?
Uh, no……
guys lil pelf is obviously not a fan of the mets so we might as well ignore him and move on
The Gary Sheffield Experience is over…
He’s taking playing time away from one of our most clutch players last season, Tatis, and he’s taking PT away from Ryan Church…
He’s more trouble than anything on this roster… We should never have signed him like I said from the day he was released by Detroit.
I agree with Matt. I think Sheffiled has created confusion with too many corner OF’s. And who knows? Maybe it has even played with Murphy’s mind a little , which could explain some of his sloppy OF play.
This whole thing starts at the top. Wilpon doesn’t want to win at all costs and it trickles all the way down to Carlos Beltran who in a split second decision decides against sliding for fear of injury.
right..because beltran has been the picture perfect example of durability….
if you really thought the wilpons didnt want to win then what are you doing here then..why not go root for a team that you think the owners want to win?? Why waste your time here?
they do want to win. except its not their top priority. number one is make money. number two is make more money. number three is build stadium reminding them of the Dodgers their favorite team and make the mets play there, number four is rip the fans off, number five is build a good enough team to sell tickets and jerseys, number six is find out where Madoff is hiding all their money, number 7 is maybe win a World Series.
“Wilpon doesn’t want to win at all costs ”
-you just said this….
Again if you think this team is so bad…why come here…you know they will never trade away the team so why waste your time and taking up space here? Why not go find a team that you think that its first priorty is winnign and go root for them? Why waste your time here if this team is so bad according to you?
because im from Queens and I love baseball and the Mets are my team. But I think fielding a team just good enough to win 87 games is the dumbest thing ever because our minor league system is garbage and we don’t have enough of the right guys to win right now anyway so whats the point. They still could figure it out and bring in some players with heart before the window closes, but I highly doubt it. When you see a washed up Gary Sheffield batting sixth, something is very very wrong and I won’t stop complaining until this team wants to win as bad as Mets fans do.
well according to you they dont want to win…so again why are you wasting your time here?
just like Beltran wants to win also, except his top priority is not getting hurt. So no stealing or sliding.
Maybe he recognizes that if he got hurt, this team would lose 90 games.
and maybe if he doesn’t risk it they’ll win 88 games which will be just enough to miss the playoffs again by a game or two
In that case, the argument should be, why didn’t he barrel over Molina?
As emotional as this logic is coming across, I think lil pelf is on to something. There’s just a cultural malaise around this franchise right now at all levels. Everyone is just way too comfortable. Yeah, I think they’d “like” to win, yes they’re “trying,” but after 2+ years of this, I can’t believe people don’t think there’s a high-level of complacency that follows this team. In some ways, this goes even further back than the 07 collapse. The Mets had the best team in baseball in 2006 and one of their lynchpins takes a huge risk by going out at 2 a.m. to get “Dominican food.” There are just way too many people associated with this organization right now that have other priorities and that mentality has just been allowed to perpetuate.
the thing is const and alot of people have this problem….PLAYERS ARE NOT FANS. They dont carry the emotional baggage that fans do because frankly we have the luxury of doing so. They have a job to do night in and night out and frankly…worring about the last two years only hampers their ability to perform well. So in short players are not emo like some fans are…get used to it.
Yup the Wilpons just want to make money that is why the Mets have the second highest payroll in baseball.
I guess you have not been watching Beltran much, since we have gotten this guy he has played through injuries.
Did Carlos call you up and say hey lil pelf I did not slide because I did not want to get hurt. Because you no I never slide or dive in the OF ever because I don’t want to get hurt. I guess you don’t watch him much.
The owners have spend plenty of money. Maybe it is the GM not spending that money the right way. Even if the Mets had Manny how is that going to solve the problem of having only one great SP and 4 other’s who all have ERA’s what over 7.00?
i would trade this entire team right now. they aren’t doing what it takes to even make the playoffs so what’s the point of having all these players with great value. Could you imagine what kind of minor league system we could build if we traded Wright, Reyes, Beltran, and Johan?
Good thing you have no control over what they will do.
Just, wow…..
All due respect dude, as it is obvious that you are really frustrated, but you are talking complete lunacy right now. Trade Johan??? Cmon man.
i agree with you, but this is kind of like testifying on your own behalf here. i can’t help but think your opinion is a bit biased :-)
Ha, no honestly I just like the name…but I won’t lie I love Johan as well. As long as we are talking about it though, I think it would be just as crazy to trade Wright, Reyes, or Beltran, but I just went for the most obvious and craziest of his suggestions.
Again, you can feel his frustration through the screen, but lets not all strip naked and started running around New York going absolutely crazy here.
agreed. unless all the pretty women are going to do it too.
So now the object of the game is to have good players in the minors and bad ones in the majors?
Well Omar probably wants to make a good impression on the people of Buffalo.
I don’t really blame Jerry for this one, I blame Omar. From things I was reading Jerry was not too thrilled with the Mets signing Shef. I don’t even blame Shef, he has been a good teammate.
I mean you can’t be carrying this many OF’s to begin with. Tatis is not getting any playing time so how can we expect him to hit when he is called upon as a pinch hitter. I mean if Shef could hit like he use to I would say ok good move. But the problem is he is not going to hit even close to what he use to be able to hit unless he is getting regular playing time.
I don’t know but this OF situation in my opinion is a mess. You need a guy like Reed especially if you are going to play Murphy in LF most games, Tatis is not getting any time which makes him useless the few at bats he gets and Shef will continue to be useless unless he gets regular at bats.
The only options I really see for the Mets here is:
1) Cut Shef Lose start Murphy and Church and then Tatis could start once our twice a week and Reed late inning replacement for Murphy
2) Send Murphy back down to the minors to work on his D, start Shef and Church and same thing Tatis could get one our two starts a week and Reed same thing late inning replacement
3) Move Tatis out start Murphy and Church with Shef getting a couple starts a week and Reed coming in as late inning replacement.
It is obvious the most logical move and the move that makes the most sense is cut Gary lose.
omar did this to upgrade his bench and i guess justifiably (finally) getting rid of marlon anderson. Nobody would argue that shef would be more intimidating a pressence than marlon. We got shef for barely anything at all. I dont mind the move at all…i thought it was well done. If he suks, just cut him and call it a day. He hit his 500 already. Delgado would be next to do it. Shef was a low risk high reward player and if jerry was compitant in the least, playing time for tatis would nto be an issue..so imo it goes back on jerry.
Matt Cerrone has no credibility at all to make any comments about this team right now because he didn’t even want Manny here and thought the strategy of signing three garbage number 5 guys and Ollie Perez was somehow preferable to siging Derek Lowe.
I’m kind of sick of Ryan Church getting the shaft. He’s about the only guy in the lineup performing to or exceeding expectations.
My favorite was yesterday. It was really funny to see a guy batting .000 and a guy batting .111 in spots that Church should have been occupying in the lineup. How did he not bat 2nd or in front of Sheffield? Why does Manuel hate Church so much?
lets add castillo to that list
Memo to all you gloom and doomers out there. PHI started 9-10 last year and TB started out 8-11. You can get off to a slow start and right the ship.
Good post, and I’d prefer it this way. We’ve always gotten off the good starts and wind up losing focus down the stretch. This is going to test this group of players to see if they can do it the other way around for once.
Its funny how everyone is talking about Tatis like he is this stud that should be playing all the time.. He is also hitting .111 this season and is a career .264 hitter! It his past (4) Seasons in the majors he has hit: 2002 – .228, 2003 – .194, 2006 – .250, 2008 – .294! Last year was his 2nd best season in a 9 year career! He also didnt play baseball is 2004-2005, 2007. How do you know that he wasn’t just a one year man last year??
Don’t get me wrong Sheff hasn’t done much to warrant keeping him but to say that tatis is that much better of a starter is crazy.
Church should be playing against Lefties. He has proved he can hit them (at least better than a .111 hitter can).
To be fair the guy only has 9 at bats, so to quote his average isn’t much help IMO. I hear what you are saying, but no one is saying that Tatis needs to play because he is part of the long term future, he should be playing more becasue like you said he had a really nice year for us last year. Lets see if he still has anything in the tank. I believe that he can still produce getting a couple of starts a week.
Yeah i agree with you. It is a very small sample size and I am all for having him on our bench or as the fourth OF.
I just can’t believe how little love Ryan Church gets no matter how well he is playing.
Yeah, I’m not the biggest Ryan church fan out there, but at this point I would agree with you on that point. I don’t get it either. There must be something behind the scenes that they aren’t crazy about, but you are right from our perspective I don’t get it.
Why is the Sheffield experiment over after 20 AB’s? And Manuel should have a problem of too many good players, man that must suck for him huh?
Finally Tatis is a bench player and giving him AB’s is not why he is on the team.
because jerry is not compitant enough to manage effectivly….he says things and does another.
Murph should be playing everyday there is no reason for sheff to spell him. HOWEVER i still LOVE the fact that Sheff is on this team. WHERE WERE ALL OF YOU COMPLAINERS WHEN HE HIT NUMBER 500??????????????????????? Bottom line is man can still hit, he has hit the ball hard but has gotten unlucky outs. REMEMBER THIS WORD….. depth. if say church goes down they we have shee to take over and can still keep tatis on the bench. we dont have endy who can start for a decent perriod of time and still be productive… jeremey reed just cant do that. YA GOTTA BELIEVE. THE METSIES WILL BE FINE!
i was embaressed for a franchise who’s fans were so excited to see a guy hit his first home run for the team and is washed up and got a standing ovation. pathetic. how bout we get our own 500 home run guy?
dude i was there cheering because he tied the game i think at that point. Not for his 500th. I could care less who hit the HR i would have still cheered.
It wasn’t about giving him the ovation because he hit his 500th as a Met.. It is about giving him his dues for what he has done over his career. So based on your ideas we shouldn’t stand up for Delgado either bc he didn’t hit all his HRs as a Met.
delgado will get props from me but not shef, that dude is slime. Just remember his yankee days, I want my team to win but i will never respect shefClearElbowcream..
You have got to be kidding me, grasping at straws like Sheffield is causing confusion, as if this was what was causing the Mets problems.
Instead of focusing on a bench player’s 18 at bats, how about the fact that the starting pitching outside of Santana has flat out sucked. How about the fact that yet again this season the vaunted line-up appears allergic to hitting with RISP. How about the fact that instead of bringing his big lunch box with the huge thermos of coffee to work everyday, Beltran apparently is bringing a Dora the Explorer lunchbox filled with warn tea and tofu as he dancing around home plate……
Nah – none of that matters, it’s really all about the 25th man on the roster…
didnt jerry just say he wanted to maybe change up the roster…wasnt that like the last post or something??
I’m with you..i dunno why Sheff is the problem when..Murphy can’t field..the starters can’t go 6 innings…They can’t bring runners in, but it’s Sheffield’s fault. When he’s not playing you get the same results, so if they dump him..do they think the team will magically transform into some juggernaut?
Beltran, the guy hitting .404/.485/.579!, is the very least of our issues…
Guys the Wilpons are just extremely cheap. You say BUT THEY HAVE THE HIGHEST PAYROLL. Yes they do because the Mets play in the biggest market in the world and can afford to have a 130 million dollar payroll. You see a cheap person who can afford to live in a nice house lives in a nice house, but cheaps out on other things like clothes or food of gifts for their kids or something. And the Wilpons have cheaped out on role players. Garry Sheffield over Orlando Hudson = left overs over a sushi dinner. Still have a nice house and team base tho.
The organization is poorly run… Just look at what happened to Nelson Figueroa… The way that was handled tiplifies the mismanagement from the top…
And I have a feeling there are others on the team who see it and know it…
We cut Figgy what at most 2 weeks too soon? Even then he would not have been able to pitch for 4 days. He would have had to be released when Redding or Garcia comes up.
if figs was smart enough to stick around..he would probably have had an opp to get called up again sometime in the season…thats what you get for being so emo about a business oriented sport that baseball has become.
Agreed, he most likely would have been recalled after 10 days. They needed an arm right away and Figgy would have not been able to go for 4 days.. Simple as that.
I think Figgy is more upset at the fact he wasn’t given a chance. They could’ve had him as a long reliever instead of Redding. Instead of fixing the “if’s”, they just decided to roll the dice and right now they are rolling craps. This whole team is not constructed properly. I don’t blame Pedro for wanting 5 million a year..if bums like Redding can get 2.25 million..i’d want 5 million too if i had his credentials. I’d be upset too if i was Figgy..
Figgy does not deserve a spot over Redding. Redding was a quality starter for 2 years. Figgy does not even get claimed any of the 5 times we have DFA’d him.
Well, 29 teams had the chance to claim him off waivers but none did. I think you can use that and say there is a consensus among all teams in MLB that he’s not a major league talent. Heck, even Duncan didn’t want him in St. Louis and we’ve all been hearing Gary and Ron talk about how this guy can turn crap into gold. Apparently, Duncan sees Figgy as worse than crap. I don’t know what people see in Figgy but if the guy is a longterm solution on this team, season over.
They are paying Cora $2 mill and he is the definition of a role player. I’m not even sure what Orlando Hudson has to do with anything anymore since Castillo’s play has made the lack of his signing moot.
couldnt have said it any better. They always give you just enough to suck you in, but never close the deal.
That makes no sense. Why would we need Hudson? Especially at 8 million after incentives, just to put Castillo on the bench? How does that solve ANY of our current problems?
fine then what about a 5 million dollar abreu or a 20 million dollar dunn? what? lefties no good? rather have a frickin lefty than a washed up steroid guy hitting .111
They got that money to be starters, you want to pay them more than that to ride the bench? Or you want them to displace someone…who should’ve been cut for them?
I agree with most of what you said about the Wilpons but not all of it. Cheap is a funny word because we do spend, its not like we are the padres and marlins (who both have better records by the way) but the thing is they dont take the extra step, they give you a decent product but they dont take the extra step to add pieces and fill holes that will ensure they are in contention year after year. Our problem is the starting pitching because we didn’t add a legitimate #2 behind Johan.. Some of the blame has to got to Omar as well with bad contracts like Castillo and Perez, but when does Owner ship take the blame it’s always someone else fault. If Ownership tells Omar you cant give Derek Lowe 4 years, You cant give him 64 million then he cant do it!! We all thought the next best thing after Lowe was Ollie but it should have never gotten to that point. If we have a glaring hole at 2nd base and no clutch hitting Ownership have to give him the ok to get rid of the contract and bring in someone like Manny or at least Orlando Hudson who would have helped the clubhouse immensely in addition to his on the field play. The Majority of fans saw these problems, you cant think that Omar didnt see it too, he is not a complete idiot, but after his hand is forced to keep some of these people and choose the best from the worse he has to sell it to the fans. Which is why he will hype up Ollie Perez, tell you Castillo has been working hard we believe in him blah blah blah…This is part of the reason why Ownership likes him..Many times he cleans up the mess, Remember Jeff Wilpon was the same person who said we overachieved last year. He also said Manny wasn’t discussed last year which we all know was a lie as well because he didnt want to admit to fans that he didnt want to spend the money. Ultimately if the team doesnt perform Omar will feel the wrath but the real problem starts with ownership.
I was caught off guard by the signing of sheffield but viewed it as a low risk high reward. now i know why i was so confused bc there simply are not enough positions on the field to get all our guys in. the only thing i worry about is if we cut him and philly goes and signs him and he suddenly becomes angry mean sheffield and further fuels the phillies hatred towards us and hits 25 HR for them in a limited role.
…also gary sheffield of old wouldve ran over pujols yesterday and i feel like if he went to philly he would do something like that to one of our guys and injure them and screw us over even more.
I dont get why people focus on guys like Murphy etc. as if they’re the problem, they’re not the ones going out there walking guys and not getting batters out.
Murphy and Church should be the everyday corner outfielders, I dont mind Tatis and Shef getting the odd start here and there and pinch-hitting in the meantime, but for them to get regular starts at the expense of two guys hitting over .300 is stupid. Tatis was a one off last year, the chances of him having a similar impact this year is unlikely although I will gladly accept it if I’m proved wrong. Pitchers respect Shef, even though he’s not hitting well right now he’s still a huge threat to knock one out, he has some value. Church is one of the most underrated guys around, no way he should be getting shafted like this.
Agreed. Church has absolutely earned the right to play every day.
Sheff is fine. I like him being on the bench. I also have no problem with him getting an occasional start for Murphy, Church or Delgado.
Completely agree. As long as he remains a good citizen, I am fine with it.
Thing is, this is just matts opinion first of all. Second, if jerry was smart..playing time would not be an issue. Tatis plays OF,3b,1b and 2b(apparently). Tatis can cover for deglado/wright/murph/church/castillo. Gary only plays the OF and the corners at that so murph/church can be subbed out for a day. Cora plays the IF so jose/castillo can get some rest. How he “cannot” find ab’s for the bench is a bs excuse….
I agree, there is NO confusion on roles whatsoever. Tatis will get his AB’s but when Murphy, Castillo and Church are hitting then there won’t be as many AB’s.
“…and 2b(apparently)”
Haha – I was at the game on Sunday and was like, “Tatis plays second…”
It’s 15 games into the season and you’re bringing up Tatis? If you start taking Delgado and Wright out of the line-up for Tatis..that’s like forfeiting a game. They are our best run producers and you want to play tatis? Ok let’s say Tatis gets hot, then What..you plan on sitting Wright or Delgado till he cools off?
Before we talk about the lack of clutch hitting by players not named Castillo & Beltran or inability of the starters to give us a chance to win. We focus on Tatis?
i am not suggesting they play the bench…
Jerry is obsessed with getting his bench some ab’s. If its really that important to him the excuse of not finding games or ab for them is bs due to the benches versatility. If it was that serious…there are spots for him to replace them instead of picking on your hottest hitters in church and castillo.
I just can’t accept that the problem with this team is sheffield’s ab’s, or firing people. Ollie and Maine throw way too many pitches and walk to many people. Then they serve it up with men on base. It is unbelievable someone would give Ollie 3 years 36 million when he is a mediocre starter at best. Most teams do not make the playoffs without production from the starters, plus they set the tone for the game.
It is very hard to watch delgado hit a three run moon shot in the first inning, then know the starting pitching will give it right back and not even get through five innings of work. And Pelfrey’s elbow is hurting now? That is the worst possible injury for modern day pitchers these days.
I can’t jump ship b/c I love the Mets. However, Wright failing to make adjustments day after day, and Beltran not ever trying to steal bags on top of the “not sliding thing” is irritating. I have a lot of respect for Wright and Beltran but jeez….
Ok, my rant is over. Lets throw some strikes and stop walking people, steal some bases, and start abusing the NL. LETS GO METS! Gotta stay optimistic folks… its just baseball.
I did not want Perez but we got what we paid for. Look what guys like Silva, Loshe, Padilla etc got. Now yes Loshe has done better but look at his career numbers. Silva? Menche? Vasquez? #4 starters get paid.
I think you’ve hit on a big part of the problem, the general point that the starting pitching outside of Johan has been terrible. Another part of the problem, and I can’t take credit for it but I just heard a caller to the FAN mention it, is that the Mets are hitting singles to the OF with runners on 2B who somehow are stopping at 3B. Folk hero Razor Shines needs to start waving some more runners around.
Problem with Razor is he doesnt know when to send and when not to send.
Good Call. I agree, I am sick of watching Beltran come up with the bases loaded and less than 2 outs and he strikes out looking. It reminds me of game 7 in 2006. At the very least a pop fly to drive in a run. We need productive out here, or, a base hit. What is teh deal with Reyes? Ihave not seen him steal a base yet!, I know he has like 3 so far, but, that stinks for him. He needs to put the pressure on the pitcher and keep it on him. I am also sick of the give backs that our starters give out, that has to stop. Lets not forget that this is the same rotation, minus Pedro, plus Santana that we had in 2006. They are capable and just need the right “thing” to click again. I think the bats will come alive, my fear, is it will be to late.
Guys we are not looking at the big picture here. We are saying that Murphy and Church are getting the shaft?
Church has played in 15 games and has 56 PA’s. Murphy has 60 PA’s, Beltran has 66, Delgado 64. How are we shafting those 2 at all? Sheff has 20 and Tatis 9. Again what more do you want?
Because we played backups yesterday, and now we’re doing it again. after getting swept. With Santana on the mound who we rarely score for as it is, never mind with scrubs in the outfield.
Sheffield should be released if he doesn’t have a good game. He’s taking at-bats away from Murphy, Church, and Castillo, all who are better than he is.
He is NOT taking AB’s away from Castillo LOL. And as the numbers how those others are not losing AB’s either. They can’t play every game.
Man, some of the posts on here and unreal. lets all take a deep breath. Do you realize if we go 10-5 and the Marlins goe 5-10 we could be in first place. Our start is pathetic and there are issues, but you are all ready to trade Wright, blow up the bullpen to reconvert people to starters, etc… Lets hope things work out and not come to a complete panic just yet. if we are 50-60, then I will panic. LOL
You mean we shouldn’t trade Johan?
The METS, as they play now, would never go 10-5. I feel that they are the team most likely to be sweept versus getting a sweep themselves. I think that best case we take 2 out of three from the Nats and worse case we win only one game. This team is soft and at this point in the season is NOT playing as hard as they should be. YES its a long season and its early, but, when it gets late these early games can come back and haunt us, like they did in 07 and 08. It is never to early to practice good baseball basics and play the game correct. This team plays like a lazy team that is waiting for someone to win it for them. Its like the players are all saying the other guy will get the hit or score the run. I have no expectations for this team beyond perhaps, if we are lucky, a Wild Card.
I too am sick of the walks, I wish we could fine a pitcher $25K if they walk someone. LOL
Even better would be seeing Dan Warthen walk out to the mound with a salad for Ollie. Hold the dressing.
Or how about if you don’t go 6 innings you go to the pen and skip a start?
If you don’t go 6 innings, Figgy gets called up to make a start in your place. If he fails to go 6 innings, he gets another start. If he goes more than 6 innings, he gets sent to Buffalo.
Haha, that would be great. On a serious note, how about legitimately issuing a fine for lead off walks?
The league (and player’s org) would never allow that. But in the old days, teams had unofficial “kangaroo courts” where they would be dinged for such offenses. The money was pretty much secondary to the mockery. It was also good team-building camaraderie. The Mets need a veteran presence with the authority (and sense of humor) to do stuff like that. It should be Beltran or Delgado, but they’re stiffs.
this team is soft and brining in Gary Sheffield to change that is as big of a joke as the starting pitching. it’s not even worth bothering talking about a .111 hitter. Whats good starter can we take from another team should be the discussion and what player can we trade for that has as much heart as as a player on the phillies.
I dont understand why everyone is so high on Tatis. I would look to trade him, or release him, and add an extra pitcher to the roster. I dont think theres need for both of them, and while I know Tatis is versatile defensibly, its not like hes making web gems every night. Sheff has more power and will cause nightmares for opposing managers who need to make pitching changes.
But if any of the infielders stub their toe and have to come out of the game, who takes over their position? I think the only answer is Cora, which means he otherwise can’t be used because he has to sit there and be available in case of injury. I don’t think cutting Tatis solves anything.
Tatis is VERY valuable to us. He plays EVERY position except SS and CF and can hit. Those guys are priceless on the bench. Besides we are not going to go with 14 pitchers and if we do it will be for a week and then we would be missing a bench guy.
I don’t understand why Matt thinks the clock is ticking on Sheffield. It may be his opinion that Sheff should not stay but I don’t see anything from the way Jerry has been managing that indicates that Sheff is not part of the plan going forward.
TRS did you say Redding was a quality starter for 2 years? If he’s quality than signing Perez for 3 years was just genius.
The 2.25 million spent on him could’ve gone to other areas. Figgy could’ve been the long man / spot starter. I mean we had Sele as our long man one year, how bad can figgy actually be? Not to mention Figgy is actually HEALTHY. At least Figgy kept us in the game.
yes because the 2.25 would have brought us a lights out starter…
It’s not that 2.25 million would’ve brought in a stud, but they could’ve fixed that internally. They gave 2 million to Cora to sit the bench and a starter like Hudson is getting over 3 million. Then they wonder why they have no money to get better players..you overpaid by millions for 2 guys sitting on the bench or DL.
Hudson will get 8 MILLION. Go read a contract and learn.
If you look at Reddings 2007 stats and his first half of 2008 before his injury you would find a very good pitcher. Even factoring in you find an above average #5. That is MUCH more than Figgy would ever be.
Besides how long before Figgy could have pitched again? 4 days? That’s 4 days someone else could be used.
he is a bench player. a pinch hitter. he replaced Anderson and will be no worse than him. at $400K he is also our cheapest bench player. so long as he understands his role, and he seems to, there’s no reason to can him
Agreed, we are not going to carry 14 pitchers long so what does Sheff hurt? He is not taking AB’s from anyone. Anyone who thought that Church was going to play everyday was insane anyway. He would be broken buy July. Church STILL has plenty of Ab’s. He is only about 1 game down in PA from the core.
TRS, if church is healthy, what makes you think he cant play everyday? He is one of our best hitters so far in this young season, and Manuel seems inclined to take him out just to give Sheff some Abs.
Thats not the problem, the problem is that he takes away ABs from Church. I would much prefer church in the field and at the plate vs Sheff. Church can hit lefites, he has shown us this.
If the rest of the team were hitting, Shef would be a bench player. Jerry is trying to shake things up by using Shef.
Sheffield has done no worse at the plate than many others in the lineup.
Actually, he has done considerably worse than every starting position player other than catcher. You’re right about the bench players, which have all performed pretty badly.
At least he has balls. He’s just an old guy. Personally, I think he’s a guy you want around because of the aggressive edge he brings. If someone plunks him, he’ll charge the mound, which nobody else on this team of pussies will do.
Because having balls is directly related ti WIns wight?
You must be new to metsblog. Balls and Heart are all you need to be successful. You don’t even have to really be any good at baseball.
Im not sure if people realize this is only Matts opinion…this has not come from the mets.
The mets suck. bring back Valentine NOW!!!! seriously if we do not bring back Valentine it means we are not dedicated to winning and so I will not attend nor watch a single game until he is hired. Everyone thinks they have a freaking answer to their problems. THE ANSWER IS BOBBY V!
LOL that’s the funniest post I have ever read. Thanks for the humor.
HAHA funny but accurate
I can’t believe anyone who watches this team every day could even suggest Gary friggin Sheffield is even in the top 10 of problems to address.
it shouldnt as these are some of the same people that want to trade DW…i guess a slumping 310ba 400 obp guy is just trash…
thats 310 Ba and 400 OBP is a bit misleading.
Hey I have complained about this offense for years. People get too caught up in how many runs the Mets scored last year. Yes they were second in the NL in runs, but this team does not get the important runs home when they need to.
The good teams, championship teams do the little things like making productive outs, getting a runner home from third with less then two outs.
I heard all spring about how aggressive this team was going to be. I don’t see it through 15 games at all. One of this teams great assists is its speed. They need to start using it.
Oh and the pitching is god awful. Even if Jerry sticks by his word and if Maine, Ollie, Pelf don’t pitch good this time around, what can be done? Tim Redding, Freddy Garcia, Neise (who has stunk it up in the minors so far). Not many options. Not like we have a David Price or Tommy Hanson we can call up.
There is an attitude that you see the championship teams play with. An attitude like, hey we are good, and no matter what the situation is we can come back and win. The Mets had that in 2006. But since the end of 2007 I don’t know it is like they are playing like ehhhh whatever it is early, its just one game, we will turn it on tomorrow instead of playing and leaving it all out in the field every game.
In 2006 no matter what as a fan I always felt they would come back and win. This year even when they are up 4 runs I watch very uneasily and feel that they will give it all right back and lose.
History will be made tonight as both Johan and Olsen get 27 straight outs.
Putz will pitch a perfect 10th.
K-Rod will pitch a perfect 11th.
Feliciano will give up a bomb to Zimmerman in the 12th.
We will load the bases with no outs in the 12th…..Wright will whiff….Church pinch hit and pop up to the infield on the first pitch….Castro will ground out.
Minaya gets fired at 3:00 AM.
Can someone please tell me what Ryan Church has to do to stay in the lineup on a regular basis? Talk about disrespect. And, like the true professional he is, he doesn’t complain or say one word. Imagine what we would be hearing from a bum like Sheffield if the roles were reversed. Church is the kind of player the Mets need more of. The kind of player who possesses the character as well as the talent to win. There are too many players on the current roster who possess a lot of the latter but almost none of the former. Those players shall remain nameless, but they know who they are.
Agreed. The Mets always cater to the squeaky wheel. The Mets need more grit and character, not diva’s that dance after a HR. But under Minaya it seems any white player that they want to throw under the bus does while a lot of rope is given to the Latin Quarter. (Church, Lo Duca, Heilman, Bannister, Schoenweis) vs. (Castro, Castillo, Pedro, Alou, Feliciano, Sanchez) Are you getting my drift.
sheffield is the only hitter on the team that puts fear into the opposing pitcher period……
how many security guards, tix takers & hot dog vendres c/they have spent only $400,000 on?
the mets line up and bench are fine they need to continue to keep the team the way it is we are strong on the bench , we need schneider back as soon as possible because our pitchers look lost without him and fossum needs to be released for a experienced long relif help.
[...] Cerrone of MetsBlog believes time is running out on Gary Sheffield, and suggests that his presence on the roster could depend on his performance tonight: [...]
It has nothing to do with Sheffield, why things are not working out. Sheffield is a hall of fame player that has a lot to offer when he’s playing and not playing. His presence should not be a problem, but it should be a benefit.
Look at the way LaRussa uses his bench, everyone plays. He changes his lineup everyday. What that does is keep players fresh and on their toes. They know that everyday they have to play hard or they can lose their playing time. It makes everyone play with urgency.
Having a guy like Sheffield makes Church, Murphy, and even Delgado know that if they don’t produce there is a replacement.
Didn’t Manuel just say Murphy and Church will get the bulk of the starts? So Church hits the ball well yesterday, has hit lefties and so we bench him for Sheffield who hasn’t hit and hasn’t proven he can field either. And we wonder why rumors of Church hating NY have surfaced. They treat this guy like crap.
I wasn’t for bring Sheffield in, but to be fair, he is hammering the baseball. Eventually those hits won’t be caught by Ankiel.
Manny Ramirez.
I agree with Matt’s assessment. I was very against the Sheffield signing for many reasons. Management at this point seems to be bumbling around not knowing what to do, what players to acquire, whom to promote from the minors, and whom to play when in games. This is highly disturbing, as I believe we have TONS of talent on this team. Cut Sheffield loose now. Play Murphy and Church, with Tatis getting to regularly spell them with one or two starts a week and getting a PH at bat in nearly every game.
“… Murphy, who does nothing but hit …”
I beg to differ – he also drops fly balls, falls down in the outfield, and tries to jump from his knees to catch the ball that would have hit him in the face had he not fallen.
I’m glad Murphy seems to have lost his “regular” status. He’d make an OK platoon player, but the best place for him is in the Buffalo OF, honing his craft there.
[...] Gary Sheffield is “causing confusion on the roster“(4/24) [...]
[...] a recent post to Metsblog, Matthew Cerrone argued that Sheffield is making the roster more “confusing,” saying [...]