On Saturday, with the game tied at 
five in the eighth inning, and runners on first and second with no outs, Jose Reyes failed twice to get a sacrifice bunt down, after which he struck out swinging.
Reyes is on pace to hit just .258, steal 25 bases, hit seven home runs, and drive in 55 runs this year with a .336 OBP.
Reyes has only scored nine runs this season.
David Wright is being booed often in Citi Field, while Reyes, who has been criticized a lot in the past, seems to be going unnoticed.
I think what has been most disappointing is that Jerry Manuel worked a lot with Reyes in spring training to try and elevate his game, and encouraging him to be a leader on the team and essentially become the captain of the infield.
He has started slow before, and ended up with a tremendous stat line, so I believe he, like so many others, will turn it around.
The short-term problem, though, is that he is failing at ‘the little things,’ such as not getting down the bunt on Saturday, or hitting weak pops with runners on base.
nope…wright is the reason and the only reason we have collapsed the past two seasons…its is all wright’s fault!!!!
It’s just COMICAL to me. David’s 2007 April was WORSE than his 2009 April. The commotion wasn’t as bad back then, because we were just coming off the NLCS. Now, David has to deal with 2 straight collapses of the worst kind…
How is it one person’s fault, last i checked its a 25 man roster and a 40 man roster in September, blaming one person just because he’s the face of the franchise is ridiculous.
that was meant to be sarcastic
ok, my bad
Both of our homegrown boys are struggling. But that doesn’t mean we should trade them *rolls eyes*…
They’ll both turn it around and end where they usually end with regards to statistics.
I would agree with you, but you have to understand these April games only count as 1/4 an actual game.
He’s the big toe of the infield.
…and Seargent Hulka is gonna take that big toe, and kick your butt.
Before or after the pancake treatment?
Whaddya got one of those 6-8 week training programs? Which is PERFECT for me.
The Doc said I swallowed a lot of aggression….AND a lot of pepperoni pizzas…..
Wright defined himself in March in the WBC when he helped USA to the semifinals with a very clutch hit and then when he smashed his toenail the next day, grinded it out for 8 innings.
Softee Beltran would have rolled around on the ground for 20 minutes instead of what Wright did and that was get right back in the box and finish the game.
When does the finger stop be pointed at the players on the field and start being pointed at the manager.
Matt, your posting makes me conclude that Jerry is failing in his attempts to teach and motivate.
When this occurs… its time for change.
Ding ding ding!
If anyone is flying under the radar, it’s OMAR.
Change we can believe in….
where have I heard that before?
anyone notice the bar on the side for “next 3 games”
has johan pitching tuesday And wednesday?
that would be awesome for the mets!
here is that “pace” thing one month in….ugh
C’mon! you cannot blame the manuel fully! yes he’s made some dumb moves, but for the love of god can somebody get a hit in a big spot when it counts. Can we stop turning bases loaded with 0 out innings into 1 run off 1 fly out..and getting out in every single 2 out man in scoring position opportunity they get. Yes, a manager isn’t fof the hook, but these guys have to start coming through. I mean, bases loaded 1 out delgado up …he’s gotta come through, and instead he grounds into a dp..how is that the managers fault.
because there have been many scoring ops that were out of reyes hand that manuel could have gotten the job done.
This is what I would of done in the offseason.
1. Let Delgado Walk. Move Murphy to 1st base.
2. Let Oliver Perez walk.
3. Signed CC Sabathia with the money that was freed up from delgado and perez.
4. Traded D Wright for Tim Lincecum
5. Trade for Halladay with prospects at the deadline.
Its clear Citi Field is a pitchers park so players like Wright and Delgado are useless. Imagine this team with those 4 elite starters and it was possible.
Next Season, sign Carl Crawfard. You have reyes and crawford for years to come
In a pitcher’s park it is even more important to have a strong offense. And on the flip side, you don’t need great pitchers because the ballpark makes up for a lot of mistakes.
plus delgado an perez only frees up 44mil, theres still well over a hundred million on the table for cc…and the giants arent trading wright for lincecum, and the blue jays aren’t trading halladay for any of our prospects..
while were at it we probly should have signed manny tex, and o dawg, traded reyes and castillo for hanly and uggla…for get about signing crawford, lets just trade church for him straight up right now
wow…”wright is useless”….ya…no need to respond to that
well, he kind of has been useless in 2009.
.244 with risp. thats useless. thankyou.
Your dad’s sperm is what’s useless
Even funnier is that the notion that since Citi is a pitcher’s park that you don’t need good hitters.
I guess your pitchers are supposed to somehow prevent and score runs? And I guess the other team is not going to bring their hitters to Citi?
its not like losing gado and wright would affect the offense that much. the mets lead the league in batting average and thats with Gado and Wright doing nothing.
wow…you really are clueless
Stop using illegal drugs.
or share them, at least.
so, we can agree on Piff? alright alright
So you wouldnt take my suggestions if you were gm? Look how Wright and Gado have turned out. Bums.
yeah, just awful. Wright has been an MVP candidate each of the last three seasons. Who needs that?
MVP candidate that has failed to produce in the clutch.
I could of put anyone in the 3rd spot in the mets lineup last year and he would have atleast 100rbi.
Here we go again.
I’m not posting Wright’s career “clutch” stats any more because I’m tired of the foolish responses.
I’m sure they would (*rolls eyes)
I think it’s safe to say that murphyformvp is the most ill-informed met fan on this blog…and that is saying quite a bit. His grasp of trade dynamics is particularly insightful.
The reason for it is that Wright had had a free ride [with the media] for the last few years. Reyes was attacked plenty. There was months of coverage about Reyes. He was also pulled out of games for not running hard to first when the whole team does that including Wright.
Reyes was the only ‘edge’ this team had. Smiling. Sliding hard into third for triple and second for steals. Dancing without fear or care.
That was too much for some fans and the organization. Now, I fall asleep with the boring play of this team. A bunch of zombies.
dancing around like tinkerbell is “edge?”
lol…. it means he is a gritty player.
I suppose he’d the ideal gritty player if he was dancing on a pole.
At the very least it meant that he was having fun..right now this team looks like they’re attending a funeral, not playing a fun game they’re being paid absurd amounts of money to do.
I agree with the fact that they look very unhappy/stressed/afraid/tired/lost/etc…
Well maybe they would be considered to have giant balls if they did the Alleycat together in the dugout.
Wanny again, you are responding to the wrong person re balls.
When I have nothing to do with the subject, your responses mean nothing.
You have nothing to do with balls?
Hmmm…. how should we interpret that…?
lol…. what i meant was that I have never said that what the mets are missing is balls. However, you keep bringing this subject up with me.
I apologize. I guess I am lumping you in with your “Core” colleagues,
sorry zen…reyes has never been attached liked this…wright has been adn continues to be the one player blamed for the past two seasons…bar none…and the fact is he has been the teams best player in aug/sept the past two seasons…now this come with the “face of the franchise tag”…but it still does not make it correct…and im sorry DW has never thrown the little temper tantrums that JR has earlier in his career….
attacked….
by the way i love this guy and he and DW will not be going anywhere anytime soon
Reyes has never been attacked like this? Did you follow the team in 2007 and 2008?
obviously more than you have….there is a difference between being called a winner and immature (not running balls out, not coming off the field when you manager says to, not hustling out pop ups andyess they all do it from time to time, but he was given chance after chance to straighten out), and being blamed for two collapses in a row…so let me simply this for you…one guy is being blamed for what he does and one guys is being blamed for the what the TEAM has done(all the while being the best position player on the team for the last two months of both seasons)…do you not see a complete difference there?
sorry whiner…
Nobody blamed Wright for the collapses. Not one newspaper or commentator. Willie Randolph was blamed. The two Carlos a few hits. The bullpen took the biggest hit in terms of players.
Wright has gotten a free pass until now. He is the poster boy.
I agree zen, Reyes has been criticized before.
Close and late last season:
Wright – .286 .412 .464
Reyes – .278 .340 .367
So where were the anti-Reyes comments all offseason? A .340 OBP from your leadoff hitter is not good. Or was your offseason of Wright bashing merely about equity?
I agree and I’ve always have. Reyes was also terrible.
Anyone can cherry pick stats. I’m not trying to play one against the other. Simply saying that Reyes has taken a lot more criticism.
Look at Wright’s playoff stats: .216 .310 .378
Zen — those aren’t cherry picked stats. You may not have been here during the offseason but a major debate was centered on Wright’s “clutch” hitting while Reyes’ utter inability was completely ignored.
These stats are as good as any other “clutch” stats.
Reyes is not a #3 or #4 hitter. He is a lead-off hitter. His main job is to score.
Not to mention, he is walked intentionally or pitched around in rbi situations because the Mets never have a decent #2 hitter.
Wright gets the benefit of the doubt with the media because he is accountable and speaks to them without making excuses and throwing teammates under the bus.
Reyes does try to give interviews but he can be very hard to understand so they move past him after a few quick words.
Wright is serious and Reyes comes off as a clown sometimes, that’s why Reyes gets more bad publicity, it seems that he does not care sometimes, even though he does inside.
i would agree with that
Well reyes is a streaky player…thats just the bottom line. I want him to be ALOT more agressive on the basepaths but manuel does not play this type of baseball. Also would like him to drag bunt more often and use his speed. When reyes is hot he is hot but when he is cold he is ice cold. Like larkin says “speed never goes into a slump” and thats what reyes needs to use.
David Wright may not be the best clutch hitter the Mets have but right now, he is our stolen base leader.
If this does not give Reyes some food for thought, i don’t know what will, maybe he thinks he will dethrone Wright as a slugger.
lol you know he is prepairing to take over the #3 spot lol
Maybe they should swap them one game and see what happens, let Wright lead off with a walk or a hit and he will be gone, no question.
Reyes has been very, very disappointing…
Manuel is to blame. Sacrificing with Reyes? no. bad idea. Maybe try to bunt for a basehit, but Manuel treats Reyes like he’s luis castillo. He bunts the pitcher in front of him, like he’s incapable, especially in Citi Field, to get an extra base hit to drive the guy home from first.
Why is Manuel a fan of giving away outs via the bunt? especially ones that don’t put a guy on third with 1 out. The ‘work’ Manuel has done with Reyes have him running less, being less aggressive. This isn’t Reyes game. No surprise he’s struggling trying to appease a manager that won’t let him be him.
Reyes has completely stagnated as a player since 2006. He has not improved in a single area, and has regressed in many.
I’m not saying to trade him, but he’s not an elite player. He has maybe 1 more year before he can’t be traded as one either. So this team needs to either trade him for a big-time package, or revise their expectations to ‘offensively gifted, gold-glove caliber SS.’ He’s not going to carry anyone. He’s a knucklehead.
Completely agree… In 2006, Reyes was dynamic, fun to watch, had that edge…
Since then, he’s reverting into a Juan Pierre-type… Good speed, very streaky, never living up to expectations…
See my below post. Juan Pierre is a singles hitter who doesn’t walk. Reyes walks 60 times and produces 70 extra base hits per year. He is no Juan Pierre, trust me.
AMEN
Perhaps he was fun to watch because he was for the most part unknown? Most of us had never seen much of him before, except for an AB or two here and there
How can you say he’s not an elite player? How many shortstops out there hit .290 with 18 triples, 35 doubles, 15 home runs and 60 stolen bases? Think about that. That’s a .290 average with 70 extra base hits and 60 steals at a premium position. He is definitely elite, no question.
He’s certainly elite. He’s just not the “next Mickey Mantle” like some news outlets were promoting him as a few years ago. I think we as Mets fans need to not be disappointed if some of our homegrown players are not “all-time greats” in the league. We can certainly win a title if guys like Wright, Reyes and Pelfrey are “very good.” We just need our GM to assemble an appropriate supporting cast.
reyes had a better OPS in 2008 than 2006
however he’s been average to terrible every other year of his career
yep he was just terrible in ’07, downright disgusting with his most walks, 2nd highest obp, and 78 stolen bases to go along with 57 rbis out of the leadoff spot.
When Reyes batted in the eighth, there was only a runner on first. At least look at the game log before you point fingers. Maybe you’re not blogging with enough “intentsity.” This post clearly lacked “fire.” I’m sure the Phillies’ bloggers always check their facts before they post (just giving you a sense of what it’s like to be a Met these days…)
He should have bunted the runner over, and he would have scored on Church’s hit. Even if he didn’t score, you have runner at second, Beltran’s grounder to first moves the runner to third, and then you have Sheffield with a chance to drive the run. Say they walk Sheff, and pitch to Wright…..maybe he breaks out….say they walk Wright….then you have Tatis………
The point I’m making is that by not bunting, it killed the inning. Had you bunted, you would have opened up a series of possibilities.
Anyway…..water under the bridge now.
Hard to say. If Reyes bunted Cora over, the pitch sequence could have changed. You don’t know if Church gets the same pitches to hit. Plus, Church’s mindset could have changed. With a runner in scoring position, maybe he thinks differently as a hitter and looks for a different pitch.
BENCH THEM ALL!! Play the guys that are getting it done, have Sheffeild, Muph and Church play outfield and Santos catch, Tatis at 1B, Cora at SS, who could play 1 and 3B ? Have them sit on the bench and watch the bench players win a game. That might wake them up?
Yeah Beltran is not getting it done. He’s just leading the league in batting.
AHAHAHAHA…..no seriously, you’re funny
Not only has Manuel’s work with Reyes failed but it seems like every single attempt by this coaching staff to motivate and teach has failed.
Hojo’s work with Wright = epic fail
Manuel’s work with Reyes = epic fail
Warthens work with Perez = EPIC FAIL
Manuel’s idea for the players to come back from the WBC and pretend the Mets are a Country that you have pride for = Epic Fail
Hojo’s work with everyone = Epic fail
Darth Manuel’s attempt at sounding like a knowledgeable baseball fan- epic fail.
that just makes no sense.. Everything I just stated is fact, so clearly your the one who doesn’t know whats going on with this team.
They aren’t facts, they’re Rush Limbaugh-style rants of personal opinion. Save us the drama, we get enough of it from the trolls on here that scream “trade reyes! trade wright! trade perez! trade delgado! trade castillo! sign cc! trade for halladay! trade for oswalt! trade for lincecum!”
It’s pretty annoying.
We all know things aren’t 100% positive right now, but to say ALL of those guys have failed miserably at their jobs is pretty lame. After all, the coaches can’t play for the players. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.
If the coaches can’t get through to the players, isn’t that a problem? Isn’t that a signal that these coaches aren’t the right guys for the job?
YES!
LMAO, so true, none of them listed are epic fails, its how the game goes, you win some you lose some.
I actually agree with this…since hojo the mets offense has been very inconsistant. I still dont sense warthens impact on the team. Manuel has cost the mets several games so far. Alomar is a waste of space. They need to clean this out before anything progress can be done imo…but in all likelyhood nothing will happen.
It was inconsistent under Rick Downs as well. And in a month when the offense starts clicking again for a few weeks, HoJo will save face. What does this all mean? We have an inconsistent lineup that presses in high pressure situations. I don’t even think Rudy Jamarillo is going to fix that.
Can we stop this whole “[blank] is on pace to hit [blank] with [blank] RBIs and [blank] HRs this season”…?
It’s absolutely ridiculous to say something like that right now. You have no idea how childish it sounds being repeated over and over, especially after 23 games. NOBODY is consistently good for 162 games. NOBODY
agreed. After April in ’07 Wright was on pace for terrible numbers, and he had his best all time season. Projections don’t make any sense with this small of a sample size.
THis goes back to last year too, but Reyes is actually about the last guy on the team I wan to see up in a big spot (say, bases loaded 2 outs). You just expect the flailing at a pitch in the dirt before he finally pops up routine.
When Reyes is going bad, he seems to be stepping out of the box and his backside flies wide open, causing his swing to be more of an uppercut.
When going well, he is standing in there pitch after pitch, his swing is compact and level…
My biggest problem with Reyes..HE HAS 4 STOLEN BASES! that is pathetic. carl crawford stole 2 more bases than reyes has all season..in 1 game! do you understand the magnitude of that…in 1 game..1 freaking game! crawford was able to steal 2 more bases than jose reyes (60+ base stealer…off of pure speed) has in an entire month! that is crazy! does that not just say it all.
Reyes’ knee is bothering him. It’s the same knee as Oliver Perez. In fact, OP was wearing Reyes’ ice pack.
(wink wink).
Perez and Perez are perfect for each other. Reyes likes his pitches off the plate and in the dirt just where Ollie likes to throw them.
LMAO
My problem with Reyes: not being able to bunt on Sat. I blame him more than I blame Beltran for hitting into a DP.
His displays late in close games are generally terrible.
I think the stats and our observations both back that up.
What that says is that Carl Crawford had one phenomenal game. 6 stolen bases in one game is virtually unheard of.
I’ve said it for a while that I think this team needs a manager change (I’m in for Backman), but what concerns me more and more, and something the Mets will need to deal with is defense.
Look at the Mariners this year, and the Rays of last year–better pitching and DEFENSE helped/are helping them to win. This is especially important to a team with a fragile pitching staff in a huge ballpark.
I’m pleased Castillo is coming back on offense, but let’s face it, he’s a shell of his former self on defense–his range is horrible. Then the adventures in left field leave a gaping hole. Delgado’s glove has gotten better but he has little range (now combine that with Castillo). Wright is good (great glove, inconsistent arm). Jose has a world of talent, but is not a fundamentally sound player.
I’m sure I’m in the minority here, but I have to say I’m more confident (not that I’m confident) that our pitching will end up being solid over our ability to play fundamentally sound defense. Any team that plays in Citi will need an A defense to really take advantage of the park. We’re a B- at best.
Regarding Jose Reyes – he CANNOT bunt. He has not been able to bunt for years….whether it be to sacrifice, or for a base hit. Just because he has speed, it doesn’t mean he could bunt. Sad.
He could bunt, and do it very well when he first came up. The problem is that he wants to be like Hanley and keeps swinging for the fences.
Not bunting on Saturday was terrible.
Well, considering he usually hits a lot of balls in the gaps (average 30 doubles, 19 triples, 15 home runs, 60 walks), he shouldn’t need to bunt as much as someone like Juan Pierre who has no extra base power and no patience at the plate.
I guess not being from NY, I don’t understand a NY fan mentality. I understand the frustration level, and I too am frustrated. However, I do not understand the fascination with proposing totally ridiculous and bewildering trades, that make my IQ lower.
“Oh yea trade Reyes and Wright”. Seriously, I understand the frustration, but please get over yourselves. Yes, lets trade last years NL leader in hits, a SB threat, and one of the most explosive leadoff hitters in baseball, and while were at lets do the same with Wright, I mean the guy can’t be any good. It’s called slumping, it happens, its baseball. These players are anything but the problem, the last two years, instead of pointing fingers at players who do their jobs and for the most part produce, point fingers at the management who assembles the team.
I agree with you that there is nor season right now to let go of any of them, but with that said, right now they are not playing like the players we expect. They have been part of 2 epic fails. Eventually being in the same place (i understand its a new stadium, but its essentially the same place), wearing the same uniform, and being part of losing will crush these guys. And it think it comes to the point where if they have a horrible season this year, that maybe they do need a change of scenery. and don’t be shocked if they thrive once dealt, but sometimes people cannot succeed in a certain spot. I don’t want to trade them, but if they’re not bringing in ws either the entire team around them need to be changed, one of them could go.
I’m getting annoyed with this “on pace” bullshit. Can we just stop using it completely? Especially one month into the damn regular season.
Sometimes it’s funny, which is probably the only time it should be used. For instance, had Crawford stolen 6 bases on opening day, somebody would have wrote: “Carl Crawford is on pace to steal 972 bases this season.”
But everybody, including the writer, knows its totally impossible and it was just an attempt at baseball humor.
The problem is, they forget to do the same the other way around. When they post horrible on-pace stats, they think it is most likely to happen and is a sign of bad things to come.
Horrible journalism, if you ask me…
Reyes looks like hes trying to be a home run hitter IMO. Hes swinging for the fences. If I remember right, he went through a bout of this a couple years ago as well.
AND..he’s killin my fantasy team..to think.. i wasted a first round 4th overall pick on him .. tsk tsk.. what was that saying last year? the Mets go as Jose goes? Seeing a lot of that… Half of our losses should be converted to wins.. we need to start winning and forgetting about individual contributions and stats.. just get W’s… we can’t keep the “it’s early” mentality.. needs to change ..especially after NLCS 2006 and back-to-back collapses…
Victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan.
– Count Galeazzo Ciano
Just win baby!
–Al Davis
I can’t comment on the Count’s line, but the last time the Raiders made the playoffs was 4 years prior to the last time the Mets did. “Just Win Baby” has been falling on deaf ears for 7 years now.
edit: “Just draft speed, baby!” -Al Davis
Easy on the Raiders stuff. For those of us who are both Mets and Raiders fans, this is a tough time.
LOL…wow, the Wilpons and Omar look like geniuses compared to Al Davis.
C’mon, cut it out.
And yet, Davis was in the Superbowl in 2003. Mets in the WS in 2000.
Not a Raiders fan, but that quote solves all the problems. Nobody cared about dancing in 2006 or Wright’s all-star game hr contest.
Reyes hasn’t been the same since Rick Down got fired in July 2007. Was hitting .317 beginning of July 2007 with an OBP of around .400. He’s definitely regressed since then, swinging from his heels, gets himself out on balls in the dirt, and has gotten away from hitting lines drives. He looks no different than he did in 2005 now, but at least then it was seen as growing pains. Not sure whta it’s been for the last year and a half.
I’ve been saying it for a while now, and its not just convenient, but Hojo’s job needs to be questioned. The Reyes stats you pointed out, in addition to the pull happiness of Wright has me convinced that he changed their approaches at the plate.
Agreed- and what’s even worse is Hojo never even broke .300 for one season. He could turn on a fastball with the best of them, but that’s about all he did at the plate. Other than one season (’89?) when he hit around .290, he was usually in the .250 range, completely vulnerable to breaking/off speed stuff. So not exactly sure what “nuggets” he’s passing along to Jose and DWright about situational hitting…
Does Tony Gwynn really need to coach SDSU? I know they’ve got the pitching phenom but can’t we find a way to get a bug in this guy’s ear? Throw some money at him or something?
Yes at the end of the year there statistics will look very good. Problem is statistics don’t win you championships. Big hits do. Hits that win games win you titles. Something this team as a whole does not get. So when the team is not getting big hits it falls on the stars of the team. So Wight and Reyes will be front and center of it. Wright more since he has had allot more opportunities this year to put the Mets ahead late in games and has not come through.
But we scored the 2nd most runs in the league last year. “Offense was not the problem” – Omar Minaya after upgrading the bullpen.
exactly! for example, yes beltran is batting almost .400, but guess what eh did when it counted? he grounded into a freaking double play! and obviously you’re not going to be perfect, but that is classic mets. hit 390 and get out where it counts..hit 38 hr’s but don’t homer in game 162, drive in 120 something rbi, and don’t bring in a single one in game 162..when the game is on the line, when the spotlight is on, they come up short. stats are great, but stats lie and hide blemishes.
Would you take this from Reyes the rest of the way:
.291 BA
12 HR
58 RBI
57 SB?
I would … and that’s what he’ll have to do to get up to his averages per season … which almost always happens, which means his best baseball is ahead of him … which is great news!
Here’s the bad news: We all have no lives and are posting constantly on a BLOG…lol
David Wright is being booed often in Citi Field, while Reyes, who has been criticized a lot in the past, seems to be going unnoticed.
I don’t understand this need to bring down one player at the expense of another. Don’t get it.
Wannabe journalism at its finest
I don’t either. Both are playing pretty piss poor right now, probably an attempt to absolve some of the criticism off of Wright. It’s ok to criticize people, criticism can be effective, you know.
New York fans boo their players without mercy. Wright will be fine, he’s fine tuning his swing and mechanics to get comfortable at the plate.
There was a lot of bitterness when Wright decided to stay on with Team USA after his toe injury and fans have not let him forget it and will not until he has 10 walk off hits this season.
Ok I got it! Lets blame EVERYONE except
Omar The Teflon Don! This mess cant be HIS
fault. He’s only the one in charge. Right?
Preach it.
Just telling the truth.
5 yrs in with the most resourses of any
NL team and to date very ordinary results
given the opportunity.
But its Reyes,Wrights,Pelphreys,Maines
fault now as well as Ollies for being what
Ollie has always been. Also,Jerrys fault AND
Willies before him. No I dont want Omar fired
’cause God forbid we end up w/Tony B.,King
of the clubhouse spys running the show next.
And wrong again Wanny, to anyone whos
paid attention I’m no great fan of Little Stevies
but he was certainly no worse than Omar.
Problem most dont seen to grasp is
That at this point there are no other moves
answers. This is Omars squad and the
season must be played out but I’d be very
careful wishin’ on a quick move to fix things
since any move of a Reyes or Wright could
make things ALOT worse.
I know, I lived through the late 70s with this
team unlike most of ya’ll.
Wrong again? I said something new here?
“so I believe he, like so many others, will turn it around.”
I wish I had a dime everytime i heard that phrase concerning the Mets
When cheering for the Mets, sometimes hope is all fans have….
True. Ask metfanfordecades.
Its all omars fault,you cant single out the players just yet in april.
Omar must go because:
99% left handed bats except switch hitting and DW.manny was the answer one of the best right handed bats in the game,he wouldve taken pressure off of DW
Pitching..we gave freddy garcia a shot..why not ben sheets? i’d take him over maine and perez combined anyday.
Never liked perez..always thought he was a joke and now its in the bullpen..he should be in the minor leagues or even cut off the team..the man simply cant pitch
Its a fact that citifield is a pitchers park,only for the other team..the entire core is screwed up..we have a steroid ridden 40 year old hitter in sheffield and another washed up player cora..
You’re criticizing him over signing a minor leage deal (which cost them nothing) for Garcia and not signing Sheets, who may not be able to pitch at all this season, if effectively ever again (See Jason jennings who had the same surgery).
And I don’t see how the team’s left handed batting has been a problem. Especially not when Fernando Tatis has been so good playing against lefties.
Agreed Wanny. The pining for Sheets here
was and stillis at times unreal.
Not great to start out with and a bad guy.
Not to mention of course always hurt as
he is now. Again, You could be a kid following
this team for just the last few seasons casually and have understood, Omar NEEDED to all all out after MAnny and Lowe
this off season and see what happens.
I was all over Lowe. He made so much sense for this team that cost shouldn’t have mattered (especially if they were going to give Perez $12m/year when no one else was apparently injured).
But I don’t think Manny was ever an option — both on ownership’s side and on Manny’s. His interview with TJ Simers of the LA Times made it pretty clear that he was much happier not being among the baseball obsessed.
I gotcha. But mes think if when negotiating
w/Boras you let him/the players know you
give 4yrs to Lowe and 3 to Manny they’re
both here. But ownership wanted no part
of him and as much as they love Omar
after some of his questionable signings
didnt completely trust him on it.not to mention
after trusting Madoff w/their money and coming up short about half a billion.
cora is just a backup middle infielder… yes, those players are usually washed up or just suck in genral
cora is turning out to be a nice back here
Wow MetsBlog is such a positive outlet for Met news these days. Way to keep the fans positve on the season!! Depressing as hell!
Matt is exactly right – Jose will likely turn this arond and get out of the slump, just like David will….the issue isn’t that players slump – they all slump from time to time. The issue is, during that slump, Reyes (and to an extent Wright) is ALSO failing to do the little things – lay down a bun, move runners over, make a productive out, use your speed when on base…..etc.
Slumps I don’t mind….not doing the little things that should not be affected by slump or hot streak DO bother me.
That’s the problem with these players. When they slump, not only do they fail to get hits, they are virtually useless at the plate.
When they slump, they press and when they are pressing they are not thinking.
Kumbaya my lord, Kumbaya…..
Here’s a thought, you want a professional hitter, get a professional haircut. The mini-dreads ain’t doing it man. I think the team should all shave their head in a sign of unity.
Or we could buy like 25 sets of Manny Dreads and we’d have a team full of Manny’s being Manny’s…. that would be cool…
or if you want a professional hitter, they passed up on the chance to sign arguably the most “professional” hitter in the game….. and your statement made me wonder what manny would look like with a shaved head…
They passed on him because he can’t play defense. Not liek the guy we have out there right now. Wait a minute…
Murphy… Manny… Hmmmm….., sounds like a theory…
Yeah and a bad influence on young players.
Oh, wait on that one too.
lol i was just gunna say that murphy sucks in the field too… but i honestly think that manny is a better fielder than murphy. but murph is a hard worker and seems like he really loves the game. i bet ya the one who is the most frustrated with his defense is him. i’m sure hes really working on it and what has it been a week since he last tripped…
For all the talk of balls, Murphy is one guy who is willing to take out a second baseman, lay out for a line drive (which he will likely miss) and hustles at all times.
He and Church seem to exemplify this “grit” crap that everyone is clamoring for.
For all the work Murphy does on his defense, Manny will still be an infinitely better hitter…always.
The next argument will be age and years. Manny has found the fountain of youth (HGH).
You’re not wrong wanny problem is omar
needed to bring in a couple veteran games
who would have stature in the clubhouse.
I love Beltran and Delgado problem is they’re
not Hernandez/Carter types. And its tough for
a guy like Wright to find his voice in there given
The Carlos’Stature as players and latino
leaders on a team full of fellow latin players.
Fong — I don’t disagree with that and I’m not saying Murphy should be the starter in LF (or shouldn’t be down in AAA learning to play somewhere). I was just pointing out, given the reference to him, that he is the type of player that many are claiming we don’t have.
See, we can agree as much as we can disagree.
And he exemplifies the precise problem with relying on those perceived hustler and grit types — they’re often not very good.
Everyone loved Joe Mcewing because he played his arse off. But he stunk.
Now Murphy is not at that level overall. But he’s a pitiful defensive player and all of the grit in the world is not going to replace skill and talent.
It’s really all our fault. We, the fans, went up to Omar in bagel shops and said “fix the bullpen” so he fixed the bullpen. Prior to that, we all went up to him and said “don’t sign players in their mid to late 30′s to big money contracts” so it’s our fault he didn’t give Manny the 3/70 or Lowe the 5/75 it would’ve taken to outbid their current contracts. After all the flack he took from us over Castillo, El Duque, Alou and all the other old guys who broke down before their contracts expired, no wonder he didn’t sign Manny or Lowe.
Take it easy Heb. If you offered Lowe the
same deal he got from Atlanta and turned
us down,OK so be it. Same with Manny
BUT to compare those two w/the three you
did at the comparable time is unfair.
I think you missed my point wanny,
I completely agree w/you on Church and
Murphy. What I meant was given what happened in ’07&’08 Mgmt needed to do
somethimg dramatic to change this team
and as you know I feel Wright and Reyes
are off limits. So, b/c of Castillos contract
and the lack of quality Catching throughout
the game,options were limited.
It seemed if they wanted to be here Lowe and
Manny were no brainers.
Obviously, I was wrong but then again
so far so is Omar.
Fong -
I didn’t miss your point and don’t necessarily disagree.
You know I’m 100% with Lowe. And I was and still am on the fence re: Manny (again partly because I never believed it was a possibility and gave it much thought).
I would have been fine with Abreu or even Adam Dunn to play LF.
Something man! Dunn could have been
a disaster in LF BUT i agree.
Something needed to change.
I mean if anyone told you or me or any other
real Met fan we’d upgrade our Pen but bring
back the same lineup and staff,less Pedro
for 2009 the day we were eliminated we’d
all have said..What? are you kidding?
Yet we expect diff results? from ’07&’08?
Hows that gonna happen?
But we’re fans so when Omar did we were
like,OK if this happens and that happens
we can Win BUT it appears that our first
and natural reactions were right.
Given that Reyes has a history of being useless in Sept, unless he puts up MVP level stats from May – Aug, he’s going to put up a subpar year
still furious, i see.
Haaa
He also has a history of being useless in April too. Last year he hit .240 with 6 steals. Pretty similar to this April huh? And since he had a bad September last year, I guess he put up MVP stats in May-August?
Don’t we have this “Reyes is underperforming” discussion at least once a year?
It’s baseball folks…there’s ebbs and flows…ups and downs. He’s a special talent and he’ll be fine…
reyes is very streaky and it seems like his approach at the plate doesn’t change no matter what the situation.
one thing i will side with him on though is eric karros calling him out for not being a team player and sacrificing himself for the team in that bunting situation. 95% of reyes’ bunts come the way he squared to bunt in that spot. he is obviously more confident doing it that way. that was a non-issue as far as i was concerned.
Right…I just think the teams 10-13 record has folks looking in to anything and everything. Reyes numbers stunk last year in April too. It’s gonna happen…it’s baseball. I’m not concerned about him…
In every winning OR losing streak, there’s players that are hot and players that are cold…it’s just the way it is.
This teams problem is starting pitching…flat out. That’s it…
and the inability thus far to hit at our own ballpark.
Yeah, I hear ya, but sometimes you have to look and make a decision if that’s a long term problem or a problem in the here and now.
I am confident this team will hit, what I’m not confident in is the starting pitching being good enough to string together wins
Agreed! This is the same thing I heard for
years about Strawberry Then we went out
and traded for McReynolds. One of the great
waste of talent/tools of all-time.
Manuel also seemed willing to experiment with Reyes in the batting order. With him struggling and Castillo doing well, now would be the perfect time to maybe bat Reyes #2 or #3 to see if that would get him to regain focus at the plate. But Manuel rarely follows-up with anything he publicly promises to do unless it’s running guys like Castro and Church out of NY.
Jerry Fan Club President?
agreed…one thing is what he says and another thign is what he does. Thats part of the problem though..the kind of batter reyes is you cannot experiment with him. The approach you at #1 is different than #2 or #3. He will be our leadoff man and he needs to get on base.
what’s the magic number?
For the Phillies???
for florida its 139…
i can see matt lindstrom blowing 139 more save opportunities before the year is over.
Not as long as Omir Santos is getting ready in the bullpen for his pinch hitting appearance.
Wanny,
Maybe that’s why they carried three catchers last year. So one of them could warm up pitchers without having to delay a game for pinch hitting purposes.
The Mets should have put the bullpen at LaGuardia airport to make Figgy’s life more convenient and to irk Fredi Gonzalez even more.
yes. we should post everyone else’s magic number on this site so it jinxes them.
St. louis 135
damn. we could have really hurt them if we took a game out there.
I blame Matt for not thinking of that. If the magic number was such a jinx for the Mets then he should have immediately started publishing the magic numbers for all of the other teams thereby jinxing them.
dodgers 134
toronto 135
KC 138
Seattle 136
That’s because they have Manny…
Stats don’t tell the whole story! the fact is you can say “thid guy is clutch, this guy isn’t” and you can puul stats and say they have a .330 avg. in september..and so on, but the bottom line is where is the big hit? Where these guys defining moments. I mean you can look at jeter and you can say “remember that great play int eh playoffs vs oakland” and you can look at Howard and say “remember his september tear when he hiot a hr in almost every game and put the team on his shoulders.” you cannot say that with any of these guys! where was the big hit in game 7, where where the hits in the final games..and fine toss out the glavine start, but one home run last season in game 162, or one big hit could have one the game, and the bottom line is that besides beltran no one did anything. where are the defining moments with these guys. they’ve had plenty of chances to claim their legacy in a big moment, and have failed to do so. so yeah you can throw me stats all day, but the bottomline is that a great player puts the team no his shoulder when he has to, and none of these guys ever do so. i’m not saying trade reyes, trade wright, but don’t give me this garbage that they’re so great in clutch spots because you can shift some statistics.
is that a typo? did you mean “releasethereyes”?
Actually, using isolated examples from your memory is much more faulty than relying on historical data.
Afterall, you can’t remember all of the events of 162 game seasons and your mind can easily be fooled or influenced by the one memorable or “defining” moment that stands out.
Well, we are discussing defining moments over here Wanny. Clutch hits. Etc. For instance, Sean Green’s defining moment was walking in that run.
Defining moments do not = clutch player
i’m not even saying thats the only way you can be considered clutch. But I mean where was David wrights sac fly against the cubs with murph on third. If someone woulda went yard early in game 162, maybe it could have taken the marlins out of it, or pumped the mets up. its sad how in the biggest game of the year, against scott friggin olsen, they got two runs! I mean, noone ever wants to carry the team. look at albert the machine, the guy can just take over. i realize he’sa freak, but whens the last time you could say for this team “(insert name), carried us today”
Johan4Cy:
See?
I’m, not saying thats his defining moment. i am saying this…you can hit 340 all you want, but the bottomline is, when push came to shove, when they came down to the final games, wright didn’t do anything to prevent a collapse, and that ahppened two years in a row, i’m sorry, but that just says something
So Wright’s big 3 r HR vs. SD this year to tie that game doesn’t count because they didn’t win the game, right?
Do the “magical” moments only count in games that the team wins? Do they only count in seasons the team wins? Do they only count after the 5th inning?
Yes, thats what makes them magical. people get walk-off hits on a daily bases are not great clutch performers. johan santana pitching in the second to last game of the year with the team needing a win..injured! and pitching a complete game is a clutch memorable performance that doesn’t alone make him a clutch performer, but certainly helps solidify his rep.
Exactly, how many good “clutch” hits did Wright have last year in games that they would have won if the bullpen not imploded?
Wright was a major 1st inning producer which got lost because the bullpen blew it in the later innings.
His walk off HR last season in August against SD came on a day that Santana started and Schoenweiss blew the save and the game was tied.
but wright batted .340 with a .993 OPS in september and october of last year…
but this dude will tell you his defining moment is when he left Murphy on 3rd base.
why? because that’s easier to remember than all of the good things Wright did.
Again, agreed! if we got 5 good Ollie
starts instead of 5 horrid Ollie starts
we’d be in first place and everyone would
feel alot better.No one would(well not many)
be hammering Wright,Reyes,Pelf or Jerry
about this start. Perez hit the jackpot,got paid
and has reverted to being the same guy who
was so bad he was chased out of Pittsburgh.
I think Beltrans defining moment was looking at strike 3, game 7 of the 2006 NLCS…., unless he does something spectacular this year (if they get to the playoffs), that will be what Met fans will remember him for….
that’s pretty unfortunate. but i guess it’s better than being remembered for being gritty but sucking.
True, but when fans think of say a Rafael Santana, they say world series winner… although the guy was a light hitter…, when they think of Beltran, they think great talent but un-clutch maybe?
eh, beltran kind of proved he’s not unclutch in the 2004 playoffs.
yessireeee… adam wainright curveball to carlos beltran on the outside corner…
that curveball did the same thing to Cliffy. man reyes crushed that ball. too bad it didn’t find a gap.
In Bel-trons defense,it was a NASTY curve!
It was one of the filthiest curves I’ve ever seen a guy snap off.
It looked like a ball and at the last possible moment fluttered over the strike zone.
Absolutely wicked, I don’t know If Wainwright has thrown another one like it.
So Wright’s big 3 r HR vs. SD to tie that game doesn’t count because they didn’t win the game, right?
Do the “magical” moments only count in games that the team wins? Do they only count in seasons the team wins? Do they only count after the 5th inning?
It counts, but you can only get so much mileage out of that one hit. Has he had another big hit this year? He’s had several opportunities.
so if the mets do win that game where does that put them? 11-12….if wright launches a homerun and the mets win game 152..where does that leave them..if wright has a monster game 7 (or even just played somewhat good in the playoffs) where does that leave the mets? the game matters..thats the whole idea of a clutch player. its a guy i want up int he big spot, in the big moment when the team needs a hit. and we’ve seen wright fail in that spot time in and time out.
*162
But as others have posted ad nauseum the numbers don’t back up “we’ve seen wright fail in that spot time in and time out.”
So which ones count? The ones we really really really want to count? Or the ones on the FOX game of the week? Or what?
The ones that win a game time in and time out.. the ability to put a ball in play to get some runners over when you know your going bad…. to give your team that extra fighting chance….
yet when someone grounds into a double play, they are putting the ball in play and fans want them strung up.
Once again ALL GAMES COUNT they all do, i even made a post about that earlier. But, i am talking directly to the people who say that wright is clutch because he hit 340 in September. Stats don’t tell everything is my point. Heck, Beltran is batting almost .400 right now, and yet, when he has needed to come up with a hit he grounded into a double play. and that’s my point, you can hit for a certain average, yet if you fail when it counts, its for naught.
Pujols Current OPS with RISP and 2 outs is .597. Should St. Louis trade him?
Do you or anyone here realize that DW has more walk off hits than anyone on the mets since 2005?
Was really replying to the post above about “defining” moments in memory vs. actual stats. My bad.
But still he’s had 88 abs so far.
He got the game winning hit 27-Apr vs Fla. But it was in the first inning and they won the game 7-1. So that doesn’t count I guess. Funny all the April games count the same as the later games but the first 8 innings of the game don’t seem to.
i’m not saying the hit wasn’t important because it was early. What i am saying is that instops when david wright can stop and think “if i do this we win”, when he can directly win the game on the spot, or when the game has immediate playoff implications (again, game 1 counts as much as 45 as much as game 162), he does not get it done.
3 RBI is 3 RBI… it dosnt matter what inning. the object of the game is to score more runs than ur opponent. there is no rule saying anything about the 9th inning or later…
Exactly true, all you can do is your best to get the runners home. People act like Wright and Beltran are purposely failing in situations out of spite, give some credit to the opposing pitchers and defense please.
True..so where were his 3rbi in game 162, game 7..etc. The problem i have is that when he is in the heat of the moment, in the actual at-bat that can define a game, he comes up short. when Derek Jeter comes up in a big spot i think “here comes a hit”, when wright comes up in a tie game with a risp or in any other big spot i think “I wonder how he’s going to screw this one up”. and maybe i have just been brainwashed by years of watching mets baseball to believe the worst will happen, but i just don’t believe in him to get the big hit, and that too me is a problem. in 2006, i believed he would get the big hit. i would think “great wright will make them pay here comes a hit”, but now i think he will get out.
I just think theres been a huge difference in the old wright and the new one. and this even dates back tio last season. i just feel he’s a whole new player. his MO used to be to put the ball wherever it was pitched, and use the whole field, and if the ball went out so be it. the guy doesn’t need to hit 30 hr’s. i see him now, and it looks like he wants to pull everything. the guy used to love hitting with 2 strikes, now he just strikes out. granted its a slump, but you guys don’t think he’s changed?
Matt you consider what Reyes did the other day sacrifice bunting? It was more like “trying” to drag bunt. Reyes better step his game up soon or he will be getting booed at Citi Field…..
There has been a big change in Wright notably his physical appearance which is shrinking by the day. at the risk of sounding like an apologist, maybe some thing is wrong with him that he physically cant do what he used to be able to do. I dont want that to be the case but as fans, we are entitled to information about our players health and well being. If nothing is said by the Team, the fans think they have no other choice than to blast a player.
maybe bc he was doing steroids or hgh but isnt doing it now bc people might look into him doing it after all the news about arod…
i hope not but is defiantly a possibility…
You know what these kinds of articles breed? Booing. Watch…If Reyes continues this…he will be the next target. no doubt
reyes is a selfish baby who tried to drag a bunt so he could be flashy help his average when a sacrafice was what was needed … he is selfish and immature and that proves it … can you think of any champrionship team that had a 26-year-old baby as its centerpiece?