Daily Archives: October 1, 2009
Update, 7:07 pm:
“I’ll be ready for spring training,” Reyes told the New York Post today.
To hear more from Reyes, on the specific injuries and what might or might not require surgery, read the Post report, here.
Original Post:
According to WFAN, Jose Reyes has a partial tear in his hamstring, which will put him out of action for six weeks.
Reyes still may need surgery on the torn tendon behind his knee. He will decide whether to have surgery on the tendon during the next two weeks, according to the report.
In either case, whether he has surgery or not, Reyes will be 100 percent for Opening Day next season.
To listen to WFAN live, online, go to WFAN.com.
Speaking of Reyes…
Jerry Manuel recently did an interview with SNY.TV, during which he talked about missing Reyes this season and what his future holds, as well as how the team plans to get more power out of David Wright next season.
To watch part one of the interview, use the video player in the sidebar.
Tagged News |
Brad, a reader of MetsBlog, sent me the following e-mail: Mike Francesa on WFAN just went off on a caller about how if you expect Daniel Murphy to be your every day first baseman next year, and you are the GM of the Mets, he is going to get you fired.
I believe Francesa is 100 percent right on this… First base is a power position. Anyone who honestly thinks we would be better off with a power-hitter in left and Murphy at first base, than a power hitter at first and Angel Pagan in left, is oblivious and knows nothing about the game of baseball.
Matthew Cerrone: First of all, can we please pause and enjoy the fact that while the Jets and Giants are 3–0, and the Yankees are about to begin a playoff series, Francesa is getting three-hours worth of calls about the Mets and Murphy, who have 92 losses and are in fourth place.
I love it. People can argue with me about whether New York is a Mets town, Yankees, town, etc., but there is no question about whether Mets fans are the most passionate fans in the city… nobody cares like we do.
Anyway, I agree with you and Francesa, ONLY if Murphy is surrounded by other weak hitters. I mean, if Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Jeff Francoeur and a new left fielder are each hitting 30 home runs, the Mets are more than fine with Murphy hitting .275 with 20 HR at first base, so long as he plays good defense and continues to develop as a hitter.
I never understand why so many Mets fans want home-grown players, but then aren’t willing to wait it and out and let the young player grow?
Now, if you think Murphy will never be better than he is, I can understand the argument. However, I think it’s unfair to make that judgment since he just finished playing his first full year of big-league ball.
So, basically, in Francesa’s opinion, he would have cut Tino Martinez in his rookie season, which was identical to Murphy’s, simply because everyone else’s first base hit more home runs?
Brad: So, would you rather have Pagan and a power hitter at first, or a power guy in left, and Murphy at first.
Matthew Cerrone: I want the team that scores the most runs.
If that means having seven guys who hit .350 with five home runs each, and one guy who hits .200 with 100 home runs, or it means having Adrian Gonzalez at first base and Pagan in left, or Murphy at first base and Holliday in left, it doesn’t matter to me, as I am only concerned with the group of players who score… how they score, or what their individual stats are, mean nothing to me.
I realize it is typically easier to find a first baseman who hits for power, than it might be to find a left fielder who hits for power – but that is a supply and demand issue, not a team production and allocation issue.
Realistically, though, I think the Mets have the better chance of signing a hitter for left field this season, than trading for a bat at first.
Tagged News |
Yohel: Matt, remember Jerry Manuel’s curveball drill in spring training? The exhausting 80 swings, trying to hit a curve to the opposite field… I think this drill is the reason David Wright lost his power and Manuel is responsible for it. Yesterday, Manuel told WFAN that Wright isn’t even pulling the inside pitch and that’s why he is not hitting for power. Hello? Wasn’t your drill the cause of that, Jerry?
Matthew Cerrone: I think David Wright is a skilled major-league hitter, he’s an All Star, with 140 career home runs, and no single drill or home-run contest is going to mess up his swing.
Wright is hitting the ball in nearly the exact same way and place as last season, despite what Manuel thinks. However, the Mo’s Zone area in right field at home is killing him, though it did help him hit more doubles and for a higher average through much of the season… until he got beaned in the head, which has made him gun-shy on the inside fastball.
Last season, Wright hit 16 home runs up the middle or to right field, while hitting .301 overall on balls hit that way.
However, while he has hit just seven home runs up the middle or to right field this season, or less than half of what he hit last season, he is batting .387 overall on balls hit that way this season.
In short, I think he’ll be fine, 80–pitch drill or no drill. He’s a terrific hitter, who played with very little protection in the lineup around him. He needs rest, and to put this season behind him, and to come back next year with a clear head. Wright is the last person I am worried about for 2010.
Tagged News |The Mets said today no ticket will go up in price next season in Citi Field, and they will reduce season-ticket prices by 10 to 20 percent.
In an e-mail to season-ticket holders, the team said:
“Everyone at the Mets – our Ownership, GM Omar Minaya, Manager Jerry Manuel, the coaches, players, front office and staff – shares your disappointment with the 2009 season. You soon will hear from Ownership and Omar about how we plan to improve the ball club through a combination of player signings, trades, enhanced player development and continued commitment to one of the highest player payrolls in MLB.
We are currently finalizing our ticket pricing for 2010. Season Ticket prices will be reduced by an average of more than 10 percent, with several seating areas being adjusted by more than 20 percent. Every Season Ticket Holder invoice for 2010 will be less than 2009.”
…i did not buy a ticket plan… i never have, because i never have that much money to spend up front, all in shot, like that… but, from what i can gather out of people who did buy them this season, is that, basically, they ended up spending three times more on the games they did attend, because, since the team was so bad, they were unable to even give tickets away, let alone sell them, to games they could not get to… and so, when you factor in how much people spent on games they did go to, i suspect people will be gun-shy to fork over more money next season to potentially be in the same position…
“The Mets are sensitive to the economic realities facing our fans and we have lowered our ticket prices in response to these challenging conditions,” said Dave Howard, Executive Vice President, Business Operations, in a team press release.
“This move underscores our appreciation of our fans’ ongoing loyalty and support. We are committed to delivering exceptional service and value to our customers at Citi Field in 2010.”
Tagged News |
Jose Reyes should be ready for spring training, writes Andrew Marchand for ESPN.com, citing the player’s agent, Peter Greenberg, who says:
“He is going to be good for next year… I don’t think that is a question.”
To hear more from Greenberg, and of Reyes’s emotional reaction to his latest set back, read Marchand’s report, here.
…from what i can gather, we should hear of news about reyes and surgery at some point later tonight, or before tomorrow’s game at the latest… please, Mets, do it today in a press release… be smart, and do not have a press conference before tomorrow’s game…
In a terrific report for SNY.TV, Ted Berg discusses the relative nature of pain and medicine, and how it is unfair to judge a player like Reyes, or anyone else, on recovery and decisions to get healthy.
Tagged News, Twitter |Here it is, your 2009 Mets, in one easy graphic, showing the winning percentage decline as each player was put on the disabled list:
Yesterday, the Mets said Jose Reyes now has a torn right hamstring, which occurred while running the bases in New York earlier in the week, in addition to the torn tendon behind his right knee.
In a report for Newsday, David Lennon writes, “The Mets did not specify the severity, but even a partial tear can take eight to 10 weeks to heal, while a complete tear may require three to six months.”
So, let me get this straight, in addition to 
needing a left fielder, a power bat, a catcher, and a legit, number-two pitcher, plus new bench players, Omar Minaya now may need to find a starting shortstop and a leadoff hitter?
By the way, in case you forgot, David Wright hit just 10 home runs this season, Johan Santana is recovering from elbow surgery, and Francisco Rodriguez, who continues to strike out less and walk more hitters, has a 6.84 ERA in his last 28 appearances. “And we haven’t even gotten to Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo and Jeff Francoeur yet,” as Joel Sherman said in the New York Post.
What’s worse, while Jon Niese and Fernando Martinez are on the disabled list recovering from season-ending surgery, Braves RHP Tommy Hanson, Marlins OF Chris Coghlan and Phillies LHP JA Happ could wind up 1-2-3 in the NL Rookie of the Year voting, as Sherman points out.
It’s not that I am pessimistic, because baseball is a funny business, and crazy things tend to happen and work out in ways no people ever expect, it’s just, sitting here, realizing the above realities, I have zero idea how Minaya is going to fix this mess for next season, and whether he is even capable of doing so – especially if reports are true that say he will be charged with cutting payroll.
Jerry Manuel, Minaya and his staff, and ownership, will reportedly be meeting today to discuss what needs to be done for next season.
There is an opportunity here to do big things, make major changes and re-imagine and re-build the Mets in a way fans can be excited about again.
The thing is, I do not believe anyone in that room is willing to be so bold… but, at this point, can they afford not to be bold.
Tagged News |Jerry Manuel talked with Mike Francesa on WFAN yesterday, which you can listen to by clicking here.
Manuel told Francesa he believes no team could have sustained the level of injuries the Mets had to deal with, and be successful, especially when losing 
back-up players to back-up players.
Manuel said, even if Jose Reyes has surgery, from what he’s been told, Reyes will be ready for spring training next season.
Manuel labeled Jeff Francoeur and Angel Pagan as ‘positives,’ from the players who were called upon to fill in this season.
He says David Wright will begin to hit more home runs once he starts to pull the ball again, which is something Wright will be working on with Howard Johnson during the off season.
Manuel said he has some ‘good pitchers on the team,’ ‘spot-starter types,’ but they are not starting pitchers who a Championship-caliber team could ‘go with over the course of a full season.’
The best thing the Mets could do to help their starting rotation, Manuel said, is to ‘play better defense.’
Lastly, Francesa asked Manuel if he feels the team will have a different look next season, to which he said:
“I think (my core group) will probably not recognize a lot of the players when they go back to spring training. I think there will be a lot of different complimentary players coming in, then the players we have. The guys we’ve had have had a good shot, they’ve had an opportunity, but, for the most part, they haven’t taken advantage of it… We, as a staff, feel we’ve put ourselves in the position to win, but we just didn’t have the people to put us over the top… For the most part, it will look different from a complimentary aspect… The one thing we feel we cannot fault is the effort… It was just a matter of not being able to get it done.”
To listen to Manuel’s entire interview, go to WFAN.com.
Tagged News |According to Newsday’s Neil Best, of Watchdog, the 1969 Mets invented the locker-room champagne celebration.
In a post to NY Baseball Digest, Frank Russo wonders if the Mets should hire Tony Pena to be their next manager.
…a) i did not know that, and i am not at all surprised, and b) nice work 
to whomever at Newsday reverted back to using a black on white text block for their blogs…
Joe D of Mets Merized Online looks at the market for free-agent shortstops, in the wake of Jose Reyes’s looming surgery, and advocates for signing Marco Scutaro to a two-year deal.
Scutaro hit .282 with 48 extra base hits, a .379 OBP, 60 RBI and 14 stolen bases for the the Blue Jays this season, during which he played both shortstop and second base – last season he also played first base, third base and left field.
Ed Ryan of Mets Fever says, “It’s time for a complete change.”
Matt Silverman of MetsSilverman explains what an FNP Met is.
In a post to Mets Lifer, Dave looks at how to fix the coaching staff.
Lastly, yes, the Mets gave Mariano Rivera the pitching rubber from Citi Field, on which he saved his 500th career game, to which Bar Stool Sports asks, in a NSFW-post, “How can you be completely out of touch with your entire fan base and their feelings towards the cross town rival?”
Tagged News |
Nick Evans has been getting instruction from Sandy Alomar Jr. on how to be a catcher, in an effort to ‘increase his versatility,’ writes Adam Rubin in a report for the Daily News.
…frankly, at this point, i am surprised evans isn’t also asking to work with the Pepsi Party Patrol, in an effort to step on the field during a game…
To read more about Jose Reyes’s hamstring, quotes from Francisco Rodriguez and notes from last night’s game, check out Rubin’s report, here.
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