The Team Goes as Reyes Goes

You won't see a higher level of simultaneous movement between the base-paths as we saw tonight on a Jose Reyes triple. Widely regarded as the most exciting play in baseball, there is nothing like watching Reyes run from the batter's box to third base. And you'll have to go back to the 80's St Louis Cardinals to find a comparable combination of speed circling the bags at the same time. Perhaps Willee McGee and Vince Coleman in their prime. Of course the Mets made an effort to match that in 1999, with an aged Rickey Henderson, and Roger Cedeno before he became addicted to cheeseburgers. But even that duo didn't match tonight's display. It was a Reyes drive off of the right field wall which gave us the sight of Endy Chavez sprinting home, 270 ft., from first, with Reyes sprinting the same distance, head-first and also safely, into third base.

Wright may be the MVP, Beltran may be the best all around and naturally gifted, Santana may be the savior, Church may be the surprising rock-steady, early fixture. But Reyes is the catalyst. Jose determines at what pace the Mets move. Last season the Mets remained in control of the division until Reyes slumped, especially in September. Even as their 07 team MVP, David Wright, struggled mightily in April of 07, the Mets were still in control of their competition.On the flip-side, as Reyes stumbled a more direct correlation to the team success or lack thereof, was apparent

Tonight Reyes utilized his speed with a bunt base-hit, and a triple; he scored from third shortly after the 3-bagger and walked in between the two hits as well. Reaching base three times this game already, it is clear the Mets are in control when Reyes is on. It seems that Wright and Beltran can be more consistent, but a good game by each of them doesn't improve the odds of winning to the same degree that a solid Reyes effort seems to.

There is no doubt that Hanley Ramirez is the best offensive player of the big 3 NL East SS, in fact he is the best offensive SS in all of baseball, AL included.

But with the best player in baseball, Hanley Ramirez, playing for a losing cause in Florida and the reigning NL MVP, Jimmy Rollins, injured, Reyes becomes the most important of the three. Ramirez doesn't have the glove of Rollins or Reyes but is the best bat. And Rollins may have been unjustly rewarded with the gold glove last season, edging out Jose Reyes, because of a flaw in human nature-voters taking offensive production into account, unreasonably and subconsciously, for fielding honors. Rollins went from a good all around player prior to 07, to an elite productive star in 07, aided by his following through of a division title prediction, along with his advantage of benefiting from the inflated stats that Citizen's Bank Park provide (Reyes' triple for example, would have traveled out of the stadium had it been in Philly as opposed to Flushing). And aside from the truely superior hands and arm Reyes possesses as a fielder, his' legs spark a team like no one else. And that weapon, is the most vital of all their offensive assets.

Willee's Lame WFAN Excuse

Not only did Willie make an amateurish mistake not playing the infield at double-play depth during that Chicago 8th, He just further gave reason for lack of faith in his ability to do his job. Moments ago Randolph discussed on WFAN with Mike and the Mad Dog, that when Derek Lee grabbed a ball that was still rolling foul, Willie knew it was wrong. Yet his excuse for not arguing..I didn't want to get thrown out of the game.

Willie?! You don't need to argue every call just for the sake of arguing. But when something that was so obvious against the rules gets overlooked by an umpire, you NEED to do your job and bring it to their attention. If getting thrown out of the game is a bg fear of yours, and you can't sacrifice yourself for the betterment of your team, something is wrong with your managerial actions OR inactions. That rare play could have resulted in an out for your team. The umps would have possibly conferred and it quite possibly could have been an uncommon moment of it being overturned. Either way, you have to say something. Being afraid of getting thrown out of a game should not be your priority. Looking out for your team should be.

My girlfriend and I both jumped up from the couch scratching our head. If you truly caught the obvious mistake as we did, you needed to MANAGE the situation.

Wright Should Protect Beltran Redux

I was told by 85% of Met fans I discussed this with that batting "Beltran hitting cleanup, was wiser than batting him 3rd in front of Wright. Well with Delgado showing no signs of hitting and thus protecting Beltran, Beltran has now suffered. Wright is in the prime of his career and will be a +.300 hitter 3rd or 4th. Beltran needs to see good pitches. And again, I point out Wright needs to hit behind Beltran for the overall strength of the team.

If He Only Had a Brain

He had the infield playing IN, down 4-1 in the 9th with the bases loaded and one out. A tailor-made, inning-ending, dp ball is what you are looking for and what was hit. And then the next guy hits a 2 out grandslam.

I have seen enough of Willie to know there isn't much logic going on upstairs. He may have been a wonderful player because of natural talents, but his physical ability surely carried his weak mind through his career.

When you can't play as an aging manager, your brain or lack thereof, becomes exposed. When it comes to the brain, he is without one in relation to strategy. I am talking basic strategy here too, not brain surgery.

I'm sorry but there is no excuse. and I'm tired of Randoph apologists. As a MLB manager at the highest level, you HAVE to know that you go with the double-play depth right there.

This isn't acceptable. You can't have someone who doesn't grasp simple strategy running your team. It's mind-boggling.

Early Self Analysis

So far I have been dead on with my Delgado prediciton. The guy has been horrendous. He's batting .200, has hit 1HR, and driven in 8 RBI. Nick Johnson, by the way, is bating 55 point higher, has doubled Delgado's HR production and driven in 33% more runs. And he has done it with a better glove and in a tougher hitting ballpark, with less protection in the Nats lineup then the Mets cold offer.

Church has pleased me, though I was strongly against the trade for Milledge. Considering Schneider's early contributions, to a higher-than-career-productivity, in the first month of 08, especially with Lo Duca not even playing, I am surprisingly appreciative.

Pedro, as was the case since the moment I heard of the disappointing news of his signing in the offseason between 05 and 06, continues to prove however, my unpopular view, that the signing was far from wise.

Pelfrey was someone I had little faith in, and petitioned for the idea of Jorge Sosa over him for the final starting job. Though it is also somewhat moot, since El Duque and Pedro went down, creating two needed rotation spots to fill. I wanted to see Pelfrey start in the minors and with El Duque gone, strongly believed Sosa was a safer 5 spot risk; there was then a need for two spots starting spots to be filled, so I would have wanted Pelfrey in there anyway. but he has looked efficient enough thus far. And of course I am rooting for him.

Lastly, I think the Castillo move is so obviously horrible, considering the knees, age, and long term signing. If he really played a part in getting Santana though, you have to suck it up as a fan and admit, only under that assumption, that it made sense. But otherwise, his achey knees have exposed the Castillo value as poor.

I'll update as the season goes along, as those were my main points. But if I am proved wrong on a majority of these perspectives, then it is a no loss notion for me. If the moves I assumed to be poor work out, as a Met fan first, and a know it all second, I am happy.

Before There Was Billy Crystal

So the hilarious "Yes Joe It's Toasted" blog, did a nice little post regarding Billy Crystal and some City Slickers satire, spoofing his recent Yankee contract. But let us not forget Mets fans, that the Mets had their own Spring Training celebrity contract too, after the SD Padres first did it, for Garth Brooks' charity, the Touch 'Em All Foundation. Or was it Chris Gains?

Wright, Not Delgado, Should Protect Beltran

Over at Shea Nation, I discuss the rationale behind my suggestion to bat Beltran in the 3-spot with Wright protecting him, as opposed to Carlos Delgado.

Force-Feeding Pelfrey as an 08 Starter: Sosa Makes More Sense

Mike Pelfrey shouldn't need to be assumed a starter, necessarily, in 2008. He may be a more immediately-capable, contributor in 2 and 1 inning stints from the pen. Sosa and Heilman should get an equal shot for a fifth spot opportunity. In what is projected to be a close NL EAST race, can the Mets let Pelfrey continue his middle inning setbacks?

Check out the bottom portion of these Pelfrey split stats .

It illustrates a grouping of the pitches thrown in chronological order and the effectiveness rate per grouping. Maybe he can help this team throwing up a couple of goose eggs every 2 or 3 days, as opposed to getting rocked in the 2-6th inning of starts.

His recent ST start further supported the idea that Pelfrey's starts strong, before dropping off significantly. I usually don't put stock into Spring Training results; they don't give the same factors or elements as a real game would in the REAL season, and there is a laundry list to accurately display why results often mean nothing in March, but Pelfrey's Spring Training is different . Pelfrey is fighting like the Spring means something, because for him, it does. It isn't just about getting into playing shape like it is for pitchers with a guaranteed spot, just focusing on building arm strength and getting their body reacquainted with the game.

The likely-hood that the 6th starter in line will get a chance to start, at some point in the season, is 100%. Combined with the fact that he was born when Thriller ruled the charts, Pelfrey will inevitably, as planned, get more chances to prove himself as a Major League starter. But why should it be this year as if an edict? Maybe he can help this team out of the pen, more effectively, while swapping a bullpen members ability to give better starts-improving the team two-fold.



The Case For Sosa:
Now look at Sosa's numbers from last year. How did he do as a starter? How effective was he being worked everyday by Randolph?

If you look in 14 starts, Sosa was 7-6, a game over .500. Which is absolutely fine for a #5 pitcher. You just need someone to hold down the fort. You need a .500 pitcher there, someone to simply maintain the pace. The first 4 Mets starters could potentially finish 25-30 games, collectively, over .500. If the 5 starter can just maintain that number, or even add +1, +2, or +3 to it, than that is sufficient. You need a guy to eat some innings and be average. If you have an average pitcher in the 5 slot, where most teams have below average starters, you have a leg up on everyone. Which, provided everyone stays healthy and pitches to expectations, will mean the Mets can start an average NL offense-something very likely with their age and injury issues, and come out on top. Look at the rest of the league's number 5's. Sosa compares pretty well. It's all relative, and if Sosa can be a +1 guy in that role with the nastastic rotation potential ahead of him, you can run makeshift lineups and still be tough to beat.

Pelfrey may have potential. But why must we lock him into a starting spot as if Moses came down from the mountain and declared it the 11th commandement? Pelfrey can still prove himself. And he'll likely work in the minors too. He'll have his day, but his day doesn't have to be force-fed. Sosa at this point seems more reliable. Someone who will keep the ship steady every 5th day.

Pelfrey is young, erratic. He can always find himself starting one day, in the future. But right now, I don't think it makes sense to play absolutes and stay the course, we'll leave that to George Bush. We don't need foreseeable commitments to ideas that may not necessarily be working in the present. Sure we want him to develop. And if not in the minors, he can progress out of the pen, and mature into a starter by 2009, 2010. Ask Curt Schilling about that approach.

8 of Jorge's 14 starts in '07 resulted in the giving up no more than 2 runs; 9 of 14, no more than 3 ER's. He deserves starting consideration.

A Moment About Heilman:

Lastly, If Pelfrey could be effective going 1 or 2 inning at a time, then why not give Heilman that one chance he has always seeked? It is kind of a slap in the face for the tenured Met, if management decides to pigeon-hole Heilman into a reliever's role, while allowing Pelfrey to show he is not ready, time after time. That approach seems a tad stubborn. Should the Mets need another pitcher to step up for an injured Pedro or El Duque, and Pelfrey continues to not be ready, Heilman may deserves a chance too. We haven't had much of a chance to watch Heilman on 5 days rest. I am willing to bet he could fit that .500 record need as opposed to the -5 (3-8) record posted by Pelfrey in 2007.

Lofton

I'm always scouring the free agents list and was initially intrigued by the thought of adding Kenny Lofton for depth this offseason. But the first offensive priority to me was a righty bat once Milledge was traded, so I began thinking of Nady. I looked at Preston Wilson and Reggie Sanders too, but of course wasn't too excited by the thoughts enough to petition it. Nady seemed like the best fit, but we don't know how attainable he is. And I have yet to see any report that the Mets ever even inquired. Then the Thames potential was born. But it's never really gotten off the ground either.....yet.

Now I see this article and have to agree. Lofton is a guy they just have to sign, without giving up any current players. They'll still need a righty bat to play first and spot in RF on occasion. So it saves any trading chips, but still gives them a professional. Yeah he is old, but any deeper in the league and it is really barrel-scraping time. Beggars can't be choosers. Given the current circumstances, Lofton is a satisfactory acquisition, and relatively, because of player availability limitations, better than satisfactory.

Jim Baumbach at Newsday writes about Lofton and I agree.

Barry Bonds and the Eye of Sauron

It's not happening, I know. I'm not even sure I would be behind it. I'm just drawn to the idea of the gamble. And the Mets are desperate for bodies, even if that certain body may be old and fragile by this point too.

Bonds being a distraction isn’t a bad thing necessarily. Hear me out:

Of course the idea is somewhat absurd and creates a franchise image integrity issue. Not to mention he is old and fairly immobile himself, and also an Uberdick, etc. However....


You got Lo Duca’s remarks about players running from the cameras last year. You have Beltran totally camera hesitant. And now he predicted the division, but may not produce with those knees to back it up, which will bring down some heat. Heat that ironically could catalyze a snowball effect. Beltran was very mediocre, year one, with the pressure after the expectations and media adjustment. This year could spiral exponentially between injury and media pouncing. Instead of Beltran and Delgado dealing with reporters, Barroid takes them away, his a distraction much like Arogorn's in LOTR III, when they bring the eye of Sauron to them, while the weakened hobbits, hobble to victory. And Bonds will hit what he hits with or without reporters anyway because if anyone has built a strong immune system against the media, it is Barry Bonds.

Though Hank Aaron is the true home run King, Bonds could resemble another King, the one of Middle Earth, who brought the evil eye (media) on to him with an initial seemingly desperate, losing cause, at the Black Gate of Mordor, allowing for the team goal to be reached. So Mets fans, maybe we should evaluate the good worth of a distraction. If it was enough to save Middle Earth, it just may be enough to save the team in Flushing.

I say we get him and load him up on steroids. Circuses are fun anyway, except for the animal abuse, crowds, and weirdo carny-like folk.