Blogging Mets

Scott Atchison has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with bone spurs in his pitching elbow. Collin McHugh was recalled from Las Vegas to take his place in the bullpen.

Atchison got off to a solid start with the Mets, but he has given up runs in five of his past nine appearances as his ERA has risen to 4.50.

McHugh has been pitching well in Triple-A — he is 3-2 with a 2.74 ERA in eight starts. Last season with the Mets he went 0-4 with a 7.59 ERA in eight games, half of them as a starter.

It will be interesting to see what happens if McHugh pitches well and Jeremy Hefner, Dillon Gee or Shaun Marcum continue to struggle. It is conceivable, as well as justifiable, that Collin McHugh could take the place of one of them.

Terry Collins said that newly signed Rick Ankiel will platoon in center field along with Juan Lagares. It seems like the Mets are doing whatever they can to limit Jordany Valdespin’s playing time.

Mets don’t like Jordany Valdespin.

After Kirk Nieuwenhuis flopped, it was assumed Valdespin would replace him as the lefty half of any platoon in center. But now Ankiel comes in, and Valdespin is back to the bench. Collins said Valdespin get some time at second base if Daniel Murphy, another lefty, continues to struggle, according to ESPNNewYork.com.

It is clear that the Mets hierarchy just does not like Jordany Valdespin. He was ticketed for Las Vegas even before Spring Training began, but he forced his way onto the team with a solid spring. His numbers are not great — .239, but three home runs and 11 RBIs in limited action — but he has gotten some key hits.

Perhaps the Mets can justify it by saying Valdespin is more valuable off the bench as a pinch hitter than a starter. He was very effective as a pinch hitter last season with five home runs.

Jordany Valdespin has unfortunately continued his immature ways and it appears to rub his teammates and the organization the wrong; no one defended him when he was plunked over the weekend after admiring a home run the night before. Maybe we don’t know everything. Maybe Jordany Valdespin is far worse in the clubhouse and deserves to be punished.

All fans know is that this team is terrible and that Jordany Valdespin is exciting and appears to have some potential, unlike the rest of the team. And by all indications, the Mets are going out of their way to make sure Valdespin remains planted on the bench.

Why don’t the Mets just dump Valdespin if they hate him so much? I’m sure he’ll have no problem finding a job with another team.

The Mets have signed Rick Ankiel and he will start in center field Monday night against the Cardinals. Andrew Brown was sent down to make room for him.

Mets will try Rick Ankiel in center field.

Ankiel was released from the Astros — the Astros!! — last week after batting .194 with five home runs and 11 RBIs in 62 at bats. He also struck out a whopping 35 times. His numbers will fit in nicely with those of Ike Davis and Lucas Duda.

Ankiel, of course, started his career as a pitcher and had an excellent rookie year for St. Louis that culminated in the playoffs against the Mets in 2000 when he suddenly forgot how to throw the ball. He reinvented himself as an outfielder and his comeback was the feel-good story of 2007. However those good feelings went away when it was revealed that he had received a shipment of HGH.

Rick Ankiel hit 25 and 11 home runs in 2008 and 2009, respectively, but hasn’t topped 10 homers since. The 33-year-old Ankiel is a solid defensive outfielder with a rocket for an arm.

It should be noted that his Astros teammates were very upset when he was released; apparently he was a leader in the clubhouse.

This isn’t a terrible move by the Mets. Really, they have nothing to lose. The Mets shouldn’t expect anything in the way of a high batting average from Rick Ankiel, but if he can hit a home run every now and then and provide good defense, then he’s no worse than anyone else the Mets have tried in the outfield.

There was an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond” in which Ray confronts a sports talk show host who doesn’t like him. The guy says that he’s read his writing and heard him speak and “I just don’t get it.” Why am I mentioning a scene from a sitcom that’s been off the air for nearly 10 years? Well, aside from the fact that the show was rich with Mets mentions and memorabilia, the line from that host is the way I feel about Shin-Soo Choo, who has been mentioned as a possible target for the Mets in free agency after this season.

Shin-Soo Choo on the Mets? Why?

I will start out by saying that I am not an expert on Shin-Soo Choo. I’m sure I’ve seen him play a few times over the years, but there was nothing memorable about him. In cases like this I turn to statistics, and they’ve never let me down.

Remember how everybody was clamoring for the Mets to sign Cody Ross this past off season? I wrote that based on his stats, it would be a mistake. The Diamondbacks gave him three years, $26 million. How’s he doing so far? — how about one home run and 10 RBIs, and that’s in a ballpark that is a haven for homers.

Back to Shin-Soo Choo. People have been talking for years about this guy like he is the second coming of Ted Williams or something. A look at his stats proves otherwise. Prior to this season Choo has basically played five years and two of them have been shortened by injury. So he has only played three full seasons. In those seasons he has hit more than 20 home runs twice and never had 100 RBIs. He topped out at 90 in 2010.

This is not to say he can’t hit — he hit exactly .300 in two of his full seasons. It is his ability to get on base that people seem to like. He can take the alleged all-important walk; he was eighth in the American League in walks in 2010 with 83 (it should be noted that someone named Daric Barton lead the league that season with 110 walks, and who the hell is Daric Barton?!). His .401 on-base percentage that year was fourth.

Choo was dealt to the Reds this past off season and now he is batting leadoff. His 25 walks are tied with David Wright for second in the league and he leads the way with a .451 OBP. He is also batting .309 and has seven home runs in the bandbox that is Great American Ballpark.

On the downside, Choo strikes out a ton (150 times last season) and is apparently a terrible defensive outfielder (he is playing center field this season after primarily being in right).

So there is certainly nothing wrong with Shin-Soo Choo; it’s just I don’t think he is worthy of all the praise that is constantly being heaped upon him as if he is one of the top hitters in the game. You know what is more telling to me? The fact that not only did the Indians trade him, they are paying nearly half of his $7.375 million salary this season. How good can this guy be if Cleveland paid three and a half million bucks to get rid of him?

Those numbers dwarf what Choo will likely command as a free agent. Scott Boras is his agent, so you know he will demand, and probably get, a massive contract. He will likely be compared to such recent free agent leadoff hitters as Michael Bourn (who got $12 million per season from those same Indians) and Shane Victorino (hitting second for the Red Sox but a leadoff type who got $13 million per season).

Choo is probably a better hitter than those overpriced guys, so you’d have to guess that he’ll get upwards of $15 million per season on a long-term contract from one dumb owner. He also turns 31 in July, so it is safe to say that we’ve seen the best from Shin-Soo Choo.

Shin-Soo Choo is a decent hitter, certainly better than anyone the Mets currently have in the outfield. He would fit nicely in the Mets lineup, but only at a reasonable price (right around what he’s currently making) and only for two or three years. I really hope Sandy Alderson will not be seduced by Choo’s on base percentage and walks and sign him to a huge contract. He is not a difference maker who would warrant such a deal. Perhaps the Wilpons cheapness will actually be a positive in this case.

John Harper’s column in the Daily News on Sunday contained something rare from the Mets media corps — criticism of Sandy Alderson. It was buried in the middle and it wasn’t particularly harsh because it appears people are still afraid to say bad things about the Mets GM, but it was there. Perhaps this will begin what should be a flood of criticism of the job Alderson has done thus far.

In commenting about how terrible the Mets are, Harper wrote:

Good thing for Sandy Alderson that he can hang his GM hat on his trades for top prospects Zack Wheeler and Travis d’Arnaud as centerpieces to his rebuilding plan, or he would be under siege by now in this, his third season on the job.

Alderson’s hands have been tied financially, but for someone who came in with a reputation of being able to find value in unheralded players, he sure hasn’t filled in the gaps at the major league level while waiting for the farm system to produce.

Despite the standard apology alleging that Alderson could have made more moves if he had the money, Harper hit the nail on the head. Where is the so-called evaluating genius who can find all-stars at the bottom of the barrel? All he’s given the Mets are the Collin Cowgills, Aaron Laffeys and Brad Emauses of the world.

Defenders of Alderson love to point out, like Harper did, that Alderson traded for Wheeler and d’Arnaud. Those were fine moves but they are the only two players of any significance that Alderson has managed to acquire. In three years he has acquired two players?! And we’re supposed to think that qualifies as doing a good job?

It takes 25 players to staff a team and as we’re seeing now, two good players (David Wright and Matt Harvey) cannot make up for the other mediocre 23. Okay, Bobby Parnell is doing very well, but you get my point.

I applaud Harper for finally standing up and suggesting that Sandy Alderson is not doing a good job as Mets GM. Perhaps other beat writers will join him and certain bloggers (okay, I mean me) who have been saying it all along — Sandy Alderson is just not a good general manager.

I doubt it will happen anytime soon. I think everyone is waiting for this off season, when the salaries of Johan Santana and Jason Bay come off the books, when the Mets claim they will spend money, when the time for excuses will be over. If Sandy Alderson continues his inaction, the chorus will grow. Until then, Alderson will be the teflon GM as we have to live with this team he has constructed.

The Mets bid farewell to several familiar faces this off season. On this off day, let’s check in and see how they are doing:

Even R.A. Dickey can’t believe how poorly he has pitched since leaving Mets.

R.A. Dickey was of course the most prominent 2012 Met to change teams. The Cy Young Award winner is struggling in his first season in Toronto. He is just 2-5 with an unsightly 5.36 ERA. After averaging a strikeout per inning last season, Dickey has 33 strikeouts in 42 innings this season. He has also walked 17 batters. If he continues at that clip, he would walk 85 batters if he goes 200 innings. Last season Dickey walked 54 batters in 233 innings.

The team’s 2012 catching tandem, Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas, both went to Toronto in the Dickey deal; the Blue Jays said they needed both of them because they had experience catching the knuckleball. Strangely, both of them are now in the minors, as the Jays apparently decided prior kunckleball catching experience was not required. At least they are in familiar surrounding — they are in Buffalo, where they toiled when the Mets Triple-A team was there. Thole is hitting .361 while Nickeas, his backup yet again, has a robust .114 average.

The Mets decided to eat the $18 million Jason Bay was owed for 2013 and send him away rather than watch him for another season. He latched on with the Mariners, where he is not a full time outfielder but he is getting a decent amount of playing time. He is also doing reasonably well, although the bar for Bay was pretty low. In 65 at bats Bay is hitting .262 with three home runs and nine RBIs. Considering he hit .165 with eight homers and 20 RBIs in 194 at bats in 2012, Bay is nearly an all-star in Seattle.

Scott Hairston hit 20 home runs for the Mets last season, yet despite how desperate they were (and still are) for outfielders, Sandy Alderson refused to give Hairston a two-year contract. He got it from the Cubs, and he is proving Alderson correct. Hairston is hitting just .132 with three home runs and seven RBIs. He is being used mostly as a pinch hitter — he has only 38 at bats in 23 games.

It looked like Mike Pelfrey had finally figured things out — after three 2012 starts for the Mets, he had pitched to a 2.29 ERA. But then his arm fell off and he was out for the season. The Twins signed him, and so far he has reverted to his old frustrating days. Pelfrey is 3-3 with a 6.35 ERA in Minnesota. The sad thing is that if he were doing this in Flushing, he wouldn’t even be the worst Mets starter.

Jon Rauch is now in the Marlins bullpen. In 13 innings over 11 games, Rauch is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA.

Backup infielder Ronny Cedeno can’t even crack the lowly Astros starting lineup. He is still a backup, hitting .304 in limited time.

Kelly Shoppach is also seeing limited time in Seattle, where he is hitting .277 with a home run.

So overall none of these players is doing particularly well with their new teams. No regrets by the Mets.

UPDATE:

I forgot all about Andres Torres. I guess I wanted to forget that he ever wore the blue and orange. He is back in the black and orange of the Giants where, shock of shocks, he is playing his usual mediocre brand of baseball.

People who have been calling David Wright “Captain Unclutch” for years might now be grudgingly forced to adopt the more optimistic “Captain America” moniker after his latest heroics in Atlanta Friday night.

Teammates congratulate David Wright after ninth inning game-trying homer in Friday’s game against Braves.

With the Mets down by one in the top of the ninth, Wright hit a solo home run off allegedly unhittable Braves closer Craig Kimbrel to send the game into extra innings, where the Mets eventually won. Wright has come through time and time again this season with big hits. Thus far this season he is hitting .429 with runners in scoring position.

The whole “Captain Unclutch” thing was always a bunch if nonsense, anyway. For his career Wright is hitting .298 with runners in scoring position. He is hitting above .300 in most of the other “clutch stats.” Certainly Wright has failed in some key situations; show me a player who hasn’t. But with the game on the line, is there anyone else in the Mets lineup you’d rather see in the batters box? I didn’t think so.

Wright seems much more relaxed this season. Maybe signing that contract that will keep him in Flushing for the rest of his career has given him piece of mind and made him more comfortable. Maybe he knows the team is really his after finally being officially named captain. Whatever the reason, there is something different about David Wright this season, something good.

The Mets may not be going anywhere this season; just a month into the season all of their holes have been exposed. Still though, it will be a good one for Wright. And if/when the Mets are ready to compete, whenever that is, it will be David Wright who leads them.

Collin Cowgill’s reign of terror in Flushing is over, for now anyway — the Mets demoted the struggling center fielder and promoted Andrew Brown.

Collin Cowgill (left) is going, Andrew Brown (right) is on his way. Fancy split screen courtesy ESPNNewYork.com

I was wondering lately how long the Mets would stay with Cowgill (and Marlon Byrd), and meant to write a post about it, but I got sidetracked by my usual nonsense. The thrust of it was going to be that Cowgill and Byrd made the team because of strong performances in March, but after flopping in April when the games counted, how much more time would they be given?

Well, we found out about Collin Cowgill. After exciting everyone with an Opening Day grand slam, Cowgill hit the skids, batting just .157 with two home runs and eight RBIs. Half of his homer and RBI totals came with that one swing. He was all right defensively, but not stellar as advertised. His misplay on Monday led to the Marlins tying the game in the ninth, a game the Mets would eventually lose in 15 innings. He deserves to go just for subjecting us to those brutal six extra innings.

Brown could have won a job out of Spring Training but he hit terribly down in Port St. Lucie. Instead he was sent to Las Vegas where he thrived; .367 in 98 at bats, two home runs, 27 RBIs and a league leading 13 doubles. We’ll soon find out how much of that is a result of the thin air in the Pacific Coast League.

As for Marlon Byrd, his time with the Mets also has to be numbered. He is hitting .243 with a home run and 11 RBIs. Most alarmingly, he has struck out a whopping 25 times in 74 at bats.

The only thing keeping Byrd around is that he is right handed in a sea of Mets lefty-hitting outfielders. If Brown can establish himself as a reliable righty bat, the Mets will let Byrd fly away. Sorry about that.

In the latest chapter of “The Mets Can’t do Anything Right,” the team has banned people from drinking alcohol while tailgating in the Citi Field parking lot. You can guess why.

Technically, drinking is already banned — it is illegal to drink alcohol in a public space in New York City, and the parking lot is considered public space. However, drinking in parking lots at sporting events is a tradition, and the rule was rarely enforced. Well, it is now, at Citi Field, anyway.

Yahoo! Sports reports that police have been canvassing the parking lot, issuing $25 tickets for anyone caught drinking. Now, the Mets will tell you that their website clearly states that booze is banned. It says “Consumption of alcohol is prohibited.” However there are no signs in the parking lot to notify people who do not read every single word of Mets.com.

No other team in the area has such a prohibition. So why do the Mets? Uh, money. The won’t say it, but they fear if you fill up on your own cheap beer in the parking lot, you won’t pay $12 for a bottle of Bud once you enter the stadium.

This really is not fair. Aren’t the Mets making enough from the $20 fee it costs to even bring your car to Citi Field? It is amazing how tone deaf the Mets are to their fans. No one should be amazed, really — the seem to go out of their way to prove it time and time again.

Matt Harvey has been named the National League Pitcher of the Month for April. It was an easy decision.

Matt Harvey led the way with a 4-0 April record (tied with Lance Lynn), third in ERA at 1.56 and tied for fourth in strikeouts with 46.  Harvey could have been 6-0, but the stupid Mets blew both of those leads after he exited the games.

He won Player of the Week as well a few weeks ago.

Justin Upton won Player of the Month, but John Buck did receive some votes. Buck had nine home runs and and a league-leading 25 RBIs in April.