Blogging Mets

Spring training is starting to get into full swing in Port St. Lucie, so let’s take a look at some of the things making news from Mets camp:

Now Batting Third, Jose Reyes?
Jerry Manuel said he is considering dropping Jose Reyes down from leadoff to the third spot in the lineup, at least until Carlos Beltran returns from injury. ”I would love to see him as a third hitter assuming the other parts fit,” Manuel said.

Those “other parts” would be whether Angel Pagan or Luis Castillo can make it as leadoff hitters. For his part, Reyes said he told Manuel he is up for it. “I said, ‘I’m open to anything you want me to do. It’s not a problem.’”

This is in stark contrast to last spring when Manuel floated the same idea. Reyes reportedly was not enamored with the idea. But now Reyes said that was not the case.

“I didn’t say I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t say that,” Reyes said. “It’s no different. Whatever spot he puts me in the lineup, I’m going to be able to do that. Whatever is best for the team, I’m going to do it. So let’s see what happens. He said when Beltran comes back, I’m going to be the leadoff guy again. I don’t know if he’s sure right now.

“He’s the boss. Whatever he says I’ll do it. I just want to be on the field playing baseball.”

I think this is a good move. Reyes has a decent amount of power (19 home runs in 2006), and can drive the ball into the large gaps at Citi Field. That’s what you want from your number three hitter.

Moving Castillo to the top spot is also a good idea. His on-base percentage was near .400 last year. And besides, as the number two hitter, he’ll just sacrifice bunt every time Reyes gets on ahead of him, anyway.

When Beltran comes back, Manuel could go with a lineup that looks like this:
1-Castillo
2-Murphy
3-Reyes
4-Beltran
5-Wright
6-Bay
7-Francouer
8-Whoever catches

That’s a pretty deep lineup, with no soft spots in the middle.

Beltran’s Back
Speaking of Beltran, he and his surgically repaired knee arrived at camp Monday. Beltran said his rehab is on schedule, and that he expects to return to action 12 weeks after the mid-January surgery.

So far Beltran is only able to ride a stationary bike. He can’t run yet because he doesn’t feel his knee is stable, but that’s to be expected at this point.

“I feel like if I run, something wrong is going to happen, because the quad is not stable, the hamstrings are not stable. Once I strengthen those areas, I think everything else is going to fall in place and it’s going to be feeling good.”

So while he’s coming along physically, perhaps even as important is that emotionally Beltran is okay. The sometimes overly sensitive Beltran said he harbors no ill feelings towards the way the Mets publicly handled his surgery:

“No, I didn’t have hard feelings. You know, it took me a while because I’m a human being, of course, and I’m a person who has feelings. It took me like a week for me to forget everything and focus on what is important for me. What is important for me right now is just to be with the team, be ready, and being able to play.”

Koufax to the Rescue
Getting Oliver Perez ready to play will be key to the Mets season. So to teach the flaky lefthander how to get his arm and head in order, the Mets brought in one of the greatest lefthanded pitchers in history as a tutor: Sandy Koufax.

Fred Wilpon’s high school buddy makes an appearance at every Mets spring training, but this could be his most important visit. After making exactly zero moves to strengthen the starting rotation, the Mets need Perez to have  a strong season. So he and Johan Santana, one of the best pitchers working today, watched Perez throw today. Not bad mentors.

Koufax cautioned against a complete overhaul of Perez’s wild motion:

“People pay too much attention to delivery,” Koufax told the New York Post. “Pitching is throwing. It’s precision throwing. Sometimes delivery is overrated. You don’t want to change what you do. Delivery shouldn’t interfere with your ability to throw. You make it a simple situation so you can retain it. You don’t want it to be something different every time you throw.’’ 

Santana has been working closely with Perez, and Koufax said it shows. 

“Even before I started talking to Oliver today he looked different than he did last year, and I’m sure that was Johan,” Koufax said. “Warren Spahn used to say the plate is 17 inches wide and 15 belong to the hitter. Santana doesn’t use that 15 that belong to the hitter very often.’’

Koufax did have some advice for Santana. “Stay healthy,” Koufax told him. The same could be said for the entire Mets team.

As a Mets fan, it’s easy to be negative, given the history of disappointments — many of them recent — of the team we love.  I’ve been trying to stay positive lately, giving the Mets the benefit of the doubt that management was working on ways to make the team better. But now that spring training is underway, we have to face the realization that this is the team that will hit Citi Field in April. I pray that I’m wrong, but I think we have a long season ahead of us.

On the positive side, the Mets addressed a glaring need — a power hitting left fielder. Omar Minaya is not getting enough credit for signing Jason Bay. He went out and got the best available player he could. And all we read is that the Red Sox backed off on Bay for some reason, that Bay landed in the Mets lap because no one else wanted him. Whatever the case, one of the top free agents is now a Met , and the GM deserves the credit for landing him.

But that’s all he gets credit for. The starting rotation ended the season in shambles, and it begins the season with the same personnel, hence begins the season in shambles. I am stunned, utterly stunned, that Minaya did not go out and get another solid starter. I agree with not paying John Lackey like an ace, but other very good pitchers were available, and it appears the Mets were never serious about any of them.

The lineup is stronger with Bay in the middle of it, but it is still not strong enough. Despite a .300 average in 2009, Luis Castillo is nothing more than a singles hitter. Daniel Murphy may yet turn out to be a solid hitter, but if you’re going to platoon him with someone, was Fernando Tatis the best Minaya could find?

Here’s what I believe Mets management thinking is. And you have to go back to the 2008 season to fully understand it. I think they blamed that collapse on the bullpen. So Minaya went out and rebuilt it. The rest of the team was basically unchanged. The Mets thought they had a true contender for 2009. And they weren’t the only one who thought so — Sports Illustrated famously predicted a World Series championship for New York. Right city, wrong team.

In any case, the season unraveled mostly because of all of the injuries. It’s easy to blame the injuries, but let’s face it, if the Phillies or Yankees had lost their top three players for most of the season, their eighth inning bridge, another top player for a few weeks, and their ace for the final month of the season, they wouldn’t have made the World Series, either. But the injuries gave management a false sense of security for 2010. I think they believe they have the same team that should have contended in 2009, so there’s no reason to think they won’t contend in 2010 when fully healthy.

But here’s the problem — the team probably was not good enough to compete last year. Even without the injuries, they still didn’t have enough pitching. Mike Pelfrey took a huge step backwards, Oliver Perez showed his true colors, John Maine couldn’t come back from injury, and Tim Redding/Livan Hernandez were nightmares.

What makes the Mets think that in 2010 Pelfrey will make a giant leap, Perez will be any good, Maine will overcome injury and the fifth starter will be any better than Redding/Hernandez? The only way to have avoided these questions would have been to change personnel. And they didn’t.

As far as the lineup that wasn’t good enough to win the past few years, Bay is a good addition. Murphy is still a question mark, although I think he will develop into a nice player. And was David Wright’s strange season a one year anomaly, or is it the new norm for him? Everyone says he will bounce back and be his old self (and I tend to agree), but how do they know this? He’s too good a hitter, they say. He’s also too good a hitter to strike out as much as he does, yet that has never changed.

The Mets have had basically the same team since 2006, and except for the NL East and the NLDS that season, that team has won nothing. Even if the Mets think that same team is still good enough to win, past history says it is not. They should have recognized this, and gotten at least one, preferably two, more big-time player to put them over the top. Look at the Yankees. Yes, their 2001-2008 teams were good enough to win the World Series, but they didn’t. So they went out and got Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia to put them over the top. The Phillies won the 2008 World Series, and to ensure a repeat appearance, they added Cliff Lee midway through 2009. That put them over the top as well. The only impact player the Mets added (Bay) replaces another one (the old Carlos Delgado). They are still at least one impact player, as well as several starters, short.

I hope I am wrong about this. I hope I have to write a column apologizing to the Mets, saying that they were right all along, that the team was good enough to compete as is. Unfortunately, I don’t anticipate writing that column.

It’s official, the Mets can’t do anything right. They certainly try, but for some reason they always seem to get everything wrong. Here’s the latest — the Mets are lowering the wall at Citi Field.

Well that’s just great! That’s what Mets fans (and perhaps some Mets players) have been clamoring for since the spacious ball park opened last season. So what’s the problem? According to the New York Daily News,  the Mets are only getting rid of that slice of wall that protects the seldom used home run apple in dead center field, so now it will be 8 feet high instead of 16 feet.

It seems like a waste of time, doesn’t it? How many balls hit off of that part of the wall last season? I have no idea, but it couldn’t have been more than a handful.

Most players say the problem with Citi Field is not the dimensions, but the height of the walls. Here are those heights:

Left field foul pole — 12 feet
Left field — 15
Left center — 15
Left of dead center — 11
Dead center — 8 with new configuration
Right of dead center — 11
Right center — 8
Right field — 18
Right field foul pole — 8

There is absolutely no reason for the stadium to have such high, varying wall heights. It’s not like the ballpark was built on a small plot of land with the wall close to home plate, necessitating a high wall (like Fenway Park). They should just lower the wall to 8 feet all around. Aside from giving batters a fairer chance to hit a home run, it would also be a nice homage to Shea Stadium (remember that place?) and its 8 foot walls.

So while lowering part of the wall is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t go far enough in addressing the problem. Just like everything else the Mets do.

Jerry Grote (1966-1977)

For some guy named Tom Parsons who never played in the majors again, the Mets got an All Star catcher who was able to bring the greatness out of a young pitching staff. Johnny Bench famously said if he and Grote were on the same team, Bench would have to play third base.

Tommie Agee (1968-1972)

The Mets gave up 4 players to get Agee, the best of whom was Tommy Davis, whose best years were behind him. Agee singlehandedly saved Game 3 of the 1969 World Series. As a bonus, the Mets also got Al Weis, another World Series hero, in the trade.

Keith Hernandez (1983-1989)

For the price of pitchers Neil Allen, who never could harness his talent, and Rick Ownbey, the Mets got the man who led them to the 1986 World Series. Not a bad swap indeed.

Ray Knight (1984-1986)

The Mets sent three players of very little consequence to Houston for Knight, who went on to be the 1986 World Series MVP.

Bob Ojeda (1986-1990)

Ojeda came over to the Mets in an 8 player deal with the Red Sox, and proceeded to go 18-5 in 1986. The only player of note the Mets sent away was Calvin Schiraldi, who helped the Mets more as a Red Sox than he ever did as a Met — he was the losing pitcher of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

David Cone (1987-1992, 2003)

The Mets got Cone from the Royals for 3 players, the top one being Ed Hearn. Hearn was actually a very promising young catcher, but injuries and then a very serious disease cut his career short.

John Olerud (1997-1999)

For some reason Olerud fell out of favor with the Blue Jays, and the Mets were able to get him for medicore pitcher Robert Person. And if memory serves me right, Toronto also paid around $6 million of Oleurd’s $6.5 million 1997 salary.

Mike Piazza (1998-2005)

After spending a week in Florida, the Marlins turned around and dealt Piazza to the Mets for 3 players, the best being Preston Wilson. Wilson had a few good power years, but he was nothing compared to Piazza — the best hitter in Mets history.

Carlos Delgado (2006-2009)

A year after spurning the Mets as a free agent, Omar Minaya finally landed Delgado, sending Mike Jacobs, Yusmeiro Petit and a minor leaguer to Florida. Jacobs had a couple of good years, but now both he and Petit are looking for jobs after being released by their teams.

Johan Santana (2008-Present)

The Mets landed the best pitcher in the game without giving up any of their top prospects. Carlos Gomez could still develop into a good player, but the Twins have already given up on him. Philip Humber has appeared in just 13 games in Minnesota in two seasons, and has not fared well.

Mug Shots Courtesy Ultimate Mets Database, http://ultimatemets.com/mugshots.php

Dave Kingman (1975-1977, 1981-1983)

Kingman was notoriously prickly with the media with the Mets. Things got worse when he left, once sending a rat in a box to a  female sportswriter when he was with the A’s. Read this really good article by Joe Posnaski on his feelings about Kingman. Despite it all, he’s still  one of my favorite all-time Mets.

Darryl Strawberry (1983-1990)

Another one of my all-time favorites, but you’ve got to admit, he was kind of a jerk. Famously punched Keith Hernandez while taking a team photo. After going through a lot of trials (literally) and tribulations, he has rehabbed his image and is now back in the Mets’ good graces.

Kevin Mitchell (1984, 1986)

Lets see, he allegedly fought with Strawberry during a basketball game in 1982 shortly after both were drafted and signed. He allegedly decapitated his girlfriend’s cat (he denies it). He was allegedly making plane reservations during the famous Game 6 comeback in the 1986 World Series before being called on as a pinch-hitter. In 1999 he was arrested for assaulting his father. And as a minor league manager in 2000, he was suspended for punching the opposing team’s owner in the mouth during a brawl.

Lenny Dykstra (1985-1989)

Dykstra earned his jerkdom for his post-baseball career. He earned lots of media attention for his business acumen, accumulating tens of millions of dollars. He started an investment fund for athletes that charged exorbitant fees. Now he’s bankrupt, and blames everybody else for his troubles. Check out this excellent article on Dykstra’s rise and fall.

Gregg Jefferies (1987-1991)

Jefferies came up to the Mets as a 20-year-old with a lot of hype. And apparently he believed it all. He was seen as extremely immature, and by all reports was hated by his teammates.

Vince Coleman (1991-1993)

He injured Dwight Gooden’s arm by stupidly swinging a golf club in the clubhouse early in the 1993 season. Three months later, he threw a firecracker into a crowd of fans outside Dodger Stadium. An all around nice guy.

Bobby Bonilla (1992-1995, 1999)

His jerkdom has been well documented in these pages. No need to repeat. But man, was he a jerk.

Bret Saberhagen (1992-1995)

In 1993 Saberhagen sprayed bleach into a group of reporters. When he was found out, he apologized and donated one day’s pay to charity. So maybe he wasn’t a total jerk.

Jeff Kent (1992-1996)

Here’s my favorite Kent story. After coming over from the Blue Jays in a late-season trade along with Ryan Thompson for David Cone, the Mets staged their annual rookie hazing, in which the young players wear women’s clothing. Thompson went along, but Kent smugly refused, saying he had already done it earlier in the season in Toronto. Can you believe he’ll be in the Hall of Fame someday? Boy, those early 1990 teams were certainly jerky!

Lastings Milledge (2006-2007)

I actually had no problem with his high-fiving fans as he took the field after hitting his first home run. But the rest of his act quickly wore thin with his teammates, culminating with someone (reported to be Billy Wagner) hanging a note on his locker that read “Know your place, rook.”

Mug Shots Courtesy Ultimate Mets Database, http://ultimatemets.com/mugshots.php