Blogging Mets

Well, that was not the Mets best effort. Mets pitching gave up ten runs to the Phillies on ten hits — plus seven walks and three hit batters. That’s as many free passes as hits. The Mets managed only four hits and three runs, the runs coming on meaningless ninth inning homers by the red-hot Ike Davis and Jason Pirdie.

The worst part about this (well, there was more than one worst part) is that the Mets were not facing Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt or Cole Hamels. Not even Joe Blanton, who is on the DL. No, the Mets were up against some guy named Vance Worley (no relation to Jo Anne, I can only assume), a rookie making his season debut. All he did was throw six scoreless innings. Quite pathetic.

Speaking of pathetic, that brings us to Mike Pelfrey (left). He was awful yet again, lasting just 4.1 innings, allowing four runs and eight hits. His ERA is now a robust 7.39 on the season. Something must be done. The Mets broadcasters broached the subject of sending him to the minors to get straightened out. I don”t think that would work.

Pelfrey’s problems are a little north of his right arm — they are in his head. Pelfrey is just an oddball; he has been since they brought him up and was sticking that mouthpiece out of his mouth as he pitched. His latest struggles could stem from the death of noted sports psychologist Harvey Dorfman in February, who has been described as Pelfrey’s “friend and mentor.”

“There wasn’t a start that went by when I didn’t talk to him afterward,” Pelfrey told the Daily News. “This is really sad. He meant a lot, helping me handle my emotions on the mound, and slowing the game down. Baseball and the world lost a very good man. It’s going to be tough the next time I have a rough game, and have to figure out how to handle adversity. I can’t describe how much I owe to him.”

It sounds like Pelfrey really relied on Dorfman and his advice. I don’t know if he is speaking with anyone else, but if not, he apparently needs to. And quickly, before his career is beyond saving.

Well, there was no way the Mets were going to win the rest of their games, so Thursday’s 4-3 loss to the Nationals that ended the winning streak at six is not particularly tragic. It would have been nice to enter the weekend series with the Phillies on a seven game streak, but it was not to be. Winning two out of three in Philly would be nice, but realistically, I’ll take one win.

*****

The longer Chris Capuano (below) continues to pitch like this, the more difficult it will be to justify keeping him in the rotation while Dillon Gee remains in the bullpen. Capuano lasted 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on ten hits. His ERA for the season is 6.04. Gee’s is 2.31 in two starts. Just saying.

*****

Gutsy call allowing Chin-lung Hu to steal second base with two outs in the ninth inning. Gutsy, and dumb. Even though he was successful, imagine if the game ended with Hu getting thrown out? I am a big proponent of the stolen base, but Ivan Rodriguez still has a rocket for an arm, and he threw out Jose Reyes the previous inning with Livan Hernandez throwing 19 mph. With hard-throwing Drew Storen on the mound, attempting a stolen base in that situation was ill-advised.

Did anyone read that disgusting, fawning celebration of Bud Selig that Joe Posnanski wrote in this week’s “Sports Illustrated?” Let me summarize so you won’t have to endure the torture – Bud Selig is the greatest human being to ever walk the face of the earth; a combination of Jesus, Santa Claus and Abraham Lincoln (throw in a little Marilyn Monroe for glamour).

In one particularly galling paragraph, he runs down Selig’s ”achievements” during his 20 year reign of terror as MLB commissioner. Posnsnski’s prose are in italics, my reality checks in bold.

When Selig took over in 1992, baseball had 26 teams; now there are 30.
Almost every baseball observer believes expansion has watered down the talent pool, with dozens of players, pitchers mostly, who have no business being in the big leagues.

Four teams made the playoffs; now it’s eight.
Many purists don’t like expanded playoffs — I actually have no problem with it.

The players and owners were at each other’s throats; now there has been labor peace for 16 years.
Gee, Joe, you left out the crippling strike that canceled the World Series in 1994 and almost destroyed baseball under Selig’s watch. Hitler couldn’t get the World Series canceled; it took Bud Selig to do it.

Owners did not want to share any money; now there is some $400 million in shared revenue.
Yes, small market owners, like Selig and his family (while his “family” still owned the team during his early years as commissioner), have enjoyed the windfall. But many of the owners, like Selig and his family, pocketed the money and continued to field an inferior team.

Players were not tested for drugs; now they are tested for amphetamines and steroids.
That was after Selig ignored the steroid problem for years, claiming he had no idea what was going on. Selig is a lot of things — stupid is not one of them.

More than two thirds of teams have moved into either new or entirely renovated stadiums.
Does Selig deserve credit for this? I don’t know. But some of these new, taxpayer-funded stadiums have been a bad deal for cities.

Even some of Selig’s quirkier brainstorms—the World Baseball Classic…
Holding a meaningless tournament during spring training is ridiculous. It kept players away from their teams for weeks, and left some of them unprepared for the season.  The first time around, a rash of players who participated suffered injuries early in the season.

…having the All-Star Game decide World Series home field advantage…
This is just silly. Why should an exhibition game — which is all the All-Star Game really is — decide something as important as home field advantage in the World Series? Many championships have been won or lost because of it.

…the no-rain-shortened World Series game—
I actually agree with this. I believe no game, especially a World Series game, should be rain-shortened. They should all be played to completion at a later date. However, Selig violated baseball’s rules when he made this decision.

…have been rammed through by little more than the commissioner’s will.
Meaning he was the only one who wanted them. A commissioner must be strong and decisive, but he should not act unilaterally.

That was just a typical example of Posnanski’s love letter to Selig. I don’t mind him writing a positive article about the man, but there have been many negatives to his time on the job (especially the steroids issue) – it is irresponsible not to at least mention them.

What a wild game the Mets sixth win in a row turned out to be. It was a pitcher’s duel through seven, the Nationals clinging to a 2-1 lead. Then all hell broke loose.

With one out in the eighth, Jose Reyes hit a long drive to deep center field. He flew around second base as Rick Ankiel picked up the ball and fired a rocket to third. Reyes slid in head first — safe. But no! The umpire said Reyes’s hand came off the base and he was out. Reyes flipped out, slamming his helmet to the ground, his dreadlocks flying about. Chip Hale and Terry Collins did a great job keeping him away from the umpire, who must have been fearing for his life. I can’t remember the last time I saw a player go that nuts.

The thing is, Reyes was absolutely right. Replays showed his hand never came off the base. Even the homer Nationals announcers (I couldn’t get the Mets feed) admitted the umpire blew the call.

Instead of curling into a fetal position and quietly losing the game, the Mets fought back. The next batter, pinch hitter Daniel Murphy (who needs to be in the starting lineup every day) homered to tie the game at two.

Then in the bottom of the inning, Pedro Beato allowed an unearned run, courtesy of a  double that Jason Bay couldn’t catch on a  sliding attempt, a passed ball, and a sacrifice fly.

Once again, the old Mets would have gone quietly into the night. But they fought back again for four runs, capped off by a Murphy two-run double, and the Mets won 6-3.

I wonder if the blown call on Reyes and his reaction sparked the Mets. If so, that’s a good thing. The team has really had no emotion the past couple of seasons. If this keeps up, things could get pretty interesting in Flushing this summer.

Did anyone think just a week ago that the Mets were capable of winning five games in a row? The starting pitching was terrible, the bullpen was atrocious and the defense was amateurish. The hitting was okay. But now it is all turned around.

The Mets won their fifth straight Tuesday night, beating the Nationals 6-4. It was a night where the starting pitching faltered — Chris Young (left), fresh off the disabled list, had his first poor start of the season lasting just 4.2 innings. He allowed three long solo home runs.

But in a good sign, the rest of the team picked him up. The offense teed-off on Nationals pitching for six runs and 12 hits. Ike Davis and Jason Bay continued their hot streaks, with three and two hits respectively. Daniel Murphy added two hits, and Josh Thole and three RBIs.

Carlos Beltran is looking much better. He only had one hit, but he was robbed on two hard-hit balls to the outfield.

As far as the bullpen, Taylor Buchholz pitched two scoreless innings and K-Rod picked up his fifth save.

*****

A telling moment in the ninth inning that bodes well for the future. There were runners on second and third with Murphy due up to face tough lefty Sean Burnett. Even though Murphy already had two hits in the game, I wouldn’t have been shocked if Terry Collins pinch hit a righty for him, since Collins seems to be a strictly by-the-book manager. But he didn’t. Murphy ended up getting hit by a pitch, but it was nice to see Collins have faith in Murphy against a lefthander.

Mets GM Sandy Alderson has been quoted as having an aversion to long term contracts. Last December he said:

“There are the Carl Crawford and the Jayson Werth (type contracts), but there are also the Paul Konerko’s and Adam Dunn’s – and where that infrastructure comes into play is to figure out the best combination of players with the best combination of prices.  Everyone would have a preference to signing shorter rather than longer contracts. (The longer) deals are setting a dangerous precedent.”

Some may say Alderson is just watching the Wilpons’ diminishing bank account. But he might have a point given the Mets history with long-term contracts. I took a look at the contracts the Mets have handed out, minimum of three years, and gave them a grade of GOOD or BAD. I  based it on whether the Mets got their money’s worth — whether the player performed well, if he remained healthy throughout the contract, and whether he completed the contract with the Mets.

I decided to begin in the off-season of 1998, when the Mets handed out what was then their biggest contract ever:

November 1998
Mike Piazza: 7 years, $90 million

Piazza was brilliant during the first four years of the contract, then he suffered through three injury-plagued years.  Despite the average production during the second half of the deal, the Mets would definitely do this deal again in a heartbeat.
Verdict: GOOD

Al Leiter: 4 years, $32 million

After a stellar 1998 season, Leiter chose to resign with the Mets rather than test free agency, saying he was afraid he might get a better offer and have to leave the Mets. Leiter was only nine games over .500 during the four years of this contract, but his ERA was less than 3.50 in three of those years. He remained healthy, and stayed on for two more years.
Verdict: GOOD 

December 1998
Robin Ventura: 4 years, $31.5 million

Mets fans have fond memories of Ventura. He was part of one of the best fielding infields ever and he hit the memorable “Grand Single.” The Mets blog Real Dirty Mets  recently ranked him the ninth greatest Met of all time. But a look at the numbers will tell you he actually wasn’t that good. He had an incredible first year, then followed that up with seasons in which he hit just .232 and .237. The Mets pawned off the final year of the deal to the Yankees, of all teams.
Verdict: BAD

December 1999
Todd Zeile: 3 years, $18 million

Zeile was never a superstar, and that’s just how he performed. He finished off the deal in Colorado. This wasn’t a huge investment, and the Mets got their money’s worth.
Verdict: GOOD

December 2000
Kevin Appier: 4 years, $42 million

After Mike Hampton left for Colorado, the Mets panicked and overpaid for Appier. He lasted one average season and was turned into Mo Vaughn.
Verdict: BAD

December 2001
Roger Cedeno: 4 years, $18 million

Cedeno was horrible, lasting just two seasons of his deal.
Verdict: BAD

December 2002
Tom Glavine: 5 years, $50 million

This was originally a four-year deal, but it was reworked to add a fifth. Even though Glavine will always be remembered for his awful performance that sealed the 2007 collapse, he pitched five healthy, reasonably successful seasons in New York.
Verdict: GOOD

Mike Stanton: 3 years, $9 million

Stanton was lousy, going 4-13 in two seasons before trading him back to the Yankees where he belonged.
Verdict: BAD

Cliff Floyd: 4 years, $26.2 million

When Floyd was healthy enough to take the field he was a pretty good player. But in his four years he missed an average of 45 games per year, managing only one injury-free season.
Verdict: BAD

December 2003
Kaz Matui: 3 years, $21 million

What do you think? Can you believe the Mets moved Jose Reyes to second to make room for this stiff?
Verdict: BAD

Mike Cameron: 3 years, $19.5 million

For one season, the Mets got what they paid for — lots of power, lots of strikeouts, low average, stellar defense. He was moved to right field in his second season after Carlos Beltran joined the team, and we all know how that painfully ended. He was gone by season three.
Verdict: BAD

December 2004
Pedro Martinez: 4 years, $53 million

One of the great disappointments for the Mets and their fans. Martinez pitched only one healthy season, and never appeared in a playoff game. Despite a 32-23 record, this deal did not work out.
Verdict: BAD 

January 2005
Carlos Beltran: 7 years, $119 million

This is a tough one. Beltran’s first season in Flushing was simply terrible. He followed that with three tremendous years, then two injury-plagued seasons. If he is somehow able to pull off another big season in 2011 this could be considered a good contract, but frankly I see another season in which he is hobbled by injury. I could call this one incomplete, but that’s no fun.
Verdict: BAD

November 2005
Billy Wagner: 4 years, $42 million

Another tough one. Sure, he missed virtually all of the final season with injury and was traded away. And he suffered his injury down the stretch in 2008 when the Mets really needed him. But before that he was lights-out. He had 101 saves in his time in New York with a 2.37 ERA. This could go either way.
Verdict: GOOD

August 2006
Jose Reyes: 5 years, $34.25 million

The numbers include the $11 million option picked up for 2011. Reyes missed most of 2009 and 29 games last year, but he was sensational before that and looks good this season.
Verdict: GOOD

David Wright: 6 years, $55 million

No questions about this one. There is also a $16 million option for 2013 that the Mets will almost certainly pick up.
Verdict: GOOD 

January 2007
Scott Schoeneweis: 3 years, $10.8 million

Sorry if this dredges up old memories. Fortunately the Mets were able to dump him on the Diamondbacks so we didn’t have to watch him for a third year.
Verdict: BAD

December 2007
Luis Castillo: 4 years, $25 million

Ugh.
Verdict: BAD

February 2008
Johan Santana: 6 years, $137.5 million

So far each of Santana’s three seasons with the Mets have ended in surgery, and he is likely to miss most of 2011 recovering from the last one. But when he’s on the mound, he’s something else. There’s still time to decide on this one. The contract includes a $25 million option for 2014. Odds are it will not be exercised.
Verdict: INCOMPLETE 

December 2008
Francisco Rodriguez: 3 years, $37 million

It would be easy to call this a bad contract after what happened last season. But it is also easy to forget that K-Rod was good in his first year, and was doing very well last season until he slugged his girlfriend’s dad and hurt his thumb. If he has a good 2011 and doesn’t trigger that $17.5 million option, this could go down as a good contract.
Verdict: INCOMPLETE 

February 2009
Oliver Perez: 3 years, $36 million

Not only the worst contract in Mets history, but perhaps the worst contract in the history of baseball.
Verdict: BAD

January 2010
Jason Bay: 4 years, $66 million

It’s way too early to tell, although so far things don’t look so good. But it’s not too early to say the Mets will likely not pick up his $17 million option for 2013.
Verdict: INCOMPLETE

So let’s tally this up. Of the 22 contracts of three years or more the Mets have handed out since 1998, I have judged 12 bad, seven good, and three incomplete. That is not a good track record. So maybe Alderson has the right idea in trying to avoid long-term deals.

Mug Shots Courtesy Ultimate Mets Database

With Chris Young set to come off the disabled list in time for his start on Tuesday, it was expected that the Mets would send Dillon Gee back down to the minors. I was expected to be angered by that decision, and was planning a scathing post about Sandy Alderson and his decision-making. But now I don’t have to write that post — Gee is sticking around.

The Mets announced Sunday that D.J. Carrasco has been optioned to Buffalo. I was extremely surprised and pleased by the decision. Surprised, because Alderson signed Carrasco to a two-year, $2.4 million contract in the off-season, and I thought Alderson would keep him around simply to justify the expenditure.

And pleased, because Gee (above) certainly earned a place on the big league roster with his two solid starts. But judging by a quote by Alderson on MetsBlog.com, it doesn’t appear Gee will remain in the rotation:

“We want the most effective group of pitchers we can have. (Dillon Gee) does have to move into a different role, but we want to see how he performs. In the meantime, we need to get Carrasco back to where we know he can be effective.”

So it appears Gee will work out of the bullpen. I think that is a mistake. I would send Chris Capuano to the pen and leave Gee as a starter. As I’ve written in the past, Capuano is a one-year stop gap — Gee might be a big part of the Mets future. The only way to find out for sure is to let him start and see what he’s got.

In any case,  I applaud Alderson for his decision, and I’m especially happy to see that money is not getting in the way of his decision-making.

Before this homestand started, I wrote that the Mets must go 5-1 or 4-2 in the six games, and that it would be easy to do, what with their opponents not being the greatest teams in the world. Well they did it, going 4-2.

It didn’t look good at the beginning, dropping the first two games to the lowly Astros. But then they stormed back, winning the final game against Houston, then sweeping the Diamondbacks out of Citi Field.

Jason Bay was certainly a catalyst — they haven’t lost since he came back to the lineup, hitting .333 with a home run and three RBIs in the four games. He also provided solid defense in left field, which certainly has been lacking since the season began.

Perhaps bolstered by Bay’s presence in the lineup, David Wright broke out a career-worst slump in a big way, slamming three home runs (below, circling the bases after the first of two homers in Sunday’s 8-4 win) and raising his average more than 30 points.

Ike Davis also hit three home runs and is now batting .316, and is among the league leaders in RBIs with 18.

The pitching has been excellent during the winning streak — starters went seven innings in three of the four games, allowing the beleaguered bullpen to get some much-needed rest. In response, the relievers who were called upon allowed just one run in nine innings of work.

Now the Mets must keep this going. After a day off Monday they play a three-game set in Washington. At 10-10 the Nationals have a better record than the 9-13 Mets, but they are not the better team. The Mets should win two-out-of-three before heading to Philadelphia for their second series there of this young season.

The good thing about baseball is that a player can go from goat to hero in a matter of innings. That’s just what happened in Saturday afternoon’s game against the Diamondbacks.

With the Mets up 4-1 in the fourth, Daniel Murphy committed his first error of the season, allowing a ground ball to skip by him. That opened the door for Arizona to score two runs, and when Dillon Gee allowed a solo homer to Miguel Montero in the sixth, the score was tied at four.

But Murphy turned the tables in the bottom of the inning, driving in the tie-breaking run with a single. He even added an RBI in the eighth for an all-important insurance run as they Mets went on to win their third straight, 6-4.

*****

It’s no surprise the Mets are now 3-0 since Jason Bay returned. The lineup really felt weak without him. Bay hit a long homer to right in the third. It was one of those shots that usually falls short in Citi Field, but this one fortunately found the bullpen.

*****
Gee pitched another solid game, allowing just two earned runs in six innings and getting his second win in as many starts. He’s earned another start, and if he remains successful, the Mets will have a decision to make when Chris Young eventually comes back. I think Chris Capuano should be sent to the bullpen to make room for Gee in the rotation.

So now we know whom to blame for all of the Mets losing — Terry Collins. Think about it — he was at the helm for every game so far this crummy season, and Thursday night he was tossed out of the game in the first inning. And what happened after that? The Mets exploded for a 9-1 win.

Okay, so maybe he’s not to blame, but Collins wasn’t around to order stupid sacrifice bunts or make dumb pitching changes or other moves a below-average manager would make.

In any case, it was a good win. David Wright broke out of one of his worst slumps of his career with a home run and three RBIs, Chris Capuano went solid seven innings, and perhaps most important, Jason Bay was back in the lineup. The Mets need a healthy and productive Bay to solidify the lineup.