NY Mets 2009 - DNR Now and Save 2010

After losing three of four to the putrid Arizona Diamondbacks this past weekend, it is pretty safe to say that any hopes of a Mets wildcard berth have pretty much petered out the same way this entire season has. With only 57 regular season games left, the Mets find themselves five games under .500, ten games out of first place and eight games out of the Wildcard with seven teams ahead of them. Though mathematically still alive, let’s face it, folks, our Metsies are currently on life support along with their beleaguered GM and possibly their manager. It’s time to pull the plug and look towards 2010.

As everyone knows, injuries to so many starting players and even key back-up players played a huge role in this disappointing season. At this point, I see no real reason to even try to rush Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran back so they can play at 80% and possibly cause more damage to their fragile selves. Why not shut them down now, let both rest for 2010 and err on the side of caution? Or if Beltran does indeed need that micro fracture surgery, do it now and get it over with so that the ten months it takes to heal does not kill all of next season for him. In fact, if surgery is what he definitely needs, this should have already been done weeks ago after it was deemed the bone bruise was not improving.

As for Delgado, Wagner and Putz, if these players can come back for 2009, by all means they should. As everyone knows, both Delgado and Wagner will be free agents after this year, and Putz is playing for his option year. All three want to come back and prove they are healthy so that the cash bells start ringing in the off-season. This is a can’t lose situation for the Mets. If they can help out, that’s fantastic. If they don’t, well, it was great knowing you, good luck in the future.

The one question mark for an injured players return this year is John Maine. Ah, my adorable Johnny Maine…so young and fragile yet with so much upside...Should the Mets try to rush him back this season just to test that fatigued shoulder and see if they should offer another contract for next year, or do you let him rest, offer a super cheap but incentive-laden deal for 2010 and take your chances? Or do you just walk away for 2010?

Given the amount of money this team has wasted on bad contracts like good old Ollie P’s, I would try my best to keep Maine a Met for 2010. When healthy, he has proven to be pretty reliable for a quality start and has even shown flashes of dominance. I’d trust a healthy Maine with the ball any day over Ollie. Plus, he’s young, seems to have a good team attitude, he’s adorable (worth repeating) and can likely be had for cheap. For a million / million and a half, if it doesn’t work out, you cut your losses and move on. The Mets would probably have an easier time trading a semi-ineffective, reasonably paid John Maine than they would have unloading good old Ollie without having to pay part of his contract.

Now, with all of this being said, I can almost write the script for the rest of the Mets 2009 season…As Murphy’s Law always has it, just as fans completely give up hope and start looking ahead to 2010, this team will give us some small reason to believe that they are not actually dead in the water. Maybe they’ll pull off a string of wins against St. Louis and on their upcoming road trip. Maybe their beards will grow to ZZ Top-like proportions and they’ll make it to .500…It’s okay…Mets fans are like Charlie Brown…we’re used to the football being pulled away at the last second. This year, though, we know that’s how 2009 will end. We’ll be good sports and kick through but we won’t land flat on our backs. It’s up to the Mets front office and how they deal with Reyes and Beltran to make sure 2010 doesn’t begin that way. Read more!

All Talk and No Action Makes Omar a Dull Boy

Yesterday was of those all talk and no action days for the Mets. As if to take the focus off the weekend’s debacle series against the Braves, GM Omar Minaya addressed the media to update everyone on the status of his and manager Jerry Manuel’s job security, as well as on the Mets’ stance on the looming trade deadline. Since Omar often speaks in a circumlocutious manner, let’s analyze the meaning behind the giant puffs of hot air spewing forth from his mouth.

Job Security

In addressing reporters on Monday, Minaya spoke of an encouraging conversation with Jeff Wilpon that ironically occurred just as the Mets were being swept by their cross-town rivals, the Yankees. In this ill-timed conversation, Jeff Wilpon said, "I want you to be our general manager, and I want Jerry to be our manager." In an amusing twist, when Jerry Manuel was asked about this vote of confidence prior to the game, he said that he hadn’t recently spoken to Jeff Wilpon about this! Perhaps Omar should have filled Jerry in that he was about to rehash an old conversation to the media! Where’s PR Director, Jay Horowitz in all of this? Maybe still hanging out in St. Louis from the All-Star game?

Ok, I digress…But now, considering this vote of confidence came about two weeks ago before the wheels completely came off the bus, what was the point of Omar bringing this up to the media now? Could it be a message to the fans that Omar and Jerry bear no culpability for the state of this season given the injury situation? Or is it more of a message to the players that both Omar and Jerry will be back next year and to not mail it in the rest of this season? Players give up when they sense a manager’s mortality. Maybe this is management’s way of saving Jerry Manuel from becoming a lame duck. Who knows really what they are thinking. After all, this is the same front office that flew Ryan Church with a concussion, flew Willie Randolph from New York to California to fire him at 3AM and flew Carlos Delgado to Los Angeles to put him on the disabled list. Clearly, at the end of the day, what they say and what they do are two totally different stories. It may just be that with the whole Bernie Madoff loss, the Wilpons really don’t want to fire Omar and still have to pay him for the three year extension they so foolishly bestowed upon him last year. The same goes for having to pay Jerry Manuel for 2010. As we all know, though, the Mets change their minds as frequently as they change their underwear so only time will tell if one or both still hold their jobs next season when the Mets finish 2009 in fourth place.

Trade Deadline

In an effort to save face with the legions of disappointed fans, yesterday, Omar addressed the team’s stance on the looming trade deadline. "Are we buyers? We're going to continue to talk to different clubs," he said. "If we have the opportunity to improve the club, does that make us buyers? Yes. We're going to continue to talk to clubs."

Pardon me for asking, but what exactly does this mean, Omar? Are you sure you have command of the English language because essentially, this is a giant circle of BS and you are tap dancing around a straight answer. All we as fans ask is to just be honest. Are you buying or selling at the trade deadline? Or are you standing pat? What is the approach here?

Clearly you really have nothing to sell that’s going to bring you anything of value. And you really have nothing with which to buy with. The Mets have no real prospects of interest, and again, I have a sneaking suspicion that thanks to good old Bernie M., the Wilpons either don’t have the funds or don’t want to spend them. If they do have the funds and the rumored Halladaytrade proposal from the Blue Jays is true, you would have to be smoking crack not to jump at the deal. Fernando Martinez, Jon Niese, Bobby Parnell and Ruben Tejada for Halladay is a no-brainer if you can get Halladay to agree to an extension. This is as one-sided a deal as the Santana coup was. Martinez looks more and more like the bust Alex Escobar was every day. Niese projects to be a fourth starter at best. Parnell has shown cracks in his armor the last two months and Tejada will likely never play shortstop for the Mets unless Reyes is unloaded. You have no farm system as it is so what’s a few more mid-level prospects? The Jays aren’t even asking for your two best prospects in Brad Holt and Jenryy Meijia. Even though the Mets look done for 2009, to have Halladay and Santana pitching next year is about as dominant as you can get. You add a bat to replace Delgado’s and you’re 85% on your way to a division title. And Halladay doesn’t go to the Phils or any other NL East team. What are you thinking?

Somehow, I get the feeling this trade proposal really is a rumor because if it isn’t and the Mets just won’t even consider it then Omar definitely needs to go…and if it’s the Wilpons being reluctant to let Omar do this then they should just sell the team, make back some of that lost Madoff money and call it a day.

And what did Omar have to say about all of this? "That rumor's out there right now, but I'm not going to comment about rumors.”

Well, Omar, do you know what I have to say about this? Until you and the front office are forthright with the fans about what your plans are for this team and how you plan to fix this giant mess, maybe you ought to keep your mouths closed instead of spewing a bunch of nothing as a placebo. Mets fans are loyal to a fault. We have put up with way more losing and disappointment than success and yet we return every season with new hopes and dreams. Clearly, we hate ineptness, but we can deal with it. Deception, however, whether intentional or not, is unforgiveable so don’t go there…We deserve better. Oh, and come September, if anyone is thinking of making Jerry Manuel take the fall for this lost season, you had better make sure Bobby Valentine is locked in to take his place. He’s probably one of the few people I trust to put words into action and turn this ship around. Read more!

A Moment of Silence

I have been putting off writing my weekly post all morning because truthfully, I don't even know what to say anymore about these Mets. They get harder and harder to watch with every passing game so I have really been adhering to my self-imposed media blackout for the past week. If they win, well, it's a nice surprise. If they lose, well, at least I didn't waste my time and energy only to be disappointed. This is a terrible way to exist but I'm not sure what else to do at this point in the season.

This past weekend's sweep by the Phillies was a complete and utter disaster of anemic hitting, atrocious fielding and general malaise. The team might as well have just not shown up at all and forfeited. I know, the injuries, blah, blah, blah. I'm so tired of hearing about the injuries. No one expects the Mets to be playing like a championship caliber team right now but they aren't even treading water. This series with the Dodgers is pretty much over before it even begins. Sorry, call me a pessimist, but at this point, not only is the glass half empty, it's cracked and my lips are bleeding profusely.

The All-Star break could not come quickly enough - just so that Mets fans get a reprieve from the daily torture of this team. At this point, it is hard to believe that they can overcome the physical and psychological damage this season has wrought. As of now, the only player that looks to be coming back from the disabled list remotely soon is Angel Pagan, and given his injury history, I'll believe that when I see it. There's no hard dates set for Reyes, Beltran, Maine or Putz. And as for Delgado, I have my doubts whether he will ever wear a Mets uniform again. If and when these players do return, it is not going to be an immediate return to all-star form for anyone. After being out for so long, it's going to take some time to shake off the rust and get going.

As for adding player(s) before the deadline, no addition great or small is going to make enough of an impact to outweigh the loss of so many key regulars. The Mets farm system is in shambles as it is. Why give up future talent to try to patch an irreparable situation with a soon-to-be free-agent rental? No Mets fan wants another Zambrano for Kazmir debacle.

As frustrating as losing is, Mets fans have to sit tight and try to ride this one out. This 2009 season does not look promising but all we can really do is wait and see how it unfolds. With the exception for the Dodgers, the NL is mired in mediocrity right now. If it stays that way, the teams that get hot towards the end will be the ones playing in October. Hopefully, after a miserable first half and the collapses of '07 and '08, maybe the Mets will get some good karma sent their way for September and October. For now, though, at 4.5 games in back of Philly and 3 under .500, I'll hang my head in a moment of silence.
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David Wright is my lucky pick

Something very strange happened to me during my fantasy baseball draft for this season. For the first time ever I actually got the number one pick. With the number one pick I took three time all-star David Wright. Yes, he of the golden boy looks and Virginia charm. Some in my league were shocked that I took Wright over A-rod or A-pu. But Wright is and will continue to be my guy, here are five reasons why.

1) Speed. Wright is a monster on the bases. With nineteen stolen bases, Wright has been among the NL league leaders all season. On a team that has lost Jose Reyes to injury, Wright has stepped it up in the stolen base department.

2) Leadership. When Carlos Delgado went down with a hip injury, Wright finally took his place as the leader of the New York Metropolitans. Many in the know have felt that Wright deferred to the veteran Delgado in regards to leadership of the team. With Delgado out, Wright has taken charge of the blue and orange.

(Side note, Wright played on an AAU team that also had MLB players Mark Reynolds, Justin Upton, B.J. Upton and Ryan Zimmerman. How stacked was that team?)

3) He is healthy. With this team, that is not such an easy thing. In fact Wright is the only reason the Mets are competitive at this point of the season.

4) They say defense wins championships. Well Wright has two gold gloves to his name. He won the coveted award in both 2007 and 2008. What is scary is that he still has a ton of room for improvement defensively. This is apparent in the nine errors that Wright has committed this season. Once Wright is able to stop air mailing the occasional throw to first, he will be mentioned with Brooks Robinson as one of the greatest defensive third basemen of all time.

5) .356, no kidding he is hitting .356, leading the NL in batting average, only Ichiro is better at .369.
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Injuries Will Be A Test Of Their Met-tle

Yesterday looked to be another bleak day in Metsville when news broke that Carlos Beltran was headed for the 15 day disabled list with a progressively worsening bone bruise. As if to add an exclamation point to the bewildering number of injuries that have plagued this team this year, word then gets out that Jose Reyes and trainer Ray Ramirez were in a car accident earlier in the day. Even more ironic is the fact that they were headed to the Hospital For Special Surgery when it happened. Thankfully, no one was hurt but the level of ridiculousness here is just a little spooky.

Since the season began almost half of the Mets’ roster has been plagued by injuries. Missing most notably are Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado and J.J. Putz, but the absence of all of the players that have succumbed to one malady or another has played a huge role in where this team stands right now. It is by no means the sole reason the Mets are currently floundering, but it definitely plays a significant part in their June swoon.

Losing Delgado and Reyes have been the two most difficult of the injuries to overcome, but Putz, even though he was not pitching well when he went down, was a huge loss in the sense of how the rest of the bullpen has been overused. You can almost directly attribute all of last week’s losses to Putz’s absence.

Now, with Beltran down for 15 days or more, these next few weeks become the real test as to whether the Mets can hang in there until their many walking wounded return. Last night’s game was an encouraging sign that maybe, just maybe, this team can get it together and survive their DL blues. Kudos to Tim Redding for pitching 7 innings and getting his first win as a Met. It was not his best outing run-wise but aside from the home runs by Ryan and Ludwick, he was in control of the game.

On the offensive side, for the first time in a while, pretty much everyone contributed. The highlights were Daniel Murphy’s 2 for 5 night, including a home run, and Luis Castillo’s 3 for 3 night. Also notable was the fact that they made no errors and essentially played solid fundamental baseball against the blazing hot Cardinals, who had just swept the Royals over the weekend. Pretty nifty!

Whether or not the Mets can sustain the momentum from last night’s game remains to be seen but the fact is, even with this hodge-podge roster of subs, if they expect to stay in the race until the regulars return, they are going to have to step it up a notch. That means good starting pitching (preferably six innings or longer), clutch hitting, good fundamentals and team work. Do the little things right. Like actually catching routine pop-ups, stepping on third base, hustling to first and knowing how to lay down a bunt. Some clutch hits with the bases loaded would also be much appreciated, thank you. Play small ball until the big boys return and play as a team and the results might just surprise everyone. And let’s face it, after the last three years, every Mets fan could use a nice surprise. Here’s hoping that after a June of rain, doom and gloom the sun will start peaking out through the clouds over Flushing some time soon. Ok, I rhymed…time to stop now before I jinx everything. Read more!