Interesting 2011 Non-Tenders, Part 1

No flowery intro today -- just getting straight to work. Below, you'll find a list of a few non-tendered players who I think the Mets should take a look at. Obviously, standard caveats will apply -- if someone goes crazy and offers Edwin Encarnacion $5 million dollars, he should take it. However, I am assuming that most of these guys can be had at or around the minimum salary, and some even on minor league deals. With the Mets needing to buy-low and fill out the edges of their roster, without spending a lot of money, I think that some of these role players could be very, very good fits.


RP Taylor Buchholz: Buchholz is the perfect buy-low candidate, and hence, he is perfect for the Mets in this rebuilding season. Taylor Buchholz was one of the best relievers in major league baseball in 2008, posting a 2.17 ERA in Colorado and striking out almost 8 per 9 innings. He then got hurt and had to undergo Tommy John surgery.

He rehabbed and came back last season, struggling a little but with Colorado's Triple-A affiliate and the major league squad. He was claimed by Toronto and then Boston at the end of the year but didn't see action before being non-tendered by the Sox this offseason.

Buchholz is a great bounce-back candidate if healthy, but it looks like the Red Sox were not willing to take that gamble at the price it would have cost - a raise over the $1.05M he earned last year. One warning sign is that his velocity, which was at 92 in his Rockies days, was down to 89 last season. But you've got to keep in mind that he came back fairly quickly from his surgery.

With that said, I'd love to bring him in, though it appears the Mets have some competition in that regard.

Verdict: If healthy, 1 year/$650K

3B Edwin Encarnacion: It might surprise you to learn that, despite all the abuse he takes from the media and sabermetric types, that Edwin Encarnacion has been worth better than $5M in four out of the last five seasons (source: fangraphs). Even though he's got -44 UZR over those same five seasons, stats like that obscure the fact that he's only been worth -9.5 UZR in the last two seasons, and that third base is a damn hard position to play.

Because of this, he's earned 7 WAR over the last five years despite batting .260/.339/.455. Over his last three seasons, his 162 game average includes 30 home runs (!!) and a 104 OPS+. If he'd play second base, I'd take him. More likely, he'll get a contract to play third base somewhere and it will pay him more than a million dollars. If not - Edwin Encarnacion, come on down, you're the Mets starting second baseman!

Verdict: If he can play second base, 1 year/$1 million

LF Lastings Milledge: Oh, Lastings. I've missed you. I've rooted SO HARD for you to become a star... but alas, it has all been to no avail. What happened to you?

After putting up an OPS of 828 in AAA at the age of 21, and then hitting a nice .272/.344/.446 in the majors as a 22 year old, the world had such big plans for you! I wrote about Milledge last year:

Obviously, Lastings Milledge was never the super-stud prospect that he was made out to be... Both [his minor league seasons] were aided by high batting averages, (for instance, he had a .332 BABIP in AAA) and did not include particularly high walk rates or power... But it is quite possible that he can still be an asset... if he can continue to hit line drives more than 20% of the time (something he has done each year in the majors) and utilize his speed, there is no reason to think he can't be a .300 hitter.

If he can hit .300, and he can steal 20+ bases, and he can hit 15 to 20 home runs, he will be an extremely valuable player. Even moreso if he can continue to establish himself as an excellent left fielder (+16.4 UZR/150 in left field last season). A line of .300/.350/.450 is within reach... and Pittsburgh may have themselves a heck of a ballplayer.

I don't know. I was just wrong on Lastings, then wrong again, then after all hope seemed lost, I was wrong one more time. He stunk last year, split time with Ryan Church, and now, along with Jeff Francoeur, have all been non-tendered. The world can be funny sometimes.

I know Milledge will never come back to the Mets, but Bill James projects for him to have a moderate bounceback season of .284/.347/.413. ZiPS is less optimistic, at .276/.330/.398. Is that good? No. But it is an OPS of 94 from a player who projects as an above-average left fielder, average right fielder, and terrible center fielder. In fact, despite all the haterade, Lastings was worth $2.8M according to fangraphs.

And did you know that a 94 OPS+ would have been 8th among Mets players last season with at least 200 at bats? You could do a lot worse than Lastings Milledge on your squad. With him set to earn around $500K if he was tendered a contract, you can probably assume he'll earn around that number as a free agent. I'd take a gander.

(Side note: Lastings' most similar player on baseball-reference is beloved Met Cleon Jones. Think about that for a second)

Verdict: If we enter an alternate universe where Lastings Milledge coming back to the Mets is possible, 1 year/$650K

SP Ryan Rowland-Smith: You hear people talk about 'changes of scenery' sometimes, and usually it is just an excuse to get someone out the door, or an excuse to take on a player who has no potential to actually help your team. In some rare cases, however, a change of scenery might actually have some real effect (though obviously, no real way to measure such a thing).

One player who might benefit from this 'change in scenery' is Ryan Rowland-Smith. Mr. RR-S was not a bad prospect coming up through the Mariners system from 2004-2007. He always had an ugly WHIP, but he was left-handed and could strike guys out. When he made it to the show in 2007, he pitched effectively out of the bullpen. Then in 2008, he was effective again, split between the pen and the starting rotation. In 2009, he started exclusively and did well. He posted ERA's below 4 in each of those years.

Then, for some reason, the wheels fell off in 2010, and his ERA was north of 6. He stopped striking people out. Lefties hammered him. All of his four pitches were adjudged as negative in value by fangraphs. Why this is is anybody's guess, but I'd give RR-S a look.

Although he doesn't project as a situational lefty, he could always fit in the bullpen anyway if he can't stick in the rotation. and I imagine that he'd be extremely cheap - he was due only a little over 500K when the Mariners released him. Can he imitate Brandon Morrow and see success somewhere else?

Verdict: Minor league deal with the opportunity to start, if he wants it.

UTIL Eugenio Velez: I like Eugenio Velez. It started with my betting big on him in the 2009 fantasy baseball season, but I think he has value. Velez is a plus-plus defender in the outfield (in limited playing time) and can fake it at second base (-15.6 UZR/150). More importantly, he has posted OPS'es of 881, 791, and 792 in AAA in the last three years and has the potential to be a plus basestealer (though he was caught too often last year).

He has totally flopped in the big leagues, though I can't say for sure whether that's a small sample issue or whether major leaguers just knock the bat out of his hands. What I do know, though, is that a guy who can OPS over 800 in Triple-A (even if its the PCL) and who can give us 2B/LF/RF on a minor league or minimum contract is a guy I would like to have. He'll be 29 next season.

Verdict: If the scouts believe he could hit his way out of a wet paper bag, 1 year/$500K

A Must-Win Month

I don't typically subscribe to the idea of the "must-win game" - I've always seen it as a made-up creation by sportswriters eager to sell a newspaper. How can one game, particularly early in the season, be must win? Would it be nice in some cases to win a statement game in May? Yes. Would it make the road easier to beat a division rival and stay within 4 GB in June? Sure. But the bottom line is those "must-win" games, you can survive losing... so by definition, they aren't what people claim them to be.

However, the Mets are staring down a couple series right now which will make-or-break their season, if it is not already broken. The Mets - a depressing 9.0 games off the pace in the NL East - have one last desparate chance to make a run at the division. If so, here is how it will go:

Next up, three games at home against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies are 5.5 games ahead of the Mets today -- but if the Mets sweep the series, at home, that lead will shrink to 2.5 games. If the Mets sweep, they'll be 60-57.

The next 13 games are as follows: at Houston, at Pittsburgh, vs Florida, vs Houston. The best of these teams, the Marlins, are at .500, while Houston and Pittsburgh are arguably the two worst teams in the National League.

If the Mets can go into Houston and win three of four, and win the series in Pittsburgh -- not a huge task, considering their futility -- they will not only make up ground in the East, but they will finally have won a series against a National League team on the road, something which they have not done this year.

If the Mets go 9-4 in these games, they will be 69-61 when they travel to Turner Field in Atlanta on August 30th.

It's a lot to ask the Mets to sweep a series, but not so much at home, where they've been great. It's a lot to ask the Mets to win on the road, but not so much against teams with 65 (Houston) and 74 (Pittsburgh) losses.

The Braves currently sit at 66-48, and have just lost Chipper Jones for the season. If they go .500 over their next 16 games, which includes 4 against the Dodgers and 3 in Colorado without an off day, they will be 74-56 on August 30th.

If the Mets are only 5 games behind the Braves, going into Atlanta for a four game series, destiny in their own hands -- will you Believe?

Why Thank You Jim Tracy!

Game 1: Mets 1 Rockies 0

"I had sucked since June 25th...BUT I'm back" Big Pelf VS "I have 17 wins and NOW 3 LOSSES" Ubaldo Jimenez

Jimenez might be having the worst day ever!

So as day 4 of my Vitamin Water strike until the Mets win 2 games in a row is coming to a close it has become apparent after this game that Jim Tracy wants me to drink Vitamin Water again. Big Pelf wants me to drink Vitamin Water again. Takahashi wants me to drink Vitamin Water again. K-Rod wants me to drink Vitamin Water again. David Wright not so much. Could David snap out of this funk? You think out of all people he would want me to buy Vitamin Water! I heard thanks to my strike Vitamin Water stock is plummeting. Okay that's most likely untrue but it would be kind of funny. Well funny to those not owning Vitamin Water stock!

Honestly I really feel the Rockies manager Jim Tracy is the MVP of this game. Although Big Pelf was back to his old amazing 2010 ways, and Takahashi looked like he might be the new permanent 8th inning man and well K-Rod was a champ in the 9th if it wasn't for Tracy's interesting move in the bottom of the 7th I don't know if the Mets could have won this game. I don't know if they would have ever scored a run! Let me explain.

Pelfrey had pitched 7 strong wonderful scoreless innings tonight. His pitch count was a new career high, 122 pitches! He gave up only 4 hits, he struck out 4 Rockies, and yeah he looked like he might be back to the Pelf that should have made the all-star team! The Pelf that was our ace for so much of this season when Santana was struggling. But although Pelf was dynamite it still came down to the bottom of the 7th and Jim Tracy's interesting managerial move. Hot tub time machine time, to the 7th inning!

It all started with a lead off walk! Ubaldo Jimenez in the bottom of the 7th walked Chris Carter on just 4 pitches. Then Frenchy came in to pinch run for The Animal. I must admit as much as I wanted to see Jeff in this game I do love watching Carter run. I just enjoy watching everything Carter does. He's just that unique and well a freak at the plate, on the field and especially in the dugout! He needs his own show like NOW. Then Josh Thole proved to be clutch once again. He doubled! And Gary Cohen got to say my favorite NY LIFE saying in the whole wide world "Josh safe at 2nd base. Safe and secure NY Life." I honestly love when Gary does that. I actually say it with him. I do a pretty dead on impression! But enough about me and Cohen let's get back to Josh and the Metsies! Thole hasn't had that many extra base hits so far this season but this one was huge! Frenchy advanced to third on Josh's double and well it was up to Ruben to score some runs or a run and well lessen the pressure that would be on Beltran who was on the on deck circle. Yep Beltran was going to pinch hit in the pitcher's spot! For some reason I didn't see that coming. I forgot Manuel could pinch hit Carlos. Oh silly me. And oh silly Ruben. On a 3-2 count Ruben Sandwich sadly struck out! And well this is now the Jim Tracy managerial move I just don't get. He had Jimenez intentionally walk Beltran to load the bases with 1 out for Reyes. Doesn't Tracy know Carlos has been struggling and well probably would have been an easy out for Ubaldo! Chances are he would have struck out. I mean he could have had a double but really he's in such a frustrated, no good very bad funk that my money would have been on him being an automatic 2nd out in this inning. In fact this was the second weird Tracy move of the night. Hot tub time machine time again! In the bottom of the 6th with 2 outs and men on 2nd and 3rd Tracy had Jimenez intentionally walk Wright to face Davis with the bases loaded. Doesn't he know Wright just strikes out like it's his job lately? Don't the Rockies read up on the Mets? Well this Jim Tracy move proved to be the right one for Davis struck out but still I didn't get it. However during the 7th inning his interesting move was just stupid! YAY! Reyes with Frenchy on at 3rd and Thole on at 2nd and well Beltran on at 1st didn't ground into an inning ending double play like Tracy had wanted but instead Jose Jose Jose hit a long sac fly and Frenchy scored and yep the Mets took a 1-0 lead over Jimenez and Colorado! Martinez then struck out to end the inning but thanks to well Jim Tracy the Mets looked like maybe oh maybe they could win this one and well beat Jimenez!

Takahashi pitched the top of the 8th and thanks to an amazing diving catch that Martinez made in left the GOOD TAKA pitched a 1,2,3 stress-free 8th inning! And F-Mart had just switched to left field because Frenchy entered the game and well it just seemed everything was working for the Metsies tonight. I like when this happens. And well folks we know these times are few and far between!

Although the Rockies reliever Beimel gave up a 2 out walk to Davis in the bottom of the 8th, Tracy brought in Betancourt to face Francouer and sadly Jeff struck out and the inning was over! Ugh I wanted an insurance run so badly.

But now it was time for K-Rod to get his 25th save and well to not eff up Pelf's almost possible 11th win. Victory was so close! And well K-Rod pitched a drama mama-free top of the 9th! Ok it wasn't completely drama-less. Carlos Gonzalez led off the inning with what looked like a base hit but nope Isaac Benjamin Davis made a great stop, he looked like a magician out there, he spun around, he did 5 cartwheels, ok he didn't do any cartwheels but yeah he showed off that he is a future gold glover and just like that there was 1 out. Then Frankie struck out the dude whose name I love saying TROY TULOWITZKI! And then I got worried. Hawpe was up and well the count was 3-2 and well if anything is consistent about the Mets lately it's their rampant 2 out walks! But nope K-Rod told me "Stop worrying kiddo, you'll drink some Vitamin Water in due time" and Hawpe grounded out to Tejada and the Mets won a game. Pelf finally has win #11. It's a MIRACLE!

Btw Jason Giambi is still available.

Really I don't know what else to say besides I never expected this game to turn out the way it did and well it was splendid! I love to be pleasantly surprised! Could this be the start to well a big run by the Mets? Could they maybe play .700 ball and get themselves closer and closer to looking like a team in the hunt for a playoff spot? I think it's possible. Ask me tomorrow I might be not so delusional and well giddy. But hopefully Niese will be as great as he was in his last start and if the Mets can actually win tomorrow that would mean I could drink a Vitamin Water once again and well live another day as a Mets fan who believes her team is not a dead duck just YET! I love getting to be in my fantasy world for another day. Thanks Jim Tracy for that!

The Mets Salary Catastrophe

Adam Rubin over at ESPN New York had a great blog today outlining the morass which is the Mets current salary structure.

The 2011 commitments:

Santana $22.5 million
Carlos Beltran $18.5 million
Jason Bay $16 million
David Wright $14 million
Oliver Perez $12 million
Francisco Rodriguez $11.5 million
Reyes $11 million
Luis Castillo $6 million
Ryota Igarashi $1.75 million
16 players at major league minimum: $6.4 million

Total: $119.65 million

Hat tip to Metsblog for the link. To continue our horn-tooting, we at Fonzie Forever pointed this situation out in almost identical terms back in February:

The Mets contract commitments in 2011 are horrific:

Santana: $22.5
Beltran: $20.071
Bay: $18.125
Wright: $14.25
Perez: $12.0
K-Rod: $12.167
Reyes: $11.0 club option

I'll save you some calculator time. That is $110 MILLION committed to just seven players.

Awful, ain't it? I'm not sure exactly where Rubin got his numbers from, and there are different numbers floating around all over the place, depending on whether you go to Cot's, or USA Today, or elsewhere, but I got my numbers here.

Here's the reason why this sucks - aside from the obvious, being that Jason Bay and Oliver Perez are owed more than $30 million dollars. There seems to be no plan. Are we building with youth around a core of stars? Are we adding payroll next year? Decreasing payroll? Did we enter 2010 with serious plans of winning this year?

I get more and more fed up with it every day. This started out as a hobby for writing about baseball, but as each day passes it becomes more and more apparent that the Mets might actively need someone (or someones... ahem Amazin Avenue) to expose how foolish Mets ownership has been. They've been awful, and I'm starting to have my doubts that the Mets will ever win with the current ownership[1].

Ownership clearly has the goal of hanging around the fringes of the race every year. Playing meaningful games in September. Adding a piece to get the fans excited enough to sell tickets each season.

Is that good enough for you?

-------------

[1] Notice I did not say management... for the record, I still think that Minaya and Manuel are doing at least an average job.

The New, Younger Mets Are Just No Match For The Victorino, Utley, Howard-less Phils

The Rubber Game: Phillies 6 Mets 5

Roy Halladay vs R.A. Dickey

The Mets have now played 41 straight games without getting back to back wins.

My Vitamin Water strike continues...I will not drink another Vitamin Water until the Mets finally win back to back games!

The Phillie Phanatic was dressed up as Lady Gaga in that scary as hell red outfit for this game! It was awesome. Take a look:



I am the kind of person who gets very excited for things. When I look forward to something I'm just on a high like no other. And usually in life when a person gets excited for something to happen like I do there is a good chance you will be disappointed. This doesn't always happen though. This past Wednesday I saw the bands "Arcade Fire" and "Spoon" at MSG and that was a concert that well I was stoked for, I had been dying to see these two bands for a while now and well it lived up to every expectation I had and more. Then there was the time everyone and their grandmother hyped up the Bill Murray movie "Lost In Translation" and when I saw it on DVD I was so not impressed. I think my exact words were something like "Ehh that's it?! That was kind of boring." So yeah all that positive buzz about that film and my enthusiasm to see it ultimately led me to be disappointed.

And well today's game sadly was another "Lost In Translation" experience for me! In this Mets rotation I look forward to Dickey's starts even more than I look forward to Santana's starts. So yeah that's saying a lot because I love watching Santana pitch. And honestly I thought today was going to be Dickey's day to shine just like Santana did yesterday. I even thought he would shine so bright that he would defeat Halladay and the Phillies. Yes I'm a silly optimist. Yes I'm naive. Yes I have to stop living on some fantasy planet. Everyone knows this by now. I know this. The Phillie Phanatic even knows this.

This morning after I was done with my run at the park I ended up talking to my Dad and some other Mets fans. At the park where I run you get a lot of Yankees fans and well you get some Mets fans who try to hold their heads up high even after the worst Metsies losses. I enjoy these people. Basically I will talk to pretty much anyone about the Mets. So I chatted with this group of men and well I had said "If the Mets can score early in this game, get at Halladay right away, even take a 2-0 lead, the way Dickey has been pitching this game can be a victorino for the Metsies." And well my Dad wasn't having that optimism and he instead said "Dickey is due to have a bad start." And why does it have to be that father knows best!? There could have been a show called "Daughter Knows Best?!"

I wanted to be so right today and well I was right that the Mets would attack Halladay early on. And they did this. In the top of the first Reyes led off with a double. His 22nd double of the season! Then Pagan bloop singled, Reyes scored and the Metsies took a 1-0 lead over the Phillies. I was thinking that I was like Nostradamus or something at this point. Boy was I in for a reality check. Then during Beltran's at bat Pagan stole 2nd but sadly Beltran popped up and there was now 1 out. Then during Wright's at bat Crazy Horse stole 3rd but sadly Wright struck out. BUT Isaac Benjamin Davis who had a 5 game hitting streak on the line going into this game was up. And well Ike wanted to make me think I was even cooler than Nostradamus. Ike got an infield hit! This ball he hit knocked Halladay's glove off of Roy's hand and well the glove traveled all the way to the outfield. It was ridiculous and well I was loving this first inning! Pagan scored, Ike extended his hitting streak to 6 games and the Mets were up 2-0 in the first just like I had predicted. Fernando Martinez then lined out to end this inning, ugh.

I'm happy Martinez is with the squad and all but really I am not happy he will be sharing so much playing time with Frenchy in right. I know Frenchy sucks a lot of the time but his arm and the way he has been hitting the ball over the last couple of games is reason enough for me to have allowed him to be in the lineup today. I would have sat Beltran but my name is not Jerry Manuel although Danielle does rhyme with Manuel. Now I will be super sarcastic just in case you can't tell. I mean of course it makes sense to NOT play the one guy who might be on a hot streak now. The one man who has been the Mets offense in their last two wins against the Phils and the Braves. The only person who could score a run for the Mets against the Phils yesterday. Of course BENCH him. It makes so much sense! NOT!

So as of now I felt like a genius because the Mets had this early lead and well I was in for a rude awakening. Although Dickey pitched a 1,2,3 1st inning he definitely was off. There was something up with that knuckleball. He was relying on his fast ball way too much and well the Phillies looked like they were onto the secret of cracking THE DICKEY CODE and oh they figured him out all right in the bottom of the 2nd and then the bottom of the 3rd, ugh ugh ugh! After Dickey had retired the first 4 Phillies (these 4 outs were all ground ball outs) he faced Jayson Werth with one out in the bottom of the 2nd and that bearded Werth solo homered. The Phils now cut the Mets lead to 2-1. I wasn't feeling like such a smarty pants Nostradamus anymore. Then the youngin Domonic Brown (who is another super impressive NL rookie) lined out to right. I was thinking the Mets would get out of this inning now. But nope Dickey walked Brian Schneider. Oh I hate these Metsies two out walks. It's so rampant lately! But Valdez thankfully grounded out and well I didn't feel so stupid about my prediction for this game just yet. Only a bit stupid.

But in the bottom of the 3rd I became the biggest schmuck on the planet. I was so off about this game! Paul Rudd as a result is scheduled to take me to another dinner for idiots tonight! After Dickey retired Halladay the shit hit the fan. Oh it did. Rollins doubled. Then Polanco grounded a ball to Reyes, Reyes bobbled that sucker and there was no play for him to make. And lately when Jose Jose Jose makes an error it ends up leading to a horrible no good very bad inning with tons and tons of scoring. And yep this inning lived up to that reputation! With men on 1st and 2nd and 1 out Gload who is Keith Hernandez's #1 fan (well I'll fight him for that title) rbi singled. Rollins beat Martinez's throw to the plate and the game was now tied 2-2. Now the hot hot hot Ibanez was up with men on 1st and 3rd and still 1 out. Ibanez had a 15 game hitting streak on the line going into this game. A league leading 15 game hitting streak and well he extended that streak to 16 games. He hit a 3 run homer and this game was getting out of hand. Maybe if it wasn't Halladay on the mound a 5-2 Phils lead over the Mets wouldn't immediately send Mets fans to shut off their tvs or well to break them. I actually did neither and I continued to watch this nightmare. Then Werth was up and he doubled. Thankfully Brown lined out to Wright for the 2nd time this game and all Dickey had to do to get out of this inning was get Schneider out. This should have been easy but nope Brian got a 2 out single and the Phils took a 6-2 lead over the Mets. Then Valdez singled. And then Halladay even got on base. Roy hit a ground ball right at Dickey, R.A. threw to Ike but Davis couldn't scoop the ball and Roy had an infield hit and the bases were loaded for Rollins. But by some amazing miracle Rollins flew out and this inning was over. Sadly this also meant Dickey was out of the game. But because he pitched so few innings there is a chance he might start Tuesday against Ubaldo Jimenez and the Colorado Rockies. We will find out in due time if it's R.A. or Big Pelf on the mound this Tuesday night! But back to this game, sheesh I'm jumping ahead of myself here.

The Mets added another run in the top of the 6th. After Reyes led off with his 23rd double of the season Pagan rbi doubled and the Mets were chipping away at the Phils lead. This was now only a 3 run ball game, 6-3. But Beltran and Wright both struck out and Davis grounded out and Pagan remained stranded at 2nd.

After this inning where the Metsies left Pagan to well melt in the sun they didn't give up just yet! Thanks to the new young blood in the lineup the Mets rallied in the top of the 7th. Martinez led off with a single then Thole doubled and Tejada grounded out but Fernando scored and Thole advanced to 3rd. The Mets were now down just 6-4 to the Phils and men were on 1st and 3rd with one out for the pinch hitting THE ANIMAL Carter! And Chris delivered big time. Carter who Ron said has lost 15 lbs since being called up by the Metsies rbi doubled! Thole scored and now this was a one run game, 6-5! And Halladay then even walked Reyes to put men on 1st and 2nd with still just one out for Pagan. But ugh Angel flew out. And then Beltran struck out yet again, Carlos' 3rd straight K, and the rally was over. Beltran and Wright in this game accounted for 6 of Halladay's 10 K's on the afternoon.

Thanks to a bullpen combination of Valdes, Takahashi, Feliciano and Acosta who did not give up any runs the Mets were still in this game in the top of the 9th. They were still down 6-5 and well Brad Lidge was struggling right from the start. He gave up a lead off single to Thole. Then Tejada hit a double play ball but since the hit and run play was on the only play to make was at 1st and Thole was safe at 2nd with 1 out and Carter was now up. Ron was pretty sure he was going to hit a rocket out of Citizens Bank Park. But Ron like myself is no Nostradamus. Carter grounded out and it was up to Reyes to score Thole who was now at 3rd. And Reyes sadly flew out to Werth and the game was over and the Mets yet again could not win back to back games.

The Mets haven't won back to back games since June 23rd! They also haven't won a road series against an NL team all season long. And the next opportunity they'll get to do that will be against Houston and Pittsburgh. But first the Metsies face the Colorado Rockies and the Phillies at Citi Field before they get to go on the road again. Oh the road, you are so evil.

And before I end this one let's just look at some booth shenanigans:

After the camera man got the 1500th shot of a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich during this series Keith said "Oh goodness...ROLAIDS!" He also just kept going "Ohhhh, grunt grunt, ohhhh." I imagine he's not allowed to eat one of these delicious sandwiches on that diet of his. Poor dude! I would totally be on board for him to cheat on his diet after this game!

As I mentioned before Gload is a huge fan of Keith's. I believe it was Gary who told Keith Gload idolized him growing up in Long Island. And Keith just acted like of course he did, who didn't! Who doesn't still!

Keith also showed off his use of clever puns. He created this saying. "Dickey is a competitor. He doesn't knuckle under." Haha he said knuckle about the knuckleballer! And yeah right after he said this the horrible 3rd inning occurred so yeah maybe Keith is the scapegoat for this game! He put the kibosh on!

After Gary and Ron mentioned that Dan Warthen is pretty sure he figured out what Pelf's problems on the mound have been due to, Keith said something about "Western Union" and then he remarked "OH send me a limo." Yeah this confused me.

Then Kevin Burkhardt shared a story with the booth and us fans about Valdes. It turns out Raul tried to escape Cuba 5 times before he was successful. And 4 of those times he was arrested. Obviously these Metsies current struggles are nothing too hard for him to deal with. Keith remarked "He was living under tyranny!"

When Luis Castillo pinch hit in this game in the top of the 5th, he of course struck out. This led the booth to muse about what the Metsies will do with Castillo. Will they try to get rid of him now or this off season since they are pretty much set on letting Tejada play pretty much every day from this point on. And Keith said, "Last season no one wanted him. It will be no different this time around, right?" Yep Castillo (and his two different sized legs) is that last kid to be picked in a game of dodgeball!

And Keith lastly shared his father's mantra with us fans. It goes "Trust your hands."

Well the Mets have off tomorrow and "Tuesday is a new day," yeah this mantra of mine is so not working anymore. Maybe I should learn some more of Papa Hernandez's mantras to spice up these recaps!

I'm just going to stay positive because it's my nature and well I'm going to pretend the Mets are still in the hunt for a playoff spot. That there is even a good chance they can win the next two series against the Rockies and the Phils at Citi Field. That Pelf if he does get the start against Jimenez on Tuesday will pitch a gem. Yes I will pretend this all might happen. I'm gonna believe for just a little longer the Mets still have one long winning streak in them. Oh I am.

Reaction: Fernando Martinez and Ruben Tejada Called Up

Anyone know why this is? I could see it being spun in one of two ways. Either a) the Mets need an infusion of youth and energy and blah blah blah to make a run at the pennant, or b) the Mets are throwing in the towel. Obviously, the Mets will say option A -- but is it true? It may well be that they believe having Martinez and Tejada around will make them a better team than having Castillo/Cora/Feliciano see time.

Regardless of the motivation behind the move, I am not very optimistic about this. I love seeing Tejada out there at second, and honestly don't care his offensive deficiencies so long as he can hit north of .220 or so - but to me, this is all about Fernando.

You'll find few Fernando Martinez boosters bigger than me. But in my mind, he's taken a big step back this year. I only wanted to see Fernando Martinez back up with the big club again in one of two scenarios: either he's up because he's the best option we have and we are making a playoff run, OR he's up for good. This strikes me as neither. Does bringing up Fernando to platoon with Francoeur help anything (aside from creating a platoon we can call Franc-nando? Fer-coeur? Frartinez!)?

By most objective measures, Fernando has not taken a step forward from his performance in Triple-A last season. He batting a paltry .261/.326/.470 on the season, he's missed time due to injury, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is just as bad as it was last year. Yes, he's been very hot lately at Buffalo, posting a line of .324/.425/.588 with five walks over his last ten games, but isn't that the kind of hot streak you are supposed to BUILD on, rather than extinguish right away?

I wish I could expound on this further, but I have to say generally that I am not impressed with the move. I wish Fernando would have been left in Triple-A to ride out this streak. Now, he's been promoted to the majors to platoon (albeit the long side of the platoon) and face Roy Halladay and Ubaldo Jimenez in his first two starts.

Hopefully he continues his hot hitting (he was hitting to the tune of an 832 OPS versus RH for the season) but for the most part, I'm confused.

As Kevin Burkhardt Said, "Nice To Win One Of Those Johan Starts For A Change."

Game 2: Mets 1 Phillies 0

Johan Santana vs Cole Hamels

Well this game was a must win for the Mets. They knew this. I knew this. Every Metsies fan knew this. Even the Phillie Phanatic knew this.

So let's get to the game!

At one point it looked like Santana might pitch a no-hitter. But nope after 5 2/3 innings Santana gave up a single to Polanco.

Then it looked like Santana and Hamels might just not give up any runs. I was ready for a 20 inning game. But nope Frenchy decided to take matters into his own hands. Jeff Francouer led off in the top of the 7th with an opposite field solo homer and boy oh boy even though he's not hitting really when he does get his hits they sure are important. The Mets took a 1-0 lead over the Phillies, YAY! Sorry Cole Hamels, NOT!

BUT then in the bottom of the 8th it looked like Santana might get another no-decision. Jerry actually let Johan start the 8th! Unfortunately Santana appeared to no longer have his stuff. He gave up back to back singles to Rollins and Ibanez. But miraculously Polanco then laid down a sucky bunt, Santana threw to 3rd, Rollins was OUT and there were now men on 1st and 2nd for the new Mets killer in the Phillies lineup Mr. Sweeney. Manuel decided to take Santana out of the game and he said "Double switch time!!" K-Rod goggles came in to attempt to get the 5 out save, Frenchy was out, and Fernando Martinez was in in right field. K-Rod got Sweeney to hit a soft line drive to Isaac Benjamin Davis. Major sigh of relief time, 2 outs! But ugh drama was coming. Frankie then walked the bearded Jayson Werth to load the bases for the pinch hitter Ross Gload.

So now it looked like Santana's great pitched game might become a moot point and he would end up being a big fat loser! But nope on a 3-2 count K-Rod goggles threw a curve ball, Gload grounded the ball to Tejada, Ruben made the throw to Davis, it was low but Ike made the catch and the inning was over! Danger averted! But K-Rod still had to get 3 more outs, ugh ugh ugh. Why are Mets wins never easy?!

The first batter Frankie faced in the bottom of the 9th was Carlos Ruiz. And he struck Carlos out! Then Valdez lined out (a broken bat line out) to Ruben Sandwich and there were 2 outs in the 9th! Tejada was making great plays tonight, youth and two same sized legs really do make a difference! Next up for K-Rod was the Phillies youngin Dominic Brown. And strike 3 was called on Brown and the Mets won their first 1-0, 9 inning game of the season! Btw If they had lost this one I don't think even I could avoid facing the reality that the season would truly be over. And boy oh boy am I glad I get to be in denial for another day! I love living in fantasy land!

Oh and here are Santana's awesome stats:
7 1/3IP, 5 hits, 0R, 0ER, 3BB, 6K, 102 total pitches thrown

And now to one booth shenanigan! Keith was missing from the booth tonight so Gary and Ron were kind of boring and well Kevin was Kevin, here we go:

In the top of the 4th during Angel Pagan's at bat Kevin Burkhardt had a little "Crazy Horse" tale to tell Gary, Ron and well us fans about. Kevin reported that Pagan loves spear fishing. He goes spear fishing (in the off season) for 4-5 hours a day and whatever he ends up catching his wifey makes for dinner! Burkhardt added that Angel owns a spear gun to well catch these fish with I guess that's how this sport works. Kevin then added that this is such a powerful spear gun that it could even catch a shark. I'd like to see that! This whole story then led Kevin to make a sort of funny joke, "Angel's into 'Shark Week.'" Yeah I laughed. I admit that. And then Ron attempted to make a funny too. He said he goes fishing. But he fishes at "Whole Foods." Hardy har har because that's where he buys all his fish. So Ron is a "Whole Foods" man. Not a "D'agostino's" man??!! Not a "Trader Joe's" man?!! Whoa what a revelation by Ron!

Okay let's get back to issues that don't involve spear fishing!

SO even with this incredible Metsies victorino my Vitamin Water strike that I reported about earlier continues! In the words of Gandhi, "Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. The NY Metropolitans I dare you to win 2 games in a row."

Tomorrow Dickey faces off against Roy Halladay and well I am very excited for this match-up. I hope the Metsies can finally win two games in a row! I can't even remember when they last did that. I just want them to allow us Mets fans to be somewhat optimistic that the season isn't over just YET. I want the additions of Martinez and Tejada to really make a difference! I just want to not have to throw in the towel! What can I say I enjoy believing in the Mets!

Let's win the rubber game tomorrow! Let's turn this terrible second half around!

Why Hello there Tejada and Martinez!

So according to MLB.com it is now official. I have all the answers I had been dying to know. The Mets are much faster in revealing their super duper surprise plot twists than well "LOST" ever was. I didn't even have to wait for the DVD to see the special never before aired footage!

The Mets made the following moves today:
1. They cut Alex Cora
2. They optioned Jesus Feliciano to Triple-A Buffalo
3. And lastly they are recalling prospects Ruben Tejada and Fernando Martinez

Will these moves ignite a fire in the Mets and well their bats tonight? I sure hope so! We will find out in due time.

And now to some Facebook comments that were made by fellow Metsies fans in regards to this MLB.com update, here we go:

"MARK CUBAN for OWNER ! WHO'S IN ?"

"famous words from Joe Benigno......OH THE PAIN!!!!!"

"BRING UP THE BUFFALO TEAM OR THE CYCLONES, THEY SEEM TO BE WINNING GAMES!!! lol"

"Mets cut Minaya and Manuel, recall Bobby Valentine and Davey Johnson"

"Hire Wally bachman"

"How about that dead weight in the bullpen - Perez......."

"Now hire Cora to be the manager."

"Wow. It's like poking a drunk with a stick. No, even that would cause more movement."

"I want an investigation into whether there is a conspiracy to destroy the Mets, Rangers and Knicks"

At Least We Can't Blame This One On K-Rod...

Game 1: Phillies 7 Mets 5

Jon Niese vs Joe Blanton

So I was probably the only person on the planet who was still semi-optimistic that the Mets could go on a winning streak and fight for a playoff spot. I thought they just might start that winning streak tonight in Philadelphia. I know looking at these last two sentences I've just typed even I can admit I am a foolish silly dreamer who really needs to get her head out of the clouds. And for much of this game I really thought this believing in the Mets thing I just can't stop doing was going to pay off. Jonathon Niese struggled in this one early on but by the bottom of the 8th the Mets were up 2-1. He pitched a Santana kind of a game. Niese gave up a 2 out rbi double to Polanco in the first inning and although he later in this same inning walked Ben Francisco to load the bases for Carlos Ruiz he somehow struck Carlos out and well this scary inning was over and the Phillies were only up 1-0 over the Metsies.

And then the Mets tied this game up in the top of the 3rd. Frenchy led off with a single. Then Castillo for some stupid reason sac bunted so Jeff would be on 2nd with 1 out for Niese. I know Jon is a pretty decent hitter for a pitcher but seriously what are the Mets thinking having Luis bunt in this situation! It just didn't make sense to me. Niese then grounded out and it was up to Jose Jose Jose to tie this game on up and he did! Reyes singled, Frenchy scored and well it was a 1-1 game and I was just happy as can be. I guess it's a problem that I'm just satisfied lately when the Mets can score a run to tie a game up. That's what it has come to.

Then in the top of the 4th after Wright and Davis hit back to back 1 out singles Josh Thole was back to his old clutch hitting ways and he singled. Wright scored and the Mets had the lead, 2-1.

But all good things come to an end lately when watching these games.

After Niese had pitched the 7th and it was still a 2-1 ball game I was pretty certain Jerry would keep Jon in for the 8th. At this point in the Metsies season every game is so crucial that well why take a chance with the bullpen. I mean I figured Manuel would let Niese face the first batter, Sweeney, and well if he gave up a hit or walked him then Jerry would bring in Bobby Parnell. Pitch count smitch smount, Niese was grooving BUT Manuel just had to be a dope and send in Parnell to face Sweeney right from the start. And the 4 day rested Parnell just crushed all my hopes of the Mets possible winning streak and well just a win tonight. It's kind of painful to really recap this part of the game, there were just too many hits in this inning from this Utley, Howard and Victorino-less lineup to discuss without well me wanting to break my keyboard, so I'll just say Parnell, Feliciano and then Acosta combined to give up 6 runs in this bottom of the 8th to the Phillies. After 8 innings in the books the Phils were up 7-2 over the Mets.

The Mets have broken my heart many times this season but this one wow I'm just crushed right now.

And in the top of the 9th I figured the Mets would be retired immediately. And well I was wrong again. After Wright struck out to lead off the inning with "not a bang" Davis singled. Thole then popped up but Frenchy got the luckiest infield single I've ever seen. As a result the pitcher Baez was taken out of the game and Romero was brought in to face the pinch hitter Mike Hessman with 2 outs and Ike and Jeff on 1st and 2nd. And Crash Davis homered! This was a very pleasant surprise. So the game was now 7-5 and quite possibly the Mets could un-break my heart. But nope that didn't happen. The other Manuel brought in the Phils closer Lidge to face the pinch hitter who was going to be Henry Blanco but Jerry Manuel instead opted to go with Jesus Feliciano and well Jesus struck out and the game was over and my heart remained broken.

But at least we can't blame K-Rod for this one, right?!

And really I don't even have much fun booth shenanigans to even cheer myself up or you fellow fans with. Gary, Keith and Ron just didn't supply that much funny. I think during these times it's hard to do that. But I did jot down some things they said. Here we go:

Keith at one point said "What do announcers know anyway?" Well I'll tell you what they know. They know to let Jon Niese pitch the 8th inning. Yep Keith was totally on board with my managerial moves!

Ron said "MUMBO JUMBO." That was funny. I would have liked to hear that multiple times. Particularly if he said that in the bottom of the 8th I might have been able to laugh and well not stare horrifyingly at my tv.

After Jose made a great play Gary said, "Reyes makes the ACCURATE throw." You know it's just that bad when Mr. Cohen has to emphasize that Reyes didn't make two errors in this game and instead was very accurate with his throws to Davis.

Keith I don't remember why said "Different strokes for different folks." That was amazin'!

The camera man got a shot of a father and son playing "rock, paper, scissor says shoot" and well that led Gary to reveal that there are actual "rock, paper scissor" tournaments in well Vegas. I didn't know this. And Keith and Ron were stunned too.

And as a result of this booth action I came up with the following:

On "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" there's this segment that is done weekly called "remix the clips" where "The Roots" very own Questlove remixes funny clips from the news or random tv shows that the Fallon staff has selected. I would have liked to do this with Ron's "mumbo jumbo," Keith's "different strokes for different folks" bit and well Gary saying "rock, paper, scissor." That might have been a good distraction for the bottom of the 8th!

Well I'll say this and sound stupid but here it goes tomorrow is a new day. Santana is on the mound and maybe just maybe the Mets will give him some run support because Cole Hamels will SUCK (yes I'm sounding all delusional again) and Santana will just pitch a gem of a game. I mean if the Mets somehow could take these next two games I'll gladly jump back into fantasy-land and well think a big winning streak is possible. But this requires the Mets to beat both Hamels and Halladay. But if any two pitchers on the Metsies can challenge Hamels and Halladay it's Santana and Dickey. So let's go Mets. Somehow make us fans BELIEVE that this isn't an endless summer of misery. It would be so nice to believe.

As Gary Cohen Screamed To The High Heavens, "Jeff Francouer Back In Atlanta STUNS Billy Wagner!"

Game 2: Mets 3 Braves 2

Dickey vs Lowe

So this game was going to have either 2 outcomes. I was going to throw in the towel and accept reality that the Mets season was over or well I was going to get to be an optimistic schmuck for at least one more day. And what do you know I get to stay a delusional Metsies fan! This can all change tomorrow but for now I'm savoring this victory like no other.

So now let's get to a quick recap of this magnificence and then it will be time for some Keith action in the booth! Giddy up!

In the bottom of the 2nd with 1 out R.A. Dickey beaned Gonzalez. Ankiel then singled and Melky Cabrera was up. Melky grounded into what looked like it was going to be a double play but nope it was just a force out at 2nd. Luis Castillo was not to blame on this one! Reyes didn't at all try to get Cabrera out at first, he didn't even attempt a throw and yep that meant the Braves would take advantage of this lapse in Metsies defense. Gonzalez scored on this not-a-double-play and the Braves took a 1-0 lead over the Mets.

But Jose is all about the redemption song business. He loves Bob Marley! In the top of the 3rd Castillo led off with a bunt single. I know Castillo didn't suck tonight! I'm still in shock over this! He must have been reading all of our angry blog posts about him on Fonzie! Dickey then sac bunted Luis on over to 2nd and well it was Jose's time to redeem himself! Reyes rbi doubled, Castillo and his two different sized legs scored and the Metsies and Braves were now tied 1-1.

And this game stayed 1-1 until the bottom of the 6th. Dickey's knuckleball was dancing most of the night but after Gary Cohen commented on how much of a groove R.A. was in at this point, the kibosh was on and yep Dickey gave up a lead off single to Gonzalez. Then the force out was made at 2nd on Ankiel's grounder but Melky had to well be special. He wanted to score all the Braves runs tonight. Sheesh former Yankees are SO annoying. Melky tripled, Ankiel scored and ugh the Braves regained the lead over the Metsies, 2-1.

R.A was done after this inning and his numbers tonight were fantastic yet again. Here are the Dickey-licious stats:
6IP 5H 2R 2ER 4BB 2K 103 total pitches thrown

And Dickey didn't have to worry about picking up a loss tonight because the Mets were all about showing they had OOMPH and major fight in this game. In the top of the 7th Kyle Farnsworth was the new pitcher on the mound. The Braves just got him (and Ankiel) from Kansas City and well he sucked. Yay to the Mets not acquiring Kyle like it was rumored in that rumor mill thingy last week! On just 4 pitches Farnsworth gave up a lead off walk to Frenchy. Yes this did happen, yes on 4 pitches, yes yes Jeff doesn't always swing at everything and anything! Castillo then sac bunted, and Jeff was in scoring position for the pinch hitting THE ANIMAL CARTER. And well Chris was super duper clutch. The Animal singled, Jeff scored and oh this game was tied yet again, 2-2!

Pedro Feliciano got into some trouble in the bottom of the 7th but that former Bravo Manny Acosta knows all about stopping the bleeding! With Jones and McCann on 1st and 2nd and 1 out Manuel made that good old call to the bullpen and he brought in Acosta. Perpetual sucking Pedro was out! Bobby Cox had the "my knees suck" Troy Glaus pinch hit and well Acosta got Glaus to ground into a double play. It was splendid! And well it was kind of painful to watch Glaus attempt to run to 1st but oh well I'll live! Acosta pitched a scoreless 8th too and it was up to the Metsies in the top of the 9th to get their 15th come from behind win of the season!

Billy Wagner came in to pitch in the top of the 9th and well he was the Billy we remember! Frenchy was up and I just felt he was finally going to well not have just 1 hit in his last 23 at bats. He was going to have 2 hits in his last 24 at bats! And yep my woman's intuition was on! Jeff solo homered, his 10th homer of the season and the Mets now had the lead, 3-2. WHOA! The joy that was seen in the Metsies dugout after this homer was amazing. It's been so long since us fans have witnessed happiness in the dugout and it almost brought me to tears. Okay that's a lie but it was a pleasure to see! And for the record when Jeff homered I screamed so loud I'm pretty sure my neighbors might have thought there was an intruder in my house! And possibly fans at Turner Field even heard me! Okay that's another lie, my screaming can't compete with tomahawk chopping noises.

So now in the bottom of the 9th it was time for K-Rod goggles to shut the Braves down. And he did just that! I mean there was no drama at all. It was AMAZIN'! Infante and Heyward both grounded out and well there were 2 outs and it was up to Chipper to do something. And LARRRRRRRRRY sucked! He flew out and the ball game was over! Mets win, Mets win and well they are back to being 6 1/2 games behind not-so-HOTLANTA!

Ok now let's get to the Keith Hernandez business. Hmm what did he say tonight!? Here we go:

Mickey Mantle is his idol!

He was never a fan of Fulton County Stadium. It had a terrible infield.

He said "WIGWAM!" And well I wanted him to say it like 57 more times but nope he didn't.

Keith said it was "smoking" in Hotlanta today! He was sweating non-stop at the mall.

He liked R.A.'s demeanor on the mound.

He showed off some geographical knowledge. "Tennessee is a bordering state of Georgia." From Atlanta he said it takes about an hour and a 1/2 to get to Chattanooga. Do I know if this is true? NOPE. Keith is terrible at math so 1 1/2 hours can really mean 2 days or like a week.

He said Burkhardt was very inquisitive tonight. He also said this inquisitive nature is why Kevin gets paid the big bucks.

Keith said Isaac Benjamin Davis looks so much like the D-Backs Adam LaRoche. This is odd because I have been saying this to my Dad since well the D-Backs swept the Metsies in Arizona. Especially now that Isaac is without the beard. And really why did he shave? Did Frenchy tell him to? If so big mistake. Davis struck out for the 93rd time tonight. I imagine the sans beard thing had something to do with that. Okay I know it didn't but he has to get that beard back immediately! It's a integral part of the team!

So in tomorrow's rubber game it's up to well Big Pelf to pitch a gem or for the Mets to score so many runs that it doesn't matter if the BAD MIKE is at Turner Field. I really have no idea what to expect from Pelf but I'm gonna be an optimistic schmuck and well I believe the Mets can win tomorrow. Let's go METS!

As Gary Cohen Remarked, "Turner Field, A Place Where The Mets Have Had Their Most Shocking Failures."

Game 1: Braves 4 Mets 1

Hudson vs Santana

Of course when Gary made this comment about Turner Field during the telecast right before the top of the 1st I was the schmuck who thought he was being prematurely pessimistic but nope I was wrong and he was just being a very logical realist. A sage in fact. Turner Field will always be an evil place for the Mets to visit during important moments in their seasons. And well this game was over after the bottom of the first inning. When the Mets are down 3-0 lately there is no hope for a victorino and yep that's how things played out once again. They had plenty of opportunities to get some runs on the board but nope Beltran's rbi double in the top of the 5th was the lone run for the Metsies.

The Schmuck Is On Me...

So instead of sitting through that horrible no good very bad Mets game yesterday I saw "Dinner For Schmucks." I give it like 3 stars. So this movie is silly, juvenile and very unrealistic but I rather enjoyed it. I have reservations recommending it just because I don’t know how many people want to spend $12.50 to see it. Yep that’s how much my ticket had cost, yikes. But I will say if you love Rudd, Carell, Clement and Galifianakis like I do chances are you will like this movie. Galifianakis at one point in the film says the following to Carell's character Barry, "Tell me I can eat your pudding." I’m not spoiling what that's about but it's hysterical.

With A Little Help From His Friends R.A. Finally Gets Win #7!

The Rubber Game: Mets 4 Cards 0

Tricky Dickey vs Blake Hawksworth aka the guy with the cool name

This was R.A. Dickey's 62nd major league start!

It was also game 1500 for Pujols.

It was also Umbrella Day at Citi Field.

And David Wright had the day off and Crash Davis Mike Hessman was in the lineup.

NO CASTILLO in the lineup, YAY!

At Least Keith Hernandez Was "Perfectamundo" Last Night...

So yes last night's game sucked. The Mets were never supposed to win this one. But at least Keith was en fuego in the booth!

Originally Pelf was slated to pitch in this game and well Manuel's getting all desperate and scary with his rotation decisions. I understand him wanting to start Santana last night because well the Mets since July 4th really only win when Johan's on the mound (this doesn't include Niese's start in the 8-2 victorino over STL Monday night).

THE TIPPING POINT

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW IS RIGHT THERE IN THE BOX SCORE.

TONIGHT, JOSE REYES WAS 3-FOR-6 WITH A WALK. DAVID WRIGHT WAS 3-FOR-6. ANGEL PAGAN WAS 2-FOR-5 WITH A HOME RUN. CARLOS BELTRAN HOMERED. ALL OUR STARS PERFORMED LIKE STARS.

BUT WE LOST. WHY??

Move Over Karl Malone There's A New "Mailman." His Name Is Jason Bay And He Delivers...Sometimes

Game 2: Mets 6 Dodgers 1

Johan Santana vs Vincente Padilla

Larry King, Piers Morgan and (I thought I saw) George Lopez were all in attendance at Dodger Stadium for this glorious game! Well I guess they didn't enjoy it but too bad for them. And ever since I saw a "Curb Your Enthusiasm" a few years back involving Larry David, a prostitute, a car pool lane, and a Dodgers game I always look for Mr. David in the the Chavez Ravine crowd. But nope he wasn't at this game. But hey let's still watch a scene from this episode since well it's super hysterical:

Before We All Pile on Oliver Perez for Lack of "Heart" or Anything Else...

It just looks like he has nothing left. I don't mean to make excuses for the guy (who, by the way, was really the only pre-season prediction I was off the mark with) but facts are facts.

I look at the Upton at bat tonight as a microcosm of what Perez has become. He got ahead 0-2, with one of the strikes a well-struck foul ball. Then? He had nothing to finish with. After trying to back-door two slurves to Upton and running the count to 3-2, it looked like he had just no desire whatsoever to challenge the batter. He had nothing to challenge him WITH.

The Montero at-bat was similar. After getting Montero 0-2, he nibbled around. He no longer has the velocity on the fastball to beat people, and without it, the slider just isn't effective. Batters appear to be "on" his pitches. And why the experimentation with the silly side-arm motion?

It's hard to say, as a casual observer, if this is exactly the case. I don't know what is going on in the mind of Oliver Perez, and if he's really lost faith in his ability to challenge hitters. But I do know that when a pitcher loses a couple ticks off of their fastball, and doesn't have a diverse repetoire (a third pitch), that the pitcher is in big trouble. I do also know what it feels like to have two strikes on a batter and have NO IDEA what you can throw to finish him off, because he's better than you.

That's really what it looks like with Ollie. And for that, there's no remedy.

I'm Not Waving the White Flag Yet

But one thing that needs to be pointed out is that -- I mean, wow -- so many things have gone the Mets way this season. Almost all of the 'coin flips' heading into the season turned out in our favor, yet here we still are staring up at the Braves.

1. Jose Reyes came back healthy. Not amazing out of the gate, but healthy. And contributing.
2. Angel Pagan proved he could play every day.
3. Carlos Beltran came back later than we had hoped, but here he is, pushing Francoeur out of the lineup.
4. Wright's power returned.
5. Santana's elbow is ok, and he's pitching great.
6. Josh Thole and Jon Niese both are playing at the very very top end of what could have been projected for them at the start of the year.
7. RA Dickey came out of nowhere to pitch like -- and it's time to say it -- a legitimate #2 starter or ace (thus far)
8. Pelfrey has pitched more like 2008 than 2009.
9. The Phillies have suffered a ton of injuries.

All of these things, have broken in our favor, yet here we are. Our ace and our perennial all-star third baseman have each overcome adversity. Our two other all-star position players have returned from various career-threatening injuries. What more could you ask for?

I'm not throwing in the towel yet, but it is hard, very hard, not to wonder if the Mets have already given their all and fallen short. Eventually, not all the breaks will go our way.

Could it be better? Well... we do have a pythagorean W-L record of 50-43, one game worse than our actual record entering tonight. We have an 11-16 record in one run games, which is to some degree affected by luck. But for the most part? No.

We've gotten our breaks, and here we are in second place. Maybe Dickey and Niese will continue to dominate the National League. Maybe Santana will continue to outperform his peripherals. Maybe Pelfrey will recapture his early season dominance. Maybe Reyes and Beltran will round into the form they showed in their peak seasons. Maybe we will continue to avoid major injury.

It's still early, and as a Mets fan, dreaming is in your DNA. But it's getting late pretty early.

Big Pelf Ruins The Family Reunion!

Game 1 in the desert: D-Backs 13 Mets 2

Ian Kennedy vs Big Pelf

So Reyes, Beltran and Castillo were back in the lineup and well who even remembers that after this loss...

Pelf in this one was like that member of your family who comes to a family gathering and he ruins it. He's that uncle, or cousin or aunt or niece who gets too drunk, too loud and just too obnoxious. Last night was supposed to be great, argh!

Tejada has been demoted...

AND the 4 man outfield rotation is over and Frenchy will be enjoying sunflower seeds on the far end of the bench in the dugout. Poor Jeff!

Okay this one just maybe put me over the edge. Nah it hasn't but I'm not dealing with these losses well. I'm starting to whine a little bit and sulk and that's so unattractive! It's so girly, ick ick ick! It's just these Metsies are breaking my heart every day now. At least before the all star break my heart was just being broken every couple of days and I could handle it. But now I just don't know what to do. I stopped watching this one after Pelf was taken out of the game. Yeah I have my limits. This is the 2nd time in the last 5 days I've given up on the Mets. I had never done this (well at least this 2010 season) prior to Takahashi's start in San Fran. And I hate that I have started to do this but then again my parents' television set is pretty expensive and I'd rather not break it or the remote control that goes with it. So yes I shut this game off. So this recap is going to be brief and not really that much of a recap. I can't do it folks. And really would you want me to make us relive this nightmare!!??

So now let's just look at part of the nightmare in the desert, Pelf's stats from last night:
1.1IP 7H 6ER 2BB K 74 pitches thrown

Many people keep speculating that Pelf's performance in the first inning might be the worst first inning ever for a starting pitcher. I'm pretty sure that can't be true. Although he did give up 4 runs and he threw 51 pitches there have been worse starts to a game. But it's always fun to kick a man when he's down right, ugh. I don't know what's going on with Big Pelf and if I could I'd like to sit him down on a couch and use some of my guidance counseling skills and probe that brain of his. It's the off-school-season for me so I'm available Jerry Manuel and Dan Warthen!!

A few weeks ago everyone was saying Pelf could be a 20 game winner and now it seems hard to believe he'll get that 11th win. This out of whack Pelf is making us excited that Ollie could be back with the team tonight. Okay excited is a stretch but seriously Perez probably couldn't do worse than Pelf. Well maybe he could but you know what I'm getting at.

But I'm not giving up just yet. I am sticking around for the rest of this season no matter what.

And now let's laugh at some adorable little league Arizona D-Backers. They really are cute and well it might put smiles on your faces folks! I have nothing else to bring us joy really.



Tonight is a new night! Dickey is on the mound and maybe just maybe things can turn around for the Mets in the desert! Maybe they can beat this D-Backs team they should beat and Dickey can get win #7! And if not well let's not think about that...Optimism is key!

Forget about this one and go on out and have a great day folks!

I'm Pretty Certain Phil Cuzzi Learned His Craft From Leslie Nielsen

The Twilight Zone/Game 4: Mets 4 Giants 3 (10 innings)

Santana vs Sanchez

So folks I'm sorry I haven't written up about this "twlight zone" of a game. I was having a great afternoon with a friend and I got home just in time to catch the bottom of the 8th. And then I saw the rest of the game and I was really speechless. This has kind of just been a shitty week in Mets baseball and in life for me so yeah I had to take some time before I thought long and hard how to approach this writeup. And then my Dad and I talked about this one yet again this morning and my Pops said "Didn't that 9th inning remind you of Leslie Nielsen in "Naked Gun?" You know when he's umping that baseball game?" And yes my Dad's a genius. That's exactly what this 9th inning was like! So now let's watch this scene from "Naked Gun." Then I'll discuss Phil Cuzzi and K-Rod a bit more.

Oh and I have another trivia question. So here it is, "What is David Wright's classic line from that Lincoln MKS commercial he's in?" This is the part of the commercial where he's in the car and the window starts to open and David busts out a little soliloquy. Ok the answer will be revealed later. Good luck!



Oh Frankie I Want To Kick You In Your K-Rod...
So really I've come to the conclusion that if Santana is pitching a gem of a game 8IP, 8H, ER, BB, 5K there is no reason to not let him pitch the 9th inning too. Really do we need to deal with these K-Rod shenanigans when the ace on the mound can finish the game. Really pitch count smitch count! That's just my opinion on the matter. I mean if it's an 8-3 game like it was Saturday night K-Rod is amazing. He strikes out the first two batters and then he gets Aubrey Huff to ground out to end the inning. He's a superstar 1,2,3 dynamo when the game is already pretty much won by the opposing side. But when it's these close games when you need your closer to just save the game K-Rod is a mess. I've thought for a while it's those goggles of his but I don't know. Regardless I hope some Metsie brought K-Rod's goggles over to Alcatraz and well left them there before their flight to Arizona.

Top of the 9th: Mets 3 Giants 1
In this inning K-Rod did the thing he's best at, walking the lead off batter. Yep he walked Sandoval. But still this is nothing too "twilight zone" crazy. Mets fans know what to expect from K-Rod. This is what we have dealt with all season long. Then on an 0-2 count Uribe singled. Then Eli Whiteside sac bunted beautifully and there were now men on 2nd and 3rd with no outs for Travis Ishikawa. The first "twilight zone" moment happened now. The home plate ump Phil Cuzzi called ball two on Ishikawa and K-Rod and Blanco were pretty positive that ball was a strike. Blanco did something catchers never do, he turned around to face Cuzzi. Cuzzi flailed his arms, made fists, he basically made a motion that led Gary Cohen to announce that he thought Blanco or K-Rod or both had been ejected from the game. This was not the case though. Possibly Cuzzi just got mad at someone in the dugout. Keith and Gary had no idea what was going on and I didn't either. I still don't know what happened really! Then Ishikawa singled, both Renteria (pinch runner for the panda) and Uribe scored and this game was tied. K-Rod blew another save and Santana yet again got a no decision. Then Andres Torres hit a double and because of Jeff's arm in right Ishikawa was held at 3rd and the Mets still had a chance to not lose another walk off game.

So now the 2nd "twilight zone" moment of this game happened. With men on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out Freddy Sanchez grounded a ball to Wright. Dave threw home to Blanco in an attempt to get Ishikawa out at home and he was OUT. But oh no Cuzzi took a long time to say he was in fact SAFE. Whoa the Mets got a break. This led Keith to say, "He was SAFE." And Gary remarked, "Phil Cuzzi has just had a terrible day." And Keith added, "Terrible throw by Wright." And yes Cuzzi has been learning his craft from Leslie Nielsen and yeah Dave's throw was awful. But in Wright's defense he was hit in the knee by a ball Pat Burrell hit earlier this game. Speaking of Burrell, I mean he's a Mets killer, he always has been but I never thought he actually might want to kill an actual METSIE. Now I'm sort of unsure what goes on in that head of Pat's!

Ok but back to this 9th inning. Aubrey Huff was up with 2 outs and men on 1st and 3rd. And now "twilight zone" moment number 3 happened. Huff dribbled the ball right in front of home plate, Blanco got it, threw to Ike and yeah Gary Cohen announced the inning was over. But nope that wasn't so. The 3rd base umpire Mike Estabrook overrode Cuzzi's ruling and he said it was a foul ball or that the ball hit Huff's foot. I'm unsure really. This led Keith to say "Fair ball, it didn't hit anything!" And Gary remarked, "That's not his call anyway!" Well Estabrook's call was the call that counted because well I have no idea why and this inning was still being played. Gary then said, "This is like "The Twilight Zone! I don't understand." The count was now 0-2 on Huff and then Frankie threw ball 1, of course he did this, and Sanchez advanced to 2nd (defensive interference was called). Somehow Huff grounded out to Ike and this inning was over. I still have no idea what transpired. Btw K-Rod had thrown 27 pitches in this inning.

I have never seen anything like this ever! I mean each Mets game is like a learning experience. And this kind of education sucks. My head still hurts from this one.

The 10th Inning, A Slight Departure From "The Twilight Zone"
Thank goodness in the top of the 10th Isaac Benjamin Davis got a 2 out rbi double that scored the go ahead run and the Mets held on in the bottom of the 10th. Of course I was prepared for K-Rod to yet again lose this game for the Metsies in the 10th but somehow he didn't totally fuck up! He quickly on just 4 pitches got Posey to ground out and Burrell to fly out but then he sucked yet again. Frankie gave up a 2 out double to Renteria. Then he intentionally walked Uribe. Seriously why would Manuel have K-Rod put the winning run on base? Gary and Keith didn't get this managerial move and I didn't either. Now it was up to Eli Whiteside to either win this one for the Giants (well they had really won it already in the 9th) or to let the Mets really really really catch a break in San Fran. After Whiteside just got a piece of the ball to make the count go to 1-2 Gary remarked, "Here's the good news about that last call, Phil Cuzzi made it himself. Mike Estabrook was nowhere to be seen." Miraculously after making the count 3-2 K-Rod struck Eli out and this game was finally over! The Mets won, they avoided the sweep and oh boy thank god they are leaving San Francisco! Oh and after this inning K-Rod had a pitch count of well 47. Oye.

OH and here's the answer to the trivia question! Wright says the following, "The game has officially been changed!" If you got it right go on and get yourself a Lincoln MKS. Or well if you are poor like me go buy yourself an ice cream!

So tonight is a new night and the Mets will be playing the D-Backs. It has been advertised that Beltran and Reyes will both be in the lineup and Pelf will be on the mound. So let's hope for a great outing from Pelf! He can do it! And yeah some great hitting from our Metsies would be delightful! And well there better be NO Leslie Nielsen umpiring. That would be splendid!

Have a fun day folks!

To Arizona and beyond!