Get healthy Mariano

Here is our new sign that was put up yesterday in regards to Mariano Rivera's torn acl.

At Least we didn't lose today...

After a TERRIBLE series, getting swept by the worst team in MLB in my opinion, are the Mets really an above .500 team, or is the beginning of the end?

The Mets can complain about injuries, but every team in baseball suffers from injuries, and the Mets have no depth to be able to handle it, especially pitching.

I'm sticking by my 76 win projection that I had in the pre-season, but hopefully I am wrong and the Mets sweep the Diamondbacks this weekend.

Let's go Mets

Guarantee Mets won't lose today

Here is the sign at work currently... we have it to remember the best part of the season, only half a game out of first place.

M Bautista

Am I the only one sick of seeing him pitch?

Mets are 5-2

Oh, the roller coaster continues! After 2 UGLY losses, I thought this season was going to tumble and end the way our expectations were just 10 days ago before the 4-game winning streak.

But then Jason Bay hits an opposite field home run off of Cliff Lee, Dickey works his magic, and the Mets take the opening game of the series, even pulling into a first place tie for an hour or so while the Nationals and Reds were battling in extra innings.

The roller coaster will probably start it's descent as we lose the next two games, but what if something magical happens...? Then is it "Ya Gotta Believe?"

Let's Go Mets!

Game 4. Put it in the books!

This seemed like a classic August/September 2011 game, Mets fall behind early due to poor pitching by Pelfrey, and I figured the game was over. But then Captain Kirk reels me back in and makes me believe. D Murphy actually played defense and saved the game, then wins it in the 9th after poor Nationals defense. But I'll take it!

Today the most popular question was, "Do you believe?" I kept saying "I wish I didn't know "too much" or pay attention to sabermetrics, because this would be so much more fun when you don't know about small sample size, and just take everything for what it is on the surface. 4-0. But unfortunately I will keep my 76 wins projection, and be the happiest person in the world if I'm wrong by 15 games!

I know a lot of people are talking about taking a trip down the Turnpike on Friday or Saturday if this little run keeps it up; I hope that comes to fruition!

Let's Go Mets!

Picture from yesterday's game

Section 109, row 16. Thanks Rory!

Another happy recap!

I've gone to both games in this young season, and if they happen to lose today,I may be forced to go on Monday:)

It was another crisp, well played game, with Wright CRUSHING the home run opposite field, and Duda's two home runs. I missed Parnell's inning due to trying two boots pizza (it was good, but $6 a slice?!? Come on...)

Let's go for the sweep today, and maybe sole possession of first place! And no, I'm not revising my season win total, but obviously hope I'm completely wrong:)

Let's go Mets!

And the Mets are Tied for 1st Place!

Although it was very quiet on the train ride in, and the majority of parking lots before the game, the stadium filled in nicely, and got very loud on a couple of occasions (Johan final batter, and D Wright's RBI), which was very refreshing.

Couple other observations:
1) The newly minted Party Deck looks great, and a place I'd love to watch the game from (as well as the Mo's Zone)
2) They repeatedly threw breaking ball after breaking ball after breaking ball to Ike Davis; it will be interesting if this is what each team will do (if that's the book on Davis), and how he adjusts to this. I'm not as big of a fan of Ike as a lot of other people, as I don't view him as a complete player (yet), and he may struggle to hit .250 if he faces a plethora of off-speed pitches. Yes, he has tremendous power and could still hit 30 HRs with a .250 batting average, but I just perceive people think he's a .285, 30 home run guy already.
3) The lines for food looked long throughout the game (at least where I was in promenade left field), and heard multiple other people mention this today as well. Most likely this won't be an issue the majority of the year as there won't be 40,000+ people each game.

I will be in attendance for Saturday's afternoon match-up with the Braves as well, so if you have any questions, or any views of the park you want me to feature, let me know. I only took a few pictures today, not my usual 200.

But overall, it was probably my most enjoyable Citi Field opener thus far, and it really is beginning to feel like "home", although nothing like Shea ;)

Opening Day- The Day Everyone has hope!

The Mets are already ahead of the Marlins, so they technically are tied for 1st place! I'm getting ready to be layered in head to toe with Mets gear, and although my expectations are not high for this year (76 wins was my prediction at a wedding a month ago, so I'll stay with that), today is still one of my favorite days of the year!

I love the look and smell of the green grass at Citi, and the excitement in the crowd (hopefully).

I am truly excited to watch Johan compete today, and although I don't expect miracles, I love watching his contagious, leadership and competitor personality.

I look forward to seeing many of you guys at the game today, and now that the season is finally here, expect more regular posts than the off-season, but probably not the multiple posts each day as was the case last year (life is too hectic these days!)

Enjoy the day, and of course, LET'S GO METS!

Gary Carter- RIP KID

Today is a sad, sad day in the Mets community, and my mood completely changed when I saw the breaking news at the bottom of the tv screen, saying he had passed away.

Although I was too young to really remember his full career, I remember his passion and love for the game. Reading the tributes today from his teammates, reporters and others within the game brought me to tears, and I truly hope he got a STANDING OVATION as he entered the gates of heaven tonight.

Here is his Hall of Fame speech (http://youtu.be/OTDydd9jGws), which I feel sums up his life pretty well; he talks about his baseball accomplishments, but the majority of his time he spent thanking his family, the people who are truly important to him. 

RIP Kid, and thank you for reminding us of what is truly important. To my family and friends, thank you, and you are truly what is important to me.

Hall of Fame

As a member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, we held our annual hall of fame voting last week and the results were announced this week, with the official vote being announced next Monday. Here is the press release, and for those interested I voted for Bagwell, Larkin and E Martinez.

BBA Recommends Larkin, Bagwell For Hall Of Fame

In the annual polling of members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin and former Houston Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell were recommended for induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame.  This is the third year the organization has conducted this survey of the membership.

Larkin, a 12-time All-Star who fashioned an .815 OPS over 19 seasons, received the largest percentage of votes, being named on 84.25% of the 148 ballots cast.  This is the highest percentage garnered by any player in the three years of BBA voting.


Bagwell, who hit 449 HR and had a .948 OPS in his 15 seasons in Houston, was selected on 115 ballots for a 78.77% rate.  As with the official voting done by the Baseball Writers of America, a player must be named on 75% of the ballots to be recommended by the alliance.



Last year, the BBA recommended second baseman Roberto Alomar and pitcher Bert Blyleven, both of whom were inducted into Cooperstown during the summer.  In 2010, no player reached the 75% mark in BBA balloting, the year that outfielder Andre Dawson was selected for the Hall by the baseball writers.


The Baseball Bloggers Alliance’s vote has no impact on the official vote taken by the Baseball Writers of America.  However, the BBA has often been a predictor of major awards granted by the writers.

The final voting results are as follows:
Barry Larkin 84.25%
Jeff Bagwell 78.77%
Edgar Martinez 60.27%
Tim Raines 57.53%
Alan Trammell 44.52%
Mark McGwire 41.10%
Larry Walker 35.62%
Lee Smith 33.56%
Jack Morris 32.19%
Don Mattingly 29.45%
Rafael Palmerio 28.77%
Fred McGriff 28.08%
Dale Murphy 16.44%
Bernie Williams 11.64%
Juan Gonzalez 6.16%
Javy Lopez 2.74%
Brad Radke 2.05%
Tim Salmon 1.37%
Bill Mueller 0.68%
Phil Nevin 0.68%
Ruben Sierra 0.68%
Tony Womack 0.68%
Jeromy Burnitz 0.00%
Vinny Castilla 0.00%
Brian Jordan 0.00%
Terry Mulholland 0.00%
Eric Young 0.00%
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was established in the fall of 2009 for the purpose of fostering collaboration and communication among bloggers from across baseball.  The BBA has quickly grown to its current membership of 347 blogs, including some of the most prominent blogs on the Internet, spanning all major league teams and various other general aspects of the game.

Wow. Guess I should've waited to comment until this morning...

So the Mets completely revamped the bullpen and changed CF in the matter of hours last night. Quick recap:

In:
Rauch, Ramon Rameriz (Giants),  F Francisco = 7th, 8th and 9th inning
A Torres = starting CF who had one great year (2010) in an otherwise journeyman career

Out:
A Pagan and his terrible baseball IQ

So this morning the Mets are a better baseball team than they were on December 6th. Congratulations. But does this bullpen change them to an 88-90 win team from the 77 wins they had last year (with Reyes)? No chance. So why spend money just for the sake of saying "look, we are spending money."

Jon Rauch?

Why are the Mets going to spend 8-10 million dollars on a couple relievers, and it's starting with Jon Rauch? I understand the concept and agree with it in principle, IF the team was going to compete for a playoff spot. BUT for a team that's not going to compete in 2012, this is ridiculous and worthless.

Sandy, I thought you are better than this.

Good Bye Jose

Although I was mentally prepared to lose Jose Reyes this winter to the highest bidder, after the first flirtation with the Marlins and their initial offer, I reversed course and thought the Mets could and would retain him with a 5 year/90-95 million dollar contract.

Then the bombshell drops last night at the winter meetings that the Marlins upped the ante to 6 years for 106 million (including a buyout of a potential 7th year), and it hurt. A Lot.

Now resigned to the fact we are in a true rebuilding mode (which should've started 18 months ago), I'm ready to trade D Wright now, and try to make a run at the division in 2015. We aren't going to have a winning record next year definitively, and our young pitchers (Harvey, Wheeler and Mejia) could start to make an impact in 2013. So if we can get 2-3 solid prospects for Wright, then might as well. There isn't much of a difference between 72 wins in 2012 without Wright versus 78 wins with.

What do you guys want the Mets to do?

And I'm Back

After a great 2-week vacation with limited internet access, and only able to watch ESPN one night (but it was the one that counted, day 162 of the season), I'm back and revitalized to prep for the Mets off-season, and what needs to get done.

I know a lot of people were/are upset with how Reyes handled the batting title, leaving after his first at-bat, but it's not a big issue for me. The batting title is an individual accomplishment, and Reyes didn't alter the "integrity of the game" by taking himself out, as neither the Mets nor the Reds seasons were impacted by it. Would I have preferred to have Reyes play out the whole game, get a standing ovation etc. that he deserves, and a thank you for a great year/possibly career with the Mets? OF COURSE, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over his decision, and I don't think he is either.

So stay tuned for my off-season plans over the next week, and let me know what topics you guys want to focus on as we get ready for yet another long off-season for the Mets.

FOLDING UP

“This has been an awful time. … I’m the manager of this team and I’m responsible. We didn’t manage, we didn’t coach and we didn’t play. It’s pretty simple. You go through stretches and this is one of them, but perception is reality in our game and the perception I have is that we folded it up. I won’t stand for that. You want to see intensity? You want to see me be intense? You guys are gonna see it? I don’t play that game. You come to play the game right. I don’t care what the situation is, I don’t care what the standings say, I don’t care about pitch counts. I only care about playing the game correctly. Our fans should be upset. I don’t blame them one bit. … We need to find a new formula. I don’t know what it is yet, but I’ve got a three-hour plan ride to figure it out. … They’re tired. But, the Washington Nationals are tired too. … They can’t be any  more tired than we are. They’re playing for the exact same thing we are, and that’s pride. … We’re not done. We have two weeks to go. If we’re gonna fold it up, that tells me something. It tells me a lot about what will happen next year when we are fighting for something.”

~ Terry Collins, following today’s game, regarding his team’s play

 This is TERRIBLE. 

I am glad TC took the blame, but this is not good. This means to me he may have lost the clubhouse again, like he did in Anaheim? 

Your thoughts? 

PS I will be on vacation for 2 weeks through the end of the season, so expect little activity here until a week after the off-season, and I will have my off-season plan.

Scouting Report Josh Stinson

Mets called up reliever Josh Stinson today as the rosters expanded, so here is the scouting report I did on Stinson during Spring Training. He struggled as a starter early in the year, so was converted to the bullpen.

Josh Stinson - #64

23 years old
6th professional season (no major league experience)
6'4" 205 pounds
Bats R/Throws R

Profile: Drafted out of high school, he didn't pitch above A ball until last season. He started to open some eyes at the end of 2009 in high A ball when he was turned into a reliever and he had a sub-2.00 ERA (1.98 in 38 innings). He pitched between AA and AAA last year, and he earned a spot in the AA All-Star game in 2010. He was added to the 40-man roster so he was not eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft.

Good: He throws a hard fastball (91-93 mph), with a good slider and curve-ball.

Bad: In the minors, he hasn't been striking out a ton of hitters (5.5 K/9 in 110 innings in AA, 6.75 K/9 in AAA in 28 innings in 2010).

Role: He will probably start the year in AA or AAA, and try to solidify a role in the bullpen in September/future.

Video:
 1st base view


3rd base view

Picture from tonight's game

Loyal reader is at the game... Enjoy!

Draft Signees

As I mentioned yesterday, I believed the Mets would get their 1st and 3rd round picks signed, and they did. They also were very aggressive and signed their 15th round pitck to an overslot deal, in essence getting a top 100 player (dropped due to strong college commit and money demands) in the 15th round. Yes they paid the money of a supplemental draft pick (between rounds 1 and 2), but that's what big market teams do.

Here was a great chart from Metsminorleagueblog.com, showing the change in the draft spending of the Mets over the past 10 years. Great job Toby.

Today is a good day to be a Mets fan, and thank you Sandy for doing exactly what you said you would do when you signed on this off-season.