5
2008
Return from Hibernation: Road to Recovery
An article by Former Writers
With the Winter Meetings on the horizon and just ahead, I return from a three month hiatus from posting here on Metsmerized. I have not been short of words to say or topics to discuss, but the emotional letdown of yet another September meltdown was too much to overcome until now.
My outlook for this offseason is optimistic but yet frighteningly realistic at the same time. I do believe the Mets number one priority needs to be adding a legitimate closer who can lead a battered bullpen which at the current time has not one reliever worth writing home to mother about. The pressures of pitching in the New York market as well as 10 times a year in the house of the defending world champions is a daunting task and it takes a set of stones to get that done.
Francisco Rodriguez or K-Rod as we like to dub him, I believe should be the man to fill this vacancy. He has a World Series ring on his resume. Though he had over 60 saves last season, not one of them were recorded while going over one inning of work, so he is not as overworked as people make him out to be. He has pitched playoff games in New York and has beaten the Yankees when they were the feared evil empire.
Even if he hadn’t, he has the closers mentality.
Rodriguez is not afraid to go into Citizens Bank Park with a one run lead and throw his best stuff at the meat of the Phillies order. Just visualize if you may, K-rod standing on the mound in Philly, striking out Ryan Howard to end a game, how pumped up he would be, the images already have me giddy.
In addition to the need for a closer, I feel as though the offense needs to be upgraded. Omar Minaya hasn’t appeared to yield much interest in the way of adding a bat to his lineup, but he should change his tune once he settles in on his pitching rotation. Wright and Reyes traditionally are not clutch players, and may never be, that is if you asked WFAN’s Mike Francesa. Carlos Delgado exploded like a man possessed after the All-Star break last season, but as faithful followers of the Metropolitans, is it fair to expect the same Delgado to show up in Citi Field? Luis Castillo is in the running for biggest abomination on a baseball field award in 2009, yet if you listen to Omar, you get the sense he feels comfortable giving Castillo an opportunity to rebound.
This is just the start of my return to Metsmerized; I will once again be resuming my duties and hitting all of you fellow Mets die hards each and every Friday afternoon with my thoughts on our beloved ball club. It’s good to be back, and LETS GO METS!
About the Author: Former Writers
6 Comments + Add Comment
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Nice post Matt. I’m with you on the whole “haven’t posted since season’s end”. Now that you’ve broken down the wall, maybe I’ll walk through as well…
You hit the nail on the head with K-Rod in my opinion. This past year, many said that the Mets needed more swagger. I disagree that they didn’t have any, but we need a reliever/closer who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. Let’s hope Omar shares the view.
“I feel as though the offense needs to be upgraded.”
Obviously everyone would like to see an upgrade, but the Mets scored 799 runs last year, good for 2nd in the league. You think the lineup is more of a priority than starting pitching?
“Wright and Reyes traditionally are not clutch players, and may never be, that is if you asked WFAN’s Mike Francesa.”
Goodness, I don’t even know where to start with this one.
Wright, career with RISP: .300/.394/.501
Reyes, career with RISP: .293/.366/.475
Both have been fine in the long run. This is not something to worry about or even discuss. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said that this offseason.
I know I’m nitpicking here. I’m all for spirited posts like this one, but just know that I will always be there to pick apart posts that go simply by perception without consulting the statistics.
I didn’t say they weren’t clutch I was making a joke about how idiotic francessa is. And who cares that they were 2nd in runs scored that wasn’t good enoigh to get them to the playoffs. Say what you’d like about the pitching, the bullpen is what costed them team the season, but I can recall atleast 3 at bats in the last week of the season that had the mets hit the ball to the outfield they would have made the playoffs. My lasting image of 08 will be wright against the cubs with a runner on 3rd and have the most tight at bat I’ve ever seen. And much of those numbers are inflated by delgado I believe he can repeat what he did last season but that is no guarantee
Relax Matt.
Alright, I guess I didn’t pick up on the Fatcessa joke. Maybe you could’ve added something like “Francesca is a moron” or something to that effect, cause otherwise it’s not pretty clear bro. Why would you even put that in a season recap post?
And um, rational baseball fans care that they were 2nd in runs scored, because a season is 162 games last time I checked, not 7(the last week of the season). Yeah they weren’t “clutch” during the last week, but that is just random fluctuation, it’s not an overarching problem for these players in the long term.
I know the bullpen cost them the season. This is apparent to anyone with a brain. But I just think the starting rotation needs help before the lineup.
Boy you got pretty defensive there buddy.
Correction – you did write that they should focus on the offense AFTER the rotation, my last post doesn’t comment doesn’t reflect that.
One last fun fact, for 2008:
Mets offense: 799 runs
Phils offense: 799 runs
Mets rotation: 3.98 ERA
Phils rotation: 4.23 ERA
Mets bullpen: 4.25 ERA
Phils bullpen: 3.19 ERA
The Phillies had a great bullpen, made the playoffs, and won the World Series. They were praised as “gritty” and “determined” and whatever other meaningless adjective you want use. The Mets had a garbage bullpen and missed the playoffs for the 2nd straight year. They were branded “choke artists” and “un-clutch”.
Ok so I can’t deny the fact that we need a closer but correct me if I am wrong but, how many games did they even get to Billy Wagner with the lead? The bullpen imploded a lot before the closer could even come in. I think the bullpen is the major priority. I wouldn’t worry about offense especially because we lead the majors with scoring runs in the first inning.