When you look at all the teams in both the American and National Leagues objectively, and you consider their payroll versus production in several statistical categories across the board, it becomes quite obvious that the Mets are indeed the worst team money can buy.
The Mets boast the second highest payroll in Major League Baseball with over $145 million dollars on the books, practically dwarfing more than half the teams in both leagues.
And for all that embarrassment of riches their lineup featured a cleanup hitter with just three homeruns during the just completed Phillies series that saw the Mets score just three runs. In fact, the Mets are last among all 30 teams in homeruns with 50, yet they have allowed 73 to opposing teams. They have hit just 3 opposite field homeruns all season. Wow!
And while the management and ownership group blame the vastness of the new park, the truth is that Citi Field is not the reason for their power outage. Just ask Chase Utley.
The Mets argued that the homeruns would be down in 2009 before the season even got started, but it would be offset by a staggering increase in triples. That’s not the case. The Mets are on pace to hit 34 triples compared to 38 last season, and they are on pace to have 300 less total bases than they had in 2008. That is not a typo. They are last in the league in slugging percentage.
The Mets do lead the league in some categories and among them is grounding into double plays, a fact that became painfully apparent as they were being swept by their division rivals.
They supposedly fixed their bullpen problems of a year ago when they set a franchise record with 28 blown saves, but so far at the halfway point, they have racked up 12 blown saves, with most of them coming in the last six weeks.
Mets pitchers have the lowest BB/K ratio in the league and are second to last in the league in K/9 ratio. They also lead the league in balks with more than twice as many than the next worst team.
Alex Cora recently called his team the worst defensive team in baseball. That’s not entirely accurate, but they have racked up 55 errors, 12 of them coming from David Wright who is on pace to have his worst defensive season of his career. Of course those 55 errors do not include all the mental gaffes like overrunning the ball, or letting it fall between them, or not hitting the cutoff man, etc.
The Mets like to point their fingers at their disabled list and say that’s why we’re so bad. But that’s a load of BS and they know it. The fact of the matter is that even with the $80 million dollars worth of product on the field, they still make more than two-thirds of the teams in their league.
The Phillies have suffered losses due to injuries also, including number two pitcher Brett Myers. number four pitcher Antonio Bastardo, reliever J.C. Romero (PED suspension), closer Brad Lidge, and the league’s MVP before he got injured, left fielder Raul Ibanez.
The Phillies still managed to contend with the likes of washed up journeymen Rodrigo Lopez and Chan Ho Park this weekend, who the Mets couldn’t even touch up for one extra base hit in the most hitter friendly park in the league.
So do the Mets have the worst team money could buy?
You bet they do.
How can you not blame the injured list for most of these problems? ALL their power bats are on the DL. There triples machine is on the DL. 2 of their starters are on the DL (although maybe we shouldn’t include Perez). Because of the guys on the DL, it forces the likes of Cora to play everyday. And Martinez who is clearly not ready for the majors yet. And the bullpen does suck. But that is mainly due to the fact that they are pitching 3-4 innings a night. I have realized this past week, that as much as I love this team and will continue to cheer for them, they are nothing more then a .500 team this year. And all hope of them keeping it close for when their starters do come back from the DL, is very quickly disappearing. Again, I will continue to cheer for this team until the bitter end. But the way things are going, that end will be coming before October for the 3rd year in a row. Maybe next year?
CAPSLOCK+DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
MYKEY, YOU’RE RIGHT A .500 TEAM, JUST LIKE PHL,FISH,ATL. FIRST ONE TO A LATE HOTSTREAK WINS AS IN THE PAST 2 YRS. THIS IS SELIG BASEBALL, MEDIOCRITY AT IT’S BEST IN THE AL THERE IS STEINBRENNER BASEBALL, WHERE NYY DRIVING UP HIGHER PAYROLLS THROUGHOUT ALL CONTENDERS. NYY DRAG BOSOX IN THEIR SPENDING WAKE, TWO SUCH HIGH ROLLERS DRIVES AKLL THOSE HOPING FOR PLAYOFFS NOT IN OTHER DIV TO SPEND MORE ALSO(OR IS IT PRICE OF ADDITIONAL MEANINGFUL BATS(DH)?)
IN GENERAL THIS POST BY JOE D IS ONE OF THE MORE DISENGENUOUS I’VE EVER READ. CERTAINLY IT’S THE COMBINATION OF JERRY’S PREPARATION FOR CITI PLAY STRESSING BA & OBP THROUGH HITTING THE OTHER WAY, MAKING CONTACT, THAT’S LED TO HIGH TEAM BA & LOW TEAM Ks & FEW TEAM HRs. CERTAINLY IT WAS A WELL THOUGHT OUT PLAN THAT DIDN’T ACCOUNT FOR THE TEAM’S POWER GUTTING BY INJURY; I’M CERTAIN LOTS OF MEN ON BASE WAS THOUGHT TO LEAD TO MANY RBI FOR BELTRAN & DELGADO. THE MIA PAYROLL PER “COTS” IS $71.675M OUT OF TOTAL PAYROLL OF $149,373,987 (SAME SOURCE-COTS)
CITING PHILLY INJURIES IS ABOUT AS REDICULOUS AS IT GETS. HERE’S YOUR BREAKDOWN: PHL TEAM HAS PLAYED 79G OF WHICH UTLEY, 77G; IBANEZ, 62G. PITCHING HAMELS HAS 15GS MOYER, 16GS MEANING MYERS CAN BE EXPECTED TO HAVE STARTED EITHER 15 OR 16 INSTEAD OF THE ACTUAL 10 HE HAS. LISTING ROMERO’S 50G SUSPENSION IS TYPICALLY DISENGENUOUS AS IT WAS A PREDICTABLE MINUS THAT SHOULD’VE BEEN ACCOUNTED FOR PRIOR TO SEASON END; BUT WASN’T APPARENTLY.
OM NYM SIDE OF THE MIA LEDGER. OF THE 81G THEY’VE PLAYED THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THEIR MIA’S ARE:
DELGADO 26G
BELTRAN 62G
CHURCH 63G
REYES 36G
PITCHING WISE SANTANA HAD 16GS BEFORE YESTERDAY SINCE HE’S MISSED NONE & WE DON’T COUNT YEASTERDAY, THE ENTIRE ROTATION SHOULD HAVE 16GS EACH; BUT PEREZ HAS 5GS, MAINE, 11GS.
AS FOR LIDGE HIS ACTUAL MISSED APPEARANCES AS WITH PUTZ IS NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO GUAGE SO I’LL FIGURE THE CANCEL EACH OTHER OUT & IGNORE THEM IN THIS COMPARISON. BY COMPARISON WITH THE PHL, THEY’VE HAD TO ACCOUNT FOR TYPICAL INJURY CONDITIONS(USUALLY REFERRED TO AS ‘PART OF THE GAME & ABSENCES WERE SPOADIC & INTERSPERSED)
ALL AT THE SAME TIME FOR A SUBSTANTIAL PERIOD OUR TEAM HAS BEEN MINUS IT’S CF,SS,1B,RF,2 SP & PRIMARY SETUP ASWELL AS BOTH C & LONG RELIEVER(REDDING).I’M 59 YRS OLD & HAVE FOLLOWED THIS TEAM FOR ALL 47 YRS OF IT’S EXISTANCE. I DON’T FOLLOW ANY OTHER SPORT, OCCASIONALLY ROOT FOR CAROLINA PANTHERS, (NOW LIVING OUTSIDE CHARLOTTE)AND AS SUCH CAN TESTIFY I’VE NEVER SEEN SUCH TOTAL DEVASTATION BEFALL ANY ONE FRANCHISE IN MY LIFE. TO SAY THE CURRENT STASTE OF OUR 40 MAN ROSTER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CURRENT SORRY STATE OF AFFAIRS IS EITH DOWNRIGHT IGNORANT OR DISHONEST AT BEST. BTW THE CLOSET I’VE EVER SEEN TO THIS IS 1988 ROTATIONAL WOES FOR NYM.EVEN THAT WAS MOSTLY CONTAINED TO THE ROTATION.
This team would be very bad even with Reyes/Beltran and Delgado. That is the team that had the greatest collapse in baseball history and then followed up the next year with a similar cosmic choke. Despite the biggest payroll in the league the team is near last in every stat you can think of and the worst part of it is we are just as bad (worse?) at the minor league level. All the minor league teams in the organization are floundering, we have no decent prospects and we have no early round draft picks because of all the free agent signings. We have money committed for years to dead weight losers like Castillo and lord knows, I’m sure Bobby Bonilla still gets a paycheck.
Omar has mismanaged this team on EVERY level and we are boxed into a corner where the money is spent on a team built to “win now” but it’s not winning. We have nothing of value to trade either. Why the Wilpons would bring in the guy who made the worst trade in the last 50 years (Sizemore/Lee/Phillips for Colon) and when he proves that he’s incapable of doing the job give him an extension(!?) so that he can blow money on losers like Castillo and Perez.
We need somebody who can right the ship by building for the future. The Nationals with their first round draft picks are going to have some absolutely kick a$$ pitching in a couple of years and their lineup is already quite a bit better than ours. The Marlins have great young talent and obviously the Phils are World Champs.
We are in a world of hurt. If the Mets don’t fire Omar and regroup to build for the future I’m going to start rooting for the Phils like my kids do.
CAPSLOCK=DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
GOLFBONE, U’D BEST STICK TO THE DIMPLED BALLS, WITH YOUR ANALYSIS.
BEFORE U CHOOSE TO MAKE PROCLAIMATIONS, PERHAPS YOU’D BETTER UNDERSTAND HISTORY. HERE’S SOME:
OMAR MINAYA WAS HIRED BY A THIRD/FOURTH PLACE TEAM WITHOUT ANY TOP TALENT IN THEIR PIPELINE. THE BEST THEY HAD WERE EITHER ALREADY ON MAJOR ROSTER OR TRADED(ESCOBAR & KAZMIR)
MOST TEAMS RETOOL BY TRADING VETERAN ASSETS FOR TOP MINOR LEAGUE TALENT BY OFFERING CONTRACT RELIEF IN FORM OF CASH CONSIDERATIONS FOR ALLEVIATING ACQUIRING TEAM’S ASSUMPTION OF OVERBLOWN VET ASEET’S CONTRACT. DUQUETTE WAS NOT ALLOWED TO OFFER SUCH HELP BY OWNERSHIP THUS REDUCUING THE TALENT LEVEL OF PROSPECTS RECEIVED FOR ALOMAR,BENITEZ,BURNITZ,VENTURA,ZEILLE TO ROYCE RING(CHISOX FOR ALOMAR)
NYY RECEIVED MORE IN SHEFFIELD TRADE TO DETROIT.
JEFF WILPON, BY EXECUTIVE DECREE, PRECLUDED THE GM POSITION FROM ALL PITCHING RELATED DECISIONS BY HIRING HIS OWN, PERSONAL PITCHING GURU(GM) REPORTING DIRECTLY TO HIMSELF WITH SOLE POWER OVER ALL FRANCHISE PITCHING RELATED MATTERS ie MINOR LEAGUE PITCHING COACHES, ALL FRANCHISE PITCHING (PLAYER) TALENT, INCL TRADING OF PITCHING PROSPECTS BOTH ACQUIRING & RELINQUISHING INCL:
BELL,
LINDSTRUM,
RING,
KAZMIR,
BANNISTER,
ETC.
IN TODAY’S ENVIRONMENT, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO RETOOL ANY FRANCHISE IN >5 YRS. SANS TOP FREE AGENT SIGNINGS. TO DO SO REQUIRES THE SIGNING TEAM TO FORFEIT THEIR FIRST OR SECOND ROUND DRAFT PICKS, NECESSITATING THEY EITHER CHOOSE TOP TALENT THAT FELL OUT OF EARLY ROUNDS DUE TO EXHORBATANT SIGNING DEMANDS, MEETING THOSE DEMANDS AS IF THEY WERE FIRST ROUND CHOICES EVEN THOUGH PICKED MUCH LATER, OWNERSHIP HAS PRECLUDED THE METS FROM FOLLOWING THE NYY & BOSOX IN THIS PRACTICE EXPLAINING WHY CHAMBERLAIN & HUGHES ARE DONNING BLACK INSTEAD OF BLUE PINSTRIPES. THE METS UNDER MINAYA HAVE BEEN RELEGATED TO IGNORING “BEST AVAILABLE” FOR “MOST SIGNABLE FOR POSITION RELUGATED $”, THUS WE GET SECOND ROUND TALENT WITH SECOND ROUND PICKS. THIS WAS ONLY UNTRUE, ONCE, LASTINGS MILLEDGE(WHO FELL DUE TO CHARACTER QUESTIONS NOT CASH DEMANDS) AND WE ALL SAW WHERE THAT’S GOTTEN US. ANOTHER MEANS FOR ACQUIRING TOP PROSPECTS IS THE INTERNATIONAL PLAYER POOL. OMAR WAS THE FIRST MET GM TO UTILIZE THIS OPPORTUNITY, SIGNING BLOTH CARLOS GOMEZ & FERNANDO MARTINEZ AS TEENAGERS.
CHANGING THE NAME & BODY HOLDING THE TITLE “NY METS GENERAL MANAGER” ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING & UNDER THIS OWNERSHIP’S GUIDELINES, I SUBMIT OMAR MINAYA HAS BEEN THE MOST EFFECTIVE AMONGST HIMSELF OR HIS PREDECESSORS PHILLIPS & DUQUETTE.
DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THOSE CONCLUSIONS THAT ARE DRAWN BY THE OBVIOUS “PENNY PINCHING”,”COUPON CUTTING”
THE FINANCIAL RETRICTIONS PLACED BY OWNERSHIP, I BELIEVE STEM FROM HONOR & VALUES LEARNED THROUGH LIVING DURING “THE GREAT DEPRESSION”.
1) HONORING ONE’S VOWS
2) NOT PAYING FOR SERVICES NOT RENDERED.
FRED WILPON VOWED TO NEVER PAY LUXURY TAXES ONCE HIS OPPOSITION TO IMPLEMENTATION WAS DEFEATED. THUS THERE IS A DEFINITE “HARD CAP” RESTRICTION OF WHEREVER THE LUXURY TAX LINE IS AND THE METS RARELY BUYOUT CONTRACTS FOR INEFFECTIVE MNGT OR UNPRODUCTIVE PLAYERS. PAYING MNGRS NOT TO MANAGE(HOWE,RANDOLPH) ARE RECENT EXCEPTIONS.
I ALSIO BELIEVE, THOUGH THIS IS MY ASSUMPTION, THAT FRED WILPON WAS TOTALLY EMBARASSED BY THE SOMEWHAT OUTLANDISH BEHAVIOR OFF THE FIELD BY MANY OF THE ’86ers AND HE;LL NOT TOLERATE IT UNDER HIS WATCH(DOUBLEDAY WAS MAJORITY, IN CHARGE PARTNER, IN 1986).
Nice job, Joe! Love the stats; they’re very telling about this team and what they’re lacking. It’s too bad the Mets didn’t keep their receipts. If they had, at least they could’ve gotten their money back for all their damaged goods.
July will be an interesting month. Will the core players come back at some point this month? Will they still be effective? Can they avoid dropping back any further in the standings? All of these questions have to be answered to determine whether we’re buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. If there are still questions to be asked come July 31, this team could be in more trouble than they are now.
I am a frustrated Met fan right now. We can’t win games these days.
“#3 starter Antonio Bastardo” – seriously? The guy is a rookie who made his major league debut on June 2nd. And by my count he’s missed just 1 start.
Chase Utley has played in 77 games out of 79. That is not “missing time due to injury” whatsoever. Not sure what you’re talking about there.
Cole Hamels has made 15 starts, missing just 1 due to injury, and that was in early May. That too is not missing time due to injury. Not sure about that one as well.
Appreciate the effort to write something besides talk radio rants, but to say the Phillies have been significantly hurt by injuries is disingenuous, considering all the actually significant time missed by Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, and the $36 million disaster Ollie Perez.
Also, J.C. Romero missed time due to a PED ban, not injury.
You lose ALL credibility when you make up stuff about the Phillies.
- Neither Hamels or Utley has been on the DL, although they’ve both missed a few games.
- Bastardo the 3rd starter? Have you heard of Moyers, Blanton, or Happ? Six pitchers have more starts than Bastardo.
- Romero the set-up man? Have you heard of Madson?
- Rodrigo Lopez holding down the fort? He’s appeared in exactly one game.
Bastardo was the teams number 4 pitcher according to phillies.com, but still Utley and Hamels shouldn’t even of have been mentioned. If you had left the Phillies comparison out, your post would have made a more powerful point. Still, the Mets are woefully bad.
Who cares about the Phillies? Look at how bad WE suck. And excuse me for saying this. but Wright is not an All Star or a gold glover. Dollar for dollar we are the worst team and it’s not even close. 50 homeruns at the break??? Thats a joke.
[...] a post to Mets Merized Online, Joe D wonders if the Mets, again, are the worst team money can buy, noting, “Even with the $80 [...]
I edited out Utley and Hamels and noted that Romero was suspended. My apologies, I thought they missed more time than they actually did. I still think it makes for a compelling comparison.
Wrong, wrong, wrong!! he injuries are a huge part of the problem with this team. When you look at Cora, Sheff and Tatis, all brought in here on a part time basis, now playing almost everyday. They simply can’t do it. If any team right now is a “joke” its the Phillies. its 100% inexcusable that they only have a four game lead on a third rate Mets team. The Phillies should be running away with the division.
The injuries you mention when comparing the Phils problems to Mets just don’t compare. The Met injuries are far more devestating than the Phillies one.
Your headline is correct- it is very similar to the early 90s Mets- so sad.
The mets still have $80 million dollars worth of healthy players. That is more than two-thirds of all the teams in baseball. You look at the Rays, Mariners, Twins, Marlins, Brewers and check out the bang for their buck on their lower payrolls.
And I’m not even including the 60 million we have on the DL.
I want to know what we have to show for the 80 million the Mets are paying Wright and the rest of the healthy lineup.
Your point is not lost on me, the Mets are the worst team money can buy. I just wanted to tell you that you forgot the best example of all among the teams you mentioned.
The Texas Rangers also make less than the $80 million dollars of healthy players the Mets have, and they are one of the best teams in the AL.
Omar Minaya hurt the Mets a lot more than Bernie Madoff did. Madoff ripped off the Wilpons, Minaya ripped off the fans.
This team might go down as one of the worst teams of all time and that is saying something considering what the 1962 Mets accomplished, but at least they were in their expansion year. The Mets never address all their problems at once. The bullpen was not the blame for the collapse the last two years, it was the lack of ability to go deep into games to give the pen a rest. They get Johan in 2008 and act like they’re good. One starting pitcher and a worn out bullpen is not going to get a wild card spot let alone a world championship. The scouting for this team is horrible. Atlanta, Minnesota just to mention two have brought up talent through their farm systems and continue to either win or build for the future. The Mets prize prospect that they will refuse to part with is Fernando Martinez? Give me a break. And Pelfrey was the best pitching prospect? We’re in trouble. The Phillies are the model franchise. The best players Howard, Utley, Hamels and Rollins were all through the farm system and you add a Werth, Lidge, Victorino, Moyer and Feliz and what do you get? A world championship that’s what. The Mets win the division once every 20 years or so mean while the Braves won like 11 eastern division titles in a row, the Marlins won two world championships the last 12 years and the Phils won the last two division titles in a row with a world championship. Just waiting for the Nats to win one before the Mets win another. The Mets brass along with Minaya and the retreads use the DL as an excuse why they’re so horrible but the last time I checked they were not winning with Delgado, Reyes, Beltran, so get over it. These guys don’t have what it takes to win the big one especially in New York. Oh yeah, Omar, signing the worst pitcher in baseball namely Oliver Perez to a raise of 36 mill over 3 years and over the hill Luis Castillo to a four year deal are two of the worst deals in Mets off season history. The worst trade ever was listening to that idiot Rick Peterson who thought it would be best to trade the best arm in the organization Scott Kazmir for that never was Victor Zambrano. I threw up when that deal went down. I was hoping it was a typo and they meant Carlos. Anyway time to break up this band of misfits and pump some fresh blood into this organization and get players that have some heart. So I want to bid farewell to the following New York Mess, I mean Mets, bye bye Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Luis Castillo, Ryan Church, Oliver Perez, Tim Redding. And trade Santana to a contender and don’t waste his prime years because if he knew this was the team he was going to be playing with he would have never signed a multi year with this organization. LETS GO MESS!
CAPSLOCK—ETC.
STEVEN? ARE U 12? WHO IS GOING TO ATTEND THE GAMES WITH NO CHANCE TO CONTEND? DO YOU THINK YOUR Wii EXPERIENCE & YOUR FANTASY GM PROWESS IS WHAT IT TAKES? WHY NOT VOTE TO BE CONTRACTED, NEXT OR GO LIVE IN THE BRONX. U BLAME SCOUTING FOR LACK OF PROSPECTS? YOU KNOW ABSOLUTLY NOTHING! U ARE AN UNMITIGATED IDIOT! IS THERE NO SUCH TYHING AS CHANGE IN YOUR UNIVERSE, OR IS WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE ALWAYS WHAT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN. IS THE PRESENT JUST A PRELUDE TO THE FUTURE? TURN IN YOUR FAN CEREDENTIALS AT THE NEAREST FIRE HYDRANT. #1 ALL THOSE TEAMS YOU CITE FOR BUILDING THROUGH A FARM SYSTEM NEVER SIGNED A TYPA A FREE AGENT OR HAD TO DEAL WITH DUNDERHEADS LIKE YOU WHO REFUSE TO TOLERATE FAILURE. WELL, WHAT DOES YOUR SOLUTION BRING? SUCCESS? I DOUBT IT. IF YOU COMPREHEND ANYTHING YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT TEAMS WHO SIGN TOP FREE AGENTS RELINQUISH THEIR TOP DRAFT PICKS, THE MOST PROLIFIC FREE AGENT SIGNING TEAMS ARE BOSTON & NYY. THEY SOLVE THE DRAFT PICK PROBLEM BY CHOOSING TO IGNORE COMMISSIONER’S GUIDELINES FOR DRAFT SLOT BONUSING. THEY LURK IN THE SECONDARY ROUNDS JUMPING ON PLAYERS WHOSE TALENTS WOULD MAKE THEM EARLY FIRST-RONDERS; BUT THEY WERE BYPASSED BY LOWBUDGET ALSO RAN TEAMS LIKE NATS,ROYALS,ETC DUE TO OUTRAGEOUS AGENT DEMANDS FOR THEIR SIGNINGS SUCH AS IMMEDIATE PLACEMENT ON 40 MAN & MULTIMILLION DOLLAR BONUSES. BOTH BOSOX & NYY CHOOSE THESE PLAYERS WITH THEIR FIRST PICKS(2nd ROUND) AND GLADLY FORK OVER THE OUTRAGEOUS TARRIFF IN VIOLATION OF SELIG’S GUIDELINES/RECOMMENDATIONS. OMAR’S NOT ALLOWED BY OWNERSHIP TO JOIN THEM IN THIS VULTURING THUS HUGHES & CHAMBERLAIN ARE DONNING BLACK PINS NOT BLUE ONES. THAT’S NOT A SCOUTING ISSUE; BUT AN OWNERSHIP ONE & BTW OMAR DOES N O T HAVE COMPLETE AUTONOMY TO DO THINGS LIKE PAY OVER GUIDELINES FOR DRAFTEES OR RAISE PAYROLL OVER LUXURY TAX LINES. TRY RANTING ON THE REAL CULPRITS, CONSIDERING THESE FACTS, YOUR SOLUTION WILL ONLY PROVIDE YOU WITH NATS QUALITY BALL ON FLUSHING’S PUBLIC PARK FIELDS(SINCE CITI WILL BE IN FORECLOSURE DUE TO NO ATTENDANCE BY U & YOUR ILK). DID U PAY ANY ATTENTION TO THE TEAM’S RECORD PRE-OMAR? DO U UNDERSTAND THE SCOUTING HAS BEEN GOOD BECAUSE THE MOST TALENT IS IN A-BALL, WHERE THEY BELONG & UPPER LEVELS ARE BARREN DUE TO PHILLIPS’ INEPTNESS, MOST TEAMS REPLENISH THEIR FARMS BY TRADING UNDERPRODUCTIVE OVERPRICED VETS FOR PKGS OF QUALITY PROSPECTS. BECAUSE OWNERSHIP REFUSED TO INCLUDE ANY SALARY RELIEF IN DEALS DUQUETTE’S ORDERED HOUSECLEANING DEALT THOSE TYPE VETS(ALOU,BENITEZ,BURNITZ,VENTURA,ZEILLE AND THE ONLY HALFWAY DECENT PROSPECT REC’D WAS ROYSE RING (FR CHISOX FOR ALOMAR). YOU CAN DEAL AWAY ALL THE BEST TALENT IT’S TAKEN 5 YEARS TO ACCUMULATE, FIRE PROBABLY THE BEST GM IN FRANCHISE HISTORY SINCE FRANK CASHEN AND IT WON’T CHANGE THE PROBLEM, MY OPINION, JEFF WILPON NOT FRED. LOSERS LIKE U CALL FRDE COUPONS OR CHEAP; BUT HOW DOES THAT JIVE WITH ONE OF IF NOT THE HIFGHEST PAYROLL IN NL. BOTH UNDER OMAR & PHILLIPS, JUST OMAR’S SPENT IT WISER ON PRIME AGE, NOT OVER AGE TALENT BELTRAN+WAGNER > ZEILLE+VENTURA+BENITEZ! WHY JEFF? ISN’T IT JEFF WHO HAD THE INNER CIRCLE OF LEITER,FRANCO,GLAVINE AS WELL AS HIRING A SEPERATE PERSONAL PITCHING G.M(GURU), IN PETERSON REPORTING NOT TO FIELD MGR OR GM; BUT DIRECTLY TO JEFF GIVING PETERSON ABSOLUTE POWER OVER ALL FRANCHISE PITCHING, INCL PERSONNEL( TRADES OF KAZMIR,LINDSSTRUM,OWENS,BANNISTER,BELL) ALL DEALT PITCHERS WHO BALKED AT BEING PETERSONED & WHO HELD THE PITCHING POWER? NOT OMAR OR DUQUETTE.
BERNAZARD’S A JEFF MAN ALSO. THE GUY IN THE WOODPILE, THE SPY IN THE OINTMENT. BTW, BERNAZARD’S ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR DEFLATING OUR PROSPECT’S VALUE BY PLACING THEM IN LEVELS BEYOND THEIR ABILITIES TO “STRETCH” THEM, MEANING THEY’LL STRUGGLE, A SITUATION NOT TOTALLY OBSCENE IF THE PROSPECT STAYS IN YR SYSTEM SINCE THEY’LL BE BATTLE TESTED BY FRUSTRATION. IMMEDIATE RESULT: DOWN PRODUCTION, LESSER TRADE VALUE. LONG TERM RESULT: RESILIENCY & SELF CONFIDENCE(VERY GOOD FOR ULTIMATE MLB TEAM)
STEVEN IT’S TIME U OPENNED YOUR EYES & REALIZED THE OBVIOUS IS NOT ALWAYS THE CORRECT ANSWER. GROW A PAIR & GROW UP! METS’ FARM SYSTEM HASN’T BEEN REALLY PRODUCTIVE SINCE THE 70s WHEN WE FINALLY PLOWED THROUGH ALL THE TOP TALENTS WE DRAFTED IN THE 60s BY STINKING FOR SO LONG. OMAR INHERITED A THIRD/FOURTH PLACE STINKO TEAM WHOSE ONLY REAL PROSPECTS WERE EITHER ALREADY PROMOTED(WRIGHT,REYES OR OVERHYPED HEILMAN) OR DEALT(KAZMIR OR OVERHYPED ESCOBAR). HE WAS LEFT WITH ONLY OVERHYPED MILLEDGE WHILE HE WENT INTO INT’L MARKET TO ACQUIRE GOMEZ & F-MART. BTW EVEN SO RESTRICTED PELFREY WAS OMAR’S.
CAPSLOCK, ETC.
JOE, BIGGEST FALICY TO YOU LOGIC IS THOSE LOWER PAYROLED TEAMS U EXAMPLE ARE CHOCK FULL OF HOMEGROWN TALENT PRE 5-6 YR EXPERIENCE. NOT FIELDING PLAYERS WO’S TALENT CEILING EQUALS REPLACEMENT/BENCH/MILB TALENT LEVEL.
THE TRUE CAUSE FOR THE MALAISE IS THE PISS POOR TALENT POOL THAT WAS ONLY TOP RATE IN THE 70s RESULTING FROM SO MANY TOP DRAFT PICKS EARNED THROUGH EXCELLENCE IN MEDIOCTRITY THROUGHOUT THE 60s. THIS FRANCHISE HAS ONLY BEEN RUN BY A BASEBALL/MET FAN UNDER NELSON DOUBLEDAY. JOAN PAYSON WAS OUT OF HER ELEMENT RE. BUSINESS REQUIREMENT OF FRANCHISE MAINTENANCE, HIRING M.DONALD GRANT. FRANK CASHEN, FOR ALL HIS BASEBALL ACUMEN, KNEW NOTHING OF MET FAN LOYALTY ACCOUNTING FOR “LOSS OF SEAVER2″ AS FREE AGENT COMPENSATION TO CHISOX CHOOSING TO PROTECT SOME UNKNOWN, NEVER HEARD OF POTENTIAL PROSPECT TO THE OLDER SP HE GAMBLED WOULD NEVER BE CHOSEN. FANS WITH A “WIN AT ALL COST” THOUGHT PROCESS HAVE CERTAINLY CHOSEN THE WRONG FRANCHISE IN “THE METS”. STEVE PHILLIPS & DAN DUQUETTE LEFT A BARREN TALENT POOL ONCE REYES & WRIGHT WERE PROMOTED & KAZMIR DEALT. THE DICOTOMY OF GOALS SET BY MET FANS IN WANTING A COMPETITIVE MLB FRANCHISE WITH A TALENT LADEN MILB ORGANIZATION WERE EXCLUSIVE GOALS AT THIS TIME FOR ANY GM ESP WITH SELIG SLOTTING SYSTEM FOR DRAFT PICKS. IN SPITE OF ALL THE EXECUTIVE INCOMPETANCE FRANCHISE HISTORY IS FROUGHT WITH THEY STILL MANAGED TO BE THE QUICKEST PRE-FREE AGENCY EXPANSION TEAM TO WIN A WS CHAMPIONSHIP. WHILE “OUR” TOP PROSPECTS MAY BE > MLB TOP PROSPECTS, THEY ARE ALL WE HAVE FOR THE FORSEEABLE FUTURE. YOUR COMMENTARY SEEMS IDENTICAL TO THAT OF THOSE POOH-POOHING OMAR’S CHANCES OF LANDING SAINT ANA. BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER.
If our homegrown talent is not on an equal par as some of the better teams, than why does Tony Bernazard still have a job, or Omar for that matter?
Where is our Billingsley, Lincecum, Jackson, Grienke, etc.?
WITH TEAMS HAVING FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS, OBVIOUSLY. JOE U SHOULD KNOW BETTER, I EXPECT MORE THINKING FROM U?
AND THEY HAVE DIFFERENT NAMES SUCH AS BURNETT,RENTERIA,LINDSTRUM,BELL,KAZMIR,ETC. THAT’ JUST OFF THE TOP OF MT BRAIN DAMAGED(POST-SURGICAL STROKE) HEAD! THUS THE REASON FOR CAPSLOCK W/ONLY 1 USEFUL PAW TO TYPE WITH…
Look at the law of statistics too, how many teams have huge stars that came through their farm system, not that many. They are NOT a dime a dozen but more like catching lightning in a bottle.
While today, in way things are this minutes you may not see it, but we do have Wright, Reyes, Pelfry, not too shabby…….
The mets just got dominated by the likes of Rodrigo Lopez, 46 yr old Jamie Moyer and Joe Blanton. Injuries have hurt this team and yes they have been forced to put out a lack luster line-up night after night but to muster no offense against these hapless pitchers is unreal and unexcusable. We as Met fans deserve a better effort. I know the Mets are hurt and banged up and dont a lot of the core guys but damn it show some heart and at least put up a fight which they failed to do this weekend
If you think the injuries are all BS, then I have a bridge to sell you. I am NOT arguing or condoning poor play, i.e. dropped flys, not hitting the cut off man, but when you have bench players and fill ins playing different positions every day, you are NOT going to get good baseball out of these guys on a regular basis.
To compare injuries we have to the Phils or any other team is BS too, because NONE of them have been as severe and extensive as what this team has suffered.
If this team was in the same position as it is, with the likes of Beltran, Reyes, Delgado, Putz, Maine, Perez, etc. not missing a day or a start in the rotation, I’d say you are right on 100%, but to dismiss it as all BS is way off.
Bench players, inexperienced minor leaguers, guys that keep having their positions changed are NOT going to get the job done. They do not have the stamina and to not have a day off since June 15, sure doesn’t help either.
KAY, SPOT ON; BUT U DIDN’T POINT OUT NYM IN FIRST BY 2G WHEN REYES & DELGADO DROPPED OUT MID MAY.
Didnt the Yankees lose their 2007-2008 ace pitcher Chien-Ming Wang for most of this season?
Plus the best player in baseball Alex Rodriguez for 6 weeks?
Plus their All Star catcher Jorge Posada for a long while too?
What about 25 HR 100 RBI .315 AVG Xavier Nady?
All teams have injuries.
The Yankees DL list was more extensive in terms of talent than the Mets.
Mets had 62 Million on the DL, Yankees had 89 million on the DL!!!
The difference is we had QUALITY RESERVES!!! And minor leaguers that are actually Major League READY!
Buy yourself a clue Mets fans!
First off toe sucker aroid lost status of being the best the first time he took a needle to his arse. Now he just another cheaterm
The injuries the yanks had were a lot shorter in terms of tome missed and comparing dollars is offbase too since your team over pays everyone.
Buy your own clue.
That steroid turd doesn’t deserve to be mentioned as an injury!
F$ A-Roid and the rest of your disgusting Skank-butt team. Go Red SOx, Go!
AND THAT TOP-NOTCH QUALITY REPLACEMENT FOR A-FREUD WAS? NOW PLAY 3 OF THEM IN YOUR LINEUP @ SAME TIME FOR 2 MOS. BTW NYY RECORD Vs BOSOX 0-8; BATTERED NYM 2-1. LMAO
Joe, I’m with you 100%. The thing is, injuries or not, the mental mistakes shouldn’t happen at this level. And the biggest difference between the Mets and Phillies is that their top players come through against the Mets and ours don’t against them. Look at Jimmy Rollins…he’s hitting like .200 but killing the Mets. And David Wright comes up with the bases loaded yesterday and hits into a double play, when even a strikeout would have been less costly.
Did any of you read ESPN the Magazine’s current issue with the pro sports franchises all ranked according to how they treat fans and try to put a winning product on the field? The top team (among all four major sports) was the Angels, and they pointed out how the organization puts emphasis on fundamentals, and on smart players who will keep you in every game from the big leagues on down to rookie ball…something Mike Sciosia demands from the organization and something they take very seriously. As a result, they are always in contention. The Mets could learn a thing or two from the Angels, don’t you think?
Mike Sciosia is what a mgr should be. We have clueless Jerry. There is no comparison whatsoever.
MASK? CLUELESS? WHAT WAS JERRY TO DO & WHEN? ST? 15 MIAs @ WBC. PLAYERS ARE ALL TRYING TO DO TOO MUCH, TRY COUNTING # OF 1 HANDED CATCHES ANY OPPONENT MAKES IN ANY GAME. THIS 2 HANDED RULE IS REDICULOUS GUIDELINE NOONE FOLLOWS @ MLB LEVEL. CHECK IT OUT 2 HAND CATCHES ARE LIKE DODO BIRDS, EXTINCT. GO BACK TO LL U MUST LIKE IT IN TE MOB, LOTS OF COMPANY IN THE ASYLUM. NO?
Very well thought out piece, Joe. I remain a little torn on everything that has affected and is effecting the Mets in 2009, but there’s no denying the payroll-productivity ratios, unforeseen injuries notwithstanding.
Oh, the humanity!
Wow a yankee fan here and kind of forgets to mention that they play in a band box that allows any fly ball to go out. They were missing Arod for a while so no comparison. Hey Joe no way to compare the dollar amounts. Mets may have 80 million left of players but who are those players? Phils have lost Myers last month and Ibanez also but they have no pitching and the guys that pitched against Mets this weekend were pitcing to a AAA team not a complete Mets team. Yes they are bad and the mental mistakes are really dreadful but please, the Phils injuries do not compare to Mets and they
should have a bigger lead since they have their MVPs, Howard, Rollins, Utley, Feliz, Victorino, Werth, Ruiz, they are not missing the starter that the Mets are missing so please do not compare injury wise. Maybe our 80 million currently not injured is more than maybe Rays or Rangers but they have all their players, other than Ikamora for Rays and Hamilton for Rangers, so that is not a fair comparison. You can have 200 million in players and that does not guarantee you will win, just ask yanks. Mets are missing power and speed so this would make a diff in Citi to quote your stats. BP has not been great lately because of starter not going long and loss of Putz. My big problem with Mets this year is the mental lapses and errors in positioning and out of position players not knowing where to go. This rests on Omar and Jerry. I could tolerate the Mets losing w/o their stars if it wasn’t for the shoddy play. I have been a fan since 1968 and this team is not the worst team money can buy. I still feel that the Yankees will own that title until they win something again.
SARGE, MUCH OF WHAT U SAY IS VALID; BUT I’D NEED TO POINT OUT THAT REPLACEMENT PLAYERS USUALLY LET U DOWN UNLESS HOLLYWOOD IS INVOLVED. METS ARE UNFORTUNATLY LEFT WITH A ROSTER NOT SEEN SINCE THE LAST STRIKE PUT A BUNCH OF SCABS ON MLB FIELDS. MY BEST EXAMPLE WOULD BE CORA, A NICE ACQUISITION TO SPELL CASTILLO’S KNEES(HIS JOB DESCRIPTION); BUT HE ISN’T NOW OR EVER WAS A TOPFLIGHT SS MEANT AS A REG STARTER. MURPHY? A MISTAKE FROM THE GETGO, LIKELY OFFERING TO FANS CLAMORING FOR HOMEGROWN YOUTH ON ROSTER.
The team is terribly boring. Once in a while, they will win a game – same as any bad team, but too often the team is both sloppy and listless. Like most other Met fans, I’ve been calling for a trade, but when a so-so player like Scott Hairston costs 3 pitching prospects, I’m not sure there’s much that Omar can do that wouldn’t be regarded as stupid by most fans. Fernando Martinez for Josh Willingham ? Niese and Daniel Murphy for Nick Johnson ? Brad Holt and Ike Davis for Aubrey Huff ? Maybe this is just another year that injuries are too much to overcome and the Mets should be sellers at the deadline.
BARRY, THE UNSPOKEN REASON FOR NOT DOING A “LITTLE’ COSMETIC DEAL IS THAT OMAR CAN’T LET PAYROLL EXCEED $162M (THE ’09 LUXURY TAX LINE). BEEING AT $149,373,987 RIGHT NOW HE HAS ONLY 12,626,013 TO ALLOCATE. USING ONLY A SMIDGEON OF THAT ON LIPGLOSS FOR THIS CURRENT ‘PIG’ LINEUP WOULD ELIMINATE ANY POSSIBILITY OF A HOLIDAY OR HALLADAY SINCE @ 13M FOR FULL SEASON, EITHER WERE PLANNED TO TUCK IN NICELY CONSIDERING THE FULL SEASON WOULD BE PRORATED & TRADED PLAYERS SUBTRACTED THE FIT WOULD BE SNUG; BUT WOULD’VE WORKED HAD WE NEEDED IT SANS INJURIES. THUS, IN CASE OF TIMELY PLAYER RETURNS, OMAR WOULD BE FOOLISH YO CHOOSE A HUFF OR DUNN OVER A HOLIDAY OR HALLADAY JUST FOR A SMALL SHORT TERM BENEFIT.
Whither Murph? Am I asking idiotically if this guy can ever be a solid 1B-man? We have seen him make some sparkling plays, and he really does strike me as a natural hitter w/ at least 20HRs potential. Is it crazy to call for patience w/ him? I know my usual mantra w/ this guy is that he gives back whatever good he gave, but I keep wondering…
Murphy is just another Dave Magadan type player without the great defense. He is below average offensively and defensively as a first baseman, and his ceiling is not very high.
Yes, patience with Murph, Evans, Parnell, Stokes, and F-Mart. These are the last major league ready prospects we have. I don’t mind a rebuilding year if it’s with young guys like this, as opposed to watching our gigantic payroll fall apart in a hospital.
The Mets tried having patience with Steve Henderson, Doug Flynn, Mike Vail, Dan Norman, Bruce Boisclair, Craig Swan, Skip Lockwood, etc. How did that work out?
Our dream outfield of Alex Escobar and Alex Ochoa coupled with Generation K (Pulsipher, Wilson, Isringhausen), how did that work out?
A bird in the hand is always worth more than two in the bush.
A prospect is just a suspect until proven otherwise.
Only one out of six prospects enjoy a career in the majors for longer than two years.
Just because the guys you mention are the Mets best prospects, does not make them great prospects. None of the players you mention are even on Baseball America’s Top 50. And four of them are not even in the top 200, and after F-Mart’s performance I’m dying to see how much lower he ranks come September.
Joe, I agree completely with your statement: “A prospect is just a suspect until proven otherwise.” That is why I just cannot understand the position of Mets fans who do not want to trade prospects for known quality Major Leaguers. There are trades being made. We should have completed one by now. Jerry may have his gut feelings, but I have mine. And that is that some of these injuries are going to drag out longer than imagined. We need to fill some of these holes right away and Omar needs to stop playing ostrich. Then what do you do with the new player when the injured one returns? As Steve Summers said yesterday on the FAN: “You work them into the team, that’s what you do with them.” That’s why we need to trade for multi-talented players who can play more than 1 position.
MASK, I REFER U TO MY REPLY TO BARRY I’M PASTING HERE SAVING U TIME IN HUNTING:
THE UNSPOKEN REASON FOR NOT DOING A “LITTLE’ COSMETIC DEAL IS THAT OMAR CAN’T LET PAYROLL EXCEED $162M (THE ‘09 LUXURY TAX LINE). BEEING AT $149,373,987 RIGHT NOW HE HAS ONLY 12,626,013 TO ALLOCATE. USING ONLY A SMIDGEON OF THAT ON LIPGLOSS FOR THIS CURRENT ‘PIG’ LINEUP WOULD ELIMINATE ANY POSSIBILITY OF A HOLIDAY OR HALLADAY SINCE @ 13M FOR FULL SEASON, EITHER WERE PLANNED TO TUCK IN NICELY CONSIDERING THE FULL SEASON WOULD BE PRORATED & TRADED PLAYERS SUBTRACTED THE FIT WOULD BE SNUG; BUT WOULD’VE WORKED HAD WE NEEDED IT SANS INJURIES. THUS, IN CASE OF TIMELY PLAYER RETURNS, OMAR WOULD BE FOOLISH YO CHOOSE A HUFF OR DUNN OVER A HOLIDAY OR HALLADAY JUST FOR A SMALL SHORT TERM BENEFIT
ALSO MASK, DON’T EVER BELIEVE WHAT HAIRSTON WENT FOR FROM As IS PRICEW DEMANDED OF NYM. U SEEM TO IGNORE THERE’S NOTHING STOPPING THESE TEAMS FROM DEMANDING A ‘CORE’ FOR A ‘FIXERUPPER’ OR OUR 2 OR 3 BEST PROSPECTS? BTW WHAT’S DiROSA’S CNTRIBUTION RIGHT NOW? WASN’T HE, YOUR LATEST “GUY”?
62, You can bicker about how much $ are available and what the price will be, but that’s Omar’s job. Let him find the deal that works since that’s what he gets paid to do. Other teams have made deals. Omar needs to earn his keep and he’s just not doing that. As far as DeRosa goes, he got hurt just after LaRussa picked him up. But that can happen on any deal. Supposed to be day to day and back shortly anyway (our injureds are longer), so even that one would likely have worked out.