Mets Reach New Low As Figgy Falters In 7-3 Loss

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• theonlymaskman September 18, 2009 at 8:44 am

  This post is right-on regarding its conclusions. It is going to be a long haul back and the worst part is that there is no confidene that mgt has no clue how to right the ship.

  In any event, last night’s game was definitely forgettable. Figueroa handed the game away and McCann’s blast put it away for good. He has flirted with the GOAT in prior games but managed to escape until last night. Now he owns a set of horns to put on his very thin trophy shelf.

  GOAT for the game is obvious: Figueroa, no question there at all.

  GOATS for the 2nd Half are: Parnell, Pelfrey, Cora, Perez, Pelfrey, Santana, Niese, Green, Pelfrey, Pagan, KRod, LHernandez, KRod, Parnell, Pagan, LHernandez, KRod, LHernandez, Parnell, Tatis, Misch, Perez, Parnell, Murphy, Pelfrey, Stokes, Parnell, Pelfrey, Stokes, Pagan, Redding, Misch, Parnell, Tatis, Valdez, Murphy, Misch, Murphy, Figueroa.

  GOAT Repeaters: Parnell(6), Pelfrey(5), Pagan(3), LHernandez(3), KRod(3), Misch(3), Murphy(3), Perez(2), Stokes(2), Tatis(2).

  The list grows by the day, but the GOLDEN HORNS remain in contention. Parnell may abdicate his throne due to the mercy killing of his removal from the starting rotation. So Pelf may move into 1st place soon enough. We also have a nice race for Dishonorable Mention going on behind the two leaders. We will know the outcome soon enough.
  • theonlymaskman September 18, 2009 at 8:47 am

    Sorry for the double negative. There is no confidence that mgmt has ANY clue how to right the ship.
    • Joe D September 18, 2009 at 9:51 am

      When it comes to the Mets, double negatives and even triple negatives, are in big supply.
• Amazin86er September 18, 2009 at 9:00 am

  Well, there have been whispers that if the Mets did not show some fight or had a horrible finish to the season then Jerry Manuel could run the risk of losing his job. So, anyone who wishes for the Mets to replace Manuel at season’s end should be happy with the increasingly poor play.

  However, I continue to see fans getting more upset on forums, blogs, etc. with each loss. My question is why? What realistically does anyone expect from this group? Fans want to see some of the younger players but yet they are not willing to deal with the growing pains. I just fail to see why anyone would expect this currently configured team to win anything more than maybe 1 game per series, if that. Have you looked at the starting rotation lately?

  To continue to say the Mets do not have a direction, etc. is just piling on in what has been a disaster of a season. Let the season end then see how the offseason shakes out before going off the deep-end about how they have no direction.

  Maybe I am wrong but I really doubt the Mets organization is just going to waiste the money and years they have already invested in Beltran, Santana, Rodriguez, Wright, and Reyes without trying to surround them with quality players and make a run at the division and a playoff birth come 2010. If they do not surround them with a strong supporting cast then every fan has a right to complain but jumping to conclusions before the offseason even begins and without seeing how the roster shapes up concerning 2010 is getting way ahead themselves.

  While I believe most fans want answers now it is just completely unrealistic to expect to get them now. When the season ends, post-season play ends, free-agency starts(15 days after the World Series), Winter Meetings, you hear who is available in trade, etc. is when you will get answers to which direction the organization is going to take. You certainly are not going to get answers with 2 weeks left in season with a ragtag roster which for whatever reason a lot of fans seem to be expecting way too much from.
  • Joe D September 18, 2009 at 9:49 am

    I don’t disagree with anything you said. It’s so frustrating that we are not even capable of using the final two weeks to simply evaluate players and get a solid footing on what decisions we have to make this off season. There are so many questions left to be answered, and no player aside from Jeff Francoeur, has given us any indication they deserve a spot on this roster. Of course that doesn’t include Reyes, Wright and Beltran; our core players. I wanted to see just one reliever or would-be starter finish strong and give us a performance that was note worthy. I would have wanted to see a guy like Pagan play like a 3-year major leaguer instead of making little league mistakes. It would have been nice to get a little head start on constructing the 2010 Mets.
• Amazin86er September 18, 2009 at 10:45 am

  I get wanting to see a few younger players have positive stepping stone types of ends to their seasons but you also have to look at what the Mets are dealing with overall. Niese and Martinez were lost to injury and would be playing now if they had not.

  In my opinion Parnell was mishandled considering he was still figuring himself out as a reliever and then all of a sudden they put him in the rotation. I hate the idea of stretching out a young pitcher 2/3 into a season when he has been a reliever the whole time and trying to get stretched out at the big league level no less. Parnell started off really strong in the bullpen and then struggled a bit and then seemed to put it back together only to have his role as a pitcher change suddenly.

  If there was any idea of starting Parnell he should have been sent to the Minor Leagues and allowed to get stretched out properly instead of starting MLB games and being on miniscule pitch count. Anyhow they have jerked the guy around a bit and now he is back in the bullpen with reports he is going to be a starter in a Fall or Winter League. Quite frankly I do not see how he would even fit into their rotation plans in 2010 considering I expect them to tender Maine a contract and Pelfrey, Perez, and Santana to be back which would leave 1 spot. I have to believe the Mets top priority will be to in some way acquire another frontline starter. No way they go into 2010 with Santana, Pelfrey, Maine, Perez, and Parnell and really believe that is enough to win with but hey if they do then the gloves are off.

  Concerning Pagan, well he is a boneheaded player, pure and simple. He would be making the same mistakes on any other team. While he is talented I have to ask if it is worth the risk to have him around as a 4th OF or a bench/role player considering he would be coming off the bench in crucial situations and/or playing the OF late in games. Do you really want him on the bases or in the field in a crucial juncture in a game or season?

  Also, a guy like Thole is proving to have a nice approach at the plate but I caution because of the recent past…Daniel Murphy(who in the end may be getting treated unfairly as well considering he really does not have a position or at least cannot play his natural position on the Mets because of David Wright but taking everything into consideration this has been a learning experience for Murphy and he has begun to hold his own somewhat offensively, unfortunately he has been under the lights of New York with a lot of scrutinizing going on, in a smaller market many would have said this was a stepping stone for him). However, concerning Thole, he seems to be pretty far away when thinking about allowing him to be behind the plate on a regular basis handling a pitching staff and his overall catching ability is supsect but he is obvioulsy still making the transition and developing his skill set.

  In the end I have a feeling the Mets will pleasantly surprise the fans with what happens over the offseason and I definitely think there might be a big change in store but remember sometimes big changes also require a sacrifice. I may be completely wrong but the only thing we can do is take the wait-and-see approach.
• Joe D September 18, 2009 at 10:53 am

  How they handled Parnell was appalling, and Pelfrey too for that matter. I’m not firmly convinced that F-Mart is all he’s cracked up to be, and Niese has to be perfect with his control to be effective because he doesnt really have any plus pitches.

  Thole and Murphy remind me of the type of players the Money Ball disciples would draft, and usually those types won’t become stars or even everyday players in the long run.

  I hope you’re right and the Mets do surprise us this off season. Minaya always like to make a big splash with one player each December. I wonder who that player will be this time?
  • Eric M. September 18, 2009 at 11:04 am

    Moneyball (one word) ruined the game in more ways than one. It created a cult of Beane counters that have yet to prove that age old statistics like RBI’s, Batting Average, Homeruns and Stolen Bases are flawed.

    The following is from the book that will soon be a movie.

    Beane put together a list of twenty players they’d draft in a “perfect world”, meaning if money was no object and they didn’t have to compete with the other twenty-nine teams.

    The list, and the teams who drafted them:

    Pitchers

    Jeremy Guthrie – Cleveland, #22 (1st round)
    Joe Blanton – Oakland, #24 (1st round)
    Jeff Francis – Colorado, #9 (1st round)
    Luke Hagerty – Chicago Cubs, #32 (1st round)
    Ben Fritz – Oakland, #30 (1st round)
    Robert Brownlie – Chicago Cubs, #21 (1st round)
    Stephen Obenchain – Oakland, #37 (1st round)
    Bill Murphy – Oakland, #98 (3rd round)

    Hitters

    Nick Swisher – Oakland, #18 (1st round)
    Russ Adams – Toronto, #14 (1st round)
    Khalil Greene – San Diego, #13 (1st round)
    John McCurdy – Oakland, #26 (1st round)
    Mark Teahen – Oakland, #39 (1st round)
    Jeremy Brown – Oakland, #35 (1st round)
    Steve Stanley – Oakland, #67 (2nd round)
    John Baker – Oakland, #128 (4th round)
    Mark Kiger – Oakland, #158 (5th round)
    Brian Stavisky – Oakland, #188 (6th round)
    Shaun Larkin – Cleveland, #274 (9th round)
    Brant Colamarino – Oakland, #218 (7th round)

    ooooohhh, look at all those all stars and future hall of famers!
    • Met Maniac September 18, 2009 at 11:13 am

      Moneyball didnt ruin the game. The game is still the same and will go on as it always has. What Moneyball ruined was a small percentage of what used to be normal baseball fans, and turned them into statistics bellowing, numbers crunching, percentages pondering lunatics.
      • Matt F. September 18, 2009 at 5:08 pm

        Since moneyball, the steroid era ceased, and a defensive revolution has taken place.

        I have nothing but admiration and respect for sabermetric enthusiasts. To criticize them is silly.
  • Amazin86er September 18, 2009 at 11:11 am

    I am not sure about Fernando Martinez either(I am not sure how anyone could judge him at this point when you consider his age, experience level, and his propensity to get injured)but I was just pointing out that there would be more prospects to check out in the last month of the season.

    Whatever they do in the offseason it should start with another frontline starter allowing them to push the unknowns and wild cards that are Pelfrey, Maine, and Perez down a spot. After that I do not think they need to add “star” players. It may be unpopular here but I would bring Delgado back when compared to the other free-agent options or Murphy. Ike Davis seems to be a legitimate prospect who is on the fast track so I think Delgado would be a good stopgap solution for 1 season allowing Davis to develop properly and at the same time not blocking him in the near future. Other than that I would look for some quality bats that are preferrably good clubhouse guys that are also somewhat versatile. Who they are? I have no idea at this point.

    In 2006 the Mets had a combination of contibutors such as Floyd, Lo Duca, Valentin, Nady, and later on Green, and even Chavez who formed a solid supporting cast to the stars(Beltran, Delgado, Reyes, and Wright). It allowed the “core” to just do what they do without the added pressure of having to pick up the slack.

    The same can be said with the 2006 bullpen with veteran arms like Bradford and Oliver providing a calming influence.

    Those are the types of players the Mets have missed both on the field of play, in the dugout, and in the clubhouse as well.
• Shamsky September 18, 2009 at 5:40 pm

  Two weeks ago everybody was gloating about Bobby Parnell, Pat Misch and Nelson Figueroa and I said then that they were not worthy of rotation spots. Obviously, Parnell has been bumped, and Misch and Figueroa would be to if the Mets had anybody else they could throw in into their place.