Pelfrey Continues To Be Awful, Mets Lose 9-5

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• Des March 18, 2012 at 5:21 pm

  “Fernando Martinez wasn’t looking so sharp at the plate for the Astros as he struck out three times today. He now has a .190 average this spring. Maybe there isn’t much left in the tank for him.”

  F-Mart has always had his streaks. So unless his knees are worse than thought, I think it’s just another streak — a really bad one. But if Sandy knew that Fernando has rapidly degrading arthritis, the move by him to unload was smart and timely. We’ll see what F-Mart does on the field in the next two weeks.
• Des March 18, 2012 at 5:25 pm

  From the NY Post:
  “The move to cut Martinez loose was prompted by a need to cut two players from the 40-man roster after the signings of Scott Hairston and Ronny Cedeno.”

  Sandy has made some smart moves with Cedeno looking good. We’ll see about Hairston.
• Steve March 18, 2012 at 5:52 pm

  I was at the game today and got so disgusted with Pelfrey I left the game after the top of the third. Been here since Monday and saw 4 Mets games and except for the tie on Monday they lost the other three. This is going to be a long season.
• Matt March 18, 2012 at 6:41 pm

  Good to see Pelf is staying consistent and is already pitching like it is July.

  As for saying F-Mart might not have much left in the tank…that tank was only half full when the Mets bought him 6 years ago.
• srt March 18, 2012 at 6:43 pm

  Listened to the game.
  There wasn’t anything positive you could say about Pelfrey’s outing. But hey, he finally got a couple of strikeouts.
  It’s getting late Pelfrey…..
• Met Maniac March 18, 2012 at 6:48 pm

  3-11 is pretty disgusting as was Terry Collins saying he doesn’t care about wins and losses in March. I guess he don’t believe in momentum going into the season. Last year the Mets started 5-13 and then got red hot, but this year they wont have Beltran and Reyes to save them OR carry them.
  • Des March 18, 2012 at 6:54 pm

    Maniac — It sucks, but Terry is playing just about his entire team. Nobody will be able to say they didn’t get a chance. When the starters are playing exclusively, I’d expect the results to get better. If they don’t then we have a big problem.
• any March 18, 2012 at 7:30 pm

  I wonder now if at some point in the near future we will finally find out that on top of being a headcase, Pelf actually has some sort of physical problem? Something has to explain his diminishing velocity and continued degradation of his stuff.

  Not surprised that he isn’t getting better, but wasn’t expecting him to keep getting worse!
• USMF March 18, 2012 at 7:51 pm

  The record in spring doesn’t matter, but what happens during those games does….

  The positives I see are…

  1. The rotation (outside of Pelf) has looked pretty good…expect for RAD, every guy in the rotation really needed to come out strong and Neise, Gee and Santana have given exactly what we would have hoped for.

  2. Other than the guys who have spots already locked up in the pen, our relievers have looked pretty promising. Batista, Acosta and Parnell all are fighting for jobs and they all have looked good. I know that Ramirez, Rauch and Francisco all are supposed to be the “big upgrades” and they all suck…I’m not going to worry about them until the season is closer. I tend to believe that relievers can’t be effective in games that don’t matter.

  3. Santana is looking much better than expected.

  and the bad…

  1. Pelf sucks…if anybody needed a strong spring to boost confidence (his and ours) it is Pelf and instead I don’t think Mike has had one good inning let alone one good outing or even one good positive to take away from any of his starts.

  2. It’s had to blame the O for not scoring runs because, lets be honest…we haven’t seen the opening day lineup healthy enough to see if it can produce. Between Wright, Ike, Duda, Tejada and Torres missing time…who knows what the opening day lineup will look like or if it will have enough at bats to be up to speed or if it will even be healthy.

  3. Pelf sucks…he’s been so bad that it has to get double mention.

  Overall, I’d say that the losses can be pinned to players who won’t make it to the opening day roster so their poor performance shouldn’t matter too much…yes, Ramirez, Rauch and Francisco have sucked, but I’m hoping they’ll be better once the season starts…the real problem is, there is a real concern that the injuries are going to have a major negative effect on the team winning game.
  • Fonzie13 March 18, 2012 at 9:29 pm

    Why hold back with your Pelfrey analysis. Tell us how you really feel. lol
• larman March 18, 2012 at 8:28 pm

  It seems like what i’ve been saying all winter long and now spring, this teams looks like the 1977, 1978,1979, 1980, 1982,1983,1990.1991thru 1997,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2008thru the present. This is what the wilpons give us as hope to fans. These years mean during the wilpons as owners how many losing seasons for us. Now do people get it, the mets as a whole, and it looks the same for this season. The mets system as a whole needs new BLOOD TO RUN THIS TEAM. It kills me as a fan of the mets for 41 years. Why is it so hard for the wilpons to do what’s RIGHT, SELL,SELL,SELL. We need new direction ASAP. Why don’t anybody feel the same as me.We let reyes go, i feel like this mets remains me of the 1977, where the stuipd mets traded our tom seaver to the reds for what nothing in value in return, Just like give up on nady in 2006 where if we kept him we would have won the pennant. We sign all these good players but they play like little children for all this money, when the yankees do it they win, why, why. I think with new owners who really give a damn about this mets, new blood, new direction to produce home product, then this team will shine again, not for one season like always, but for 5 to 10 years. With the right attitude and make these players play hard for their money they make, and not sit with their buns in their hands we can do it, but not with the wilpons running this ship, so sad isn’t it.
  • alan March 19, 2012 at 1:46 pm

    When are you going to realize that the 1977 “Midnight Massacre” was created by a different ownership situation. Mrs Payson’s death allowed M D Grant to be in charge as her family had no knowledge or interest in baseball. The Wilpons are not going to sell and you can stand on your head and spit nickels but it ain’t gonna happen. Selling might be the right thing for you or me if the new ownership had deep pockets. The Wilpons are just trying to ride out the Madoff Scandal….Bottom line….After years of trying to build a championship team with signing free agents to big/long contracts…..it has been decided to REBUILD first by finding the right guy to do it…Hello Sandy A.and then with acquiring young prospects for our aging and fragile stars. Our championship years were fueled by good if not great pitching staffs. SEAVER….KOOSMAN…MATLACK….GOODEN…..DARLING….CONE….were all developed either in our system or in the case of Darling and Cone elsewhere but acquired for players with more experience at the ML level. No body gives away good pitching any more. Veteran stars who become free agents too often have lots of innings piled up or are beginning to show age and wear and tear. The days of the QUICK FIX are over for the METS. Give it some time and remember that the Wilpons hired Frank Cashen in thew off season of 1982 who within 2 years brought in a new manager….and made trades etc for the final pieces of the puzzle.

    It may take a bit longer…but when it is done we should have a good team that will give us years of playoff caliber baseball!
    • Joey D. March 19, 2012 at 6:56 pm

      Hi Alan,

      What’s missing is the fact that a team can develop and prosper in the minor leagues while still fielding a competitive team in the majors. There is no reason for “rebuilding” unless a team suddenly ages all at once as we are slowly seeing with the Phillies – the biggest example was the Yankee dynasty that ended in 1964 and hit rock bottom in 1966 with nobody to replace the heart of the team – Mantle, Maris, Howard, Ford, Richardson, Kubek. Murcer and Munson came a few years later.

      The 2011 Mets were not in that type of situation. While Bay has been a bust, the other key veterans over 30 were still producing in the likes of Beltran and Dickey. Santana, we hope, is on the mend. KRod was still an effective closer. The Mets then had the young Davis, Murphy, Reyes, Wright, Duda, Gee, Parnell, Neise, Thole and players one year away in the minors. No rebuilding was necessary, just additional help in pitching and at least Sandy did acquire a few relievers to help resolve that problem a little.

      And let’s not forget that with about a third of the season to go, the Mets were only five games back in the loss column for the wildcard and without their two top hitters in Wright and Davis. That is not an indication of a team in need of total rebuilding.

      Rebuilding was the spin used to minimize the fact that the Wilpons were in a financial mess and still are, despite today’s ruling. One thing we know about them is their desire to win – and pulling the rug out from a team like they did last year was something that goes against that desire. It had to occur for something other than “rebuilding”.
• Metfan Lou March 18, 2012 at 9:01 pm

  You send Matt Harvey down and keep Mike Pelfrey-yeah I know we’re paying this bum 5 mil but what the heck what is 5 million on top of a 500 mil debt. I know all you guys are going to tell me Harvey needs more seasoning at AAA ball, but don’t forget guys like Gooden who was a phenom at 21. Yeah hang on to this guy-smart real smart. Besides Collins blames it on Thole anyway, yeah that’s the answer it’s Thole’s fault. Woe is us.
  • Fonzie13 March 18, 2012 at 9:26 pm

    Doc was on a different planet. When he was 18 he struckout 300 in 191 innings in advanced A ball. He was much more polished at 18 than Harvey is now. I think they’re doing the right thing by not rushing him. Look how that affected Pelfrey growth. Harvey still has work to do with his secondary pitches. He’ll be here before long.
    • Metfan Lou March 18, 2012 at 9:40 pm

      I agree with you if the Mets were a contending team but we’re not and most pundits pick us for last in the division. Having Harvey develop on this Mets team makes sense. Won’t hurt to have him on the opening day roster . And you know what who is to say he can’t be a Jeremy Lin for the Mets. Wouldn’t that be a real cinderella story.
      • trs86 March 19, 2012 at 8:09 am

        Won’t hurt to have him on the opening day roster? Why on earth would we do that? He’s just not ready yet. IF this team was in contention that would be more reason to go with the BEST you have. But at the risk of harming Harvey for basically no benefit? (Well other than we would not have to see or hear about Pelfrey) It’s not worth it.
• Des March 18, 2012 at 9:34 pm

  Lou — There are many reasons why the Mets don’t want Harvey right now. What happens if he bombs in the bigs? Will they have a head case? Starting the arbitration clokd has some downsides. Read about it here:
  http://jameslincolnray.suite101.com/how-baseball-arbitration-works-a45599
  • Fonzie13 March 18, 2012 at 10:06 pm

    That should also show the folks who think Sandy gave Pelfrey a raise the reason why he got a raise. Even though he sucks. lol
• Joey D. March 18, 2012 at 10:08 pm

  I’ll agree this is only spring training but the team appears so flat and broken in spirit that if ever a club needed to have a productive last two weeks of the grapefruit league, this would be it.

  Again, my point about how much damage getting rid of KRod and Beltran during the middle of the season has most likely caused. Until they were sent packing, the Mets were playing hard and inspired baseball with both a never give up attitude and the confidence it could hold it’s own with others. That all evaporated once their star hitter and closer left. Without their best clutch hitter and reliever they could count on to “put it in the books” (most of the time, anyway) they began to press. We saw their confidence in themselves as a team slowly evaporate before our eyes. There was no more killer instinct that inspired many a late inning comeback. They finished the year lost and demoralized.

  Had they finished the season on the winning track (forget about the playoffs) this slow start would be just shrugged off as spring training for they would have already had proved to themselves that they are a good ball club. Even the season ending injury to Murphy and the two short stints Jose then had on the DL would have been seen as just tough breaks and ancient history. Even with Beltran and KRod now gone, they could look forward to Davis and Santana in their place. Nor do I see anyone on the team feeling good about last season because we got Zach Wheeler.

  If anything, winter improvements were needed to help wipe away the bad memories of the last third of the season but instead they got the opposite. The front office didn’t attempt to retain their star shortstop nor did then use some of that saved money to patch up other areas.

  Those who contend the future of the team is down on the farm much more than the parent club have nothing to complain about since they are looking ahead to 2014 and beyond. Can respect that opinion, especially if they contend that the money is just not there. But those of us who feel a great portion of that future was already on the parent club do have a right to complain for it can also be contended that just from a financial perspective, keeping KRod and Beltran would have increased revenue due to bigger crowds the team would have otherwise drawn and the momentum on the field also spilling over to advance ticket sales for 2012. Combined, this would have certainly offset the costs of those contracts and bonuses.

  For myself, it is obvious that I strongly feel there are certain things that sitting behind a desk and relying on computer analysis and cost effectiveness can’t resolve and could instead cause a negative effect. It might be the only way to survive in Oakland but for the New York City area that’s ridiculous.
  • Des March 18, 2012 at 10:17 pm

    Joey D. — “the team appears so flat and broken in spirit”

    I hadn’t noticed. Maybe it’s the green beer. lol Really, the psychoanalysis is best when Dr. Freud applies it. Or Dr. Sandy.

    Thanks, Joey D., but I don’t see a team broken in spirit — not a team with Ike, Murphy and Bay. What they need in my mind is some days with a full starting lineup and then good things will happen.
• Metfan Lou March 18, 2012 at 11:19 pm

  And don’t forget the federal court case hanging over the Wilpons and their partners. You say it doesn’t affect the team, yes it does. The players know that their future with the Mets depends on the finances of the Wilpons. Ask yourself if the Mets had won the Fed case before the Reyes talks, would Reyes still be a Met. The Mets players today are playing for the day when they will be playing for a new team.And their agents know it too!
• Joey D. March 18, 2012 at 11:41 pm

  Hi Des,

  It’s quite noticeable for I think Lou got it right – the players know the future of the club depends upon the Wilpons. They busted their rear-ends off and any professional team being just five games out in the loss column with one third of the season to go would feel they were good enough to make a run for the playoffs. How could they not only feel demoralized but angry as well having the front office cheat them out of such an opportunity? This is what they play for, not so the general manager can instead get a highly rated prospect pitching in A ball.

  As Lou implied, I can see Davis, Murphy and Duda wanting to get out of Flushing as soon as possible so they can be on a team that ownership will not cut the rug from underneath them. It’s no secret that it’s going to take a long time for the Wilpons to reverse their financial plight, regardless of the civil suit outcome. The players understand this but that doesn’t mean they can just shrug it off.
• Alex68 March 19, 2012 at 7:21 am

  This is JUST the beginning
• Metstheory22 March 19, 2012 at 7:26 am

  “I actually thought the ball came out of my hand the best it has all spring,” Pelfrey said, downplaying the fact he allowed 12 Astros base runners over 2 2/3 innings and saw his spring ERA jump to 14.90.

  Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/metsblog/mets_pelfrey_gives_spring_eight_ViEjJSvdWMJJ66FijonXUJ#ixzz1pYqEir8K
  ———————————————————————-
  Enough said about this guy.
• Alex68 March 19, 2012 at 7:55 am

  I kinda understand this is ST, and some players or most players for the most part just take ST to refine and retune their stuff, get in baseball shape etc, but we are seeing the SAME SH** we saw from this bum last year all year… allowing tons of runners, not putting away hitters with 2 strikes, walking everyone, i mean, the composure in the mound is just AWFUL, but hey, somehow, he got a rised because the mets did not want to go to arbitration so… yeah, let’s give him a rise because we’re very busy acquiring other greaat pieces to put a championship conteder.. SMH…
  • trs86 March 19, 2012 at 8:05 am

    Still don’t get it. Of course Pelf has been terrible so far. However, we have been over this already. Who did you want that could pitch 200 innings with under a 5.00 ERA and cost what Pelf did or less? If you did not offer him arbitration and those guys could not be found or traded for then what? He was insurance against Johan being healthy. If Johan is healthy then Pelf’s days are numbered anyway.
    • trs86 March 19, 2012 at 8:06 am

      That being said he’s been AWFUL and I have no problem with allowing Bautista to start the season as the #5 if Johan is ready and leaving Pelf behind in extended Spring Training as a wake up call.
  • Alex68 March 19, 2012 at 8:53 am

    My point is our GM shouldn’t have wasted more than $15 million on rauch, pelfrey and francisco with the limited budget we had.. wouldn’t you agree??
    • trs86 March 19, 2012 at 10:40 am

      Hmm, that’s a great question. I would have to know who they could have gotten for that 15M on a short term deal to fill those positions. Again, it’s not just about names it’s about if you can get them.

      Also, it’s awfully early to say any of the money is wasted although for sure ST results are not grand but out of that group I am only truly worried about Pelfrey. I think we have the depth to replace one of the others if needed.
• Metsie March 19, 2012 at 10:24 am

  Someone needs to tell Pelfrey that this “New Attitude” he brought to ST with him simply isn’t working!