Bullpen Blows Another Late Lead As Braves Stun Mets 8-7

34 Comments + Add Comment

• srt July 14, 2012 at 8:08 pm

  Yet another day where the SP falters, the defense is questionable, the offense picks both up late in the game and the BP gives it away.

  Tired of seeing this same movie over and over again.
• Hitman July 14, 2012 at 8:12 pm

  I NEVER want anyone here mention Parnell as a closer ever again. You can say he’s a “completely different pitcher”, I don’t give a rat’s ass if by some miracle, he becomes some above-average type closer somewhere else, you can get excited when he saves games against a punchless Dodger team and the Cubs, and you can even say he’s our best reliever. Problem is, if he’s the best reliever in our pen and continues to SUCK in big situations, what does that say about our bullpen? This is ridiculous. Not the way to start the 2nd half, Mets >:(
  • Mr North Jersey July 14, 2012 at 9:51 pm

    Hey Hitman, I forgot to tell you Parnell is a closer.
  • marco July 15, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    Absolutely right. Parnell is no closer. Grooving fast balls down Broadway is his specialty, and a closer can’t get away with that. Also, why in the world are the Mets holding on to Batista? He is far past his time, throws home run balls with regularity. The two games against Atlanta are symbolic of what ails the Mets—a disastrous bullpen that is embarrassing, and discourages anyone from going to Citi Field, despite the other positives. The Wilpons and Sandy Anderson are responsible, and have been negligent in not seeing this from the beginning when every interested fan figured this out from day 1.
• BXMets July 14, 2012 at 8:17 pm

  Another Parnell horror show. Go ahead and keep telling yourselves he’s a closer, because if you believe that you should all be committed and banished to an eternity of watching MetsBlog videos in IMAX!
• Matt July 14, 2012 at 8:21 pm

  With Michael Baron giving hitting techniques?
• PaulyMETS July 14, 2012 at 10:10 pm

  Yesterday I can forgive the loss because it’s a tough task to put up a win with what he have coming off a four day break but today, horrible loss. I thought Dickey would give us more and I believe he should have gone 1 more inning but Mr. Bench coach himself thought to take him out and kill our bullpen. I understand Dickey was due in the top of 6th but come on Geren, our bullpen stinks so much that they make Maine look like Maddux. I am not kidding, our bullpen sucks that damn bad. But what made up Bob’s mind to take Dickey out after 5 was that horrible call by the umpires. Clearly Prado didn’t touch second and with him running back Ike tagged him, how in the holy hell is that not an out!?!? Ike tagged Prado and that’s not an out? what does Ike have to do? throw himself into Prado with ball in glove or throw the damn ball to Prado to get an out?

  Goosfraba…goosfraba (Anger Management, if you guys don’t understand)…..I digress. The bats were alive today and put a pounding on the Braves but the pitching wasn’t spot on today and the bullpen was ineffective, again. Wright was 0-4 with the famous golden sombrero but I can’t blame him because he carried us for the most part in the 1st half and Thole finally stopped living under a rock and hit a ball for a once. Sucks to lose games like these but baseball gods are unforgiving, Dickey didn’t pitch well from the 2inn and on and the baseball gods thought there is no way in hell Dickey is getting a win. Jeez, talk about being stuck up. But the Mets need to win tomorrow because all this had work will have gone to not and Sandy will turn the lights off and comeback next season hopefully with a fat contract for Wright and Dickey, a better bullpen and maybe just maybe a legit outfielder.

  I truly do believe this team can go somewhere this season but Wright needs to step up in the locker room and give a speech. A speech that goes like this

  “We’re chokers. We choked then, choking now and always will and there is no way around it. That’s what New York is saying. Do you guys know how long I have heard that as a Met? I been with this club since 2004 and it wasn’t easy to get here. I worked very hard to be where I am now and for all my had work I am only known as a choker because the farthest in the post season I have gotten to was to a game 7 in the NLCS with a team that had the best record in the NL and tied for best in MLB with the Yankees. I never even sniffed the post season since and now we have a chance to get in. New York is not a forgiving town. New York and every other baseball fan had us in last place and no where near third place but look at us now, we are 4 games above 500, 5 games out of the lead and in third place and never once did we go under 500 and we never should. Since day one we busted right out the gate and make an example out of the Braves and now the Braves are making a joke out of us. They are making a joke of our season, our hard work and what we stand for and if that isn’t enough now we have New York packing it in for us and saying we came up short and we are only 2 games into the 2nd half. I am personally tired of this crap. We need to win and tell New York that we are the damn Mets, the National League East leading Mets, not the fun to watch choking Mets. We need to step up the hell up and grab the NL East by the throat and prove we are no joke and sure as hell no choke. Now lets take what the hell is ours and win.”

  That’s what Wright needs to tell this team because this team has come too far to just lose because these guys are sensitive to a couple of losses. In 06 we choked, in 07 we choked, in 08 we choked, in 09 we choked and in 10 we choked so for damn once, just once since 06 give us Mets fans what we been craving for and that is October baseball. I am very sick and tired of watching SNY, MLBN and listening to WFAN talk about the Yankees and their playoff games. For damn once just play meaningful baseball so Sandy can make the moves we need and get us Mets fans to the playoffs and prove to everyone that the choke is no longer on us and that our future looks much brighter now than in 85. If these guys want us fans there then win and every Mets fan will put their Wilpon hatred aside and make Citi Field rock like Shea and make Citi Field the place to be. Come on guys, for once just let us sniff the playoffs and the fans will come and cheer as much and as loud as we can. Hell I been to like 7 games already and I cheer my ass off and wake up tomorrow with a sore throat so I can help this team win.

  LETS GO METS!!!!!!!
  • Amazin July 14, 2012 at 10:45 pm

    Maybe you should give the speech Pauly. You get an A+ for your game review except the blown trap call. With two umps making opposite calls what happened didn’t matter since the umps had to make a judgement of what would have happened if the one ump would have kept his eyes open and saw that the ball wasn’t caught. I don;t think the team is chokers. There are just too many holes on the team and the GM is incapable of improving the club. He proved it with his big time bullpen moves that all sucked.
    • PaulyMETS July 14, 2012 at 11:25 pm

      Thanks. I really appreciate your opinion on my comment. You are right Spin trapped the ball but Prado should have touched second but he didn’t and instead ran to first because he thought Spin caught it. As Prado was going to first Ike tagged him and that is an out. That’s how I look at it but who knows man, umpires are as consistent as the weather. At times it looks great and other days it looks ugly and today is one of those games and also the zone was far too inconsistent. I followed a lot of the calls and Wright struck out looking on a pitch inside and then Bourn had a pitch the same exact spot and was called a ball; a lot more pitches but it’s too much to say.

      I don’t believe these Mets are chokers neither right now because I had the Mets at 85 wins and I truly believe these Mets can be right in the thick for the NL East but these 2 losses are really in fact heart breakers because we could have won today but Parnell blew it and its must have because the trade line is approaching and Sandy has to see in fact if he really should trade for pieces. Bullpen looks worse than Ollie in 2010 and that’s saying something because Ollie barely pitched in 2010 so basically this bullpen is worse than nothing. Sandy went on track record this offseason so I can’t really blame him full because many thought Ramirez was a very bright acquisition. Rauch I thought would have been a tad better and Franky I believe has done better than I expected really just because he at least gets the job done 8/10 times.
  • gary s. July 15, 2012 at 12:15 am

    Easy on the caffeine buddy.Btw, Wright struck out 4 times today.Bad time to tell everybody else that they suck.We have been losing games like this in Atlanta for last 20 years,Does not make it any easier to watch though..
• sarge69 July 14, 2012 at 10:43 pm

  Sorry but this was not a bump in the road for R.A., he has had 3 out of 4 bad starts and has been bailed out by offense.
  Despite the bad call by umps he needed to get through it and hold them for team.
  I always hear that 3-4 day break puts pitchers,etc off their grove but other teams had same break and they pitch, hit, catch, etc so AS break is not an excuse for bad starting pitching.

  Geren pulled a Manuel with all the relievers he threw out there doesn’t he know you might need one for xtra innings if possible?

  Byrdak seems out of sorts, Edgin looked great again, Parnell is not the pitcher to bring in with a mess on the bases, he has not shown any kind of mental toughness so far.
  Beato needs to be brought in a clean inning for his 1st appearance not in the middle of Byrdak walk with Braves just drooling over our BP.

  What a story, saw Kimbel close out game, the way a real closer does it, clean and efficient, unlike Mets BP who can’t wait to put someone on.

  Tired of excuses of AS break, this team needs to wake up and No Han needs to step to the plate tomorrow.
  These losses in Hotlanta hurt a lot cause we always play bad here and then when we have the opportunity to take a game we just say, “No Thanks, We Are Not Ready Yet!”, wow this one hurt bad, I don’t know what TC is going to do but unless No Han gives us a shut down performance then this team is sliding.

  I guess “Duda’s Hammy” was good enough for PH duties! His defense lately has killed this team and until he can move to more friendly LF then Mets are in a bad situation cause Cap Kirk is better in defense but his K’s are getting ridiculous.
• L.J. Phipps July 14, 2012 at 11:56 pm

  Can they get some bullpen help please!
  • Joey D. July 15, 2012 at 2:39 am

    Hi L.J.,

    How would this be for bullpen help?

    Francisco Rodriguez – eight earned runs last 28 innings (ERA below 3.00)
    Takahshi – seven earned runs in last 24 innings (ERA below 3.00)

    Combined: 15 earned runs in 52 innings.

    Jason Issringhausen: despite being roughed up of late, 11 earned runs in 30 innings (3.33 ERA)

    Total Combined: 26 earned runs, 82 innings (combined ERA below 3.00)

    Would anybody not prefer having retained that trio in lieu of those who took their places – overpaid or not?
    • XtreemIcon July 15, 2012 at 8:15 am

      Can’t just ignore the salary. And also, cherry picking the best portions of each pitcher’s season makes you agenda-driven. Their combined ERA this season is 3.78, and it would have cost the Mets over $22 million for that production this year alone. The 4.26 ERA that Rauch, Francisco and Ramirez have combined cost half that, and we’re talking about a sample size of 93.1 innings split among three different pitchers. Not exactly the largest of sample sizes.

      But I can do what you did and cherry pick. Let’s see how that works out:

      In May and June, two thirds of his season, Francisco is pitching to a 3.75 ERA

      In Rauch’s last 12 games, about a full third of his season, he’s pitching to a 3.86 ERA. And let’s not forget he was light’s out in April, if we add that, which is essentially subtracting his May, he’s got a 3.15 ERA.

      Ramon Ramirez, in his last 16 games, which is the majority of his season (almost 2/3rds of it), he’s pitching to a 2.75 ERA.

      So we’re talking about a real solid Big 3 in the bullpen since May at half the price of the other three. See what happens when we cherry pick? It doesnt fool anyone, does it?
      • Joey D. July 15, 2012 at 12:05 pm

        Hi Xtreem,

        Money wise, one is talking about an industry in which franchises pull in hundreds of millions in profit each year and everyone is overpaid so the financial argument only relates to those small market clubs with less sources of revenue. Those issues of finance are more relevant with rotisieree league, not the big business of professional sports. Whatever financial problems the Wilpons have, owning the New York Mets and having had a high payroll was not the cause of them. There is television and marketing revenue which dwarfs revenue pulled in from attendance. The owners of the Yankees could not operate in the manner they did if they did not also own YES. Neither could the owners of the Red Sox without owning NESN.

        That the Mets spent too much on some players is another story. But what they spent has little to do with the players they did then have and the reason for salary dumping. That $70 million loss is purely the way one can present ledger books to make their case. As said, the Wilpon’s financial problems have nothing to do with the team other than it’s affect in making them operate like Oakland.

        Now, if you look at baseball reference.com at the game log for KRod you will notice it is not just a small stretch of games – the point I referred to with KRod was beginning May 4 – almost two and a half months. Here is his game log – once again.

        http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=rodrifr03&t=p&year=2012

        And with Takahashi, it is his performance since May 7:

        http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=takahhi01&t=p&year=

        What this shows is that after each started off poorly in April, both settled down and got back to their game for the remaining two and half months of the season to date – May, June and half of July. And that if one wants to look at it in terms of just stats, one has to take those handful of poorly pitched innings the first few weeks of the season and see what their stats were back then and what they are now. I posted those stats before not to cherry pick but to show that after poor starts in April both have been pitching as to be expected.

        And in terms of settling down, I think one pitching to an ERA of 3.86 over his last 12 games is not like two pitchers each pitching to an ERA below three in their last 28 and 24 innings. And BTW, Rauch has pitched just 9.2 innings over those last 12 games, which is less than one third the total innings pitched by KRod and just over a third of the innings pitched by Takahsahi over a much longer stretch. The same has to be looked at in terms of the limited amount of innings pitched by Rameriez as well. Cherry picking?

        But what if it came to this – we kept KRod, Takahashi and Izzy and added to that Francisco and Ramirez along with Parnell. What type of club do you think we would have now? Would we have the worst bullpen baseball or perhaps one of the more better ones instead?

        That’s the only point. We had a bullpen in which Francisco and Ramirez could have been added to in order to make it stronger. Adding to is different than replacing.
        • XtreemIcon July 15, 2012 at 4:55 pm

          But you can’t just ignore the bad parts of their seasons and start with the good parts. I did that with the Mets Big 3 and made it look like they weren’t as bad as they have been. We all know the truth. You made the other three pitchers look better than they are because you hate this front office. It’s transparent.
          • Fonzie13 July 15, 2012 at 6:14 pm

            Hey just take away Francoer’s May,July and August in 2010 and we have an Allstar. What you don’t seem to undrstand Joey is as much s we wouldv all love o keep Takahashi as our version of Darren Oliver he was looking for a payday that at the time we couldn’t give him.

            Had Hisanori become free agent following the 2011 season instead of the 2010 season he might still be a Met. 2011 projected payroll before any transactions were made was 140-150 million and that’a without adding a single player.

            Takahashi and Feliciano were both seeking multi year deals. We offered Feliciano arbitration, he refused and we got a 1st round pick for it whih turned out to be Micheal Fulmer. Remember that name. Takahashi asked or 15 millin over 3 years, the Mets said no, he settled for 8 million over 2 years. BTW Takahashi has been terrible when brought into pressurized situations his year, just like our guys have and has been mediocre overall. He’s been relegated to the lefty specalist role.

            We spent 9 million on 13 players because of the position we were in with team losing 50 million and projecting to lose even more in 2011 which we did. They were not spending 4 million on one reliever when they were only budgeted between 5-10 million for player acquisitions.

            Izzy had a nice season last year until the end of July when his workload increased and he became very hittable. He was subsequently shut down around Labor Day with a herniated disc and never got back on the mound. No one mentioned all offseason that Izzy shoud’ve been brought back. And Izzy has been brutal of late.

            I don’t need to rehash the K-Rod situation. He was a slighty better version and I mean slightly better than Francisco and it woud’ve cost an insane 17.5 million dollars to keep him. Even if he was going to be paid hs normal 12-13 million I would look to get him off he team. He’s simply not good enough to warrant such a salary. There’s a reason the Angels let him walk without putting up a fight.

            I fail to see a significant improvent from those 3 names you mention to warrant paying them double whatwe paid or he 3 guys we added this year and it would’ve been impossible to keep those 3 and add the other 3 with the budget constraints the team has been under.

            And just a side note.It doesn’t really matter if SNY quadruples their profit margin every single year until their contract with the Mets expires because the Mets have a contract with SNY that pays them around 60 million a year and I believe it’s even less than that. The Mets locked in with SNY on a long term contract that they may have screwed themselves with. Compare that to Anaheim’s deal with Fox that pays them 150 million a year for TV rights.

            Not that I ever believe anything the Wilpons say, they’re a bunch of crooked SOB’s but they don’t make as much from SNY as they could’ve and they definitely aren’t selling tickets like the had hoped so you have to take that into account among the Madoff situation making matters worse.

            Tagee was destroyed on this sight for his constant repetitive posts and 2nd guessing.
            • Joey D. July 15, 2012 at 7:45 pm

              Hi Fonzie,

              Now there you are, and correctly so, bringing in the money issue which every team has to consider.

              But talking about a total $25 million as far as a big market team that through all it’s holdings makes several hundreds of millions in profits each year, that amount is a minor investment leading to those profits. But yes, under the unique situation the Wilpons find themselves in, obviously, it is major. But that is the point. The team is being taken down due to situations that have nothing to do with the running of the franchise. The Wilpons want to hold onto it and that is there right, but like it or not, this is the result – a small market mentality. The decisions not to sign Takahshi to two years and to send KRod and Beltran packing were not part of a vision of putting together the best baseball club it could, if not this year, then in the years ahead. They were made under financial desperation.

              BTW – Takahashi’s salary over two years is eight million. We spent $12 million on Francisco and $2.4 million on Carasco for two years. That’s $14.4 million over two years, $6.4 million of which could have been used for another reliever besides Takahashi

              $3.5 million for Rauch for one year. In terms of spending, we paid $11.7 million this year for those three relievers. In the business terms of baseball for a big market team, double that amount for KRod, Takahashi and Izzy, retaining them at those salaries would have been viewed as a wise investment. For a New York team having to operate with the purse strings of a small market Oakland club, that, of course, is different.

              If the Wilpons weren’t in this financial mess caused by Madoff and the real estate market bust, I am sure Krod and Takahashi would still be on the club – that is, of course, unless Jeff Wilpon was the father of Krod’s girl friend LOL
              • Fonzie13 July 15, 2012 at 10:03 pm

                They signed Carrasco for 1.2 Mil per year for 2 years in 2010 when their payroll was going to be a record high for the team and they were losing money. They signed Francisco this past offseason not in 2010. This past offseason the payroll had about 60 million come off the books so you can’t compare the signings aganst each other because of when the signings were made.

                If they signed Francisco for 6 mil per for 2 years after the 2010 season then you would be right to compare the signing of Takahashi who signed for 2 mil less per year, however the financial circumstances were totally different following the 2010 season compared to the end of the 2011 season. Francisco wouldn’t have been signed after the 2010 season if we needed a closer, not for that price.

                Same thing with Rauch. He signed after the 2011 season, not the 2010 season. There was no way in hell they were spending 3.5 mil on a set up man after the 2010 season because of their bloated payroll. Which is why we spent a combined 9 million on 13 players.

                And I totally disagree about only the finances being the reason for moving Beltran and K-Rod last year, part of it but not the main reason. The team if you haven’t noticed have been often injured and underperforming for a few years now and they have led the NL in payroll for quite some time now, changes were in order. They were not a player or 2 from competing for a championship, they were a long ways away from being a title contender despite what you thought last year.

                When you have the same nucleous of players that choked away 2 seasons and have either been hurt or underperformed, you can not continue to keep putting the same product on the field and hope for this to be the year everybody stays healthy and everybody performs. it had not been happening for this team.

                In spring training 2011 just about everybody was resigned to the fact that Carlos Beltran would probably not be on the field very much since he could not get ready for the season only playing n the last 5 games of grapefruit games. The majority of the fansbase were praying for him to hopefully show enough to maybe get something for him in a trade.

                We got very lucky. Not only did Beltran stay on the field, he produced very well. We would have been utterly insane to not capitalize on his trade value when we did. We were not good enough to do what the Cardinals did cause we did not have the personnel that the Cardinals had. You can disagree all night but it doesn’t change the fact that we were an overachieving team that had way too many obstacles to get past to hope for a miracle.

                You’re also forgetting that we paid the rest of Beltrans salary to get the prospect that we did so it was not a salary dump since he was a pending free agent. That trade wasn’t to help the Wilpons get their financial house in order, that trade was for the future of this team and he quickly became our number 1 prospect.

                Keeping K-Rod would’ve been foolish even if the Wilpons weren’t having financial problems simply for the fact that he is not good enough to warrant the 12 million he got paid last year let alone the 17.5 million dollar option he had waiting for him. Not even the Yankees would pay him that money. That was the most moronic option ever given to a closer

                What gets lost in the K-Rod shuffle is the way Collins used him, knowing he had that option attached to him for finishing 55 games. Not only did he use him to close out 4,5 and 6 run leads, he used him on the road when we were trailing by a lot in the 8th inning just to put a bad innning to bed which gave him credit for a game finished when you pitch the 8th on the road in a loss. Nobody ever brings that point up here. Had Collins used him wisely we may have not had to worry about moving him and could’ve just declined his option and paid his buyout or even resigned him at a lower rate which I wouldn’t have wanted to be honest. Unfortunately we ended up with another “cardiac closer”.

                The only one I agree with you that had to do with finances is not bringing Takahashi back. Had he been a free agent going into this year, I would think they would’ve brought him back but not after the 2010 season when they were looking to cut payroll and not add a 4 million per relief pitcher.

                Finally I also disagree with the conspiracy theory that Bud pushed Sandy on the Wilpons to help to turn a large market club into a small market team. That would not be in the best interest of baseball to have a NY market acting like a small market team. MLB wants NY to be successful because it means more money for MLB to have both NY teams be successful.

                I think Bud convinced Wilpon that Sandy could turn around the franchise, not only in a financial sense but how to run a successful franchise. Any GM could’ve come in here and cut payroll and get the team back in the black.

                If that was the case then they wouldn’t have beefed up the scouting and revamped the player developement people they have now in place. And they wouldn’t have added other former GM’s as assistants for big money if they weren’t trying to turn around the franchise.

                We have a much better player developement team in place now and it’s paying dividends in how the farm system is improving. And it”s showing with how well these players are prepared when they come up fro the farm and contribute the way they have.

                If you wanted a quick turn around Sandy isn’t your guy. If you want a team thats trying to build for sustained success, he’s definitely the right guy. We do not have a championship caliber nucleous, not by a long shot. They’re gritty and fun to watch but we have a ton of holes yet to fill. You are totally overrating the core of this team.
                • Joey D. July 15, 2012 at 11:48 pm

                  Hi Fonzie,

                  Appreciate the points you made and it just goes to show that there are more pleasant ways to communicate. Let’s hope those days are over, OK?

                  I understand and agree with your point about 2010 being different than 2011 financially and that even an extra one or two million dollars on a player here and a player there would have been too much for the ownership to contend with at the time. Yes, you are right to say had the contracts for Feliciano (a healthy one, of course) and Takahshi expired after the 2010 season instead of 2009, both might have still been on the team. The point of dispute many of us have are with those who were hailing these 2010 moves as a beginning of a new era – citing that with his thinking outside the box, Sandy and his people saw things in these undervalued players that other teams did not – instead of what you correctly point out in the case regarding Takahashi “that had to do with finances is not bringing Takahashi back. Had he been a free agent going into this year, I would think they would’ve brought him back but not after the 2010 season when they were looking to cut payroll and not add a 4 million per relief pitcher.”. That issue is still being ignored by many – at least you give a valid argument as to why it happened.

                  But the question I have is about finances being a bit better (not much, as you rightly point out, but a bit better) for over the winter we learned not only that the Mets, according to Sandy, lost $70 million this past season but that they had also lost money in 2009 and 2010 and project losses again this year. That seems eliminate the signing of anything more than marginal players and hoping that in three or four years the kids on the farm can blend in with those now on the team who will then be young but experienced veterans. Then the question has to be asked about what Sandy would do with those many players who would then be eligible for free agency and will no doubt seek multi-year mega contracts if they indeed do perform like we hope they do. Will he still be reluctant to sign them based upon his hesitancy to commit to such type contract beyond two years? It won’t be like Niese who was still not eligible for arbitration.

                  Which raises the question we have all been debating and must consider for the future. Had the financial fiasco the Wilpons find themselves now never occurred, what would the club and the way it would be handled be today? Omar would still have been a goner but who would have been hired in his place? I doubt Sandy simply because Sandy didn’t want the job and Selig would not have pushed him to leave a position he was already happy being in. Of the six candidates on the final selection list (see attached) which one would they have eventually selected? What would those candidates offer in terms of their own visions for the team? We are also reminded in that article there were others that the Mets wanted to consider but for one reason or the other could not.

                  Again, judging from their past behavior (and the financial situation not being like it was), I don’t think the Wilpons would have gone for somebody so much the opposite of them in business practices as Sandy. It goes against their entire way of doing things, which included allowing Omar to sign big names to big long-term contracts, regardless of their age and cost, taking out numerous loans on the belief they could sell out luxury suites and boxes (costing at how many thousands per game?). Now, agreed they did not see the economic downturn coming, but my point here is their behavior pattern and business methodology during good times.

                  And thus, in 2011, with the Mets being in the position they were, would they have instead been buyers instead of sellers? Would KRod still be in the bullpen (with the new general manager being told no more knucklehead bonuses, etc) and would Beltran have played out the year?

                  That question does need to be asked – is Sandy a stop gap measure and the direction he has the team heading towards really no more a reflection of their economic misfortunes? Or, is it reflective of the Wilpons turning over a new leaf? The answer – whichever one it may be – if and when that time comes, will then allow us to look back and settle the dispute so many of us have now.

                  http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101021&content_id=15777570&vkey=news_nym&c_id=nym
          • Joey D. July 15, 2012 at 6:35 pm

            Hi Extreem,

            Since we are both talking about performance, let me ask a question. Let us take away the names of those six pitchers and their salaries. Looking at the game logs of both sets of three, without knowing who they were or what their team was, which one would you take? Don’t forget, we must base it on the whole season as you said. Take into account April, May, June and half of July. Take into account the direction the performances are heading – getting better, getting worse or staying even and for the stretch of games and innings that deals with.

            Also, look at their stats for last season as well so to see if they are having lucky years, pitching worse, better or just simply up to their standards.

            Then make the choice of which trio would have been of better help to the team this year based on the consistency of that performance level. . If you still want to emphasize overall statistical performance for the entire season – which I believer are very poor indicators by themselves – which group would you then take on a statistical basis only so instead of the game on the field, we could play a game of Stratomatic.

            One other thing. If the Mets bullpen is settling down, why is it still rated the worst in baseball? Wouldn’t it at least be moving up some off the bottom?

            If you still believe my assessments are based on a distaste for the front office, that is fine with me, but please don’t forget that such argument could go both ways.
      • Joey D. July 15, 2012 at 2:02 pm

        Hi X,

        “So we’re talking about a real solid Big 3 in the bullpen since May at half the price of the other three. See what happens when we cherry pick? It doesnt fool anyone, does it”

        Forgot to add that if we were talking about a real solid Big 3 in the bullpen since May nobody would be talking about it today, all through the month of July, or in June, or in May.

        How would Ronald Regan have put it? “Is our bullpen better off now than it was less than two years ago?”.

        A team doesn’t register having the worst bullpen of the thirty clubs in the majors with any sort of big three. It has had small streaks of good performance, at best. “See what happens when we cherry pick? It doesn’t fool anyone, does it”?
• Mr North Jersey July 15, 2012 at 1:06 am

  Tough game. Now have to try to win just to avoid the sweep from these Braves.

  I know some want to get on the Murphy throw to 1st in the 2nd but it should not have resulted in the Braves scoring 3 runs. Dickey should of got out of it.

  As far as the ump call in the 5th I have to admit that at the moment in part due to my bias I felt the ump should of called the lead runner out but after hearing from Collins and the quotes after the game by the umps they agree that the call made was right.

  The Braves gave the Mets what the Mets have been giving teams all season. 2 out rbi’s. In this case in the 8th to take the lead.

  Parnell continues to struggle with consistency as with many in the pen. He had been pitching good of late and then today happens.

  Regarding the relief the kid Edgin striking out the side was cool to see.

  Wright with a rare 4 strikeout game and Duda with just an ugly PH appearance.

  Another nice game by Mr Tejada at the plate and on the field and not a bad job by Torres at the plate with 3 hits.

  Need a win 2morrow.

  LGM!

  PS. With talks of a possible call up for Mets prospect Matt Harvey I am sure Backman if Harvey is called up can’t wait to see what Wheeler can do assuming he then follows Harvey by getting promoted to AAA. Wheeler’s box score looks very impressive tonight. complete game 6 hit shutout with 1 walk and 7 k’s with 71% of his pitches for strikes.
  • theonlymaskman July 15, 2012 at 9:48 am

    It’s “should have” not “should of” as in “Dickey should have” and “the ump should have”. You did it twice, which confirms you are unaware of the proper English.
• Kymets July 15, 2012 at 3:28 am

  I don’t blame bobby prolly a Lil rusty in a tight situation but we need to win these games
• RickeyBobby July 15, 2012 at 6:41 am

  Definitely the toughest loss of year to swallow, given its later in the year and playing our division rival challenging us for playoffs, might be the game we look back and say team just isn’t good enough, we’ll see. It’s been a tough stretch w our closer out and nobody stepping up. Is Ramon Ramirez ever going to be an effective piece of the pen?? I thought it was time to insert Rauch back into 8th inning duties all things considered but the 7th was heart of order, it’s a shame Bydrk walked McCann to lead off 8th because I agree w above poster, it’s so much easier for a guy like Beato or Parnell to start an inning then to come in and clean up any mess. I guess they were looking for a 5 out save from Parnell but he looked a lot like the Parnell of last year, heat w bad command no movement.

  Today first must win game knowing our next series w be w the back end of our rotation. Win today and see if somebody can step up as we await anything from Alderson other then using internal guys Omar brought in.

  We started the season w zero depth at starting pitching, low and behold Pelfrey gets hurt and Aldersons replacements of Schwinden, Hefner, Batista barely got us 1 win. Youngs done decent work but we’ve still lost 5 of 7 games he started. Now Gee is hurt, we hanging on in a pennant race barely thou, I’m sure there’s a contract we can take off a teams hands, or just fold our own hand..I just know I don’t expect much from Alderson other then to speak like a smooth politician. The pen needs a dependable arm right now. Francisco is hurt, Aldersons dependable arm he brought in Ramirez isn’t..make a move Sandy.

  There’s always a chance we win 9 of 10 and yest game doesn’t mean as much or do what the Cards did and win out sept and Oct but seems unrealistic given current state of team. I’d just like to see some reinforcements come in, even if we do come up short in the end..
• theonlymaskman July 15, 2012 at 9:39 am

  The real problem with this game is that it will start a panic mentality within mgmt as the vision of a wild card starts to fade. This is not a time for panic decision making. Forget the wild card chase and let that take care of itself in due course. Manage for stability, let this year’s outcome be determined by performance on the field, and work to position for next year.
• jdon July 15, 2012 at 11:15 am

  Ii think at this point Rauch is basically useless. Ramirez has not been what he was cracked up to be, but BP guys do blow hot and cold from year to year. We have to live with Parnell, who has greater velocity than many one pitch closers but no movement on his fastball. He also throws that straight fastball 80% of the time so a hitter does not have to be a rocket scientist to simply ignore the curve and sit on one side of the plate or the other. I said before we probably have ot live with Parnell, but I would like to see the breaking ball more. I would also like to see the fastball up more. With guys who throw very hard and very straight, it is a lot easier for hitters to drop the bathead on the ball than to catch up with letter high 98 MPH heat. As for trades, I would forego them and bring up some guys. Get a little hunger out there. Plus, whoever they bring up will at least be unfamiliar to NL hitters for one circuit around the league.
  • Mr North Jersey July 15, 2012 at 11:33 am

    I wouldn’t say Rauch is useless but as with much of the pen he has been inconstant. Looking at Rauch this season is almost Jekyll & Hyde like.

    1st 13 appearances
    3/W – 0/L, 1/BS, 3/H, 2.31/ERA, .146/BAA, 2 of 5 Inherited Runners scored.

    2nd 13 appearances
    0/W – 5/L, 1/S, 2/BS, 2/H, 7.36/ERA, .373/BAA, 2 of 2 Inherited Runners scored.

    Last 12 appearances
    0/W – 2/L, 4/H, 1.93/ERA, .147/BAA, 0 of 6 Inherited Runners scored.
    • Mr North Jersey July 15, 2012 at 11:35 am

      inconsistent*
• DaveUpstateNY July 15, 2012 at 11:38 am

  I’ve been watching the Mets & baseball since 1964 and I have never seen the umpires decide “what’s fair is fair so we’ll let the poor guy go to 2nd base.” That’s why, for instance, on a ground rule double, the runner is not allowed to score. You can’t say “oh, he would have scored anyway.” It’s the one thing Eric Karros said right yesterday: if the guy was standing on 2nd base, well, then OK, he’s safe.

  As for Parnell: why is it the Mets and the league see a 98 mph pitcher and can’t touch him. Parnell can throw 101 and he sucks.
  • jdon July 15, 2012 at 4:51 pm

    that may be the rule now. way back when they did not change wrong calls. so I know what you are talking about. If the umps are going to decide where players land, why don’t they just play Strat-O-Matic? I understand it is nice to get the calls right, but this is artificial, kind of like the DH. You don’t play the field but you get 4 ABs? Why not just field an entire offensive team and an entire defensive team like football? Can you tell I am a purist? I am not sure I even like playoffs, but these are not 8 team leagues anymore so okay. I like the game run by humans, even with the human error.
  • Amazin July 15, 2012 at 5:22 pm

    Really now… i guess you don’t watch much. I guess you’ve never seen a review of a HR that has been changed to in play and the umps had to decide where to out everybody. I guess because the bad announcers on Fox didn’t notice one ump calling the ball safe while the other called it out, you can’t figure out what to do when the two umps disagreed. so I guess the rule should state the ump that ruled the Mets way has to take precedence over the ump that called the play right. OK, we got it.
    • jdon July 15, 2012 at 6:34 pm

      No the umpires made the right call by today’s rule book. We are talking about a time when umps did not reverse their calls and move guys around. Do you realize that at one time only the home plate umpire made the call on checked swings? Things have changed. Not necessarily for the better. That was the point.