Mets Merized Online

The top stories for the Mets so far this spring is the (again) absence of Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes’, and the emergence of Ike Davis and Jenrry Mejia. Add a sidebar by the unsinkable Nelson (Molly Brown) Figueroa, and it has been business as usual at camp.

Established players hone their skills and young ones aspire to impress. Certainly Mejia has. So much that his current manger, Jerry Manuel is talking him up as the next Mariano Rivera or Dwight Gooden (who would you hope he becomes?). Can you blame the loquacious skipper?

After all, it’s imperative his club gets off to a robust start or he could be sitting on his porch in Sacramento by June. To a baseball lifer being exiled during the season is tantamount to facing a firing squad, sans blindfold. So, Jerry needs all the boots on the ground he can get.

There is a good chance, however, that Mejia will start the season playing for Tim Teufel up in chilly Binghamton. As the weather warms he could be moved further north and ply his trade for Buffalo. Could he, or more importantly, should he make his Mets debut, it might be with other September call ups.

For the time being Manuel lobbies for arms. He can thank his general manager for hanging him out to dry by shopping at K-Mart this winter. The pitching corps (or corpse) is wafer thin, one gem in a pile of rocks. Forget the fact that Ollie Perez (surprise), and Mike Pelfrey have been yielding runs by the bushel, and Jon Niese and Fernando Nieve looked like Triple A fodder yesterday, Johan Santana can only pitch every five days.

The real problem could be the bullpen. Frankie Rodriquez is the only sure bet, pink eye and all. Sure Pedro Feliciano can sing a nice tune but after him what is left? A couple of Japanese imports (they better be more Honda and less Toyota engineered), Sean Green, and a bevy of questions marks.

No wonder Mejia stands out. He has a live arm, is throwing mostly strikes, and is contrasted by a conglomeration of dreck. As for Davis, he could hit .500 this spring and still have no shot. What the heck do the Mets do with Daniel Murphy if Davis is retained?

He has shown a live bat, but he was touted as having “light-tower power” when drafted out of college. In fact, his fielding has revealed more holes than his bat. Imagine him booting one when Santana is on the hill? You talk about stares that could melt the polar ice caps.

Finally, no one loves to play the game of baseball more than Reyes.’ The current thyroid malady has to be eating him alive. But with the proper meds his condition should be held in check. Mets fans hope the same can’t be said about his bat and million dollar wheels when he returns.

Beltran is a different story. He has soured on the organization and if the Mets fall out of contention I think he has a good chance of being moved at the trade deadline. If he proves he is healthy that is. He could bring back a package of young talent and dumping his salary is an added benefit.

This spring has proven several things so far: The Mets do have some up and coming players, the pitching is shaky at best, and two of their best players are still on the shelf. Some things never change.

At least David Wright seems to be back. Did you see the home run he hit against the Astros? He jacked it to left field, a good sign, as the days to the Citi Field opener thankfully recedes faster than the snow covered hills (at least Upstate, that is!).

Spring officially is still about three weeks away. However, baseball fans have their own calendar. And today images of the glorious green and brown baseball diamond were beamed into our homes and the Mets delivered a win, the unofficial start of spring has begun.

Finally, the embers of the hot stove have been extinguished. Talk supplanted by action. What happens on the field matters again. Trade rumors take a seat in the bleachers. Real live players step up to the plate. The sounds of the game soothe like a favorite symphony or birds chirping.

There are dates on the spring training calendar that are in bold: The day pitchers and catchers report, the first televised action from the Grapefruit League, and naturally the day the team breaks camps and heads North for Opening Day.

The rest is filler. Mostly spring training on television becomes as boring as an award show (except the Oscars) after the first few games appear. It’s fun to watch an inning or two, or to get a glimpse of a prospect like Ike Davis or Jenrry Mejia. Seeing the pitchers getting in their wind sprints in the outfield during the game is always novel.

Then March Madness begins, a perfect segue to the baseball season. As the frenetic college basketball tournament losses more and more teams, baseball appears in the cross-hairs.

All building to the perfect crescendo of Opening Day.

Some sights and sounds of spring training never get tiresome. Like seeing the palm trees sway and people camping out on the berm at Tradition Field. That helps melt away the winter blues (and also makes us a tad jealous).

Baseball awakens the senses, the vegetation, the lawn-mower, and outdoor grill. The first few weeks optimism peaks. It’s time to end the debate on what players were acquired and which ones lost.

What you see is what you get.

The team you support is right there in living color. That first peak of the newly acquired, such as Jason Bay-how does he look in a Mets uniform (and Ryan Thompson’s old number?) is always highly anticipated. What about the imports from Japan? Will they have to be recalled like many Toyotas, or are they reliable and help drive the team to victory?

Is Ollie really throwing great like pitching coach Dan Warthen says or is that bluster? Look there’s Carlos Beltran in uniform, a welcomed sight. How does Murph look at first? Did his sessions with Keith Hernandez rub off? Questions abound and spring training helps answer them.

Mostly, it reminds one to go out to the garage and search for the gloves to have that first catch. That is, when the rest of the snow finally melts and the lawn thankfully starts to reappear.

Dizzy with Hope: Amazin (s’) Power Projections for 2010

Now that the ridiculous talk of winning the World Series in 2010 has started, why not speculate about one stat that can be a fairly important contributing factor that helps a team get to that greatest of sports’ stages, the home run.

Given my sterling track record for home run predictions (Sure, bring on the wisecracks and insults!), I cannot prevent giddiness from getting the better of me as I think about how many long balls will be hit by the Mets this season, as well as which sultans of swat will own particular numbers of these gopher balls. At least we can all be reasonably sure that the 2010 Mets will exceed 2009’s dismal total of 95 HRs.

Oh, before your read any further my predictions must be prefaced with the following caveat: everybody’s going to have a great year! The Mets will hit about 184 HRs this year.

Alright, here goes (not in any particular batting order):

1. Jose Reyes - 17 HRs, 81 RBIs, and .298 BA
2. Luis Castillo and Alex Cora – 2 HRs, 61 RBI, and .286 BA
3. Carlos Beltran – 24 HRs, 91 RBIs, and .293 BA
4. Jason Bay – 31 HRs, 115 RBIs, and .267 BA
5. David Wright – 26 HRs, 109 RBIs, and .308 BA
6. Jeff Francoeur – 29 HRs, 89 RBIs, and .254 BA
7. Daniel Murphy – 19 HRs, 83 RBIs, and .272 BA
8. Catchers-Go-Round – 20 HRs, 67 RBIs, and .229 BA

Cora, Mathews Jr., Pagan, Jacobs, and Sundry – 16 HRs, 55 RBIs, and .240 BA

In one fell swoop the Mets plunked down $66 million dollars in free agency this winter. For their purchase they acquired a serviceable player in Jason Bay. Purported to be a stellar clubhouse presence and right-handed power that will give David Wright some cover (he rarely saw a pitch in his wheelhouse in the second half and the strikeouts accumulated), but questions about his health. 

Years three and four of his pact could get ugly. (See Pedro Martinez, after year Uno of his four year $50 million dollar plus deal).

Thankfully, pitchers and catchers report next week and all the backseat general managers like me can extinguish the hot stove embers. Omar Minaya was directed to get a right-handed bat and he shopped at Bloomingdales when he had a budget better suited for J.C. Penney’s.

He bought one cashmere sweater when he could have purchased a closet full of warm weather gear. You know what happens when you wash fine garments too often? They fall apart and spring holes (like the Mets pitching staff?).

Wouldn’t it have been wiser to spread that dough around and add depth to a wafer thin pitching staff? Then add a frontline pitcher-friendly backstop, and a stopgap right handed slugging left-fielder? (Omar is proficient at collecting pitchers destined for the scrap heap – I’ll give him that. In fact he’s the Fred Sanford of MLB GM’s, a junk collector for the uninitiated).

Just examine the numbers if you think not:

There are exactly 1,458 innings a major league club has to account for over 162 games, not including extra innings. Or, ironically, almost exactly the career totals of Joel Pineiro has recorded in ten major league seasons (1,456.1) and Jason Marquis (1,485) in the same span. But, slightly less than Jon Garland’s 1,829.1 innings (also 10 seasons).

The trio inked deals totaling 36.3 million dollars. At least one player, Marquis, openly lobbied to return to his hometown (raised on Staten Island) and pitch for his beloved Mets. However, Minaya didn’t want to exceed his quota of one native New Yorker on the staff (Brooklyn’s Nelson Figueroa).

Would Mets fans have been a tad less queasy heading into spring training with Johan Santana leading a rotation that included Pineiro, Marquis, Garland, and Mike Pelfrey, or the present configuration of Big Pelf, John Maine, Ollie Perez, and a cornucopia of dreck competing for the number five slot?

I believe the answer is a resounding affirmative. The $64,000 dollar question is which pitcher, not named Santana, is going to devour innings for the Amazins? Last year’s leader, Pelfrey did not crack the 200 inning mark (184.1). Santana was second with 166 but an injured knee left him well shy of the 200 mark.

Take a guess who pitched the third most innings for the 2009 NY Mets? If you answered Livan Hernandez (135, but fired in August) go collect a dollar and a quarter from columnist Norman Chad. Fourth? Tim Redding, who missed the first part of the season with a bum shoulder but still managed 120.

You get my point here? The bullpen could be in tatters by Memorial Day. Penciled in as the number three and four starters, Maine and Perez, respectively, recorded 81.1 and 66 innings. Bobby Parnell tossed 88 innings but failed miserably as a starter and is slated for the bullpen or even Triple A. Figgy pitched a yeoman 70 innings but he is strictly a tweener (better than Triple A but not major league caliber) at best.

The rest of the candidates should be labeled suspects, not prospects.

While the Mets invested a big buck and four years in one player, they could’ve revamped the team with mostly one and two year deals, thus saving a bankroll for the coveted 2011 class.

If that meant going an extra few million for catcher Bengie Molina so be it. They could have inked Jermaine Dye for one year and a couple of million and had some mad money in reserve when teams like the Pirates and Royals conduct their annual fire sales.

If you are on a beer budget you don’t buy MOET and then go hungry at dinner.

Spending a big buck for one player who does not merit superstar status (management’s way of saying “we doled out the third highest free agent contract this off-season so go bug off”) is misappropriation of funds- irresponsible when the ship is springing holes from bow to stern, or is that David Stern to bow?

Do I think the Mets would’ve built a championship team with the aforementioned players? No, not when Philadelphia adds the best pitcher in the game to a stable of thumpers. Nevertheless, they would’ve been a more balanced competitive club, and more important, top heavy in starting pitchers

Hasn’t that been Minaya’s credo from day one: “You can’t have enough starters,” then why wasn’t the money spent on it? As camp looms on the horizon there is no wiggle room with this staff. Stock up on the Tylenol (the fans and the pitchers) or hope the new Japanese import performs better than the Toyota’s his country sells.

For the oft-injured Maine (and the goofy Perez) that is asking a lot. The Mets were banking on all the walking wounded returning and playing a full season. That delusional dream has already produced a sweaty nightmare with the Carlos Beltran saga.

If the Wilpons had not been penny wise and pound foolish their man Omar could’ve assembled a semi-respectable pitching staff. Instead the leftovers from the Buffalo Bison’s pitching staff will trample the shuttle to downstate La Guardia Airport, and sadly toe the rubber in the land of the $10 beer and $20 parking fees.

This morning when I opened up my email I was both shocked and surprised to see an email from the Mets saying they were offering six pack ticket programs this year, and we could order them right away. For years I was seven pack holder at Shea Stadium. Last season, when Citifield opened the Mets did away with the seven packs, in favor of a 15 game pack. Sorry, from both a financial and domestic ( no way my wife would let me go to 15 games), the 15 pack didn’t work for me.

I think the return of the six pack can be traced to a few things. Firstly, its obvious a lot of Met fans are disgusted with the way this organization is going. Quite frankly I don’t recall seeing this type of anger directed at both the G.M. and ownership since the 1970s. The disgusted fans are sending a message to the Mets the only way they can: by not renewing their ticket packages.

The second reason I think the Mets are offering six packs, is due to the current economy. The area is still in a recession. People are thinking two or three times about what to do with their discretionary income (if they are lucky enough to have any). Its simple math, 15 ticktes are a heck of a lot more expensive than six tickets.

I think this is one of the smarter move the Mets have made. Fans may not want to spend a lot of money watching a team that may finish no higher than 4th place. The less expensive plan also allows fans who may not otherwise be able to see Met games live, get to Citifield at least six times.

Just once in the past six months would I like to sit down and write something positive, uplifting, and glorious about the Mets. However, this organization will not let that happen. Between their informal “mini-camp,” to the newsreels of Jose’ Reyes running full tilt at some fitness center on Long Island, they should be handing out barf bags to all their fans.

What do they take the faithful out to be gullible mindless saps? Any fan worth his salt should view all these staged workouts as merely propaganda. Certainly Joseph Goebbels would be proud (if he’s not already working in the Mets PR department.

What organization besides the floundering Mets release this kind of garbage and in the process insult the intelligence of their fan base? Do they think the people who buy tickets are going to rush the box office because we have witnessed Reyes running full tilt in a controlled environment?

Please, pass the Pepto and Xanax.

Wake me and the ground hog up when the team reports shortly to the real spring training in Florida. And then nudge me again (because I will fall asleep during the long camp) on opening day in April. The proof will be in the results on a baseball diamond when the record is 0-0.

I don’t need Dan Warthen smiling for the cameras telling me Oliver Perez is in great shape and throwing just fine, thank you very little. Off a mound in a bullpen miles from a major league batter, or a game that counts.

What the organization should do is explain to the fans why it splurged on a nice cocktail dress but didn’t have enough money left over for shoes. Maybe they thought spending $66 million dollars on Jason Bay while the pitching staff (and catching) is in shambles was prudent. Maybe they thought the affair was on the beach and shoes were not required.

Wouldn’t it made more sense to spread that large expenditure around to several capable pitchers who could devour some innings? As it stands now, I predict the Mets bullpen will tear apart at the seams before Memorial Day from abuse.

Wouldn’t it have made sense to sign a frontline catcher (Benji Molina for two years) two starting pitchers (Jon Garland and Joel Pineiro, et al) for one and two years, respectively, (because they are better than the oft-injured Jon Maine and wacky Perez) and a stop gap left-fielder (Jermaine Dye or even Johnny Damon would have injected some life into this listless team); eat the contract of fan (un)favorite Luis Castillo and import Orlando Hudson as an igniter and top of the order insurance policy?

All the aforementioned moves (and many not included) were feasible on a $66 mill budget-and then some. Did the Mets organization really feel that they were one big ticket item from the promised land? Because from this vantage point it looks like by overpaying Bay, a good player, they have neglected the leaking engine, rusting hull, and myriad structural problems of this vessel.

Dry-dock here we come!

Instead we hear that Dr. David Altchek, the team (Witch-I mean Which?) doctor, has cleared Kelvim Escobar to pitch. Great news, after the Marionette Omar Minaya has already signed him. But, those pictures of Johan Santana throwing and proclaiming he feels great in January have buoyed the fans’ spirits (folks, if Santana does not win 20 plus games the ship be sinking into the NL East abyss).

Stay tuned for upcoming video of Carlos Beltran (no doubt with shill Kevin Burkhardt wielding the mike)working out in the rehab pool. Can’t wait.

You can tell a lot about a player by the numbers he produces over his career.  The fact that Igarashi has a high 90s fastball is nice, but what has that fastball gotten him over his career?

Looking at Igarashi’s numbers would have me troubled if I’m a Met fan.  

He experienced some lower back pain in 2009 that caused him to miss some time and he missed the entire 2007 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.  From 2004 until 2008 he had never appeared in more than 50 games.  He did have a good year in 2009, appearing in 56 games and picking up 29 holds.  The missed time because of the lower back pain prevented him from appearing in 60 games.  It will be interesting to see how his stamina will be for a full 162 game season when he has had difficulty staying healthy for a 144 game season.

Here is a scouting report from Brandon Siefken of Japan Ball.

In 53 2/3 innings last year, his ERA was a beefy 3.19 which is a red flag to me.

He only struck out 44 batters for a slim 7.39 strike outs per nine innings, which seems low for a reliever. He does not dominate, despite his reputation as a dominator.

He also gives up an alarming number of home runs per 9 innings, as you can see in this Japanese relief pitcher chart from September: http://www.japanbaseballnews.com/?p=1188

I think in MLB there will be many trying times for Igarashi. I think his ego is more dominating than his fastball. If he gives up 0.55 home runs per nine innings in soft hitting Japan, I can see some ugly innings in America on the horizon.

Igarashi does hold the record for the fastest pitch in a NPB game by a Japanese pitcher when he hit 98.75 on the radar gun. Since the Tommy John surgery it is said that his velocity has returned, so that should help him.  He has never had much command, which could be even more challenging as he faces a new strike zone.  

One thing that is almost certain is that he should be a better set-up man than J.J. Putz was for the Mets last year.  The Mets have to hope that he won’t turn into their Masahide Kobayashi.    

For more on international baseball visit MWOB.

Somewhere in heaven, former Mets beloved broadcaster Bob Murphy has bellowed, “Fasten Your Seatbelts,” one more time.  With no games to call, he may have been referring to the news that the Mets are interested in former Braves pitcher John Smoltz as a starter. 
 
If Murph was back in the booth next season, only he would be older than Smoltz, as employees of the floundering Mets organization.  Perhaps Omar Minaya has already made inroads into his second career as an Archaeologist. 
 
Congratulations Omar, you are about to unearth your greatest fossil discovery since you re-signed Tom Glavine, also in the twilight of his career (Smoltz would be hard pressed to find a taker from the Independent Leagues, albeit he has had a great career). As Minaya is fond of saying, “At the end of the day,” how will the signing of two washed up ex-Atlanta pitchers work out? 
 
It says here, akin to Glavine’s final start in a Mets uniform.
 
Seriously folks, the Mets wait and see approach is about to yield rancid fruit.  You pick the apples off the tree, Omar, not wait till they hit the ground and get mushy.  Yesterday’s news of the Padres signing innings eater Jon Garland (what amounts to a $5 million commitment for 2010-that includes a mutual option for 2011 of $6.75 million, but a buyout of 600 grand) was the final blow to shoring up a pitching staff in shambles.
 
Chicken feed in today’s baseball economy with a dearth of competent starters.  Just look at what the Phillies paid for the services of Joe Blanton ($24 mill for three years), a mirror image of Garland.  By the way, the lanky right-hander has averaged 32 starts and 191.2 innings since 2002, and 209.5 innings in the past six campaigns.  He is not a number two starter’s caliber, but rockets past the current assemblage of mediocrity.
 
You can keep the propaganda emanating from the Mets mini-camp yesterday that both Johan Santana and Ollie Perez are healthy.  Santana is an ace and the rest of the cards in the hand could easily be discarded- a bevy of number four, five and AAA starters, with Mike Pelfrey the only one accumulating innings (184).  After that there is John Maine, who hurled 81, Perez, 66, and a lump of coal led by Bobby Parnell, Jon Niese, Nelson Figueroa, and Fernando Nieve (combined 209 innings, give or take a fraction).
 
Just to show you I am not a total ingrate, passing on the oft-injured Ben Sheets, (how does Oakland come up with the 10 mill scratch for him?) is applauded here.  Just because he threw a few pitches at 91 mph before a herd of scouts?  This guy would have fit in perfectly with the 2009 Mets.
 
He won’t make it past the all-star game (NBA).
 
The pitching list has dwindled to a precious few: Jarrod Washburn, Erik Bedard, or Chien-Ming Wang. Talk about dreck!  Signing any free-agent pitcher is a gamble and one coming off an injury personified.  The plan this off-season to revamp the pitching has underscored no plan at all.
 
It’s been a revolving door of speculation about whom would drop in the Mets’ laps. And several weeks from spring training it’s evident the operative word is droppings. Someone has to step up and replace the 255 innings recorded by the dearly departed Livan Hernandez and Tim Redding.
 
One thing is certain.  Minaya (and the Wilpons) are part of the problem, not solution.  You can find Omar engrossed in a dig somewhere in never-never land hoping to dust off the old bones of another stellar finding that belongs in a museum upstate, not toeing the rubber at Citi Field in a few months.

Free Agent sinker-baller Joel Pineiro, one of the top free agent pitchers left on the market, is available no more. Pineiro has agreed in principle to a $16 million/2 year deal with the Los Angeles Angels.

Pineiro started his career with Seattle, as a starter, before shifting to a bullpen role with mixed results. He made his way to the Cardinals in 2007, and as many down-on-their-luck pitchers do when they come to a Dave Duncan team, they improve. Pineiro finished 15-12 with a .5 HR/9 innings ratio, and 3.49 ERA.

Pineiro drew interest from other teams, most notably the Brewers, Mets, and Dodgers. He recorded two dominating compelete game shutouts against the Mets, including a gem in the final week of the 2007 collapse, and a 2-hitter this season, that would have been a no-hitter had Luis Castillo not hit a single to CF, and Jeremy Reed not get a pinch-hit in the 9^th. The 2009 gem only took 100 pitches.

With the impending signing of Pineiro, it appears that Ben Sheets, Erik Bedard, Jarrod Washburn and Jon Garland may be the best pitchers left.

Till Next Time