All of a sudden Brian Stokes, who allowed 72 hits and 38 walks in just 70 innings, is likened to a budding star due to his same old and tired 95 mph fastball that has yet to accomplish anything noteworthy.

His 1.56 WHIP last season already ranked in the bottom 5% of all relievers and his 3.97 ERA didn’t even account for all the inherited runners he allowed to score.

I’m equally surprised at how much of the outrage comes from the sabermetric crowd especially when you consider that their founding father Bill James projects Brian Stokes for a 4.72 ERA in 2010, and that was before he got traded back to the AL. I would suspect an updated projection will have him eclipsing a 5.00 ERA. (Incidentally, this is another strong case of where advanced metrics are being used to paint one player in a good light and another in a bad, a big pet peeve of mine.)

Even before the Mets promoted Stokes from Class-AAA in 2008, his numbers (4.43 ERA, 1.39 WHIP) hardly merited the call-up. 

This post is not an attempt to applaud the arrival of Gary Matthews Jr., because quite honestly it really doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things. His declining skills means that his days as an everyday player are now over.

Last season we filled our #4 and #5 outfield spots with two career minor leaguers, and this year we’ll have at least one of those spots filled by a career major leaguer. I’ve read several other blogs lamenting the fact we didn’t bring Jeremy Reed back. Really? I wonder what they’ll miss most? His .248 batting average in 178 plate appearances? His .301 OBP? His near league worst .609 OPS?

I mean if you’re going to take the time to voice your opposition, shouldn’t you at least do it in an objective way? I mean, put some damned teeth into your argument for crying out loud.

As I said, this trade boils down to a swap of scrubs at this point…

Two 25th men at best…

Quite honestly, where was Brian Stokes going to fit in anyway?

The signings of Kelvim Escobar and Ryota Igarashi pretty much put Stokes on the outside looking in. Unless of course you want to send Bobby Parnell back to the minors so you could have your much ballyhooed Stokes in the back of the bullpen?

(K-Rod, Escobar, Igarashi, Feliciano, Green, Parnell, Nieve/Niese)  

And when you look at it that way, it then translates into us trading a minor leaguer for Matthews and getting the Angels to pay for the tab.

I’m done with this.

I’ll no longer waste another moment of my time quarreling over a trade that’s just not worth the time and effort.

According to several reports, Brian Schneider has just signed a two-year deal worth $3 million dollars with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The former Mets catcher became a free agent and the Mets had no plans to offer him arbitration. Schneider, 33, hit .218 in 59 games last season, and .244 in 169 games overall as a Met.

Phillies GM Ruben Amaro said in a statement.

“We feel Brian is ideal for our ballclub. He has played in the NL East for this entire decade, so he knows the opposing hitters in this division well and he has proven he can handle the bat. He’s a guy that we would feel comfortable with playing for an extended period of time, if needed.”

I guess this is revenge for signing catcher Chris Coste who will always be a Phillie…

Schneider was a nice guy, but nice doesn’t win ball games, producing at the plate does, and Schneider wasn’t cutting it. Still, it’s a good move for the Phillies who unlike the Mets, aren’t desperate for offense. Plus it’s always a good thing to snag your rival’s catcher and pick his brain in the war room before each three game series.

Mets by the way, are still considering the virtues of catcher Henry Blanco despite the Chris Coste signing yesterday.

One of those players was reliever, Brian Stokes.

Last season, Stokes, 30, appeared in a career-high 69 games and pitched 70.1 innings, which were also the most in his four year career.

All the while, the hard throwing right-hander was able to maintain a 3.97 ERA, which isn’t all that spectacular but certainly is acceptable.

The main concern with Stokes was that he was inconsistent, at times. During the start of the season, the young pitcher was lights out, as he did not allow an earned run throughout his first twelve innings pitched.

He continued his successful run well into the middle of May where he accumulated an ERA of 0.52. Unfortunately, he took a couple steps back on May 24th against the Red Sox, in which he allowed 5 earned runs in only 1.1 innings.

From there aside from similar meltdowns against both the New York Yankees in June and the Chicago Cubs in August, he pitched relatively well until the month of September.

September was by far Stokes’s worse month on the mound, as he was roughed up by the Rockies, Cubs and Nationals. In total for the month Stokes allowed 10 earned runs in 11 innings pitched, which equates to a nasty ERA of 8.18 for the month.

It seems as if September is not the month for Brian Stokes. Even in 2008, his ERA was nearly two runs higher in September than it was in August.

One reason behind this is that the pitcher maybe tiring out. Nonetheless when looking to build a contender you need a players that can step up their game for a playoff push.

I had read recently that Brian Stokes could be under consideration to be the team’s setup man next season. Despite the fact that I am a fan of the pitcher, I do not think this role is appropriate for him.

Setup men generally are power pitchers who throw hard and strike out batters frequently. While Stokes may be a power pitcher his strike out numbers could use improvement.

Last year, he had a 45:38 K/BB ratio, which is OK for an average reliever, but you would want more out of a setup man.

To me, Stokes is an average-to-slightly above average middle reliever. Keep in mind though, unlike other positions a 30 year-old relief pitcher is still considered very young so there is a lot of time for improvement.

This season, Stokes made somewhere just north of $400K, which is hardly anything in terms of baseball money. He should be looking at a similar salary next season before he heads for his arbitration year following the 2010 season.

Final Verdict: The fact that Stokes is still young and has had success under the tutelage of pitching coach, Dan Warthen, coupled with the fact that he earns a relatively low salary makes Stokes an ideal choice to round out one of the final spots in next year’s bullpen.

As in the case of Sean Green, if Stokes struggles, the team can afford to let him go and replace him with someone else without having to suffer a significant financial burden.

Before the Mets came to the Mile High city, the Rockies were showing signs of wilting in the late summer heat.  They had lost five straight games and visions of a Rocktober sequel appeared to be fading.  Enter the perfect remedy for Colorado’s case of defeat-itis: the Mets.

Ubaldo Jimenez took the mound for the Rockies, hoping to keep his team in the Wild Card lead after the Giants had won earlier in the day.  Jimenez had just completed a brilliant month of August in which he went 5-1 with a 1.77 ERA.  But the Mets wasted little time in putting together a run.

Angel Pagan led off the game with a double to deep center field.  This was followed by a beautifully placed bunt single by Luis Castillo.  Daniel Murphy then hit a sacrifice fly to left field and the Mets took the early lead on the Rockies.

Tim Redding was so unfamiliar working with an early lead that he gave it right back two batters into the game.  After retiring Carlos Gonzalez to begin the first inning, Redding gave up a solo home run to Seth Smith.  The blast tied the game at 1.

The game of “you score one, I score one” continued when the Rockies took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning, only to have Jeff Francoeur tie the game in the top of the fourth inning with a home run to left field.  It was his 12th home run of the season, surpassing his total for 2008, and his seventh home run for the Mets since being traded to New York from the Braves in July.

After the home run by Francoeur tied the game, the Mets were only able to manage one measly hit for the remainder of the game.  Fortunately for them, Tim Redding was able to keep the Rockies off the scoreboard until he was taken out of the game with two outs in the seventh inning.  It was his third consecutive good outing for the Mets.  However, he only has one win to show for it, despite the 2.45 ERA and .197 batting average against him in 18.1 innings pitched.  Tonight he held the Rockies to two runs on seven hits in his 6.2 innings of work.  He also added six strikeouts and walked only one batter.

With the score still tied at 2 heading to the bottom of the eighth, Jerry Manuel brought in Brian Stokes to start the inning.  It was Stokes who gave up the go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning to Alfonso Soriano last Friday in Chicago to turn a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 deficit.  As Yogi Berra used to say, it was deja vu all over again.

Stokes started off well by getting Todd Helton to ground out to third base.  However, the dreaded walk came back to haunt the Mets as Troy Tulowitzki drew a free pass from Stokes.  This was followed by a double into the left field corner by Brad Hawpe.  Ian Stewart was intentionally walked to load up the bases for Clint Barmes.  However, it was not Barmes who stepped up to the plate for the Rockies, but recently acquired slugger Jason Giambi.

Giambi had left his Village People cover band in New York this past offseason when he reunited with his original band in Oakland.  However, that reunion did not last long, as he was clearly not the same mustachioed marauder he used to be during his first stint with the band.  Oakland released him and the Rockies signed him to be a spark off the bench.  What a spark he provided tonight!

He lined the first pitch by Stokes over the outstretched glove of Anderson Hernandez into center field for a two-run single, giving the Rockies a 4-2 lead over the Mets.  An RBI single by neglected stepchild Yorvit Torrealba added another run, giving the Rockies their final run in the 5-2 victory.

Although the Mets will not win a series for the tenth straight time (eight series losses, two splits dating back to their last series victory in late July over the Rockies), they can still avoid a sweep with a victory in tomorrow’s afternoon affair.  They were able to avoid the broom in each of their last two series by taking the finales against the Marlins and the Cubs, respectively.

Pat Misch will take the mound in the finale against the Rockies.  He will be faced by 14-game winner Jason Marquis.  Game time for the matinee will be at 3:10 PM.

Misch pitched well in his last start against the Cubs.  He may not have a future as a starting pitcher for the Mets, but another solid performance could lead to renewed confidence and a role on next year’s team.  As long as he doesn’t pitch like Brian Stokes pitched on Wednesday night, the Mets might be able to avoid the bristles of the Rockies’ broom.

Currently, the Mets have two ex-All-Star setup men on their roster in Billy Wagner and J.J. Putz. Although, both have options for next season it is highly unlikely either will be brought back without at least signing a new deal that will pay them less money. Even so, I still don’t see this happening.

In Wagner’s case, he wants the role of closer, which he has held with numerous teams for the better part of the past decade. This is something that the Mets simply cannot offer him due to that position being occupied by the younger Francisco Rodriguez.

As in Wagner’s situation, J.J. Putz would also prefer to close, however agreed to setup K-Rod upon being traded to New York from Seattle. Putz is also six years younger than Wagner and in theory has a few more productive years ahead of him.

However, despite this there is no way even the Mets could justify handing out nearly nine million dollars to a pitcher, who posted an ugly 5.22 ERA. I understand Putz was hurt, but at the same time when it looks as if management may only be able to allot $20 million dollars for salary next year that amount of money becomes a significant issue.

Taking Wagner and Putz out of the equation, the Mets will have a bullpen consisting of Brian Stokes, Pedro Feliciano, Sean Green and Francisco Rodriguez. I neglected to include Bobby Parnell, who could either start or relieve next year.

This all is obviously subject to change as it is still to early to tell whether or not this tandem will be back in a Mets uniform.

It wouldn’t be unimaginable for the Mets not to tender a contract to Green, who has been less than stellar this season with a 5.13 ERA and three blown saves.

Assuming the Mets do not retain him for next year that would leave them with three quality arms for the bullpen. Clearly, that is not enough to warrant a solid bullpen. Whether it be via a trade or a free agent signing, the Mets are going to have to get a reliever that can get lefties out.

For the past two years, the Mets have supposedly been searching for a lefty specialist to take some of the workload off Pedro Feliciano. However, after some 152 relief appearances over the past two seasons Feliciano has still yet to receive reliable assistance in the bullpen.

Looking exclusively at the upcoming free agent class there aren’t that many intriguing names out there. Sure there’s Joe Beimel, but if Omar didn’t pick him up last off-season when he had the chance to last year I don’t see it happening this season when he will have even less funds to spend.

As for filling the other impending voids in the pen the Mets had a young reliever who had the ability to get both righties and lefties out in Darren O’Day, but they put him on waivers to enable Nelson Figueroa to make a spot start back in April. Another great roster move by Mr. Minaya.

Since joining the Rangers O’Day has been stellar, posting a 1.84 ERA and accumulating 16 holds.

All in all, the Mets will have a lot of voids to fill this coming off-season, however it is important that they do not neglect the one aspect of the team that lead to a very disappointing season in 2008.

Bobby Parnell delivered an electrifying performance tonight as he held the Giants to just three hits, all singles, in six scoreless innings. Parnell threw 61 of his 86 pitches for strikes, and walked none while striking out seven batters. Wow. Now that’s more like it. At one point in the game, Parnell retired eleven straight batters including four strikeouts in a row. His fastball was smoking and frequently hit 96 mph even in his final inning of work. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that this was just the start of something big by the young righty. He’ll have at least seven more starts before the season ends, and it should give us a good read on him.

Angel Pagan got the Mets on the board, leading off the game with a homerun to give Parnell a small cushion to work with. The Mets got their second run thanks to a long double by Jeff Francoeur in the fourth inning to score Luis Castillo who led off the inning with a single. Castillo scored again in the sixth courtesy of a line drive double off the bat of David Wright that moved him to third, followed by a sac fly from Gary Sheffield.

Brian Stokes started the seventh inning and pitched perfectly, but walked the first batter on four pitches to start the eight and was replaced by Pedro Feliciano who wrapped it up with no problem. Frankie Rodriguez treated the fans to a rare 1-2-3 inning to pick up his 26th save of the season.

It was a well played game that may have given us a glimpse of the future of our rotation in Bobby Parnell.

The Mets got some good news on Carlos Beltran who shagged some flies before the game. The plan is for more of the same on Saturday and barring a setback, he may soon play in some rehab games.

A big Happy Birthday to longtime Mets icon Jay Horwitz!

The Mets will have their ace Johan Santana face the Giants’ Matt Cain in a marquis matchup that will be televised on FOX at 4:00 PM. Lets play spoiler!

“No. Not at all. I can’t see it. I think that would be foolhardy to even insinuate something like that,” he said. “I think what I would be is a Brian Stokes-type player. I might pitch once a week. I can’t see ‘em doing that.”

Stokes took offense to his teammate’s uncalled for remarks and rightfully so, as he has managed to keep himself out of the limelight and out of trouble with the media, which can’t necessarily be said for Wagner, who seems to have found trouble wherever he goes.

Rather than engaging in a war of words, Stokes seems to be showing Wagner up on the field. Since the article was published Stokes has appeared in 6 games, pitching 5 innings, while allowing no runs on one hit and striking out 3.

This includes a near perfect two inning performance tonight against the Rockies, in which Stokes allowed only one hit, which aided in holding off the resurgent Rockies and enabled the Mets to score the go ahead runs off of Fernando Tatis’ grand slam later in the game.

Pretty good for a $400,000 investment (which is all the Mets paid to acquire Stokes from the Tampa Bay Rays prior to the 2008 season).

In a club that has been full of change and inconsistency, Brian has proved himself to be reliable. Outside of a couple of rough outings in May and June, Stokes has been rock solid and has amassed a 3.69 ERA in 38 appearances this season.

In comparison, Billy Wagner, despite having a more illustrious career, has yet to throw a single pitch in the big league level. According to the Mets Wagner should return sometime in August. Even so there is no telling how effective he will be.

In short, Billy Wagner once again put his foot in his mouth and Brian Stokes has shown him and the rest of the baseball world that he is more than just the 25th man on the roster.

The Mets lost another one of those games that could have easily been a win for them if not for shooting blanks whenever they needed a timely hit. The Orioles outscored them 6-4 despite a 12 hit attack from the Mets offense.

Game Recap

Tim Redding, making his sixth start of the season started off solid but in the end he was charged with four runs on seven hits in 5-1/3 innings, including a two-run homer in the second inning by Orioles rookie catcher Matt Wieters. Redding said he didn’t have his best stuff after the game.

In the seventh inning, Pedro Feliciano cam into the game with the score tied at 4-4, but made a couple of bad pitches giving up a single to Nick Markakis and two-run homer to Aubrey Huff to put the Birds ahead for good.

Bobby Parnell and Brian Stokes both had scoreless stints and rebounded from shaky outings last time out.

Offensively, Gary Sheffield homered in the sixth inning to bring the Mets a run closer. It was part of a 2 hit day for Sheff, and he has now homered in three of his last five games.

After Sheffield homered, the Mets loaded the bases, and pitcher Mark Hendrickson walked Alex Cora to force in a run and make it 4-4. But in a critical spot and with a chance to break the game wide open, Fernando Tatis grounded into a double play.

Daniel Murphy had three hits in the game, all singles, and scored a run.

Carlos Beltran and David Wright went 1-10 in the game, leaving six runners on base between them.

Ryan Church had two hits, and I wish we could just leave the guy alone in rightfield. With consistent playing time, Church could give us a big second half.

Game Thoughts and Notes

Despite playing with a DH and playing games in two of the top three homerun hitting parks in the game, the Mets have not found their power stroke. Where would they be without Gary Sheffield? If you take away Sheffield homers, the Mets would be ranked dead last in MLB. As it stands now, they are ranked 28th with 41 homers.

Feliciano was holding lefthanded hitter to a .125 average coming into the game last night. He was as close to being automatic as you can get before being tagged by Huff for a two-run homer. After the game he admitted he shouldn’t have shook off Brian Schneider on that pitch.

For rookie Matt Wieters, it was the first homerun of his career. It seems like the Mets give up a lot of these first homeruns going all the way back to 2007. I wonder if they keep stats on things like that?

The good news? The Phillies also lost last night, so the Mets still remain just three games back.

Game Ball

Gary Sheffield

On Deck

The Mets will send Livan Hernandez to the mound to try and nail down the rubber game tonight.

When last seen, Stokes was wearing his home uniform and had tossed 1.2 scoreless innings against the Marlins.

He can easily be identified by his 0.00 ERA.

Stokes is known to brandish a 98 MPH heater in his arsenal so consider him armed and dangerous.

He asn’t been convicted of any crimes, but we’d like to bring him in for questioning.

He may have been injured during an encounter with a pesky Marlin, but none of his associates have confirmed that.

Some believe he may a victim of foul play by his manager, Jerry Manuel, who has been known to bury people alive in the back of the bullpen and sometimes chain players in the back of his doghouse. We are keeping a close watch on him and consider him one of our prime suspects in this case.

We are also keeping an eye on one called Sean Green who has apparently had a lot to gain since Stokes disappeared.

We will continue to update you as we learn more information.

SERIOUSLY… Where is this guy???