Starting Lineup

1. Mike Baxter – RF
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Ike Davis – 1B
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. John Buck – C
7. Rick Ankiel – CF
8. Ruben Tejada – SS
9. Jeremy Hefner – RHP

Game Notes

Jeremy Hefner has posted a 3.33 ERA (10 earned runs/27.0 innings) over his last four starts, including three quality starts. Hefner has issued eight walks and struck out 19 during that span.

Matt Harvey drove in the go-ahead run for in the seventh inning, breaking a 2-2 tie with an RBI single. Harvey is the first Mets starting pitcher to earn a win and drive in a go-ahead run in the seventh inning or later since Sid Fernandez on August 16, 1993 at Cincinnati.

Harvey is 5-0 with a 1.55 ERA in nine starts. Only two other major league pitchers over the last 30 seasons remained undefeated through as many starts with as low an ERA: Kris Medlen last season (7-0, 0.86 ERA) and Pedro Martinez in 2001 (6-0, 1.52). Harvey is fifth in the majors with a 1.55 ERA and
second in the N L with 68 strikeouts. He leads the majors with a 0.72 WHIP, a .149 opponents batting average against and 6.64 baserunners per nine innings.

Bobby Parnell has three wins and three saves this month. Parnell has hurled 7.0 scoreless frames in May. He is tied for the major league lead among all relievers with four wins and is sixth in the NL with a 0.98 ERA (min. 16.0 innings).

John Buck is fifth in the NL with 31 RBI. Buck’s 31 RBI lead all catchers. San Francisco’s Buster Posey is second with 24 RBI. He is also tied for the home run lead among catchers with 10 with Toronto’s J.P. Arencibia. His 10 home runs are tied for fourth in the National League.

Game Preview

The Mets now have won two games in a row and they are looking to do more this afternoon in Chicago as they play game two of this series. Yesterday the Mets got limited, but strong hits from David Wright and Daniel Murphy, good pitching from Matt Harvey and surprising defense from Byrd. Today Jeremy Hefner tries to keep it going against Scott Feldman.

Jeremy Hefner is 0-4 this season over 41.0 innings of work with a 4.61 ERA. His last start was average, contract definition of quality, as he allowed 3 ER over 6 innings of work and in that game he allowed 5 hits, 4 walks and 2 strikeouts. Last year he pitched only 1.1 innings against the Cubs and they were quiet: no hits, no runs, no walks and one strikeout. The Cubs have the following numbers against Hefner:

Schierholtz 1-4, 3B
Edwin Jackson, 0-3 (Yes, I know he’s a pitcher and he went yesterday but whatever)
Castro 0-1
DeJesus 0-1
Rizzo 0-1
Russel 0-1

Scott Feldman is 3-3 this season with a 2.53 ERA over 7 games and 42.2 innings of work. He has been fantastic in the month of May pitching 22.0 innings with a 1.23 ERA while walking 5 and striking out 21 batters. He has made one start in his career against the Mets where he picked up the loss after 5 innings with 8 hits, 7 runs, 6 earned. The Mets have the following numbers against Scott:

Buck 3-13, 2 2B
Wright 0-2
(It’s been a while since Feldman has faced the Mets)

Lets Go Mets!

Starting Lineup

1. Jordany Valdespin – RF
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Ike Davis – 1B
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. John Buck – C
7. Rick Ankiel – CF
8. Ruben Tejada – SS
9. Matt Harvey – RHP

Game Notes

The Mets’ 5-2 win against the Cardinals on Thursday was only the second time in their past 10 games they topped three runs. But when it’s rained, it’s poured for the Mets. They’ve scored seven or more runs in a game 10 times this season, tied for second in the National League with the Giants and Braves.

The Mets went 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position in the victory against St. Louis after going 11-for-53 (.208) in those situations over its previous nine contests.

Terry Collins told reporters he will continue to use Ike Davis in the cleanup spot through their weekend series with the Cubs. The team has not discussed sending Davis to the minor leagues, according to reporters. Davis is hitless in his last 22 at-bats and is batting .157 with 4 home runs this season.

David Wright is batting .379 during day games, the fourth-highest average in the National League. Also, Daniel Murphy is batting .394 on the road this season, the best mark in the NL. Murphy has hit safely in five straight games, with three multi-hit efforts, including Thursday’s four-hit outburst.

Game Preview

The Mets stopped the losing yesterday afternoon as they beat the Cardinals by the score of 5-2 and avoided the sweep. This afternoon, the Mets look to repair their season by building off of yesterday’s win. Murphy was a big reason for success yesterday with a 4-4 day at the plate with 2 doubles and going an overall 11 for his last 17 (after going 0-17). In addition to Murphy yesterday, the Mets got some good starting pitching from someone not named Matt Harvey. Speaking of Matt Harvey, happy Harvey Day!

Matt is still 4-0 this season thanks to the Mets bullpen and really the Mets offense in his last several starts. It speaks to the season Harvey is having that we were disappointed with 7 inning, 2 ER, 4 K performance his last time out that actually raised his ERA to 1.44. This afternoon will be Harvey’s first time pitching in Chicago, pitching against Chicago and facing any batter on the Chicago roster.

The Mets bats will square off with Edwin Jackson who is 1-5 over the first 8 starts of the year with a 6.02 ERA over 43.1 innings of work. His last start wasn’t bad as he allowed 2 ER over 5.1 innings but in his previous two starts he has allowed 12 ER in 9.2 innings of work. Last season he was 1-1 against the Mets in three starts with a 3.32 ERA in 19.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Edwin:

Byrd 6-21, 4 2B, HR
Buck 3-13, HR
Wright 2-10
Murphy 1-9
Tejada 0-7
Davis 2-6, 2B, HR
Duda 1-6, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

Life would have been better if no one said the phrase – ever — but it’s too late now. By the time Tim Leary first heard someone say it in his presence all he could do was go out and try to provide evidence to support the claims.

Leary, a UCLA graduate, overpowered hitters with a 96-mile per hour fastball, then buckled their knees with a biting curveball. In 1980, his first season of professional baseball in the New York Mets organization, he was unhittable. Leary was named Most Valuable Player of the Texas League. Honestly, that only made matters worse.

The occasional mention became an everyday occurrence. Scouts, fans, analysts were singing a chorus of praises that always ended in similar refrain: Leary was going to be “the next Tom Seaver.”

Mets manager Joe Torre and pitching coach Bob Gibson watched his 22-year old prospect blow away major league veterans in the Spring of 1981. Torre told the media Leary was “overpowering.” The Mets manager wasn’t alone in his praise. ”You look at him pitch and know that someday he’ll be a super baseball player,” added St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog.

”I like that son of a gun on the Mets. What’s his name, Leary?” Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda told New York Times reporter Joe Durso. “He can throw the hell out of the ball.”

Torre and Gibson knew they’d have to convince GM Frank Cashen to get Leary on the 25-man roster. Cashen was staunchly conservative in his approach to promoting young, developing arms.

By the end of Spring, Leary made it difficult for Cashen to say no. The Mets GM gave in. Leary was in. He earned it. He pitched his way North. Leary would join a 1981 rookie class that included Cal Ripken Jr., Fernando Valenzuela, Tim Raines, Tony Pena and Mets Mookie Wilson and Hubie Brooks.

It was a typical cold, windy 46-degree Sunday at Wrigley Field in Chicago. It was a day filled with hope for the Mets. Hopeful that rookie Tim Leary would be all the things he was promoted to be, hopeful the 22-year old would not feel overwhelmed by the pressure, hopeful that they were witnessing the beginning of “the next Seaver.”

Leary struck out Ivan DeJesus swinging and Joe Strain looking at a called third strike. Two batters, two strikeouts and now hope was floating in the Windy City. Bill Buckner grounded out and Mets fans were confused. Was this Tim Leary or Tom Seaver?

In the second inning, after Steve Henderson lined out and Bull Durham struck out, Cubs third baseman Ken Reitz worked walked. Leary threw a wild pitch and Reitz moved to second. But Leary retired Scot Thompson on a fly ball to end the inning.

Did you see it? What … the wild pitch?

No. Leary felt “a searing pain” in his elbow as he worked to Reitz. Something was wrong, really wrong. “I felt some pain in my arm on the way north,” remembered Leary.

When the Cubs came to bat in the third inning it was Pete Falcone, not Leary pitching. Four days later he was placed on the disabled list. He wouldn’t throw a major league pitch for another 30 months. Cashen never forgave himself – or Torre – for what happened wrote Peter Golenbeck in Amazin’.

”Since I was 8 years old, I pitched hundreds of innings and was never hurt,” remembered Leary. “Now, I was hurt. Any time you even sit in a whirlpool, you get criticized. And I was taking whirlpools twice a day for months. When I went home to Los Angeles, I’d walk the beach. I became a loner.”

The whispers about being “another Seaver” faded – fast. Injury trumps all in professional sports. Being a “head case” is a close second and Leary was branded with both. Once a player is tagged, the climb to the majors becomes Mount Everest.

“The pressure is on in New York,” former teammate Terry Leach told Peter Golenbeck, author of Amazin’. “Some people can’t handle the attention, because they expect so much of you. Or you think they expect so much of you, so you try to do more than you’re capable of, and that’s not good. And that’s what happened to Tim Leary in New York. He was young, it’s hard to cope. You don’t know what it’s like until you play big league ball in New York. That is the big leagues.”

Leary reported to Spring Training in 1982, hopeful. He spent the winter exercising, strengthening his elbow. Leary pitched one inning against the Philadelphia Phillies and he was “roughed up.”

”Every time I threw, it hurt,” said Leary. “I couldn’t even pitch. I went back home, and didn’t do much of anything except walk the beach and worry. That was the low point.”

In June 1983 Leary visited Dr. Daniel Alkatis, a nerve specialist in New York. In minutes Alkatis diagnosed Leary with a pinched nerve. “I’d been lying around for eight months, he found it in five minutes,” he said. “I still had a long way to go, but my mind was finally free.”

Sure the modest crowd that peppered the box seats on the final day of the 1983 season was a far cry from the dreams Leary once carried on his right shoulder, but No. 38 was pitching again. The “next Seaver” comparisons were gone, maybe for good, but he was back in uniform, on the mound, in the major leagues at Shea Stadium. And that was all that mattered now.

Leary pitched nine innings and beat the Montreal Expos. It was his first victory in the big leagues.

1984 was an ironic convergence of the past and then-present. Dwight Gooden, Tim Leary and Frank Cashen arrived in Florida for Spring Training.

Gooden was wearing Leary’s 1981 shoes, Leary was “damaged goods,” a reclamation project hoping for a spot on the roster and Cashen was waxing, bordering on hypocrisy, to the media about the lesson he learned.

”We’re starting to hear Gooden used as a standard of comparison for other young pitchers,” said the Mets GM. ”The scouts are starting to say that so-and- so has a Gooden-type fastball. That’s a form of subtle pressure in a way, but Gooden doesn’t understand what subtle pressure is, while Leary did.

”Gooden is very phlegmatic. He’s not burdened with a lot of hangups. I don’t want to say that Tim Leary was emotionally immature, but he was like Cassius in Shakespeare. You know, ‘Young Cassius has a lean and hungry look. He thinks too much.’ That can be dangerous.”

“On a cold night you have to hit the ball 25 feet farther. So, in other words, if the fence is 338 feet and you hit the ball 338 feet, you’ll be 25 feet short.” – Ralph Kiner, attempting to explain the effect of cold weather on the flight of a baseball.

The New York Mets and Minnesota Twins played last Friday night’s game in between snowflakes. According to Major League Baseball, the game time temperature was 34 degrees. Pitchers were licking their fingers and blowing hot air into their balled up fists. Infielders were wearing ski caps. The dugouts were filled with hoodies and heated benches. Toasty, right?

“But when you got outside the dugouts, it’s pretty stinking cold,” Mets manager Terry Collins told the media.

In April 1982 a massive snowstorm hit the northeast, wiping out games almost the entire first week of the baseball season in New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit. The weather was so poor the Yankees returned to Florida while their scheduled opponent, the Texas Rangers, worked out under the stands at Shea Stadium. Meanwhile, the Mets beat the Phillies at Veterans Stadium, 7-2, in the season opener. It was all downhill sledding after that.

The Mets moved on to Chicago, where two snowstorms blasted the city just days before the Cubs scheduled opener. It was 34 degrees – and windy – at first pitch. The maintenance teams shoveled the snow into piles under the seats at Wrigley Field. Not a good idea.  Fans pelted Mets players with snowballs, prompting the Cubs public address announcer to appeal to the 26,091 fans: ”Please refrain from throwing snowballs on the field.”

Snow, in April, at the ballpark, isn’t new, but it certainly is unusual looking. David Wright looked like he was posing for a Christmas card …

The cold weather can be dangerous, too.

Former Mets catcher Rick Cerone remembers playing in Toronto in April 1977 as a member of the Blue Jays. The weather was so cold he suffered frost bite on his right hand and he never fully recovered.

”It snowed the first five innings,” said Cerone. “Ever since my hand got frostbitten that day, I’ve had bad circulation in it. Whenever it’s the least bit cold, I had trouble feeling the ball. I use heat packs to keep my hand warm. But that’s what cold weather can do. It’s not just how the cold affects you that day, it’s how it can affect the rest of your career.”

In an interview with the New York Times, Dave Winfield remembered how the cold weather nearly cost him his career. ”My junior year at the University of Minnesota, I was a pitcher as well as an outfielder. We were playing Michigan State in snow flurries and 30-degree weather, when I heard something pop in my elbow. For the next five months, I couldn’t throw a ball 30 feet. I thought I might be through, but lucky for me, my arm came back.”

Standing in the snow, Sandy Alderson looked across the field searching for the infield diamond. He couldn’t spot it. Earlier in the day he was on Twitter suggesting the conditions were more football than baseball. So, he wondered out loud, if the Mets and Rockies might still play later Monday night?

“There isn’t a bright line test,” he said. “Is it 30 degrees? Twenty-eight? Twenty-six? I don’t know where you draw the line.”

The answer: No. We found our bright line. A winter storm warning means no baseball in Colorado. The storm will remain in effect until 6am Tuesday morning.

The Boys of Summer will attempt to play a day-night doubleheader Tuesday at Coors Field. The weather forecast: Cloudy with a chance of snow in the morning. A chance of rain and snow in the afternoon. Highs 37 to 43. Sounds like they’ll be walking a fine bright line again.

LIVE BLOGGING FROM CITI FIELD

Cowgill’s Grand Slam puts exclamation point on Mets 11-2 win.

This game’s over and the Mets pounded the Padres 11-2 today at Citi Field.

It was an “All Hands On Deck Effort” by this revamped Mets team which was great to see.

Collin Cowgill with a huge Mets debut and big contributions also from Byrd, Buck, Wright, Tejada, Murphy and of course Jon Niese who looked sharp in his first start of the season.

Fun game and it was fun live blogging it for you.

Thanks to John – our man in the booth, and Clayton – our roving reporter/photographer, for all their help.

8th Inning

Mets have 11 runs on the board with no dancing, no fancy high fives, no curtain calls, and no showboating. This is good to see. #LGM

— Mets Merized Online (@MetsMerized) April 1, 2013

7th Inning

Jon Niese’s first Opening Day start is over: 6 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 K, 2 BB, HR. 101 pitches, 62 strikes. Brandon Lyon in.

Cowgill just hit a grand slam that just made it over the wall and Mets tack on four more runs!.

Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!

Mets 11. Padres 2

6th Inning

After a scoreless fifth, Niese got touched up for a home run in the top of the sixth. No harm no foul. He talked Collins into staying in and pitch the seventh inning. 12 of his 19 outs were all groundouts.

Mets 7, Padres 2

4th Inning

Cowgill hustles for a double and moves Niese to third. Then the Birthday Boy, Daniel Murphy, drives Niese home with a single to make it 5-1 Mets.

Wright picks up an RBI on a groundout to score Cowgill.

Byrd drives hom Murphy with a two-our TBI and the Mets are blowing this game wide open!

Niese is having a solid start…

Mets 7, Padres 1

Don’t look now, but we just got our 5,000th follower. Oh, alright go ahead and look if you must. Lets Go Mets!

— Mets Merized Online (@MetsMerized) April 1, 2013

3rd Inning

The Mets’ third run of the game was brought to you and manufactured by Captain America’s hustle. #DW5

— Mets Merized Online (@MetsMerized) April 1, 2013

The Mets score two more runs in the inning. Tejada, Byrd, Buck all getting into the act. It’s utter pandemonium!

Mets 4, Padres 1

Grounds crew getting ready to replace the bases between innings @metsmerized @mets twitter.com/Clayton_Collie…

— Clayton Collier (@Clayton_Collier) April 1, 2013

2nd Inning

Ruben safe at third!!! @metsmerized twitter.com/Clayton_Collie…

— Clayton Collier (@Clayton_Collier) April 1, 2013

Ruben Tejada doubles home John Buck who chugs home to score the first run of the game. Deep breaths, John.

Slugger Jon Niese singles Tejada home for the Mets second run and the Mets are on top 2-0 after two innings.

I told you we had this!

Keith Hernandez is not loving the sea of orange t-shirts in right-center and calls them a distraction. He doesn’t like Volquez’ necklace either. Somebody give Mex a Tootsie Roll pop!

Mets 2, Padres 0

1st Inning

It’s scoreless after one, Wright got on after an error, but it could have easily been a hit. Who’s scoring this game, Alex68?

Niese throws first pitch of the season. Single to left. Winter is officially over. newyorkmetsreport.com @metsmerized

— John Delcos (@jdelcos) April 1, 2013

1:15 PM Update

First Responders from Hurricane Sandy take the field @metsmerized twitter.com/Clayton_Collie…

— Clayton Collier (@Clayton_Collier) April 1, 2013

12:45 PM Update

Awesome shot sent in by Clayton…

Don’t just stand there… Do something!

These two die-hards are here for their first ever Mets Opening Day!

Eddie Wilkowski made Stephen Keane of the Kranepool Society happy with this pic…

Me and John are doing a weekly feature saluting the ’73 Mets and Eddie was nice enough to chime in!

11:45 AM Update

MMO’s Coop, Ed and Joey never miss a Mets Opening Day!

BTW, Congrats to Joey our new MMO Senior Editor!

Clayton was happy to see his Fan Walk Brick was still looking as good as new.

Padres rookie Jedd Gyorko has his family here to see him make his MLB debut.

Hey! Omar Minaya is here and chillin’ with Bud Black!

Kevin Burkhardt is dressed to the nines…

METS OPENING DAY ROSTER

When the Mets are introduced this afternoon, there will be only nine players who were on last year’s Opening Day roster. Give a big hand to your New York Mets!

Catchers (2): John Buck, Anthony Recker.

Infielders (5): Daniel Murphy, David Wright, Ike Davis, Ruben Tejada, Justin Turner.

Outfielders (6): Jordany Valdespin, Collin Cowgill, Marlon Byrd, Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Mike Baxter.

Pitchers (12):  Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, LaTroy Hawkins, Bobby Parnell, Jonathon Niese, Dillon Gee, Jeremy Hefner,Scott Rice, Greg Burke, Josh Edgin, Scott Atchison, Brandon Lyon.

9:00 AM Update

A dozen of us from Metsmerized Online have invaded Citi Field and we’ll be Live Blogging the entire day here at MMO. our MMO Fan Correspondent Clayton Collier is the first to report in and the newsstand caught his eye this morning.

John Delcos will be hitting the field and the clubhouse before the game and then will be posting in-game thoughts and some of the action live from the press box. After the game we’ll have a few roving reporters hitting the media room to catch what Terry Collins, David Wright and the rest of the team will have to say.

Clayton is going in armed and ready and will be donning his new All Star Jersey which he had displayed in his own Mets Hall of Fame along with his replica Citi Field Fan-Walk brick and player signed baseballs.

Opening Day Notes

A Grand Opening Day: Todd Hundley has the only Mets grand slam on Opening Day…Hundley’s slam came on April 26, 1995 at Colorado off Billy Swift.

Opening Day Double-Shots: Robin Ventura, Bobby Bonilla, Cleon Jones, Darryl Strawberry and Kevin McReynolds are the only five players in club history to hit two home runs in an Opening Day tilt…Ventura was the last to accomplish the feat on April 3, 2001 at Atlanta …Bonilla cracked two home runs in his first game as a Met on April 6, 1992 at St. Louis, Jones belted two home runs on April 6, 1975 vs. Philadelphia and Strawberry and McReynolds each hit two home runs on April 4, 1988 at Montreal in a 10-6 triumph.

Opening Day Zeroes: The Mets have recorded seven shutouts on Opening Day…The last time New York held an opponent scoreless on Opening Day was last year when the Mets blanked the Braves, 1-0…Meanwhile, the Mets have been shut out only once (7-0, April 9, 1963 vs. St. Louis) on Opening Day.

Opening Day Extras: The Mets have played six extra-inning games on Opening Day…They are 5-1 in those contests…The last extra-inning affair was a 6-4, 10-inning victory on April 3, 2001 at Atlanta.

Opening Day Ten-Spots: The Mets have scored 10 or more runs four times on Opening Day, including an Opening Day-high 12 runs on April 4, 1994 against the Cubs…New York surrendered an Opening Day-worst 15 runs to the Cubs in a 15-2 setback at Shea on March 31, 2003.

According to a report, the Cubs are willing to eat $26 million of the remaining $36 million owed left fielder Alfonso Soriano over the next two seasons, the last of the eight-year, $136 million deal he signed before the 2007 season. The contract includes a full no-trade clause, which Soriano invoked last season when he rejected a trade to the San Francisco Giants, using the negative effect the cold weather would have on his knees. I wasn’t aware the tropic of Chicago was a more appeasing climate. Be that as it may, the “six or seven teams” for whom Soriano says his agent has informed the Cubs he’d waive the clause are on the east coast or in the center of the country and include the Mets. It also includes the Yankees and Phillies, as well as a quick trip to the South Side. So, I guess it’s only cold in San Francisco. But I digress.

Soriano has been mentioned on several occasions as a possible trade target for the Mets in different capacities. He was a change-of-scenery swap at one point for Jason Bay and a plain old salary dump for Chicago at others. But after an off season in which not one veteran was acquired  for the outfield, one may have fallen into the Mets lap. Soriano is coming off his best season since 2008. He hit .262/.322/.499 with 32 home runs and played the best left field we’ve seen from him in a long time. You do have to wonder which Soriano will show up in 2013 and even 2014, though. The 2012 Soriano, or the 2009-2012 version that hit .248/.305/.463 and averaged 23 home runs in only 134 games per season and played poor defense.

I would contend that the Mets already have a poor defensive left fielder who’s basement is .248/.305/.463 with 23 home runs (provided he plays every day). He’s also nine years younger and isn’t even arbitration eligible for two more seasons.

What makes Soriano attractive is the possibility that he can put up 2012 numbers again, and from the right side to boot. That’s clearly worth two years and $10 million. I would even explore the possibility of paying the Cubs more in cash and less in prospects, but I have a feeling Soriano’s resurgent 2012 is exactly the leverage Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer were looking for and why they chose now to offer to eat a significant portion of the contract.

They are in a rebuilding stage and Soriano’s value is the highest it’s been in three years right now. They’d probably offer to eat all the money if they could get a better prospect(s) out of it. So it looks like $10 million for two years is what it would be. The hitch is that while the Cubs overall farm system isn’t impressive, they are rich in RHP prospects (sound familiar?). And the highest upside lefties the Mets can offer, Jack Leathersich and Juan Urbina, are both very far away and work in relief. The Cubs don’t have anything in the way of catching on the farm, and 2012 draft pick Kevin Pawlecki has since been rendered somewhat obsolete, but again, he can’t offer immediate impact.

This is all supposition because we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Before it’s decided who the Mets should ship off for Soriano, it should be decided if he can produce more than Lucas Duda. Despite a very appealing 2012 season, and a bargain if it would only cost $5 million a year, my gut says no. Too much recent history tells the opposite story. Stick with the Dude.

Not too long ago, the answer to that question would be easy. A resounding “NO!”. Too much money, too old, bad attitude, lousy fielder and he is a strikeout waiting to happen. Physical prowess be damned, he just has too much baggage. Then again, not too long ago, I would have scoffed at the idea of signing Derrek Lee<you could probably link to your post about Lee here> to the team. My, how things have changed.

At the very least, it should be considered. I’ll admit, I am very conflicted about the idea. There is a lot to consider (disclaimer: These are all hypothetical, pie in the sky type stuff. I’m just laying out some possible scenarios.)

Pros:

• He addresses a major weakness on the team. Power. As I write this the Mets are 11th in slugging and 13th in home runs. The fact that they were 4th (and presently 6th) in runs scored in the NL was a minor miracle. They took advantage of that crazy high team OBP with some timely hitting and small ball. The problem is, small ball doesn’t win long term. You need real power in the heart of the line up and the guys the Mets expected to supply that have failed miserably so far (although, Duda looks like he’s on track now). Unless Ike Davis starts on a 30 home run pace tomorrow, they need to bring in someone from the outside. And if we start seeing some real power in the lineup and the Mets start plating more runs earlier in games, we’ll have less bullpen inspired agita. A healthy Soriano is good for 25-30 HR (he already has 12) and a .500 slugging.
• He’d be relatively cheap. Since taking over the Cubs, Theo Epstein has been trying to get rid of all the long term big money deals. He traded away Carlos Zambrano along with $15.5 million of the money guaranteed to Big Z to the Marlins for essentially a warm body. His age and health questions would also drive the asking price down. If the Cubs eat half the money owed on Soriano and take Bay straight up, I’d jump on that. If they ate almost all of it and took a B prospect, I’d be open to it.
• He’s right handed. After David Wright, our next best right handed hitter is Scott Hairston. That is bad on a lot of levels. Also, while Wright has seen a boost in overall production this year, he’s not a 30 home run type hitter. Alfonso is. And, you don’t have to worry about his splits because his numbers stay consistent throughout. We need someone to break up our parade of lefties because all it takes is one LOOGY to kill our offense.

Cons:

• His attitude problems. It is no secret that he wore out his welcome on 3 different teams. And this was while he was a legit 30/30 player. Granted, there hasn’t been a lot of noise about him specifically, but that could simply be that a prima donna is not that interesting a story when Carlos Zambrano’s drama is playing out on the same train wreck of a team. Do we really want a guy like him on a team that is built around guys hustling and putting their bodies on the line? What happens if he snubs Terry Collins or he loafs on a fly ball?
• His defense is still lousy. Yes, so far this season, he has a 1.000 fielding percentage. But that is going to change. Also, he plays in a smaller park. Playing Citi Field is far different from playing Wrigley. The Mets are already weak on defense. Do they need to risk becoming weaker? For all his trouble at the plate, Jason Bay has played a solid left field. At the very least, he’s exceeded expectations there.
• His contract is huge. The rumors are that Epstein is willing to eat a big chunk of his remaining money, but no one has an exact number. He is signed through 2014 at $18 million per year. That means he is still owed over $40 million. Zambrano only had 1 guranteed year left at $19 million. That is a huge difference. Epstein probably won’t eat $40 million just to open up a roster spot. He’s going to want some actual talent coming back. The 2 ½ year commitment will assuage that somewhat, but it is still a lot of money.
• He is old and has health problems. This is kind of a double edge sword. He is 36 this year and hasn’t played 150 games since 2006. It is a given that he is going to have some kind of surgery on his knee after the season. He said outright that at the very least, it will be exploratory. There is a real chance it will be full on arthroscopic. This is the same knee that had season ending surgery in 2009. He’d be lucky to give a team 130 games a year after that. This will drive the asking price down for sure, but you are still getting an old and injured player.

Those I think are the major arguments. The cons outnumber the pros, but I think each individual pro outweighs each individual con. So, it is probably a wash. I think the deciding factor will be if Alderson truly believes this team can compete right now. And I don’t mean win 88 games, scratch their way to a Wild Card spot, and get bounced immediately. A move like this isn’t to try making the playoffs. A move like this is about gunning for the World Series. It is very much a win now move. Alfonso Soriano isn’t going to help a team of young guys win 2 or 3 years from now. He’s going to put a winning team over the top this year.

This Fan Shot was submitted by MMO reader, Donal. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over ten-thousand Mets fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to GetMetsmerized@aol.com. Or ask about being a regular contributor, and share your opinions with an engaging community that loves to debate.

Riding an eight game winning streak, including a series opening thumping of the Phillies on Friday night, the Mets had to feel pretty good about climbing from last to first in two week’s time.  But the Phils and their new, shiny ace, Roy Halladay, flustered the Mets’ hitters and their bats made short work of Mike Pelfrey’s scoreless innning streak, roughing him up for six runs in just four innings, on the way to a 10-0 rout.  If that wasn’t enough, the Mets sent their ace Johan Santana to the hill against lefty slow-baller Jamie Moyer on Sunday night, and staked him to a 5-2 lead.  But guys like Victorino and Utley hit home runs against Johan, turning a 5-2 advantage into an 11-5 loss.

My blood starts boiling when I think of guys like Victorino and Utley and how they torture us, but you have to admit they sure can play baseball.  And they went deep on one of the best pitchers in the game, even if he has lost some of his velocity.  What this all does, if nothing else, is it reminds us just how far the Mets have to go to be real contenders.  We can let the 10-0 game go, because everything was going right for 8 games.  But that game Sunday is a game we should have won and didn’t.  And it might come back to bite us in September.

Granted, many of us thought the Mets would wallow near the bottom of the division all season, and they sparked an amazing turnaround against the suddenly mediocre Braves, Cubs and Dodgers.  So the fact we’re even talking about September and the fact that the Mets sit just 0.5 games back of the Phillies on May 5 after a horrendous start is still pretty remarkable.  However, Omar Minaya needs to realize that he’s still a few steps behind the Phillies, and should bolster the starting rotation now to help keep his team in contention.  He sure owes us that much, and owes it to himself.

But then something happened.  After Mike Pelfrey won a stunning 5-0 decision in Colorado, the Mets took one game out of three with the mighty Cardinals — a marathon 20-inning contest in which Jerry Manuel clearly out-managed Tony LaRussa (with Pelfrey coming in to earn the save two days after his gem).  And then things really turned when the team brought up young phenom Ike Davis.  They took 3 of 4 from the Cubs, swept the Braves, and last night won the first two of three against the Dodgers.  So as we speak, the Mets are 12-9 and in first place, having jumped from last to first in that two-week span.

I’m not quite sure what to say.  I am baffled by this awesome start….incredibly happy, but baffled.  And it’s even more baffling to look at how the Mets are winning.  You might remember that the media, fans, and pundits from both the media base and fan base were throwing imaginary rocks at Minaya for not bolstering a weak starting rotation.  Yet, here we are 21 games in and the Mets have a 3.11 ERA, third-best in the majors.  And while they lead the league in walks with 106, they also lead in strikeouts with 170….almost one per inning!  That’s pretty amazing.

Then you look at the other side–the batting, which was considered to be more of a strength this season and at worst an improvement over 2009.  But the Mets are hitting just .237, tied for fourth worst in the majors, and have only 14 home runs, also ranking near the bottom.  By contrast, the Blue Jays lead the league with 28 homers. Of those 14, David Wright, Jeff Francoeur and Rod Barajas each have 3, and no one else has more than one.  That’s a bit troubling, but then again it’s only April and power numbers usually spike in the summer months.

So we can’t do anything now but enjoy this ride while it lasts.  And hopefully the team will continue to find ways to win as they have the last 10 days or so, and the winning ways will last for several months.

Before you start throwing things at me, hear me out.  I know we’re only a few games out of first place in a suddenly mediocre division, but it’s almost looking like we WILL have to win the division to make the playoffs, because in the wild card race, the Mets are looking up at the Marlins, Cardinals, Cubs, Giants and Rockies.  And let’s face it, we are not better than the Phillies.  Two September collapses have given way to a season that’s a few losses away from being a complete disaster; K-Rod and Putz being the only real moves Omar Minaya made this past winter.  What I’m saying is, it doesn’t look like this group is going to get it done, no matter who we have coming off the disabled list. 

This Mets team is getting old, and we’re getting old waiting for them to bring us another championship, or even playoff appearance. 

Is it really all that extreme to start thinking like those Marlins teams that had fire sales?  What kind of prospects can we get for Santana, Wright, Beltran, Reyes, Church, Castillo, Sheffield, Putz and even K-Rod?  How much worse can we do by trotting out Martinez, Murphy, Evans and Santos every day? 

I’m just sick of the overpriced and underachieving product this team puts on the field.  Injuries are a fact of life, but little league blunders night after night by a major league team shouldn’t be.