Rick Ankiel has parted way with the New York Mets says Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. The 33-year old elected to become a free agent rather than accept a minor league assignment after being designated for assignment last week.

Ankiel was signed by the Mets exactly one month ago on May 13th after being released by the Houston Astros just four days prior. He batted .182 with 25 strikeouts in just 66 at-bats in his short time in Flushing.

Sandy Alderson was a guest of Mike Francesa on WFAN on Monday afternoon and had a lot to say on a variety of topics which I summarized for you below. Before that, check out what John Harper of the Daily News had to say about Sandy’s latest version of “Cry Me A River”.

It was hard to tell if Sandy Alderson was baring his soul or throwing himself at the mercy of Mets fans during his WFAN interview with Mike Francesa on Monday…Alderson went so far as to describe his reaction to the 20-inning debacle on Saturday as “near-suicidal,” which made him sound more like a fan than a GM, but I doubt if it bought him much sympathy from the suffering masses. It’s tempting to say that a man who measures his every word so carefully would only admit to such an extreme emotion for PR purposes, but then again…

By the time the GM was finished assessing the current lack of talent on the roster, the task of turning the Mets into contenders by next year, in keeping with the Alderson blueprint, suddenly seemed like some fantasy.

It all sounded rather odd. I just hope it’s not a ploy to buy more time for this regime because whatever honeymoon Alderson has enjoyed, as the man hired to clean up the mess the Mets were in by the fall of 2010, is over this winter.

Yeah… Harper read my mind again… I didn’t buy Sandy’s last violin solo before the Winter Meetings when he told Francesa he was going to transform the roster, particularly the outfield, and put a contender on the field in 2013. He showed up with Duda, Cowgill and Byrd… Ahem…

I’m certainly not buying this latest concerto… His words are never met with action. They never have any real bite to them. Say what you want about Omar Minaya, but when he said he was committed to winning, he meant it. When he needed a center fielder he got Carlos Beltran, when he needed an ace he went after Johan, when he needed a righty bat he got Bay, etc. His choices didn’t always work out, but when he said he’d do something he went out and did it. I can respect that.

Sandy is different.

Everything always sounds staged and delivered with an impassioned plea for acceptance. He never makes me feel like things are getting better. Instead I’m always reminded of how bad things are and how he wishes they could be better… How awful the team is playing and how the players have all disappointed him… I mean give us some good news for once for crying out loud… Stop telling me how much my team sucks every six months…  Most of all, stop running to Francesa and using his soapbox twice a year, only to give us the same old sombering state of the team address.

Sandy’s a great guy… I think he’s personable, intelligent and I even enjoy his deadpan sense of humor… He’s a good guy… I’m just not buying what he’s selling and now it’s really getting old…

Sandy Alderson on WFAN with Mike Francesa

Winning vs Developing: Wins never become secondary and the reason is that none of us can stomach losses. We want to win games while we are developing players. The Players we need to evaluate will get some playing time and that’s evident with move we made on cutting Rick Ankiel. We felt that Kirk Nieuwenhuis needed to play here in the majors. And we also have to consider Wilmer Flores who we also want to see here at some point this season.

Josh Satin: Satin is a performer who has done everything we have asked of him. He’s a little older but definitely a solid player and he has earned this promotion. Whether he’s part of the future or not we will we’ll all find out because he is going to get that chance… And I hope he gets a good chance at first base.

When On Wheeler: Zack Wheeler will start on June 18. You could speculate and be fairly comfortable that you will see him pitch that day.

Montero and Leathersich: Yes we have considered having them skip Triple-A. Rafael Montero pitched very well in his spot start with Vegas and is in the middle of an impressive run. Very soon we’ll decide to either leave him at Double-A or promote him to Triple-A. If we opt to leave him at AA you can infer that we will skip Vegas and bring him straight to the majors when the time comes. Jack Leathersich doesn’t throw any harder than Edgin does, but he has more movement and deception. That said, he does walk people and that’s a big concern at this point. But there’s no reason either one can’t come straight to the majors from Double-A. Those are two guys we are very high on, but there’s a little bit of caution because we remember Edgin came straight from Double-A.

Puello and Suspension: Cesar Puello has a little bit of a history and while very young ranked as high of 4-5 among our top prospects. He has always been a five tool guy and this year he has put it all together. We put him on our 40 man roster to protect him and those 5 tools of his. He is definitely someone we have our eye on, but we’re not gonna bring him up based on a month of great performance. If we thought there was something imminent we’d be concerned (about a possible suspension), but at this point it’s not a consideration.

Is Terry Safe: Anytime you hit a rough patch people speculate about players and staff, but this is about player performance and I don’t believe our staff performance has been bad. If its a player issue, then thats on me. I’ve been in situations where we change hitting coaches every year but I honestly dont think thats our problem. Terry is working his butt off and we are not considering changing anything.

Offensive Approach: We have too many players who don’t approach our hitting philosophy the way they should be. What I mean by that is putting yourself into hitting counts. When you have a preponderance of players who don’t follow that approach it becomes infectious. Right now we have too many players like that.

Having Hands Tied: It simply is not accurate. Not at all. I have said it time and time again. There has always been a willingness by ownership to spend money to help improve the team… If I chose to.

On Ike Davis: With respect to Ike Davis, we went about it as long as we could. In retrospect we should have done it sooner. He needs to get away from the voices in his ear. Hopefully the hitting environment in Las Vegas will be the right environment to turn it around, and that goes for Mike Baxter too.

First Base: Terry will have three options. Daniel Murphy can move to first base and we can play Jordany Valdespin everyday at second base. A second option will be to play Josh Satin at first base and leave Murphy where he is. Third but not likely would be playing Lucas Duda at first. We’ve told Murphy about first base and he understands that if we do move him, we’re not looking to shift him to first base permanently. But basically if we move Murph it gives us a chance to evaluate Valdespin who we need to look at closely. We also thought about Wilmer Flores and maybe that’s a move that will come later. But we need to get a longer look at Valdy.

Wilmer Flores: Flores is absolutely a prospect but what is his position? He’s got limited range, but we can live with that at second base because he does everything else at second base well. He has a good arm, is a good fielder and can turn the double play. He’s only 22. I wouldn’t preclude him from getting promoted sometime this season.

Outfield Plan: Short term we have to admit that Marlon Byrd is one of the few players we have producing. Cutting his playing time doesn’t make a whole lot of sense right now. In center field expect to see a somewhat even distribution of playing time between Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Juan Lagares. We need to find out about both of them We will see a more balanced allocation of playing time. We’ll also see what role Collin Cowgill will serve with his versatility to pinch run, bat off bench, etc.

Losing To Marlins: Losing to the Marlins was deeply frustrating… Watching your team go 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position can make you feel suicidal. We have to move forward, make whatever changes we feel are important, and keep our eye on what we’re trying to achieve. Losing to the Marlins was tough for us to take though, it was tough for the fans to take…

Patience is running thin with everyone from fans to players to Terry Collins. As I said when this whole dog and pony show first started in the fall of 2010, “I hope Alderson realizes this is New York and he better have something to show the fan base by the end of 2013. He’s got three years.” Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick,….

Well, after last night’s debacle and the recent stretch in general, I would say that hope is on life support and if nothing improves before the end of June, the chord will be pulled.

With that being said, the timing was right for the Mets to shake things up and shake them up they did. In almost one fell swoop Ike Davis, Rick Ankiel, Mike Baxter and Robert Carson were sent packing.

My biggest issue right now with the Mets is how the playing time was being distributed. While I agreed with cutting Ankiel to make room for Kirk Nieuwenhuis, I don’t agree with having Jordany Valdespin and Juan Lagares spending so much time on the bench. We need to see what they can do.

Lagares has hit decently over the past couple of games and defensively he has flashed the leather and a strong arm. Valdespin has had a few clutch moments and is toolsy, but still very raw. How do you polish up a player like that? You play him. So either send him down to Triple-A where he can play everyday or commit to starting him 4-5 times a week and continue to develop him. Maybe the best move for now is a demotion at least until we have more clarity after possibly trading Marlon Byrd at the deadline.

Apparently, Collins is starting to see the light as he claimed that Valdespin will start to get more playing time on Sunday, but we’ve heard him makes such claims before.

I hope that this time Collins means it, and not just with Spin, but with all the youngsters that now also include Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Josh Satin in addition to Spin and Lagares.

Heading into next season, the front office needs to identify what pieces need to be acquired and which current players can supplement our team’s core that for now includes Matt Harvey, David Wright and possibly one or two others.

Thoughts from Joe D.

Albin raises a big issue…

My biggest fear is that Terry Collins is only concerned with saving his job, and in his mind that means winning as many games as he can to keep the season relevant. Wrong approach… Realistically, he should be using the rest of this season to determine which players, if any, can serve a useful role in 2014 either as a core player or as a bridge until other prospects are ready to take over.

That he doesn’t get that is a big problem. That him and the front office still think it’s about winning games this season, is a huge problem. Listening to Collins and Sandy Alderson talk about results yesterday tells me they don’t have their priorities in order.

2013 is not about results. If it were, then shame on Sandy Alderson for the way he handled the offseason – he gets a big Fail. This season is about development and evaluating players. At some point they have to stop half-assing this rebuild process. The sooner they can do that, the faster this team can become relevant again.

Updated by Satish Ram at 7:45 PM:

Adam Rubin is reporting that first baseman Josh Satin, center fielder Collin Cowgill and lefthanded reliever Josh Edgin will be promoted from Triple-A Las Vegas to replace Ike Davis, Mike Baxter and Robert Carson who were all optioned to Triple-A after today’s 8-4 loss to the Marlins.

Satin will be added to the 40-man roster to fill the empty spot left when Rick Ankiel was released yesterday.

That means within the last 24 hours, Satin, Cowgill, Edgin and Nieuwenhuis were all added to the MLB roster.

Let’s go youth movement!

Thoughts from Joe D.

No surprise here. As I speculated earlier there was no chance that anyone was coming from Double-A Binghamton and that these three were your likely suspects.

Of the three, the only one I look forward to watching is Josh Satin who I’ve been calling for since mid-April. I can assure you he will outproduce Ike Davis simply because he’s a more disciplined hitter than Ike was and he knows how to get on base.

I don’t foresee much success for Cowgill or Edgin unfortunately, and I’m not sure any of this will change anything or have a significant impact on the standings.

Original Post

Sandy Alderson has announced that the Mets have optioned Ike Davis, Mike Baxter and Robert Carson to Triple-A Las Vegas following today’s brutal 8-4 loss to the Marlins.

“At some point you just have to say to yourself this is not in his best interest,” Sandy Alderson said about Davis’ demotion. “I was one of his biggest supporters. I just felt at some point we’ve got to get him out of here. Hopefully he’ll be back in a short period of time. But he needs to go there. He needs to be able to play every day. He needs to be able to work on his swing without worrying necessarily about the outcome. We think it’s in his best interest.”

“It’s tough to sit through 30 innings and score not even a handful of runs,” Alderson said. “It’s been frustrating for everybody. I’m sure it’s frustrating for the fans, too. But we’ve got an off-day tomorrow and we’ve got to pick it up on Tuesday.”

Corresponding moves are expected to all come from Triple-A Las Vegas, but will not be announced until Monday. If true that means no Jack leathersich or Robert Carson.

David Wright (courtesy of ESPN New York) added this:

“When you’re struggling the way we’re struggling, changes come — whether you like it or not,” Wright said. “That’s the name of the game. I think what every player, what every front office, what every coach strives for is consistency. But you can’t have consistency when you are a dozen or so games under .500.”

“You keep getting asked about the Marlins and teams you should beat,” Wright said. “I think I said it the other day: Teams are probably looking at us that way, where you’ve got to come in here and beat us. So we can’t look at any other team that way.”

This team is an absolute joke right now. This should have been done a month ago when the season was still relevant, not now when they are floundering and playing worse baseball than the Miami Marlins – if that is at all possible.

These moves come a day after Rick Ankiel was released and let’s call this what it is – an act of desperation by the front office..

Davis has been in a season-long funk that has suffocated the offense and sucked the life out of it. He will not be replaced at first base by Lucas Duda or Justin Turner – so look for Josh Satin to get the call.

This could also open the door for Wilmer Flores, but unless he’s given an everyday job, I doubt it. Look for either Andrew Brown or Collin Cowgill to replace Baxter. Both players have already disappointed this season with the Mets forcing their own demotions to Triple-A, but lets face it folks – the cupboard is bare.

Will Josh Edgin replace Carson? Probably, but he’s had a rough go of it in Binghamton and Vegas since being demoted himself. Edgin was one of the first relievers to get axed from Sandy’s 2013 bullpen.

This team sucks right now… We’ve gone from bad to worse… They can’t do anything right…

I will keep updating this post with more of my thoughts throughout the night…

The Rick Ankiel era has come to and end with the Mets. The veteran center fielder has been designated for assignment and can choose to accept the assignment to AAA or elect free agency. My guess is the latter.

Taking his place will be Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who is already on his way to the big league club after his recent tear with Las Vegas. The 25-year old slugger has ten hits in his last ten games in Vegas, which includes three home runs and two doubles. And he has slammed eight home runs over his last 16 games. Overall he has an .836 OPS in 36 games with Vegas including ten home runs, 18 RBI and 33 runs scored. He will be a welcomed addition to the team and we hope to see a carryover effect from his recent hot performance.

On the flip side, Ankiel struck out in his last three ABs with the Mets after coming into the 20-inning affair at Citi Field as a pinch hitter. He finished his Mets tenure with a .182 batting average and a .602 OPS in 66 at-bats while striking out 25 times.

The worst part of this Ankiel signing was that my biggest fear was realized… That he would take away playing time from younger players like Juan Lagares and Jordany Valdespin.

We should be playing our younger players regularly so they could be evaluated as we navigate through another lost season whose only goal should be to focus on 2014 and beyond.

The Ankiel signing made absolutely no sense at all and in the end wound up being a huge waste of time and money.

The Miami Marlins scratched out a run in the top of the 20th inning to break the 1-1 deadlock and beat the Mets 2-1 at Citi Field tonight.

Matt Harvey started for the Mets and was solid for seven innings until he was removed with what the team initially diagnosed as “lower back tightness.”  The righthander gets his fourth straight no-decision after allowing just one run on six hits with no walks and six strikeouts. The Marlins’ only run off Harvey came in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Chris Coghlan.

Shaun Marcum was just as solid despite getting tagged with the loss. The veteran tossed seven scoreless innings of relief before tiring in his eighth inning of work and allowing the Marlins to score the game-winner. he allowed five hits, walked none and struck out seven. It was the longest relief stint from a Met reliever in 30 years.

The bullpen as a whole was outstanding with Brandon Lyon, Bobby Parnell, LaTroy Hawkins, Scott Rice, Greg Burke, and David Aardsma combining for five scoreless innings of relief.

The only Mets run came in the second inning when Juan Lagares drove in Ike Davis with an RBI single. Lagares  in the second inning. After that there was nothing but a whole lot of awful offensively…

The Mets were a franchise worst 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position and left 22 men on base. They had plenty of chances to score the go-ahead and squandered prime opportunities the eighth, ninth, and tenth innings.

The good news? Rick Ankiel has been designated for assignment, more on that in an update by my wingman Satish…

The Mets and Marlins will hook up again tomorrow as Jon Niese (3-5, 4.40) will face Tom Koehler (0-4, 3.70) at 1:10 pm in the Sunday finale.

If losing in nine innings to the Marlins is unacceptable, then losing in 20 is [expletive deleted].

— Ed Leyro (@Studi_Metsimus) June 8, 2013

The only thing that will keep the Miami Marlins from losing more games than the 1962 New York Mets is the 2013 New York Mets. #Ducks

— Mets Merized Online (@MetsMerized) June 8, 2013

Last Saturday, Terry Collins told reporters that he would start giving center fielder Juan Lagares some starts against righthanded pitching. Three games and three righthanded starting pitchers later, Lagares still sits idly on the bench.

Instead, Collins keeps going with Rick Ankiel, who has now seen his batting average fall to .194 and is 1-for-his-last-31. The 34-year old has found the perfect manager in Collins, who is intent on sticking with veterans – even bad ones like Ankiel – over a promising younger player with upside.

When asked at what point it would become counterproductive for Lagares to remain in the majors while playing so sparingly, Collins responded:

“We’ve already reached it and passed that point. In a perfect world, Juan Lagares would be in the lineup somewhere. If not here, then certainly in Triple-A.”

Look, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Lagares is a world-beater. But how can you call up the 24-year old and then have him languishing on the bench? How does that benefit the kid or the team?

If this was how it was going to be then I would have rather just kept Collin Cowgill up here and let him be the one wasting away on the bench.

Lagares was having a great season and had a team high .347 batting average for Triple-A Las Vegas before the Mets front office interrupted.

If this is an example of the much-ballyhooed renewed focus on player development I think we’re in trouble.

(Photo by Gordon Donovan)

Following the Mets’ embarrassing 11-6 loss to the Marlins on Sunday to cap a sweep at the hands of the team widely branded the worst in the league, reporter Adam Rubin tweeted a sage assessment, to wit:

“Mets brass should spend off-day contemplating whether they want to be a 100-loss team with prospects gaining experience or vets annoying fans.”

For a team that is clearly not built to contend this season, it makes absolutely no sense to waste the opportunity to develop players from their system and instead apportion playing time to aging role players who, at best, may provide bench strength in the future but provide little value to the franchise as regulars. As exhilarating as the sweep of the “pseudo” Yankees may have been, it should be regarded merely as a high point in what is almost assuredly a “developmental” season, to be kind, and a “lost” season to be less so.  As much of the expanded roster of the Mets has been apportioned to players at the transition point between “prospect” and “suspect,” it would certainly seem to make more sense to play them at the major league level and at least get a better sense of whether or not they have anything to offer for the long run than to leave them at AAA while a group of, well, re-treads are trotted out to do their best.

The most obvious example of this is the present Met outfield. I do not question the hustle or professionalism of players like Marlon Byrd or Rick Ankiel, but it is abundantly clear that by giving the majority of starts to them in an effort to remain competitive, Terry Collins and the rest of the Met organization are retarding the progress of the younger outfielders on the roster.

The rationale behind bringing Juan Lagares up to spend the vast majority of his time on the bench is apparently linked to his vaunted defensive ability. Yet, if there is no greater design on this season (like, let’s say, winning a playoff spot), what value is there to letting his skills stagnate by not playing regularly? Surely the team would do better to provide major league exposure and experience to its younger players like Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Lagares than to its veteran fill-ins. Even running erratic but somewhat unknown quantities like Collin Cowgill and Andrew Brown out to see what they-can do with a few hundred at-bats would probably be worth more from an organizational perspective than letting them put up inflated numbers in the PCL. Clearly the team as presently comprised is not delivering offensively at anything close to a truly competitive level, so what is there to lose by letting the younger guys have a shot at it? I for one would gladly put up with a load of strikeouts, missed cutoff men, and other developmental flaws in team play if I thought there was something to be gained for the longer-term good of the franchise.

If the Mets as an organization can have the courage to accept that the “placeholder” strategy currently in place is not worth continuing, they can re-tool with pieces already in the organization and likely lose little in the way of on-field success but gain significantly in terms of developmental progress.  This could have a beneficial effect on the overall system as well, opening slots for up and coming players and possibly accelerating their timeline to the majors.  The strategy that was implemented for the 2013 season is understandable, based on what we all know and suspect about the team’s budget, but adopting one that more fully embraces “the future now, “ rather than a makeshift construct designed to buy time until more prospects are deemed ready makes far more sense at this point. I say enough of the pretense of respectability. Let’s let it all hang out and see what the younger guys can do.

 Fielding a team that can win enough to hold back the onset of apathy in the fan base is a standard goal for a front office engaged in rebuild mode. Failing that, constructing a roster that features young, exciting players that provide the promise of greatness to come can compensate to a degree, an approach that has been used before during the “Bring Your Kids to See Our Kids” campaign of 1979 and again in 1983 when the slogan “Catch Our Rising Stars” was employed to communicate the same enticement.  It is possible that the law of averages alone will dictate a better level of performance by certain key players (guess who) and the team overall as the season progresses, but it will likely coincide with the arrival of Messrs. Wheeler and D’Arnaud. At that point, we may be looking at a roster that has undergone some significant changes.

In the last piece in which I speculated about Met trade possibilities, I concentrated on potential targets for the team to pursue by leveraging their apparent surplus of pitching prospects. Today I intend to look more closely at trade chips on the major league roster, probable suitors for their services, and some possible acquisition candidates. Some of this may represent examples of wishful thinking, but I have striven to keep things realistic.

BULLPEN: Seriously? Other than Bobby Parnell is anyone really going to want these guys? Well, contending teams are typically looking to shore up their relief corps with veteran arms, and capable left-handers are always a desirable commodity, so yes, I expect some interest to be shown in the Met Fire Brigade by at least a few teams. With “veteran” being a key word here, one should assume that the more senior members of the bullpen staff will be shopped and will generate a goodly amount of interest as long as they remain reasonably effective. LaTroy Hawkins, Brandon Lyon, Greg Burke, Scott Rice and the rehabbing Tim Byrdak all fit the bill of future marketable trade fodder, Rice’s “older rookie” status notwithstanding. Just about any contending team qualifies as a possible destination for these players, but those with the most obvious need at this point include Tampa Bay, whose bullpen is ranked one notch from the bottom in all of MLB despite their being only 4 games out of first at the time of this writing, and St. Louis, currently in first place in the NL Central but with a bullpen ranked fourth from last and only one tick higher than that of the Mets.

Relievers  are among the more transient assets in baseball (as Met fans can attest), so the payoff in trade is generally a prospect or two of less than stellar quality, with quantity often compensating for the relative lack of star potential. These players often come from AA and below, so I don’t foresee much in the way of quick fix material arriving in any hypothetical deal that could materialize. However, with the philosophy and track record of the Alderson team being what it is, we can expect that any return package obtained by New York will include at least one prospect that merits a flyer.

STARTING ROTATION: Not that the Mets have any to spare, but as starters  are at a premium at all times, you can’t rule out the possibility of someone making a good enough offer to pique the Sandman’s interest. The only candidates I can truly envision going in a deal of this nature would be Shaun Marcum, who would probably have at least a couple wins by now on a team with a decent offense, and  Jon Niese, whose youth, left-handedness, experience, highly affordable contract, and relatively successful track record make him a highly marketable chip. Clearly the team will not be looking to deal Harvey, and Gee’s inconsistency and injury history are not likely to interest many looking to arm up for a stretch drive.

Teams with the greatest need in this area include Baltimore, Oakland, San Francisco, and Colorado, all of which are either leading their divisions or in contention despite having starting staffs that rank lower than that of the Mets (thanks largely to Mr. Harvey), and other than the Rockies (who barely escape this distinction) are firmly in the lower 33% of MLB rotations. Trades of this type usually involve pitching going in both directions, where one team swaps inexperienced, often erratic arms full of promise for the hoped-for consistency and veteran mound presence that can help carry them to glory. Of course, teams also deal from strength, so, recognizing the Mets’ shortage of viable outfield options, it is probable that trade partners with a surplus in this area will come calling.

Baltimore’s highest rated prospect is pitcher Dylan Bundy, but both his injury status and outrageous potential pretty much exclude him from the picture. Their best AA pitcher, Kevin Gausman has already been promoted to the big club due to their desperation for starters. He’s a big hard-throwing righthander with a terrific K/BB ratio and any deal involving Niese would have to include him in my opinion. After the whole Wheeler/Beltran thing, Brian Sabean might not be as anxious to do a deal with the Mets so soon after, but outfielder Gary Brown is pretty well blocked by in their system by Angel Pagan so there appears to be a fit. Oakland’s top outfield prospect is Michael Choice, a corner outfielder with the kind of power bat the Mets crave. Colorado has Kyle Parker at AA, an outfielder who profiles similarly to Choice, but is probably at least two years away.

POSITION PLAYERS: Before you start, even if there were any takers on Ike now, which is questionable, I’m not inclined to sell low on anyone. Anyway, I’m still looking for him to snap out of it. No, the real potential trade chips here are the veteran outfield bats of Marlon Byrd and the surprising Rick Ankiel (provided he keeps it up), along with the soon-to-be superfluous John Buck and the versatile Daniel Murphy. Of this group, Murph is probably the most valuable, being able to adequately man three infield positions and going through the occasional unconscious period at the plate where line drives materialize out of his bat seemingly at will. Speculation has already arisen that the Nationals could look to acquire him to replace the ineffective Danny Espinosa.  Knowing the Alderson approach, he would likely ask for Washington’s top outfield prospect Brian Goodwin, a five-tool CF currently at AA Harrisburg, but trades between division rivals are tricky and I’m not sure even Sandy could pry him away. A more realistic target would be AAA CF Eury Perez, a speedy leadoff type whose slot in the big club is held down by recent acquisition Denard Span.

Buck is attractive to teams for his veteran presence, defensive prowess, and occasional power, but I wouldn’t expect him to command a big return. Byrd and Ankiel profile as the type of players teams acquire to strengthen their benches for the stretch run, but again, the return on trades of this type are not likely to include anything of top-tier value. We will have to put our faith in the scouting ability of Alderson, DePodesta, et al to help insure that something useful comes back on this end of any deal.

The Mets are clearly in transition mode and changes are to be expected. Hopefully we can all glean some excitement from those shifts even if we have to wait longer for the eventual payoff. I just hope the wait isn’t too much longer.

Mets vs. Braves Series Preview

The Mets begin what will be a very tough three-game series against the Braves tonight at Citi Field, weather permitting.

The Braves are on fire right now and pulling ahead in the division at 28-18, four and a half games in front of the second-place Nationals. They are 7-3 in their last ten and are one of six teams in the NL (and one of 11 in all of baseball) to have a winning record on the road. They are going to be a tough team to beat.

The Atlanta pitching has been what has carried them, but recently, the offense has stepped it up as well. Over their last seven days, the offense is hitting .273/.353/.448, compared to .245/.322/.418 on the season. This is all happening while the Upton brothers are cooling down. B.J. has not been able to hit all season and he is currently batting .155 on the year and Justin has hit just .239 this month with two home runs, after hitting 12 in the month of April. Evan Gattis, of all people, has been their leading home run hitter (along with Dan Uggla)  this month with four. Freddie Freeman has also stepped up, leading the team in hits with 21.

While the offense has come and gone, however, the one thing that has remained constant for Atlanta has been their bullpen, which is third in baseball with a 2.79 ERA and tied for first with a 1.14 walk. Despite some injuries to some key pieces, the Braves have kept their strong bullpen, led by Craig Kimbrel, together. Just like the last time these two teams met, this should be a hard-fought battle with some very close games.

Pitching Matchups

Game 1: Jeremy Hefner, RHP (0-5, 5.00 ERA, 45 IP, 6.0 K/9, 3.6 BB/9) vs. Kris Medlen, LHP (1-5, 3.02 ERA, 56.2 IP, 6.0 K/9, 3.5 BB/9)

Medlen’s win-loss record does not at all tell the story of his season. Despite being 1-5 on the season, he has actually been very good. It was difficult to expect him to match his magical run last season in which he posted a 1.57 ERA in 50 appearances (12 starts). One major concern though is his walk rate, which is uncharacteristically high this season at 3.5 batters per nine innings. That’s unusual for Medlen, who, throughout his minor league career and most of short time in the majors, has walked somewhere around 2.1 to 2.3 per game. Another thing to note is his strikeout rate, which is down almost two full strikeouts per nine innings over last season, and a strikeout and a half below his career average.

Medlen career vs. Mets: 15 G, 1.58 ERA, 45.2 IP, 37 K, 12 BB

Game 2: Dillon Gee, RHP (2-5, 6.04 ERA, 44.2 IP, 6.6 K/9, 3.4 BB/9) vs. Mike Minor, LHP (5-2, 2.78 ERA, 58.1 IP, 7.9 K/9, 1.9 BB/9)

Minor, a former top pitching prospect, has had only a so-so career on the mound. The 25 year-old has a career ERA of 4.11 after shooting through the minor leagues out of the University of Vanderbilt. Minor posted a 4.12 ERA last season in 30 starts, his first full season with the Braves. He hasn’t lived up to expectations, but Minor has settled in as a decent fourth or fifth starter.

Minor career vs. Mets: 7 G, 5.63 ERA, 38.1 IP, 28 K, 13 BB

Game 3: Shaun Marcum, RHP (0-5, 6.59 ERA, 27.1 IP, 6.6 K/9, 2.6 BB/9) vs. Julio Teheran, RHP (3-1, 3.99 ERA, 49.2 IP, 5.4 K/9, 1.6 BB/9)

Teheran is trying to ressurrect his status as a future star for the Braves. He is finally getting his first chance at a full-time role this season. He struggled badly last year in Triple-A, unable to strike guys out and finishing with a 5.08 ERA in 26 starts. That terrible year brought him from #4 on Baseball America’s top 100 list to outside the top 30. This year has been better for him in terms of ERA and actual results, but his strikeout rate is down (although so is his walk rate), which is a bit concerning. It’s still too early to tell what the Braves have in Teheran.

Teheran career vs. Mets: 2 G, 5.63 ERA, 8 IP, 5K, 4BB

Series Notes

The Mets have scored three runs or fewer in 12 of their past 16 games.

Matt Harvey was upset about the way he pitched in his last outing, a 7-4 Mets loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field. he got a no-decision after Rick Ankiel tied the game late with an RBI triple. That allowed Harvey to maintain his perfect 5-0 record, with five no-decisions in 10 starts. He is one of five undefeated pitchers in baseball with at least five wins.

Ike Davis snapped a streak of 12 consecutive plate appearances without reaching base when he drew a walk in the second inning Wednesday. He has one hit in his last 38 at-bats. Marlon Byrd is hitting .307 (12-for-39) with three home runs this month. He’s five hits shy of 1,100 for his career.

Hefner is 0-1 with a 8.53 ERA (six earned runs in 6 1/3 innings) in his career against the Braves, spanning two appearances (one start). His last start against Atlanta was Sept. 8, when he went 2 2/3 innings and gave up five earned runs on eight hits.

Left fielder Justin Upton, who was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Jan. 24, is tied with Baltimore’s Chris Davis for the MLB lead in homers with 14. Upton became the first player in major league history to homer five times in his first five games with a team, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Braves have a 2.79 bullpen ERA, narrowly behind the San Francisco Giants (2.77) and Pittsburgh Pirates (2.78) for the MLB lead. Craig Kimbrel notched his 100th career save on May 9, becoming the second-youngest to reach that plateau (24 years, 348 days). Only ex-Met Francisco Rodriguez (24 years, 246 days) was younger.

Zack Wheeler is expected to make 2-3 more starts for Triple-A Las Vegas and then join the Mets according to a high-ranking team official, confirming what Sandy Alderson said earlier in the week.

Last week I read an article here on MMO, and at the end of the article Joe D. added his comments. Joe was explaining that MMO is not a site that is going to sugarcoat things. We’re going to give it to straight. We’re passionate about the Mets, but we’re not going to insult your intelligence. Joe’s last sentence was “we serve hard liquor here“.

Those five words have inspired this edition of 3N3. As we approach the quarter-post of the season, I want to take a step back, and look at 3 positive things, and 3 negative things that we have seen so far. My intent is not to bash the team, but to give my honest assessment. So here we go.

1. Captain America: David Wright, is one of the few legitimate offensive threats this team has. Besides what he brings to the plate, David Wright is everything a baseball player should be. He plays hard every game. He loves getting his uniform dirty. He’s great handling the NY press corp. He’s just the real deal. One concern I have with David, is I would like to him go to the mound when the starters are struggling. He used to do it with Pelf, and I think he should do it more. He is sixth in the NL with a .403 on-base percentage and is ninth with a .320 mark vs. righthanded pitchers. Wright is also hitting .444 (16-36) with RISP, tied for the third-best mark in the National League.

2. Murphy Keeps Hitting: Other than David Wright, and perhaps the newly acquired Rick Ankiel, Daniel Murphy is the only genuine MLB hitter in the lineup. Like Wright, Murph comes ready to play on a daily basis. He’s done everything the organization has asked him to do from playing in left, then moving to first, and finally settling at second base. Hard work has now established him as a pretty good second baseman. During all that confusion, Murphy continued to hit. Going into yesterday’s game he was is 15-for-his-last-36 (.417) and had at least one hit in nine of his last 10 games, batting .400 (16-40) with two home runs and five RBI over that clip. He has 13 doubles, tied for the seventh-most in the NL. It’s a pleasure watching a Daniel Murphy at bat.

3. The Real Deal: I’m not the type of guy to go gaga over any young inexperienced player, but man Matt Harvey is surely something special. More and more I keep hearing from long time fans how Harvey reminds them of Tom Seaver. Harvey is 5-0 record with a 1.93 ERA, fifth-best in the league. Entering yesterday, he’s allowed three runs or less in 16 consecutive starts, the fifth-longest streak in franchise history. His starts are becoming an event, and he may be the only Met All-Star this year.

1. Davis & Duda Are Duds: To me, the two greatest disappointments on this team are Ike Davis & Lucas Duda. We all heard how Ike isn’t sick this spring, or recovering from injury, so he should get off to a good start. We all heard how this is a make it or break it year for Lucas Duda. These two guys are horrible.

Ike Davis: has a .149 batting average, four home runs, nine RBI. Why is he still on the big club? I simply don’t understand how a GM can look at how this team is doing nothing on offense and yet allow Davis to waste a roster spot. It’s mind boggling.

Lucas Duda: Has a .226 batting average, eight home runs, 14 RBI. Even worse for Duda is that he’s a horrible outfielder. Every time the ball gets hit in his direction I hold my breath. Just awful, awful, awful.

I laugh every time Gary Cohen tells us Davis & Duda are Terry’s “big bats”. If that doesn’t make you reach for the mute button, nothing will.

2. Gee & Hefner, the 40% Void: Dillon Gee and Jeremy Hefner, 2/5 or 40% of the Mets starters are a combined 2-10 this season. Hefner is 0-5 with a 5.00 ERA, while Gee is 2-5 with a 6.04 ERA. Even more frightening is who knows how deep into the game these two can or will go? Both Gee & Hefner have had nine starts this season, Hefner has thrown 45 innings, and Gee 44.2. That averages out to about five innings per start. it’s just not good enough.

3. Sandy, We’re In New York: Like pretty much everyone else, I was excited when the Mets named Sandy Alderson their new GM. He was a respected guy in big league circles – surely he’d get us back to winning in no time. Not quite. He’s done nothing to improve the major league roster and his only accomplishment? Signing Wright to a $142 million deal that will keep the captain floating in Benjamins until the year 2020. But what else as he done? What has he done to make people want to go to Citi Field? In three years has he acquired one major league impact player? One player in three years that you would call a keeper? I now believe his focus was never about building a winner and only to pad the Wilpons’ pockets. and that is a shame. Met fans deserve a competitive team. Instead we have what amounts to a AAA team that has gotten considerably worse each year during Sandy’s tenure.

There it is… For the most part, this team heading into the Memorial Day weekend and then the Subway Series, has been a major disappointment. What are you drinking? We’re in for a long hot summer… First round’s on us…

Ike Davis’ troubles at the plate and in the field continued as he botched two plays at first, one in which opened the door to the Reds’ three-run ninth inning in Wednesday’s 7-4 loss. With the Mets being swept, they fell to a season-high ten games below .500. Matt Harvey did not have a great start, but came away with another no-decision.

ON THE MOUND: Harvey gave up four runs on nine hits in 6.1 innings. …. Bobby Parnell gave up three runs on three hits in the ninth inning.

AT THE PLATE: Davis walked twice, and in a comment that says it all about the kind of season he is having, Terry Collins said it might be a good sign. … Daniel Murphy had three hits and Rick Ankiel doubled twice and tripled. All other Mets combined for three hits.

IN THE FIELD: Davis hesitated on a ground ball up the line in the seventh and a run scored. He let another get by him in the ninth to let another run score and opened the door for two more. Unbelievably, Collins said Davis isn’t carrying his slump to the field.

THEY SAID IT: “It just typifies everything that’s happened.’’  Collins on Davis’ fielding adventures in the ninth inning.

BY THE NUMBERS: 17-27 record to fall season-high ten games below .500.

ON DECK: Mets off Thursday, then begin a three-run series against Atlanta Friday at Citi Field.

Thoughts from Joe D.

Well obviously Matt Harvey didn’t have his best stuff, but let’s not kid ourselves either – the Cincinnati Reds are a great team. He’s a gamer, he’ll come roaring back next time out. What sucks more to me is that for the next four games our chance of winning are less than half of when Harvey is on the mound. Yeah…

Ruben Tejada looked really good out there today and could be on the verge of getting back into a hitting groove. His play in the field has been spectacular in this homestand.

Murphy being Murphy… He’s just awesome…

Boy does this team need a day off….

Because of Murphy’s high on-base percentage, batting him leadoff is something I have advocated, and I’m glad Terry Collins was thinking outside the box enough to make the move.

“He gets on base, because he can hit,’’ Collins told ESPN.com. “And, when he’s swinging good, he can get some walks. We’ve got to get some people on ahead of David [Wright]. That’s for sure.’’Notice how Collins didn’t mention getting on base ahead of Ike Davis, but I guess he couldn’t say that with a straight face.

Murphy is the seventh Met to hit leadoff this young season, and of the previous six, is there one who you can note with conviction that will be here next year?

Ruben Tejada (12 times), Jordany Valdespin(10), Mike Baxter (eight), Collin Cowgill (seven),Justin Turner (two) and Kirk Nieuwenhuis (one) have all appeared without much success at the top or the order. Mets leadoff hitters have hit a major league low .179 with a 29^th ranked .238 on-base percentage.

Collins was non-committal on how long he’ll use Murphy leading off, but considering he’s a .300 hitter with a .337 on-base percentage, he doesn’t have better options.

With their leadoff hitters and Davis, the Mets have two slots in the batting order hitting less than .200, and overall they have four positions in their regular lineup hitting below .240.

Collins thought about Murphy hitting first during spring training, but then he had to come up with a center fielder and decide what to do with Tejada. Meanwhile, Murphy, because of his willingness to take a pitch, also seemed suited to hitting second.

“I thought about it in spring training, to be honest, whether or not to lead Murph off,’’ Collins said. “We’ll just see how it goes. It might be something we’ve certainly got to consider as we get deeper into the season, because he can hit.

“He gets on base. If he does that, certainly we’ve got to keep our options open with Murph being the leadoff hitter.’’

Murphy hitting first seems the way to go for now, but slotting him there doesn’t alleviate all of Collins’ concerns. Rick Ankiel can be an answer defensively in center field, but the outfield remains subpar.

The Mets now need a No. 2 hitter, but because Tejada insists on hitting fly balls, he’s not an ideal fit there.

Let’s face it, currently Murphy and Wright are the only hitters in the lineup who are reliable.

We wonder nowadays if the team will ever score more than 5 runs a game, which they have not done in the last 15 games or who will be in the lineup for each game and will those players actually produce. Rick Ankiel must have read my last post, “Will Ankiel Answer the Mets Need for Their Powerless Outfield?” Since joining the team, he is hitting .304, 2 HR in 7 games, but the verdict is still out on this move and it will take sometime to see if the move was worth the money spent. Without including Ankiel’s numbers the Mets five outfielders combined are hitting .224, 16 HRs, 50 RBIs, which I am sure that Ankiel can top that alone if he continues to get comfortable at the plate.

The team may not have the talent us fans have been accustomed to watching and as the players are aware, Mets fans are very passionate about their team, which Terry Collins recently eluded to when he went after the fans in the media.

He chose to take out his frustration on the fans recently by saying, “They (fans) have no idea what goes on in there. They have absolutely no idea what it means to be a professional teammate at this level.” That may be true to some extent, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t see the writing on the wall. It doesn’t mean that we are not educated baseball fans, plus we feel we understand the game better than most that actually play the game. We may be fooling ourselves, but we just want what other successful teams and organizations have, and that is a chance. A chance to watch our team go out each day and play the game the way it is supposed to be played.

I hope other fans feel the same way I do, but I can do without all the drama. If you have a good player on the team, play him and if you don’t care to then don’t, but make a right decision and leave it out of the news. Give the fans hope that maybe just maybe this team, our team will turn it around. This is baseball, a game we all grew up loving and some playing and we just hope that ownership gets the concept that in order to keep the fans happy, you have to put together a team worth rooting for. They won’t win all the games but have something to build on.

In a recent NY Daily News article, Collins actually said he regret his remarks about the fans, “Of course I regret the choice of words. I certainly respect the New York fans; they’re the most knowledgeable fans I’ve ever been around.” See Collins even admits how smart we are and he goes on to say “They know the game. They know the people.”

We know what we expect and we know that unless there is some sort of hope, this ship will continue to sink and when it finally goes down, usually the captain goes down with it and I am not referring to David Wright.

Starting Lineup

1. Daniel Murphy – 2B
2. Justin Turner – 1B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Marlon Byrd – RF
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. Anthony Recker – C
7. Ruben Tejada – SS
8. Juan Lagares – CF
9. Dillon Gee – RHP

Game Notes

The Mets have scored three or fewer runs in 10 of their last 12 games and in 15 of their last 21 games. Overall, New York is averaging 4.25 runs per game, the seventh-most in the NL. New York ranks 28th with a .231 team batting average.

The Mets are hitting .216 (16-74) with runners in scoring position over its last 12 games. They are fifth in the NL and 12th in the majors with a .259 (77-297) batting average with RISP. The club has 11 home runs in such situations, tied for the seventh-most in the majors. David Wright is hitting .429 (15-35) with RiSP, the seventh-best mark in the National League.

Daniel Murphy went 2-4 yesterday. Murphy is hitting .368 (14-38) with three doubles and eight RBI in 10 career games at Wrigley. He is 13-for-his-last-24 (.542) over his last six games and currently has a seven-game hitting streak (14-28, .500). Murphy is batting .392 on the road this season, the third-best mark in the NL.

David Wright extended his hitting streak to six games going 1-4 yesterday…Wright is batting .417 (10-24) with four RBI during this span. Wright is hitting .357 (20-56) with three doubles, four home runs and eight RBI in May. He ranks second in the NL and fourth in the majors with a .409 mark during day games.

Justin Turner is hitting .319 (15-47) in his 12 starts this year. He has multi-hits in four of those starts. Overall, Turner is batting .305 (18-59) with three doubles and five RBI in 24 games this year.

Game Preview

The Mets look to bounce back from yesterday’s loss this afternoon as Dillon Gee takes on Travis Wood in the rubber game in Chicago. Yesterday the Mets just could not get it done on all fronts, but Rick Ankiel still hit a homer. Anyway, let’s hope for the the best today!

Dillon Gee is 2-5 on the season over 8 games with 39.2 innings of work while posting an ERA of 6.13. In the month of May he has made two poor starts sandwiched around a good start thus making 1-1 over 14.0 innings of work with a 6.43 ERA while walking 7 and striking out 9. Last year he was 1-1 over 13.0 innings with a 3.46 ERA. The Cubs have the following numbers against Gee:

Castro 3-9
Barney 2-9
Soriano 1-8, 2B
DeJesus 3-7
Rizzo 3-6, 2B

The Mets bats will get a crack at Travis Wood today who is 4-2 over 8 games and 53.1 innings of work with a 2.03 ERA. He’s 2-1 over 3 games over 21.1 innings with a 1.69 ERA while walking 6 batters and striking out 13 batters. Last year he was 2-0 against the Mets over 13.0 innings with a 1.38 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Wood:

Byrd 2-9, 2B
Tejada 0-8
Wright 3-9, 3B
Davis 1-5
Duda 1-6, HR
Buck 1-4, HR
Turner 3-4, 2B
Valdespin 0-1

Lets Go Mets!

Jeremy Hefner lasted just four innings and dropped to 0-5 on the season as the Mets took it on the chin in an 8-2 loss to the Cubs on Saturday at Wrigley Field.

Hefner allowed four runs on five hits and three walks and quickly put his team in a hole. The right-hander now has a 5.00 ERA and the Mets are 0-8 when he starts a game.

“He just fell behind in counts,” said Terry Collins. “When he got behind, he had some three-ball counts that he didn’t have earlier. And then he had to come around the plate. When he came around the plate, they put it in play.”

The bullpen was no better as Robert Carson and Collin McHugh both pitched two innings each and allowed a pair of runs.

The Mets wouldn’t get on the board until the ninth inning when they were already down 8-0. John Buck singled and then center fielder Rick Ankiel hit a two-run homer, his second as a Met and seventh overall.

David Wright had two critical strikeouts and looks like he’s trying to do too much at the plate. Ike Davis went 0-for-4 and has about two weeks to straighten himself out or face a demotion to the minors. He is 1 for his last 30.

One bright spot came late in the game when shortstop Ruben Tejada made a spectacular diving stop and initiated an incredible 6-4-3 double-play.

The Mets were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base. They are now 0-9 the day after Matt Harvey starts.

Another day game for the Mets tomorrow as Dillon Gee (2-5, 6.13 ERA) opposes left-hander Travis Wood (4-2, 2.03) in the 2:20 PM rubber match.

Lately, it seems the only thing the Mets excel at is finding ways to lose.

Shaun Marcum had his first quality start as a Met, going 6.2 innings allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits while walking one and punching out three. He threw 96 pitches, 65 of which for strikes, however fell to 0-4 on the year in easily his best effort for the Amazin’s this season.

After matching goose eggs with the Cardinal’s young phenom Shelby MIller, things got rocky in the bottom of the fourth. With Matt Holliday on first and two out, Jon Jay roped a double to Mike Baxter in right that went to the wall. Seeing that he didn’t have a play on Holliday, who came around to score, Daniel Murphy threw to third and pinned Jay in a run down. Apparently giving up, Jay stood almost still in front of Wright for a routine play to tag him. Wright went to lay the tag on, but dropped the ball. As it skidded into the infield, Jay was able to safely make it to third base, costing Wright just his third error on the year. Tony Cruz would follow up with a knock to make it a 2-0 ballgame.

Looking overmatched at the plate, the offense was completely anemic against Miller who did not have his best stuff today. He held the Mets off the board through 5.2 frames before being relieved by Randy Choate for the last out of the sixth. In the seventh against Seth Maness, John Buck got himself on base with a one out single, setting the table Rick Ankiel. On the seventh pitch of the at bat with a full count, Ankiel took a 90mph sinker deep to center to tie up the ballgame at two. Maybe the Mets luck is finally starting to turn around right?

Wrong. In the bottom half of the frame, Marcum got the first two outs but got himself into trouble with runners on first and third. After which he was lifted for this year’s go-to lefty, Scott Rice. Rice came on to face the former-Met Ty Wigginton, and on the first-pitch of the at-bat, threw a breaking ball that careened off John Buck and to the backstop, scoring the lead run in Daniel Descalso.

After the end of the seventh, the life was sucked out of the Mets. Carlos Beltran walked to lead off the eighth. Matt Holliday grounded into what would be a routine double-play, but the throw from Murphy sailed into the home dugout, allowing him to go to second. Allen Craig would also be walked to create a nice opportunity for Yadier Molina, who came through with a base hit to drive in the insurance run and make it 4-2.

After the wild pitch from Rice, the offense showed little fight as they went down 1-2-3 in both the eighth and ninth to end the game.

John Buck had a nice day at the plate, but a horrible one on the basepaths as he was doubled off on a Ruben Tejada liner that was caught, then made a boneheaded steal attempt, resulting in the slow-footed backstop being picked off at second. That plus the key wild pitch, and it was overall a night to forget for Buck.

The offense continues to be ice cold. Ike Davis and Lucas Duda both had 0-fers in this game.

The Mets just aren’t playing good baseball, it is as simple as that. They are giving opposing teams extra outs with sloppy D and giving away at-bats with an inept lineup.

Two positives to take away from this one however was the encouraging start from Marcum, and the solid offensive effort by Rick Ankiel.

The Mets have now lost six-games in a row for the second time this season and are 8-18 in their last 26 games. They now have the third worst record in baseball at 14-23, nine games under .500. Only Houston and Miami are worse.

Jonathon Niese (2-4, 5.93 ERA) opposes right-hander Adam Wainwright (5-2, 2.30) in the series finale on Thursday at 1:45 PM. The Mets look to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Cardinals which last happened in 1982 when Keith Hernandez played for St. Louis.

Ankiel is a good outfielder, even though during his debut with the Mets, he dropped a ball. But, I will give it to him for going all out and diving for the ball, and the fact that he didn’t have his own glove because he had to have it shipped, so it wasn’t available for him to play with. So far he is hitless in two games with two strikeouts.

I know we don’t have anyone on the team that can be the power boost that we need right now, but it feels like Terry Collins hasn’t even given most of the guys like Lagares and Valdespin real time to audition.  Will Ankiel be the player that we need?  Will he turn his mediocre season around and turn back the clock to 2008 when he batted .285 with 25 HR and 71 RBI?

Even anything near those numbers will be what the doctor ordered for the Mets.  But his 37 strikeouts in 65 at bats will not help the Mets. Was there a better option for the Mets out there? Should they have given him a guaranteed major league deal off the bat?  I am not stating Ankiel won’t play hard for his new team, but just wondering if there might have been a better option. Of course, I hope Ankiel proves me wrong and plays a high a level.

I begin to wonder what this will mean for players like Mike Baxter and Jordany Valdespin. If they’ll end up relegated to pinch hitting duty, you can only have so many bench players related to left-handed pinch hitting on a team. Furthermore, if Baxter continues to share right field with Marlon Byrd, where does that leave JV1 specfically? Now I don’t have any inside information on that, but if Ankiel can put up the numbers that the Mets expect and play decent defense, then someone may just be expendable.

The offense has been struggling mightily as of late, not scoring more than five runs in a game since May 3rd, and a change in personnel with some fresh blood might shake a few things up. Unfortunately, it could just be a ruse where we will end up seeing more of the same. I don’t have a solution to our problem, and I’m not sure if Ankiel is the answer, but I definitely hope things don’t get any worse.

I know, lets blame batting coach Dave Hudgens and his approach to work the count, be selective, and get a pitch and drive it.

That’s it, his approach is wrong. It is why they are striking out so many times. They are taking, taking, falling behind, and then whiffing. Damn, it’s Hudgens’ fault.

That’s the current analysis of the Mets’ offensive woes and it is nonsense.

There is nothing wrong with the approach, the game plan, if you will. It is fundamental baseball, and it only doesn’t work if you don’t have the hitters with the ability to make it work.

There is nothing wrong in working the count and taking a strike. What IS wrong, is taking that strike if it is a pitch you can drive. This is about pitch selectivity and recognition, and Mets hitters don’t have it.

Remember when Yankees-Red Sox games lasted close to four hours? The approach from both teams was to run up the count. For the Yankees, when they faced Pedro Martinez, the magic number was 100. Once Martinez reached that number he became less effective.

Surprise, surprise, it works that way with all pitchers on a consistent basis. Some games they’ll have the stuff to go long, but usually they’ll break down.

It worked because those teams had hitters capable of recognizing their pitch and reacting. Bernie Williams, Paul O’Neill and Manny Ramirez. The term used is “professional hitter.’’

Trouble is, when you look at the Mets, you don’t find many. David Wright, sure. You can even make a case for Daniel Murphy, but he’s in a dreadful slump, which happens to everybody.

We knew going in Ike Davis and Lucas Duda were strikeout machines. Looking at their roster, so is everybody else.

Of their most-used lineup, only Murphy and Ruben Tejada are projected to finish with less than 100 strikeouts, and their numbers of 93 and 79, respectively, are high for supposed “contact’’ hitters.

For all the talk of John Buck’s hot start, he has come to Earth average-wise and his power numbers have cooled. But, not his strikeouts; on pace for 162.

Here’s the projected numbers for the rest: Wright (106, which is a marked improvement from recent years), Duda (153), Rick Ankiel (154), and Marlon Byrd (139).

Even in his limited at-bats, Jordany Valdespin is on pace to whiff 65 times. Give him full time at-bats and it would be over 100, also.

Given this, then why have an approach of taking pitches?

Answer: Because that gives them the best chance to succeed, if they have the ability to do so.

Early in the year we were thrilled about Duda taking walks and having a high on-base percentage. What went wrong is two-fold: 1) he fell back into bad habits and started chasing, and 2) he didn’t swing when he got his pitch.

Too often, Mets’ hitters still swing at garbage. In fact, they aren’t taking enough. Consider Davis’ last strikeout Sunday against Pittsburgh when he flailed at three pitches outside the zone, either low or away, or both.

If the Mets had a roster of guys such as Wade Boggs or Barry Bonds, who knew how to wait out a pitcher and what to do when he got his pitch, this wouldn’t be an issue.

But, they don’t. They have a roster of guys who aren’t major leaguers.

Pitchers know the Mets are taking, so they adjusted and are throwing down-the-middle strikes early and hard-to-reach strikes late in the count.

If the first pitch is there, swing at it. The approach isn’t about taking until you have two strikes. It is about driving one strike. Sometimes, that’s the only good pitch you’ll get.

Outside of Wright, who is getting better, few Mets know how to protect the plate with two strikes, which is shorten your swing, foul off pitches that are close, and go to the opposite field.

No, the problem isn’t the approach. The problem is a roster of hitters who don’t understand the fundamentals of hitting.

The problem is also general manager Sandy Alderson, who is about the funky stats of Sabermetrics and has settled for a roster of players not able to hit, but oh boy they can walk.

But, the easiest thing to do is blame Hudgens, who after all, is only trying to get his hitters to understand Hitting 101.

Please follow me on Twitter @jdelcos

Starting Lineup

1. Justin Turner – SS
2. Daniel Murphy – 2B
3. David Wright – 3B
4. John Buck – C
5. Lucas Duda – LF
6. Marlon Byrd – RF
7. Ike Davis – 1B
8. Juan Lagares – CF
9. Dillon Gee – RHP

Game Notes

WFAN Mets beat reporter Ed Coleman has reported that shortstop Ruben Tejada is in Terry Collins’ doghouse and that is why he is out of the lineup and Turner is playing short. That’s all he said. (Hat tip to Leroy)

Veteran outfielder Rick Ankiel went 0-for-3 with a walk and scored a run in Monday’s series-opening loss after signing with the Mets earlier in the day. The Mets signed Ankiel in an attempt to jumpstart their sputtering offense, particularly from the outfield position. Ankiel hit just .194 with 35 strikeouts in 62 at-bats over 25 games with the Astros this season before being designated for assignment last week. In making his Mets debut in center field Monday, Ankiel became the 10th player to appear in the Mets’ outfield in 2013.

Over the club’s last 11 games, Mets starting pitchers are 1-5 with 5.68 ERA (40 earned runs in 63.1 innings). Overall, New York starters are 8-15 with a 4.35 ERA (94 earned runs in 194.1 innings), ranking 21st in the majors.

On Monday, Terry Collins vowed to keep Ike Davis in cleanup spot until he breaks out of his slump. “He’s our guy.” Three days later he’s batting seventh.

The Mets optioned Andrew Brown to Las Vegas and moved Jenrry Mejia to the 60-day DL in order to clear a spot for Ankiel. Mejia will continue to pitch in the minors uninterrupted. Until early June, though, he will not count against the 40-man roster.

The Mets have signed right-hander Matt Fox out of York in the independent Atlantic League. He will work out of the Triple-A Las Vegas rotation. Fox, 30, was the 35th overall pick in the 2004 draft by the Minnesota Twins. His lone four major league appearances came in 2010, with the Twins and Boston Red Sox.

Frank Francisco was examined Monday in New York for continued elbow discomfort. He was diagnosed with a strained flexor pronator tendon in his right elbow and was advised to refrain from throwing for 72 hours. He may then attempt to resume activity. Bottom line: He is making $6.5 million this season. And he likely will not contribute anytime soon.

David  Wright is hitting .433 (13-30) with RISP, tied for third-best mark  in the National League. Daniel Murphy is hitting .500 (5-10) with runners in scoring position and two outs this year, tied for the fourth-best mark in the National League.

Mets OF prospect Matt den Dekker will return to baseball in a few weeks as he continues his comeback from a broken wrist. Catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud, who fractured the first metatarsal in his left foot four weeks ago, has an exam scheduled for Friday in New York. He hopes to be cleared to shed an immobilizing boot and begin weight-bearing activity.

Game Preview

The Mets try to correct the ship tonight in St. Louis and break their four game losing streak. Last night the Mets and Cardinals each  got 3 runs early and then things fell silent until the Cards were able to get to the Mets pen for 3 runs. Meanwhile the Mets were able to do nothing against the Cardinals pen thus locking in a loss in the opener. Tonight Dillon Gee will try to play stopper as he goes up against John Gast in his major league debut.

Dillon Gee is 2-4 with a 5.55 ERA on the season over 7 starts and 35.2 innings of work. After a couple of poor starts in a row, Gee allowed only 1 ER in his last outing, but was only able to stay in the game for 5 innings. Last year he made one start against the Cardinals where he allowed 3 runs, 2 earned over 7 innings of work. The Cards have the following numbers against Gee:

Freese 3-6
Holliday 1-6, 2B
Molina 0-6
Beltran 0-4
Craig 1-2
Descalso 0-2
Jay 0-2
Wigginton 1-2, HR

The Mets bats will try to break out of their collective slump tonight against John Gast in his major league debut. Gast, the left hander, is 3-1 this season over 7 games allowing 5 ER over 38.2 innings in Memphis. When you run the numbers, that’s an ERA of 1.16. In those 38.2 innings he allowed 15 BB and struck out 35 batters. Last season in Memphis he was 9-5 over 109.1 innings and 20 games with an ERA of 5.10.

Let’s Go Mets!