However, some individuals check multiple boxes. David Stearns is one. He was a highly sought-after individual and came from both the Guardians and Astros executive trees, having been part of the then Cleveland Indians’ front office under Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonetti before being hired by Jeff Luhnow as his assistant general manager with the Astros.

Jeff Luhnow came from the Cardinals executive tree, which is mainly defunct at the moment as there are no other top executives from the Cardinals organization besides the president of baseball operations and general manager.

Stearns’ first move after being hired by the Brewers was to hire an executive away from the Rays to be his top lieutenant, Matt Arnold, now the GM of the Brewers. This is just one example of how David Stearns likes to surround himself with a diverse group of baseball minds all of whom can contribute slightly different, yet complementing perspectives. Now with the Mets, he’s made three major hires in an attempt to retool the front office and achieve the same kind of diversity he had in Milwaukee. Stearns recently brought in Kris Gross, Andy Green, and Eduardo Brizuela, a move that was publicized a couple of weeks ago.

Kris Gross

Kris Gross not only has a ton of experience scouting for one of the better scout-and-develop teams of the last decade, but he also worked with Stearns for nearly four years with the Astros.  Gross was one of many top minds brought in by Jeff Luhnow after he was hired as the GM of the Astros over a decade ago. Luhnow hired away many talented baseball personnel from the Cardinals front office and Gross was one of them. Since then, Gross has continued to advance in his career, ultimately becoming the Astros director of amateur scouting.

He continued to run amateur scouting for the Astros across three regimes, working under Luhnow, James Click, and Dana Brown most recently. He remarkably achieved successful amateur drafts throughout all the internal turmoil and upheaval within the Astros’ front office. Yet, when Brown was hired last offseason, Gross’ role within the amateur scouting deportment changed dramatically. With Brown’s scouting background, Gross was no longer the voice of authority over the amateur draft. Adding insult to injury, Brown brought in close ally and longtime scout Russ Bove which further reduced Gross’ influence within the Astros front office.

Hence, the Mets present a perfect opportunity for both the Mets and Gross. Gross gets to work with Tommy Tanous and David Stearns, and will have plenty of authority within the entire Met scouting operation. The Mets obtain yet another sharp scouting mind, one who excels at drawing amateur talent from all over the country.

Andy Green 

Andy Green is a very interesting, out-of-the-box choice to run player development. He doesn’t have a lot of front-office experience. While it is unclear a the moment what Green’s title will be, he was hired to be an integral part of player development. We don’t currently know if his title will be VP, Assistant GM, or Director. What Green does bring is plenty of experience in player development. He coached in the minors for several years but also managed and coached the San Diego Padres during their rebuild phase.

This is a classic David Stearns kind of hire and is the kind of hiring Mets fans should get accustomed to from him. As MLB has seen a meteoric rise in managers being hired straight from their front office jobs he, in turn, has hired someone from the dugout into a top-level executive position. Applying the same logic, yet in reverse, if the game has moved to a place in which front office members are directly qualified to manage, managers should in turn be directly qualified to impact and inform the front office. With the idea that as a former coach and player, Green will provide a unique perspective, one that the Mets have lacked in the upper tier of their front office.

Green, who was hired by Kevin Towers, started his coaching career for the D-Backs within the milieu of their minor league affiliates. After Towers was fired and Tony LaRussa was brought in, Green was rewarded for his excellence in coaching, twice winning minor league manager of the year, and was hired to the Major League staff. After only one season, Green became the first of many managers hired by AJ Preller. Green, unfortunately, oversaw four seasons where the Padres retooled their major and minor league rosters, and was unceremoniously let go. He immediately latched on with the Cubs as their bench coach, which too happened to be the dawning of a new era in Chicago following the departures of Theo Epstein, Joe Maddon, and recently David Ross.

Now that he’s been hired by David Stearns, Green has achieved a very rare feat of being hired five times by executives and managers whom he had no previous professional relationship with. This is not only a testament to Green’s intellect and baseball acumen, but also a testament to his character as a person. Maybe the most fascinating tidbit regarding Green’s major league journey is the sheer diversity of by whom he was hired.

Green has been hired by both old-school and new-school mindsets. He was twice hired by classic baseball minds of yesteryear in LaRussa and Towers, while also hired thrice by new-age, analytically savvy, young Ivy League executives. This extraordinary diversity of thought shows how Green is considered an asset no matter who may be running the show.  It also bought Green the privilege of familiarizing himself with some of baseball’s greats and let him develop as a branch on the mushrooming Theo Epstein front office tree.

Hoyer, whom he worked for with the Cubs, and Preller, are both well respected around the league, especially in terms of drafting and developing. Their track record of assembling an immense wealth of prospects predates their times as PBOs. Both have led or helped forge tremendous classes of top-flight prospects on multiple occasions, spanning different franchises, over the last decade. Being able to learn from these very different, yet successful minds can only be seen as a feather in Green’s proverbial cap.

Eduardo Brizuela 

Eduardo Brizuela, who was hired as VP and Special Assistant to the GM, brings decades’ worth of experience and has an extensive history with Stearns. Brizuela brings strong ties to Venezuelan baseball and has had a myriad of roles over the years with the Brewers. He’s worked as the Brewers VP, director of minor league operations, farm director, and director of Latin American scouting and operations during his tenure in Milwaukee, spanning almost two decades. He is yet another unique voice of reason within the Mets front office and will provide a crucial opinion on all things scouting.

Brizuela predated David Stearns in Milwaukee, yet became a mainstay and a dominant figure during his tenure in Milwaukee. He was eventually elevated to third in command there and will assume a similar role with the Mets. While the Mets have had a robust international scouting department for years now, dating back to the Minaya regime, they never had as big of an impact in Venezuela as they had elsewhere, specifically in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

With these three important hires, Stearns has revamped both the scouting department as well as the player development department and it will now be up to these three individuals to execute Stearns’ long-term vision for this team. They will be entrusted to meticulously hire their own deputies and complete their staffs as a means to infuse the Mets’ organization with new ideas and new perspectives.

A Front Office For The Future

These moves will dramatically impact how the Mets run their organization for the foreseeable future. They will ensure Stearns has a few of his own lieutenants to accompany the bevy of bright minds already in place and will blend savvy minds with Steve Cohen’s money. Guys like Ian Levin, Tommy Tanous, and Ben Zauzmer all run different facets of the Mets’ front-office operations and are very well respected throughout the game. Along with key special assistant Carlos Beltran, the front office is shaping up to be a powerhouse of differing and balancing opinions.

Stearns’ vision of blending the old with the new, analytics with both scouting and developing is what gave credence to these hires. Hiring an expert in amateur scouting, an expert in international scouting, and Green who has substantial on-field experience as both a former player, coach, and manager will provide the franchise with a healthy mix of competing viewpoints. This will aid in the process of making correct decisions about both the present and future of the Mets. Headed up by Stearns, this should ensure the perfect environment for long-term success and a winning culture, as well as shaping the Mets’ future GM search into one of the most sought-after roles in the MLB. Mets fans have waited a long time for stability. David Stearns and his legion of minds will bring it.

The post Providing Context for Stearns’ First Three Hires appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Credit: Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning, Mets fans.

Jacob deGrom was roughed up on Saturday as the Mets fell to the Athletics 10-4 in what was deGrom’s roughest outing since 2019. He struck out just five and gave up five runs across four innings before Buck Showalter handed the game to the bullpen.

With the Mets losing, and the Braves taking a victory over the Phillies, the Braves are now just 1.5 games behind the Mets as the race for a division title continues.

The post Morning Briefing: Mets’ Division Lead Shrinks Back To 1.5 Games appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

All four of the remaining series will continue today. Both American League games will air on Fox Sports 1 while both National League games will air on TBS.

The Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox will play Game 4 of their series at 1 p.m. as the Astros will send Charlie Morton to the mound to face Rick Porcello.

The second game will start at 4 p.m. and be Game 3 of the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs series in which Max Scherzer will face off with Jose Quintana.

The third game will be Game 4 of the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians series at 7 p.m. in which the Yanks will send Luis Severino to the mound to face Josh Tomlin.

In the final game of the night, Zack Greinke and Arizona Diamondbacks will take on Yu Darvish and the Los Angeles Dodgers at 10 p.m. in Game 3 of the NLDS.

Yesterday, both American League Division Series resumed. In the first game, the Boston Red Sox avoided a sweep by the Houston Astros. After allowing three runs in the first, the Red Sox managed to make a comeback highlighted by homers by Jackie Bradley and Rafael Devers. David Price also contributed four shutout innings of relief.

In the second game, the New York Yankees took on the Cleveland Indians and avoided the sweep with a 1-0 victory. Greg Bird‘s homer in the seventh inning was enough to seal the deal in Masahiro Tanaka‘s dominating seven-inning shutout performance.

Latest Mets News

Tony LaRussa publicly endorsed Chip Hale to be the next manager of the team in an article done by Mike Puma of the New York Post.

Tomas Nido and Luis Guillorme lead a group of players representing the Mets in the Arizona Fall League.

Latest NL East News

Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post gets Max Scherzer’s thoughts before his Game 3 start tonight.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald analyzes the Miami Marlins potential trade chips.

David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Braves have received permission to speak to two Washington Nationals executives about their GM vacancy.

Bill Baer of NBC Sports reports that the Phillies and Tigers have shown interest in Mike Redmond for their vacant managerial positions.

Latest on MMO

Mike Silva conducts another Talkin’ Mets Podcast in which he talks about the manager options for next season.

This Day in Mets History

1999: Todd Pratt hits a walk-off homer in the 10th inning of Game 4 of the NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks to send the Mets to the NLCS.

Birthdays: Jim Tatum turns 50, Bill Pulsipher turns 44, Alay Soler turns 38 and Jason Pridie turns 34.

The post Morning Briefing: Damn Yankees Stay Alive appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Joe Torre hoped it would happen, but he never dared think it would. The former New York Mets player and manager, who later carved his legacy as four-time World Series manager of the Yankees, was selected to the Hall of Fame today by the veteran’s committee.

The announcement was made at the Walt Disney Swan resort hotel in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Torre will go in with fellow managers Tony La Russa and Bobby Cox. All three won over 2,000 games and World Series titles. All three are incredibly deserving.

Also deserving, but left out were Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, whom Torre said, “changed my life for giving me that opportunity,’’ and Marvin Miller, the former director of the Players Association.

As much as friends told Torre – who currently works in the commissioner’s office – his nomination was a given, he never let his mind wander there.

“That’s what they said when we were up 3-0 against the Red Sox, and looked what happened,’’ said Torre of the Yankees’ infamous collapse in the 2004 ALCS. “As much as I would have liked it not to happen, I never obsessed over it.’’

Torre has little to say about his time with the Mets other than, “I started with the Mets when they weren’t spending anything,’’ and that he wasn’t the manager for two weeks when the club dealt Tom Seaver to Cincinnati.

Torre, a lifetime .297 hitter, finished his playing career and was named manager shortly thereafter.

Torre, who managed the Mets, Yankees, Braves and Cardinals, won 2,326 games, fifth all time, along with six pennants. He wore his 2003 World Series ring.

While he credited Steinbrenner for the opportunity, he saved his greatest gratitude for his players.

“You can’t win the Kentucky Derby unless you are on a thoroughbred,’’ Torre said of the team that won titles in 1996, 1998-2000. “They had so much heart and backbone.’’

Fred Wilpon offered a fitting statement to salute the Mets’ one-time skipper.

“We are thrilled that Joe Torre has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. “Joe has distinguished himself throughout his career both on and off the field.  His records and accomplishments as a player and manager speak for themselves.  All of us at the Mets salute and congratulate Joe.”

Joe was always one of the classiest people in the game.

Today’s honor is fitting for this baseball giant.

Original Report

The 16-member Expansion Era Committee unanimously elected Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa, and Joe Torre to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The announcement came Monday morning at the Winter Meetings.

Cox managed the Braves for 25 seasons and the Blue Jays for four seasons. During that span he has guided his teams to five pennants and one World Series (1995, with the Braves). Cox also won 15 division titles including 14, 30 of them in in a row with with the Braves. The 3-time NL Manager of the Year ranks fourth on the all-time list with 2,504 wins.

La Russa has three World Series titles to his credit and is one of two managers to win a championship in each league. He also has six pennants under his belt and ranks third all-time with 2,728 wins.

Torre, a former Met player/manager, has had a distinguished career as a hitter and nine-time All-Star tallying 2,342 hits and 252 home runs while winning the NL MVP in 1972. As a manager, Torre ranks fifth on the all-time wins list with 2,326 victories and has won four World Series.

Cox, La Russa and Torre will be inducted alongside those elected by the BBWAA on Sunday, July 27, 2014 in Cooperstown.

Photo courtesy of the New York Mets.

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As one of Terry Collins’ most ardent supporters, I’m having a slight case of the “hindsight blues” today.

Let me first start by saying, I think Terry Collins is a good manager for this team.

You’ve heard it said before, and you’ll likely hear it again – “Baseball Managers don’t matter all that much.”

It’s a statement spoken by fans who subscribe to a more sabermetric philosophy than an old school way of thinking.

To me, a baseball manager is 90% clubhouse, 10% in-game management. An old school fan would likely argue that how a manager handles lineups, or the ever popular “bullpen management,” is what makes a good or bad manager.

A sabermetric view point might argue that players play, and the manager is merely a middle manager caliber staff person between the General Manager and players.

To me, you can break down every single decision a manager makes that fails and use it against them – but you’ll have a tough time finding people point to positive decisions that helped the team win.

A baseball manager is a fan’s ultimate second guess outlet. A risky decision that works could go unheralded but a risky decision that doesn’t work, can lead to cries of dismissal.

For me, I want the players to want to play for the manager. You have 25 players in a locker room who have likely been told their whole life they are the greatest – it takes the right person to not only massage that ego, but also keep their heads on straight.

If you ask me who the best manager in baseball is, it’s Joe Maddon. He gets every ounce of talent out of his players no matter the cards he is dealt. He handles the media, and tough situations very well and when he makes a risky decision that doesn’t pay off, he holds himself accountable but rarely ever regrets the decision he made.

I was in favor of Collins getting an extension because I didn’t see where the Mets could do better right now. To the fans who want Wally Backman, you have no idea how the veterans on this team would mix with his managerial style. He’d be fun to watch, but we’d be watching a big organizational risk that frankly, isn’t worth taking.

This morning, I got burned by loyalty. The Cincinnati Reds announced that Dusty Baker would not return as manager in 2014.

Baker to me is a fascinating manager. He is the guy that no matter how much good he does, the fans of his team always seem to focus on the negative.

After the Reds lost, many Reds fans and media once against pointed to the fact they were “on the wrong side of history again.”

The first instance was when Roy Halladay no-hit them in 2010, which frankly is totally unfair to use against Baker because nobody was hitting Halladay that day.

The second instance was last year when they dropped three straight at home to the Giants after winning the first two on the road. A fair knock if you ask me.

The third was just a few nights ago when the Reds lost in Pittsburgh, becoming the first playoff team to ever NOT host a playoff game.

So yes, in the long storied history of the wildcard game (2012-Present) the Reds set the bar for failure. A bit of a stretch if you ask me.

Dusty Baker has been managing for 20 years, and in those 20 years his win percentage is OVER 52%. Baker’s teams have won at least 85 games, 12 times in his 20 years – the most by any active manager.

Yet, his critics point toward his playoff record as reason to dismiss him as a very good manager.

I value the World Series more than anything else, but I also recognize that it is harder to win 1,671 games in 3,176 tries than it is to win a best of five series. Luck can find its way to determine the winner in a best of five series (or seven), but luck doesn’t make you a winner 52% of the time in over 3,000 tries.

This is why I say things like the Braves from 1996-2012 are more impressive than the Marlins during the same time. Of course the Braves would like those 2 rings the Marlins got during that time – but recognizing just how difficult it is to win 57% of your games over 17 years is something I think fans underestimate drastically.

To me, Dusty Baker is one of the best managers in the game without a doubt. He has won three “Manager of the Year” awards, and also has three 2^nd place finishes. Since the award’s creation in 1983, only Bobby Cox and Tony LaRussa have more while Jim Leyland and Lou Pinella both have three wins as well.

So while I am happy the Mets showed Collins the loyalty he likely deserved to see this project through, I am now wondering what it would have been like to scoop up the most under appreciated manager in the sport by hiring Dusty Baker.

The post Loyalty and The Hindsight Blues appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

A couple of nights ago I’m on Facebook checking out a page for fellow Mets fans. We’re all rejoicing in the Yankees misery. I, too, add a few comments and threw in a joke about ‘A-Roid.’ Someone else commented about us playing spoiler and knocking the Nats further back. Then, it hit me. This is what we’ve become.

We have nothing hopeful to cheer for, so yet again this season, we are reduced to the role of spoiler. (Of course, we don’t even do that well since Washington swept us). And while we celebrate the failures of the Yankees, do you think they even care about us? They’ve got more important things to worry about. We’re not even a (blue and orange) fly on the ass of a (pinstriped) cow.

The 2013 Mets will finish under 500 for the fifth straight year, something this club hasn’t done since the early 1990’s. And despite Sandy Alderson’s (ahem) “plan,” he is now weeks away from completing his third season as Mets GM and each year, our win total has gone down. We own the worst home record in baseball, 7^th worst overall.

Remember just a few years back when we were laughing at small market clubs like Pittsburgh and Kansas City?

When our Mets were resurrected from Grant’s Tomb, ownership and GM Frank Cashen provided hope. Things improved, albeit slowly. We signed slugger George Foster, one of the most prolific home run hitters in the game, we reacquired Dave Kingman for power and to excite the fan base, brought back Tom Terrific. Sure, a lot of these plans failed, but we had hope, we had excitement and we had promise that a brighter future was on the horizon. After three years of the Alderson regime, are you more or less optimistic? Do you think this team is heading in the right direction? To steal a line from past presidential elections, are the Mets better off now than they were three years ago?

Our decreasing win total and plummeting attendance show the direction we’re heading.

Alderson’s big accomplishment—and really his only one—was getting Zack Wheeler. And while Wheeler has turned into our de facto ace due to the injury to the Minaya-acquired Matt Harvey, Carlos Beltran’s bat would sure help right now. During 2012 and thus far in 2013, Beltran has clobbered 55 HR’s, knocked in 173 and hit .288. One fact that gets overlooked is that Alderson also handed over $4 million to San Francisco along with Beltran for Wheeler.

Frank Cashen knew about building a winner. He turned the Orioles into a perennial contender in the late 60’s and kept them relevant through the entire next decade. He did the same upon arriving in NY. Alderson, however, has never re-built a team. I’m not faulting him. He’s just in over his head.

In 1984 while GM of Oakland, Alderson traded 25 year old Rickey Henderson who was just coming into his prime. In exchange for dealing the greatest lead-off hitter in history, Alderson got back five players. The only one of substance was Jose Rijo. However, just as Rijo was maturing and developing, Alderson turned around and traded him away for a 37 year-old Dave Parker. Rijo would go on to guide Cincinnati to a World Series, become a NL All-Star and lead the league in strikeouts. And that Rickey Henderson guy? He did okay, too.

Still have faith in…(insert dramatic music)…The Plan?

Alderson has persistently maintained that he will build a winner from within and not rely on signing players. Many Mets fans initially agree. After all, we’re not the Yankees. We don’t buy pennants. We build from our own talent, just like we did in 86 and 69, right? Wrong!!!

No team, not even our Amazins, has ever won solely on homegrown talent. It helps and sure, it’s rewarding to win with guys from your farm system. But it’s never been done exclusively. As Mr. Spock would say, “Illogical.” To win, you need that perfect blend of rookies AND veterans, of your own youngsters AND proven winners.

In the 80’s, Darryl Strawberry was the best offensive prospect the Mets ever brought up. And Doc? Well, Doc broke more records than were shattered during Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park in 1979. In spite of the fact these two seemed a lock for Cooperstown, Cashen realized he needed more. He traded for Keith Hernandez, a World Champion, former MVP and proven winner. He added Gary Carter who had an unquenchable thirst to win. He obtained fiery Ray Knight. And while Gooden, Ron Darling and Sid Fernandez were solid, Cashen acquired Bobby Ojeda from Boston, whose 18 wins would lead the staff in 1986.

Can anyone picture the Mets winning in ’86 without Keith, Gary, Ray and Bobby?

Can anyone out there envision Alderson bringing that caliber of player to New York?

When the Mets won the pennant in ’73 and came within one hit of winning it all, sure, we had Tug and Cleon and Buddy. But the player who led the team in hits and batting average that season was Felix Millan, a second baseman acquired from Atlanta. Rusty Staub came in a trade from Montreal and was the team leader in RBI’s. And the pitcher with the best winning percentage was not Seaver, Koosman or Matlack, but rather George Stone, yet another player obtained via a trade. Stone was 9 games over 500 for a team that finished just 3 games over 500. Take away Millan, Staub and Stone—players acquired through trade—and there’s no pennant.

The same holds true going back to 1969 when trades were rare and largely unheard of. Buddy Harrelson stated that when the Mets acquired Donn Clendenon that June, the players began to believe. Clink was a legitimate home run threat. And as Seaver won his first Cy Young Award and Cleon hit .340, it was ex-White Sox and former Rookie of the Year Tommie Agee who was the team leader in homers and runs scored.

Anyone out there holding their breath that Alderson will obtain a former Rookie of the Year?

In addition to Alderson’s long history of never making a blockbuster trade—and I won’t even mention about getting losing of a batting champion one winter followed by getting rid of a Cy Young winner the next – his decisions when it comes to managers is even more baffling. It is evident that Wally Backman will be gone soon, discarded by the front office after years of loyalty (and years of winning) as if he was an old rosin bag. Wally does not fit in with the Mets plan. He’s too abrasive, too demanding, too hard. He battles the front office too much. So, instead of promoting a proven winner, we’ll stick with Terry Collins and his .459 winning percentage.

No Mets manager ever butted heads with his GM more than Davey Johnson did with Cashen. And Cashen knew that ahead of time. He was Baltimore’s GM in the 1960’s when Davey was their second baseman. Cashen was fully aware of the tinderbox he was creating by hiring Davey. But Davey had won in the minors, Davey knew his team and the young players—Gooden, Strawberry, Dykstra—were loyal to him. Cashen overlooked his own feelings for the good of the team. He didn’t care about the clash of personality. He accepted the challenge because he had the smarts to realize that Davey Johnson, like Wally, was a proven winner. This is an area where Alderson is plainly deficient.

While GM in Oakland, although his skipper was successful, Alderson let him get away. The brash, unorthodox and outspoken Tony LaRussa took his baseball experience and acumen to St. Louis where he guided the Cardinals to 10 post-seasons in 15 years, including three pennants and two championships. During Alderson’s later stint with the Padres, he had no qualms about letting Bruce Bochy slip through his fingers. Bochy headed north to San Francisco where he brought the Giants their first title since moving to the west coast in 1958. Two years later, Bochy brought them another one.

“This is a wait and see season, here just to be survived by fans until the real fixing can be done. We knew this year would be painful.”

I thought the above quote I discovered was poignant. And also, ironic. It appeared on a website on May 25, 2011, three seasons ago. Since then, the Mets have lost 228 games. Seems like not much has changed.

So, we’ll continue to wait…and wait…and wait some more for Alderson’s “plan” to magically take hold. He makes promises, losses pile up, players get injured, and the future looks no brighter…but we continue waiting. We’ve now waited 27 years for a championship. We’ll keep waiting. We’ll watch other teams play into October, we’ll hope Alderson shores up the bullpen this winter, signs a couple of bats, we’ll look for updates on Matt Harvey—and I’m sure we’ll get a few funny jokes via Twitter from our GM while the Red Sox or Pirates or Tigers get fitted for World Series rings. He may not know how to win, how to improve a team, how to rebuild a franchise…but, hey, he’s funny. So, at least we’ll laugh while we wait…and wait…

Once upon a time there was a baseball team. They were good, very good. Solid, well-balanced. They had three players with over 80 RBI’s. Two of their starters won 20 games and had ERA’s under 3.00. Of the eight position players, five hit over 300, including the catcher who hit .344. This team won 100 games, enough to capture the NL pennant. They went to the World Series where they fell short, losing to Detroit in six games.

This team was the 1935 Cubs. And although it had been 27 years since their last World Championship in 1908, I’m sure they felt optimistic about their future, too. Granted, 27 years was a long time to wait, they must have thought, but “I’m sure we’ll win soon. We must have some sort of plan.”

Amazin?

Or as Mr. Spock would say…

The post To Boldly Go Where No GM Has Gone Before: Why the Mets Will Never Win with Alderson appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Wow, what a Game 6! Texas continually took advantage of mistakes by the Cardinals to take a lead, but every time they did, St. Louis stormed back to tie the game up. Then David Freese was able to come up big in the 9th inning with one strike left to send the game into extras, allowing Freese then hit a bomb to Center Field, forcing the first World Series Game 7 since the 2002 series between the Angels and Giants.

The Cardinals made some history last night; there have only been two teams in history that have fought back from a deficit in the 8th inning to force a Game 7. These two teams are the ’75 Red Sox and the ’86 Mets. However, no team has ever come back in the 9th inning and then in extras in a World Series. You want to talk about going back and forth? This was also the first time that there were three blown saves in one game of the Fall Classic.

On the flip side, just think about how frustrating it must be for Ron Washington and co. to now have to come back for a Game 7, especially since they were within one strike on two different occasions of clinching the franchise’s fist ever World Series. Now, onto Game 7; Chris Carpenter will go for St. Louis on three days rest to face Matt Harrison on regular rest. Washington stuck by his starter even though they got an extra day off on Wednesday, saying that he was not going to change how he does things now because they’ve gotten this far. However, after going through this entire postseason, I would take Carpenter on short rest instead of any other pitcher on regular rest.

Either way, it’s safe to assume that tonight’s Game 7 will be an epic one; neither team goes down without a fight (as you can see in Game 6) and both of them are hungry to grab a piece of history. The reason that I’m even talking about a Game 7 is because of the crucial line-up change made by Tony LaRussa last night. He decided to put the hot-hitting Lance Berman behind Pujols in the line-up and move the struggling Matt Holliday and got rewarded with a 3-4, 3 RBI, and 4 runs scored performance by his right fielder.

Who ya got tonight? I’m taking the Cardinals because I have from the beginning, and there is not a doubt in my mind that they are a team of destiny. The only way I’ll change my thinking is if the Rangers are actually able to put them away tonight when the game is on the line. For those who have decided that baseball has been over for a while now since your team isn’t in it anymore, tune in tonight, because you’ve missed an amazing series so far.

For all of those who have been watching throughout, soak in this last game and make the feeling last until Valentine’s Day when pitchers and catchers start to report!

The post World Series Game 7: Rangers @ Cardinals, 8:05 pm EST Tonight On FOX. appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Cardinals have been struggling to score runs this season and until last night’s win, they have spent most of the season looking up at the first place Reds who have played surprisingly well this year.

We’ve all heard the word chemistry thrown around a lot this season, but I’ve always believed that winning breeds chemistry and that losing will lead to a lack of it. Did the Reds, who made few changes this offseason suddenly get good chemistry, and have the Cardinals whose biggest move was re-signing Matt Holliday suddenly lose the clubhouse magic?

Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, reports on what could be a developing rift between Cardinals slugger and MVP Albert Pujols and longtime manager Tony LaRussa, both of whom are locks for the Hall of Fame.

As the story goes, La Russa signaled for Ryan Ludwick, who was on first base, to steal second with two outs in the eighth inning. Albert Pujols, who was moved out of the third spot a few days earlier for the first time in over five years, was at the plate and batting cleanup. Unfortunately for Prince Albert, Ludwick was gunned down to end the inning. 

A very irate Pujols walked back to the dugout flipped his bat, then his helmet, and then smacked two trays of gum from a bench against the Cardinals dugout wall.

La Russa then sneers at Pujols and yells “that’s enough.”

Pujols barks right back and, according to eyewitnesses, the exchange escalated with La Russa telling Pujols at one point, “I (expletive) know how to manage.”

According to Strauss, the outburst was the second involving Pujols in as many days.  

The reigning National League MVP is eligible for free agency after the 2011 season, and moments like these will not exactly move him toward signing an extension any time soon. He is expected to demand $30 million dollars a year, and the Cardinals signed Matt Holliday mostly as a backup plan in case Pujols decides to bolt.

Getting back to La Russa though, what in the world was he thinking by letting Ludwick attempt a steal with his team’s best hitter at the plate?

Even if Ludwick had not been caught stealing, it would have opened up first base to walk Pujols, thus taking the bat out of his hands.

If Jerry Manuel ever did anything that stupid, there would be hell to pay. But for some reason whenever La Russa makes moves like this it’s looked upon as good old-fashioned aggressive managing or thinking out of the box. Umm, whatever…

I don’t know what Pujols said after La Russa’s remark, but I hope it went something like this,

“I (expletive) know how to drive in runs” or “I (expletive) know how to make you gone with the snap of my finger”.

Oh and by the way, I have never been convinced that batting the pitcher number eight is supposed to be some stroke of genius either.

The post Jerry Manuel Not Nearly This Bad appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

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.

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