Allstarjim

Bingo. This team is not hitting the ball with authority. Their approach at the plate seems to be too complacent most of the time. Sometimes you have to be aggressive. At least Wright went deep today. They need to have some players beyond Wright that is a long-ball threat. Beltran has gone deep (but it was called a double), and Delgado hit one off of Moyer, which really didn't impress me. I will be impressed when he turns around on an 90 mph plus fastball and put it over the wall. Most of my frustration I save for Castillo. His at bats annoy me to no end. He just slaps the ball on the ground and then gets thrown out at first. For the life of me, why did we give him a 4 year deal? *EDIT* Just looked up Castillo's stats. So far he is batting .160 on the year with 4 hits, no extra base hits, 1 RBI and an OBP of .276. Now if this keeps up to the allstar break, what, oh Willie, will you do? The Gotay waiving looms larger. And will you continue to bat him 2nd in the order? I think whoever is playing left field, be it Pagan, Alou, or Endy Chavez, should be batting 2nd. Castillo is a disaster with the bat.

1960 was the last time the Eagles won an NFL championship, right?

Seriously, if I have tickets to the game tomorrow night, I'm showing up with a paper bag on my head. I'll tell you what, I have tickets to the Nationals/Mets game on the night of the 23rd here in DC, and I will wear a paper bag if this team doesn't start winning.

None of them can get a Phillie out. The only one was Joe Smith who was only asked to get one out and got it in a tough spot. After that Schoenweis can't get anyone out, Sosa can't get an out, and now Heilman can't get an out. This bullpen is in disarray. Once again Willie is putting his trust in Schoenass and Sosa for what reason? Sosa early on looks like Mota. Sosa=Mota. We need to stop getting bullpen pitchers whose name is 2 syllables and ends in 'a'.

This team is an embarassment.

The Mets should make sure that Utley gets hit AGAIN when he comes up to bat. And it should be UP and IN and a 95 MPH Heilman fastball. Utley STEPS into that Schoenweis pitch, and the ump should've called him out. He stepped right into that pitch. Then he goes wide on the Delgado throw and gets in the way. That is good baseball. Reyes has to give Delgado a wider target, as well. All of that would be moot if Schoenweis could get a right handed batter, ANY f-ing right handed batter, OUT. Perez deserves better. And for the record, I thought Willie was a little too quick to pull the trigger on Ollie. And WHY WHY WHY does Willie go to Shoenweis in the 7th and not Feliciano? When will Willie get it, that Shoenweis is not the guy you want on the mound protecting a close lead? Now Heilman is imploding. Duaner Sanchez needs to get healthy and back on this team fast. Willie's job is on the line this year and he better pull his head out of his ass if he wants to save it. Once again the Mets blow it against the Phillies.

OK, I have the entire Minaya trade history with the Mets. Let's begin: 12/3/2004: Traded RP Mike Stanton (and cash) to Yankees for RP Felix Heredia. My verdict: Slight win. 1/6/2005: Traded C Vance Wilson to Tigers for SS Anderson Hernandez. My verdict: Wash. 1/27/2005: Acquired 1B Doug Mientkiewicz and conditional cash from Red Sox for nonroster 1B Ian Bladergroen. My verdict: Win. 3/20/2005: Acquired LHP Kaz Ishii from LA Dodgers for C/1B Jason Phillips. My verdict: Slight win. 3/29/2005: Acquired INF Benji Gil from Seattle Mariners for cash. My verdict: Slight loss. 4/2/2005: Acquired non-roster LHP Steve Colyer for RHP Matt Ginter. My verdict: Moderate loss. 11/18/2005: Acquired INF/OF Xavier Nady from Padres for OF Mike Cameron. My verdict: Big win. 11/24/2005: Obtained 1B Carlos Delgado and cash from Marlins for 1B Mike Jacobs, RHP Yusmeiro Petit and INF Grant Psomas. My verdict: Moderate win. 11/28/2005: Acquired OF Tike Redman from the Pirates for cash. My verdict: Slight win. 12/5/2005: Acquired C Paul Lo Duca from Marlins for 2 players to be named (best I could do). My verdict: Win. 1/4/2006: Acquired RHP Duaner Sanchez and RHP Steve Schmoll from Dodgers RHP Jae Seo and LHP Tim Hamulack. My verdict: Huge win. 1/21/2006: Acquired RHP Jorge Julio and RHP John Maine from Orioles for RHP Kris Benson. My verdict: Monumental win. 5/24/2006: Acquired RHP Orlando Hernandez from Diamondbacks for RHP Jorge Julio. My verdict: Win. 5/25/2006: Acquired LHP Dave Williams from Reds for RHP Robert Manuel and cash. My verdict: Win. 5/26/2006: Acquired RHP Mike Adams Brewers for RHP Jeremi Gonzalez. My verdict: No factor. 6/9/2006: Acquired C/1B/OF Eli Marrero Rockies for INF Kaz Matsui. My verdict: Win, just for Kaz leaving NY. 7/19/2006: Acquired INF Ruben Gotay from Royals for INF Jeff Keppinger. My verdict: Loss, now that Gotay has been waived. 7/31/2006: Acquired RHP Roberto Hernandez and LHP Oliver Perez from Pirates for OF Xavier Nady. My verdict: Big win. (Hate to say that, though, I love the X-man.) 8/20/2006: Acquired RHP Guillermo Mota and cash from Indians for player to be named. My verdict: Win. 8/22/2006: Acquired OF Shawn Green and cash from Diamondbacks for LHP Evan MacLane. My verdict: Win. 8/30/2006: Acquired C Mike Nickeas from Rangers for OF Victor Diaz. My verdict: No factor. 11/15/2006: Acquired OF Ben Johnson and RHP Jon Adkins from Padres for RHP Heath Bell and LHP Royce Ring. My verdict: Monumental head-scratching loss. 11/20/2006: Acquired LHP Jason Vargas and LHP Adam Bostick from Marlins for RHP Henry Owens and RHP Matt Lindstrom. My verdict: HUGE loss. 12/6/2006: Acquired RHP Ambiorix Burgos for RHP Brian Bannister from Royals. My verdict: HUGE loss. (3 in a row for Omar.) 5/15/2007: Acquired infielder Jake Gautreau from Indians for a player to be named later or cash considerations. My verdict: No factor. 7/30/07: Acquired 2B Luis Castillo from Twins for C Drew Butera and OF Dustin Martin. My verdict: Win, for what we gave up, however, Gotay earned that job with his bat and they could've just given him the job. Debatable if we are a better team with Castillo than we would be if Gotay was starting. 8/20/07: Acquired 1B/OF Jeff Conine from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Minor Leaguer INF Jose Castro and Minor League OF Sean Henry. My verdict: Loss. Conine hit .195 in 41 ABs for the Mets. 11/20/07: Acquired C Johnny Estrada from Brewers for RHP Guillermo Mota. My verdict: Loss. Estrada was never going to catch for the Mets. They should've shopped Mota for a prospect or another reliever. Mota still had some value, despite his down year. 11/28/07: Acquired RHP Brian Stokes from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for cash considerations. My verdict: If we get anything positive out of Stokes, it's a win. 11/30/07: Acquired OF Ryan Church and C Brian Schneider from Nationals for OF Lastings Milledge. My verdict: I think Milledge is going to be a star, but I still have to call it a slight win for the Mets. Both teams win in this one. 1/5/08: Acquired OF Angel Pagan from Cubs for OF Corey Coles and RHP Ryan Meyers. My verdict: Big win. 2/2/08: Acquired LHP Johan Santana from the Twins for OF Carlos Gomez, RHP Deolis Guerra, RHP Philip Humber and RHP Kevin Mulvey. My verdict: Big win for Mets. Some thoughts: When you look at the entire history, Minaya has done a fair job in improving the team through trades. But the ones that affected us the most are the ones that hurt so much now. The three trade sequence from 11/15 to 12/6 of 2006 were disastrous. We traded: Heath Bell Royce Ring Henry Owens Matt Lindstrom Brian Bannister For: Ben Johnson Jon Adkins Jason Vargas Adam Bostick Ambiorix Burgos Looking at that makes me sick.

I'm watching at home on MLB.TV. Just upgraded to premium so the quality is a little better than last year (still not as much as I'd hoped, though). Forget about the Braves series' now. It's time to put Philly in their place! We have a lot of pay back to give them that they are due from last year. I want a sweep! Moyer is in big trouble today! JUST SAW THE DELGADO HOMERUN! What a bomb! I thought this would be the game that Delgado gets one, because he can definitely get around on an inside fastball from Moyer, lol. Good to see Delgado get his first. One more thing, anyone a little concerned about Perez's velocity? His fastballs are being clocked at 87-88 consistently. I thought that he usually throws around 91-92. The slider looks good today. Go Perez!

On my long post that I lost, I made this same point about Burgos and Bell, so I completely agree with what you are saying. But with Pedro, no matter what Pedro is getting with the fourth year, his signing put us in the running for Beltran and Delgado. Delgado would've waived the trade to the Mets, and Beltran wouldn't have come at all. We gained legitimacy with Pedro's signing. For that, Minaya deserves a lot of credit. But that was a long time ago, and we have a lot of bad trades later to remember from Minaya. I wonder if someone (maybe me), can post every trade and major free agent signing Minaya has done since he's become GM.

I had a really long post about this topic and also replying to your post, xxi. To summarize: Braves lineup is awesome, what are you talking about jranieli, I concur about Escobar, kid is a special talent. Omar has not been great, but he did get us Pedro and that is the only reason we are in the conversation as contenders today. Plus I believe Willie has had some input in making the roster. And Heath Bell sucked when he was with us.

Smoltz is amazing. Over 40 and still hitting 96 on the gun. It's just not natural (maybe it really isn't! )

Everyone is overreacting a little, but I will say that their play thus far is uninspiring. And I think there is some genuine cause for concern with the offense. Some things that I've been hearing bothers me. For one, Reyes talking about how he is not going to do the elaborate hand shakes or other antics he did last year, because he doesn't want to open himself up to criticism like last year when they collapsed. I think this is a mistake. There is nothing wrong with him having fun and providing that spark and atmosphere that in a dugout, is really infectious. You take away that fire and guys are trying to be players they are not, I believe it impacts the mindset, which impacts production at the plate, IMO. I think there is a danger of the pressure of NY and the media, both NY's and the national media, affecting offensive performance. I have to believe the pressure got to the Mets down the stretch last year for a couple of key players, particularly Jose Reyes. Secondly, the age of the team is a concern for me as well. Players in key roles that are being expected to perform at their prime levels, who are far beyond the prime, as well as players that are injury risks. Delgado, Castillo, and Alou fall into this category on the offense. If these players play like their ages, then there are problems, because you know Willie is not going to bench them if they don't produce. I will say Delgado has been hitting, although he's yet to go deep, and Castillo has been ok (I wish he would look to drive the ball SOMETIMES). Alou everyone expects to come back and just rake as usual, but he is 41 years old. If his bat all of a sudden is slow, then we will have problems. Delgado seems to me he can't turn around on an inside fastball anymore. This is a huge advantage to pitchers, obviously. Add to this that Beltran usually misses somes games because of his knees, and our offense may not be good enough if you combine some of these worst case scenarios. However, Angel Pagan has been hot, and a godsend. A key player is Church, he needs to have a career year and early indications are positive. I loathe punch and judy Castillo. I believe signing him for four years was a huge mistake. He will be an albatross best case scenario in the last year of that deal. I am not worried about the bullpen or the starting pitching, and they will at least keep us competitive, but this team is going to need to outscore offenses like the Phillies and Braves on some days, and they may not be able to do it. BTW, the Braves have the best lineup maybe in the National League, but definitely in the East. If Kotsay hits this year, there are no holes in that lineup. That kid Yunel Escobar is scary good. Just what we needed, another stud SS in the NL East. Lastly, I am beginning to doubt Willie Randolph for the first time. I think he is a little too much of a micro-manager. Sometimes you need to just say to your players, go out there and do want you do. Go play and hit like you know how. The problem here is that I think these players start to think too much because of the coaches and Willie's direction on how to execute. If you are thinking at the plate, then you've already lost. Some of you have remarked about some at-bats already that it looks like they don't know what they are doing. I think they are up there thinking! Just hit! It's like Willie was criticizing Maine in his last start because he felt he was too juiced up. The gun had Maine hitting 94-97 consistently. Obviously, Willie thinks this is over-throwing. Maine got squeezed a few times, and he had bad luck. I don't think he pitched badly, clearly he was missing on his location, some, but I didn't feel that he was bad. Willie has these guys playing tight, that is the bottom line. You can't play that way and win. You have to just play. Play hard, but play loose. There is a balance between executing a game plan and being loose, and these guys are thinking too much about the game plan at this point. Hopefully things will turn around against the Phillies.

Willie was correct to pull Maine when he did. At that point, Maine was already over 100 pitches, and he was not having a good day anyways. Sosa looked lost up there, though, and Willie should've pulled him.

What's up with the injury? Who's hurt?

Yes, Pelfrey will win. I expect him to win about 5 games in the first half. We have an outstanding defense that will help him, and a lineup that will support him. I know he has not been impressive this spring, to say the least. But now the games matter. Last year he showed he belonged, and proved in the second half that he can be an effective pitcher. Anyone who has seen him pitch first hand knows the stuff is there. That sinking fastball is a great pitch. I think at times he will struggle, but he will have good starts as well. At best, I expect his ERA in the low 4.00 range, at worst, 5.00. I am on the Pelfrey bandwagon and believe that this season is not a complete success concerning preparing this team for the future unless the club stays with Pelfrey over El Duque in a starting role. We can save El Duque and maybe late in the year he can give us some big starts. But now it's Pelfrey's time.

Hmmm, remember that haircut he had when he first came over, it was like blondish orange highlights or dye job? I immediately thought GAY! Kaz, an ANAL FISSURE? Yikes.

No surprise he was picked up, it was inevitable once they placed him on waivers. I will never understand why they didn't give him a chance. A second baseman who was one of the best hitters we had when he got opportunities here and there. I guess they didn't think that they had room for him on the roster, and he was out of options to be sent to AAA. But here's a guy who is a second baseman who can just rake and has good speed. And they let him go for nothing? There is a very short list of second basemen in MLB that can hit, and he was showing that he was one of them. He showed more to me than punch and judy Castillo. All I ever see as a reason he didn't get more time is that he was not up to par defensively, but I think this is a cop out. He will haunt us. We just made the Braves a better team for nothing. So now we are left with an old second baseman with bad knees. At least we have Marlon Anderson.

Mr. Met, I think you are right about Maine this year. If Pedro has a good, healthy year as well, then the Mets will win this division easy breezy. As far as the lack of no-hitters... I'm going out on a limb as saying this is the year that the streak is broken. We have at least two that can go the distance and get it done, Maine and Johan. We've had a lot of almosts, it's time to break through!

So you guys know we have Gustavo Molina right? Had anyone ever heard of this Molina before? When I saw we had him, I thought, good, we got a Molina that can catch. What is up? Here are the Molinas in the bigs, name their team: Bengie Yadier Jose Felix Angel Gustavo Seriously, how many baseball players named Molina are their? At this point, I would not be surprised to see every Major Leage team have at least one Molina on their roster, and for them all to play catcher. Molinas yet to make the Majors, but coming soon: Juan Pedro Jaime Ricardo Luis Eduardo Javier Julio Carlos Paco Guillermo Ricardo Miguel Chalupa Nacho Supreme Torro Pepe Humberto Gracias... Molina.

This guy is going to win 20 games. He scattered some hits, worked out of troiuble once or twice, but overall, he was brilliant, and showed everyone that he still brings the nasty. That changeup is going to strikeout just Ryan Howard at least 25 times this year. LOL. He was everything he was advertised to be last night. What's great is that the Mets went with pretty much what will be their opening day lineup last night and it seems that guys are coming around with the bat as well. Particularly Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran. Still can't wait for Opening Day. Johan is going to dazzle. 10 more days.

Not Johan, not Pedro. But John Maine. He is dazzling right now and has allowed just two runs in 17.2 innings so far this spring. He's just been dominant, and if he stays healthy, that is a great sign for us. He pitched awesome in the first half last year especially, then had some pain somewhere that he pitched with in the 2nd half. If he can carry this over to the regular season, we are in very, very good shape on the mound.

I take back what I said. I just remembered that the Raiders have signed William Joseph, which solves their defensive line concerns. Hall will be fine.

Yeah but so what. Everyone is hyping up this draft lilke it is so amazing. All that means is that there is a greater number of players this year with hype surrounding them than usual. Since hype doesn't mean a hill of beans, this draft might be the same, better, or worse than other drafts. We really won't know for another 3 years at least and then we can evaluate how good this draft was. And just because they are giving up a low second round pick to get him, doesn't mean that the Falcons will use it wisely or that they won't pick up a bust of a pick. Either way, good deal for the Raiders, if they had already established their D-line first. Maybe a good deal for the Falcons, depending on how the draft pick pans out. We will see. Anyhow, like I said, I am not disappointed we didn't get him.

Gateb, you are right on it. Oakland has no pass rush to speak of. And with a Jamarcus Russell still cutting his teeth next year, there will be a lot of 3 and outs for their offense. Teams are going to abuse that secondary no matter who is back there. They are doing it completely backwards. I wonder if Al Davis actually wants to win or is he doing this to get Lane Kiffin to quit. If he had come to the Giants, he would be behind the best defensive pass rush in the NFL, even if Strahan retires. He would be a Pro Bowler almost certainly, and have the most picks of his career. In this day and age, though, it's all about the money, not winning to most of these guys. Especially the guaranteed money. I hope for his sake (and Gibril's) that they can generate a pass rush, otherwise this money is wasted. As for the Giants, I hope that our fans are not that disappointed. We just won the Superbowl with the secondary we have now, minus Gibril, and we have replaced him with a solid veteran. I think Webster will do great. If he doesn't, than the Giants will look to Marcus Trufant, who will be a UFA after next season, unless the Seahawks agree to a deal with him, which right now seems unlikely. The Seahawks franchised him this offseason, so he cannot be franchised again. The downside is he will probably want the highest contract to date for a corner. But the Giants, (as well as myself) regard him higher than even Hall. I've heard top NFL wide receivers say that he is the toughest corner in the league to play against. I will not shed a single tear that Hall is going to the Raiders. At least he is going out of conference and not to a division rival. We are fine for the 2008 season, even if we don't draft a spectacular corner. Go Giants!

Given all that, then, why the hell do some blacks use the word in such a way that it is not derogatory? As they have pushed it into pop culture, I see other races (mostly hispanics and whites, but I've heard asians, too) using it in the same way with no consequence. To me it sounds unintelligent.