Month: May 2008

Mets Pitcher Billy Wagner: Bully Or Team Leader?

The biggest story with the New York Mets over the last week has been closer Billy Wagner ripping Oliver Perez after Perez’ dreadful start against the Pirates on Wednesday. It’s raised many questions about the Mets as a team.

Do the Mets need a team captain?– They could probably use a team captain but I don’t know who would be the logical candidate. They would want someone that’s going to be around for several years like Jose Reyes, David Wright, Johan Santana, or Carlos Beltran. I doubt that it would be Santana. Typically, captains are position players. Wright and Reyes are pretty young to captain a team of veterans. Beltran is usually so quiet that it’s hard to picture him as the team leader. I don’t think that Billy Wagner would even enter the discussion on this topic. Continue reading “Mets Pitcher Billy Wagner: Bully Or Team Leader?”

Reader Poll Results- Carlos Delgado Verdict

The latest reader poll results are final. The question was: Will Carlos Delgado be on the Mets roster for the entire 2008 season?

The results are very mixed:

Yes- 56%

No- 44%

Clearly, we’re divided as Mets fans on this issue. I’m sure that the “yes” answers have taken into consideration Delgado’s recent improved hitting and contract that far outweighs his abilities. Thus, the difficulty trading or releasing him must be considered.

The “no” answers have to consider that Delgado has been hurting the Mets both offensively and defensively this season. Very little is expected of Delgado defensively, but his weakness in the field becomes more glaring if he’s not hitting… and hitting with power.

We’ll keep an eye on the Delgado situation as the season continues. Maybe we’ll have to re-run this poll when we get closer to the non-waiver and waiver trading deadline. My guess is that Delgado will be the first player put through waivers in August.

On Deck: Sunday May 4, 2008 D-Backs

New York Mets (15-13) at Arizona Diamond Backs (21-9) 4:10pm

Johan Santana (3-2) vs. Dan Haren (4-1)

TV: CW11 Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Mets really want to get this rubber game of the series. It’s always an aces pitching match up when Santana pitches, and this game is no different. Haren is a really good pitcher in his own right. I’d like to see Santana get through at least the seventh inning today to give the bullpen a break.

Mets Drop Second Game To D-Backs 10-4

I never thought that the Mets would go into Arizona and sweep the D-Backs. They’re playing so well this season, it would seem almost impossible to win all three games there. So if the Mets were going to take two out of three, I figured that they wouldn’t be able to Brandon Webb. And they didn’t.

Webb didn’t pitch that well, so it’s a shame that the Mets couldn’t take advantage of a rare off day for him to get a win. Blame it on Mike Pelfrey, the bullpen, Carlos Beltran’s .208 average, or Endy Chavez’ non-existent bat. Blame it on all of them.

I’m just not seeing the tremendous upside of Mike Pelfrey that the Mets management does. The minor leagues are littered with guys who have great “stuff” but keep hitting bats and can’t throw strikes consistently. That’s what I see in Pelfrey. He was below average again today. His ERA is up to 5.27 now and that’s unacceptable in the rotation. He walked four and struck out one… that’s completely unacceptable!

Pedro Feliciano was pretty bad too, but his ERA was hurt by Scott Schoenweiss coming in and throwing a first pitch meatball to Augie Ojeda with the bases loaded. Ojeda hit it into the corner in right for a double for his 6th RBI of the game. How do you let a number 8 hitter beat you with six RBI’s?

The bullpen has been taxed far too much so far this season. The Mets really need the starters to get deeper into games badly. They can’t keep leaning on the bullpen to cover four or more innings in almost every game. There’s going to be a breaking point.

The Mets still have a chance to win the series tomorrow. Hopefully, they’ll be able to take this series before moving on to Los Angeles on Monday.

Box score

Video Highlights

Reader Poll: Carlos Delgado Final Day

Today is the last day of the current reader poll. Will Carlos Delgado be on the Mets roster for the entire 2008 season? So far the “yes” voters have it by a wide margin. Make sure that you get your vote in on the right side of the page before the end of the day. If you’re viewing this in a feed reader, please visit the site to submit your vote.