Category: Latest News

Mets Must Pursue Roy Oswalt

MLB: Houston Astros at Los Angeles Dodgers

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsHouston Astros’ ace Roy Oswalt recently told management he wanted to be traded.

The Mets have lost three starting pitchers in the last two weeks, two to injury and one to… well, awfulness.

I’m not the only one who sees a fit here, right?

Oswalt’s W-L isn’t the best this season at 2-6, but that’s heavily influenced due to a terrible Houston team behind him. His ERA is 2.66 (career 3.21) and he has 60 strikeouts on the year, putting him on pace for 221.

Oswalt would be under the Mets’ control for the remainder of this season and next season, with a club option for 2012, so this move would be more than just a four-month rental. It would set our top three starting pitchers as Johan Santana, Oswalt, and Mike Pelfrey. Not sure there’s a better 1-2-3 in the majors. Continue reading “Mets Must Pursue Roy Oswalt”

Yankees-Mets Series Renews Inter-League Hype

Joe Mauer
Image via Wikipedia

Two years ago I wrote about why I love inter-league games. And I still haven’t changed my mind. The Mets-Yankees series was fantastic. The games were competitive and the final game Sunday night was a nail-biter right down to the last K-Rod strike out of A-Rod. It doesn’t get much better than that.

I understand why some people are done with the annual Yankees series’ and inter-league games in general. But I’m really pumped for Detroit and Minnesota coming to New York next month. They’re both playing really well right now, 1 and 2 in the AL Central. Joe Mauer and Justin Morneua are players that I rarely get to see. I’d pay to see those guys play and I don’t have to degrade myself by going to Yankee Stadium to do it.

Since 1997 we’ve heard players say that the Yankees-Mets series is just another series. But there definitely seems to be some extra fire on the field from my perspective. I don’t buy what they’re selling at all.

A Johan Santana-Justin Verlander match up would be fantastic. Sure, it doesn’t have the same impact in the standings as a National League game. But I just like to watch good players play. Especially when I don’t get to see them frequently except on Baseball Tonight highlights. So I’m renewing my praise of inter-league games. Major League Baseball got this one right.

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Jose Lima Dead At 37

Former Mets pitcher Jose Lima died today at home in Los Angeles. He was 37 years old. According to his wife, Lima died of a heart attack.

Lima pitched for the Mets in 2006 when he made four starts and was 0-4 with a 9.87 ERA. He was best known for his years with the Astros in the late 90’s. In 1999 he went 21-10 for the Astros and was an All-Star. He was as flamboyant as they come when he pronounced his starts as “Lima Time”.

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Mets’ Igarashi Returns From DL

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL - MARCH 02: Relief pitche...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The Mets will activate Ryota Igarashi from the disabled list today. Manny Acosta is the one that will lose his roster spot. He’ll be optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. The surprise is that Jenrry Mejia isn’t the one being optioned. There have been rumors all week that he was going to Buffalo to stretch out in an effort to come back at some point as a starter.

Not so surprising is that Oliver Perez won’t go to the minors. He’s dead weight on the roster right now. The word is that he told the Mets that he’s not interested in going to the minors to work out his problems.

Acosta has pitched pretty well for the Mets in 12 games this season. He hasn’t given up a run in his last seven appearances. But he has allowed 50% of his inherited runners to score.

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Jerry Manuel Career Death Watch Part 1

New York Mets Jerry Manuel walks with his head down to the dugout against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe death watch on Jerry Manuel’s managerial career is in full swing this week. I fully expect Manuel to be history if the Mets don’t have a good showing against the Yankees and Phillies over the next week. I’ve always thought that the Mets would give him until the end of May and this week is close enough to that time line to make a judgment.

Of course, the Mets problems aren’t all Manuel’s fault. It never is completely a manager’s fault. But when things are going bad, and they certainly are for the Mets, someone has to go. And you can’t fire all of the players. So Manuel will take the blame. Some say is should be Omar Minaya. Maybe it should.

Ken Rosenthal writes that this week could be pivotal for Manuel. Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports put Manuel on his list of “Barely Managing“. Later this week, Rosenthal wrote about the inside scoop on which Mets coaches will survive Manuel’s firing. Mike Lupica wrote that if the Mets are going the wrong way, Minaya should go, not just Manuel. But Mike Vaccaro writes that the Mets should fire Manuel.

It’s hard to argue against someone getting fired soon. I won’t even get into what happened over the last two collapses seasons. Right here and right now this is a last place team with the fifth highest payroll in baseball and third highest in the National League with vastly declining attendance figures.

At this point, I’m on board with a shake up that results in Manuel being out. I agree with NY Sports Dog that Wally Backman is the right man for the job. I also agree with Clayton Caldwell that HoJo has to go too. It’s time for a change.

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Mets Fan To Yankees – Please Sweep Us!

President Obama welcomes the New York Yankees baseball team to the White House

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsFor the first time in the history of the Subway Series I think to myself ‘Could the New York Yankees please put us out of our misery and sweep us?’

A sweep by the Yankees would go a long way towards putting the final nail in the coffin of the Omar Minaya era. Jerry Manuel can stay.

Will the Yankees help us? Can the Yankees actually hurt us by losing these games and leaving Omar’s job intact for the time being? That being said, the Yankees have already won this series before it even starts.

If the Mets sweep, we still lose because Omar will still be employed. If the Yankees sweep, we lose. If the Yankees win 2 out of 3, we lose. I just don’t see any winning scenarios here. Continue reading “Mets Fan To Yankees – Please Sweep Us!”

Mets Home Stand Preview – May 21-27, 2010

New York Mets relief pitcher Hisanori Takahashi throws a pitch to the San Francisco Giants in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe biggest six games of the Mets season so far? Absolutely. The most difficult? Probably.

The Mets will be facing two of the majors best teams at home during this six-game home stand, as they face the reigning World Series champion New York Yankees, following a three-game set with the defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies.

Friday, May 21st: Yankees (Vazquez) vs. Mets (Takahashi) 7:10 PM
Saturday, May 22nd: Yankees (Hughes) vs. Mets (Pelfrey) 7:10 PM FOX
Sunday, May 23rd: Yankees (Sabathia) vs. Mets (Santana) 8:05 PM ESPN
Tuesday, May 25th: Phillies (Moyer) vs. Mets (Dickey) 7:10 PM
Wednesday, May 26th: Phillies (Blanton) vs. Mets (Maine) 7:10 PM
Thursday, May 27th: Phillies (Hamels) vs. Mets (Takahashi) 7:10 PM Continue reading “Mets Home Stand Preview – May 21-27, 2010”