Category: Latest News

Mets Links: Oliver Perez, No Offense, More

The Mets are in a bad way right now. Dropping below .500 yesterday could be a dangerous sign for the 2010 season and where it’s headed. Expect the Wilpons to enter their first decision point in two weeks. If the Mets aren’t moving in the right direction at the end of May, it could spell the end for Jerry Manuel as manager. I would also expect Dan Warthen and Howard Johnson to be fired as well. If Manuel, Warthen, and HoJo make it into June in their current jobs that’s a very good sign for them.

So much has happened over the last few days, here are the links.

The Mets are 4-11 on the road this year and have no offense in those games at all. You would think they would take advantage of getting away from Citi Field but they haven’t. It’s been just the opposite.

It’s been well documented that Oliver Perez lost his spot in the rotation yesterday. But ESPN broke the news that Omar Minaya brought up the possibility of going to the minors and Perez refused. Perez has nine years in the bigs and doesn’t have to agree to go to the minors if he doesn’t want to. I wouldn’t either. If he went, he would have no control over when he came back. They could leave him in the minors all season. The difference between this situation and Steve Trachsel going to the minors in 2005 is that the Mets would have released Trachsel. They won’t release Perez. He doesn’t have to worry about that because of his big contract. There’s no motivation for him to go to the minors. Continue reading “Mets Links: Oliver Perez, No Offense, More”

Mets Lineup Change Needed

MLB: Cubs vs Mets APR 22

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsDuring the pregame show tonight, current Met commentator Keith Hernandez analyzed the most potent lineup that a team can send out on the field 162 games a year.

Long story short, he said the first two batters should be high OBP guys, the third should be a solid line drive hitter, the fourth should be your “big bopper”, and 5-7 should be your RBI guys. Continue reading “Mets Lineup Change Needed”

Washington Nationals Unlikely To Continue Success in 2010

Top first year draft pick Stasburg joins the Washington Nationals

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsEditor’s note: This is a guest post from Brad Templeman, author of Baseball In-Depth. Brad focuses on statistical analysis of all 30 MLB teams. You can follow Brad on Twitter.

The Nationals are playing very well right now.  They’re winning against quality teams and in every type of game.  As someone who often roots for the underdog, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Nationals stay in the NL East race for a while, but I think their ride near the top of the division won’t last too much longer.  They clearly have a great chance to end up with a much better record than they did in 2009, when they went 59-103, but getting close to 90 wins still seems beyond their capabilities.

Their record is an astonishing 20-15 and they are only 1 game behind the Phillies.  Even after their big win against the Rockies last night, they still have a negative run differential (was -16, now -8 after their big win).  While there are a number of reasons why their smashing success is unlikely to continue, I’ll just touch on a few here. Continue reading “Washington Nationals Unlikely To Continue Success in 2010”

Mets Have Biggest 2010 Ticket Sales Drop

Florida Marlins at New York Mets

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsI wrote back at the end of April that the Mets were experiencing the largest drop in ticket sales this season among MLB teams. That was according to a report in Fanhouse. Since then, things have only gotten worse for the Mets according to the NY Times.

In April, sales were down an average of 6,690 tickets per game. Now they’re down 6,852 tickets per game. Things have gone completely into the toilet. If you’re on the Mets email list, you know how aggressive they’ve become this season trying to sell tickets. It’s become a daily event for them to email about some new ticket sales promotion. Continue reading “Mets Have Biggest 2010 Ticket Sales Drop”

Mets Links: Carlos Beltran, Phillies Cheating, More

New York Mets v Washington Nationals

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsOn the heels of a home series lost to the Nationals again, it’s time for some Mets links. The team is in Miami for four games and really needs to show something against a division opponent. It’s warm in Miami, so Oliver Perez doesn’t have the built in excuse for getting bombed. Anyway, here are the links.

Carlos Beltran started some light running in Port St. Lucie. He says that he feels fine and is hoping to avoid another knee surgery.

The Phillies were caught on camera stealing signs against the Rockies. The Rox filed a complaint with MLB and the Phillies were reprimanded. The Mets filed the same complaint with the league two weeks ago when they roughed up Johan Santana. And Santana seems to agree with the assessment.

Jeff Francoeur has cooled off and the stat guys are out for his head again. I’m really not liking what I’m seeing from Francoeur right now. It looks like he’s regressing to his pre-Mets days.

MLB gave the Phillies three extra home games to avoid the G20 Summit in Toronto. Francoeur told the Daily News that it’s “bullshit”. And I couldn’t agree more.

Yahoo’s Slumpbot .200 has some good stats on the not-so-graceful aging Santana. They recommend that he find his change-up again quickly.

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CitiFieldaphobia – Who Fears Hitting at Citifield?

New York Mets David Wright reacts to home plate umpire Paul Schrieber after striking out at Citi Field in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsRod Barajas can hit the ball out of Citi Field. So can Ike Davis. Citi Field does not seem to intimidate the new guys.

David Wright on the other hand has struggled to find his power stoke since leaving Shea Stadium behind. Last year we chalked up some of his power loss to playing in the World Classic and some to Citi Field. This year there are no excuses and I don’t think his power struggles are over just yet.

Although Wright will easily top last years home run totals, many fans I have spoken with seem to think Citi Field has gotten into his head.  Wright hit 4 of his 7 homers on the last 6 game road trip but he’s still going to have to find a way to hit homers at home.

Of course, I’m also worried about Wright’s strikeouts. He’s on a pace to strikeout over 200 times this year. With 14 strikeouts in the last 7 games I tend to think maybe David should have his eyes checked because he’s not seeing the ball correctly. Continue reading “CitiFieldaphobia – Who Fears Hitting at Citifield?”

Mets’ Jason Bay 2010 Slow Start

Mets' Bay at bat against the Cardinals' in the first inning of their MLB National League game in St Louis

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsHey, readers. My name’s Doug Gausepohl. I’m a new columnist here at The Mets Report, mainly to give a different perspective to give all readers something to chew on. I’m 20 years young, so I haven’t been through any Mets “glory days”, unless you consider 2000/2006 glory days (I don’t).

If you watched the game last night, you noticed Jason Bay struck out to end the game with the tying run on base. If you’ve watched the Metropolitans on a consistent basis this year, you’ve noticed that Jason Bay’s production has not yet been as advertised.

Through 31 games this year, Bay has hit .248, with 1 HR and 14 RBI.

In my opinion, the most startling differential in his stats so far is his slugging percentage. He has a career .515 SLG, and this year it’s only .389. At his current pace, he’s going to finish with 5 HR and 71 RBI. Let the second-guessing for the Mets not pursuing Matt Holliday further commence. Continue reading “Mets’ Jason Bay 2010 Slow Start”