Category: Latest News

Mets Daniel Murphy Experiment Should End Now

Daniel MurphyI like Daniel Murphy and I believe that he has the potential to be a solid, if not good, major league player for a long time. He’s a hard worker and a good guy that the Mets organization really likes. And I like that too.

Daniel Murphy is not a major league left fielder. It’s as simple as that. Even when he doesn’t get charged with an error, he has misplayed balls like the two last night in St. Louis.

The fact is that Murphy has a decent bat, but it isn’t good enough to carry his poor defense. He’s clearly playing out of position and I respect that he’s giving it his all. But the Mets need to end the embarrassment that Murphy is suffering on a daily basis in the field.

Murphy shouldn’t be learning on the job at the major league level. There are 24 other players on the team and millions of fans that need to get past the last two seasons of gut-wrenching loses. We can’t have our season hinge on his learning curve in the field. The Mets sub-.500 season thus far isn’t all his fault. I’m not saying that it is. But he’s the only one on the team that has no business being out on the field. You don’t have to be a major league scout or talent evaluator to know that.

The correct course of action is for the Mets to give Murphy time at Triple-A Buffalo to hone his outfield skills until he’s ready for this level of play, if he ever will be. And he may not ever be ready. But we shouldn’t have to find that out with the big club.

Option Murphy to Buffalo now and spare us the disappointment in him. The embarrassment that he’s been suffering over the last two weeks may even stunt his growth as a player. He has to know that he’s letting the rest  of the team down, not to mention the fans.

Cory Sullivan and Fernando Martinez are waiting in the wings at Buffalo. Gary Sheffield and Jeremy Reed appear to be capable outfielders right now. Maglio Ordonez and Matt Holliday will likely be available via trade before the deadline in July if things aren’t working out with the existing cast of characters. There are a lot of options here for the Mets. The Murphy experiment should end now for everyone’s benefit.

Enhanced by Zemantahttp://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js

Dwight Gooden Signs Citi Field, Mets Keeping It

Flickr photo courtesy of slgckgc
Flickr photo courtesy of slgckgc

Former Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden attended the Citi Field opening game on April 13, 2009. While there he spontaneously signed a wall in the Ebbets Club with a Sharpie. He wrote “Doc Gooden, 84 R.O.Y., 85 Cy Young, 86 W.S. Champs“.

The Mets initial reaction was to remove the signature, effectively rendering it as graffiti. The stadium is already being billed as “Dodgers Stadium East” by many fans that have attended the initial home stand for emphasis on the Dodgers history and lack of Mets nostalgia. This move served to reinforce the opinion that the Mets are unconcerned with the history of their own team.

Today the Mets announced that they have reversed course and will keep Doc’s signature and preserve it in another location in the stadium. Finally, the Mets make the right decision. Too bad that it had to come after the situation received so much press attention.

Mets, Willy Mo Pena Agree To Contract

Willy Mo Pena
Flickr photo courtesy of chipgriffin

Outfielder Willy Mo Pena is back with the Mets organization. After being released by the Washington Nationals this spring, he has agreed to a minor league contract with the Mets, the team that originally signed him as a free agent in 1998.

Pena will go to Florida for extended spring training and then report to Triple-A Buffalo. He’s been a major disappointment for most of his career. He has monsterous power when he can connect with the ball which hasn’t been that often in recent years. He’s never been a full-time player during his career having played in 110 games twice over his seven season major league career.

I’m not sure what he brings to the table for the Mets. I have to believe that he’s a right-handed power hitting outfielder that will act as an insurance policy in case Gary Sheffield proves to be washed up.

Mets Sheffield Hits 500th Homer; Gets Ball Back

Gary SheffieldGary Sheffield became the first player to hit his 500th home run as a Met and was warmly embraced by the team and the fans. It’s clear that the fans are charged up when Sheffield comes to the plate and the opposing teams respect his ability. We still need to see some consistent production over time if Sheffield is going to maintain his spot on the Mets roster this season. But I’d say that he’s off to a good start.

Chris Matcovich was the one that caught the ball and promptly returned it to Sheffield. He didn’t even request anything of Sheffield. But he did get some signed jerseys for him and his friends and Sheffield plans to give him some autographed bats in exchange for the milestone ball.

It’s good to see the ball returned to Sheffield. My view on these things is that if you catch a historic ball you should give it to the player or the National Baseball Hall of Fame. I understand that some people may need the money that could come from auctioning these valuable souvenirs and I don’t take that lightly. But if you’re in a resonably sound financial position, the fact is that the ball is more important to the player or the HOF than it is to you.

From MLB.com:

“I wanted nothing but to just give it back to Gary,” Matcovich said. “It was his ball. It’s not mine.”

And on a night full of exceptional memories — and an eventual 5-4 Mets win — this is one Sheffield won’t soon forget.

“That was special of him to do that,” Sheffield said. “He didn’t have to do that. But I’m appreciative that he did.”

Enhanced by Zemantahttp://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js

Citi Field Celebrates Jackie Robinson

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress
Photo courtesy of Library of Congress

The Mets and Citi Field will host the celebration of 62 years since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier of baseball. The Citi Field Jackie Robinson Rotunda will be officially dedicated tonight. I’ve been critical of the Mets creating Citi Field as a celebration of New York’s baseball history but forgetting about the Mets. But it is nice on Jackie Robinson Day to have Citi Field be the center of the baseball world, at least for a day.

In the past few seasons, commissioner Bud Selig allowed players to wear Jackie’s number 42 that was universally retired in 1997. Some players wore it, and even some complete teams even wore the number. But today all teams will wear number 42.

I could go on about what Robinson did for baseball and the United States. But the real story is that the game that all of us love so much wouldn’t be anything like it is today if it wasn’t for Robinson. Now we have the chance to watch the best players in the world, not just the best white players. We’re all benefitting from what Robinson did.

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemantahttp://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js

Citi Field Opens With Seaver And Piazza

Mike PiazzaThere would be no other way to open Citi Field than to have Tom Seaver throw out the first ceremonial pitch to Mike Piazza. Two of the Mets biggest superstars are the only former players that make sense. Sure, Doc Gooden could do it but he had an acrimonious parting with the Mets in 1995. That acrimony is only beginning to subside with his appearance at the Shea Stadium final game last September.

There will be a game tonight at Citi Field. Its somewhat anticlimactic that the opening game in the history of the stadium will come against the lowly San Diego Padres. The scheduling gurus at MLB certainly didn’t do the Mets any favors with this pairing. Why would they pick a team from the west coast with no real ties to the Mets? At least they could have chosen the Los Angeles Dodgers to open Citi Field. The stadium is pratically a shrine to the Dodgers as it is.

Of all of the strange things that Fred Wilpon has done, and there are many things you can criticize him about, choosing Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza to throw out the first pitch was the right thing to do.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Enhanced by Zemantahttp://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js

Mets-Marlins April 11, 2009 Game Time Change

Flo RidaThe saga of the game time for tonight’s Mets-Marlins game continues. Originally, the game was scheduled for 7:10 pm but it was changed to 6:10 pm to accomodate a concert by Flo Rida. Now we’re hearing that the game is changed to 6:25 pm.

Most likely the latest change is due to television restrictions by Fox. They have exclusive rights to broadcast MLB games on Saturdays until 7:05 pm. So the Mets and Marlins can’t broadcast the beginning of the game. We’ll have to huddle around our radios like it’s the 1940’s. At least we’ll only miss the first 40 minutes before SNY begins airing the game.

Enhanced by Zemantahttp://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js