Category: Latest News

SI’s Heyman On The Mets

Jon Heyman’s Daily Scoop column has tidbits of information from around the major leagues. I’ll give you the Mets related stuff below or you can read the full column here.

  • While Moises Alou may be as close as 10 days away for the Mets, that four-to-six week estimate for Pedro Martinez‘s hamstring appears to have been a very optimistic scenario.
  • Mets outfielder Angel Pagan (.381 so far) has earned more playing time with his superb start. Pagan, a favorite of the front office, could find himself in a four-man outfield rotation once Alou returns. Carlos Beltran would miss less time than the others, but Mets people appear to like the way Cleveland’s four-man rotation works.
  • Manny Acta is treated like returning royalty by some members of the Mets front office when he comes back to Shea as Nationals manager — a little awkward considering he’s managing the competition. Imagine how great they’d think he is if his team didn’t have the worst record in the league at 4-10 (tied with the Tigers).

Forbes: Mets Second Highest Value

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Creative Commons License photo credit: pfala

Forbes ranks the New York Mets second, behind the Yankees, in overall value of the club at $824 million.  The team also had an operating profit of $32.9 million last year. We shouldn’t complain about big contracts like Santana’s and Beltran’s when the team is still making money is the moral of the story. Read the full column here.

Beginning The “Willie Watch”

Mets manager Willie Randolph before a Mets/Devil Rays spring training game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.Image via WikipediaWillie Randolph appeared to have such a sense of frustration with the team after losing the home series to the Brewers. I was also surprised that he was hinting at criticism of Oliver Perez after his second start of the season, which went very well. It made me wonder if he’s just not getting his message through to the team.I like Willie and think he does a fine job managing the team. He’s taken criticism on the Mets blogs, predominantly for not playing typical National League style ball and mis-handling the pitching staff. Some of the criticism is justified and some definitely is not. That comes with being a manager.

Ken Rosenthal did a preseason column about managers on the hot seat this year and Willie was listed as number one. Certainly, “The Collapse” last season must have made the Mets front office at least consider firing him. Continue reading “Beginning The “Willie Watch””

Link To Mike’s Mets

For those of you that don’t follow Mike’s Mets blog regularly you’re really missing out on something special. Currently Mike is doing a comprehensive review of Omar Minaya’s performance. It’s the kind of work that you’ll only find in the blogsphere. The mainstream media wouldn’t typically allow a writer to do a 10,000 word mini-novel dissecting the actions of a baseball general manager. The review is fair and written objectively. Do yourself a favor if you’re a Mets fan and read it here.

Kyle Lohse and How Omar Minaya Missed The Boat

The biggest question mark for the New York Mets is starting pitching. There’s no denying that. Pedro Martinez, Orlando Hernandez, Mike Pelfrey, and the substitute starters are all sources of concern for fans, and I would guess the front office as well.

I’m sure that Nelson Figueroa is a good guy and obviously dedicated to the sport to move around the world in search of pitching jobs. But having to give him a start this early in the season is somewhat disconcerting for Mets fans. I hope he does a great job on Friday, needless to say.

That being said, Omar Minaya missed the boat with Kyle Lohse. This passage is from Sean Deveney of the Sporting News from today:

Any front office executives kicking themselves over the nice work turned in thus far by Cardinals RHP Kyle Lohse? Lohse threw five shutout innings in his first start, allowing just three hits, then followed that up with seven shutout innings Sunday against the Nationals. The Cardinals signed Lohse late in spring training for the low price of one year and $4.25 million. Don’t blame the Phillies, for whom Lohse pitched over the final two months of the 2007 season. They offered Lohse three years and $21 million early in the offseason, which he turned down. . . .

How badly could we use that kind of pitching right now? Lohse is one of those guys with good stuff that should be more successful than he is. His combined numbers between the Cincinnatti Reds and Philadelphia Phillies from last year are:

9-12 4.45ERA 192.2 innings 32 starts 2 CG 1 SHO 122 K’s 57 BB’s

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Mets Brass Gathers Today, Big Decisions Ahead

Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman is reporting that the Mets management gathered in Port St. Lucie today to make decisions about the fifth starter and left field. The “unnamed” source close to the situation says that it’s likely that Mike Pelfrey will become the fifth starter despite his shaky spring. He’ll have a short leash with El Duque and Jorge Sosa ready to jump into the rotation if things go wrong.

According to the source, Angel Pagan has the inside track to get the bulk of playing time in left field until Moises Alou gets back approximately three weeks into the season. Pagan has been on fire offensively this spring but it may be an anomaly. Only time will tell.