Category: Roster

Mets Links: Mike Pelfrey, David Wright, More

David Wright
Image via Wikipedia

It’s time for an off-day full of links after a poor road trip. The Giants are coming to town tomorrow for a weekend series. And there were several curious decisions made by Jerry Manuel during the road trip that made many of us scratch our heads. It’s a good day to take a breath, get back on track this weekend, and get ready for the Mother’s Day pink bats and sweatbands on Sunday.

Here are the links:

  • Daily News– Mike Pelfrey asked to go back to New York after Sunday’s game in Philly to have his right shoulder examined. He felt some tightness in it before Saturday’s start.
  • Mets.com – The MRI on Pelfrey’s shoulder didn’t show anything and he says that he’s ready to make his next scheduled start on Friday night.
  • Metsblog.com – Interesting stats on the Mets poor pinch-hitting this season. Good questions are raised about some of the guys in Buffalo that are raking right now.
  • Daily News – Carlos Beltran has a new knee brace and plans to start running late this week or early next week. Didn’t we hear the same thing about Beltran a month ago?
  • Daily News – Daniel Murphy is still rehabbing his knee injury in Port St. Lucie with no timetable for a return to games.
  • NJ.com – Kelvim Escobar is having season-ending shoulder surgery. He never even made it to opening day. But the Mets owe him $1.25 million for his troubles this season.
  • Fangraphs – Dave Allen writes a good piece examining Dan Warthen’s strategy for Johan Santana to throw more inside fastballs the first time through the order and then change it up subsequently.
  • Daily News – David Wright was involved, at some point, with the financial advisers that are being sued by Cliff Floyd and Rondell White over a failed real estate deal. The article says Wright isn’t involved in the lawsuit.
  • Fangraphs – R.J. Anderson writes about the odd moves that Jerry Manuel has been making recently, and the fact that this is the kind of thing that could cost him his job.
Enhanced by Zemantahttp://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js

2010 Mets – Chokers or Champions?

That graph to the left says it all. The game yesterday was pretty much over by the fifth inning. With the way Roy Halladay was pitching, you could say it was over by the fourth.

I was looking forward to a pitching duel between, arguably, the best pitcher in the National League and Mike Pelfrey, the current NL ERA leader. Until the fourth inning the matchup was living up to the hype.

Then the old Mets showed up. The ones who choke in critical situations. Two pop-ups in the fourth that couldn’t be handled and the game begins to unravel. Continue reading “2010 Mets – Chokers or Champions?”

Mets Links: Mike Pelfrey, Carlos Beltran, Hubie Brooks

New York Mets at New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe past week has been the best that I’ve felt about the Mets since September 2008. They went into Philly on a great run, even without their best player Carlos Beltran. The month of April was really on the backs of Mike Pelfrey and Johan Santana, for the most part. But the offense did start to come alive towards the end of the month. Here are some month-end links for you for this Sunday.

  • NY Sports Dog– This post has an interesting scatter plot of Pelfrey’s called strikes comparing April 2009 to April 2010
  • Amazin’ Avenue– Sam Page created a stat to measure which Mets player would be the best fighter in a brawl and Henry Blanco came out on top
  • On The Black – A poll to determine the fan pick for Mets player of the month in April
  • ESPN – Adam Rubin writes that Beltran doesn’t appear to be anywhere near returning to the team from his knee surgery
  • Daily News – This is a funny piece on reporter Kevin Deutsch in Philly taunting fans with “Let’s Go Mets!” chants while wearing a Mets jersey and hat
  • Daily News – Catching up with Hubie Brooks
Enhanced by Zemantahttp://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js

Mets’ Daniel Murphy To Minors After DL

New York Mets Daniel Murphy walks to the dugout against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field in New York

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThe Mets beat writers all had posts about Daniel Murphy recovering from his strained knee ligament in Florida, then going to Triple-A Buffalo when he comes off the disabled list. The plan is for Muphy to play first base immediately just to get some at-bats. Then they’re going to work with him on becoming a utility player.

The odd thing is that you don’t see many 25 year-old utility players out there. It’s usually older players that have been around for a while doing that job. I wouldn’t be happy about it if I was Murphy. That really cuts into his earning potential. Utility players are typically the lowest paid players on a team. His long-term earning potential in the Major Leagues is cut significantly by being pigeon-holed as a utility player. I’m sure he seems himself differently than the Mets organization does.

If Murphy comes back to the big’s after transforming himself into a utility player, who’s roster spot is he going to take? Frank Catalanotto and Fernando Tatis would be the obvious players to go. They’ve both been rotting on the Mets bench in April. Catalanotto has 20 at-bats this season and Tatis has 29. Continue reading “Mets’ Daniel Murphy To Minors After DL”

Mets 2010 Locker Room Harmony Overrated

Dave Doyle writes that the Mets harmonious locker room is completely overrated. Don’t credit Jeff Francoeur. Winning games makes everyone happy and working well together.

Whenever the Mets go on a really good run or a really bad one the media comes out in force. The latest bandwagon jumper is Mike Lupica. He’s all over the Mets this week because they’re winning and doing it in style.

The focus of his latest column is how Jeff Francoeur saved the Mets locker room. Francoeur didn’t save anything. Winning a few games saved the Mets locker room.

It really doesn’t matter if everyone likes each other or not. It’s a job to these guys. Most people don’t go to work together and get along with everyone at their job. But most can work productively with others. It’s the same thing on a baseball team. It’s their jobs. They don’t have to get along with everybody and to expect them to do so is ridiculous.

Let’s save the talk about the harmonious locker room until the Mets raise the World Series trophy over their heads. That’s when we can talk about the love-fest in the clubhouse.

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

Mets Wrap Up Successful Homestand – Look Ahead

The Mets have had a big home stand against the Cubs, Braves, and Dodgers. David Daniels writes that the next series in Philadelphia could set the tone for the rest of the season.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia

Are we getting excited yet!?! Our Met’s are now on a 6 game winning streak and hopefully we can make it a 7 game winning streak before heading off to Philly. This was a wildly successful homestand.

Yes, It’s a little early in the year but I’m so looking forward to this weekend series with the Phillies. I love the rivalry. Considering the rough start the Mets had, catching the Phillies will make this series that much more entertaining.

Jon Niese will open the series Friday followed by Mike Pelfrey and then Johan Santana. The Phillies pitchers have yet to be announced. This lines up our top two pitchers for a crucial series that will set the tone for the entire year. Will the Phillies embarrass the Mets or will the Mets show they can play toe-to-toe with the defending NL Champs and leave Philly in first? Continue reading “Mets Wrap Up Successful Homestand – Look Ahead”

Mets Links: Carlos Beltran and Bobby Bonilla

Bobby Bonilla 1990 Home
Image by BaseballBacks via Flickr

That’s a strange title for a post. Isn’t it? We haven’t heard Bobby Bonilla’s name for a long time and we’ve probably been the better for it. It’s a great way to start a Mets Links post though.

Here are the links:

I Heart Mets – They pick up a great story from CNN of how Bobby Bonilla is going back on the Mets payroll next year. It’s part of his deferred payment plan after he was waived by the Mets in 2000. The team owes him just over a million dollars every July from 2011-2035. What a deal!

Daily News – You have to love these occasional post from Mike Lupica about the Mets. He even writes with an air of superiority to the rest of us. This one start out like a fluff piece on Jose Reyes coming back and how well he’s starting to play. Then it turns ugly on Carlos Beltran. Lupica writes that Beltran is a bad contract and he’s staying away from the team so he can come back at 100% for his contract year in 2011. He also likens Beltran to Jason Giambi’s bad deal with the Yankees. It’s a bizarre turn in the column, even for Lupica.

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