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Mets closer Billy Wagner joins Don LeGreca on ESPN Radio for his weekly spot. He talks about the Mets success over the last week, the come from behind wins, the players lack of support for Willie Randolph, and Aaron Heilman’s struggles.
I’ll cut right to the chase. Scott Schoenweiss blew up in the bottom of the ninth. And I was getting worried that Aaron Heilman was warming up in the bullpen. Little did I know…
Schoenweiss walked two, then an intentional walk, and then hit Paul McAnulty with a pitch to bring home the winning run. What a horrible way to lose a game.
Jose Reyes made a couple of really nice plays in the field. He also went 2 for 3 with two stolen bases.
Mike Pelfrey was pitching out of trouble in most of his six innings. He gave up eight hits and three walks while only giving up one run. His line looks better than he actually pitched.
The Mets only run came in the sixth inning when Jose Reyes singled, stole second base, then scored on a single by David Wright.
Terrible loss. The Mets go to 2-2 on the road trip and one game over .500.
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Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News reports that Omar Minaya has been talking trades for first basemen, left fielders, and right handed relievers. The names on his short list are: Kevin Millar, Jason Bay, and Xavier Nady.
All three would be helpful pieces for this team. Moises Alou is a great hitter, but doesn’t play enough to trust him to be on the active roster all season. He just breaks down too frequently.
Carlos Delgado is pretty much done in my opinion. So any help that we can get at first base would be a significant improvement.
Since the Mets don’t have too much left in the minors after the Johan Santana trade, the questions becomes: what do we have to give up? I don’t think that the Mets would consider moving Fernando Martinez. I would think that Aaron Heilman would have some good value, especially since he’s been getting himself together over this past week. He’d probably be the prime chip that the Mets would look to deal at the Major League level.
Thanks to MLB Trade Rumors for the tip.
Status quo is the theme of the day. The Wilpons decided to keep Willie Randolph as the Mets manager and the Mets lost again. This time the Florida Marlins were the beneficiaries.
Mike Pelfrey didn’t have it at all. He got hit hard. The big hit came from Luis Gonzalez. He doesn’t have the power anymore, but he can still get the bat on the ball. He had a bases loaded double in a four run third for the Marlins.
I feel like a broken record writing the same game recap over and over. The difference tonight is that I thought the Mets would get a win with Jose Reyes hitting two homers in the first two innings off Ricky Nolasco.
The question that we’re left with is about Mike Pelfrey. Does he have what it takes to be a consistent pitcher at this level? I don’t think that he does right now. He may in the future. He’s had two really bad stinkers in a row now. He hasn’t been able to get past four innings in either start. That doesn’t cut it.
The good news is that Aaron Heilman pitched a clean fourth and fifth. He only gave up one hit and had three strikeouts. This was the perfect game for him to get some work. Pelfrey had already let the game get out of hand.
Matt Wise was shaky again. He gave a run in the eighth inning and left the bases loaded giving up two walks and two hits. His ERA is 6.43 now. Ugly!
Julian Tavarez was DFA’d by the Red Sox and elected free agency instead of going to Pawtucket. The Boston Globe is reporting that Bartolo Colon told the paper that Tavarez said that he wants to pitch for the Mets.
Tavarez pitched in nine games for the Sox this season to a 6.39 ERA. I don’t think that the Mets need an Aaron Heilman clone at this point. Thanks, but no thanks Julian.
The first two months of the season have proven that the New York Mets have an average record with above average talent. That’s on the manager. Beyond managerial problems, the Mets have several issues on their roster. Not every problem can be solved easily but there are some quick, inexpensive solutions.
Problems:
Wow, that’s a big list of problems! Although the list appears to be insurmountable, it’s not. Continue reading “Mets Have Problems, I Have Solutions”
Adam Rubin of the Daily News reported last night that the Mets couldn’t trade Jorge Sosa while he was on waivers and Aaron Heilman is being shopped around.
On Sosa:
The Mets placed reliever Jorge Sosa on unconditional release waivers after failing to trade him. Sosa was designated for assignment on May 13.
On Heilman:
The buzz among scouts is that the Mets are shopping Aaron Heilman. Of course, they’re looking for a set-up man – something hard to find.
I agree with releasing Sosa. There really wasn’t another choice. He was terrible. But trying to trade Heilman when his value is at an all time low? That doesn’t make sense. They should keep pitching him in blow out games to get his confidence back. I’m confident that he can get back to his old form. He just needs to get a few stable appearances under his belt.
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