Tag: Johan Santana

Mets have Bigger Problems than Cliff Lee

May 28, 2010- Milwaukee, WI. Miller Park..New York Mets starting pitcher Johan Santana pitched for 8 scoreless inning giving up 3 hits and striking out 5 Brewers batters..Milwaukee Brewers won over the New York Mets 2-0, taking the first game of the 3 game series against the Mets...Mike McGinnis / CSM.

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsThe Mets front office has their work cut out for them. With the announcement of the Phillies signing of Cliff Lee, Mets fans everywhere cringed at the possibility of another World Series Championship to a division rival. Now the best team in the division just got a whole lot better. The Phillies will start the year with a rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels. This is the best rotation in MLB right now.

This is painful for Mets fans. The front office has simply conceded that this year and maybe next, will be a wash. They are wasting the prime of David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Johan Santana. They are also wasting the end of the career of Jason Bay. They are tricking themselves into believing that Daniel Murphy will be a good fielder and that they will be able to spend money in the next two years for free agents.

With the Mets on the decline, I really hope that someone is taking a close look at their financial future. They have money tied up in players next year for over $120 million dollars. In 2012, they already have over $60 million dollars allocated to players but this does not include the impending signings of Ike Davis, Angel Pagan, R.A. Dicky, Jose Reyes, Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese, Bobby Parnell, or Josh Thole. While I do not think they will sign all of those players in 2012, the signings of even half of those players might push the 2012 dollars over $100 million and it still would not include any big free agent signings. Continue reading “Mets have Bigger Problems than Cliff Lee”

Mets Report Mailbag- Oct. 27, 2010

New York Mets pitcher Francisco Rodriguez is escorted by police for his arraignment on a third-degree assault charge at Queens Criminal Court in New York August 12, 2010. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL CRIME LAW)

What should the Mets do with the bullpen?  K-Rod is a mess and Takahashi is a free agent. Do you think any young players could help?

-Rich – Astoria, Queens

K-Rod

The Mets are stuck with anger management 101’s newest enrolled member for one more year. His velocity has been decreasing since he arrived in Queens and his control issues make fans climb walls. Most elite closers can manage with decent control because of a 95-98mph heater. K-Rod has been throwing a 92 mph fastball, and he’s been hurt when he falls behind in counts. Nevertheless, it should be K-Rod’s job to lose come spring training. With that said, The Mets should have the flexibility San Francisco has had with their under performing stars. K-Rod is still the best option on the club due to his track record, but his rope should be tighter than in years past.

Hisanori Takahashi

The Mets should only bring Takahashi back if it’s a one year deal. I don’t like the idea of signing an aging relief pitcher with one year of big league experience to a multi-year deal. He was solid in many different roles for the Mets and succeeded in some very tough situations. They should look to get him at a reasonable price and not over spend. Middle relief is often tricky and unpredictable. You don’t want to pay too much and get tied up in big deals.

Jenrry Mejia and  Bobby Parnell

In my opinion Mejia and Parnell need to start the year in the bullpen and be left there. I look at a Neftali Feliz and see a 22 year old top prospect flamethrower with 40 saves. Mejia has the stuff you want from a closer with an A fastball that cuts and a nasty slider. Putting a big prospect arm in the pen for the long haul is not a punishment or an over aggressive move if he shortens the game. Mejia has the stuff of a dominant closer. Parnell’s development depends on his ability to throw his secondary stuff consistently for strikes. His fastball runs triple digits and he’s a power arm you’d love to give every chance come 2011. Continue reading “Mets Report Mailbag- Oct. 27, 2010”

Marlins 5 – Mets 2, September 21, 2010 – Mets Mathematically Eliminated from the Wild Card

May 28, 2010- Milwaukee, WI. Miller Park..New York Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey ..Milwaukee Brewers won over the New York Mets 2-0, taking the first game of the 3 game series against the Mets...Mike McGinnis / CSM.

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsIf you missed it, and most people did, the Mets lost to the Marlins last night by a score of 5-2.

Although the Mets have not been a part of this pennant race for at least 6 weeks, they were finally mathematically eliminated from the wild card very quietly in front of a crowd of maybe 500 people. Mike Pelfrey pitched another good game giving up 1 earned run on 5 hits in 7 innings but the Mets offense, which actually managed 11 hits, couldn’t generate any run support aside from 2 solo homers, 1 each by Lucas Duda and David Wright. Sloppy plays by Wright and Jose Reyes in the 7th resulted in back to back errors and the Mets went quietly in the 9th to be mathematically eliminated yet again while playing the Marlins.

It’s been almost relaxing to watch these last Met games knowing they are absolutely meaningless games, especially from here on out. It’s also comforting to know that there are finally going to be significant changes this offseason.

The changes that I have been hoping would happen last winter are now well overdue. A new GM and new manager really should have been done last winter. This winter a new GM can start entertaining trades for the clubhouse cancers http://www.honeytraveler.com/pharmacy/ Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo, attempt to drop a few bad contracts like Oliver Perez and K-Rod and really explore options for Wright and Reyes. If we can get some value for them, great. If not, build an entirely new team around them. Continue reading “Marlins 5 – Mets 2, September 21, 2010 – Mets Mathematically Eliminated from the Wild Card”

Mets Links: Joe Torre, Dysfunction, Team Photo

Joe Torre Manager
Image via Wikipedia

I’m clearing out the list of links that I’ve been holding onto now that the Mets are mathematically eliminated from NL East contention. They’re still 11 games behind the Giants for the wild card with 13 games left to play though! Keep holding out hope.

Yahoo Sports– Jeff Passan wrote a scathing column about the dysfunctional Mets. He squarely lays blame on Jeff Wilpon for running the team into the ground. It’s a good read and, although harsh, it’s hard to argue with his points.

Daily News – Mike Lupica writes about the possibility of the Mets bringing Joe Torre back 30 years later with Wally Backman as his bench coach. I find this really hard to believe on several levels. I can’t see Torre wanting to manage a team in disarray. And I can’t see low-key Torre and high-strung Backman as a good fit together.

ESPN – Adam Rubin writes that the Mets will PhotoShop Johan Santana into the 2010 team photo but K-Rod won’t be included. It’s another sign that he won’t be back with the Mets next season for the final year of his contract.

Daily News – Kevin Mitchell will stand trial for punching a guy on a golf course that said something Mitchell didn’t like. It’s certainly not Mitchell’s first run-in with fist-to-cuffs.

MetsBlog – The Mets have been calling season ticket holders offering them free tickets to one of the final games of this season. The seats have been empty, so why not have some bodies in the park buying food and concessions?

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Johan Santana Shoulder Injury Raises Questions

New York Mets starting pitcher Johan Santana throws a pitch to the Colorado Rockies in the fourth inning of their MLB National League baseball game in New York, August 12, 2010. REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsWell, its that time of the season. Johan Santana has once again, for the third season in a row, been shut down and will need surgery during the off season, this time on his left shoulder. A suitable punctuation to a season highlighted by lackluster play, managerial blunders, and an overall lack of organizational accountability. Of course, this type of grim reality for the ace of a pitching staff can only exist within one franchise, the New York Mets.

Along with agony and disappointment, news of Santana’s most recent injury raises a lot of questions:

Why does the Mets’ medical staff continue to be inept?

Since being acquired prior to the ’08 season, Santana has had some kind of injury/surgery every year. First it was his knee issue, last year he had bone chips in his elbow. What other star player in the league has experienced this type of string? I can’t think of any off the top of my head. I’m no doctor, but I would have to imagine that part of correcting an injury is identifying the measures to prevent future problems. By now, I would have expected that the medical and training staffs have come up with a plan for protecting Santana’s arm. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. This apparent ineptitude has affected other players on the team as well. You have to figure that free agents around the league are probably wary of exploring opportunities with the Mets because of their seemingly shabby and, for lack of a better word, mysterious medical staff. Continue reading “Johan Santana Shoulder Injury Raises Questions”

Mets 4 – Braves 2 September 2, 2010

New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana delivers a pitch to the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning of their National League MLB baseball game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 7, 2010. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsThe big news is that Johan Santana left the game after the fifth inning with a strained pectoral muscle. He was cruising along pretty well too only allowing 1 run. I’m sure we’ll hear more about how serious it is over the coming days. With the expanded roster and no postseason hopes, Santana may not be seen again until next spring training.

The bullpen did a nice job of holding the Braves to 1 unearned run over the final four innings. Speaking of unearned runs, Joaquin Arias looked pretty shaky at shortstop tonight making one error and another poor throw that could have been a second error.

The offense had 8 hits and 3 walks generating the 4 runs which is an explosion for this sad bunch. David Wright hit a solo homer off Tim Hudson, his 22nd of the season. And Carlos Beltran hit a triple and scored on an overthrow. He still looks like he lost step or two even though he was able to leg out a triple.

The Mets avoid the embarrassment of a sweep by taking the final game of the four game series.

Box score

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Preview: Mets at Braves September 2, 2010

New York Mets (65-68)  at Atlanta Braves (78-55) 7:10 pm

Johan Santana (10-9 3.02) vs Tim Hudson (15-5 2.24)

TV: SNY  Radio: WFAN

What to watch: Under other circumstances this would be a great pitching matchup. But the Mets are trying to avoid an embarrassing sweep in Atlanta. Santana has been pitching pretty well but lost his last three starts. The Braves have won seven of the last eight games that Hudson started. He’s been pitching incredibly well this season, especially recently.

Don’t forget to visit The Mets Report Facebook page during the game to chat with other Mets fans! Connect with The Mets Report on Twitter too.

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