Last night I had the privilege to be invited to a Mets bloggers conference call with New York Mets V.P. of Player Development and Amateur Scouting, Paul DePodesta. The conference call was to start at 6:30PM and the problem I had was I had a game at that time with my Babe Ruth League team. Thankfully I have a great bench coach to run the dugout and make moves and one of the parents who is a coach as well helped out while I headed to the car to call in on the conference call, by the way, we won 5-4 to keep our first place lead at two games.  

When I do one of these calls I always like to write down about 5 or 6 questions just in case someone asks a similar question. For this call I had 8 questions for DePodesta, but when it came to my turn I decided to go with this:

“Looking at the recent draft, the breakdown of picks was nearly even between pitchers and position players. Was that the plan going into the draft? Looking at the complete draft, it seemed like there were clusters of picks that went especially towards pitching. Was this done because they were the best pick available at that time, or was this something that was planned ahead — targeting pitching especially towards the middle and late rounds of the draft?”

DePo’s response was:

“To answer the first question about the 50/50 split — to be honest I didn’t even know that, so that wasn’t necessarily our plan going in. I think that’s generally how it falls, even with our rosters. Most of our minor league clubs are going to be about 50/50 between pitchers and position players. In terms of clustering some of the picks around a certain position or around pitching, that certainly was planned. We felt there was a particular depth – an unusual depth – of pitching in this year’s draft. There were some moments where we wanted to take position players, where we felt like if we were going to get the position player we wanted we needed to take them now. And after that we felt there was going to be a pool of pitching to choose from. We attacked that pool aggressively and when that pool was exhausted we re-evaluated where we were and went back to some position players. One of the things you’ll probably see is that rounds two through five were all college pitching. Once we got to round ten it was mainly high school pitching. That was certainly a calculated decision made before the draft.”

The one thing you read about this past entry draft was it that it was deep in pitching and the Mets took advantage of that depth.

I was going to ask about how the negotiations were going with Brandon Nimmo and if we will see Michael Fulmer, Cory Mazzoni or Jack Leathersich on the MCU Park mound this summer. I really wanted to ask if the team has thought about hiring Rick Peterson as a system wide pitching czar using Peterson’s expertise in the physics of pitching and his working relationship with Dr. Glenn Fleisig of American Sports Medicine Institute. To me this is a perfect match since Peterson, Sandy Alderson and DePodesta all have a working relationship going back to their Oakland days.

I’m pretty sure I can speak for all the Mets bloggers who have been invited to these conference calls and to the events at Citi Field that we have gotten more insight into how this organization operates and are thank full for the opportunities the Mets have given us. The new front office has a great deal of respect for us and for the Mets fans and they seem to enjoy these conference calls as much as we do.

A big thank you to Shannon Forde and Danielle Parillo of the Mets for arranging the calls and events at Citi Field.

Thanks also to Michael Baron of Mets Blog and James Kannengieser and Alex Nelson of Amazin’ Avenue for putting together transcripts of the conference call.

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Click right now on this link to Gary’s 7th Inning  Sketch site as this guy has a great combination of being a talented artist and having knowing the pulse of the sports world.

I love this cartoon of Reyes and Freddy Skill Sets that would make a great t-shirt

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ITEM: Mets Win and Hit 2 GRAND SLAMS!!!!

I’ll tell you what? I really like this team. Sure that’s easy to say after a though ass kicking of the Detroit Tigers but I’ve had this feeling for a month or so now. First off everything Terry Collins said in the winter about the team playing hard and leaving everything they have on field has become  fact and if he sees any slacking off he addresses it as he did in Pittsburgh about a month ago. Last night, Justin Turner made a nonchalant throw to Lucas Duda at first on a routine ground ball that Miguel Cabrera hit an dogged it down  the first base line ( I bet if there was a bottle of Johnny Walker Black on the bag he’s have busted his ass) that pulled Duda off the bag rendering Cabrera safe. You can be sure that in the giddiness of the winning clubhouse, Turner was pulled to the side by his manager and told to never take a play off  and you can bet Turner won’t do that again.

My biggest problem with the Mets on the field the last couple of years was that players went through the motions and had a “who gives a shit” attitude, well that’s in the past. This team not only cares and competes; it believes that they are one of the better teams in baseball. The one thing they don’t seem to care about is the opinion of fans and media who love to harp on the negatives, another good reason to be proud of this team.

Last night Mike Silva was my guest on This Call To The Bullpen Podcast and I said to Mike that this team reminds me a bit like the 1994 NY Rangers for the fact that their team motto was “Heave-Ho” that they all pulled the rope the same way in the tug o’ war of the hockey season. Right now this team is all up on the rope and pulling it together, their 35-26 record since the awful 5-13 start proves it.

ITEM: R.A. Dickey Tells Media “Don’t Talk to Me”

Having had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing R.A. Dickey his comment last night after the Mets win doesn’t surprise me in the least:

“What you guys are doing here is a little bit ridiculous,” he said. “You guys need to be interviewing Bay and Reyes, make the night about them. If I’m even mentioned in an article, I’m going to boycott.”

When Dickey was asked during the winter about pitching to Josh Thole, he praised Thole to the heaven’s teling me “ Oh Josh, bless his soul works so darn hard and just gets better and better behind the plate every time out, I can’t wait to hook up with him this season”

That is not Dickey blowing smoke either as he is as straightforward a guy you’ll meet. He said last season the club wasn’t prepared for the second half of the season and stressed that it was as much the players fault as it was the managers. He also was candid in saying that you don’t have to be friends with all your teammates as everyone has different likes, dislikes and lifestyles but you have to have your teammates back and always support them. That is where Dickey excels as he spoke up for Jason Bay:

about Bay. “He is so steadfast in his pursuit to get better,” Dickey said. “The guy is a tireless worker. He never complains about a dadgum thing, so it’s nice to see him get a payoff for all the hard work.”

Robert Allan Dickey is a good man, teammate and a terrific pitcher.

ITEM: It’s Time To Give Nick Evans Another Shot At The Big Leagues

Nick Evans is hotter than 5^th Avenue asphalt on an August afternoon. As the Buffalo Bison continue to swoon, Evans has found his hitting stoke and would make a wonderful compliment to Lucas Duda at first base. It’s time to send Jason Pridie upstate and bring back Nick Evans to Flushing. A productive right handed bat is a terrible thing to waste.

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Here is the press release from the Baseball Bloggers Alliance announcing the BBA’s selections for the NL an AL starters for the 2011 All Star Game:

BASEBALL BLOGGERS ALLIANCE NAMES 2011 ALL-STARS

Outfielders Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays and Matt Kemp from the Los Angeles Dodgers led their respective leagues in balloting for Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game as conducted by members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance and announced today.

Bautista, who has an American League-leading 1.133 OPS to go along with his 24 home runs, was named on 50 ballots, not including one ballot that placed him at third base.  Bautista was joined in the outfield by Curtis Granderson of the New York Yankees, who received 48 votes, and Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox, who tallied 23 votes.

There were few close races in the AL voting by the BBA.  The tightest was at third base, where Yankee Alex Rodriguez outpolled Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers 30-16.  All other races were decided by at least twenty votes save the nod for starting pitcher.  Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander won that 16-6 over Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels, but many bloggers did not designate a specific starter so fewer votes were cast in that category.

Other American League nods were to Tigers catcher Alex Avila, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez of the Boston Red Sox, Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano, and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians.  Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz was selected at that position.

Over in the National League, Kemp’s stellar first half–he sits second in batting average, first in home runs, second in RBI and has 21 stolen bases to boot–earned him mention on 54 ballots.  Accompanying him in the outfield was Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers and Lance Berkman of the St. Louis Cardinals.

As in the junior circuit, the closest race in the NL was at the hot corner.  Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Placido Polanco edged out Chase Headley of the San Diego Padres 21-14, with Atlanta Brave Chipper Jones receiving 10 votes.

The other races were not a contest, as Braves catcher Brian McCann, Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder and second baseman Rickie Weeks, and New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes all won their slots by at least 25 votes.

Starting the contest for the NL was Roy Halladay, who easily outpolled his Philadelphia teammate Cole Hamels for the honor.

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was formed in 2009 with the purpose of encouraging collaboration and communication among bloggers from across baseball.  As a secondary goal, they vote on various awards throughout the year.  In January, they recommended Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven for the Baseball Hall of Fame and in March, they created a new award to honor the top internet writer and then named it after the first recipient, Sports Illustrated’s Joe Posnanski.  You can find the BBA at their website or on Facebook.  You can follow the Alliance at @baseballblogs on Twitter or via the hashtag #BBBA.

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Tonight at 11PM ET on THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN Podcast on Blog Talk Radio, I will be joined by Mike Silva of NY Baseball Digest and NY Baseball Digest Live.  So join us after the Mets-Tigers tonight on Blog Talk Radio for your Mets post game talk.

If you can’t join us live, you can always hear the podcast right here at Kranepool Society (lower right hand side bar) or at our Blog Talk Radio show page or download the show on iTunes.

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The Mets are pulling out all stops to get Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran elected to the starting lineup for the July 12th All-Star Game from Phoenix AZ. Voting ends on Thursday at 11:59PM. As an added bonus the Mets are running a contest where one lucky voter has a chance to win 2 tickets to an up coming Mets game at Citi Field and a meet and greet with Jose Reyes. So vote early and often and good luck

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I’ve never understood why people would drive to Florida from NYC. I did it once and vowed to never do it again, why waste so much time and aggravation sitting for hours at a time in a car and fighting traffic, when you can hop on a plane and in two and half hours be in the Sunshine state? Well some people like the ride down I-95 and stop at different area of interest like Washing D.C. and maybe Myrtle Beach or Atlanta. Some even enjoy the tourist trap/house of kitch South of the Border but for most it’s the only way to travel.

That’s how the Mets offense has been, single, doubles and a Reyes triple is how their batter’ travel. Home Runs? That’s for teams with big bruisers and short porches, nah; these Mets do it the old National League way, big time starting pitching, some defense and a string of base hits and the stolen base.  Sometime it’s a thing of beauty (a Reyes triple to the right/center field corner) sometimes it’s a surprisingly open road (Justin Turner with men on base) sometimes it’s like an inexpensive motel that’s clean and comfortable but not flashy (Dillion Gee) and then there is endless time on the road (Jason Bay at bat) or an awful accident (Daniel Murphy and his Amish farmer beard trying to steal a base) sometimes they win and sometimes they lose, that should be the slogan for the 2011 Mets. It fits perfect like the rubber meeting the road.

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New York Mets 1969 World Series hero, Ron Swoboda will be hosting a charity luncheon at Gallagher’s Steak House in Manhattan this Tuesday at 12 Noon. The details are:

Swoboda At Gallagher’s Tuesday:  Legendary 1969 World Champion Mets outfielder Ron Swoboda will host the “Power Hitter Power Lunch” on Tuesday, June 28, at noon at Gallagher’s Steak House in Manhattan.  The event features a special luncheon menu as Swoboda takes a look at the New York Mets past and present.  The event is priced at $62 and includes: three-course “Power Lunch,” Q & A session with the World Series hero, and one autograph per customer.

Gallagher’s is located at 228 West 52nd Street in New York City. Reservations are recommended by calling 212.245.5336. Swoboda made the greatest catch in World Series annals when he robbed the Orioles’ Brooks Robinson in Game 4 of the ’69 Fall Classic.

Gallagher’s will donate a portion of the proceeds to the AHRC New York City Foundation to benefit people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  AHRC New York City Foundation presents the annual Thurman Munson Awards Dinner; the 32nd edition is scheduled for Jan. 31, 2012.

Swoboda will also host a meet and greet on the evening of June 28 at Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway from 4:30-6 p.m. at the Entertainment Lounge (free admission), where fans will have the chance to win a signed collectible of his famous world series catch, autographed by both Swoboda and Robinson

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I’ve got a ton of work to get to today and if the rain holds off a baseball game to manage tonight so just a few quickies before my nose meets the old grind stone:

Good medical news finally as Davis Wright will head to Port St. Lonesome and engage in baseball activities that hopefully gets him back to the Mets by the All Star break. I love Jose Reyes telling Wright to “Have fun in St. Lucie” then laughing to reporters “There is nothing to do there”

Hopefully all Chris Capuano is suffering from is a cramp in his abdomen from not being sufficiently hydrated and not some oblique-intercostal bullshit muscle pull thingy.

The whole back page of the NY Daily News today is just bunch of sensational bullshit, in fact I just spent more time on it than I should have.

The Jim Riggleman resignation is the talk of baseball today. After reading Ken Rosenthal’s article on Riggleman walking out on the Nats you can say there are two sides to the story and when you start hearing the manager and scouts all agree that GM Mike Rizzo has a problem with communicating with them, you could see that Riggelman’ ultimatum that his contract option for 2012 be picked up or else was a cry to get the GM’s attention. Bottom line is Riggleman quit on his team and what makes it worse is his team is on a roll as they are just 4 ½ games off the Wild Card and they have been winning at home so Riggleman comes off as a real selfish prick with this move. I agree with Rosenthal as I definitely see Davey Johnson being the first choice to take over the Nats for at least the rest of the season as this is the perfect Davey Johnson situation.

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photo courtesy of the NY Daily News

When you haven’t had a walk off win all season you take what you can get, and last night after Frankie Rodriguez came one strike away from saving a stellar start by R.A. Dickey (any of you dinosaurs out there still rely on won-loss record to evaluate starting pitcher’s?) but spit the bit and sent the game into extra innings. It wasn’t until Ginger Turner took one for the team in the 13^th taking a pitch to the knee to force home Lucas Duda for the win.

What a game and what a day yesterday. First the news that Ike is not progressing well and we still have to wait three weeks to see if Ike will be back in August or February. Today we get more medical news on David Wright and with the way the Mets luck has been with injuries I wouldn’t be shocked to hear he’s done for the year as well. When you’re a Mets fan it’s “expect the worst and hope for the not so bad”.

All this medical talk has gotten in the way of Mets fans favorite past time, figuring out if Jose Reyes will be traded, re-signed or lost as a free agent. The subject it seems has not been beaten enough so let me give my opinion on the Reyes situation that changes daily:

I want Jose Reyes to stay with the Mets but:

If Sandy Alderson gets bowled over with an offer from a team that feels they are a World Series contender that includes a young ML ready starting pitcher or a top flight number one pitching prospect then he has to make the deal.

If there is no top offer like that then keep Reyes and take a chance you can match any offer he gets in the off season.

Again Mets fan this is not about you, you do not figure in any of the Reyes negotiation. It’s about Reyes and the financial security of his family, it’s about the Mets committing years and money to one player when this team is not one player away from being a winning team , it’s about Reyes making the biggest decision of his life whether to leave the only organization he has ever known to go to parts unknown. So does Reyes take in the old devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know adage, or does he say baseball is baseball and follows the money. Rally’s and signs and t-shirts are nice and shows ownership that there is still passion in the fan base so maybe a small part of the discussion to keep Reyes will be the fan reaction (a/k/a buying tickets) bottom line is Sandy Alderson has to do what’s good for the Mets and Jose Reyes has to do what’s good for the Reyes’s .

Right now it’s all in a holding pattern, check back on July 10^ththe last game before the All Star break to see which way the wind blows in Flushing. If the Mets are still part of the Wild Card pack then they could be buyers (a catcher, reliever or if Ike is done for year a right handed bat for 1^stBase) if they are also ran’s then the selloff will be on.

Right now let’s concentrate on the Mets beating the A’s today for a series win.

Here is something we can all agree on, we can’t stand Joe Buck and hate when his new gravel voice comes on the FOX Game of the Week. So it is your duty to sign the petition put forth by Matthew Falkenburry of The Daily Stache to have FOX give the World Series play by play job this season to Vin Scully. Since the day I subscribed to MLB Extra Innings I’ve found a new appreciation for Scully doing Dodger games solo. His play by play and storytelling are still spot on. I don’t know if Scully would be up to doing another World Series as he doesn’t travel past Denver to do Dodger games plus we’re dealing with FOX here, a place where closed minds are pre requisite for employment but it’s worth a shot to show FOX and MLB that a change is needed in the national broadcast booth and to send a message to Vinny that baseball fans still love him.

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