Okay, day 1 without Mets baseball has passed and I’ve gotten over the shakes and cold sweats that Mets withdrawal usually brings on. Today, besides getting ready to root my ass off for the Detroit Tigers (I may even buy a pack of Marlboro to put next to my Gates Brown, Dick McAuliffe, Mickey Stanley and Mayo Smith baseball card shrine I’m constructing for this series) and deciding if today is a good day to sneak out of work early to go see Moneyball, I figured this would be a good day to go over my “Who Stays and Who Go’s” from the Mets 2011 roster. So in the words of the late great Bob Murphy, “Fasten your seatbelts”:

Ike Davis-If anything good comes from the freak injury that Ike suffered it will be that Sandy Alderson may have seen the light and will overhaul the Mets training staff. A healthy Ike and hitter friendly alterations to Citi Field’ outfield dimensions could shoot Davis to superstar stratosphere. Hell Yeah Ike Stays!   

Ruben Tejada-Will he be the everyday 2^nd baseman or the everyday shortstop that is to be determined what is fact is he’s here to stay and will play every day at one of those position in 2012. STAY.

Justin Turner-When Turner comes to bat with no one on base, he’s Mario Mendoza. With men in scoring position, he’s Mr. Clutch (.350/.480/.500 w/RISP) Not great range in the field but serviceable bench player. STAY

Jose Reyes-If Alderson can get creative with options and funky clauses in a contract, there is a chance that Reyes remains a Met. If an owner looks past the hammy issues or feel its training staff can cure Reyes of his leg malaise then Jose may get stupid money thrown at him. Alderson has a figure in terms of money and years that he won’t cross to keep Reyes and I still feel he hopes there is a team out there that blows his offer away as Alderson really doesn’t want to burden the organization with another long term deal. The heart says stay but the head says GO!

David Wright-No player on this team has become a bigger enigma than Wright. The only thing keeping me from saying put him on the trading block is the bringing in and lowering of the fences at Citi Field that have spooked Wright since day one. With a year left on his deal at $15 mil, DW is still affordable but his defense has deteriorated as much as his offense. Part of me wonders if the Mets would be better off with Daniel Murphy at 3 rd as a better option right now. I’ll stay with Wright for 2012 at 3^rd base for two reasons; first, you wouldn’t get max return on him in a deal and two, with the new hitter friendly Citi Field maybe that will wake up DW stagnant bat.  A lukewarm STAY

Jason Bay-If Alderson could ever move his suffocating contract; he’d do it in heartbeat. Add Bay to the list of players who could be born again by shorter LF wall. Bay works hard and is respected in the clubhouse so to deal him for a bad contract would also mean you’re getting a bad guy (Carlos Zambrano or a John Lackey) so I guess what I’m getting at is he’s STAYS.

Angel Pagan-The expiration date on Pagan’s big league career has been achieved. Pagan 2011 was nothing like Pagan 2010 but more like Pagan 2009 which not a vintage year. GO.

Lucas Duda-If Duda can become just a serviceable right fielder (which means not tripping over his own feet or turning left when he should turn right) to go with his power bat and run production ability, the Mets will have an All Star for years to come. In fact Duda and Ike can become the new faces of the franchise. STAY.

Josh Thole-Great guy, decent contact hitter, disaster behind the plate. Catcher is a position that the Mets need to shore up badly as Casey Stengel said “You need a catcher because without one there would be a lot of passed balls” unfortunately even with Thole behind the plate there were a ton of PB’s (16) yes I know we have R.A Dickey and his knuckler on staff but shit 16 PASSED BALLS? COM’ON.   Thole is serviceable with a decent bat and more importantly he works cheap. STAY

Ronnie Paulino- Word on the street is Paulino has poor work habits and is not very good at working with the pitching staff on going over hitters tendencies. Add his deficiencies along with Thole’s and you can see that the organization has a big problem behind the plate. With a lot of young arms here and on the way the need for a solid veteran defensive catcher should be item #2 on Alderson’s to do list this offseason right after dealing with Jose Reyes. GO.

Daniel Murphy-Safe to say you can add Adlerson and Terry Collins to the #ImWith28 Club. Murph will STAY and Collins will find a way to play him as much as he can. Where that is? That’s why Collins gets the big bucks.  If it weren’t for his injury Murph would have finished in the top 10 in batting average no doubt about it. STAY.

Willie Harris-Started off his Mets career very shaky but rebounded to become a valuable bench player. Has a good ability to get on base and can play multiple positions. Harris also become a leader in the clubhouse and helped make it a better place. Harris wants to come back and the Mets should bring him back but Alderson won’t make that a top priority. A halfhearted STAY   

Scott Hairston-I nearly forgot about Hairston as he’s been out all of September with a knee injury and played sporadically when he was healthy. GO

Nick Evans-I’d love to ask Evans what is it like to be DFA on five different occasions and not have one team put a claim in for you? You would think it would be a blow to anyone’s self-esteem but Evans kept going back to Buffalo and produced and kept getting the call to the big leagues, the man is the picture of perseverance. I have a lot of respect for Evans and he can play either corner spot on the field. Someday a team will wake up and give him a chance on a big league roster. I just don’t think it will be the Mets. With regrets I say GO.

Jason Pridie-No great shakes in CF, can’t hit for shit and has an ugly beard. GO.

Mike Baxter-If I am fortunate to speak to Terry Collins in the off season the first question I want ask him is “What did Mike Baxter do to piss you off to the point of burying on the bench”? I would have loved to see more of Baxter. On the final day of the season I was happy he hit the home run but I was more impressed with the way he busted his ass down the 1^st base line on a groundball. Baxter also looks pretty good in RF as well. Baxter played a bit of CF in the minors which is why I’m puzzled why Collins played Pridie over him. What was there to lose? I hope Baxter gets a shot in spring training but it seems he has Buffalo written all over him. A shaky STAY   

   On Monday I’ll go over the pitchers who get to stay or should be sent packing

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While I was riding the Staten Island Ferry on my way home from the Mets finale at Citi Field yesterday, I was reading over the notes I took during the game. I decided to invoke my “sleep on  it before writing” rule because it was quite an emotional day and even after “sleeping on it” I’m still having a tough time deciphering where this organization is headed, positive or negative. It’s the most confused and befuddled I’ve ever been in my 47 years of Mets fandom.  

Before my stream of semi-conscience begins please turn to page 1986 in your Mets Missalette to read the words of fellow Mets blogger/fan/Staten Islander by way of Brooklyn, Ed “Rusty Jr.” Marcus who lays out the events of yesterday quite eloquently.

Usually when I ride the 7 train to Citi Field, it’s filled with a full platoon of uniformed Mets fans excited to be headed to see their beloved Metropolitans. Yesterday on an 11AM 7 train out of Times Square, I was the lone infantry man in the car. If there was an invasion of Loyal Order of Red Legs. I’d have fought a losing battle.

I spent the time on the train reading this outstanding book, I had no real emotion about the day. It wasn’t until we left the 111 St station and Citi Field was on the horizon, I stared having flashbacks to Mets games of yore, good days, days when you could not get to the ball park fast enough. Games I went to that Tom Seaver pitched in, for some reason the game he struck out Manny Sanguillen for his 200 K back in 1975 to become the first pitcher to K 200 batters in eight straight seasons, popped in my head, another obscure game I was at that flashed in my mind was the walk off home run by Steve “Hendu” Henderson against the Giants in 1975. What sticks out for me in that one is, my friends and I bet on the Mets in this game for the sole reason we had hung out at a bar in Bay Ridge with Pete Falcone the weekend before and he was the games starting pitcher. I have to come clean and let you know we didn’t stay for the whole game, and we didn’t know the outcome until we got back to the neighborhood when we were informed of our “busted ass” luck.

When I got off the train at Citi Field-Willets Point the depression set in. The weather didn’t help that grey muggy one second it’s warm, the next it’s chilly temps, just like our Mets. After a summit on the Shea Bridge that Ed reported on, I headed to the Shake Shack for a burger (the line was long but not the usual four wraparounds) and then made my way to my $2 (Stub Hub-a Hub-a) buck seat in Section 519, just in time to see Jose Reyes’ first at bat of the day. Little did I know it would be his only at bat of the day.

This is why I invoked “my sleep on it rule” because at the moment Reyes came out of the game I was one ornery fucker. What bother me the most and still does was THE WAY he came out of the game. Reyes should have gone to his shortstop position and have Bastia step off and call time and then let Turner enter into the game. Would I have liked to see Reyes play the whole game? Of course, but his coming out of the game to protect a batting title is not unprecedented.

What also conflicts me with Reyes is the fact I really like him as a player and a person and I hope he’s back as a Met next year but if he signs elsewhere I’m not going to be sad or heartbroken. I still feel that Jose wants to stay a Met but I’m sure there will be One Dumb Owner who will make an offer that Sandy Alderson can refuse.

It’s time for us Mets fans to face facts, and the to face those facts we are fortunate to have someone like Howard Megdal to report the facts as he does here in his piece for New York Magazine which lays out the awful truth about the Skill Sets, their finances and the direction the club his headed due to money that would have been funneled into the baseball team will instead go to lawyers, creditors and maybe the Madoff Trust.

If you don’t have the stomach for some tough times in Flushing, it may be time for you to find another rooting interest in baseball because it looks like a very rocky road here for a couple of years. The team in the Bronx may have some openings, especially after the Mowtown Cats sweep them in the ALDS.

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Lot’s of talk about the Mets giving the Highlanders the thumbs down on their proposal to bring the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Highlanders to Newark NJ for one season as the clubs stadium gets a much needed overhaul.  The Mets are being made out to be the villians here when they did nothing wrong. As per the agreement with MLB before either the Mets or Highlanders try to do something like this they issue of territorial rights has to be addressed. The Bronx Bastards did just that and the Mets said no.

The outcry you hear most is that the Mets are being petty and by not allowing the Highlanders to let their Triple A team play in Newark is not in best interests of the City of Newark or baseball fans. That is pure out and out bullshit. I’ve been in Newark many more times that the folks who are crying about this so called injustice and I can tell you no Highlanders fans from Basking Ridge, or Bernardsville are coming into Brick City to see the Triple A Highlanders.  I’ve been to Riverfront Stadium in the past and found it to be a nice ballpark but in recent years the park has not been kept up and lacking in any positive atmosphere to the point I really have no desire to go from Staten Island to Newark (about a 20-30 min ride) to watch a ball game. In fact the same conditions can be found in the Ball Park at St. George where the SI Highlanders play. The Newark Bears have fallen on hard times and it has nothing to do with the city but with poor management and the fractured economy as well.

Throughout this whole Mets bashing argument there has been no mention of the fans of Scranton/Wilkes Barre, who I doubt will make the trip to Newark to watch their team play. I would guess there are colleges that have baseball fields in the Scranton area that could be converted into a temporary home for the Triple A Highlanders like what was done back in 1999 for the SI Highlanders, turning the College of Staten Island baseball field into a temporary home until the St. George park was built.  

As Mets fans, we all know that is the shoe was on the other foot, Highlander President Randy Levine would have to told Freddy Skill Sets to kiss his ass. That’s the Highlander way. So now that it’s Freddy who gives the Highlanders his ass to kiss, he’s a bad guy. As much as I’ve killed the Skill Sets over the years here, I’ve got their broke ass backs on this one.

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Following a Mets game on Twitter is a trip but following a Mets game on Twitter when it’s a Mike Pelfrey start is a trip on brown acid. With the absence of fan punching bags Ollie Perez and Luis Castillo, Mets fans needed to find a new player to kick the shit out of and Big Pelf stepped into that role rather well this season.

What frustrates the living shit out of me with Pelf is he has the talent to be a dominant pitcher in the big leagues  along with the classic pitchers body but what he lacks is the cerebal “SKILL SETS” to combine the physical end of pitching with the most important part of pitching, the mental part.

Let’s not dismiss the fact that Pelf lost his long time mentor with the passing of Harvey Dorfman, the psychologist who not only wrote books on the mental part of baseball and one strictly on pitching but he also was a huge part of the careers of Al Leiter and John Smoltz.

Pelf would speak to Dorfman on a regular basis and this season was the first the big righty could not pick up the phone or fly Dorfman in for a skull session.

This situation is not lost on Sandy Alderson which is why I think these are the last three games of Dan Warthen’ reign as Mets pitching coach.  This just a gut feeling, but I could definitely see Rick Peterson coming back as Mets pitching coach in 2012. Alderson and his staff have a history with Peterson who is cut from the same analytical cloth as the leaders of the Mets front office so it’s no pipe dream that this reunion could happen for 2012.

It’s also not to say that the Peterson approach will work with Big Pelf although Pelfrey had a fine season under Peterson’s tutelage in 2007, his first full year with the Mets and seeing that the Alderson plan is go younger and cheaper with pitching talent it could be the missing piece to getting the most out of Pelf, Dillon Gee and Jon Niese by having them work with Rick Peterson.

And don’t discount that fact the SNY would be sitting on a ratting bonanza by having Peterson and R.A. Dickey host a show discussing not just baseball but their views on life and the world around us. Talk about must see TV.

Even with Pelf having the representation of the Agent of Darkness, how much does he think he is going to get in arbitration; in fact you’d have to think he wouldn’t want to have anything to do with presenting his case to an arbitrator no matter what the Agent of Darkness thinks. Pelf made a shade under $4 mil this season and in his Mets career he’s cashed checks of close to $9mil so I’d say he owes the club and should sign for a modest (though underserved ) raise of maybe $4.5 for 2012 with some incentives.

It’s easy to say “dump his ass” but where do you find a guy with the physical tools and plow horse endurance of a Mike Pelfrey. Hire The Jacket and send Pelf to the lab and let’s see if this is a talent really worth saving.

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I couldn’t find a picture of THE home run but who could forget the home run off the clock in St. Louis by Straw on October 1, 1995. I thought about that home run after watching last night’s come from behind win. Ahhh what we once had……  

Most of the Mets news this morning is of the off the field variety, with some mention of yesterday’s big 9^th inning rally. After last night’s game all I could think of if the Mets were in a chase for a post season berth this game would have been labeled one of the all-time great game in Mets history, instead all it gets is an “atta boy”. Sad.

All the Madoff-Skill Sets-Piccard bullshit baffles me as Freddy and Uncle Saul keep going with the “Hey, we were duped too” defense. I find it very hard to believe the story that Freddy and Saul were these two neophyte investors who were blindside by Bernie Madoff. The point that Freddy and Saul say the never even asked what Madoff what he was investing their money in is the “are you fucking kidding me”? moment for me. Am I to believe that at no point in this whole scheme and big returns on their investment, Freddy and Uncle Saul didn’t ask, “Uhmmm Bernie, just where are you investing our money”? Pharmaceuticals? Precious metals? Trafficking of children for sex slaves? I know I hold the Skill Sets in low esteem but even I don’t think they were that stupid not know where their money was going.

The Daily Snooze says today the Mets will look at exercising Terry Collins 2013 contract option at the end of the season, as I believe they should. There will also be a discussion on the status of coaching staff and it seems that even with Collins coming out saying he would love to have the whole staff back, Chip Hale may migrate to Oakland to join Bob Melvin and Old School Dan Warthen could be done as pitching coach. It would be a loss to lose Hale, as he’s a very good 3^rd base coach and a hard worker but losing Warthen seems like no great shakes, in fact it’s time for Warthen to go and get a new voice for the pitching staff that ranks last in just about every statistical pitching category.

How about the last minute desperation from the Red Sox as they tried to get Chris Capuano in a deal? Seems the Sox didn’t make enough of a tribute to Sandy Alderson to make this deal or it could be Alderson has plans to bring Cap back as either a spot starter/long man role in the Darren Oliver mold for the Mets next season. It could also be that the deal breaker was Alderson’ insistence that Theo Epstein had to take Ryota Igarashi on the deal

Last home stand of the season starts today, I’m going to Wednesday’s game, the season finale because it’s the last game of the year and as bad as the season is ending, comes November and December when it’s cold, snowy and downright miserable, you’ll be wishing you were at the ball park instead of the business end of a snow shovel.

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Here’s the Mets news of the day:

The Mets are in a pennant race but on the wrong side of the track. The red-hot Redbrids are breathing down the necks of the Bravos of whom the Mets took two out three games from last week and have made the Washington Generals Mets look like stumblebums the last two nights.

Lucas Duda came out of the game last night after running into the right field fence. Doctors say he does not show symptoms of a concussion. Duda will announce his retirement from baseball Monday at Citi Field due to effects of the head injury he suffered last night.

The Mets organization have made the decision it’s better to go to Home Depot and invest in plywood, nails and Scotts Turf Builder to rebuild the Great Wall of Flushing into the Grotto De Corona complete with a small wall, a grassy knoll and votive candles, than to go out and get better players. If this doesn’t work, the Skill Sets will petition MLB to allow David Wright to take all his home at bats at the 2K Sports Fan Fest Wiffle Ball Field.  

Pedro Beato was ineffective again last night out of the pen. Beato claims to be fatigued due to pitching for close to 20 months straight between Winter ball, Minor Leagues and this full year with the Mets. NYC Department of Child Services is looking into Beato’s claim of abuse by his foster parents, Dan Warthen and Terry Collins.

Sandy Alderson was surprised when told that the vast majority of Mets fans want the outfield walls painted BLUE. I guess he’d be shocked, SHOCKED to find out that we think the Black Jerseys suck ass as well.

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I was so pissed that I missed hearing Sandy Alderson on the SNY telecast last night. But, thanks to Chris McShane at Amazin’ Avenue who transcribed the whole interview Alderson did with Gary Cohen and Ron Darling, I’m caught up with what the Mets GM is looking to accomplish going forward with the team. What has me puzzled is the Mets fan/blogger fixation on what Alderson said about changing the dimensions and height of the Cit Field outfield wall, from reading the McShane’s transcript of the conversation, that was the least interesting feature to me.

I’m not saying reducing the height of the Great Wall of Flushing or bringing in the right/center Mo Zone is not good thing, in fact I’m all for it but Alderson’s insights on player personnel and his approach to the off season was much more newsworthy.

To me more important than wall renovations is what is the GM’s plan of attack for re-signing Jose Reyes. It seems like Alderson has a preempted strike ready to fire as he has tabbed October as Jose Reyes Month. I get the vibe that he has an offer already to be presented a figure in years and money that he won’t go over. Alderson has made it known he will not get into a bidding war over Reyes. He has been nothing but complimentary of the shortstop as has Terry Collins, who is on record as saying he can’t fathom the Mets without Reyes or David Wright for that matter which I’m sure is the company line. I’m interested in this negotiation to see if Reyes takes a little less money or years to stay with the only organization he’s ever played for or does he move on and take the best deal out there. I still think that while Alderson will make a very good offer to Reyes, he won’t be heartbroken if another team comes in and blows the Mets deal out of the water. No question he wants Reyes back but he won’t break the Skill Sets fragile bank account to sign him.

One of Alderson’s concerns was rushing pitchers to the big leagues but also doing a balancing act getting some of the minor league arms a bit of a push to move them along. Under Omar MInaya’s regime the club loved drafting collage pitchers to where a team like St. Lucie is overstocked with 24 and 25 year olds which it sounds like is very frustrating to Alderson. When you’re that age and still pitching in A ball, you’re at the shit or get off the pot stage of your career.

Alderson sounds like a Mets fan when he talks about the bullpen and how blowing late game leads, a la Bobby Parnell, takes the heart out of everyone when it’s on an almost daily basis. Safe to say, Alderson has seen enough of Parnell closing to know he needs to put finding a closer on the top of his shopping list. Also clearly stated, he will go outside the organization to find one.  Looking at guys like Greg Holland of the Royals, Mike Adams of the Rangers, Rafael Betancourt of the Rockies and Sean Marshall of the Cubs there are some interesting options for Alderson out there.

Alderson is happy with the number of innings his starters have given him but now he wants them to improve the quality of those innings. I believe that Jon Niese and Dillon Gee will and of course R.A. Dickey will give a quality start just about every time out but we still have no idea what Johan Santana will give you on the mound next year and of course there is the elephant in the room known as Mike Pelfrey. From Alderson’s comment it seems that Pelf will be back next season but in what capacity?

What we have Mets fans is one busy and interesting winter coming up ahead of us and the brain trust of our team. Right now is the lull where the team plays out the string as October on will be the most interesting time for the Mets since before the All Star break.

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One of the most underrated Mets players of all time Randall “K” Myers

Well we know one guy who won’t be the Mets closer next year, that’s Bobby Parnell. Reading the story in today’s NY Post it seems Alderson has seen enough of Parnell and the other candidates for Closer 2012 as well:

  The presumed heir apparent, Bobby Parnell, has flopped and a fatigued Pedro Beato never really entered the equation. Manny Acosta has shown flashes of dominance, but there are still organizational questions about his makeup.

It has left Alderson far from certain the next Mets closer will come from within the organization.

“I’m not convinced of that,” Alderson said before the Mets departed Atlanta on Sunday. “Nor can I believe anybody else is convinced of that.”

Happy hunting Sandy.

File this one under, just when you thought you’ve heard it all. Ray Bartoszek wanted to invest in the New York Mets but the Skill Sets were head over heels with David Einhorn until they finally figured out that Einhorn was looking to fuck them over.  By the time the Skill Sets tried to get back in with Bartoszek, it was too late; he had found a better investment for his cash, becoming a limited partner of the NY Highlanders. Bartoszek is a Mets fan who wanted to invest in the Mets but he now finds himself sitting back and waiting for a divided check and a seat to post season games. Some guys have all the luck.

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As first reported by Mike Silva of NY Baseball Digest, LOOGY Deluxe Tim Byrdak has signed a contract extension with the Mets for next season. Seems Sandy Alderson would like to keep two lefties in the pen and so far Little LOOGY Danny (Give me a LOOGY with Hair, long beautiful Hair, shining, gleaming…..)Herrera is making his bid to be Byrdak’s stablemate.

Between having John Franco babysit Bobby Parnell and now having Terry Collins breakdown of Dillion Gee’s pitch selection and approach, it seems like Dan Warthen is on shaky ground when it comes to his job security for next season, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a return of The Jacket to Flushing.

How much does the stellar play of Ruben Tejeda play into the Mets maybe not going all out to re-sign Jose Reyes?  I’m sure he will never admit it but I’d bet Sandy Alderson is praying that some dumb owner offers Reyes a ridiculous contract that he can’t match so he can use the $18-$20 mil on pitching.

What a schizo team we root for. They lose four games at home to the Nats and look like they packed it in for the year. The manager calls his team out saying they “folded up” and says “the fans are right to be angry”  So they go into Atlanta, usually a house of horrors for the Mets and take 2 of 3 from a Braves team that needed to win these three games to keep the Cardinals and Giants off their heels. Amazing Mets indeed.

This is beyond disturbing!

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25 years ago this very day, the NY Mets clinched the NL East at Shea Stadium, as we see in this clip from Studious Metsimus pandemonium prevailed at the end of the game and long into the night.  

Call me a cynic but I think the reason the Mets responded with a big win last night was they realized that Terry Collins has more job security than they do. Of all the players and coaches, Collins is the only one assured to be back in 2012. How often does that happen in pro sports? Not often.

So Carlos Beltran is recruiting Jose Reyes to the Giants? Does that fall under tampering? So if Reyes signs with the Giants, #BlameBeltran

Also according to the Phink Phrom Philly a/k/a Jayson Stark, Sandy Alderson will take a hard line stance with Reyes’ agent as he won’t be jerked around when it comes to talking contract. Makes me guess that Alderson has a deadline in place when he either signs Reyes or lets him and he won’t let himself or the Mets become a tool in a bidding war.

Are we in the mist of the resurrection of Jason Bay’s career? Besides his great catch last night, Bay has had a month we never thought we’d see from him as he has put up a line of .288/.370/.513. By the way, who said Canadians can’t jump?

BOOKMARK ALERT!!!! Taryn Cooper a/k/a COOP has a new website with the one of the great titles in the history of the internet A Gal For All Seasons.

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