Well, if nothing else, Rauch and Francisco won’t tolerate much bullshit!

Well, the Mets won’t be coming home from Dallas empty handed. Maybe they are not the most sexy moves Mets fans wanted but they are practical, kind of like getting an iron or power tool for Christmas.  Let’s take a gander at the transaction shall we:

Angel Pagan to the Giants for Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez

Note to all Mets personnel, don’t piss off Terry Collins or you too will be shown the door.  It seems many of Pagan’s ex-teammates won’t be shedding any tears that he’s gone and neither will I. Talk about addition by subtraction. Pagan fell out of favor with the club because a piss poor attitude and putting oneself above the team that don’t fly here no more, especially when you’re fringe major leaguer.

The return from the Giants is quite intriguing. Torres is an upgrade defensively but he not much to look at in the batter’s box. Can Dave Hudgens can do the voodoo they he do-do and bring Torres back offensively to where he was in 2010 (.268/.343/.479 16 HR 43 2b 6.8 WAR) ?

The best part of the deal is getting Ramirez   added to this new look bullpen. Ramirez walks a few batters more than I like but he is effective against right handed hitters. I’m surprised Brian Sabean would include Ramirez in this deal because on the surface Pagan and Torres cancel each other at as both were non-tender candidates and if you’d look to deal Ramirez I’m sure the Giants could have gotten a better offer.

Mets sign Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco

One year deal for $3.5 mil for Rauch and a 2 year $12 mil for Francisco. Are either of these guys top flight pitchers? No ,but for the price they’ll should be more than serviceable . When you look at the Mets bullpen right now, it is far better than it was on the last day of the 2011 season. Rauch should be fine as the 8^th inning set up man and Francisco  will take the role as closer but both could interchange the roles if need be. Francisco is a strike out pitcher who throws his fastball and split both effectively and comes with a manageable contract.

So right now the Mets bullpen looks as so:

Francisco  RHP

Rauch  RHP

Ramirez RHP

Parnell RHP

Acosta RHP

Brydak LHP

I don’t think Bobby Parnell is a lock for a bullpen spot but to not have to close or set up in the 8^th inning could help as he could be the ROOGY to Brydak’s LOOGY. I’m sure Alderson would love to add another lefty to this group. What to do with DJ Carrasco? He has another year left on his deal but it’s just for a million and change so he could see himself included as a thrown in a deal (with Daniel Murphy?) . It seems Pedro Beato is ticketed for Buffalo and there isn’t anyone else from last season arson squad I’d want to keep.

You have to take these deals as a positive, not a jump up and down positive but the team is better than it was on the last day of the season positive.

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I know we of the Blue and Orange persuasion are not patience but to get bent out of shape over the lack of moves made by Sandy Alderson so far this off season is really off base and this is coming from a guy who is not known as patient. To fillip your Mets cap over Jonathan Broxton signing with the KC Royals is very shortsighted and again this coming from a guy who wanted to see a back end of a bullpen of Broxton and Joe Nathan.  The Texas Rangers really over paid for Nathan and his Tommy John repaired elbow and his diminishing WAR at 2yr/$14 mil as did the Royals taking on Frenchy’s new BFF at a $4mil tab for the sore armed Broxton.   As much as I would have like to take a flyer on both Nathan and Broxton it wouldn’t be worth it at the price. Sandy Alderson felt the same way.

We all know that relievers are as unpredictable as a house full of Kardashians, that’s why instead of being so damn jumpy, Mets fans need to sit back a bit and let this off season play out. If I could give Alderson some advice I’d feel out the Royals about a deal for Greg Holland and talk to Texas about a deal for arbitration eligible reliever Mike Adams.  I’m sure Alderson will speak with Chisox about a deal for Matt Thornton who would fit nicely as well in Flushing pen. There are options out there for the Mets fans and Alderson and his staff know it and have a plan of attack.

Let’s just stay calm and let the man do his due diligence and if on reporting day at St. Lonesome this team is not improved on the overrated “paper”, then we can have a mass melt down, this is not pie in sky horseshit and I understand that the fan base is not in a positive frame of mind, and believe me I don’t fault you for that, but let’s just see what this front office has up its sleeve before we light the torches and converge on 126^th St and Roosevelt Ave.

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If Angel Pagan is the Mets opening day center fielder I’m going to be pissed off.  A lot of my angst over Pagan has to do with his inconsistent play especially in the outfield and some of it has to do with what is perceived as a “me” attitude that looks as if it chaps the mangers ass as well. Terry Collins was miffed when Pagan took himself out of a game last year claiming he had a stomach virus and was dehydrated but never told the manger he was headed to the porcelain palace in the clubhouse as his turn to bat was up. Pagan also bitched and moaned about batting leadoff when Jose Reyes was out with his blown up hammy, solidifying his rep as a selfish player

Mike Silva wrote a piece on how Pagan may be the best of what’s out there as far as centerfielders go, but why do the Mets always have to settle?  If it’s going to cost at least $5mil to sign Pagan why not go a couple of million more and sign David DeJesus?

DeJesus would be a upgrade over Pagan in the outfield for sure and  an upgrade in the lineup as well as DeJesus has a better ability to get on base than that of Pagan.

Sandy Alderson has targeted the pitching staff, zeroing in on the bullpen, as job one this off season but he also needs to address the defense which was one of the worst in baseball last year.  The up the middle D was especially poor (Jose Reyes by the way was -11 in Runs Saved ) so if the organization can’t afford to go all out to get some decent arms then maybe an upgrade on the defensive side would help the arms the Mets have now?

I think this post by Shannon at  Mets Police says it all about being a Mets fan.

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Six pitchers to win a nine inning baseball game, welcome to the next re-invention of baseball, courtesy of The Genius.  The biggest impression I have of the post season is that we are now going from having a setup man and closer as your main relievers to having to have at least seven pitchers who can come out of your pen, game in game out.  Before the post season even started, Sandy Alderson made it known that rebuilding his bullpen would be job one.  

The story of Game one changes dramatically if Allen Craig does not come through with that huge pinch hit single to put the Cards ahead 3-2. The second guessers and LaRussa haters (I raise my hand) would have been out in full force. Just goes to show the difference between a genius and an asshole in baseball is a fair ball.

There was a terrific column by Adam Rubin on ESPNNY.com on how the readiness of Ruben Tejada could soften the blow of Jose Reyes leaving for greener (backs) pastures. Rubin quotes Mark Simon, ESPN’s numbers cruncher with stats that show me the Mets would be better off with Reyes leaving and Tejada taking over shortstop and using the money saved on pitching. Defensively you really don’t lose much with Tejeda (according to the metrics the Mets would gain with Tejeda at shortstop) it’s on offense where you lose the most.

“If you look at it from a WAR [wins above replacement] perspective, Reyes was a 6.2 last year via Fangraphs. Tejada was a 1.8,” Simon said. “The question would be: What is Tejada at his best … maybe a 3-WAR player? So there is a drop-off.”

You’d think that a healthy Ike Davis, David Wright (if he’s not dealt) with the fences of Citi Field lower and closers (and painted blue I hope),and a rejuvenated Jason Bay (a guy can dream can’t he) would make up for the offensive slack lost by the dearly departed Reyes   

I think this quote from an NL scout sums it up:

  Said one National League scout: “Tejada is ready to play every day. Save the money and go get some pitching. You’re not winning anything in 2012 anyway. Find out if the kid can do it. He really has improved with the bat and gotten physically stronger. He’s going to need a backup, though, in case he gets hurt or needs a day off”

As Mets fans, we need to root for three more Redbird wins in a row so we can get our off season started, the suspense is killing me.

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Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS

One of the worst kept secrets surrounding the Mets was the fact that Chip Hale was ready to head back home to Northern California to join his buddy Bob Melvin as bench coach for the A’s. What was surprising was the domino effect Hale’s departure had on the rest of the coaching staff.

Mookie Wilson was let go with the old “we’ll reassign you in the organization” which is like when a cop sucks at fighting crime, the NYPD sticks them in the property clerk’s office. But where does Mookie get reassigned to?  Word is he didn’t work well with Lucas Duada in getting him acclimated to right field and he wasn’t very good at positioning the outfielders or working with base runners  during games. Wilson also hasn’t fared too well as a minor league manager and since he had trouble coaching the outfield with the big club, roving minor league instructor seems out as well. What’s left?

Jon DeBus got the boot from the bullpen it seems because he was a catcher and the club would rather have Buffalo pitching coach Rickey Bones, a former pitcher, in the pen to work with the relievers. DeBus was also in charge of working with Josh Thole and Ronnie Paulino and supposedly wasn’t helping Thole with his defense and was negligent in getting Paulino to show a better work ethic.

It’s a shame that Ken Oberkfell got the ax as Obie did what he was assigned to do, be the yin to Terry Collins’ yang. Obie was brought in the be Collins bench coach because he was calm, cool and collected a contrast to Collins “makes coffee nervous” persona. Obie is one of those good solid baseball men who did everything he was asked by the organization and now is shown the door. I hope he lands with a team that makes the post season and gets to cash one of the nice winner’s checks.

Tim Teufel gets the prize job as 3^rd base coach/obligatory 1986 World Champ for 2012. Gotta meet that quota of 86ers ya know.

The job for Collins’ consigliore it seems is between Larry Bowa and Jim Ringgleman. Both are close confidants of Collins but I will be really pissed off if Riggleman gets the job as the Mets should be looking to stay away from quitters.

Once upon a time, Murray Chass was one of the best baseball writers around. His coverage of baseball labor disputes was unparalleled due to his close relationship with former MLBPA President Don Fehr and his mouthpiece Gene Orza but after Chass was let go by the NY Times he became a bitter nasty old man and started a website (he’s refused to call himself what he really is, a blogger) where he could spout his bitter nasty old man bullshit. Today he posted about Jeffey Skill Sets and how he is known around baseball as the most disliked executive in baseball. Of course, Old Man Murray rails for most of the post about the Mets blocking the Highlanders Triple A team from playing in Newark next year (oh yeah I forgot, Chass is an unabashed Highlander ball licker an older version of Ian O’Connor) but at the end of his piece he stated something that I have heard as well so that’s why I’ve included it in my post:

Sandy Alderson, Minaya’s successor, is completing his first season in the job, and I have already heard that he is growing tired of Wilpon’s suffocating presence.

Now if this was just Murray being Murray I’d laugh it off but I have heard the same thing from folks whose take on things around the club I respect and stories they have told me have turned out very reliable. I’ve always said I’m a Mets fan for life but I’ll tell you this, If Sandy Alderson leaves the Mets because of dealing with Jeffey is getting in the way of his work then I’d have to seriously think of stopping my support of the team until a new owner takes over.    

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A quick post for today as I’m heading out to Citi Field for another Mets bloggers event.

Former Mets cleanup hitter (still can’t believe this guy was the opening day cleanup hitter last season) Mike Jacobs has become the first professional baseball player to be suspended for HGH usage. Jacobs took the banned substance to help with rejuvenating his body from series of knee and back injuries he suffered as a member of the Colorado Sky Sox . I feel bad for Jacobs as here was a guy who played in the big leagues, drawing a big league paycheck but flopped to the point he headed back to the bushes.

Jacobs was worried that he’d become just another guy and be forgotten by MLB GM’s even with his 23 HR and 97 RBI so desperate times call for desperate actions it seems.

To his credit, Jacobs has taken full responsibility for his actions:

“A few weeks ago, in an attempt to overcome knee and back problems, I made the terrible decision to take H.G.H.,” Jacobs said in the statement, a rare confession of doping in a sport where many players who have tested positive denied ever knowingly using a drug. “I immediately stopped a couple of days later after being tested. Taking it was one of the worst decisions I could have ever made, one for which I take full responsibility.”

50 games is a serious sentence and most likely Jacobs’  done as a big leaguer. Sad

The Mets have suffered from a Humpty Dumpty defense this season (All the mangers horses and all the mangers coaches, couldn’t put the Mets defense back together again, or something like that) Manager Terry Collins to his credit has gotten the team to participate in taking infield before games, which no other teams do, but as Andy MuCullough lays out nicely in this piece in the Star-Ledger, it hasn’t help much as the Mets are statistically one of the defensive bottom feeders in baseball. Add the lousy bullpen and shaky starting pitching it’s quite shocking the club is near the breakeven point in wins and losses.

Welcome back K-Rod, the trade the worked out well for both sides. Again, well played Mr. Alderson

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After bailing out my basement of water, and trying to find  a place to rent an industrial size fan (after four attempts I finally found one) I thought this would be a good time to check on our beloved Mets.

The Amazin’s have lost 5 in a row and 12 of the last 20 games as the wheels are falling of the Mets bandwagon. The last month has not been pretty. Jose Reyes making his second trip to the DL , Ike Davis waiting for clearance to have surgery that he probably should have had more than a month ago, a bullpen that is of expansion quality and a lineup that strikes fear in the hearts of teams in the Can-Am League but not the Majors. With all that, Terry Collins still has that carrot out in front of his players that they are playing for job security, all of them.

Gary Cohen and Ron Darling had an interesting conversation during the game (as did Howie Rose and Wanye  Hagin as Howie compared yesterday’s game as eating a turkey dinner and the Tryptophan kicking in and making you sleepy) about how many players on the current 25 man roster would you say will be with this team in 2012. Cohen and Darling named Wright, Niese, Duda and Dickey, everyone else is on notice.  Now that’s not counting Reyes, Ike or Johan but if you do that is just 7 players who could say they could be Mets next season and out of all 7, the only lock on that list is Niese.

Last off season was a getting to know period for the front office, this up coming off season there could be a lot of exit interviews.

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The slider, when thrown properly, is a devastating pitch. As the batter’s hand to eye coordination gets in synched and sees the pitch as coming over the plate and the mind makes that split second decision to swing at it, the ball breaks downward to a point where the batter is fooled and cannot adjust his swing. But when a slider is not executed properly, it hangs up in the hitting zone. If the batter has some power that flat slider usually leaves the ball park screaming like in a cartoon. This is what happened yesterday to Bobby Parnell and his pitch to Logan Morrison that left Whatevertheycallit Stadium like it was shot out of a cannon.

As bad as that pitch was and the outcome, negating the 2 run blast by David Wright to put to Mets ahead 4-3 going into the bottom of the 7^th, pisses us me off as a Mets fan, I think we are now at the point of the season where we can chalk this up to closer in training Parnell’s learning experience.

Look, the season is what it is, a fight to finish with between 81-85 wins. If the Mets can do that the season is a positive and if Bobby Parnell and Pedro Beato work on being the future backend of the bullpen then that’s fine with me. Same thing with keeping Izzy around for the rest of the season. What can you get for Izzy? A C level prospect? He is much more valuable to the Mets as a veteran reliever working with Parnell and Beato for the next two months.

I think one thing in the Mets favor of keeping Jose Reyes with the Mets for years to come, is the consensus from the Mets players this season that the Mets clubhouse is a great place to be. Izzy for example, went to Sandy Alderson to tell him he doesn’t want to be traded. Carlos Beltran, understands the reasons why the GM is trying to move him, but Beltran will not be sad if he’s not dealt.  In fact Beltran would love to stay as he has cited this being the best clubhouse he’s been in since he became a Met.   Remember back early this season when Willie Harris caught hell from Mets fans when he spoke of the distance in the Mets clubhouse? Well, I wish those who have access to Harris would ask him if he still feels that way now that we have played more than half a season. I doubt it. For this you have to credit the manager, for keeping that clubhouse positive.

I’m worn out reading about when and where Carlos Beltran will be dealt to.  With all the debate over which team will offer the Mets the best prospect, the best take I’ve read so far on dealing Beltran comes from Paul of Random Baseball Stuff, who left this comment on my post from yesterday:

 I enjoy watching Beltran play, but I’m going to be annoyed if he’s still a Met on Aug. 1st. Sandy has got to move him for the best return he can get – the 2011 Mets aren’t going anywhere, and I don’t think Beltran fits in the 2012 budget.

 Even if he only gets salary relief, it would be better than nothing. The Mets haven’t finished signing all of their high-round draft picks yet.  

When you think about it, if you trade Beltran to a team that would take the rest of his salary for the year, it comes out to about $5-$6 mil. You could use that money to sign Brandon Nimo and RHP Logan Verret, not to mention any free agents in the Latin market as well. It may be worth more for Alderson to do that than any prospect the Giants, Phillies or Braves are willing to give up.

I’m not going to lie to you, I am ecstatic that the NFL lockout is over. I am ready for some football.

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These late inning collapses are wearing me out, and I’m sure the manager and players feel the same way. So how do the Mets stop this rash of late inning chokes? Beat’s the shit out of me.  Is Pedro Beato feeling the effects of the tendonitis in his right bicep that landed him on the DL? Is Izzy feeling the fatigue from back to back appearances? Is Dale Thayer feeling the effects of being Dale Thayer? What’s a manager to do? Maybe TC can go with Bobby Parnell and Manny Acosta a bit more but really so far this season it doesn’t matter who is in that bullpen, after a solid start the back end of the pen has become a problem and moving the pieces around isn’t solving anything.   

Jason Bay sounds like a guy who has given up. After reading these quotes it seems he asking Terry Collins to take him out of the everyday lineup:

 The underachieving Mets left fielder has been around long enough to realize every manager has a breaking point. Bay knows he needs to start hitting — or prepare for the possibility he will relinquish his everyday spot in the Mets’ lineup.

“That’s the reality of the situation we’re in,” Bay told The Post. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you that is not an option. I’m pretty aware of what’s going on.”

“It’s a results business, and this is a place where team-wise you need to win and you need to perform,” Bay said. “Regardless of who you are, you get enough chances and it’s like ‘OK, let’s go [in a different direction].’ That’s out of my control.”

Watching Bay’s AB’s last night you can see he has absolutely no confidence in himself as a hitter. In the 4^th inning he was HBP in his knee and never made an attempt to get out of the balls way. I guess he felt taking one for the team was the least he could do. In the 6th, after getting ahead 2-0, Bay missed on two fastballs, fouling them off. He then took another ball to get the count to 3-2. He fouled off another pitch he was late on and then took a called third strike. As the ump called strike three, Bay just looked at him calmly and asked where it was, the ump told him and Bay just shrugged his shoulders, got his glove and went to LF. It’s time for an intervention, either platoon Bay or talk to him and his agent about going to Buffalo or St Lonesome to work out his problems at the plate. He will not be released and he has zero trade value so this would be the best thing for the team and for Bay. Lucas Duda is ripping up Triple A pitching, he deserves a shot at the LF job.

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You can never be too skinny, too rich or have too many arms in the bullpen:

METS SELECT THE CONTRACT OF RHP MANNY ACOSTA FROM BUFFALO

FLUSHING, N.Y., June 3, 2011 – The New York Mets today announced the team has selected the contract of righthanded pitcher Manny Acosta from Buffalo (AAA) of the International League.  Acosta will wear uniform #36 and will be available for tonight’s game vs. Atlanta.  After yesterday’s game, the Mets optioned lefthanded pitcher Mike O’Connor to Buffalo.  In order to make room on the 40-man roster, the Mets transferred righthanded pitcher Chris Young to the 60-Day Disabled List.

Acosta, 30, was 1-0 with four saves and a 1.77 ERA (four earned runs/20.1 innings) in 20 games with Buffalo this season.  He allowed 13 hits, issued 17 walks, recorded 27 strikeouts and held opponents to a .186 batting average against.  The righthander had allowed one run over his last 13 appearances (0.6384 ERA), spanning 14.1 innings.

Acosta went 3-2 with a 2.95 ERA (13 earned runs/39.2 innings) in 41 games for the Mets in 2010.  He allowed 30 hits, issued 18 walks and struck out 42 batters.  The 6-4, 213-pounder went 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA (four earned runs/26.0 innings) against National League East opponents last year.

O’Connor was 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA (two earned runs/6.2 innings) in nine appearances for New York this season.

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