I have to say as much as I was looking forward to the start of spring training, I’ve got a bad case of “workout fatigue” from all the reporting going on from St. Lonesome.  There is only so much I can read about players having catch and throwing batting practice or bullpen sessions. I can only look at so many pictures of players stretching where it starts to become as annoying as when you’re cornered by a co-worker and forced you to look at pictures of the latest birthday party they had for their 3 year old.

It’s gotten to the point I sit at the keyboard and try to figure out what the hell can I come up with that’s new and fresh. I’m still staring. I can’t wait until Saturday when I can at least see players in game action. It’s nice to read about pitchers throwing outstanding bullpens and hitters ripping the cover off a batting practice fastball but when it’s put in real live action then we’ll find out just what we have with this Mets team.

And no I’m not jealous of everyone down in Florida in their shorts and t-shirts enjoying the warm sun, I’d much rather be here in NYC with four layers of clothes and being stuffed into a subway car like a sardine.

When I look over how the makeup of the Mets roster could be constructed I cannot fathom how either Oliver Perez or Luis Castillo makes this team (ok I admit I’m a bit obsessed with these two faces of failure and I see what Sandy Alderson is doing by keeping them as long as can until he either trades them or releases them)

For Castillo it’s either start or bust, he is no use to the team off the bench. From many indications, both Daniel Murphy and Brad Emaus will make the team, most likely as a platoon at second base unless one guy break out big at the start of the season.  Between Murph and Emaus you have a shot at 60+ xbh  from second base. It would take Castillo three season to do that.

Ollie Perez has become the Mets square peg on the round hole. What a misfit. Looking at pitching staff it looks like a 12 man staff of five starters and seven relievers. From the early results, Chris Capuano and Chris Young should fill out the bottom two fifths of the rotation. From listening to Terry Collins, the men in the pen who will have locker space in Queens are Frankie Rodriguez, Bobby Parnell, D.J. Carrasco. Pedro Beato has made a big impression on Collins and with his Rule 5 label attached to him he’d have to get hit from stem to stern to not make the team.  Now it gets a bit complicated. Jason Issringhausen has surprised everyone by showing up in Mets camp and looking impressive in his workouts. Izzy does just bring back some nostalgic memories, he also brings an impressive closers resume as well.  That leaves two spots and one has to be filled by a LOOGY, so Tim Byrdak and Taylor Tankersley will fight for that spot or would they both make the team? What about Pat Misch? Another lefty who could be LOOGY-ish or Darren Oliver-ish as a long man.  I haven’t even mentioned Mike O’Connor or two righties, Manny Acosta and Manny Alvarez who could make the final bullpen decision difficult for Alderson and Collins.

Am I missing anyone? I don’t think so, hummmm let me see…………ahhh yeah, Mr. Square Peg. Sorry Ollie you don’t fit here anymore.

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I think the current state of events sums up the Mets season well. The team has won three straight (yes it’s the Pirates I know they are Division III but a win is a win is a win) seven of ten and eight of the fourteen games they’ve played in the month of September. There is a glimmering light of hope as this years team at least competes to win while last years dogs lied down most of the summer. So we should all be singing a happy song but of this is Metsville where good news dissipates like a fart in the wind as bad news pulls the blanket over our heads.

Jenry Mejia, he of the blazing fastball and youthful exuberance, felt something in his back that had Henry Blanco, Dan Werthen and Ray Ramirez doing the Flushing Two-Step to the mound. Meija was done for the night. As with the Johan Santana injury, we heard from everyone but a medical school graduate. Jerry Manuel was still going with the muscle pull diagnosis which he uses for every ailment his players report to him. So as of this morning ,all we know is a 20 year old neophyte pitcher who was rated as one of the top pitching prospects in the baseball, was jerked around by a clueless management team will now go for an MRI on his back and shoulder today and you know the news will not be good. Does JetBlue have flights to Birmingham AL?  

When the list to fill the second base position for the Mets in 2011, the guy I wanted to win that job was Reese Havens. Havens is a Dan Uggla type but with a better glove. I was hoping his oblique injury would heal fast so he could get back on the field and show the brass his stuff. Havens has not made it back and after a couple of months of inactivity it’s possible that Havens will need back surgery this winter. That sucks, that really really sucks.

Listen I like Jose Reyes and I hope he’s a Met next year (unless of course there is a blockbuster deal for a front line pitcher then adios Jo-Jo) and Reyes has a loyal fan base but for me after watching a week of Colorado Rockies games and seeing Troy Tulowitzki (TULO to his fans and admirers) if he played for the Mets, the best selling shirts at Citi Field would be Derek Who?

Just verifies what we’ve only known for years only thugs wear Highlander caps.

Why is it a shock that there are over 30,000 empty seats at Citi Field for this past weeks games ? The team is out of playoff contention, Mets fans have less than zero confidence in the front office as management for some reason has decided to wait until the Monday after the end of the regular season to tell us the inevitable that Omar will be reassigned and Jerry will be fired, kids are back to school which means homework, teams, clubs which take up as much of mommy and daddy’s time the kids, the of course there is the ticket prices. I gave away two tickets to Mets-Brewers for next Thursday night in the Caesars Club section. It’s just not worth taking two subway trains, a ferry and another train to get home by maybe midnight and then to get up at 5AM the next day to go to work for two teams playing out the string ? Nah!!!!

It’s not just the Mets it’s all sports. Every team is feeling the pinch of the economy. That $500 bucks who were spending on tickets now goes to the utility bill. The greed of ownership has ruined the experience of being at a game. The majority of the people at sporting events are more concerned with the wine and cheese than with the hit and run and hitting to the opposite field. If these prop fans are not inside the private club sipping and texting, they are sitting with in range of the centerfield camera on their cell phones waving like retards.

I like it better in my Man Cave with the remote in one hand and nacho in the other. Besides it’s nice to be the only retard in the house.

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First let me say Shana Tova to all of you celebrating Rosh Hashanah at sundown this evening.

Well just when I want to abandon this Mets season along comes Dillon Gee to shed a bit of light on the darkness of another post season-less season in Flushing.

Gee’ start even energized the broadcast booth last night as Ron Darling was as excited as we seen him in a long time as he watched Gee show a nice grasp of the art of pitching. Gee was quite effective using a sharp breaking ball that the TV crew said was a curve but Gee himself told Kevin Burkhardt that it was a slider that he relied on most of the evening as he could not get good command of his curve and that helped him set up his low 90’s fastball to keep the Nationals hitters off balance. That is the definition of pitching ,staying  ahead of batters and keeping them off balance and for one night at least, Gee showed a ton of promise as an arm to look at for 2011.

For all the grief I give the Skill Sets, the one thing I’ve always admired about them was their commitment to our armed forces. If you go to games at Citi Field you know that the club acknowledges wounded vets by giving them much deserved VIP treatment at Mets games. They were the driving force in the caps worn and sold during Memorial Day and 4^th of July by players and fans with proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior program and they make sure that the players make a trip to Walter Reed Hospital when the club plays the Nats in D.C., which has a profound effect not only on the heroes who were injured in battle but on the Mets players as well. Guys like David Wright, R.A. Dickey and Angel Pagan are up front about their feeling toward the trip in fact the whole Mets organization steps up big time by going to Walter Reed to lift the solders morale.  Well, almost everyone.

It seems Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo and Carlos Beltran were the only member of the team to not make the trip to Walter Reed.  Why these three decided not to go has not been explained. Hopefully those with access to the players will ask them why they blew off this very important trip.  The fact that it was these three who were absent proves out why the vast majority of Mets fans can’t stand the trio.

Perez and Castillo should have been dumped a longggggggggggggggggg time ago but it should not be a shock that these two selfish shitheads would not go to a hospital to visit injured soldiers. Maybe they were embarrassed that as much as they suck at what they do and lack any balls to step up and make a positive contribution to the team ,shamed them from showing up. As for Beltran, he did himself no favor in the eyes of Mets  fansfor not showing up.

As far as I’m concerned Perez, Castillo and Beltran are three no good scumbags for not appearing.  I defended Beltran when he came back from injury and a lot of folks blamed him for the second half demise of the club. I have never been a fan of Beltran even though he is a great player (most long time readers know I was no fan of Mike Piazza’ either as Piazza and Beltran have the same “me” attitude just my opinion) and I think he is sometimes attacked unfairly but after being a no show yesterday, my Beltran defense rests.

If there is a silver lining to this embarrassment, it’s that maybe NOW Jeffy Skill Sets, getting embarrassed by these three, will finally realize that they all need to go no matter what the monetary cost.  I would have a ton more respect for the Skill Sets if they sent both Perez and Castillo home right now and informed Beltran that the club will do all they can to move him to a new team. I just hope that Beltran didn’t blow off this hospital visit because of his discontent with Mets management because if he did then he’s a gutless coward.

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Through all the anger and despair of another lost season in Flushing sometimes you have to step back and look at some positives, though there aren’t many but one is the resurgence of Big Pelf.  Pelfrey’s season is a microcosm of the Mets this year, more ups and downs than an elevator shaft at the Empire State Building.

Pelf had a great start to the season and then was just average in May and June and down right awful in July and now has bounced back to this April quality this month of August.  So how did Big Pelf turn his season around?

For one thing Pelfrey is back to throwing strikes and using his two seamer  with authority. It seems any problems Pelf has it always comes down to confidence in his pitches and this year it’s taken him a while to master that two seam fastball which is a new pitch added to his arsenal. It seems that pitch eluded him for the month of July and one thing we know for sure about Big Pelf is for a big strapping guy, he can be quite fragile emotionally. Maybe the July meltdown and the fact that he now realizes his problems are in his head and not his arm will be the turning point to his career. There is too much talent here for Pelfrey not to become a stud pitcher.

I watched just bits and pieces of last night’s game as I was more involved in the Red Sox-Rays game but I did see that Jerry Manuel brought Bobby Parnell in to pitch the 9^th inning last night but then let Takahashi finish the game. Parnell  K’d Hunter Pence then gave up a single to Carlos Lee who took second on Pagan’s double then after Chris Johnson singled Manuel decides it’s time to become Tony LaRussa and over manage by bringing in Takahashi. Why not see if Parnell can get out the jam ? I can see the point of not wanting to lose this game and get Pelfrey a another win but I’d would think with Parnell having been pitching well in this spot of late and with Parnell looking to fill the void at closer why not let him finish? Even if he gives up a hit and the lead and blows the save, at least you can see how he responds to that as closers have to have short memories in order to succeed. You could lose this battle but win the war if Parnell shows the guts to forget it and comeback strong in his next outing. He could also strikeout the next two batters and have his confidence sore from that experience as well. Maybe that was too much for Jerry Manuel to think about .

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Have you come to grips with the fact the Mets will not make the post season? I have. I’m not happy about it but it is what it is, the Mets have a big fork sticking out their collective oblique muscle. So that’s why I have gone from being totally pissed off that a team that is in the throws of bankruptcy, the Texas Rangers, are wheelin’ and a dealin’ while the Mets front office is at Jeffey Skill Sets Hamptons beach house walking the shore line with metal detectors looking for loose change.

There isn’t a proposed deal mention about the Mets that makes any sense for Omar (or the Omar like figure running these things these days) to pull the trigger on.:

Octavio Dotel  for LHP Robert Carson. I would love to see Dotel in the Mets over worked and over used bullpen but not for Carson. Carson is just 22 years old and throws a fastball that cuts, slder and  a change up. His has the abilty to change speeds on his fastball from high 80’s to low-mid 90’s. Some scouting reports potray Carson a LOOGY in the bigs or if he continues to grow as a pitcher a back end starter. At this point, it’s a good thing for the Mets to hold on to Carson. If the Pirates would take Eddie Kunz then this would be a great deal for the Mets

Brett Myers for Josh Thole and Bobby Parnell. First off I want no part of Myers and his baggage not only that Ed Wade is out of his fuckng mind if he asked for Thole and Parnell for Myers after giving Lance Berkman to the Highlanders for nothing. If I were the Mets GM and Wade called me with that offer I’d slam the phone down on him.

Carlos Zambrano for Ollie Perez and Lusi Castillo. As per Jon Heyman, Jim Hendry won’t take Castillo in the deal. Even if the Cubs said yes to this it wouldn’t work out financially for the Mets. Z is owed about $55 mil for the next three years, OP and Looie have the Mets in an $18 mil hole for 2011. So as I’ve said many many times it cheaper to DFA both these slugs. If the Mets really wanted to get creative they should revist this deal in the winter and switch Castillo with Frankie Rodriguez and offer that to the Cubs. I guarantee Mets fans will be cursing the K-Rod deal (if they’re not already) starting next year.

I think where some Mets fans miss the point with Mets front office, it’s not that the Mets don’t spend money, they just don’t know how to spend it. That’s why the GM and Manager (because Omar has lost the right to sign another manager) need to be reassigned and younger, hipper more analytical baseball executive needs to be brought in. I would love to see Paul DePodesta brought in or someone like him to go with Omar in his new assignment as Senior of Scouting and Player Development.

Can someone with access to Jerry Manuel , please for the love of God, ask him why he plays Jeff Francoeur every day!

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It’s not the loss that has me pissed, it the way it happened that makes me wonder if under the stewardship on Mr. Jerry Manuel, this team can make the post season as the manager has absolutely no feel for in game managing.

First there was the lineup. With both Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan ailing, was it wise to give Jason Bay the day off? I’ve advocated giving Chris Carter some playing time but again the manager has to have a feel for knowing when to play guys and when to let them sit, you can’t keep Bay out the line up when your two offensive catalysts are sitting. Wouldn’t giving Bay a game off in Puerto Rico be more beneficial since he wouldn’t have to run on an artificial turf laded outfield?

Then we have this whole “I wanted to get Johan out on a positive note” line of bullshit? Santana pitched his best game in over a month and not just that he is still the Ace of the staff. Maybe it’s just a figurehead title but can you imagine Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum, CC Sabathia or Cliff Lee coming out of a game like last night? I know Johan said he wanted to stay in the game but acquiesced to the managers move, maybe he should have demanded to stay in I bet those pitchers I mentioned would get into a fist fight with their skipper to finish a game like that.

The 9^th inning was just a pure disaster as Manuel let Ryota Igarashi, a guy who walks as many batters as he strikes out, pitch in bases loaded spot one out and Ryan Zimmerman up. I can buy the notion of saving Frankie Rodriguez for the save spot as the Mets are the road team, but if you’re not going to use Bobby Parnell in that spot, then why is Parnell here?    

You could hear the disgust in Ron Darling’ voice as Igarashi fell behind 2-0 to Zimmerman by throwing tow breaking balls, when the situation called for challenging the hitter with fastballs. That’s why this situation cried out for Parnell to be brought in. If Zim hits a 98 mph fastball for a game winning hit, tip your hat and move on. I just wonder if Igarashi would have walked in the winning run, would that be grounds for the manager’s dismissal?

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It won’t be truly the year of the pitcher until a Mets pitcher throws a no-hitter. Last night was almost the night as Jon Niese, he of the defective hammy, was a 3^rd inning Chris Denofia double away from Mets immortality. It’s coming I can feel it, or maybe that’s Western Omelet I had for breakfast.

I would guess that Johan Santana being 31 yrs old and coming off a couple of injuries would lose a bit off his fastball but I don’t think it’s the end of the world or the cause for him to be winless in his last in all but one of his last eight starts. Kevin Kernan was a way off base about Santana this morning, even with the great breakout season of Big Pelf, Santana is still the Ace of the Mets staff. Wake up Kevin, pitchers wins are so 1960’s.

Why didn’t Mets management throw that skanky-Yankee fan Lady GaGa out of Citi Field yesterday? Believe me when it comes to looking at women in a bra and panties I’m the last guy to complain but Lady GaGa doesn’t have enough going on to pull that look off, like these lovely ladies.  Keep your clothes on you no talent bitch.

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When it came time to step up, John Maine did just that. Or maybe it was the fear of seeing Jerry Manuel yank Ollie Perez after 3.2 innings that scared Maine straight or should I say scared the movement out him as Maine, still unable to hit 90 mph on the radar gun with his fastball, had his fastball dancing like Bo jangles Robinson. It was a fine piece of pitching by Maine.

I’m sure we can all agree that it’s “the pitching stupid” that has set off this Mets revival, but don’t overlook the aggressive way the team plays on defense and on the bases. The team is starting to figure out how to use the vast gaps of the $iti Field outfield. The players have adopted this terrific bust your ass attitude when it comes to base running. Balls hit in the gap are not taken for granted as before. How many times last year did we see Mets batters hit one to gap and watch them jog into second base? Now the mindset is go for three. This might backfire once in a awhile but most times this aggressive type of base running will pay great dividends. At least once this year, Frenchy will throw someone out on at 1^st base on one hopper to RF.

I will concede that Daniel Murphy’ days as Mets first base man are over. But what has me pissed is Mets fans acting like Murphy is a leper. When Ty Wigington was a Met he was a folk hero and Murphy is cut from the same blue collar cloth as Wiggy. When he gets healthy, Murphy will play in some extended spring games and then do some rehab games at Bingo or Buffalo. I would think the plan is to make Murphy into a super sub where he can fill in at LF, or 2^nd, 3^rd or 1B. Yes I know Murphy was awful in left field but working in the minors and with the work ethic he has I’m sure he could become serviceable in the outfield. I guess all you Murphy haters enjoy watching Frank Catalanotto.

Remember Mike Bacsik who pitched for the Mets back in 2001-2002 ? Bacsik came to the Mets as part of the Robbie Alomar deal with the Indians. Bacsik had a nondescript career with the Mets and his claim to fame up until a few days ago was giving up Barry Bonds 756^th home run. I saw Bacisk’ name on Twitter so I started following him and found out that he was a sportstalk radio host and show producer, was is the key word as Bacsik was canned from his job at KTCK in Dallas. Bacsik lost his job due to his rants on his private Twitter page during the Mavs-Spurs game the other night. I saw some of Bacsik’ Tweets that night and they were quite amusing especially his complaints about the officiating of the Mavs-Spurs playoff series in which he Tweeted about NBA Commish David Stern and his refs sucking. It was when Bacsik Tweeted about the “dirty Mexicans” in San Antonio that he got his ass in a sling. Bacsik claims he was at a bar and drinking heavily while watching the game and Tweeting. So if anything Bacsik is guilty of TUI, Tweeting Under the Influence. Bacsik is hoping to get his job back though by playing the Rickey Bobby card, asking the little baby Jesus for forgiveness.

The Mets and NY Water Taxi have brought back the service to $iti Field after a one year hiatus. This was my favorite mode of transportation to Shea. It took a bit longer than by car but it was much more enjoyable. When I saw they were bringing the service back and it was free I was jumping for joy but then I read the fine print, the boat is a one way trip. Why? The best part of the ride was the return trip. You could sit outside have a cold drink and just chill. My guess is the free one way trip is a way to gauge interest in fans taking the water taxi to the game and maybe after a few trips one way and having to fight the crowds of the 7 train back to the city, fans will clamor for round trip service and not mind paying a fee. I hope it happens as I’d be a frequent sailor.

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Good to see the Mets have Gil Meche on their radar, as the stories are flying fast and furious tha the Mets and Royals are looking to become trade partners at the winter Meetings.

I like Meche as a pitcher to fill the 3 or 4 spot in the rotation. He throws a heavy fastball and a nice curve that induces a lot of ground ball outs. His biggest draw back is his walk rate. His BB/9 rate last year was 4.5 with a career mark of 3.65, which if he stays at is tolerable. Meche also had some health issues with his back and shoulder fatigue.

The Royals are looking to dump Jose Guillen and his $12 mil salary. The interesting thing with Guillen is how does it affect Fernando Martinez ? F-Mart is again sitting out time from his Winter League team, due to blisters on his hands. His manager is no other than Moises Alou who of course advocates giving your hands a golden shower to toughen them up. I bet Tiger Woods has hands like tree bark, who knew Eldrick Woods was such a freak? But, I digess…. 

What does Mets management think of F-Mart? Do they still hold him in high esteem as a top prospect and the LF of the future or do they look at them as a talent that will never reach full potential? If he still in the Mets plans as a big leaguer the could go with Guillen and allow F-Mart to finally show he can play a full baseball season without getting hurt where he loses large chuck of playing time. With the names we’ve been hearing, Guillen and Pat Burrell it looks as if the Mets are still looking at F-Mart as the long term LF option. If it comes down to either Guillen or Burrell I’d rather keep Angel Pagan. 

Of course it all goes out the window if Matt Holiday becomes signable but I doubt that will happen.

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Are you guys staying up late to watch our hero’s on the Left Coast? I see that L-Hern had nothing last night but a batting practice fastball and we now have A-Hern back could L-Millz be far behind for a Back to the Future retro ?

Congrats to Big Pelf on becoming a first time Daddy.

It seems I’ve hit a nerve with some readers on calling out D-Wright for not charging the mound after Brad Thompson whizzed a pitch at his head, and I will say that I am stunned that some of you guys think he did the right thing by not going after Thompson. All I can tell you pacifists is the Mets have a rep around baseball as a bunch of pussies who when they are challenged never step up not just to fight but when times get tough they wilt like flowers in a rain storm. Thing will never change until the team grows some balls and if you think that is neanderthal thinking well it is and I don’t apologize for that and if you don’t like it then kiss my hairy cave man ass.

Thank God for the New York Fottball Giants to take my mind off this awful Mets season

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