So we have seen the Mets being swept by the Pirates and only manage 1 run versus the Nationals yesterday while letting up 7 so far in June. It doesnt get more ugly than that folks and i hesitate to think theres still over 100 games left. With no help in sight it seems coming from the front office, lets look at a few issues/facts that Jerry might be overlooking…or not looking at all since he doesnt like using stats ;p
- For the month of May, The Mets stole 38 bases. Over the past 7 days they have only stolen 4.
- For the month of May, The Mets hit .280. Over the past 7 days they have hit only .240 while using a different lineup each day.
- We are getting more production out of our #8 hitter(.291avg) than our #6 hitter(.203).
- We still have the 2nd best bullpen in the Majors(behind Boston)
- The Mets are playing with only a 81 million dollar payroll..down from their start of 146 million dollar payroll at the beginning of the year.
- As bad as the Mets look right now, they were 6.5 games out of first place last year and 1 game under .500
There have been several ideas from Met fans indicating what they think Omar should do to help the team out. They range from aquiring Big names to Stop gaps and some suggested Omar do nothing. Whatever the course of action is at this point, we need to get it done with what we have. We need to do the little things and have no room for error. They need to steal more, hit and run more and get those sac flys if they present themselves. In more qualified hands, the Mets can get by with what they have. Unfortunatly from what I have seen from Jerry, he is just as inconsistant as the team. If the Mets win it will be inspite of Manuel, not because of him. By the way, the Mets payroll as of today puts them right in the middle of the 2000 and 2001 opening day payrolls. LGM!
6 comments
GravediggerHebner
6/7/2009-10:40am at 10:40 am (UTC -4)
I can’t imagine a scenario in which the team fires Manuel (because I refuse to imagine a 10 game losing streak) so as much as we want a Mike Scioscia-type (because Scioscia himself would bring back too many bad memories), I think we’ll have to wait til the offseason for that. Of course that implies an offseason after no postseason.
I strongly agree with your points about stolen bases. All I can think is that the team went a little too wild with it’s base running recently and is trying to find a happy medium. I was looking forward to some steals last night considering Wil Nieves’ 2 for 21 caught stealing numbers, but it’s hard to steal when you’re not on base.
Jerry has uttered a lot of hollow words, so I can’t say it’s going to bear out, but he has said regarding his “managing philosophy” that he uses roughly the first 60 games of a season to test and learn in depth his players’ strengths and weaknesses to better understand how to utilize them for the last 100 games. We’re 54 games in, so that learning period is almost over. I am very interested to see how he deploys his outfielders over the next week.
Oh and thanks for the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” hint.
dirtysanchez
6/7/2009-10:50am at 10:50 am (UTC -4)
lmao no problem grave..hope it saves you a turn ;p
Im not sure what more he has to see….but i hope he shapes up because we are going to need to get our act together to stay alive through this thing
metsfan4decades
6/7/2009-10:58am at 10:58 am (UTC -4)
Holy crap! That 5th bullet just about says it all to me. We’re not even close to playing with the team Omar tried to field. Most of the problems are just not his fault. Let’s see what we had on paper going into the season:
- starting rotation: I didn’t think it too bad. He got depth for the 5th spot. Garcia didn’t work out but Livan did and Redding might. He rolled the dice with Ollie and so far, it’s been worse than could have been predicted with him.
- infield:
– To me, Delgado’s signing was a no brainer. Injury is always more of a concern with older players than younger. And we lost on this one…
– Castillo: he was untradeable and just cutting him was not remotely feasible. He couldn’t get worse and so far he’s been better than last year.
– SS and 3rd: Big no brainers there. We have 2 of the top 5% in those positions, in my opinion. No one could have predicted the Reyes injury but it’s always a possibility. Omar got Cora for BU MI, which I believe was a good signing. Having Cora go down same time as Reyes was beyond bad luck.
– Catcher: Tried to get something for Castro before the season but couldn’t. We knew what we had with Schneider so no surprises there. I think the trading of Castro and promotion of Santos was a good move as Santos has pop, is younger and quicker than Castro and in better health.
Outfield:
– CF: Big no brainer there.
– RF: I thought Church was supposed to be the starting RF. Obviously, Jerry didn’t buy into that. To me, that tinkering there did more harm then good.
– LF: Trying Murphy was only just O.K. Turned out he’s worse in LF than anyone thought he’d be. Moving him to 1st with Delgado out was a better move. Expected more from his bat.
– Sheffield signing: I didn’t get this but for the $$, it was a decent move. Sheff is never going to be able to play every day though so trading Delgado’s bat for his isn’t going to get it done.
– OF bench: Reed, Tatis, Pagan all good moves to me.
– BP: got the job done there, no question about it. Putz was a gamble that didn’t pay off though but if Parnell can take that 8th inning job, not much of a hole there.
No one would have even remotely could have predicted the rash of injuries that hit this team inside a month. So what to do now is the big question. I don’t think standing pat is going to keep us in this race. What to get, who to give up though has been much debated. It’ll be interesting to say the least, to see what Omar does.
Me? I think we need a a 4th starter and a bat – preferably OF bat – even better if we can get someone who plays OF/1st. Much as I hate to say this, I think Murphy and Church are expendable but no point in trading them if we’re going to just get back the same.
Oh yeah and Heyman? Contrary to what he believes I don’t think we need a SS or relief pitcher. Least of our priorities. I can’t believe he’s got those two as #2 and #4 on his top 5…
dirtysanchez
6/7/2009-11:12am at 11:12 am (UTC -4)
good recap!
I dont think we need a starter more than a big bat
If you ask real, he can tell you im the what if of the group and i hate log jams
imo the list of needs
1) power OF
2) Relief Pitcher
3) Infielder
4) Starter
As much as people are going to say that reyes/delgado wont be back or wont be 100%, fact is they will be back and you have to give them their roster spot back. I dont want to have any conflicts when that happens. Ollie for better or worse will be back soon, and they are not going to give up pelf/maine who are young and cheap. Livan is fine for #5. That takes care of the rotation. Shef is too old to play everyday and we have seen what pitchers do to beltran/wright when its really only those two in the lineup. We need someone to seperate those two. The OF is the best place to get the power as it will not conflict with delgado coming back and now shef does not have to play every day to supply power in the lineup.
GravediggerHebner
6/7/2009-12:05pm at 12:05 pm (UTC -4)
I have come around and I agree that “power OF” is #1 on the list. In fact I think it’s the only thing on the list.
Whatever starting pitchers the Mets put out every 5 days for the rest of the season are probably already in the organization.
I can see the potential need for a relief pitcher if moving Parnell to the 8th inning leaves a hole elsewhere, but recently the bullpen (outside of Putz who’s now gone) has been the strength of the team and for now I wouldn’t tinker with it.
I don’t see a starting infielder being acquired because of the problems with wedging in players when currently disabled infielders return.
Outfield is where the team is most flexible. Sheffield never had any guarantee of playing time and is 40, he can be put in a bench role or released if necessary. F. Martinez may or may not work out, if he doesn’t he’s easily optioned to the minors, if he does part of the offensive problem is solved. Church seemingly always has something to prove, and the next week is big for him as well as for FMart.
Tatis is accustomed to and accepting of a bench role. Beltran is the only confirmed everyday player of the OF bunch. Flanking Beltran in the outfield (and perhaps the lineup) is the most workable way for Omar to improve the offense IMO.
If anyone of note is acquired via trade to help this team over the next 6 weeks, I expect it to be an outfielder.
metsfan4decades
6/7/2009-12:07pm at 12:07 pm (UTC -4)
I agree about the log jams. Good point.
I still think though the depth for SP is shaky. We’re one injury there from a disaster. The way I’m looking at it depth wise, if that happens we’ve got what?
- Ollie – hopefully back in a month but big question mark.
- Niese – at best right now a 5th starter and we’ve already got two of those pitching in the current rotation.
- Figgy – to me, good for just some spot starts.
Maine is coming off surgery. I see this morning he was quoted as saying he’s still got some ‘tightness’ in that shoulder. What if he goes on the DL again? Yikes!
Given the fact the the NL east is not that good all the way around this year, we might be able to tread water for awhile. Time will tell….