As we close the first half of 2009 on a small but encouraging positive note after two nice wins, it is time to reflect on the performance of the team.
We have seen more injuries to key players than in any year since 1987, and like that disappointing season, the team’s fortunes have been dramatically affected by the massive amount of production which rests on the DL. Also like that year, the replacements have surely tried hard to fill in, but no team can hold enough talent in reserve to make up for 5 or 6 of the team’s most important players being disabled at the same time.
Other than the Dodgers and Phillies, there are no thoroughly solid teams in the NL. The Giants indeed look good right now with their pitching, but Met fans have to realistically think that, while we cannot be overly optimistic about our postseason chances until we see some of the walking wounded running and hitting and throwing again, we certainly will have an infusion of our own talent returning at some point, in addition to any more trades Omar can manage to swing. The cup is surely not full, but it is far from empty. More games like yesterday and today will help us to stay within telescopic sight of the playoffs, and with the way the NL looks right now, an 8- or 10-game winning streak in August could indeed catapult us right back over the wall into the courtyard of contention.
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Francisco Rodriguez: AÂ Â Â Â Â Has two blown saves and a third which was a gift from Slappy, but overall has been nothing short of fabulous. Has a great arsenal of pitches, has no fear, and has stepped right back up after each blown save. Precisely what this team needed and maybe the first half team MVP. Thank you again Omar.
David Wright: A-     It is tempting to be down on David, with his few homers and many Ks, but his overall production, and his continuing to silence the ridiculous “He is not clutch†and “He is not a leader†voices have to earn him an A-. He has fewer RBI, but he has seen a lot less chances. When we have won, he has been in the middle of it just about every time. And his on-field and in-dugout leadership, as well as his comments about preparedness, seem to show that the leader we have been waiting for has indeed arrived, and in very troubling times.
Johan Santana: A-     Had a great beginning of the season, hit a rough patch, and appears to have recovered lately. The rock of the rotation, a great and enthusiastic leader, and with the pitching staff’s struggles, he has to be considered as something of a savior this year.
Carlos Beltran:A-     He has again been nothing but a very valuable and productive player, in a key defensive position. Has been more vocal about the team’s play and his own situation. Has to be downgraded from an A for some sloppy and somewhat lackadaisical baserunning on occasion, but remains one of the core leaders of this team in every way.
Gary Sheffield: B+     Not the MVP contender of years past, but his plate discipline, OBP, and tremendously needed power and presence have been fantastic. Maybe earns a shade higher grade than the numbers would suggest due to the bargain of his salary and how much his production has been needed due to injuries. The team would be far further buried without Shef. And as many—myself included—did not want him here, he stands with Pedro as exhibits A and B of why we should not pay attention to the media’s negative portrayals of players’ clubhouse influence until we can judge for ourselves.
Pedro Feliciano: B+     Has been really good and very reliable. Other than too many HR allowed, fine stats across the board. Let’s hope he keeps it up and does not tire.
Omir Santos: BÂ Â Â Â Â One of the better surprises of the year. Weak OBP, but power and RBI have been very good, and often well-timed.
Rest of Pen: B-Â Â Â Â Â Parnell and Green are both solid pieces, probably not as good as they looked early, or as bad as they have looked a lot of the time since. Stokes is surely a serviceable 4th or 5th man to have in the pen. If JJ returns healthy as the 8th inning guy and everyone else moves down a notch, they all become more valuable.
Luis Castillo: B-     Maybe even a solid B. Has hit decently, has gotten on base very well, and despite one horrifying error which some of us may remember, has been a fine fielder this year. He cannot be blamed for saying “OK!†when offered a couple more years and a lot more money than he was worth.
Mike Pelfrey: B-     Still disappointing overall, but still young and still shows enough for the team to believe he will soon develop into a solid number two. Must pound the strike zone and focus, and let’s hope Wright keeps reminding him of these facts.
The Bench: B-Â Â Â Â Â Cora has cooled, but has done a good job overall, while being asked to do far too much. The league has again caught up with Tatis, but he remains a versatile and nice bench piece. Reed has been very good overall, and has hit better than could have been expected. The bench would almost certainly have a higher grade were they allowed to be the bench, and not start so often.
Daniel Murphy: C+     Has shown some more promise of late, and has fielded very well at first base. The jury is still out on him overall, but he has shown enough production to still justify being out there every day until Delgado returns. Hard to really say what he will ultimately be.
Livan Hernandez: CÂ Â Â Â Â Maybe a bit generous, but really has been about as expected, and has provided some needed innings and wins.
Brian Schneider: CÂ Â Â Â Â Very average in all ways, but has been unusually productive of late. Will surely be gone next year.
Tim Redding: D-Â Â Â Â Â Simply not a very good pitcher.
Ryan Church/Jeff Francoeur: TBDÂ Â Â Â Â I like this deal a lot. Church is soon to be 31, and remains a very streaky and injury-prone guy, who has great hot streaks followed by icy cold ones, which are then usually followed by an injury. Frenchy has a horrid OBP and his power has lessened, but he has also put up full seasons more productive than anything that the 5-years-older Church has managed to achieve. And most key of all, Frenchy can play every day; Church cannot. This is the most important part of this trade.
Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, John Maine, Oliver Perez, JJ Putz, Fernando Nieve, Fernando Martinez: Incompletes         Simply unfair to judge any of them –yes, including Ollie!—thus far. Nieve surely has exciting potential, but it is too soon to grade him. Same with FMart, assuming he ever can have a 60-day healthy period in which we can try to assess him. JJ was not himself at all this year, and should have been disabled long before he was. Let’s hope we can have a larger body of evidence for final judgments on all of these extremely important players later this summer. Or better yet, early this fall.
 Jerry Manuel: C     I find it hard to be objective about Jerry. He has been dealt a 6-card hand in a 7-card stud game, but I feel he has played this hand very poorly. Yes, players on this level should be self-motivated and prepare themselves, but I still feel that there has been just too much in the way of weak fundamental play on the bases and in the field. Batting Argenis leadoff and sitting Murphy for Tatis are moves which make no sense and are indefensible. The excessive bunting and endless lineup juggling have not helped the team. I do think that Jerry’s positive demeanor may help keep things on an even keel in these hard times, and this is why he earns a grade of C rather than a bit lower.
Training and Medical Staff: D     I have been over this again and again, and Adam Rubin knows a lot more than we do, so check this article out, as it says what I feel, yet with much more weight of evidence and access behind it. Rubin re-states what the Star Ledger’s Brian Costa also earlier expressed: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2009/07/11/2009-07-11_meet_the_mess.html
Omar Minaya: B     Sorry, he deserves a B. Ollie looks bad, but how good do KRod and Shef look? Omar cannot be blamed for the Wilpons refusing to field a $200 million payroll, and he cannot be expected to have an all-star team waiting in AAA. He has given us a contending team every year, and there is no reason to believe that if we are healthy and make a couple more improvements, that 2010 will not be a great year, as this year might have been without the injuries.
The Wilpons: B-Â Â Â Â Â Hard to grade them, as it is so hard to know what they think and what they dictate. From our perspective, it seems as though they would not increase the payroll enough to obtain another bat in the offseason, and their silence seems to say that they are either content with poor fundamental play or too distracted elsewhere to notice.
Overall Team Grade: C+     Despite the injuries, we still remain within striking distance of the playoff chase. We certainly have a lot of teams to leapfrog, but if we somehow return to full strength by mid-August and remain within about a half dozen games of a playoff spot, we might see the opposite finish of the last two years. Despite the injuries and sloppy play, the team clearly has not given up, and we have half of an excellent starting lineup on the DL. Let’s get them all back and see if all of the adversity has strengthened the constitution of this franchise.
22 comments
gipperpdx
7/12/2009-7:32pm at 7:32 pm (UTC -4)
Overall, very well done!
I’d be kinder to Feliciano: and A-. And a solid B for Slappy.
Yet…I would give Jerry a D+ at most, for all the reasons you mentioned. Wilpons a D for flubbing the interior of Citi and getting hosed in a pyramid scheme. Training an medical staff deserve an F, and to be expelled! I’d give the overall team a gentleman’s C.
metsfan4decades
7/12/2009-7:51pm at 7:51 pm (UTC -4)
If it’s all the same to you, I’d really rather not reflect on the first half as it really was painful for the most part. Let’s just say it wasn’t close to what I think we were counting on, mostly b/c of the injuries.
Nice analysis though. I more or less agree with most of it.
I probably would give Jerry just a tad bit more leeway just because he was forced to play the hand he was dealt. Little too much tinkering though is my big complaint.
I don’t know about a solid B for Omar either. He would have got a B- in my book. Made some good moves but I feel since they signed Delgado knowing he had that hip problem, rolling the dice he would only wind up on the 15 day DL and not having someone else either on the bench or in the minors who could play 1st base was too big a gamble. Especially since we had no real LF either and they were rolling that same dice Murph could handle that position.
Poor defense cost this team a good 5 games in the first half.
stickguy
7/12/2009-7:51pm at 7:51 pm (UTC -4)
Nice summary, and pretty reasonable on the grades (if maybe a bit generous).
But, to me, a big part of these lists is expectations. That is, do you grade on absolute performance, or performance vs. expected baseline? ANd of course, what do you base expectatins on, contract, or some more subjective feeling of capabilities?
So, for Castillo, IMO he gets a lower grade based on real output (that is, he is of C level quality as a 2B at best, although better than last years D-), or maybe as a B since you didn’t expect much from him (that is, he pretty much hit 100%+ of his expected ceiling).
fongy2
7/12/2009-8:18pm at 8:18 pm (UTC -4)
Ya know Brock I’m a fellow long suffering fan and have great respect
for you BUT I’ve noticed you and a
couple others here have made this
comparison to the ’87 team before.
Sorry but It doesn’t fit! While that
team did suffer a bunch of nagging
injuries throughout the season the
only guys I recall losing for long
stretches were Doc and Jolly Roger.
Both of them were only for the month
of April(the best time to be out if-
one must) and neither suffered an injury which any thought would have a
lasting effect.Plus that was a GREAT
Championship team which had built themselves to that point,1986.
This team was a flawed,disapointing
team which had,bluntly choked in an
epic fashion the past couple seasons.
Yeah,Omar did a wonderful job rebuilding the Pen BUT we were still
a Bat or two short AND had a questionable Bench. Additionaly,there
were some Qs w/the Rotation.
Lastly,Omar did almost nothing to
change the culture of the team which
seemed to go down pretty quietly the
last two seasons. Maybe another move
or two and getting back most of our
stars can turn this around because as
with the past couple/three seasons
the opp for a Ring is wide open.
Yes the Phils are a championship team
who seem to be coming around,same with
the Rays in the AL AnD the RedSox like
I thought look to have to muck Pitching and too many Gamers for the
rest of that league BUT everyone is
flawed.So we have a chance to do something special in the second half.
Not much of a Chance but certainly
a better chance than many.
SO for the second Half, lets hope
Omar can move Castillo and Green
AND…Lets Go Mets!!!
trs86
7/12/2009-8:50pm at 8:50 pm (UTC -4)
I see no need to move Castillo or Green they are not the problem.
Kingman 26
7/12/2009-9:04pm at 9:04 pm (UTC -4)
Fong–In addition to Doc’s coke trouble, Sid only started 27 games, Aguilera was a starter and only appeared in 18 games, Cone in 21, and Ojeda in 10.
Doc, Sid, Cone, Aguilera, and Ojeda missed significant time–the entire rotation except for Darling had injuries.
I am not saying this year and 1987 are direct comparisons—only that they are the two standout years which injuries most certainly dramatically affected many of the most important members of the team, and hence the team’s chance for success.
fongy2
7/12/2009-9:55pm at 9:55 pm (UTC -4)
Got cha!
trs86
7/12/2009-8:48pm at 8:48 pm (UTC -4)
Good job Kingman.
My question is if most of the players got A’s and B’s how did we end up a C?
If it’s because of injuries then should we not also get an incomplete?
Sorry, it’s the teacher in me.
Kingman 26
7/12/2009-8:59pm at 8:59 pm (UTC -4)
Ha! I thought about that a lot, and decided a C+ was the right grade, and rationalized it by thinking that the performances of Livan, Redding, certain bullpen guys at certain times, guys like Takahashi, Argenis, Ramon M, etc., and–most of all–Jerry and the medical/training staff pulled a B- overall grade down to a C+.
But incomplete may have been most appropriate.
fongy2
7/12/2009-9:55pm at 9:55 pm (UTC -4)
C- and I’m being both
forgiving and generous.
Just me, my opinion.
I THOUGHT: Fairly healthy,Santana a little better(CY Young-
contender),Pelf a little better(becoming a solid #2),Omar making
a Mid-Season move to
help our corner OF situation which I’ve
been complaining about
for 2 years now AND
Livan & Shef turn out to be revelations….
we’re an 86/87Win team
and fighting for a Wild
Card AND who knows…
heading for an Epic
NLCS against the phils?
So my expectations we’re high BUT NOT
“This is our year High”
More then anything they
get a C- with all thats
happened BECAUSE of the
incredibly SLOPPY play!
We can count 5 or 6 gms
at least which SHOULD
have been Ws if not for
the BAD News Bears Routines!
dentulous
7/12/2009-10:06pm at 10:06 pm (UTC -4)
so true. Had it not been for sloppy play, we would not be so far back in the standings going in to the AS break. It better be a sloppy play free 2nd half.
fongy2
7/12/2009-10:22pm at 10:22 pm (UTC -4)
At 48-39
0r 47-40
We’d be
a Rocky
Story &
the 2nd
half would have a
“Ya Gotta
Believe”
Feel!
fongy2
7/12/2009-10:30pm at 10:30 pm (UTC -4)
If a C is passing,
meaning acceptable,
The Med/Training is
acceptable…Plus??
Kingman 26
7/12/2009-11:29pm at 11:29 pm (UTC -4)
They got a D….
CaseStreet
7/12/2009-9:32pm at 9:32 pm (UTC -4)
nice job king. you’ve certainly put great thought into this report. I thought Livan deserved a higher grade, but you can’t please everyone.
Let’s just hope the end of year grade is A+!
fongy2
7/12/2009-10:00pm at 10:00 pm (UTC -4)
Areed! Tim Reddings making
Twice the Money Livan is and
even getting bombed lately has
still given us more then
Tim “Duquecito” Redding was
ever gonna give us! B or B-
f/the fans who haven’t seen
all this before.
fongy2
7/12/2009-10:04pm at 10:04 pm (UTC -4)
And Arturo Gatti,Rest in Peace Paisono
What a sad and ironic way die.
Kingman 26
7/12/2009-10:49pm at 10:49 pm (UTC -4)
Agreed….very sad and very strange….
GravediggerHebner
7/12/2009-11:47pm at 11:47 pm (UTC -4)
Kudos Kingman, very thoughtful and reasonable. There is no way I could’ve survived this undertaking, the emotional rollercoaster would’ve been too much to bear and I would’ve spent far too much time attempting and failing to get any sense of objectivity.
The only moment while I was reading the piece that I thought “I would’ve given a different grade here” was when reading about the medical staff. They get an F from me, and after reading Rubin today they deserve an FU.
fongy2
7/13/2009-12:10am at 12:10 am (UTC -4)
Thank You!
darknova306
7/13/2009-6:38am at 6:38 am (UTC -4)
I said right from the start that Tim Redding was a lousy pitcher. He’s a career bum, so this is what I expected from him. I think he deserves an F for FAIL. Also, that dead chipmunk on his face is awful.
Livan did EXACTLY what should have been expected based on his performances of recent years: great start but falls off quickly mid-season.
I’d say there isn’t a letter grade low enough for the medical staff. That’s the most epic fail of all.
Jerry Manuel gets an F in my book. He’s looked completely lost when it comes to using the pen and knowing how to motivate his own players. A new lineup everyday is not a good way to let your guys get into a groove, especially when you always bench guys that are right in the middle of hot streaks. He deserves and F- because of how he treated Church. That sickened me enough to actually root for Church to hit a bomb when the Braves come to town next as a big F-you to Jerry. Also, listening to the post games interviews, Manuel has sounded completely defeated for a while now. I know I’ve given up on the season, but the manager absolutely can’t (at least publicly) do the same thing.
Also, I would give Beltran an A+ for his on field performance coupled with the comments on being embarrassed about getting swept in Pittsburgh. Way to man up and say what everyone should be feeling, Carlos. Easily my favorite Met since Piazza.
I’ll end this by saying ‘F Omar’. I breathed a sigh of relief when the season ended because I was looking forward to seeing Ollie leave the team and to finally see us grab a real LF that will stay healthy for more than 50 games. Oops. Fail. He did make some good moves, but he left a bunch of gaping holes and has developed a paper thin farm system to support the ML team.
Nice recap, Kingman.
dirtysanchez
7/13/2009-9:10am at 9:10 am (UTC -4)
Very fair report kingman…no arguements here