“They say he’s (Yogi Berra) funny. Well, he has a lovely wife and family, a beautiful home, money in the bank, and he plays golf with millionaires. What’s funny about that?” Casey Stengel
Here’s what you missed on Thursday, August 13, 2009:
- This Day In Mets Infamy With Rusty 08-13-09 by rustyjr
- Real Dirty Mets Morning Open Thread by CaseStreet
- Mets In The Papers by CaseStreet
- Draft & Follow 8-13-09 by GravediggerHebner
- A Winner Announced! TRDM Quiz & Book Contest by prismo
- Man Up Awards For Wednesday by dirtysanchez
You got something to say? Say it on The Real Dirty Mets Blog!
38 comments
dirtysanchez
8/14/2009-8:58am at 8:58 am (UTC -4)
boy..what a different team the giants will be facing this time around…i think the last time we played them was the last time we were playing well…
charlie_s
8/14/2009-9:29am at 9:29 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, so sad. I wish we could come up with a new name for this team. NY Melts? NY Mutts? NY Mashettes? This is not the NY Mets due to injuries.
mrbill
8/14/2009-11:02am at 11:02 am (UTC -4)
Not just because of injuries.
There's Always '10
8/14/2009-11:23am at 11:23 am (UTC -4)
I read in the paper this morning about Livan possibly being moved out of the rotation. I thought this was a good idea until it said, he is likely to be replaced by Redding.
Is that the textbook definition of “six of one, half a dozen of the other”?
trs86
8/14/2009-11:26am at 11:26 am (UTC -4)
Yup that would be it. I would think it would be better to bring up someone than to let him start. Problem is all of our potential pitchers are either injured or too young.
There's Always '10
8/14/2009-11:48am at 11:48 am (UTC -4)
The single biggest problem this year is the injuries to the young players. Guys like Niese and Fernando Martinez who would have had valuable experience and playing time ended up wasting time.
charlie_s
8/14/2009-9:28am at 9:28 am (UTC -4)
Anyone want to take bets on the Zito vs. Parnell matchup?
prismo
8/14/2009-9:33am at 9:33 am (UTC -4)
Well Zito’s terrible…so the Mets will get 3 hits off of him in 8 innings.
charlie_s
8/14/2009-10:05am at 10:05 am (UTC -4)
Ha! My thoughts exactly!
JoeR
8/14/2009-10:29am at 10:29 am (UTC -4)
I still cant believe Victor martinez isnt a Met. He was ours, most likely, if Omar wanted him. He plays C, plays some 1B, and he has some pop. I really dont understand it. I just dont see how Omar is going to replace Delgado’s production and even if he does, we are still that one big bat short as we have been the last 3 years. Martinez would have helped with that problem! Now we need 2 big bats, most likely another ace or top line starter, maybe a number 3 starter, and bullpen help, etc. Its a shame but it s going to take a miracle to be among the top teams next year. many teams will most likely be looking for a LF so Holliday and Bay will be highly coveted. IDk it would have been nice to have some hope for next year during such a horrible year to be a Met fan!
trs86
8/14/2009-10:37am at 10:37 am (UTC -4)
I have to say I love Vmart, his numbers are however a little overrated. That being said he would have been exactly what we needed but not at the price of our only 2 pitching prospects in Holt and Mejia as rumored and they may have been just the starting point.
JoeR
8/14/2009-10:41am at 10:41 am (UTC -4)
It wouldnt have took that if you look at what Boston gave up. Probably Parnell and a single A bum. His numbers are better than what we will have behind the plate next year. I can bet u you that.
trs86
8/14/2009-10:50am at 10:50 am (UTC -4)
Why do we say that? The ONLY rumors we heard was exactly what I said.
“Much of the trade talk this week has been about the Red Sox acquiring catcher/first baseman/DH Victor Martinez but the Mets have reportedly also had talks with Cleveland about the All Star. However, SI.com’s Jon Heyman reports, Mets general manager Omar Minaya decided to take a pass on the Venezuelan-born backstop.
Heyman cites a third source that says that the package for Martinez would have included outfielder Fernando Martinez and Jenry Mejia, a 19-year-old right-handed pitcher.”
That was from SI and then Metsblog reported that it was Holt and Meja. Still too much to pay for 1.4 years of Vmart.
There's Always '10
8/14/2009-10:59am at 10:59 am (UTC -4)
There was no sense in adding payroll this year to a sinking (sunken) ship.
There's Always '10
8/14/2009-10:52am at 10:52 am (UTC -4)
Over on Mattsblog, they are running a poll on who you think Daniel Murphy will most likely turn out to be, Mark Grace or Matt Franco. There are so many things wrong with that statement, I don’t even know where to begin.
First off, we should be saying, Matt Franco or Rico Brogna. Frankly, I don’t think he will eclipse either one. So, I voted (Matt Franco of course). Would you believe that it was 54%-46% Matt Franco over Mark Grace? I seriously can’t believe that many people are as stupid as their vote.
trs86
8/14/2009-11:10am at 11:10 am (UTC -4)
I think that’s fair in some ways. Saying the BEST he could EVER be will be Mark Grace and yet he may become just a utility guy. I don’t have an issue if he would put in an in between, which is what MOST Mets fans would say he will be. Now if you want to say he will be out of baseball in 3 years that’s your choice and you could be right. I think he has some skills that COULD develop into a .280 15HR guy. COULD.
There's Always '10
8/14/2009-11:16am at 11:16 am (UTC -4)
Hey, I think he can turn into a .285, 15HR guy as well. Mark Grace is one of the best fielding first basemen of all time. Murphy has definitely improved there, but let’s be honest. Mark Grace, he is not.
I think Rico Brogna is a better comparison.
There's Always '10
8/14/2009-10:58am at 10:58 am (UTC -4)
I’m reading Moneyball right now. There is a chapter on the 2002 trade deadline where Billy Beane tries to teach Omar Minaya what a 3-way trade is. It’s pretty embarassing actually. I’m a Minaya supporter, but after that I think he has to go. It’s worse than Willie not knowing how to do a double-switch.
trs86
8/14/2009-11:05am at 11:05 am (UTC -4)
Well it does show he is a good learner then because I believe he has accomplished more of those than Bean has lately.
There's Always '10
8/14/2009-11:18am at 11:18 am (UTC -4)
The fact that he was a GM and needed to be taught how to conduct a three-way trade is unreal. It actually says more about the franchise that hired him, rather than the guy himself.
I like Minaya. I think the Adam Rubin incident was the exception rather than the rule. But I also think this organization needs a complete overhaul. Sure, the injuries killed us this year. But Minaya’s mantra this offseason was pitching, pitching, pitching. Right now, our pitching staff is Johan, Me, You, Metfan4decades, and JoeR.
trs86
8/14/2009-11:25am at 11:25 am (UTC -4)
You also have to remember that Beane has a reputation for telling tall tales and is most likely angry that he never could burn Omar in a trade when it was clear that Omar wanted his players and he wanted ours.
There's Always '10
8/14/2009-11:46am at 11:46 am (UTC -4)
No doubt Beane likes to grandstand. However, this was all documented by someone who was following Beane around to write the book.
stickguy
8/14/2009-11:51am at 11:51 am (UTC -4)
I didnt read the book, but I’m sure it could have been embellished to make a better story.
I find it hard to believe that Omar did not know what a 3 way trade was. Maybe he had never been involved in one as a GM (they aren’t that common), and needed a primer on the mechanics (the stuff that happens behind the scenes?)
But, it is good to know that Beane knew everything about being a GM when he got his first job in BB. I am sure he would be the first to tell you that.
metsfan4decades
8/14/2009-12:11pm at 12:11 pm (UTC -4)
LOL.
I was never an Omar hater but I truly believe he’ll be gone at the end of the season. He is directly responsible for the Mets being the franchise laughingstock between the way Willie was fired, to the Bernazard fiasco which morphed into the Rubin debacle, the handling of injuries, along with some questionable decisions. If you’re grading him alone on trades/acquisitions, he probably comes out better than average but sprinkle the rest in and I don’t think there is anyway ownership will keep him.
fongy2
8/14/2009-12:42pm at 12:42 pm (UTC -4)
I agree completely with
your post including the fact too
that I was an
Omar fan
and supporter until
after the ’06
season
when little by little Omar started
exposing
himself
to having agendas
other than just bringing
a championship to
Queens.
I wish i could
agree that theres no chance he’ll be back.
whataputz
8/14/2009-12:44pm at 12:44 pm (UTC -4)
I’m in the same boat as you as in I never really hated Omar. He wasn’t great, wasn’t terrible. Made some good trades and singings, made some bad ones. Bottomline however, is that this team desperately needs a make-over and he’s not expendable. He’s not the guru of all gm’s. He’s expendable, and with all the stuff that has happened, he cannot remain next year only to be fired when we aren’t that good in the middle of the season.
Just go into next year make some shake-up moves, bring in as much as we can with our apparently limited budget. Get a fresh face at GM, and get in a new coach that are on the same page.
Give our top prospects the entire season in AAA, and let them develop together.
stickguy
8/14/2009-11:48am at 11:48 am (UTC -4)
I want to see a big, rollicking, free wheeling off seaosn out of the Mets.
Lots of trades, out of the box thinking, remaking the team. Lots of creative thinking.
Too bad that, unless the Wilpons shock us and gut the FO and bring in someone new, the only place I am likely to see it is here on the dirty blog!
If they overpay for Bay (who I think will be a disaster in Citifiled, my HO of course) and hope the rest of the current guys get healthy and/or good, next year could be even uglier than this one!
fongy2
8/14/2009-12:15pm at 12:15 pm (UTC -4)
This all sounds good BUT not gonna happen.Madoff’s victims
are STILL finding out how much
damage he did. I think payroll
will be cut,maybe down to 100mil,Omar is likely to survive BUT with a chance to
bring in one more Mgr..
We already know certain guys
aren’t going anywhere..
Johan,Ollie,Pelf&KRod are locks,as are Wright,Reyes,
Beltran&Castillo(love THAT contract Omar)..The key will be getting Baseball players to
fill in around them who don’t
cost a whole lot.My fellow
Met fanatics can save yourselves alot of agita by
simply excepting these things
and hoping the right,inexpensive players are
available and acquired by
Omar which will allow us
to contend for the Wildcard
next season.
Oh, and ofcourse much focus
should be placed this offseason on our Medical and
training staff!
whataputz
8/14/2009-12:52pm at 12:52 pm (UTC -4)
The Mets are going to have to probably enter next season placing big hopes on an unproven player. They are going to need a guy like Murphy to have a great season, and need Wright to have a freak year. Maine/Pelfrey to step up and have their career season. Ollie is going to have to put a ton of effort into this spring training and try to re-invent himself and get his career back on the right track. I think he owes it to the team, the fans, and himself. I know he hates work, but he’s going to have to really haul a** this offseason and get himself into primetime game shape. I am not putting any faith in the fact that we can bring in a top notch pitcher and power bat, let alone fill the other holes we need to fill. I fully believe Murph will be our 1b next season, so hopefully he has a good season. The problem is that the Sox are definitely going to want a FA pitcher so Lackey might be hard to sign, and the Yanks might be looking for a back-up #5 pitcher, so you can also cross Harden off (kind of kidding, kind of not).
fongy2
8/14/2009-1:05pm at 1:05 pm (UTC -4)
Very good post,…maybe b/c
I agree in total.
As an aside, I’d stay far away
from Rich Harden.Always hurt.
GravediggerHebner
8/14/2009-1:27pm at 1:27 pm (UTC -4)
I think the Mets will either “bring in a top notch pitcher” or a “power bat” but I don’t expect both.
I think if they do neither of those 2 things then they may as well just fire Omar because it will mean he has done nothing.
I also believe that Murphy will be the 1B next season but about the only way to justify that to the fandom (in case the organization cared to do such a thing) would be to bring in a “power bat” for somewhere else on the field.
Keep in mind too that Gary Sheffield will be a free agent so signing him for 2010 would technically be “bringing in a power bat.”
I’m not endorsing that but there have been public statements by Manuel that he wants Sheff back. Hopefully he was just making nice remarks that the press could pick up so if a waiver trade opportunity came up he would have been seen to endorse Sheff the player, but apparently a waiver trade of Sheff is no longer an option so that is a moot point.
fongy2
8/14/2009-2:13pm at 2:13 pm (UTC -4)
What big Pitcher?
We cant afford Halliday
and Lee is a Phillie…
b/t/w,amazin’ how cheaply they got a legit ace.Off the top
of my head,Reyes,Wright,Beltran,Castillo,Frenchy,Johan,Ollie,Pelf,Maine&KRod are assured about
100-110Million dollars.
Assuming atleast some salaryis cut AND another
5 to 10 Mil goes to
Murph,Parnell,maybe Feliciano and a couple
others…Wheres the money to spend on a
Star?? Don’t be shocked
if Omar stays and we see alot of Chico Walker,Jeff D’amico
types.This while a new
Mgr is brought in,a new
training staff AND both
Jeffy and Omar try and convince us that with
some health and a few
breaks we can contend
in 2010.
Of course,I hope I’m totally wrong!
whataputz
8/14/2009-3:47pm at 3:47 pm (UTC -4)
It just would be so typical Mets to go after Harden, sign him and have him play 3 injury plagues terrible years in a Mets uniform.
Anybody know about Roy Oswalts availability? Though he’s not what he once was either.
GravediggerHebner
8/14/2009-5:49pm at 5:49 pm (UTC -4)
I hope Whata responds to the “what big pitcher” question because my post was in response to his use of the sentence “I am not putting any faith in the fact that we can bring in a top notch pitcher and power bat, let alone fill the other holes we need to fill.” So I’ll let him decide what pitcher he was referring to.
My thought was a general response to the idea that Whata is not putting faith in that they will do both (he used “and,” implying both).
If I were to make suggestions on specifics, for pitchers I guess I would throw out names like (alphabetically) Erik Bedard, Kelvim Escobar, Rich Harden, John Lackey & Jarrod Washburn as pending free agents, or (alphabetically) Roy Halladay, Ted Lilly and Brandon Webb who are free agents after 2010 and therefore perhaps available via trade this off season.
For hitters I need a framework so I’m going to operate on the assumption that Daniel Murphy is going to be the 2010 Met 1B, so the power bat will have to come in the form of an OF. These names (alphabetically) Bobby Abreu, Rick Ankiel, Rocco Baldelli, Jason Bay, Marlon Byrd, Johnny Damon, Ken Griffey Jr, Vladimir Guerrero, Matt Holliday, Andruw Jones, Xavier Nady & Gary Sheffield are pending free agents and these names (alphabetically) Pat Burrell, Eric Byres, Carl Crawford, Adam Dunn, Jermaine Dye, Jose Guillen, Marcus Thames & Jayson Werth are all free agents after 2010 and therefore perhaps available via trade this off season.
Certainly some of the names can be eliminated for various sound reasons, but it’s not like the answer to “who?” is “Omigod, I don’t know!” There are many options here, plus others I imagine might be available in other circumstances.
There’s no need to prematurely fold the 2010 tent and go home.
whataputz
8/14/2009-7:30pm at 7:30 pm (UTC -4)
What I was saying was I doubt we will be able to fill the holes we need to fill. I don’t see the Mets acquiring a real 2 and a power bat. Lackey is not coming here, I don’t want Harden, and the other pitchers are very meh. However they seem to not want to trade their “chips” so I don’t see how we are going to add a starter that can actually be reliable.
Not folding, but I’m not buying playoff tickets either. Let me be the first to say that people underestimate the impact of a healthy reyes and beltran…if that is actually the case.
GravediggerHebner
8/14/2009-7:48pm at 7:48 pm (UTC -4)
I agree with your last statement, both the “underestimate” part and the “if” part.
It’s hard to have a 3-way conversation here, I’m not sure I properly communicated what I wanted to to you and what I wanted to to Fongy.
What I was saying in response to you was that I believe the Mets will get 1 of either the power bat or the quality SP, but not both.
So basically I was agreeing with you, but saying that I believe they will do one (but not all) of the things necessary. I interpreted your comment as to say they would not do anything, but I see from your further explanation that you were really saying they wouldn’t do enough, not that they wouldn’t do anything, so I think we agree.
What I was saying to Fongy was there is more available than just Halladay and not to fold the tent.
I hope that makes it clearer. I wasn’t accusing/suggesting that you were folding anything.
whataputz
8/14/2009-7:58pm at 7:58 pm (UTC -4)
Yes..agreed. how about these uni’s? I love ‘em.
GravediggerHebner
8/14/2009-9:23pm at 9:23 pm (UTC -4)
I’m going to nitpick and say that I wish the N & the Y were a little closer together, but having said that I like them a lot. I like the cream color and I LOVE the running Mr. Met on the sleeve!