" Are the Mets toast ?"
Last night was an ABOMINATION! There are no mincing words about that. Last night the Mets should have gone into the City of Brotherly Love with a chip on their shoulder and fire in their bellies going after the Phillies like rabid pit bulls ! Instead we saw a team that looked apathetic at best and uncoordinated at worst !
Recently of late, with the exception to Saturday and Sundays game, this team has shown very little fight. The bats have gone cold while runners are stranded in scoring position, while the bullpen has melted down when there are runners on base.
Look this roster is depleted and with the possible exception of Jose Reyes, there are no high caliber replacements coming to replenish this team – I make no bones about that, in fact I don’t see it as an excuse not to play hard. If I were some of the younger guys in the bullpen, I would be fighting to impress both my manager and general manager for next season. I would want to show them that I am part of next years plans – not a a question mark. Both Beato and Parnell need to step up their game if they want to figure into next seasons plans.
As for our offense, As well as Duda and Turner are hitting of late, they need to work on their fundamentals, which for the most part have been mediocre.
Look I know that this team started it’s nose dive to oblivion one both Reyes and Murphy went to the disabled list , but that does not mean that this club should just close up shop. This team should be playing for pride at this point. They should be proving that they are not a sub .500 team – that they with a fully reinforced roster could put the fear into most ball clubs !
Instead we got a 10-0 blowout, and that deer lost in the headlights look that Ryota Irigashi had while being pounded by the Phillies offense last night pretty much sums up the last week or so for this team.
But he we are only seven games under .500 with a chance to finish better that last season.
Oh the joy of lower expectations – or OH THE PAIN !!
And with that said…. HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!!
Mets alumni celebrating a birthday include:
Father time himself, utility infielder/pinch hitting specialist, Julio Franco is 53 (1958). We may joke about his age, but Franco was a key asset to the ’06-’07 Mets teams. Yes his bat had slowed and his defense had lost a step but he helped to mentor many of the young players that were on that team.
Back up catcher from the ’86 season, Ed Hearn is 51 (1960). The funny thing about Ed is I always figured him as being a weak hitting decent defensive catcher. Before he was called up to be Gary Carter’s understudy in ’86, he was known as one of the best offensive catchers in the minors. And lets not forget that he was the main trade chip in the deal that brought David Cone to the Mets via the Kansas City Royals.
Back up catcher from the ’08 season, Raul Casanova is 39 (1972).
Reserve outfielder from the ’03 season, Prentice Redman is 32 (1979) .
Middle reliever from the ’02-’03 seasons, Pat Strange is 31(1980). In his two seasons with the Mets he had no record and a E.R.A of 6.35.
The New York Mets traded back up catcher, Gary Bennett to the Colorado Rockies for minor league outfielder, Ender Chavez on August 23, 2001. Chavez spent the better part of six seasons in the Mets farm system, never rising above A ball.
Mo Vaughn gets sick at the sight of SCRAPPLE !!
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8 comments
Anonymous
8/23/2011-11:30am at 11:30 am (UTC -4)
Take it out on worley tonight.
MetsFan4Decades
8/23/2011-12:01pm at 12:01 pm (UTC -4)
I’ve watched every game and I don’t see this as a team with no fight. I see it as a team who had the final nails in the coffin pounded in this season after Beltran was traded and Murph and Reyes went down.
That BP was basically crap before the ASB. Now, with the SP not getting out of the middle innings, it’s really being exposed. You can’t get blood out of a stone.
- Igarashi doesn’t belong in the ML.
- Beato hasn’t learned how to pitch yet.
- Parnell’s pitch selection is awful and hasn’t learned to think for himself yet.
- Izzy is toast.
- Carrasco is what he is – which is a mop up guy.
- Byrdak hasn’t been bad in his LOOGY role, but he’s heading towards the end of his career too.
- Throw in there no closer and you have TC juggling the BP every single night.
I have to wonder at what point the discussion starts on replacing Warthen.
Throw in a non ML caliber type lineup and it’s not all that surprising the record is what it is, especially these past few weeks. There is some effort there. Duda is starting to get comfortable and show some promise. He had 2 of the few hits the Mets had last night. I wish Terry would just let him play in RF so we can see defensively how he fares out there.
Tejada is trying to showcase he belongs. I believe he was the only other one with multiple hits last night.
This off season ought to be very interesting, to say the least.
Anonymous
8/23/2011-1:59pm at 1:59 pm (UTC -4)
I am tending to think that this season can be compared to the ripping off of a band-aid. This season frickin’ hurt. But, the band-aid has been ripped off and now to go forward. This team finally has some prospects & has some financial flexibility. I would anticipate the same will happen for next year, with another legit prospect in the system with the high draft pick this team will certainly get. I am starting to lean towards throwing some money at CJ Wilson. Believe he’s a type A and Wanny pointed out that the team would only lose their 2nd Rd pick, vs. the first. I certainly hope they go that route, as he’s solid, a vet and is better than looking for a 5th person type. And with Santana a huge question mark, this team needs quality SP that can last more than 5 innings. Then we can slide Pelf to the closer role! Kidding. (but you could certainly turn him to trade bait!)
Certainly agree, this could be an interesting off-season. I truly can see a whole new bullpen. Most likely Beato and Parnell will be back, but no one else. Byrdak is about 150 years old, so maybe he can be serviceable, but I’m sure another Loogy could be had one way or the other.
And the feeling I get with this team is we better get 9 out of the starters or the game is lost. And unless James Shields somehow miraculously appears in a Mets uniform, I don’t see anyone but Rubber Armed Dickey going the whole 9.
Anonymous
8/23/2011-4:07pm at 4:07 pm (UTC -4)
MF4D once again you have put your finger on the problem. You
definitely should consider becoming an author on this site. You present yourself very well and succinctly capture the essence of the situation. You’re also one of the few remaining Mets fan that watch every game.
MetsFan4Decades
8/23/2011-6:39pm at 6:39 pm (UTC -4)
Ha! Just calling it like I see it.
Watching every game gives one an advantage. However, if you don’t, stats – and especially some of the advanced stats that are becoming the norm over the past few years, seem to back up what I’ve been seeing.
I’m not math whiz at all, trying to learn some about new sabermetrics. From what I’ve been reading those stats pretty much tell the story on what my eyes are seeing. In a nutshell, the offense and SP to some extent was carrying the team right around .500. But right after the ASB, the SP fell off as well as the offense (especially b/c of trade/injuries).
Anonymous
8/23/2011-2:06pm at 2:06 pm (UTC -4)
Rusty my friend, this team just has very little talent.
Turner’s a nice player, but just like Pagan, Capuano, Izzy, Parnell, and so many more Mets, the more he plays the more his deficiencies get exposed.
I could never root for them to lose, but the higher the draft pick they get, the better for the future.
This is a bad, bad team, in the midst of its FIFTH straight late-season collapse, and there is very, very little reason to expect any better next year.
Hopefully Wheeler, Harvey, and Nimmo are the beginning of the Mets of the future, which could begin in 2013 with more current lower minor leaguers developing and a few wise trades and FA signings by Sandy.
But there’s a long, long road ahead. A long, stinky road filled with many losses.
Anonymous
8/23/2011-4:28pm at 4:28 pm (UTC -4)
The task before Sandy is similar to that faced by Frank Cashen when he became GM and that was a five year process. Sandy has already enacted the first step in bringing in top FO personnel and hopefully the best scouts and geeks to handle the statistical end of the evaluations.
The rebuilding process could be hastened if the Mets had ownership with deep pockets. This would allow the team to bring in the very best free agents (no more excuses such as he didn’t want to play here or move to NY – basically meaning we made him a monetary offer he could refuse). This would be augmented by drafting outstanding talent that falls to your drafting position because the smaller market teams were afraid of the player’s asking price and signing the best IFA’s available. This would overcome the loss of the top draft pick due to the free agent signing. Unfortunately this part of the equation is nothing more than an old man’s fantasy.
Paul J. Festa
8/23/2011-2:29pm at 2:29 pm (UTC -4)
I’ll bet Mo can put away some cheesesteaks, though.