Mike's Mets

Here's something that I'm sure a few of you out there can identify with -- a project that takes on a life of its own.

Back in December Lisa and I decided to upgrade our home entertainment experience. After some research and some shopping around I picked up a big screen hi def television and a Blu-Ray player. I was going to hold off for a while on a surround sound system, but decided after Christmas to set that up, too.

More research. More shopping. Then ordering from Amazon, EBay and some other on-line sources for cables and speaker wires.

The tipping point came when I decided to install the wire for 4 of the surrounds through the attic and ceiling. It isn't technically hard to do, it just made it more of a pain in the a**. I'm almost finished, but I'm also at the point where I just want it to be over. I've had enough of the process and I want to sit back and enjoy the results.

The Mets pursuit of a starting pitcher is starting to take on that aspect for me, too. It was fun for a while to speculate on who might be the best choice, but now I'm getting somewhat tired of the speculation surrounding whether or not Derek Lowe will sign here.

The Mets are apparently prepared to engage in a stare down contest with Scott Boras over Lowe. It will likely go on for another week or so, and of course there is always a chance somewhat else will step in.

My initial reaction to the Mets 3-year, $36 million offer was that they were low-balling Mr. Lowe somewhat. The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized I was basing that reaction on what last year's free agent pitchers received. With the slumping economy the market has changed.

When other teams admit that they're not prepared to raise the ante on what the Mets offered, it pretty much tells us where the market it right now. While the Yankees overpaid for pitching somewhat, particularly with the fragile Burnett, everyone else seems to be doing what I was doing while putting my system together -- patiently shopping for bargains.

While this whole process has some interest in and of itself, it's starting to wear thin for me. I'd love to see it resolve so we can start kibitzing about backup infielders and candidates for the second left-hander in the bullpen.

I still want to see the Mets sign Lowe, who I believe will give some stability to the staff and breathing room for Pelfrey and Maine. I'm comfortable with Ollie Perez as a fallback plan, but I do think in that case it becomes more important to sign a credible veteran fifth starter.

I'm not comfortable at all with the idea of Randy Wolf as somehow equivalent to Lowe and Perez if they both fall through, as I believe him to be a bottom of the rotation innings eater in this stage of his career. Signing Wolf along with Lowe or Perez would be a credible move to me. Signing Wolf instead of those two options would not.

Whatever happens, though, I'd love to see it resolve. As with my home theater, I'm somewhat tired of the process.

One thing I don't get tired of is reading my friend Metsgrrl's Blog. She's been nominated for Best Sports Blog of 2008 in the 2008 Weblog Awards. Please support her by visiting the site and casting your vote.

Also, while baseball may still be a few months off, don't forget our friends at Ticket Solutions for NY Giants playoff tickets. They have Knicks tickets and Nets tickets, too.

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Authored by Mike Steffanos, Posted at 4:30 PM Tuesday, January 6, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. Now that I am a man, many of my friends would say, not much has changed. One thing I knew, though, way back in 1971, was that major league baseball needed its own TV network. Finally, thirty-eight years later, MLB Network has been launched, out of the former CNBC broadcast studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.

My childish reasoning went thusly: baseball is America's pastime. Americans deserve a place to watch baseball whenever they wanted to. When I learned that Japan had its own professional baseball leagues, I got out my time zone calculator and amateur network programming erasable board. I figured that, if we could convince the Japanese to play at least one game every day at 1pm, 4pm and 7pm their time (or 11pm, 2am and 5am Eastern time), and we did the same, we'd have time for an hour-long wrap-up show every night at 10pm, and five hours every day for talk shows, previews, or maybe a rebroadcast of the best game of the previous 24 hours. I know, I left out late starts on the West Coast. So sue me; I was 11 years old.

This brainstorm (okay, maybe a puddle) came before anyone had ever heard of HBO, ESPN, or any of the other professional sports TV networks. But it made an intuitive sense to me. Now, baseball is finally cashing in on that vault full of expressed written consents, and rang in 2009 with a new basic cable network. MLB Network might be a bigger deal to those of us Mets fans outside the metro New York area, since we don't have regular access to SNY or the local papers. And while it's unfair to judge a new broadcasting entity on its first five days, let's do just that.

The network's "Studio 3", the current home of their Hot Stove program, and future home of MLB Tonight once the season begins, could be mistaken for an ESPN SportsCenter studio. The Hot Stove crew, including former players Harold Reynolds, Joe Magrane, and Mitch Williams, are joined by veteran play-by-play man Matt Vasgersian. The team is still learning each others' rhythm, and seemed to take far too long to make the same point multiple times. Magrane also pronounced new Met J.J. Putz's name incorrectly. Slow down, Joe. There'll be plenty of time for Mets fans to change that pronunciation if necessary. Omar Minaya was a guest on Hot Stove over the weekend, and acquitted himself well, without gushing too much over the team's prospects of signing Derek Lowe.

"Studio 42" is a mini-replica baseball field, where Reynolds can bounce a ball off the wall with guests such as Marlins center fielder Cameron Maybin, who caught the last ball ever hit in Shea Stadium history. According to a network spokesman, both studios are situated over more than 300 miles of broadcast cables and wires. The flooring under the tiles must look like a Jack Bauer nightmare.

An off-season crawl/ticker can be problematic, but MLB Network's gone with running team-by-team updates of who's new and who's gone, as well as who's still available at each position on the free-agent market. During spring training, it'll be time for 30 clubs in 30 days, as they work up an hour-long special on each club. Once the season starts, there'll be plenty of scores and transactions to report, though they'll only be airing 26 regular-season game broadcasts all year long. They will, however, have two ballpark cameras in each stadium, which MLB Tonight will use to set the scene for each night's action. If it's done right, this could change the way baseball fans watch baseball. If not, they run the very real risk of being SportsCenter Light in the evenings, and ESPN Classic Light the rest of the week.

On their sign-on day, the network played the broadcast of Don Larsen's World Series perfect game against the Dodgers, with commentary from Larsen and Yogi Berra with Bob Costas moderating. It peppered the weekend following with complete broadcasts of 2008 post-season games, past World Series Highlights, and shows like Red Sox Memories. That last program featured a control room glitch, as the same segment aired twice in a row, complete with opening not-for-broadcast slate. It looked messy, but they're still learning this TV thing.

As a hard-core baseball fan, who gets annoyed when I can't get a score update during pro football and college basketball seasons, I'm willing to cut them some slack. A crack fiend can't complain that his daily fix isn't the best quality he's ever had, so neither will I. However, in these tough economic times, MLB Network won't have a second chance to make a first impression. In my bill-paying business of radio, the super-listener is called a P1, and stations gear their programming to super-serve that small but loyal slice of listeners. As a basic cable niche station, though, MLB Network will have to serve more than just us baseball nuts if it's going to succeed. It would also be an excellent idea for MLB Network to get input from the best baseball bloggers in each baseball market on an ongoing basis. Here's hoping they have that forethought.

Every new network has its ramp-up period, especially with advertisers. The only sponsors I saw out of the gate, besides promos for the mlb.com store, were for Budweiser and Viagra, both squarely within that male sports fan demographic. Heck, even Mike's Mets has more impressive banner ads (see top of your computer screen for example). But when ESPN first signed on back in the day, they only had one major advertiser. Fortunately for them, it was Anheuser Busch. Once the network took off, the revenue started to roll in. MLB Network is hoping the same will hold true for them. Just remember, I thought of the idea first.

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Authored by NostraDennis, Posted at 4:31 PM Monday, January 5, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4)

The Mets have reinvented the bullpen and have made a reasonable overture to Derek Lowe, while basically standing pat on their everyday players.

In light of the painfully slow to develop free agent market, it seems to this observer that Scott Boras somewhat dictates how things evolve for a number of teams, or perhaps all. It also appears that he sets the tone for almost everything that transpires transactionally. Is this good for baseball? Probably not, but what to do about it?

Minaya and company moved quickly to wrap up two excellent closers for the final two innings of most games. Each was independent of Boras and no matter what the conventional thinking, each was expensive. The Mets are paying K-Rod handsomely and they gave up a lot of talent for Putz for a two-year stay. Some conclusions can be drawn from the Putz deal: The Mets decided that two lefty swinging first base types (Daniel Murphy and Lucas Duda) and two righty swingers (Nick Evans and Fernando Tatis) were ahead Mike Carp on the organizational list as first basemen in a situation that will likely be a platoon in 2010. Carp may well turn into a very decent designated hitter. The Mets also felt that Jeremy Reed (and maybe even Angel Pagan) were a better fit as a 4th outfielder if called on to play during an extended injury to Church, Beltran or Murphy. Therefore, they gave up a little defense for some more solid everyday play and Joe Smith for Shaun Green. Of course, the low minor league prospects could end up making the trade look very bad or very good.

The bullpen looks to have some very interesting arms, especially if Duaner Sanchez can return to form. Pitching in the 7th Inning should relieve the pressure. The reports on Green seem to indicate that he should more than make up for the loss of Joe Smith and work in a nice lefty/righty compliment with Pedro Feliciano, who can return to a stricter LOOGY status. While a southpaw like Darren Oliver would have been my choice as a swingman, Brian Stokes should be a nice fit with his live arm and ability to spot start and throw a quick inning. No doubt one more situational lefty is needed. Best choices would be Dennys Reyes followed by Joe Beimel. Brian Shouse, Eddie Guardado, Ricardo Rincon and Royce Ring are also in the low-priced mix, especially if the starting staff has at least two southpaws.

To understand the thinking behind the moves or non-moves, a reasonable analysis of the Mets farmhands is necessary.

No doubt, there were few, if any, bullpen options that could be penciled in for 2009 or 2010, with Eddie Kunz (a righty, which the Mets do not need right now) perhaps the only exception. Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell are legitimate prospects to start even as early as this season, but a full year at AAA is clearly preferred by the Mets brain-trust. Assuming Daniel Murphy is here to stay, the Mets have two everyday players in that Niese/Parnell category in Fernando Martinez and Nick Evans.

Seems pretty clear that Omar intends to field a 2010 lineup that features a platoon of Murphy and Evans or Tatis at 1B. This opens up LF for Martinez, perhaps platooning with Tatis for a season or two. Assuming Church is productive a injury-free in 2009, there are really only two positions that can be addressed and where the minor league talent is at least three years away -- catcher and 2B.

The platoon of Schneider and Castro is much better than average defensively and better than average offensively. And in this era of 13 games every two weeks, there is nothing wrong with a left/right platoon behind the dish. The Mets will see what develops in 2009 before changing the equation. Josh Thole is their best prospect, but he is unlikely to be in the picture before September 2010. There is really limited talent in the free agent pool and Robinson Cancel showed that he can fill-in adequately for a guy who thinks he has speed, but doesn't.

The 2B issue is far more profound than meets the eye. No need to beat a dead horse, but as previously mentioned here, there is little doubt that Luis Castillo was signed to make the Mets more attractive to Johan Santana, who is very close to Castillo. If that strategy was in play and helped to push the envelope, the Mets actually made an OK decision ( I said OK, not good). The problem for the Mets is that a fine second baseman and hitter, who is also a terrific clubhouse guy is out there as a free agent. Orlando Hudson dearly wants to play for the Mets. And while the Mets are deep in 2B prospects (Wilmer Flores/Greg Veloz/Emmanuel Garcia), which is why they cut Argenis Reyes loose, none would even remotely make an appearance before September 2010. If Minaya cannot move Castillo before the season starts and he fails in the first few months, he will certainly be gone by the end of July in favor of some kind of quick fix.

While a situational lefty and versatile backup middle infielder (Aaron Miles or Alex Cora) have to be found, the other area of major concern is starting pitching.

John Maine is coming off of non-structural surgery, so it should not be a big issue for a guy who is 28 years of age. Santana and Pelfrey look to be extremely solid and reliable. The offer of $36 million, while being castigated in many circles, was certainly not repulsive at $12 million a season for a guy who has had one great season in 2002 and four consecutive better than decent seasons for the Dodgers. Hey... its a new economy for all who are not the top three to five free agents. What the market will bear is the new mantra. The Mets are in the driver's seat to a certain degree and the Wilpons did lose a fortune to Bernie Madoff.

My guess is the Mets will sign either Lowe (for good reason their first choice) or the southpaws -- Oliver Perez or Randy Wolf. If it is Perez or Wolf, the 5th spot will likely go to Pedro Martinez at about half the price they'd have to dole out to Wolf or Jon Garland. That appears to be the field and how it is entering the backstretch. Pedro as a 5th starter is a very nice option for a number of reasons -- he needs a bit more rest than the others; he delivers a second pitching coach and he has guile and the desire to go out a winner. Should the Mets ink Lowe and Pedro, the need for a better situational lefty in the bullpen rises.

When viewing the overall picture, there is nothing out-of-line or untoward in the way the Mets are proceeding to improve the 40-man roster and hold on to their best prospects, which they most certainly have done. Lets let it all play out before the critics take the floor. The next five weeks will be interesting.

Happy New Year and may the baseball gods be with (or on) the Mets in 2009 and beyond!

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Authored by Dave Mills, Posted at 4:14 PM Sunday, January 4, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Editor's Note: This is the eighth in a series of new articles Barry will be writing on Mets second basemen for this site. - M.S.

After disposing of Roberto Alomar, the Mets went into the 2003 off-season with Danny Garcia as the likely successor at second base. Jose Reyes looked like a potentially outstanding shortstop, but his future double play partner was very much up in the air since Garcia still had to prove he could hit big league pitching. The Mets' solution to the problem was a bit unconventional. They signed the much-heralded and widely sought Japanese star shortstop, Kaz Matsui, and announced that Jose Reyes would move over to second base.

Matsui became the cover story for ESPN Magazine right after he signed. Scouts acclaimed him to be the best overall player in Japan. No doubt, Ichiro was a better hitter, and Hideki Matsui had more power, but Kaz Matsui's alleged combination of defense, speed, power, and batting average stamped him as a potential all-star, possibly even an MVP candidate. In 2002, playing for the Seibu Lions, Matsui batted .332 with 36 homeruns, 87 RBI, 193 hits, 119 runs, 46 doubles, 6 triples, and 33 stolen bases. He was a 4-time gold glove winner, as well. Sure, Reyes was a top prospect, but for a "proven star with a great glove", he could be asked to make the move to second base.

As usual for the Mets, things didn't quite work out as planned. Although Matsui had a decent, if not especially good, year at bat for someone new to American baseball, he was a huge disappointment defensively, showing limited range and poor technique. Reyes seemed out of position at second base and was injury-prone as well. During his time on the DL, the Mets looked at Danny Garcia, Jeff Keppinger and Ty Wigginton at second base, before concluding that their best option for the future was to move Reyes back to shortstop and Matsui to second base. And that was the opening day tandem in 2005. Unfortunately, Matsui didn't even hit as well in 2005 as he had in his rookie year, and his defense was barely acceptable at his new position. Veteran Miguel Cairo began getting playing time, but clearly he wasn't going to be a long-term solution. Matsui was back at second base for Opening Day 2006, but it didn't last long. Fortunately, the Mets had a surprising one-year solution to their second base woes. More in the next installment.

Part 1 - A History of Mistakes
Part 2 - The Sixties
Part 3 - The Seventies and Eighties
Part 4 - Gregg Jefferies
Part 5 - Jeff Kent
Part 6 - The Carlos Baerga era/error
Part 7 - Roberto Alomar
Part 8 - 2004 - 2005 - Current Article

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Authored by Barry Duchan, Posted at 4:32 PM Saturday, January 3, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)

I saw the following quote from Chipper Jones today and had to laugh:

Chipper on the Mets acquiring relievers Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz:

The rich get richer. It's becoming more and more apparent that the bigger markets are crushing the smaller markets with these signings. From a Mets standpoint, they've had a running feud with the Phillies the past couple of years. It's kind of weird not to be in it.

We won for 14 consecutive years, and you never, ever saw any bulletin board material. And now that these two teams are on top of the division, they can't keep their mouths shut. Just go play baseball. It's Cole Hamels now. It was Jimmy Rollins and Carlos Beltran the past couple of springs. These two teams are constantly going at each other verbally. You know, win with class, lose with class. Just keep your mouth shut and go play your game.

SportingNews.com

This is from a guy who never met a microphone he didn't like and wasn't above talking some trash himself. If a guy like Smoltz made this statement I wouldn't be exhausted from laughing so hard at it right now. Coming from this guy, it's just surreal.

Chipper equating Atlanta with the "smaller markets" is somewhat rich, too. When Uncle Ted was signing the checks, Atlanta had one of the larger payrolls in the game. They got Greg Maddux in 1992 because the Cubs couldn't or wouldn't pay to keep them. I guess when you're the one benefiting things look a lot different.

Chipper is a great player, but I think I respected him more when he was talking trash and then backing it up, compared to the last 2 or 3 seasons when he seems to be constantly whining about something. I guess he kind of got spoiled by years of things going his way in Atlanta. Someone please give that man a feminine napkin and a pacifier.

So sad, Larry. I remember when you had a pair.

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Authored by Mike Steffanos, Posted at 2:46 PM Friday, January 2, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (6)

Happy New Year, everyone. Let's hope this is our year, Mets fans.

With the bullpen picture much clearer with Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz holding down the back end, it seems like we're within days of settling the rotation questions.

Apparently Derek Lowe has (not surprisingly) turned down the Mets initial offer reported to be 3 years/$36 million. I suspect they can get him for 3 years, or at least 3 with an incentive-based option for a fourth, but my guess is they're going to have to go over $40 million -- perhaps close to $45 million -- to get him.

Even at 36 years old, Lowe is a legitimate #2 guy in the rotation. His signing would not only solidify that slot but also take some pressure off John Maine and Mike Pelfrey. It makes too much sense not to happen, unless a team comes along with some sort of really crazy offer.

In the Daily News, Anthony McCarron suggests that a Lowe signing would preclude inking another decent veteran:

A baseball official with knowledge of the Mets' thinking said Wednesday that signing more than one free agent for the rotation is a possibility, but it depends on the price. The Mets would like to keep their payroll around the $143 million it was last season, so if they sign Lowe, they probably wouldn't add another expensive starter such as Oliver Perez or Randy Wolf.

... Realistically, if the Mets ink Lowe, they will likely bring in a back-of-the-rotation type free agent later this month to compete with Jon Niese or Bobby Parnell for the final starting slot and provide rotation depth.

While I would agree that a Lowe signing would probably mean saying goodbye to Ollie Perez, I'm not sure that Randy Wolf would be all that expensive. I think he is at this stage of his career a fourth or fifth starter, and might be had at a reasonable price. Signing Wolf should certainly be something that Minaya at least explores.

Pedro Martinez is another guy, given the right contract, might be a better option for the fifth slot than a kid like Niese or Parnell. In the long run, I think Parnell is going to be a reliever, and Niese needs to learn how to get batters out when he doesn't have his best curveball. I have no problem with these two guys competing for a spot, but not if the competition consists solely of other kids and Quadruple-A types.

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Authored by Mike Steffanos, Posted at 2:58 AM Thursday, January 1, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 2009
Time to Get a Lowe Deal Done by Mike Steffanos, 1-1-2009
Larry Ages like a Fine Whine by Mike Steffanos, 1-2-2009
A History of the Mets at Second Base Part 8 - 2004 - 2005 by Barry Duchan, 1-3-2009
Restraint Runs Rampant (and why not?) by Dave Mills, 1-4-2009
Baseball 24/7/365 by NostraDennis, 1-5-2009
All Quiet on the Free Agent Front by Mike Steffanos, 1-6-2009

Authored by Mike's Mets, Posted at 2:16 AM Thursday, January 1, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)

A couple of weeks ago, FoxSports.com's Dayn Perry weighed in on Francisco Rodriguez' "team to beat" quote. I myself didn't feel the need to weigh in on it at the time because I think this whole Mets-Phillies back and forth has become rather silly.

The obvious truth is that the team that won the division two straight years and captured a title last season is the team to beat. If Perry made that argument in his piece I wouldn't find fault with it, nor would any reasonable Mets fan.

However, Perry downgrades his argument from the sublime to the ridiculous when he tries to "prove" that the Mets bullpen hasn't really been improved with the addition of Rodriguez and Putz.

Let's not forget that they'll be without Billy Wagner, who'll miss all of 2009 after undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery; Scott Schoeneweis, who was traded to Arizona; and Joe Smith, who's now an Indian. Those are significant losses, and they're being overlooked in the rush to praise the additions of Rodriguez and Putz. Last season, Wagner, Schoeneweis and Smith combined for 167.0 innings and an ERA of 3.18.

Obviously, the Mets will miss those innings. Sure, they've parted with Aaron Heilman, who, as the Mets' primary setup man last season, posted a grisly ERA of 5.21, and replacing Heilman's innings with Putz's will mean good things for the Mets' bullpen. Still, though, don't forget about the losses of Wagner, Schoeneweis and Smith. Add up all the debits and credits and you've got a bullpen that's improved but not by that much. [my emphasis]

Seriously?

This is one of those articles you find these days, particularly on the web sites, where it's hard to tell if the author really believes what he's writing or is just writing something to piss people off in the hopes of getting lots of comments and reads. I hope it's the latter, because if he really believes this Perry's friends and family need to intervene and get him some treatment for the crack addiction.

For Perry's point to be true, we need to believe that Wagner, Schoeneweis and Smith are equivalent to Rodriguez and Putz. Since to my mind Rodriguez and Wagner are about even, I have to ask myself if I would have traded Joe Smith and Scott Schoeneweis for J.J. Putz. I have to say I would do that deal in a heartbeat.

Schoeneweis probably doesn't get the credit he deserves from Mets fans for his very credible 2008 campaign, but he is still nothing more than a LOOGY who needs to be carefully spotted into a game. NASA is still tracking some of the balls put into earth orbit by right-handed batters who hit against him. Righties absolutely pounded Schoeneweis for a robust .333/.423/.532 batting line.

Joe Smith wasn't much better at getting out lefties: .320/.443/.460. I like the kid, but his ceiling is a very good righty specialist.

So basically, Perry is trying to tell us that Smith and Schoeneweis are irreplaceable. Yet what last year proved was that the relievers like Putz who can retire both lefties and righties are the most important late in a game. Even with the expanded September rosters the Mets were unable to match up adequately to pull out enough wins for a playoff spot.

Between the players already acquired and those inevitable invitations to camp, the Mets have a better chance of finding a couple of specialists to replace Smith and Schoeneweis than coming up with a guy like Putz. Sure, there are questions about his health, but the minute Putz came over the Mets had a much better bullpen. Period.

They still have work to do. With Rodriguez and Putz they're in better shape in the eighth and ninth, but those guys can't pitch every day. They need one more guy who can get out both LH and RH hitters.

Duaner Sanchez has a chance to be that guy. He should be stronger this season over a year and a half removed from surgery. He actually did very well against LH batters last season (.200 /.292 /.330) thanks to his changeup, it was righties that hurt him more (.268/.333/.394). With a little more fastball that could change. Before he tired over the last two months, probably due to missing a full year, Sanchez was fairly solid. He just turned 29, so he's not over the hill yet.

Brian Stokes showed some real promise in his two months with the Mets. He faltered at the end, but being used practically every day for a while. Lefties hurt him, too, despite a very nice changeup that should be a weapon against them. He's got good stuff, he just makes too many mistakes. As a sixth or seventh inning option he is certainly worth a shot.

Pedro Feliciano is an interesting case. In 2006 and 2007 he had credible numbers against RH hitters, allowing Willie to leave him in for full innings at times. Last year, however, he had worst splits against righties than Schoeneweis (.357/.453/.561). You'd like to think that he could bounce back and be more of the versatile option he was in 2006-07, but if not he is still a very solid LOOGY.

In Rule 5 pickup Darren O'Day and Sean Green (acquired along with Putz) the Mets have a couple of RH sidearmers who will compete for Smith's old job. Rocky Cherry is another pitcher tabbed in the Rule 5 draft who has shown some promise, as has Connor Robertson, the 27-year-old acquired from Arizona for Schoeneweis. Eddie Kunz and Bobby Parnell are also possibilities.

If Putz is healthy and Sanchez is stronger, the Mets have the makings of a good bullpen. I'd like to see them get another leftie to complement Feliciano and find a dependable long man, which they've lacked since letting Darren Oliver go. When you don't have someone who you trust to keep you in a game for 3 or 4 innings you wind up using 2 or 3 short relievers instead, which only compounded the overuse problems the Mets had with their bullpen last year.

To sum up, while the Phillies are undoubtedly the team to beat until when and if the Mets prove they can do so, any thoughts that this bullpen has only been slightly improved is ridiculous. As with any bullpen it has to come together and stay healthy, and there is always an element of uncertainty. There is also certainly work to be done on the rotation and bench.

Still, as things stand the Mets are in my mind a better team than they were last year. Whether that translates into a playoff appearance, only time and real games will tell.

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Authored by Mike Steffanos, Posted at 4:40 PM Tuesday, December 30, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4)

I know I've said this before, but recent events compel me to restate this: if I wanted to be a Yankees fan I could have been one.

With the Yankees recent signings of C.C. Sabathia, J.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira, some in the local media are proclaiming that the Mets must go on some sort of similar spending spree to "prove" that they belong in the same city as the Yankees. Typical of the genre is this article penned by the Post's Mike Vaccaro last week:

... [the Mets] should at least start acting like they belong in the varsity league by addressing their lingering needs - starting pitching and more stick - with the most tried-and-true method possible.

By spending their money. By acting like they belong in the same sentence - or the same city - as the Yankees. By not conceding and meekly accepting their place as after-thought, also-ran, and permanent kid brother.

I understand that, as a Mets fan, I am supposed to read Vaccaro's (admittedly effective) inflammatory prose and start screaming at the top of my lungs for Fred Wilpon to start spending like Sarah Palin set loose with someone else's plastic in a Neiman Marcus. Instead, I find myself annoyed by the transparent effort to manipulate my emotions with this crap.

The truth of the matter is and always will be that the Mets need to put a winner on the field. If they do, everything else will take care of itself. If they don't, they can spend untold millions on players and it won't change a thing.

This idea that the Mets have to compete with the Yankees in everything they do is a conceit of many of the local columnists, that the Mets can only measure up by trying to out-Yankees their rivals across the river. The problem with this thinking is that the Yankees themselves have proven over the last eight seasons that you can spend a lot of money and not win anything.

I know a lot of folks are pissed off by the Yankees spending spree. I can't say it bothers me all that much. I think the Yankees took a mighty big risk by tying so much payroll into so few guys.

Still on the hook for 9 years of Alex Rodriguez' $275 million contract, the Yankees take on $161 million over 7 years for Sabathia, $180 miilion over 10 for Teixeira and $82.5 million over 5 for Burnett. Combine this with the remnants of large contracts owed Derek Jeter (2 more years), Mariano Rivera (2), Jorge Posada (3), Johnny Damon(1), Hideki Matsui (1) and Robinson Cano (3 + 2 option years), and you have a lot of money tied up in a few guys.

If it works -- and nothing less than a championship will matter after this spree -- Cashman and the front office are geniuses. If not, they'll be cannon fodder. If nothing else, I'll give them credit for cojones. If your object is to buy a championship, don't do it halfway. Everyone is going to hate you anyway, you might as well go all in.

I don't need the Mets to try to go dollar for dollar with the Yankees to satisfy me. I want to see them run the club intelligently with a mix of player development, trades and smart agent spending. While mistakes have been made, for the most part they seem to be doing a decent job of balancing the different approaches.

That doesn't mean the Mets shouldn't spend this winter. I'd like to see them do what it takes to get Derek Lowe to sign on the bottom line. If they land Lowe I would still like to see them pursue a contract with Oliver Perez. The way the market is shaping up, it's not out of the realm of possibility that both could be signed. A rotation of Santana, Lowe, Maine, Pelfrey and Perez would be pretty solid.

If they can't come to a reasonable deal with Ollie, a veteran like Randy Wolfe or Pedro (given the right contract) should be signed for the fifth slot. I'd rather see Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell start off the year in the minors, developing their game and providing the Mets with some reasonable quality depth when needed.

I'd still also like to see them land a right-handed 1B/OF type with some pop, and they'll also need a backup infielder capable of providing depth at 2B (particularly if they do start the year with Luis Castillo) and spelling Reyes at shortstop.

If they sign Lowe and Perez they will not have a first or second round pick, and they'll need to offset that by spending in the Latin American market to get some fresh high-ceiling quality into the lower levels of the farm system. Even if Perez does sign elsewhere, bringing back a first or second round and a sandwich pick, they should still look to be aggressive in that regard.

Let guys like Vaccaro fuel the fire as much as they want. The Mets don't need to take part in some sort of juvenile financial pissing contest with the Yanks. They need to be smart, and they need to win. Making the playoffs this year is important after two straight disappointments. Spending money wisely with a purpose is the best way to achieve that.

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Authored by Mike Steffanos, Posted at 3:56 PM Monday, December 29, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5)

Editor's Note: This is the seventh in a series of new articles Barry will be writing on Mets second basemen for this site. - M.S.

The combination of Robin Ventura at third base and Edgardo Alfonzo at second worked quite nicely for the Mets from 1999 to 2001, but the Mets felt that Ventura was at the end of his road and thought a change was in order for 2002. Either a new third baseman was needed or Alfonzo could move back to third and a new second baseman had to be acquired.

Had the Mets kept either Jeff Kent or Fernando Vina, they would have been much better off, but most baseball observers agreed that getting perennial all-star and golden glover Roberto Alomar from Cleveland was a no-brainer. Despite the fact that bringing a veteran star to the Mets inevitably backfired, the overwhelming consensus was that Alomar was still in his prime and would team with Rey Ordonez to make up one of the great DP combinations in Major League history. Unlike Baerga, Alomar gave no signs of having lost much before coming to the Mets, but it seemed that from the day he reported to spring training that he was a shadow of the player he had been for many years.

Not only was Alomar disappointing with the bat, but his skills on defense eroded in a hurry. He seemed to have no enthusiasm for the game or the team and it was just a matter of time before the fans would run him out of town. The Mets gave up a package of players for Alomar, none of whom did much for Cleveland, and that made it all a little easier to swallow, but there was no way to get around the fact that this was a disastrous mistake.

When the Mets finally dumped Alomar, sending him to the White Sox in July of 2003 for 3 minor leaguers, they gave some playing time to young players like Marco Scutaro and Danny Garcia. At the time of the White Sox deal, there was some talk that the Mets would get minor league infielder Aaron Miles, who the White Sox had no plans for, as part of the package. That would have been pretty good as Miles as turned out to be a decent big league second baseman, but instead the Mets went for a Class A infielder named Andrew Salvo who never developed.

This sad chapter in Mets' second base history would soon be followed by yet another. The Kaz Matsui/ Jose Reyes saga was coming up.

Part 1 - A History of Mistakes
Part 2 - The Sixties
Part 3 - The Seventies and Eighties
Part 4 - Gregg Jefferies
Part 5 - Jeff Kent
Part 6 - The Carlos Baerga era/error
Part 7 - Roberto Alomar - Current Article
Part 8 - 2004 - 2005

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Authored by Barry Duchan, Posted at 11:21 PM Saturday, December 27, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (3)