Mets Bullpen

It’s now been 3 years in a row that the Mets have blown their chance to do something big, and been marked chokers, under-performers, or whatever other insult the media can dig up.

After the 2006 NLCS, Mets fans were happy with the big improvement from the last 5 years, but disappointed knowing that the Mets had the series won easily and blew pretty much every game they lost. However, both the Mets and their fans had high hopes going into 2007.

In 2007, more big players came in, and the Mets were once again, identically like the year before, predicted to win the World Series. Once again, the Mets blew a season in which they should have gone far. Mets fans were starting to lose hope - The old players who had done well in 2006 were fading away because of old age, and the young players were getting older. The Mets had a 7 game lead in the National League East division, and ended up blowing the lead on the final game, with their “ace” going less than an inning and knocking the Mets out of the playoffs before the second inning.

In 2008, Omar Minaya and the New York Mets made an explosive move, signing Johan Santana. Finally, this was the year to get excited about. Mets fans were positive this year was destiny. However, the Mets got off to a rocky and vigorous start, and halfway through the year, were under .500. Willie Randolph was fired, and interim manager Jerry Manuel came in from the fiery bench coach to the pugnacious and aggressive manager that was going to put the Mets back in to place. It happened, and the Mets found themselves wi th a lead in the NL East going in to the final week. Once again, the Mets let their fans down. Again, for the second year in a row, the final game was the game that would decide the season, and again, it was to be played against the Marlins - the team that loved to hurt the Mets. The Mets came out and threw Oliver Perez, who was brilliant for his whole start. Then, it came to the bullpen. Joe Smith, Scott Schoenweis, and Luis Ayala all gave up runs that eventually blew it for the Mets. Just like that, the season was over.

Now, Mets fans are calling for change. The Mets need to get rid of their old players, and sign some big players. Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel just both recently got contract extensions, and Carlos Delgado is near signing. The two New York teams are in a bidding war for CC Sabathia, and many other big name players, such as Francisco Rodriguez are in the mix.

Here is an ultimate 2009 Mets Opening Day Team:

Starters

C - Brian Schneider - Although he didn’t have the best year this year, I’m confident he’ll have a good bounce back season. He is also a great defensive catcher and that’s mostly what teams should look at for catchers.

1B - Carlos Delgado - It’s impossible to not want Delgado back after this season. He was great in the clutch, got the whole crowd going, and got an MVP chant after every home run all of September. Unless there is something the Mets see in him that shows he won’t have a good season next year, I don’t see why not.

2B - Daniel Murphy - Murphy showed this year as a rookie that he can do anything at anytime. He ended the year hitting over .300, and was one of the few young players who had clutch hits every opportunity. He’s been an infielder his whole life, so putting him at second base wouldn’t be a hard adjustment for him.

3B - David Wright - Call him a choker, a loser, whatever you want. David Wright is a great baseball player and the face of the New York Mets no matter what. He puts up great numbers every year, and is still young - he will, I guarantee you, become a clutch player in September and October.

SS - Jose Reyes - Although he is sometimes annoying, very immature, and quiet in September, he’s an incredible ballplayer. He will not be leaving New York anytime soon.

LF - Eric Byrnes - After a bad performance in 2008, Byrnes is on the Diamondbacks trading block because Arizona wants to lower their salary. It’s already been rumored that they’d be interested in Castillo for Byrnes, which in my opinion would be a steal of a trade for the Mets. He’d be a perfect fit in New York, and a key asset for our team.

CF - Carlos Beltran - He may be quiet and have a lack of leadership, but he had many clutch hits for the Mets in 2008 and is one of the best fielding outfielders in baseball. It would be a horrible mistake not to bring him back.

RF - Fernando Martinez - The biggest prospect for the New York Mets should be ready to help open up Citi Field for the New York Mets in 2009. He has been well groomed in the minors, and has all the talents to be a star in the big leagues.

Bench

Infielder - Ramon Martinez - Ramon earned himself a spot on the roster in September of 2008, providing a clutch hit almost every time he came up to bat. Although he is old, he is a good bat to have.

Infielder/Outfielder - Fernando Tatis - Fernando Tatis surprised pretty much everyone and was one of the most clutch players in baseball until he got hurt. He hadn’t played in almost 10 years, but decided to make a comeback, and make the best of it. If he decides to come back, he’ll be a great player on the Mets bench, and someone who will hit 8th and 9th inning pinch hit home runs. Also, he will be a good player to have just in case Fernando Martinez doesn’t work out.

Backup Catcher - Ramon Castro - Castro will have another Ramon Castro year - he’ll hit .250 - .270, get 5-10 monster home runs, and have a few injuries throughout the year. However, he’s a great backup catcher, and could be starting on many Major League teams.

Outfielder - Endy Chavez - Chavez has had 2 of the best catches in Mets history, and despite a lack of a great bat, is a Met who will always be remembered as a great.

Infielder/Outfielder - Nick Evans - Evans had a pretty solid 2008 season, and unless he does not produce, should be on the team the whole 2009 season.

Starting Pitching

1. Johan Santana - Santana was absolutely incredible for the Mets. He did everything he could to get the Mets into the playoffs, and even played through an injury that nobody knew about. He would have had at least 20 wins if the Mets bullpen hadn’t blown so many games of his, and will definitely be the number one pitcher next year, even if CC Sabathia is signed.

2. CC Sabathia - This guy is in every single Mets fan’s dreams. The idea of having him as the second guy in a rotation gives every Mets fan the chills. If he could be the second guy in the rotation, and have a season like he had this year, the Mets could be World Series contenders.

3. John Maine - Ever since he came to the Mets in the Kris Benson trade, he’s been a dominant and clutch pitcher. He’ll be back in 2009, hopefully injury-free.

4. Derek Lowe - A clutch and winning pitcher, if the Mets could sign him, they would definitely be solidifying the pitching rotation.

5. Mike Pelfrey- After an awful 2007 season, Pelfrey finally proved Mets fans that he can be a great pitcher in the major leagues. Having him as the #5 starter would make the Mets pitching rotation incredible. Although a lot of Mets fans would miss Oliver Perez, Pelfrey is more consistent, and more valuable at this point than Perez, who will be asking for way too much money this off season.

Bullpen

Closer - Francisco Rodriguez - The best closer in all of baseball, K-Rod will be a free agent this season. The Mets have already been reported to have interest in him, and if he comes to the Mets, the bullpen problems should be over.

Setup Man - Brian Fuentes - Another Free Agent this season, having him as a setup man would make the bullpen incredible. He’s a great reliever, and could close if anything happened to Rodriguez.

Middle Relief - Brian Stokes - Stokes was great in relief this season for the Mets, and should be a good middle reliever for the Mets.

Middle Relief - Bobby Parnell - Parnell came up as one of the Mets top pitching prospects, and definitely showed the Mets why. He was solid coming out of the bullpen, and has great potential with an amazing fastball.

Middle Relief - Joe Smith - Since 2006, Smith has mesmerized his opponents with his side-arm delivery and great slider. He will have another solid season coming in in tough situations with runners on base, and getting many holds.

Lefty Specialist - Pedro Feliciano - Feliciano gets out lefties, and that’s what he does. He should only be used to face lefties, because when he matches up against righties, things usually go badly.

Long Reliever - Jon Niese - Although the Mets would love to give him a better roll, this is pretty much the best they can give him if they do sign Derek Lowe. If they don’t sign Derek Lowe, he will probably be the 5th starter. However, at the Long Reliever position, Niese will probably be very successful.

If these moves are made, the Mets have a very good chance at being one of the top teams in baseball. The two most important moves to make are signing Francisco Rodriguez and CC Sabathia - as our bats don’t need that much help, but our pitching does. A lot of Mets fans want Manny Ramirez to be signed, but with his attitude and age, he is not really the type of guy that the Mets really need. I’d be happy with the Mets signing him, but getting Sabathia and K-Rod should definitely be first.

I’m looking forward to seeing what moves the Mets make, and what players they pass on. I’m confident going into the Citi Field era and I think the 2009 Mets will be bigger and better than the old teams.

1) Luis Castillo Is Hurt. It’s simple, our old and unproductive second baseman gets hurt and we get to see a young player, Argenis Reyes, who was a free agent a few months ago, give everything he has and do nothing but produce. Easley’s been great as a regular, and the second base position finally looks good.

2) Fernando Taaaatiiiiissssss. For a guy who talks like a mouse, he has quite a lot of power. Clutch hit after clutch hit comes after the bat of the infielder turned outfielder who last played in 2001, and he has given so much confidence to the Mets, and has also won 3 games for them.

3) Carlos Delgado. A month ago, we all wanted him dead, and booed him with every site. Well, now it’s finally kicking in. Carlos is pulling the ball, hitting home runs, and being clutch.

4) Mike Pelfrey. Another player who got the boo birds last year, has now turned his young career around. He’s throwing his sinker perfectly, and is really showing why some scouts have called him the next Brandon Webb. He was a huge part in the Mets pitching record of 3 or less hits 4 games in a row, and has provided big wins for the Mets.

5) Jerry Manuel. How can you not include Jerry Manuel in here? He is the mentor, the motivator, the developer, the character, and just everything you need in a manager that Willie Randolph didn’t have. He won’t take any crap, but at the same time he loves to joke around with the players. He’s perfect.

Mets ownership is counting on the addition of Johan Santana to not only bring New York that elusive National League Pennant, but will also translate into a packed stadium, night after night. As a fan, that will certainly make landing premium New York Mets tickets even more challenging. Fear not. Lone Star Stubs offers fans a massive inventory of baseball tickets to any ballclub in the bigs. There, you will be able to find great seats (or cheap ones) to every Mets game this season. When looking for great seats, be sure to check out LoneStarStubs.com.

The Mets (30-30) lost to the Padres (27-37) tonight in San Diego.

This game could have been a great one for the Mets, but we just couldn’t score runs. We stranded the bases loaded with two outs two innings in a row, and out of those six baserunners we got 4 outs and 1 run out of those situations. We need to hit for Johan. When he’s on his game we need to support him. He was just pretty much left alone last night.

Notes from the game:

• The Mets stranded 6 baserunners in two innings, and were no-hit through 4 innings. The only run scored was when there was one out, with Wright up, and bases loaded - he crushed the ball to left center, but Scott Hairston made an incredible diving catch so only one run scored. As Gary Cohen said, that hit was a grand slam in any other ballpark in the National League. Wright was robbed of a potential bases clearing double.
• Johan Santana was hit in the shoulder while trying to bunt, and then gave up the two runs the next inning. It seemed like it affected him.
• Robinson Cancel made his first appearance for the Mets.
• Fernando Tatis kept his slump up, and went 0-4 and struck out to make the first out of the 9th.

It was a great game to watch, we just fell short at the end. The Mets will play the Padres again today, and PETCO Park, at 10:05 PM. Be sure to watch as Oliver Perez takes on Cha-Seung Baek.

Game Overview

The Mets (30-29) will take on the Padres (25-37) tonight, at PETCO Park at 10:05 PM.

Pitchers

Mets ace Johan Santana (7-3) will face Padres pitcher Randy Wolf (3-4).

Lineup:

1. Jose Reyes
2. Luis Castillo
3. David Wright
4. Carlos Beltran
5. Damion Easley
6. Fernando Tatis
7. Brian Schneider
8. Endy Chavez
9. Johan Santana

Notes

• This will be the first game that Abraham Nunez will be active, following the demotion of Nick Evans.
• Moises Alou will be activated from the DL Tuesday.
• Mets first round draft pick Ike Davis will be playing for his Sun Devils tonight on ESPN.
• No game can be worse than last night, so I’m looking forward to a game we don’t lose to a walk off hit by pitch.

Live Blog

To follow the game play by play with me, and add in your comments, please click here.

Yesterday, the Mets drafted two power bats in Ike Davis and Reese Havens in the first round.

Ike Davis is a first baseman and was drafted out of Arizona State, who is said to have a great power bat, as well as a fastball as high as 94 mph. He seems to be a Mark Teixeira type player who can bomb the occasional pitch. Can’t wait to see him playing 1st base instead of Delgado soon. Describing his fielding abilities, ESPN writes:

At first base, he’s a good athlete and provides a big target for infielders’ throws, but is still raw and a little uncoordinated.

Reese Havens came from University of South Carolina, and is a shortstop, who, as Peter Gammons says, “is like a Russel Martin Type”, and may turn into a catcher. ESPN says about him:

A legitimate prospect in high school, teams were scared off because of a strong commitment to South Carolina. He’s improved steadily in his three years there and has evolved into a good all-around hitter with outstanding plate discpline. He may need to move to third down the road because of his lack of range, but his smarts in the field may at least give him the opportunity to play his way off of short as a pro. At either spot, he’s sure to go off the board pretty quickly.

He seems like once he makes it to the big leagues he’s going to be a big time player (clutch), a leader, and someone with a high baseball IQ (yes, even better than that of Lastings Milledge’s). I like what ESPN says about him and hope that he can blossom into a solid baseball player. Who knows, maybe Luis Castillo won’t be putting his MVP-Caliber stats when Havens is ready.

The 3rd pick for the Mets is a RHP out of UNC-Wilmington named Brad Holt. Baseball America describes him:

His fastball has improved since arriving in Wilmington and now sits between 92-94 mph, touching 96… He is able to maintain his velocity deep into games. [He has] vastly improved command. Holt at 6-foot-4, 195 pounds, has a perfect pro body with a clean delivery and a first-round arm… The only thing holding him back is the lack of a usable secondary pitch…. Even though his secondary stuff is in need of refinement, teams will not walk away from the pro body, strong arm and life on the fastball.

The next pick, at #68, is an outfielder named Javier Rodriguez. He comes from Puerto Rico and Baseball America ranks him as the 102nd best prospect in the draft. Personally, I don’t love the pick, and think we should have gone for a starter/reliever, but, time will tell what the pick was like.

Those are the main 4 picks of the draft. You can watch round 2 today on MLB.com, will keep you updated.

Because school is now out, Mets Bullpen has now returned. I am ready to talk Mets 24/7 around here and hope you guys stick around and read what I write. I plan to do live blogs every few games, and that includes tonight. Pre Games and Post Games will be regular, and news will be posted daily. I also added a new theme, so I hope you guys like that.

Enjoy and Let’s Go Mets!

As Aaron Heilman warms up in the bullpen, with the Mets leading by a short margin, the Shea Stadium boo-birds become a very frequent sound.

Heilman, coming into tonight, is 0-0, with a 4.64 ERA. Recently, he has been gaining a bit more confidence, and showing a lot more success. He’s only given up 1 run in the last 7.1 innings, which is a very good sign.

Two days ago, during the first-game win against the Cincinnati Reds, he came in, and gave up 2 runs. Yet we still had a 12-5 lead at the time, but Mets fans (including myself, I am far from a Heilman supporter) booed him off so poorly it sounded like he came into the came and gave up 6 runs and blew the game. Next inning, Jorge Sosa came in, gave up a run, did in my opinion worse than Heilman, yet he was cheered off.

Aaron Heilman is a very good pitcher. He needs to keep his mental confidence in tact and he can stay good. But the Mets fans have to give him a break.

Kevin Devaney, of the Journal News, states that the Mets will play tonight, despite showers.

Assuming that the game is on, he reports that the mets will call up Adam Bostick, to start on Wednesday.

According to MetsBlog.com:

Bostick is 2-1 with a 3.83 ERA with 26 K and 16 BB in nine games, eight starts, this season for Triple-A New Orleans.

This year, although our record isn’t terrible, has been horrible. Injuries, slumps, and just nothing very good to say. We are a very good team, and in my opinion we just are not living up to our potential.

A main cause to my anger:

Carlos Delgado. Get him out, please. The young phenom Mike Carp, although his value was diminished during an injury-filled and average season in double-a, has been really tearing it up at double-a. He has a ton of potential, while Delgado is just whithering away. Let’s hope that Willie doesn’t continue to be “Mr. Loyal” and not take out Delgado because he’s old, experienced, etc.
The same goes for Mr. Heilman. Probably the worst start I could have ever imagined for Heilman. When he gets in the game he can’t even pitch the ball, and worst of all he’s blowing wins for our pitchers. Johan Santana would have at least 4 wins right now if it wasn’t for out bullpen blowing wins.

Although there is plenty of time to improve, I ask Omar and Willie to make some decisions: Maybe throw away some of that loyalty, bring up some youth, and look at Duaner Sanchez damnit.
That’s my thoughts for today.

I’m going to start writing every day again probably starting Monday. Until next time, Go mets!