Tom Seaver Fan Club

Diamondbacks ace pitcher Brandon Webb continued his joy ride this season by picking up his seventh win and continue to stay undefeated. Webb didn’t have his most impressive victory, giving up a season high four runs, but through the six innings he pitched, he let the Diamondbacks batters get the job done. Webb’s 7-0 start was the fastest start by a Diamondbacks pitcher since Randy Johnson in 2000. The Mets didn’t have much going for them- they totaled six hits and the pitching staff gave up 15. It was a rough game, coming over a nice victory the night before. Final score was Diamondbacks 10 Mets 4.

The surprising star of this years team is right fielder Ryan Church. He once again put up a two-hit game to increase his batting average to .330, but he was the only player who got multiple hits on the team. Carlos Delgado gave Arizona a little scare when he hit a three run homer in the fifth to make it 4-5, but after that nothing else went right and they didn’t score any runs. Jose Reyes got on base once from earning a walk and stole his eighth base of the season.

Starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey lost his second game in a row with basically identical stats in both games: Pitching five innings-to a little above five the first game, giving up nine hits, five runs, one walk and striking out one. After that the pitching went fairly well to say the best, but when reliever Duaner Sanchez came in the eighth inning, he didn’t fare very well. He quickly gave up four hits and five earned runs and was taken out after giving up singles to the first three hitters he faced, then threw a wild pitch to get a run in, and the gave up another single and then a walk. Not his best game.

None of the Mets played like they did the night before. Although they slowed down the best pitcher in the league, they couldn’t capitalize. Star Johan Santana will try to earn his fourth win as a Met when they play the Diamondbacks the next day.

The Mets quickly and consistently beat the Arizona Diamondbacks feeding off all-star shortstop Jose Reyes who was a home run short of the cycle. Starting off from the first inning, Reyes hit a triple and never looked back. At the end of the day he went four for five and had two triples; his last one, which took place in the eighth inning, he tried to go home and complete the cycle but was thrown out at the plate on a perfect throw. The Mets constantly got hits from most of the starters and the pitching went smoothing as well and they beat the Diamondbacks 7-2.

Besides the highlight reel provided by Reyes, the rest of the team got eight hits that totaled 12 all together. Ryan Church went 2-4 with a double and home run to give him three RBI’s for the night, and David Wright went 3-5 with a double and two RBIs. Moises Alou played his first game of the season, off the DL and had a RBI single. Reyes and slumping Carlos Beltran each stole a base.

John Maine was the starting pitcher for the Mets and got his third win of the season pitching six innings and giving up six hits and two runs, while striking out six. The bullpen, who consisted of Joe Smith, Pedro Feliciano, and Duaner Sanchez, handled the rest of the game only giving up one hit and zero runs. The pitching was very good in this game holding one of the hottest teams with some of the hottest hitters, to only seven hits.

This was a great game for the Mets, beating one of the best teams in the league and roughing up Diamondbacks starter Micah Owings, who was undefeated until this game. For such a complete player, Beltran has not been holding his own for the Mets only batting .204, which is unlike him as he is known as one of the best in the game. The Mets are now 15-12 and look to take the Diamondbacks again on Saturday.

The Mets home opener ended the same way they finished off last season. Losing to the Philadelphia Phillies. On April 8th, the Mets were defeated by the Phillies 5-2. The Mets were up 2-0, thanks to a home run by Carlos Delgado and a RBI by Ryan Church that sent in Carlos Beltran who doubled a few batters before. But later in the game the Phillies put some numbers on the board, scoring three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth to give them the victory. Mets pitcher Oliver Perez pitched 5 very good scoreless innings and came away with the no decision, but it was reliever Scott Schoeneweis who ended up with the loss pitching in the seventh and givin up those three runs to lose the game. This was not a very good game for the Mets. They wanted to come in to Shea Stadium with a bang and they just didn’t make it happen. Second basemen Luis Castillo left after the fourth inning with soreness in his surgically repaired right knee and will most likely take a day off to rest and will probably help the soreness. He was replaced by Damion Easley he did not get a hit. The Mets look to come back tomorrow and hope to show the home fans what they’re really about.

On Wednesday May 9th, the Mets got their first win at Shea Stadium this season. Mike Pelfrey got his first win of the season pitching five solid innings and the Mets beat the Phillies 8-2. Surprisingly the Mets only had five hits compared to the eight hits that the Phillies accounted for. But the stat that stood out the most was the nine walks and four errors the Phillies gave up that led to six unearned runs by the Mets. This was quite a sloppy game on the offensive end for New York, but the bullpen was what held them in there only giving up three hits in four innings and not giving up any runs. Damion Easley started at second in place for injured Luis Castillo, going 1-3 with two RBI’s and one run. One key player wasn’t in the lineup for the Phillies… think his name is Jimmy Rollins. Oh yeah, the 2007 NL MVP. Without their star, Philadelphia looked completely lost in the game and clearly aren’t meshing well. This win for the Mets stopped a three game skid and ended a nine-game losing streak to Philadelphia. The Mets go for their second straight win against the Phillies tomorrow at home.

On April 10th, the Mets once again beat the Philadelphia Phillies- without Jimmy Rollins. Starting pitcher John Maine, pitched 5 good innings only giving up one run and the bullpen did there job to beat the Phillies 4-3, in a game that went to 12 innings. The Mets batters were much more productive getting nine hits but had only four runs. Funny how that works. Angel Pagan led the way going 3-5 with two runs and one RBI. With two outs in the 12th, Reyes doubled off Tom Gordon and Pagan grounded a single to center. Center fielder Jayson Werth’s made a good throw home and a very close play on the speedy Jose Reyes, who slid around catcher Chris Coste and appeared to touch the plate with his left hand just before Coste applied the tag. Rollins did get his chance to pinch hit in the ninth inning but Billy Wagner struck him out.

On the 11th, Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2. Long time hometown fan, Nelson Figueroa, was the starting pitcher for New York and had his first win of the season. Figueroa pitched six good innings and only gave up two runs. The Mets had eight hits and an RBI each from Angel Pagan, Carlos Delgado, Damion Easley, and Raul Casanova. Pagan and David Wright each had two hits and were the only Mets players that had more then one hit. Wright, Delgado, Carlos Beltran, and pinch hitter Endy Chavez provided the four run for the Mets. The bullpen was excellent in the 7th, 8th, and 9th inning, not giving up any hits, walks, or runs. This 5-4 team needs the bullpen to play like this to make a September run.

Johan Santana didn’t get the start at Shead Stadium he wanted. It was a showdown between Santana and Milwaukee Brewer’s ace pitcher Ben Sheets and Sheets took the W and defeated Santana in his home debut. Neither star pitched that well, but Sheets pitched well enough in his 7+ innings giving up five hits and three earned runs. Santana was pulled a little bit into the 7th inning after he gave up a home run to Gabe Kapler to make the score 5-2. He finished his day by giving up six hits and three home runs to go with his four earned runs. The final score, Milwaukee Brewers beat the New York Mets 5-3. The Mets didn’t get the bats needed to overcome Johan’s sub-par performance only getting five hits including David Wright’s home run that brought in two batters, but that seemed to be the only thing that went right for them. All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes missed the game after finding out he had a mild strain in his left hamstring and is listed as day-to-day; Damion Easley filled his place and went 0-4. It’s still the beginning of the season and the Mets are at .500 with a record of 5-5, but have yet to find a constant base for the pitchers and batters to mesh in the same games. The Mets play the Brewers again tomorrow at home and will try to prevent a two game skid.

The Mets finished off there home series against the Brewers on April 13th on a unfortunate note. In a game that totaled 25 hits, the Brewers once again defeated the Mets by a score of 7-9. This was a very exciting game and a game that both teams starting pitchers weren’t very happy about their outing. Brewers pitcher Jeff Suppan only lasted four innings letting up nine hits and six earned runs, and Mets pitcher Oliver Perez gave up similar stats after pitching to three Brewers in the fifth and finished his day by giving up nine hits and six earned runs as well. The Mets took a good lead at the end of the third by a score of 6-2, but then the Brewers scored four runs in the 4th inning, two in the 6h, and one in the 7th, to secure the win. All of the starting players for the Mets had at least one hit besides first baseman Carlos Delgado. Angel Pagan, Luis Castillo, Ryan Church and Damion Easley, who filled in for Jose Reyes again, had two hits, and Brian Schneider provided three hits. David Wright got his second home run in two days. Like I said in my last game post, the Mets have yet to mesh their pitching with their hitting. Very Explosive on the bats, poor performance from the starting pitching and reliever Jorge Sosa who got the L, pitching 1+ innings letting up two hits and one home run to go with his two earned runs.

I apologized for the lack of posts but I’m back and am going to summarize the Mets first week of the MLB season (not including opening day.)

On April 1st, the Mets didn’t get the start they wanted from Pedro Martinez. That was because 57 pitches in to the game, he limped off the mound. After retiring Matt Treanor in the fourth inning, Pedro grabbed both his midsection and lower back region and after talking with Mets manager Willie Randolph and team medical officials, was taken out of the game. It was later found out that he had a strained left hamstring. Besides the loss of Pedro, the Mets unfortunately came up short in the 10th inning losing to the Marlins 4-5. Florida came out swinging right out of the gates getting two runs in each the first and second inning but the Mets came back scoring three runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to tie the game at four. Neither team could capitalize the rest of the game so it went in to extra innings. After the Mets couldn’t get any runs on the board in the top of the 10th, Marlins third baseman Robert Andino hit a home run with two outs in the bottom of the inning to win the game. Reyes, Castillo, Wright, Delgado, Church, and Pagan all got one hit and catcher Brian Schneider got three hits to lead the team. Wright, Delgado, Church, and Pagan were the players who provided the runs. After Pedro’s bad start giving up four hits, two home runs, and four earned runs, the bullpen played great only giving up one hit and zero runs until Matt Wise gave up that home run in the 10th for the loss. That was the only hit he gave up. The Mets hung in there but it was an unfortunate ending to a long game.

On April 2nd, the Mets redeemed themselves by putting a whooping on the Marlins beating them 13-0. Oliver Perez was great pitching six shutout innings, only giving up five hits and one walk, and striking out eight. After Perez, the bullpen was awesome only giving up one hit to go along with two strikeouts. On the offensive end, Ryan Church and David Wright each homered, Carlos Beltran had three doubles and the Mets racked up 17 hits. A very impressive stat was that besides the pitchers, every player who started on the Mets, tallied at least one hit. A very impressive win for the club. This victory showed how good offensively the Mets can be and the pitching is for real.

On April 5th, the Mets moved to their next destination, Atlanta, to play the Braves. The outcome wasn’t as successful as the last game. Mets starting pitcher John Maine only lasted four innings giving up eight hits and four runs, and the Mets were beaten by the Braves 11-5. The Mets got a total of ten hits so the bats held up their own, but the bullpen was awful giving up seven hits and seven earned runs. The big play of the game happened in the bottom of the seventh inning when the Braves were leading 5-3, Atlanta’s pinch-hitter, Kelly Johnson, hit a two out grand slam to break open the close game and extend the score to 9-3. Some small stats– David Wright was 0-for-4, ending his 20-game hitting streak that began Sept. 19, 2007. Clearly not an area of concern while he is still batting .353. After this game, Carlos Beltran was hitting a team best .438 and had six doubles to lead the MLB in that category. This was a very poor outing from the pitching crew. The boys are very inconsistent and need to improve in many areas. The Mets finish their last game on the road against the Braves before they return to New York for the home opener.

On April 6th, the Mets did basically the opposite at Turner Field then they did the day before. Johan Santana had a very good seven innings only letting in one run but the run support was not there. The game turned into a pitchers battle when John Smoltz, who made his first start after opening the season on the disabled list, pitched five very good scoreless innings and earned the win by beating the Mets 3-1. The Braves completed the mini-sweep and the main reason they won was because they got the runs when they had the chances. The Mets did only have five hits compared to Atlanta’s eight, but the real stat was how many men were left on base. The Mets had 14 compared to the Braves seven. Weird the say but the best hitter on the Mets was probably Santana. He was one for two with a double. Very solid stats for a pitcher. The Mets finished off their road game series on an unfortunate note and with a record of 2-3, but look to start new when they play their home opener on April 8th against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Johan Santana insisted he was nervous before the Mets season opener. He didn’t look like it at all. Johan came to shine in his first game as a Met and pitched seven great innings in the Mets win over the Florida Marlins with a score of 7-2, striking out eight and only giving up three hits and two earned runs. Besides the dominant play of their star pitcher, the Mets did the job hitting the ball too by getting ten hits and seven runs and only striking out three times. This was a great game played by the Mets and a big win to start the season.

The Mets hitting was very successful. The big three- Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran- did their part as they each got two hits. Reyes was 2-4 with one rbi and one run scored, but surprisingly was caught stealing in his first attempt this season and only attempt in the game. Wright was 2-4 with two doubles and one walk. His biggest play of the night was his double in fourth, when the bases were loaded sending home all three, which made the score 5-0 at that point. Beltran was 2-5 and his two hits were doubles as well, while only scoring one run. Newcomers Angel Pagan and Ryan Church each had one hit, one rbi, and one run. Very good numbers for a six and seven hitter. One of Pagan’s hits was a double and also had a walk. Carlos Delgado and Brian Schneider each were hitless, although Delgado got walked once, while Luis Castillo, the number two hitter in the rotation, was 1-3 with two walks, one run, and one stolen base. Santana didn’t have a great hitting performance going 0-3 with one strikeout leaving two on base, but no one is holding it against him because, one- he’s a pitcher and two- he made up for it by his wonderful pitching performance.

Besides Santana’s strong performance, the bullpen did their job only giving up two hits (all by reliever Matt Wise) and zero earned runs. After Santana’s seven innings, the eighth inning was split by Wise, Scott Schoeneweis, and Jorge Sosa who all did very well. The game was secured in the ninth inning when Aaron Heilman closed it out with two strikeouts. The pitching crew in this game was wonderful only giving up five hits and two earned runs.

This was a great way for the Mets to start their season, Santana was dominant and the players did a great job on the offensive end. All together it was a good victory over a young team and a great showing by the new look Mets. They played the Marlins again yesterday, which will be the next post.

This post is for the sole purpose of providing the complete outlook of the players in the field and not the pitchers of the New York Mets for the 2008 MLB season.

The Mets projected lineup will most likely lead off with speedy shortstop Jose Reyes, followed by second baseman Luis Castillo, and third baseman David Wright. Reyes (my second favorite player in Major League Baseball) has shown signs this spring that he is likely to be one of the top shortstops again in the MLB. He is a very exciting player as he led the National League in stolen bases (78) for the third consecutive season, although his batting average went from .300 in the 2006 season to .280 in 2007 and was heavily criticized when he performed very poorly during the Met’s collapse in September. Castillo, an extremely quick player as well, re-signed with the Mets this offseason looking to pickup his fourth gold glove in five seasons and trying to help the Mets win the World Series, which would be his third. Wright was voted to his second MLB All-Star game in the 2007 season and finished fourth in NL MVP voting. He batted a very impressive .325 and joined the 30-30 club with 34 stolen bases and 30 home runs. He was awarded the 2007 Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger Award at third base. The 25 year old has an extremely promising career and is looking to capitalize this season.

Following the three infielders is superstar center fielder Carlos Beltran and powerful first baseman Carlos Delgado. Beltran is known as a “five-tool player,” because of his excellent fielding skills, a good throwing arm, and the ability to hit for average, power, and steal bases. Although he had a better season in 2006, Beltran still had 33 home runs, 112 runs batted in, and 153 hits while earning his fourth consecutive MLB All-Star appearance. Beltran opened his mouth in the offseason after predicting the Mets will win the NL East this season, so now he must do the deed and fulfill his promise. Slugger Carlos Delgado didn’t put up his usual numbers last year only hitting 24 home runs and having a slugging percentage of .448, both were his lowest total since the 1995 season. He had a rough spring partially because of his hip injury and if he wants to be a key player in the championship run he has to be healthy, which is definitely a concern at the age of 35.

Rounding out the bottom of the lineup are all new Mets, starting with the number six hitter Ryan Church, followed by left fielder Angel Pagan, and finishing off with the catcher Brian Schneider. Church takes over for retired veteran Shawn Green in right field and is coming off an impressive season where he had career highs in many offensive categories and hopefully has finally found himself on a winning team. The third year Pagan will be starting in place of the injured Moises Alou and hopes to bring some some “pop” to the end of the lineup. The number eight hitter is the new man behind the plate, Brian Schneider. After catcher Paul Lo Duca was not re-signed in the offseason, the team needed someone new and traded for Schneider from the Washington Nationals over the winter. He isn’t a very offensive oriented catcher but is very reliable on the defensive part so he should be a good fit.

The Mets have a solid bench crew with veteran infielders Damion Easley and Marlon Anderson, outfielder Endy Chavez, and catcher Ramon Castro. Easley and Anderson are versatile players, both solid on the defensive end and can fill in for most infield positions. Chavez will be reserve outfielder for most of the season and is a good defensive player and has speed on the basepaths. Castro is likely to start the season on the disabled list because of a strained hamstring. Raul Casanova is the leading candidate to take Castro’s spot on the roster. When Castro is healthy, he has a good bat for a catcher (actually probably better then Schneider).

When it comes down to it, this is the year for the New York Mets. They have reached the playoffs just once over the past seven years, and after last year they are due for a big run. With Santana and Pedro leading things off and Billy Wagner closing on the pitching front- other hitters should be scared. Offensively, we know what they can do with the big bats of Reyes, Wright, Beltran, and Delgado. The other x-factor is the injured Moises Alou. If he is able to return from groin surgery, he will make New York’s lineup even more intimidating.

In the eye of Manager Willie Randolph, anything but becoming the World Series Champions is considered a failure.

If there is one thing on the Met’s squad holding them back from winning the NL East it’s going to be the bullpen. Tim Marchman from the New York Sun wrote about how a good bullpen is not sufficient, but is necessary to win the pennant or make it to the playoffs.

The Mets have showed they know how to win. They also have shown that they know how to choke when it matters most, hence last season. Two years ago they were the number one ranked team in the NL in ERA. This past year they were eighth. Two years ago they were all but that close from making the World Series. This past year, the Mets capped one of the worst collapses in baseball history, having led the National League’s Eastern Division by 7 games with 17 to go.They lost six of seven games in a final home stand against teams with losing records, and missed out on not only the division title but even the wild card spot in the baseball playoffs. This leads to my point… obviously the whole team is to blame for the melt down because most players didn’t hold their own, but the bullpen, which is supposed to hold the lead when the team is up- didn’t, and it costed them the end of their season.

For most of the 2007 season the bullpen was on of the New York’s biggest strengths, but near the end they became the one of the biggest weaknesses. In the last seven games of the 2007 season, reliever Joe Smith had a 0-1 record with a 13.50 ERA. A couple other relievers followed in that pattern- Phillip Humber had a 11.25 ERA, Aaron Sele had a 9.00 ERA and closer Billy Wagner did as well. The list goes on and on.

A big thing to improve a certain part if your team is to get better players and work harder at it. That never happened. The bullpen basically has not changed, so there is solid chance that there will be another hold on their journey for the World Series.

When it comes down to it, the Mets have the hitters to make it to October, that’s a for sure, and with the best pitcher in the league Johan Santana and another pitcher who is working his way up to greatness again Pedro Martinez, the starting rotation will be very good. The only thing that will be stopping the Mets from reaching the point where they are expected to is the bullpen.

After the Mets acquired the two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana in a trade with the Minnesota Twins, they not only became a legitimate threat to contest the World Series Champions the Boston Red Sox’s to be the top team in the MLB, but now have one of the better pitching staffs in the National League (with a few tweaks) and have no excuse not to make the playoffs.

After Santana leading off the rotation as the number one starter, following up is three-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez who only started 5 games last year and has had numerous injuries since joining the Mets. Pedro has changed his style of pitching and no longer has the fire he used to but now has become a crafty pitcher who can get outs and strikeouts without hard stuff. The number three starter is most likely pointing to the righty John Maine who put up good numbers for the Mets last year, having a record of 15-10 in 32 starts and throwing 180 strikeouts, although he had a fairly high ERA of 3.91. The number four starter will be the 26 year old, left-hander Oliver Perez who last year had stats very similar to Maine- 15-10 record, 174 strikeouts, and a 3.56 ERA. So far Perez has a 4.61 ERA this spring in four starts, but has steadily getting better in each game. Finishing off the starting rotation is likely to be veteran Orlando Hernandez. The 42-year-old will enter his 10th season and looks to improve his health as spring training continues so he can back into his old form from the past few seasons. Mets GM Omar Minaya said Hernandez would not pitch out of the bullpen, although 24 year old Mike Pelfrey will battle “El Duque” for the fifth spot.

The New York Mets are scheduled to begin play at the new 45,000 capacity Citi Field on opening day of the 2009 baseball season.

According to the Environment News Service, this ballpark is much different then the ordinary MLB team stadium for the fact that about 95 percent of the 12,500 tons of structural steel used to construct Citi Field is recycled. Using recycled steel not only saves money, but also reduces energy consumption, compared to making steel from virgin materials.

The Queens Ballpark Company will build and operate the major league baseball team’s new $800 million (thats the price with “saving money” for use of the recycled steel) stadium using some of the latest green technologies and practices. Recycled steel beams, concrete made from coal combustion ash, energy and water conservation, stormwater runoff controls - all will play a part in the construction and operation of the Mets’ new ballpark in the borough of Queens.

During construction, the builders will use at least two million pounds of recycled coal combustion products instead of newly manufactured portland cement. When all is done, the whole process saves over 800 tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, CO2, and is equivalent to taking 1,000 cars off the road for two months, the federal agency says.

Once the ballpark is in use, the Mets will use metered hands-free faucets, toilet flush-o-meters, and waterless urinals, which will conserve more than four million gallons of water a year.

This is a whole new breed of ballpark and hopefully this will be the future for upcoming new fields and another step forward in saving the environment.

We all know how it ended. The Mets crashed, burned,broke our hearts, and for some of us, our will to live. But there is a new hope, and his name is Johan Santana. Down the Stretch the pitching was horrific, we couldn’t hold a lead even if the opposing team quit after the 7th inning stretch. The only thing the Mets could hold at seasons end was there bag of trash from there lockers. But Johan, marks the turning of the tide. Regarded as perhaps the best left handed pitcher in baseball, Johan is now the king of queens. The Amazing’s locked him up for 6 years at 137.5 million.

The front office isn’t playing games anymore and Willie knows the pressure to win now is guarnateed. With the addition of Johan and perhaps the most potent line up in the National League anything but a trip to at least the playoffs, will constitute the season as a complete failure. Mets fan will not tolerate a loser, and I think this deal sends a message to Mets players and fans, that the time to win is now.

Angel Pagan is coming home as the former Mets prospect was traded by the Cubs to the Mets for Corey Coles and Ryan Meyers.  Coles and Meyers both had decent seasons but neither are high level blue chips and neither even made an appearance in John Sickels Top 20 Mets prospects list. 

Pagan gives the Mets some depth in the outfield but it’s unclear as to what his role will be.  He might catch on as the 25th guy because he can play all three outfield spots and Lastings Milledge is now out of the picture but it wouldn’t surprise me if he spends more time in the minors.

Third time is the charm, at least it looks that way as far as the Mets starting catcher goes.  First it looked like Yorvit Torrealba would get the job but his injuries still haven’t been unveiled.  Then it looked like Johnny Estrada when they traded for him with the Brewers but then it looked like he wouldn’t be the guy and he’d be traded sooner or later.  Now, it looks like the Mets finally got their guy and it’ll be interesting to see if the price is right.  In a trade with the Nationals, the Mets received catcher Brian Schneider and a solid left handed hitting outfielderin Ryan Church.  Church was very solid against right handed pitching (.866 OPS) but he might as well not be put in there against lefties so he’ll make for a nice platoon partner for one of the corner outfield spots.

Schneider had an abysmal season at the plate last year but the Mets have plenty of offense to go around.  He’s a veteran and you’d hope he’ll be able to handle the young pitching the Mets have coming up through the system.  Also, Scheider is a very solid backstop and he led the National League last year in caught stealing percentage and he had the third best stolen base against/game rate.

Of course to get those two pieces, the Mets gave up top prospect Lastings Milledge.  Milledge has spent parts of the past two seasons with the big league club and he was effective when he was in there, it was the offseason troubles that always surrounded him.  If the Mets win a World Series in the next couple of years and both Schneider and Church are pieces of the team, I’ll call the trade a success. Of course if Milledge becomes a perennial All Star, we could view the trade in the same light as the Scott Kazmir deal.

The Mets sent relief pitcher Guillermo Mota to the Brewers in exchange for catcher Johnny Estrada.  It’ll be the fourth team for Estrada in four years and I’d sort of view him as a lighter version of Paul Lo Duca.  He’s got some troubles behind the plate but he can hit for a decent average with some pop.  He’s hit as many as 11 homers and driven in as many as 76 in a season and he’s a career .280 hitter.

Mets fans didn’t treat Mota well in his tough 2007 season so the thinking is that this trade could benefit the veteran relief pitcher.  He not only pitcher poorly, but he had to serve a 50 drug suspension.  Still, having Mota gone means the Mets now have to find a new relief pitcher.

I don’t know whether to believe any of this stuff anymore but just days after reading about how the Mets were going after David Eckstein to play second base, they sign Luis Castillo to a big four year, $25 million deal.  Castillo provides the Mets with a nice table setter and while you won’t get a lot of power from the second baseman, you can rely on him to get some walks, score some runs and provide you with some top notch defense.

I like the move and prefer it over the Eckstein rumor.  The Mets still need to do some work on the pitching side of things but their offense should be top notch when you throw in a full season of Castillo at the top of the lineup.

Well, this is one of those times where all you can do is a 180 degree turn.  It seemed almost certain that Yorvit Torrealba was coming to the Mets but now the team is saying the deal is off.  The deal was contingent on a physical and the Mets aren’t saying what if anything that had to do with it but it seems pretty much a certainty that Torrealba will not be a Met.  Of course just a few days ago we thought it was pretty much a certainty that he was coming to New York.  Anyway, it looked like a sore shoulder scared the Mets off.

It looks like now, the Mets are after David Eckstein with the hopes he’d become the team’s regular second baseman.  Eckstein is one of those guys who somehow manages to get it done.  He doesn’t have a lot of pop but he’s one of those gritty players you like to have.  Second base has been a black hole for quite some time and while I wouldn’t mind Luis Castillo back in the fold, Eckstein could provide a lower cost alternative.

The Mets locked up their catchers for the 2008 season and you have to be happy with the Yorvit Torrealba signing.  Three years, $14.4 million could turn out to be a huge bargain if we get what the Rockies got out of Torrelba in 2007.  Anytime you sign a Rockie there’s some concern because of the ballpark factor and Torrealba did struggle on the road (.212/.292/.326) so you have to hope he can get it done at Shea (and then Citifield).

You do get the defense though and Torrealba finished with 27 fielding runs above replacement.  He didn’t allow many passed balls but his throwout rate wasn’t all that great.  Still, he didn’t make a single fielding error all season and he seemed like he did a good job with the pitching staff.

In addition, Torrealba was probably the best option out there.  Jorge Posada would have been nice but the Yankees took care of things there.  The Mets also signed their back up catcher with Ramon Castro coming back into the fold.

Moises Alou and Damion Easley will be Mets again in 2008.  The team picked up their option on Moises Alou and they’ll pay him $7.5 million.  Could be a bargain but not if he plays just half the season like he did last year.  Easley was re-signed and he’ll make just short of $1 million.  Easley provided Willie Randolph with a solid infield option and he even played a few games each at both corner spots.

Like I said, the Alou thing could go either way.  It could turn out to be a huge bargain if he can play 125 games.  Easley is what he is and for a million these days, he’s probably a bargain too.

It’s been a while and like the Mets, I’ve had my ups and downs.  Hopefully this post will get me back on track and I’m hoping to enjoy a nice September by the Mets that include their second straight division title.  Things are nearly as definite as they were last year, but with a magic number of nineteen, the Mets can probably get away with playing .500 ball the rest of the way and still lock up that playoff spot.

Man, was it nice to see Pedro Martinez back on the mound.  And with a decent start under his belt, let’s hope that Pedro can provide the Mets with another reliable arm, at least for five or six innings a start.  John Maine didn’t look sharp today and Tom Glavine has piled up the innings and it’s be nice to pad this lead, clinch with about a week or more to go, and then give these guys a rest.

David Wright has really stepped things up in the second half.  With a .363/..469/.593 post All-Star game line, Wright has gotten it done for the Mets the entire second half.  He’s even got a shot at a 30/30 season if he can pick up four more homeruns. 

Jose Reyes picked up enough runs to notch his second straight 100 run season.  His power is down from last year but he also has ten more steals with a month left to play.  100 is probably out of reach but the last time someone stole 80 bases was Rickey Henderson in 1988.  He’s already set the new team record when he passed Roger Cedeno’s 66 in 1999.

Carlos Beltran finally got in on the act in August with his best month of the year.  Even better, he’s off to a nice start in September.

The Astros are on deck for the Mets, which is hopefully just what the doctor order as they’re near the bottom of the National League.  I like the pitching matchups as well, with the interesting game on Saturday with Tom Glavine locking up with Roy Oswalt.

The Mets shored up their offense and filled a huge hole by picking up Twins second baseman Luis Castillo.  The fleet footed, gold glover won’t give the team much pop but the Mets have plenty of big sticks so having a table setter like Castillo in the front part of the lineup is a big boost to the Mets.  In exchange for Castillo, the Mets gave up Drew Butera and Dustin Martin, both of whom are fringe prospects.  Of course this is a short term rental because Castillo hits the market after the season unless the Mets decide to lock him up. 

The Mets sit on a 3 1/2 game lead although it’s now over the Phillies and not the Braves.  The Braves just picked up Mark Teixeira and that gives them a bump as well.  All of a sudden, the NL East just got a whole lot more interesting.  Starting tomorrow, the NL East leader takes on the NL Central leader as the Mets go to Milwaukee to play the Brewers.  It’s Tom Glavine against Jeff Suppan in the opener.

If you look at the standings from a “games behind” standpoint ten games ago, you won’t have seen a lot of movement.  The Mets and Braves are both 6-4 in their last ten and neither the Phillies nor the Marlins have either made a run nor slid back either.  The good news is though, the Mets remain in first and while 2 1/2 games could disappear in a hurry, if they can put together a nice run, they could make it five or six games just as quickly.

Carlos Beltran is starting to heat up.  He has homeruns in his last three games and two hits in four of his last five.  And while his batting average is still hovering around .260, his OPS has peaked and it’s been three weeks since he had his current .831 mark.  Still, for Beltran to be worth the bucks, we need to see him up near .900 and hopefully he can continue his run and get there sooner rather then later.

John Maine is stuck on ten wins and he’s been roughed up his last two times out.  It’ll be interesting to see when the Mets make the playoffs (yes, when), who the starters will be.  You figure Glavine and El Duque are locks, and Pedro will be in there if healthy.  Then it’s down to Oliver Perez and John Maine and the nod may go to the veteran.  So John Maine could lead the team in wins, yet not be one of the four starters come playoff time.

Tom Glavine continues his march towards 300 wins but he got bombed his last time out.  Glavine’s been solid but at times inconsistent and hopefully he can iron some of that out over the next few weeks heading down the stretch.  He’ll be one of the guys we rely on down the stretch if things remain tight.

Carlos Delgado, despite the lack of homers, is having an excellent month of July.  His 1.023 OPS is almost .200 points more then his previous month high this year back in May and since June 30, his batting average has climbed 24 points and his OPS is up 63 points.  He’s another guy who has to heat up for us.

The Mets have an easy week coming up.  They finish up with the Dodgers today, then it’s three against the Pirates and three against the Nationals.  You’d have to hope the team would have an extra game or two lead by the end of that time although the Braves play a less then stellar Giants team to start the week.

The All Star Break is over with and while the Mets sit on top of the roost in the division, the Mets are going to have to be better in the second half.  The reason being is, the Braves and Phillies aren’t going away and there’s a good chance one or both of them are going to make a move soon to improve.  The only problem is, the Mets best bargaining chip has been a problem.  Lastings Milledge is probably the biggest talent the Mets have right now, he’s just been a pain in the you now what.  Now he’s coming back from an injury and after a good game at Double A, he’s proclaimed himself as being ready for the Mets.  Still, he’s a top notch talent and while I probably wouldn’t have wanted to see him go last year, he’s just been too difficutlt and he hasn’t even shown us much yet.

Still, a two game lead is a two game lead and the Mets have to keep things going.  The pitching has been spotty but it’s got the job done and the hitting has been good but not top notch like last year.  Pedro Martinez, the last I heard, was still on pace to be back in August and if he’s close to 100%, that will give the team a huge boost.

If there’s an MVP on the team, I’d have to pick up Jose Reyes.  He’s the man who drives the offense and while his power numbers are down (his .439 slugging is almost 50 points below last year’s mark), his strikeout to walk ratio is nothing short of phenomonal for a guy who, just two years ago walked just 27 times.  He’s walked more times then he struck out (47 to 46) and his .387 OBP would be a career high.  And he’s also on pace to steal 80-90 bases with all of the doubles and triples.  He’s become the leadoff hitter that everyone was hounding for him to be all of these years.  If he has one knock, it’s that his stolen base success rate isn’t as high as it’s been in year’s past but the fact that he’s being aggressive is worth something.

The best pitcher in the first half has to be John Maine.  At 10-4 and a team leading 2.71 ERA, Maine is showing he could take over as the staff ace.  Oliver Perez has also been a pleasant surprise and while Tom Glavine is just a touch above .500, he’s been a workhorse for the team with a team leading 115 2/3 innings.

The guy that needs to come around is Carlos Beltran.  Since a solid April, Beltran hasn’t hit above .240 in a month since with July being his worst month so far.  He does have a couple of weeks to turn that around though and it’d be nice to see that happen.

The Mets go up against the Reds for four games here after the break.  El Duque gets the start in the opener against Bronson Arroyo and tis is a series that the Mets should be win.  The Reds are still at the bottom of the National League heap and the Mets have to make sure they stay there.

Now this is the way things are supposed to work.  The Mets swept the Athletics in impressive fashion and then they took care of the Cardinals in a 2-1, eleven inning pitcher’s duel.  The end result is, as of 11:30 EDT, the Mets have a 3 1/2 game lead over the Phillies (yeah, the Phillies passed the Braves).

Mets pitchers gave up just three runs in their three game series against the Athletics.  The most impressive outing was the 1-0 win on Saturday with Orlando Hernandez throwing seven shutout frames.  The lone run of the game came on an RBI double by the still hot David Wright.  He hasn’t hit a homerun in a while, and his seven game hitting streak ended tonight but he’s put together some nice games in this most recent four game winning streak.

Tonight, it was Jorge Sosa who had an impressive start.  He gave up just one run on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts in six innings.  The game winner was a walk off solo homerun by Shawn Green in the bottom of the eleventh.  In all, the Mets managed just three hits in eleven innings yet they still won the game.

Tomorrow it’ll be Oliver Perez going up against Todd Wellemeyer.  Perez has dropped three of his last four but in only one of those starts has he been horrible.  One odd thing about Perez is, he’s almost always gotten a decision one way or the other.  He’s 7-6 and it’s in only 14 starts.

Three wins.  That’s all the Mets have in June so far and when you put it along side the twelve losses, you wonder how the Mets have stayed on top of the pack.  The Phillies, who were way back at one point have now pulled to within two games and even the Nationals of all teams sit just eight games back of the Mets.  Still, the Braves haven’t capitalized so the Mets remain in first and all it’ll take is a nice run to give the Mets another cushion.

One of the problems has been the hitting.  After a team OPS of .809 in April and .752 in May, the Mets are now down to just a .681 OPS in June.  That equates to an 81 OPS+, which isn’t going to cut it for a first place team.  And then the pitching has been downright awful.  Heading into yesterday’s game, the team ERA was 5.41 in June.  So I guess when the pitching and the hitting tank at the same time, you expect the team to play poorly.  I just didn’t expect the Mets to have a stretch like they have.  It almost seems like someone pushed an off button on June 1.

One encouraging sign is that David Wright is finally starting to heat up.  After a rough April, he put together some nice numbers in May and now he’s simply on fire.  He leads the team with twelve homeruns and he’s right behind Carlos Delgado with 37 RBIs.

Oddly, Jorge Sosa has two of the Mets three wins this month and he’s been a pleasant surprise.  He’s now 6-2 and if he can keep it up, he’ll give the Mets a nice option as a fourth starter (fifth once Pedro comes back).  It’s funny how the Mets rotation looked full of holes but with Sosa and Oliver Perez stepping it up, the starting rotation has definitely held their own.

The Mets play the Twins beginning tonight in another three game interleague series.  It’ll be John Maine going up against Carlos Silva in the opener.  Silva’s been mediocre so this would be a good game to get those bats going again.

Don’t look too much into the Mets’ series loss to the Diamondbacks.  I’m not sure if their hitters just checked out or what, but you’re not going to see the Mets scored just a single run too often, much less twice in the same series.  The Carlos Beltran injury might have a little to do with it though. 

The good news is, the Mets have a nice four game lead over the Braves now and their 35-20 is good for best in the National League.  And even better, this week the Mets have a chance to bury the Phillies, who have been hovering around .500 since they bounced back from the horrendous start.  I like the pitching matchups in the first two games so if the Mets can get some hitting going against Hamels in the finale, you could be looking at a sweep. 

Carlos Delgado’s power surge has been nice, but he’s still sporting a .685 OPS, which isn’t going to cut it.  It’s nice to see the big guy heating up though. 

It’s two old men tonight with Jamie Moyer throwing against Tom Glavine.  Like I said earlier, I like our chances in this one.

Last week it was the Brewers and this week it was the Cubs.  Chicago rolled into town and left with their tail between their legs the Mets won three of four.  The opener and today’s finale were close but the Mets also ran up the score yesterday.  Of course Tuesday’s game isn’t worth talking about because at the end of the day, the Mets have reclaimed first place with a game and a half cushion.

The big scare was Jose Reyes leaving the series with a hamstring injury.  He missed today’s game and they’re calling it cramping but hamstrings are funny injury, especially for a player who relies so much on his speed.  There’s no doubt losing Reyes is a huge blow, especially with the Yankees rolling into town, but the Mets will just have to make do.

Carlos Delgado may be flirting with the Mendoza line, but he’s made his hits count.  In his last seven games, he’s had just seven hits but he’s also driven in seven runs.  Still, three homers and a .220 batting average isn’t what we’re paying Delgado for and you hope with Reyes possibly missing time, Delgado can pick up the slack a bit.

Jorge Sosa has been very solid since being called up.  He’s 3-0 and his latest outing yesterday was a one run, seven inning start.  His strikeout to walk ratio isn’t all that great (12/8) so you wonder how long he can keep it up but we’ll take it while we can.

And speaking of pitchers, Billy Wagner has been lights out.  He’s given up just one earned run in 17 innings and he’s a perfect nine for nine in save opportunities.  And his batting average against is a microscopic .169.  Against lefties, he’s been totally stingy and he’s given up just one hit in twelve at bats.

The Yankees are next, and we’re catching them this time before Roger Clemens makes his debut.  I like our chances considering the Yankees struggles of late.

Alright, we’ve been having some technical difficulties here at Baseball Historians but I’ve been told everything is now fixed so I apologize for the abscence.  Anyway, the Mets may be in second place, but they’re just a half game back and they did it behind a series win over the team with the best record in baseball right now, the Brewers.  If you look at the rest of the teams in that division, you can see why they might have the best record because things thin out pretty quickly in the NL Central while in the East, the Mets have the Braves and the Phillies to worry about.

Oliver Perez got it done for the Mets today with his fourth win of the season and he bounced back pretty nicely from his rough outing on May 7.  Most important, if you take out that one crazy game where he walked seven, he’s kept the intentional passes under control.  Just from looking at his splits, getting that first pitch over for a strike is huge.  Heading into today’s game, his OPS against when he gets a first pitch strike is .514 while the OPS against when it’s a first pitch ball is .740.  It also looks like Perez runs into a bit of trouble once he gets through the lineup twice.  You wonder if it’s a combination of getting tired or just the batters being able to better see what’s coming, or most likely, both.

David Wright hadn’t stolen a base all season until yesterday.  Today he picked up three.  And while Wright’s 31 strikeouts are somewhat concerning, he’s also on pace to pick up more walks then in any other season in his short career.

Damion Easley homered for the fifth time and he’s done it in only 53 at bats.  Not bad for a guy who hasn’t gone yard more then 20 times in a season since he was with the Detroit Tigers since they played in Tiger Stadium.

The Cubs are on deck and while they haven’t particularly been tearing it up after they finally broke a three game losing streak, they had a nice run prior to that.  Alfonso Soriano has been hot though and he’s a guy who can hurt you by himself.  Still though, just in looking at the pitching matchups in the first three games, the only problem I see is Jorge Sosa against Rich Hill on Wednesday.

The Mets won their rubber game with the Nationals and they needed a gem from John Maine.  He threw seven shutout innings and he gave up just three hits and three walks and he struck out eight.  Billy Wagner closed it out and he picked up his fourth save of the season.

The only run of the game was a solo shot by Carlos Beltran.  Jose Reyes reached base twice with a single and a walk and he stole two more bases.

So at the end of it all, the Mets sit tied with the Braves at 15-8.  This could turn into a two team race pretty quick because there’s already a 4 1/2 game cushion between the third place Marlins.  And speaking of the Marlins, that’s who the Mets host next.  Orlando Hernandez gets the start tomorrow and hopefully he can put together a start like he did his last time out against the Rockies (seven shutout innings).

This one was a little hairy.  The Mets were down 2-1 heading into the ninth before the Mets rally with a run.  Julio Franco came through big with an RBI single that tied the game up and then in the twelth, Carlos Beltran doubled home two and David Wright singled home two to make it a 6-2 Mets win.

A pretty good start by Tom Glavine almost went to waste.  He gave up just one run on three hits and a walk with two strikeouts in six innings.  Aaron Sele picked up the win with a shutout eleventh and Wagner closed it out with a shutout twelth.

David Wright and Beltran had the two RBIs and Damian Easley finished with two hits and he singled to keep things going in the ninth inning.  Jose Reyes went one for four with a walk, a run and his fourteenth stolen base of the season.

John Maine throws in the rubber game this afternoon.  Jason Bergmann is throwing for the Nationals and he actually sports a solid ERA for a Nat.

This stuff shouldn’t happen. Orlando Hernandez gave up three runs in the first and that set the stage in the Mets 4-3 loss to the Nationals.  Hernandez gave up a fourth run and they came on eight hits and he struck out nine.  The big mistake was a three run homer that was servced up by Austin Kearns.

The Mets also got their share of baserunners, they just couldn’t push them across the plate.  Moises Alou went three for four and he drove in a run while Jose Reyes double, stole his thirteenth base of the season and scored a run.

Tom Glavine gets the start tomorrow and hopefully he can stop the miniskid.  Jerome Williams and his 7.77 ERA will get the start of the Nats.

This game got ugly and it happened pretty quickly.  Mike Pelfrey took the loss and he gave up six runs in three innings but Aaron Sele (four runs in two innings) also got beat up.  You’d think this game was in Coors Field or something.

Jose Reyes was the hitting star in the 11-5 loss.  He went four for five with two runs.  Endy Chavez drove in two runs and Shawn Green had two hits and three RBIs.

The Mets get tomorrow off and then they hit the road for three against the Nationals in D.C.  Oliver Perez will hopefully follow through on his previous solid start in the opener.  All the pitching matchups work out well and I think a sweep is in order.