It's Friday, It's Raining, The Mets Bullpen Sucks

In the spirit of marketing and creating some renewed interest in America's pastime, I suggest that MLB take some notes from the widely popular Survivor and American Idol tv shows. The idea would be to make every team their own TV show for the most part.  Major League Baseball is always trying to find away to boost TV ratings and fan interest so why not?  It could be Survivor: Mets Edition.  At maybe three or four points during the season the fans get to vote a player off the team.  Why should I be forced to see the likes of John Franco or Mike Stanton blow anymore games that I pay good money to go see or take time out of my day to watch my favorite team? Of course there has to be rules, you can't just vote people off willy nilly.   Players would have to qualify for being voted off by batting under .200 for an entire month, giving up three run homers to Endy Chavez on the first pitch, being named John Franco, etc.  You get the picture.  Then after the certain players qualify they actually have to go to the equivalent of tribal council and plead to the fans why their suckass loser selves should not be voted off.  But what about the open roster spot you ask? Easy, you fill it with another team's cast offs.  After all, one man's trash is another man's treasure and the Mets certainly have a few people that would qualify as trash. Fans would undoubtedly have an increased interest in the games now that they may actually be able to make some difference in the personnel. There are small humps to get over like salary, but who cares.  I mean, Franco getting paid to be as bad as he is should be crime.  Sadly enough, the Mets will be stuck with John Franco until the end of this year and Stanton through 2005. 

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Some thoughts on yesterday's game.
The Good:
David Wright got his first Major League hit and picked up two hits yesterday.
Kaz going 3 for 4.
Glavine going seven innings and giving up only one run.

The Bad:
Only getting one run with bases loaded and one out in the fifth.
Orber giving up a run in the ninth allowing them to pad their lead.

The Ugly:
John Franco giving up two runs in the eighth.
Kaz getting a leadoff triple and not scoring with the middle of the order coming up.
The Mets wasting another gem from Tom Glavine.

Justin Huber did pretty well in his AAA debut.  He was 2 - 3 with a double and two RBI's.

All my hopes for Magglio in Met uni have pretty much been shot down. With this news it is safe to assume the Mets want no part of offering him a large contract. It looks like Hidalgo will be there next year, which most people would not have a problem with. I just do not trust his streakiness over his career. Overall, I just have a problem going into the next year with the same lineup that has trouble scoring runs. A shakeup needs to happen. I know Wright will be an offensive lift and a healthy Reyes is a shot in the arm, but the Mets needed a monster in the #3 hole in 2005 to make a huge difference.

Bob Klapish has a little write up on Wright on ESPN.com. If you are ready this, you have most likely read that, but I give you the link anyway.

The Mets offer of Ty Wigginton and Matt Peterson for Kris Benson probably won't trump the package of Michael Restovich plus a minor league player accoring to the Star Ledger. That makes no sense to me, but if it is written, it must be true.

If the Yanks had any sort of prospects worth two craps, Randy Johnson would be a Yankee. Accoring to ESPN rumor mill, when Jerry Colangelo gets back from vacation on the 27th, things may really heat up. The allure of saving 24 million may become appetizing. However, the uproar that would happen if the Diamonbacks made another stupid trade would be tremendous. Schilling for Fossum? Though this deal would not be as bad as that one, it would still be high on the crappy trade list.

A Little Ricky P. and Random Stuff

Quotes on Rick:

"Rick's record of success as a pitching coach speaks for itself," Mets GM Jim Duquette said. "He brings an approach and a passion to the job which will be a tremendous plus for our organization."

"There's a reason why we have the best pitching staff in baseball," said Tom Glavine, who is making a bid for comeback player of the year. "When you have a lot of veteran guys, people think they won't listen and buy in. That's not necessarily true. We're smart enough to realize that there are things we can do better, and Rick can teach us those things."

"What we've done in his first year is not a coincidence," Al Leiter said. "His passion for what he does burns so hot, it's like a white flame. Sometimes I think it's frustrating for him because he wants everyone to have the same passion he does."

"He’s going to help [the Mets] out," Mulder said at the time of Peterson’s departure from Oakland, "and I can guarantee you they will be a much better pitching staff with him next year."

Some quotes from Rick:

"I was walking on the beach and it was like an epiphany," Peterson said. "I wasn't thinking about anything, but all the answers just came to me. You're a teacher. Go teach. Put on your uniform and go teach."

Peterson's philosophy: "In God we trust. All others must have data."

"My job is to educate these kids to not have to throw so hard to be effective," Peterson told USA Today during spring training. "But it's possible to throw hard without injuring yourself, and that's what I'm stressing."

"It's a triangle," he says. "One side is fundamental skills, another is physical conditioning and the other is mental and emotional skills, and it's important that all three are balanced. ... Talent does not equate to performance; preparation equates to performance."

Here is Rick back in his pitching days. I had no idea he was a southpaw.



With Humber, Kazmir, Peterson, Petit, Keppel, and Musser the Mets are going to be in good shape in putting some quality arms as well possibly an all-star caliber arm or two on their Roster over the next couple of years. Oakland became a year in year out pennant threat with their big three and the Mets have a shot at something special with their young guns coming up under the tutelage of Rick Peterson. Between the Mets resources and Duquette's seemingly well thought out moves and overall plan of building sustained success, Met fans may very well be rewarded for their loyalty. Just think of where the Mets might have been if they had kept Steve Phillips aboard.

* * *

Last night's victory was not a pretty one, but a win nonetheless. Seo really pitched a good game against the AAA Montreal Expos, but he was unable to get through the seventh with and left with the Mets up 4-1. Then all of our worst fears came true, Mike Stanton coming in with two runners on. He promptly gives up a homer to the mighty Endy Chavez upon entering the game. Lead gone, Seo's chance for a win thrown out the window. The Mets ended up pulling it out by way of a Montreal Expos error which allowed Ty to score. Ty also had a nice scoop at first on the game ending double play.

How about Jae Seo? 2 for 3 with a double and run scored. He ripped that double and Seo was being played shallow so it took a while for Chavez to get back to it. I was yelling triple as soon as it was hit, but it was not too happen. Jae Seo is a monster on the basepaths too. Not only did he steal a base the other day, but he is a lock to score from 2nd on single and is not afraid to get dirty.

Seo's take:
"I think I'm getting closer to feeling better with my at-bats, and one of these days I'm going to hit one out of the park," joked Seo. "I wanted a triple on that one and I could have pushed it, but I wanted to reserve my hamstring for pitching."

David Wright failed to get a hit, but made a few nice plays in the field. The Shea faithful gave him a big ovation on his first at-bat to help make him feel at home. So far the Mets are undefeated with Wright. We'll see how far that goes.

Ty is miffed about the callup of David Wright.

Lastings Milledge went 2-5 with a double in three RBIs one of yesterday’s St. Lucie games. He actually was pretty hit or miss in that game as he K'd in the other three at-bats he did not get hits in. He went 0-3 in the other game and is now batting .298.

Jason Giambi's lethargic feeling just will not go away. He actually had got tested for cancer to try another avenue. Although they expect the results to be negative, this illness that he has been feeling for the better part of season is turning into quite an enigma.

The Marlins are looking to upgrade their woeful offense (except when they play the Mets) by adding either Larry Walker or Steve Finley. The Rockies are interested in Darren Oliver so a deal could start with that him. The Rangers have also shown interest in Oliver as well.

A tidbit from this article:

Free-agent-to-be Carlos Delgado might want to scratch one club off the list of off-season suitors, thanks to his controversial stance on the war in Iraq. Baseball's wealthiest team, the Yankees, happen to be run by the game's most patriotic owner, George Steinbrenner.

Randy Johnson's agent Barry Meister has told people he doubts his client will be traded by the July 31st headline.

David Freakin Wright

The future is apparently now. With Piazza going down I'm going to assume Wiggie will be moved to first since it is unknown how long Piazza will be out and Mr. Wright will be holding down the hot corner. Amazingly enough, I was already going to tonight's game and it should be great. The Mets need this win and hopefully Wright can contribute right away. Definitely an interesting move which now necessitates yet another roster move to clear room for Wright since Piazza is not going to the DL just yet. Early speculations is that Jason Phillips may be DFA'd and then traded within 10 days. I doubt Duquette would make such a move had he not had a trade in the works already, but it should get interesting.

Stupidity Update: I'm not sure why I thought they would get rid of Phillips to make room for Wright. That would leave them with one catcher while Piazza is out. Damn, I amaze myself sometimes with my stupidity.

Garcia Gone Wild

Being a Met fan is definitely a high and low experience. This year has been the epitome a roller coaster ride. As of now Met fans have delusions, including myself, of the Mets making the playoffs. The Mets are currently three games out of the NL East lead and six games out of the wildcard. The Braves are 16 - 5 in their last twenty one games and have put themselves into a tie for first place. I do not expect them to continue winning at a .762 winning percentage, but if they do that in another 20 games, the Mets can easily be 10 games off the NL East lead with their current win one lose one pattern. Whatever team is going to take this division can take it by a 20 game hot streak. The Braves hit one to get back into contention in the East, and if they keep it up, they can put everyone away. The Mets face a huge series this weekend with the Braves and it is really the litmus test for whether or not the Mets should go buy or be content with what they have. With a sweep, the Mets can be put far enough behind that Duquette would rather not waste Wiggie or any prospects at this point. I am conflicted. I want the team to be upgraded, but is it really worth it? Should they be happy with the progress after a near 100 loss season in 2003? The Mets have more issues than one missing starter and one missing bullpen arm. They have starters that continually will not go deep into games, which will wear down even the best bullpens, they are near tops in the league in errors, they are they are near tops in the league with strikeouts, near the tops in age, etc. Part of me wants to go for it this year and part of me wants to be satisfied with the improvement they have made this year and not to rock the boat. Everyone has good chemistry so why not take a shot with what they currently have? Duquette did his minor tweaking without giving anything up and that may be enough. This weekend against the Braves is going to go a long way to helping most people decide, but there is a lot of baseball left and whether the Mets bullpen and aging veterans can hang in it until late September remains to be seen. Is it better the let Wiggie go for a chance this year when the Mets may be just smoke and mirrors and playing over their heads? Or is it better to keep Wiggie for 2005 knowing he can be insurance for Wright and Reyes and still get into plenty of games. You know Piazza will need rest at first, Reyes will still be favoring his hammy, and Wright will be wet behind the ears and will most likely need a break too. Is his value better in 2005 on the club than to not have him in 2004 with a pitcher the Mets may not need? We have all seen two distinct Mets teams, the question is which one is real. The Mets have proved to be resilient which has been one of their trademarks this year. However, let's say that the Mets pick up Benson and Scott Sullivan, who is on the payroll for 2.1 million in 2005, they are clearly better. But you are stuck with Sullivan for 2005 when there are other people that are better upgrades that you can pick up in the off-season. Sullivan is not bad, but he has really not been that great. He keeps his ERA in the mid 3's, but what is the worth in terms of a trade? Chances are he'll come here and get overused like everyone else and get tired. He is not exactly young either. In getting Benson, you just add another starter that may pitch brilliantly and lose the game because of errors, faulty pen, or lack of run support. On the flip side with Benson, you can either resign him or offer him arbitration so he may still have some value to you after the ’04 season. The bottom line is that the Mets have a lot of holes and defense is a huge one. The Mets are not a team than can afford to give up that many errors like the Yankees do because they are not able to cover them up by hitting four homeruns nightly. They are more than two pieces away right now. Should the Mets be fortunate to be where they are right now and look towards the future which was the plan all along or take a shot when you are three games out on July 21st? Are there moves that Duquette can make without giving up a player who may be very useful to a better Mets team in 2005? That is what Duquette has to deal with and that is the question on most of our minds. Whatever the decision, it has to be noted that the Mets are one game under .500. In many other years a team that is one game under .500 would not be buying, but in the NL east, six games over .500 may win it.

* * * * * *

Neil Musser got a victory yesterday in Norfolk's 8-6 victory over Durham. He pitched great in his debut by going six innings, surrendering 2 hits, giving up one earned run, giving up two walks, and striking out five. A great start and good to see him back on track after a relatively disappointing assent in minors

Scott Kazmir pitched brilliantly in the 2-0 Binghamton loss to New Hampshire. Scott went eight innings, giving up two hits, one earned run, walking one, and he K'd 5. His ERA is now 1.89 in three AA starts and had the luck to go against a guy who no-hit the B-Mets through seven and the B-Mets only got one hit all night. Great to see him excelling at the AA level so far.

Benitez has saved eight straight games against the Mets this season. Now that is embarrassing.

The Baltimore fans must be saying "the Orioles gave up DeJean and they got Babe Ruth back!" Garcia goes deep twice in his Oriole debut and knocks in five RBIs.

Oh Captain, My Captain

John Franco is the Mets fearless captain of the team. His jersey is decorated by a 'C' reminding anyone that may have forgotten. He currently owns the highest ERA on the pitching staff. He is 2 - 5 which tells me Howe uses him way too many times in way too many critical situations and he usually comes out on the wrong side of the decision. Right handed batters are pounding him to the tune of .324. On top of all of that, so far this month he has totaled 2.1 innings in seven appearances and recorded an 11.57 ERA in. During those 2.1 innings he has surrendered seven hits and two walks (one of those walks walked in a run with the bases loaded). It should be noted that out of seven appearances this month and has yet to go a complete inning as he is being used more and more as a situational player, but he also failed to get out of the inning on a few of those occasions. Aren't captains supposed to lead by example? He may be a positive influence around the clubhouse and good bullpen coach, but he is horrible when he steps onto the field. Being that he will turn 44 years old this year, I'm pretty sure that things are not going to get any brighter in the coming years. Owners and GMs have to walk a fine line when it comes to veterans who have contributed to the team for a long time. When the veterans want to come back, they believe that the team 'owes' them for the service they gave to the team and expects them to re-sign them. So if John wants to come back, he basically does since Wilpon loves his buddy John. At some point you have to value winning over making nice with players. In some situations it works, but more often than not teams cannot wait to get rid of the aging unproductive stars that they mistakenly re-signed. It is going to happen with Leiter at the end of this year, but signing Al does make sense for one year. His torn labrum makes him a high risk signing for anyone despite the fact that he is the ML ERA leader for the next day or so. Franco needs to be given his walking papers. The fact that he will receive offers from other teams should not matter to the Mets. Seeing Franco retire as a Mets should be an idea thrown out the window if he refuses to actually retire. Franco will undoubtedly get some one year offers from teams needs a situational lefty. Orossco had plenty of offers and so will Franco. It would be nice if Duquette actually makes the most sensible move and lets Franco go. He has been with the Mets since 1990 and has been a big part of the franchise over the years, but it needs to end sometime. Franco should be able to walk away with his 424 career saves and sub 3.00 career ERA and be satisfied with that. The Shea faithful have already made up their minds on whether they like him anymore. He was booed entering Sunday's game and he was booed again last night. I do not think the Mets owe Franco anything else at this point. He has been a Met until his mid-40's and Wilpon has done enough for him. Franco is allowed to play as long as he wants, but the Mets should not be expected to keep him around until he decides to end it.

* * *

The game last night started off good enough. The kind of textbook stuff that the Mets envisioned from the start of the year. In the first inning, Reyes singles to right, steals second, and Kaz hits him over to third with a groundout to first. One out, your big dogs coming up with Reyes on third base. Spencer hit a homer so it did not really matter in the end, but it still cannot be ignored. Then in the third inning, Jose Reyes doubled to left, went to third on a groundout to first by Kaz, and then scores on Piazza's single. Kaz may not have a good night on the books but the ability to not strikeout and put the ball in play is what really helped get things started. Then in the fifth inning, Reyes double, then stole third, and scored on a passed ball on Kaz's strikeout. Kaz and Reyes can cause trouble and really spark the Mets offense. If they are both working, then the offense will move.

On top of all that, Erickson gave the Mets every shot to take that game. I thought maybe last night was the apocalypse. Something strange definitely was happening. I could not have thought things would have gone so well for Erickson. The struggling Marlins are just what the doctor ordered for his first start. He went six innings, surrendered eight hits, one earned run, and only walked one. Moreno was a little off tonight and let the Marlins back into game but Franco bailed him out to finish the seventh. Wheeler then came into the game in his newfound role and teamed up with Mike Stanton to get through a scoreless eighth. Then after all that things went horribly wrong. Looper allows two earned runs to blow a save opportunity and hand the Mets a loss. It sucks badly. This one hurts. Two of the runs were unearned and Looper loses it against his old team only to have Benitez do what Looper failed to do and shut everyone down. The Mets will be licking their wounds today and will be risking falling under .500 with a loss.

By the way, this illustrates why the Mets need Benson whether Erickson works out or not. The Mets bullpen is stretched so thin. Five relievers were used on Sunday and six were used last night. The Mets need starters to go eight innings sometimes. I am obviously not pointing out Erickson, but all year this has plagued them. That is the problem when you have predominantly older arms. This needs to get rectified this year big time. Youth needs to be injected into the rotation that can go the distance 4 or 5 times a year. Stanton is on track to pitch in 93 games this year and Franco is on pace for 70. Bottalico is on track for 53 and he has not been around the entire year. By September, one has to wonder what, if any effectiveness the bullpen will have if they get ran out there ever single night.

Matt Ginter went 7.1 innings, gave up five hits, three runs, two walks and K'd five for this first Norfolk victory. I still think he got a raw deal, but it is good to see him do well.

Justin Huber will be playing for the Australian team in the Olympics.

Anyone notice how many games Detroit and Cleveland are out of first place?

Back in 1995, the Mets only had one starting pitcher in double digit victories. Impressive huh? That guy was Bobby Jones, and he barely notched double digit victories with ten.

The single season recorded for most complete games by a Met pitcher happened back in 1971. Tom Seaver completed and astounding 21 games that year. However, that was not even enough to lead the league. Fernando Valenzuela was the last player to reach 20 complete games back in 1986. The player who had come the closest recently was Curt Schilling in 1998 with 15 complete games back in his Phillies days. The all time single season record that does not look like it will be broken anytime soon is 75 games by Will White back in 1879. That year he also set the single season mark for innings with 680 (you think he was on any pitch counts?). Cy Young is the all time leader for complete games with 749. For reasons beyond my comprehension, it is just a mystery why today's pitchers are so fragile.

The Marlins and Padres are showing the most interest in acquiring Steve Finely at this point.

The Braves in damn first place. This aggravates me. Aren't they supposed to suck?

Who is the Next Casualty?

With the pickup of Mike DeJean and the Mets love for veteran presence, one would assume that DeJean's 6.13 ERA will find itself in the Met bullpen post haste. However, that leaves someone as the odd man out. I would give one of my pinkies if it would be Franco, but alas, reality checks in and it would seem that Dan Wheeler will make his exit to AAA. DeJean is on the books for $1,500,000 this season and is due about $650,000 for the remainder of the year which the Mets will most assuredly not eat since eating DeJean's contract costs more than eating Garcia's. The Mets are in no doubt trying to catch the same lightening in a bottle that they captured with Hidalgo. Only problem is that DeJean was never really that good as dictated by his 4.40 career ERA. I would have rather just cut Garcia than have to make yet another roster move. I hope there is something that I do not know about and Franco or Stanton will be making their exit, but God does not like me enough to do that.

Some Dish Options

There are a couple ideas being thrown around to solve the catching problem.

I'm warming up to the idea of the Mets acquiring Kendall, but still not sold yet. If adding payroll is not out of the question, which Duquette has certainly been saying, then maybe Jason Kendall is not the worst thing they can do. My friend is convincing me that if the Pirates pick up $10,000,000, then the reduced money owed to him makes it a possibility for the Mets to move him at the end of this year or after 2005 to make room for Huber or whatever they have in plan. He is an on base machine, though he does not hit many extra base hits. But at this point, I'll take any hit from that position. The biggest negative means that Piazza's move to first is basically an everyday thing. He would most likely not be catching twice a week anymore. However, Kendall has played over 100 games at the corner outfield spots in the past three years which leads me to believe he can at least play first base and an outfield position if necessary. He is very intriguing in that respect. It is just that I cannot continue to watch Phillips play anymore. I've pretty much given him the benefit of the doubt until now and have not said many negatives things (if any) about him. In fact he is largely ignored by my blog, but the fact that he sucks cannot be ignored (especially after what he did on Saturday). The other positive is that if Kendall comes, the Mets win the Benson bidding battle for sure and perhaps at a lower price to the Mets in terms of what they are giving up.

Also, if Kendall comes, it locks Benson coming to the Mets, then this comes too.


Another idea is to maybe venture out of the box. This one is to get more production out of the catcher spot and Piazza. Whether you are trading Wiggie or not, bring up Wright. Put Wright at third and Wiggie at first (I really feel he cannot do much worse than Piazza and may actually be a slight upgrade). Wiggie will play about five games a week between Reyes sitting about once a week, Wright sitting once in while, and Piazza can still play first two or three times a week for day games after night games. It cannot be ignored the difference in Piazza's production when he plays first and catches. To me, it is worth a shot to play the numbers and see if there really is a correlation. At this point the sample size is over 130 at-bats at each position. You would have to think Piazza is fresher and able to put up more offensive numbers while he is playing first, but that just is not what is happening. He has twice the number of homers as a catcher in less at-bats and about .080 more points on the batting average. Whatever is going on now needs to be considered. I do realize that he played catcher predominantly in the beginning of the season and first base more recently. It could be he is wearing down, but that cannot be confirmed until he actually gets some consistent at bats at catcher to see if sitting behind the dish has any relation to his overall numbers. Look, we all know players can sometimes suffer from confidence issues. It is possible that a player playing out of position may be less relaxed at the plate since their mind may be on the other things, like not embarrassing themselves.

The last thing is the most obvious choice and after yesterday's game, the choice that will be made. Give Vance the shot full time. He plays better defense than Phillips and he gives you a pretty decent bat. I think he can turn in .265 and 15 homeruns in a full season which would be welcome production over Phillips at this point. Howe has already said this is what is going to happen and this is the best decision right now since it involves no roster juggling.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I did not really go into the game too much yesterday, but two things that I want to go back over. The catch by Cameron was amazing. I was there and I thought it was a no doubt double into the gap with an RBI across the plate. When Cameron got there and made running shoe string catch going out for the ball my jaw dropped. The double play was the absolute icing on the cake and the turn around for the team. It was a horrible humid and gross day out and the game was painfully slow with both pitchers running high pitch counts and giving up only a few hits total. A spark was needed to get everyone going. Then when Mike followed that up by coming up the next inning and pounding a homerun, everyone knew the game was going to be won. Also, I liked Howe going to Wheeler after Franco tried really hard to lose the game. Wheeler throws strikes, and in that situation that is all you needed. You cannot walk people with the bases loaded. He got it done with one pitch, one out (what the hell was he swinging at the first pitch for?). I know Wheeler has not done great, or even remotely good against righties this year, but I advocate Howe's decision to start using him more in short relief roles in situations he normally would not go in. There is no sense to have in around to pitch three times a month.

Scott Erickson takes the mound tonight against Dontrelle Willis. This could be a train wreck waiting to happen, but I'm keep optimistic about tonight. Word was that in his last start he was hitting 91 consistently through the eighth inning. If he can repeat that, and keep his sinker down with the Mets stellar infield defense, it could be win for the Mets. Besides, the Marlins are one game under .500. If the Mets can take both of these games and push them to three under .500 and put some distance between them it will be a boost.

Some silly Zito rumors.

Jim Callis had wrote this little tidbit about the Yankees to introduce the latest AskBA piece for Baseball America. This is what I've been saying, but he articulates is much better.

Randy Johnson seems destined for the Yankees, and shouldn't the question be why? How can a club spend $184.2 million on players and still be in need of midseason reinforcements? Shouldn't $184.2 million buy you a team that could weather injuries and ineffectiveness? You could spend $10 million on each of the nine players in your lineup, each of the five members of your rotation, plus your closer, and that would still give you $34.2 million for the other 10 players on your roster, whom you'd be paying at the rate of an $85.5 million 25-man payroll.

I just think the Yankees front office gets more credit than they deserve. While they have run it better than the Mets for the past decade, they get too much praise. They deserved all the praise in the world for the team they assembled in 1996 which basically lasted through 2001, but after 2001 it has been a different story.

Carl Everett got traded to the White Sox from the Expos. He was traded from the Rangers to the White Sox last season for a playoff run and hit happened again. How many times has that happened? Maybe they should have just resigned him at the end of last year instead of having to give up prospects to get him back. This is also good for the Mets since they still have 13 games against the Expos this season. We should be able to give them a solid pounding.

Phil Arvia seems to think that the Carl Everett signing has bigger implications than this year's pennant race.

Both have player options for next season — Thomas at $8 million, Everett at $4 million (plus a $500,000 buyout or $5 million team option for 2006). Because of injuries, neither will amass the kinds of numbers this season that will suggest a better deal awaits on the open market.

So that's $12 million committed to two players. Add in all the other guaranteed contracts for next season, the Sox are at $49.55 million for 12 guys.

The Sox's payroll this season is roughly $65 million. Even if you bump that to $70 million for next season, it might be kind of tough to fit the $14 million Ordonez wants plus contracts for another dozen guys for the $20 million or so Williams will have to spend.

Phil, we'll get Magglio's blue and orange jersey all set and give him a nice corner locker with a view of some lovely Queens auto-body shops.

According to ESPN, Dave Little field will be looking for a similar package that he got from Brian Giles in terms of talent. You cannot fault him for trying, but that is highly unlikely unless a bidding war happens. Giles was still on contract and Padres were looking to get him for their inaugural season in their new park. He keeps echoing his needs for a 3b or an outfielder with a little ML experience or high level minors with a lot of upside. Well shit, Duquette has been trying to cram Wiggie down your throat and I believe he fits the criteria for a 3b with a little ML experience.

How many people actually knew the Mets had Pedro Martinez on their team back in '96?

How many teams have never won a hundred games in a season? The Angels, the Rockies, the Marlins, the Brewers, the Padres, the Devil Rays, the Expos, the Rangers, and the Blue Jays all have not done it. We'll give the Rockies, Marlins, and the Devil Rays a pass, but the others have no excuses.

The Yankees have the all time lead with having won 100 games or more seventeen times.

Our very own Mets have won 100 games three times.

G. Sheff is at it again.

Looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger was watching to many Hans and Franz reruns from SNL. He called some California Democrats 'girlie men' in response to not voting on one of his bills. Way to take the high road Arnie.

This wasn't the first time he referred to Democrats as 'girlie men' either. In 1992 he said:

“We don’t talk about those Democrats. I watched that debate and they all looked like a bunch of girlie men.”

I think it is safe to assume he believes most Democrats have less testosterone than he does. While that may be true, he may want to choose his words more carefully to describe his opposition.

Anyone know the roster move that paved the way for Erickson? Was Karim moved or released? Did Moreno get sent down? I could not find the info on this one.

UPDATE: I found out that Karim was DFA according to Always Amazin'. RIP Karim, I thought you played hard for the Mets and gave it your all. Good luck.

UPDATE #2: Karim was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike DeJean. Exciting stuff! DeJean's ERA is 6.13 so far in 39.2 innings.

Phuck Phillips

Steve Phillips, Wilson Phillips, Jason Phillips...name one thing that has Phillips in it that is actually good? The Mets should cut ties with all named Phillips from here on out. Jason's sucky performance managed to stick out more than any other sucky performance on Saturday. I do not think the word slump could even classify what he is stuck in right now. It has been about 90 games, and outside of a few games, he has contributed just about nothing. Most Met fans had high hopes for him this year and were hoping for .285, 18 homeruns, and 75 RBIs. Besides a slump in August, he was a line drive machine last year. Now he leaves seven people on base yesterday and hits into a bases loaded double play. Unreal, that was the last thing he needed to do and he did it. A damn strike out would have been better. At this point, other options need to be looked at. Even giving Vance a try everyday or moving Piazza back to catcher primarily, but he is a black hole at the bottom of the order. They guy looks so dejected at all times. I kind of feel sorry for him...that is until he reminds me how much he stinks. Too bad Mike Jacobs was injured this year, we do not too many options. The Mets cannot keep wasting good pitching performances. Glavine surrendered only two earned runs and four total runs total as a result of a Wigginton error. Floyd also misplayed a ball due to the sun which resulted in an earned run, so he actually pitched better than his box score looked. The ninth inning runs that put the Mets away completely did not matter since Wagner would have come in if it was a save situation and the game remained close.

Piazza finally hit his first homerun in 75 at-bats. The Mets need him to perform badly. Someone needs to step up and he has the ability to carry the team on his shoulders. He did it early in the year, and he needs to do it again.

* * *
A must win game in which your best player sits? Howe knew what he was doing obviously. Leiter pitched great despite a 3-2 count on just about everyone, Cameron had one (if not the best) Met catches this year, Cammy and Vance back to back homeruns, and Todd Zeile's huge double play and all around solid day. Mets back over .500 and back to two games out.

Now we get to see Erickson on Monday. Should be interesting.