Speechless

The Mets dropped their seventh in row as Keith Ginter had to leave the game after one inning after aggravating an ankle sprain. You cannot make this stuff up. The Mets made Gavin Floyd look like a seasoned pro in his first major league start at just 21 years old. He went seven innings giving up only one run. Floyd only surrendered four hits to the listless Mets. If I am going to be forced to watch ridiculously bad baseball, I want to see prospects and young kids. This is going to be the third straight year in row that the Mets finish below .500 and at this rate, they may finish last for the third straight year. While the Mets past three finishes will have looked like they may have trying to rebuild, the fact is they have not been and still are under the silly notion that rebuilding is not acceptable in New York. Since when did the Mets become the Yankees and have a win now attitude? Last I check the Mets were one of the worst teams in the majors in 2002, 2003, and 2004 and isn't winning one of the prerequisites for a win now attitude?

I look at the Indians and their fan base was up in arms when they started selling off their pieces and dealing guys like Colon and Alomar while letting Thome walk away in free agency. They made some great moves and acquired top tier talent and they were bad for a number of years. Now with guys like Cliff Lee, Travis Hafner, Jody Gerut, Victor Martinez, Ronnie Belliard, C.C. Sabathia, Jake Westbrook, and Kazuhito Tadano all on the right side of 30 and all are quality major leaguers, they have a solid and young foundation. Some of those guys are already all star caliber players. Then they infuse some quality veterans like Matt Lawton and Casey Blake who are still pretty young and in their early 30's. On top of that, you compound those pieces with up and coming prospects like Johnny Peralta, Brandon Phillips (who has straightened himself out and is batting .312 at AAA), Grady Sizemore, Franklin Gutierrez, Jeremy Guthrie, Michael Aubrey, and the eventually signing of Jeremy Sowers, that is a bright future. As of now the Indians are only two games under .500 with the 2nd most potent offense in the majors and no where to go but up. The Mets had three shitty seasons in a row and their rebuilding should have started taking place then 2002. I have no faith in this team to do the right thing anymore. Their ridiculous lack of realizing when they have a shot or not is what lost them Jason Bay for Steve Reed. How nice would a 25 year old outfielder that can hit for power and average look about now?

* * *

Scott Kazmir got touched up for his second straight start. He went five innings giving up four runs on only four hits. His control problems continue to be his downfall as the walked six guys. Scott still managed seven K's and when he can learn to control his pitches more, he is going to be good. His K/9 is an impressive 9.00. He will get there, but there will be a few more bumps in the road. If he is in the rotation next year, I truly believe we will see solid numbers from his live arm.

Kevin Brown broke his non-pitching hand while hitting a wall in the clubhouse in frustration. He still expects to pitch this season with the hand in a splint. But the more important new is that Boston is slowly creeping up. Behind a Pedro Martinez lead shutout, the BoSox have moved to 2 1/2 games behind the overpaid, over hyped Yankees.

On Reyes:

"That would be great if he could, but at this point, he's not close," Art Howe said. "If there's any risk of injury, it wouldn't be worth it at all."

Why even bother? Why surround him with a depressing losing team. Do not even entertain the idea, send him home to rest and let him see some leg specialist.

More Reyes stuff from the Times:

Reyes says he is willing to work throughout the winter with a specialist if that is what it takes to solve his persistent leg troubles. He is expected to be the Mets' starting shortstop in 2005.

"I am? They never tell me nothing about that," Reyes said about moving back to shortstop.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.

Guess who is coming back? Our very own Brian Buchanan. The outfield is so crowded that they could not bring up Victor Diaz, but there is plenty of room for Lydon and Buchanan. Yes, Buchanan plays 1B too, but with Brazell, Valent, and Zeile able to play first with Piazza playing there everyday, I'm not sure why the Mets insist on these non-moves. Bring up the kids not retreads on the wrong side of 30 with NO long term value. This team is joke.

Benson is expected to start on Tuesday.

Victor Diaz picked up two more hits in Norfolk’s victory over Durham last night. He went 2 for 3.

* * *

This kind of new really puts baseball in perspective.

The death toll in the Russian hostage crisis has climbed to 322 as President Vladimir Putin ordered a security clampdown and forces searched for participants in the massacre.

Russian Deputy Prosecutor Sergei Fridinsky said Saturday 322 bodies, including those of 155 children, had been recovered from the scene of the siege in the southern town of Beslan.

The toll could rise slightly if investigators find more bodies in the rubble of the school, Fridinsky said. Officials previously put the toll at 250.

There are some absolute nuts out there for sure.

Another Four Game Sweep

"That would be a disaster," outfielder Cliff Floyd said about the prospects of finishing last. "I don't want to go home with that feeling again."

Fresh off of getting swept last week in four straight games to the Padres, the Mets manage to surrender another four game series to the Marlins. The current home stand is a complete disaster as the Mets have dropped 10 of 11 so far and 11 of their last 12 overall. The Mets are falling faster then Gerald Williams average, which has gone from .315 to .310 to .284 to .264 to .260 over the last five games. That is what economists like to call a negative trend. But hey, there is no room for Victor Diaz because Gerald needs to get to his ABs.

The good news? Believe it or not, there is some. Todd Zeile homered in the ninth for hit number 1991. He is a measly nine hits away from 2000. It's a safe bet to assume he will reach that plateau and is going to be a good story for a otherwise awful season.

The other good news? David Wright will be here for a long time. Forget Jose Reyes as the future of the organization, Mr. Wright is the future. Just ask Piazza .

"We do have some bright spots," Piazza said after the 9-6 loss to Florida capped a 1-10 home stand. "It's obvious David's the future of this organization. He's such a talented young player with a great attitude."


He is arrived much faster than anyone thought (well everyone but us, we knew all the time). David is actually the best Met hitter on the team. After his 3 for 4 day, he is batting .299. He poked two homers to bring his tally up to nine and knocked in four RBIs. He has 25 RBIs on the year and 28 runs scored as well. Although this is not very scientific or a good way to measure anything, his numbers work out to 93 RBIs, 105 runs scored, 45 doubles, and 33 homeruns over 150 games. Looks like a keeper to me.

* * *

Ichiro watch 2004:
Ichiro picked up another three hits and continues to assault oposing pitchers. Ichiro has 217 hits and is on pace to rack up 264. His average is now up to .374. Something interesting for me is that Ichiro raised his average .035 points in the month of August. He started September batting .371 and if he can continue with the same type of offense, he is going to make a push to .400. For obvious reasons, it is surely improbable, but it is going to be great to watch.

Portland beat Binghamton and proved that Yusmeiro Petit is human. Petit went five innings and gave up six hits, four runs, walked five and struck out six. He really pitched amazing this year and it is a shame that his last start is going to be a blemish on his otherwise stellar performance in 2004. John Sickels talks about Petit in his latest Down on the Farm Mailbag. He goes as far to say Petit will be in the majors sometime 2005 if he keeps up his current pace.

Hey Sam M., you sending emails to Sickels?

Sam from New York asks:
Yusmeiro Petit is seemingly blowing everyone away in the minors, continuing his success from High Class A and proceeding to dominate Double-A hitters. Is he the real deal? And if so, when can my brilliant Mets management trade him away for a ball of yarn?

The Brooklyn Cyclones have clinched their division with a 3-2 victory over Hudson Valley yesterday.

From NJ.com

a counter-offer from Kris Benson's agent, Gregg Clifton, soon, perhaps as early as today, but it is unlikely to conclude the negotiations. The Mets made a two-year offer for $12 million with two more option years, which Benson rejected, and he will present his offer. The Mets have discussed the possibility of not signing Benson, but are still interested in reaching an agreement.

The sixth pick overall in the 2004 draft Jeremy Sowers is expected to sign soon with the Indians. They have offered him a bonus of $2,000,000. Once some of these top ten picks start signing, hopefully the others will happen quickly. Humber needs to ink soon so he can be announced to play in the AFL and get some sidework in with Rick Peterson.

Another Day, Another Dollar

Another dollar short that is. The Mets have lost their last 10 of 11 and are spiraling downward. Last September the Mets went 7 and 19 and they appear to be headed down a similar path this year. The Mets need only six more wins to tie last years record but who at this point has faith that that will actually happen? Raise your hands. Hmm, no one? The Expos are 4.5 games behind the Mets and gaining. Looks like Mets will have a stellar chance to improve their farm system by drafting high again.

The Mets loss last night was highlighted by Wilson Delgado's four RBIs. Yes, Delgado provided all of the offense for the Mets accounting for all of their runs batted in. Wilson homered for the first time this year. The last three batters in the lineup picked up seven of the nine hits as Wright picked up two hits, Phillips picked up two hits, and Delgado picked up three hits. You are not going to win many games when your 1 through 5 spots in the order get two hits.

Glavine is 9-11 and is getting closer to his 9-14 record last year. By Glavine being on the Mets, he has lost about ten victories between this season and last season. The forty wins he needs are looking pretty far away considering he may be Met for two more seasons. I do not care if the Mets do not win any other games but the ones Glavine pitches in this year. Tom needs to rack up a few more wins this year. It is utterly ridiculous the support, or the complete lack of support he has received. Yes, he was not sharp last night, but overall, he has not fared well.

After I slept on this Victor Diaz not getting promoted notion, I got more pissed. Victor went 3 for 4 last night he only has five more games left this year. The reason the Mets are not bringing him up is because there is no room in the outfield. There is so little room that Gerald Williams has found 49 at bats in August and has started five games in row and started eleven out of the last twenty games. Who cares anyway if he sits on the bench? He'll find SOME playing time. After September 6th he'll be home playing Xbox anyway. Mike Cameron looks like "death warmed over" right now so wouldn't it make sense to try an inject some offense into a listless lineup with your best minor league hitter? It does make sense if you are anyone outside of the Mets front office. No one has an idea when Cameron is coming back. He could be out another week or so. Diaz could rake in some games for the Mets and certainly add more than "Ice" brings to the table. Even if he comes up and sits on the bench, he'll be doing nothing at home anyway. Unreal. I cannot see any logic in this non-move.

* * *

Here is a shocker, Brian Buchanan cleared waivers and will finish the season at AAA. You mean no one wanted him? That is one hell of a surprise. The obvious thing would be to plug him in at first now that Brazell is in the majors, but I'm sure they will demote Diaz to plug Buchanan into right field. Buchanan was a worthless move, let him go. What purpose does it serve to have him play in Norfolk for five days?

Ichiro inches closer to Sisler’s record for hits in season. He picked up two more hits last night and is up to 214 hits so far. He is on pace for 263 hits and has brought his average up to .372 during his tear.

Historical Head Scratching

Are you spending sleepless nights wondering how the Mets have historically fared with their first round draft picks? Worry no more, nights of full sleep are ahead of you if you can manage to actually not read about the Mets or not watch them from here on out. I unfortunately have an addiction problem and will be resigned to letting the Mets poor performance affect my empty life. Why couldn't I have a healthier addiction? I’m thinking something more along the lines of crack. At least crack makes you feel good.

Grab a coffee and some doughnuts, this is long.

First Rounders:

1965
2. Mets Les Rohr LHP Billings, MT

Les only appeared in six games for the Mets over three seasons. He finished with a 3.70 ERA in 24.3 innings and was 2-3.

1966
1. Mets Steve Chilcott C Lancaster, CA

Since I could not find anything on Steve, I'm assuming he never made it to the majors. Oh, Reggie Jackson was picked in the number two slot in the 1966 draft.

1967
4. Mets Jon Matlack LHP West Chester, PA

Jon pitched for the Mets from 1971 through 1977 before moving on to Texas. He was actually very good for the Mets winning 15, 14, 13, 16, and 17 games in consecutive years while record ERAs of under 3.00 three times and ERAs under 4.00 five times.

1968
1. Mets Tim Foli SS Canoga Park, CA (Thruman Munson was picked 4th)

Tim had two stints with the Mets. He came up with them in '70 & '71 and then went to Montreal only to end up with the Mets in '78 and '79. Tim had a .243 career average in 218 games with our very own Mets.

1969
4. Mets Randy Sterling RHP Key West, FL

What can you say about Randy? He already has a strike against him having the same last name as the worst commentator in baseball, but it does not get much better from there. He only pitched in three major league games and all of them for the Mets in 1974. He finished with a 4.82 ERA and a 1-1 record.

1970
23. Mets *George Ambrow SS Long Beach, CA (did not sign)

He did not sign and he never played in the majors. He is no doubt regretting not joining the Mets so he could have had a career that was injury plagued and lackluster.

1971
14. Mets Rich Puig 2B Tampa, FL

Richard Gerald Puig was picked right before Jim Rice in this draft. Who made out better? Well you can be the judge of that one. RGP played in 10 major league games and was 0 for 10 with a .091 on base percentage. He did not record an RBI or a run scored. The most positive stat was the he did draw one walk.

1972
13. Mets Richard Bengston C Peoria, IL

Richie never made it to the major leagues.

1973
14. Mets Lee Mazzilli OF Brooklyn, NY

Lee has the dubious distinction for being the first Mets' first rounder that people can actually remember. He wore blue and orange for 10 seasons and finished with a .264 career Met average. His best season was in 1979 when he his .303 with 78 runs scored, 34 doubles, 15 homeruns, 79 BBs, and 34 stolen bases.

1974
17. Mets Cliff Speck RHP Beaverton, OR

Cliff Speck was picked a few slots in front of Rick Sutcliffe who was taken with the 21st pick. Cliff did not make his major league debut until 1986 and that was with the Atlanta Braves. He went 2-1 with a 4.13 ERA in 13 games.

1975
6. Mets Butch Benton C Tallahassee, FL

Benton broke into the majors in 1978 with the Mets. He batted .500 in four at-bats his rookie season with two RBIs. He tailed off a bit in his second stint with Mets big club in 1980 by hitting .048 in 21 at-bats. He played for Chicago (NL) in 1982 and Cleveland in 1985 and never recorded a major league homerun.

1976
13. Mets Tom Thurberg OF-RHP South Weymouth, MA

Tom did not make an appearance in the majors.

1977
16. Mets Wally Backman SS Beaverton, OR

Am I the only one who thinks it's funny that Wally is from Beaverton? Anyway, Wally played nine years for the Mets and finished with a very respectable .283 career Met average. He was not known for his power as he knocked only seven homeruns in those nine years. His best year was in 1986 when he hit .320 with 67 runs scored, 18 doubles, 2 triples, one homer, 27 RBIs, and he walked 36 times while only striking out 32 times in 387 at-bats.

1978
3. Mets Hubie Brooks SS Arizona State U

Hubie enjoyed six years playing in Shea and he played for fifteen major league seasons overall. His first stint with the Mets was from '80 to '84 and he later joined them in '91 to add some veteran presence. He batted .267 for his Met career and posted his best year in 1984 when he hit .283 with 61 runs scored, 23 doubles, 16 homers, and 73 RBIs.

1979
2. Mets Tim Leary RHP UCLA

Tim played for the Mets for three years out of his thirteen year major league career. He appeared in twenty three games and started ten games while posting a 4-4 career Met record.

1980
1. Mets Darryl Strawberry OF Los Angeles, CA
23. Mets Billy Beane OF Rancho Bernardo, CA
24. Mets John Gibbons C San Antonio, TX

The Mets had three picks in this draft and undoubtedly made their best first round pick in their history to date. There is really no need to go into Darryl, but I will mention that he was my first favorite player when I was a lad. He is the reason I became a Met fan. Then he started doing coke, doing hookers, and beating his wife. Talk about a role model. In all seriousness, it is a shame because Darryl could have been a legend.

With their 2nd first round pick they chose William Lamar Beane. Yes, the same Billy Beane who is the GM in Oak-town. Billy spent six seasons in the majors and only spent two of them a Met. He came to the plate eighteen times and got three hits. He only recorded one Met RBI.

John Gibbons was the only first rounder this year not to leave a mark on modern baseball. He only played for two years, both in a Met uniform. He finished with a .220 career Met average in eighteen games.

1981
4. Mets Terry Blocker OF Tennessee State U

Terry did not crack the majors until 1989 and made his debut with the Braves. He pitched one scoreless inning while not surrendering a hit and walking two.

1982
5. Mets Dwight Gooden RHP Tampa, FL

Do you really need to say anything about a 19 year old who wins 17 games his first year in the majors and posts a 2.60 ERA while striking out 276 in 218 innings vs. 73 walks. On top of that, he only allowed seven homers and had seven complete games and three were shutouts. He is hands down the most talented player every drafted in the first round by the Mets and arguably the most talented player they ever drafted. He finished with 157 Met wins and only 194 career wins. Those 157 wins came before he was 30. This guy should have been immortalized in the hall of fame and gone down as one of the best ever, but his career became a tragedy like Strawberry's. A damn shame.

1983
4. Mets Eddie Williams 3B San Diego, CA
20. Mets Stan Jefferson OF Bethune-Cookman College

Clemens went 19th in this round. You think a lot of teams are kicking themselves now?

Eddie never cracked the bigs with Mets but played a 10 year career with stops in Cleveland, Chicago (AL), San Diego, Detroit, LA, and Pittsburgh. He has a .252 career average in 1145 at-bats in 395 games.

Stan Jefferson had 24 at-bats in the Mets '86 season. He batted .208 with one dinger and three RBIs. Jefferson bounced around for six seasons before finally fizzling out.

1984
1. Mets Shawn Abner OF Mechanicsburg, PA

Abner is another one that never debuted with the Mets. He first came into the league with the Padres in 1987 and played six season in the majors. He finished with a .269 average in 840 at-bats and 392 games.

In 1984, eight other teams in addition to the Mets passed up Mark McGwire, who was drafted 10th by the Athletics.

1985
20. Mets Gregg Jefferies SS Millbrae, CA

Jefferies broke into the majors at 19 years old. He only played five years with the Mets and was largely a disappointed. He had a .276 career average with the Mets. Greg did move on to have a good major league career and played 14 years before playing his last games in Detroit at 32. He finished with a .289 average in his career.

1986
21. Mets Lee May OF Cincinnati, OH

Lee may was never able to crack into the majors and never appeared in a major league game.

1987
24. Mets Chris Donnels 3B Loyola Marymount U

Chris Donnels broke into the majors in 2001. That was 14 years after originally being drafted by the Mets and be broke in with the Dodgers at the ripe age of 35. He pitched 1/3 of an inning and did not allow any runs.

1988
21. Mets Dave Proctor RHP Allen County CC

Dave did not make it to the majors.

1989
24. Mets Alan Zinter C U of Arizona

Alan Zinter made his ML debut for the Astros in 2002 at the age of 34. He played 39 games and batted .136 in 44 at-bats.

1990
17. Mets Jeromy Burnitz OF Oklahoma State U

Jeromy cracked the bigs in 24 years old. He really did not do much of anything in his first two seasons and he was traded by the Mets to the Cleveland Indians with Joe Roa in exchange for Paul Byrd, Dave Mlicki, Jerry Dipoto and Jesus Azuaje on November 18, 1994. He then came back over with Jeff D'Amico, Mark Sweeney and Lou Collier from the Milwaukee Brewers to the New York Mets in exchange for Alex Ochoa, Glendon Rusch and Lenny Harris on January 21, 2002. All in all, the best thing that Jeromy did for the Mets was get traded and bring us masher Victor Diaz. Burnitz has a .237 career Met average and have only 53 homers in 1119 Met at-bats.

1991
18. Mets Alfred Shirley OF George Washington U

Out good buddy Alfred never made it to the majors. One thing of note is this is the year the Mets drafted two pieces of generation K. Bill Pulsipher was drafted in the 2nd round and Jason Isringhausen was drafted in the 44th round.

1992
9. Mets Preston Wilson SS-OF Bamberg, SC
18. Mets Christopher Roberts OF-LHP Florida State U

Preston's Met career was cut short after he finally broke through. Although trading the son of Met legend Mookie Wilson seems sacrilegious, it was probably the best trade the Mets ever orchestrated. He was the centerpiece in the Mike Piazza deal. Preston is obviously a talented player with a lot of skill and was a solid first round pick. His career Met average is .300 in 20 plate appearances in blue and orange.

Roberts never made it too the majors.

1993
8. Mets Kirk Presley RHP Tupelo, MS

Kirk never saw action in a major league uniform.

1994
1. Mets Paul Wilson RHP Florida State U
20. Mets Terrence Long 1B Millbrook, AL

The Mets drafted their second Wilson in two years. Young fireballer Paul Wilson is the final part to generation K. Wilson pitched in 1996 for the Mets and then got injured and did not appear again in the majors until 2000 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Pulsipher pitched in 1995 for the Mets before getting injured and did not resurface until 1998 and never really did much of anything. Generation K was over before it even started.

Terrance only appeared in three games in 1999 and was 0 for 3. He was traded to Oakland and had two good years for them in 2000 and 2001. He was then rewarded with a $11,600,000 contract over 4 years ('02-'05). He was traded to San Diego prior to the 2004 season.

1995
18. Mets Ryan Jaroncyk SS Escondido, CA

The youngster from Escondido did not make a major league appearance.

1996
13. Mets Robert Stratton OF Santa Barbara, CA

For the second straight year, the Mets drafted a first rounder that did not make it to the majors.

1997
6. Mets Geoff Goetz LHP Tampa, FL

For the third straight year, the Mets drafted someone who did not make the majors.

1998
21. Mets Jason Tyner CF Texas A&M U

Jason did not get much of chance to do anything with the Mets as he was traded after 13 games into his Met career with Paul Wilson for Bubba Trammel and Rick White.

1999
No first round pick

Neal Musser was the the first pick by the Mets in the 2nd round of the draft.

2000
16. Mets Billy Traber LHP El Segundo, CA

Billy made is major league debut on April 4th, 2003 with the Cleveland Indians. He is still on the Indians and out for the year as far as I know. I do not really care enough to research other the info in front of my face on ESPN.com

2001
18. Mets Aaron Heilman RHP U. of Notre Dame

When Heilman was drafted, he was widely regarded as the most polished college pitcher after Mark Prior. First of all, both pitchers should never be said in the same sentence. Second of all, the Mets should have traded him prior to 2003 before he lost all of the interest that anyone had in him. He still may turn out to be decent major league pitcher if he actually goes after hitters, but just not with the Mets. He has no room here anymore with Seo, Humber, Soler, Petit, Keppel, and Durkin all looming around.

2002
15. Mets Scott Kazmir LHP Cypress Falls HS, Houston

The super stud with an electric arm starts off three very good years for Mets and first round picks. The Met catch lighting in a bottle by grabbing him 15th as teams had concerns about his sign-ability. Then the Mets foolishly took one of the most coveted minor leaguers and shipped him out for reasons even Stephen Hawking could not understand.

2003
12. Lastings Milledge OF Lakewoood Rand HS

Lastings dropped to 12th in the draft despite being regarded one of the best all around talents in the draft. He was simply adhering the 'if there is grass on the field, the ball is in play' rule when he was fooling around with some freshman ladies. I think everyone knows the ceiling this kid has and what he could bring to the Mets one day. That would be some 30 year old player with an injury problem when the Mets make a trade because they are perceived to be in some kind of division race.

2004
3. Philip Humber RHP Rice U

Philip has yet to sign, but I am just going to assume he will. Hopefully the Mets fortunes are turning because they have seemingly had a string of very good first round picks of late. In 2005 it looks as though they will have another nice draft position so hopefully they will be able to keep it up.

* * *

After reading through this list it really outlines how hard it is to identify talent for the major league draft. There are some "can't miss" players that come around every so often, but even they horribly miss sometimes as well. The baseball draft will always be one of the most difficult drafts to identify future talent. As you can see, the Mets have not had their share of success too much when it comes to first round picks. There are only four players who really stand out as having an impact while wearing a Met uniform that were chosen in the opening round. Like I said, hopefully that will change. It looks like Milledge and Humber have a good chance to become productive players for the Mets if they do not get dealt. I realize Humber has not thrown a minor league pitch and much like Heilman, is being heralded as a polished and near ready major league pitcher, but I have to hold out hope for something. For the reasons easily seen above, no one outside of sports fanatics will really give two craps about draftees and the minor leagues. There are just too many questions marks. A lot of Met fans have become more versed on minor league talent for two reasons:

1) Most met fans ARE fanatics.
2) The major league team has not given much reason for the Mets to cheer.

I really have no idea if other teams really fare much better and I do not have the time or the intelligence to figure it out, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say every team has their fare share of busts.

22-0

I think the big story of the day is obviously the Yankees suffering their worst defeat in their storied history. UNREAL!!! A 22-0 thrashing by the Indians. The Indians got 22 hits and 22 runs while the Yankees got only five hits against Yankee product Jake Westbrook. Javier Vazquez went 1 1/3 innings giving up six earned runs and now owns a bloated 4.62 ERA. Who do they Yankees trust in the playoffs? Their pitching will be their downfall. I've said it and I'll say it again, how does a team spend nearly $200,000,000 and have weak starting pitching and three good relievers, two of which are clearly tailing off and not as strong as they were earlier in the year.

On top of it, the footsteps are getting louder. Behind another win by Curt Schilling, the BoSox are now only 3.5 games back and are the majors hottest team. If Boston does take over first, Anaheim it very hot and six games behind the Yankees and the pinstripers will have to worry about the Wild Card. Things are getting interesting in the AL and all this after the Yankees were supposed to be in cruise control. I'm not impressed with one of the most over rated lineups in the history of the game. The Yankees have assembled the most overpaid team in the organized sports. Since my horrible sporting life is centered around the Mets, I have to look towards something positive happening this year and that is Boston taking the AL East crown.



That one is nice, but so it this one:



Click here if you need to see it LARGER.

I cannot believe my season has been reduced to this!!!

* * *

How's that contract extension look now? Tracshel lost another game and did not look good doing it. He walked seven people and gave up five runs. He is now 10-12 and has a 4.09 ERA. Wouldn't Clement for an extra 3 mill and five years younger look a lot nicer in 2005? Just another item in a long list of complaints that I have with this team.

The Mets only mustered six hits in last night's game and Delgado and Garcia had four of them. The Mets live and die by the homerun. If they do not hit any, they do not score. Unfortunately, they do not hit that many of them and do not have the ability to survive like that hence losing 9 of 10. Vance Wilson is hurting and nothing really will amaze me anymore. This is becoming a comedy. If you were a free agent, would you come to Queens and sign a contract? I do not think so.

Scott Hyde got his fourth win on Monday as he went seven innings, walked no one, struck out eight, and gave up only one earned run. He is 4-3 with a 3.32 ERA for the Cyclones this year and is a definite bright spot of this year's draft.

From the Post:

OF Victor Diaz, hitting .290 with 24 homers at Norfolk, is unlikely to be recalled as the Mets have no room in the outfield.

Umm, who cares? Floyd sits a lot and Cameron is still 'not playable'. Move Hidalgo to center and use him Vicky D. (aka mini-Manny) in right. Shit, use him as a pinch hitter. Try and see what he can do. If that actually happens, I may lose it yet again. Gerald "Ice" Williams is getting plenty of playing time, but there is not enough room for Diaz? Looks like there is plenty of room to me.

Newsday thinks Howe could be the fall guy. Howe is horrible and SHOULD be the fall guy. I have never seen a more poorly managed team. Injuries or not, he lost a bunch of games by primarily mis-using the bullpen and having no sense when it comes to substitutions. Mr. Match-up needs to go.

Art Howe on his contract:
"I signed a four-year contract because I knew this would be a process and I knew we wouldn't turn it around overnight. I thought it was understood that two years would not be long enough."

He sure has not helped one bit and has actually made the team look worse. If you give him another two years, it will not change anything. Really, it won't. I understand no one can win the lineup that the Mets are throwing out there, but even when he had a more complete team, he has behaved like a bumbling idiot.

Quote of the week:

Steve Trachsel, an Orange County native, says "I'm still a Republican, but both sides make me sick" and wonders whether "smart Democrat" is an oxymoron.

The new Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet is in and..........Yusmeiro Petit is almost as hot as they come. Petit has climbed to #2.

Is he beginning to move into elite prospect status? With 10 strikeouts in his Double-A debut at the age of 19 and 194 strikeouts overall in 134 innings, the answer is yes.

I think Lastings got shafted because not many are hotter than him, but he made it as an honorable mention. For me, if Young is #1, Milledge should be in the top 20. Don't believe me? Just check out The Raindrops.

Rick Ankiel may make the playoff roster for the Cardinals.

Double A This

I'm done focusing on the negatives and I will only focus on the positives, however little positives there are, from here on out.

- Every Met starter last night had at least one hit.
- Mike Piazza came back tonight and hit his 376th career homerun.
- David Wright hit is 7th homerun this year.
- Jason Phillips hit a homerun and made a great play in the ninth to save Stanton's stupid ass. LoDuca fouled one backwards and Phillips made a falling catch with his bare hands. Very, very nice.
- Cliffy picked up two hits, hopefully that will get him going.
- The Mets DFA'd Brian Buchanan. What a worthless move that was when they picked him up. I could have told them that.
- Stanton managed to not give up any runs.
- No one got injured in the game.

From the Post:

As Phillips ran to first after his homer, he had an exchange with a rowdy fan. According to Phillips, "It was a guy above the dugout that's been riding me, not just this game."

After Phillips popped out in his first at-bat last night, the fan called him a Triple-A player. After Phillips grounded out in his second at-bat, the fan lowered his value to a Double-A player. So when Phillips homered in the sixth, he yelled at the fan, "Double-A this!"

Can a modern day Mario Mendoza's really talk shit?


* * *

Click here for joyous news. Benson is to miss a start and Kaz possibly out for the remainder of the season. Those trades that the Mets pulled are officially a disaster of epic proportions. Also, how the hell does Kaz play in like 1,100 straight games and becomes a Met and suddenly has back spasms. He has not played since mid-August. If this is not proof positive that the Mets are cursed, I'm not sure what is. I think it is the curse of Bobby V.

The Mets will send superscouts Al Goldis and Bill Livesey to the Dominican Republic today and tomorrow to watch Cuban free agent Kendry Morales' showcase. This will be some happy news if they decide to gift wrap a 21 year old (maybe) OF/1B who is a switch hitter.

Mike DeJean is the latest Met on the DL.

Mets maybe passing on Benson's extension? Unreal, this team is way out of control. Yes, there are better free agent pitchers than him in the off season, but they knew that before the deal too. This proves that this team approaches their day to day operations with no clue on how to manage this team and it's roster.

You can't make this stuff up.

The D-Backs sweeten their offer to Drew and they will be making a push for him and things are looking a bit more optimistic.

"This is an awfully big commitment to a player who, quite frankly, has never seen a major league at-bat," Garagiola said. "Eventually, you get to the point where you can't go any higher. But we've all worked extremely hard on this, and we feel we've been very creative with things."

Ichiro is on track for 260 hits this season. Barry is going for 700 homers and Ichiro going for an record that is over 80 years old in the same season. This is something for any baseball fan to get excited about.

Tim Kukjan has a nice little article on Barry Lamar Bonds.

It seems we were just talking about Bonds' 500th because we WERE. He will go from 500 home runs to 700 in less than 3½ years: the time it used to take sluggers to hit 100, he will hit 200. It took The Babe just under five years to go from 500 to 700. It took Aaron just over five years.

I had predicted that Rolen would take the NL MVP, but I admit, I was once again wrong. It is Bonds all the way. He should wrap up his 7th MVP award this year.

While I'm on the topic of Bonds, Baseball Prospectus breaks down the odds of him hitting .400 this year. The odds of Bonds hitting .400 are the same odds of the Mets front office making an intelligent move.

From Baseball America's new Dish Pieces:

Petit, who began the year at low Class A Capital City, is 12-5, 2.01 with 194 strikeouts in 134 innings at three different levels this season overall.

Unreal. His is Billy Beane's wet dream in terms of the numbers he is putting up. Billy, we might consider working a deal out for Zito and sending him your way in a package.

News on the Rick Ankiel from Dish Pieces as well.

A report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had Ankiel throwing 44 strikes during his 53-pitch outing.

Good to see him finally coming back and looking sharp. This guy has oodles of talent on the mound and with the bat. People forget just how good he was looking when he first came up. He broke into the majors at 19 years old in 1999 and posted a 3.27 ERA in 33 innings of work. In 2000, he went 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA while striking out 194 in 175 innings. He allowed a measly 137 hits in those innings. He did have a bit of a control problem and gave up a few long balls, but a wildly successful season for a 20 year old. Oh, and he is a lefty to boot. Then it all came apart in the game against the Mets in the playoffs and after he peppered the backstop with fastball after fastball, he was never the same. Hopefully he can resurect his still young career.

Baseball Prospectus' This Week in Quotes article has a little bit from the Shea spin machine.

"This is not a three-week trade...It's a deal that can't be evaluated for three years."
--Rick Peterson, Mets pitching coach, on former Met farmhand Scott Kazmir (N.Y. Post)

"You have to look at at the marketplace.... We needed rotation guys for next year. Where we feel the time it would take (for Kazmir), especially in this market the fans would not be patient."
--Peterson

"This is no different from that trade."
--Peterson, referring to the A's trading Jeremy Bonderman for Ted Lilly in 2002

"The real reality of it is that nobody would care (about the deal) if we were close to first or in first like we all expected to be. Within an organization, (Kazmir) won't be the first super prospect to be traded and he won't be the last."
--Al Leiter, Mets pitcher (N.Y. Post)

Jeez, while I'm biting off of Baseball Prospectus so much, I may as well add a little more. They evaluate the Olympic baseball talent. The result? A truly depressing reminder of how the USA got screwed. They should have been there.

The big mashers were out in Norfolk in their 9-6 loss the Charlotte. Victor Diaz went 2 for 4 with one run scored, a homerun, and FIVE RBIs. Oh yeah, and he drew a walk. The other run was off of a Craig Brazell homer. It is kind of easy to forget that Victor does not turn 23 until December of this year. He is 22 and tearing up AAA. He could be a young Manny Ramirez type guy. I do not think there is any question he will eventually rake in the majors.

Scottie Strickland got touched up for two runs in 1.1 innings of work in St. Lucie’s 4-2 loss to Vero Beach.

Ambiorix Concepcion continues to move up the charts in the Mets minor league system. Last night he went 3 for 4 with one run scored and one RBI. He is now hitting .321.

Exasperating

Art Howe is man that is mentally incapable of making a coherent and intelligent decision. He has trouble making the right move in just about every situation. Whatever he does, it is the wrong choice. I'm not sure if the Mets could win anything with Howe mismanaging the team and misusing the players. His reluctance to actually separate his 'by the book' style of managing from reality is getting increasingly hard to stomach. His stupidity astounds me daily.

On Saturday with the Mets holding a 2-1 lead behind a solid performance by Jae Seo, Ricky Bottalico came out to pitch the eight inning. Ricky gets the first batter out in Milton Bradley and then gives up a bloop hit to Beltre. Now, it was not like Ricky was getting knocked around, he was doing just fine. After Beltre, two lefties were coming up in Green and Choi. You could have seen this move coming a mile away. Howe hails down to the bullpen to set up his extremely coveted lefty/lefty match up.

Howe continually likes to 'play the numbers' but fails to actually look at the #'s.

Bottalico vs. lefties:
66 at bats
.212 BAA
.258 SLG
.625 OPS
.368 OBP% (biggest negative)
Rickey actually is holding lefties to a lower .BAA than he is holding righties. He is hold righties to a .233 BAA.

Stanton vs. lefties:
93 at bats
.247 BAA
.409 SLG
.763 OPS
.355 OBP%

Stanton actually is holding righties to a lower .BAA than he is hold lefties. He is holding righties to a .239 BAA.

What does that tell me? Howe does not know his ass from his elbow. If Bottalico was not getting ripped apart, which he was not, why would you take him out? He is holding lefties to .034 points less on .BAA when compared to Stanton. Why the hell would you create a match up that is less favorable for your team? I have no idea. I have no way of understanding the reasoning behind Howe's inexplicable decisions since they seemingly have no bearing on reality. He is married to his by the book match ups and it drives me up a wall.

Stanton on the boos:

"That's they're prerogative," Stanton said. "It really has no bearing on what we do."

You suck Stanton. If anyone deserves the boos, it's you and Franco. Deal with it.

On Sunday, Howe further infuriates me with decisions that contribute in ruining my day. I was at the game and I had a good feeling with Benson on the hill. I was expecting a good game for him. Unfortunately, my hunch was probably just my burrito from the night before playing havoc with my stomach and Benson was not exactly sharp. He gave up five earned runs and eight overall behind a terrible fielding performance, which includes Benson. The errors allowed him to labor on a hot and humid day and the wheels came off. I don't fault him, if they played a tight game and kept him off the mound, he would have done better, but that is a moot point. After Benson was knocked out of the game my Robin Ventura's grand slam, Howe pulls a double switch and takes the only reason I still go to the games out. He pulls David Wright in the fifth innings and replaces him for Todd Zeile so the pitcher can go in his spot!!! What the hell is he thinking? The Mets are down by seven runs, who cares if Feliciano is due up in the next inning. Let the dude hit and keep Wright in the game. I'm not sure I can put up with his incompetence for another year. Simply brutal.

* * *

Floyd is turning into quite a complainer. First he talks about his body breaking down and wanting to perhaps finish his contract on a AL team's roster. Then he talks about the team doing bad with no light at the end of the tunnel. Then he tops it off on Sunday by making a shitty play on the ball sand says that he did not get the ball because he did not want to get hit in the face. Talk about giving it your all. This team as given up and is pretty impossible to watch. Just scary, really scary.

The Mets threw out on Sunday a lineup that included Keppinger batting .231, Buchanan batting .190, Jason Phillips batting .196, Delgado hitting .225, and Gerald Williams (I do not care if he is batting .310). How exactly do the Mets have any chance to win? Look, Williams nor Buchanan have a future on this team. I repeat, NO FUTURE!!! Let Valent hit against lefites. Valent has a future on this team. He only has seven at-bats against lefties. These games do not matter. Meaningful games are not on the Mets horizon and neither is .500. I know I'm repeating this like a broken record, but find out what he can do. Now is the time to figure it out and not next year when the Mets may actually be considered to be some type of contender. I would rather watch Valent than watch "Ice" or Buchanan. If Howe had any brain, you would give Valent a chance. These at-bats should not be going to re-treads, but should be going to players that the Mets are actually interested in developing.

Shitty stat line of the week. 2.2 innings, 12 hits, 12 runs, 10 earned runs, two BB, and two surrendered homers. It was Randy Keisler and needless to say, the Tides lost to Durham on Sunday.

Binghamton lost to Trenton, but who cares? The more important news is that Aarom Baldiris is getting a bit more comfortable. He went 2 for 3 with one run scored, one RBI and one walk. He is now batting .278 and has driven in eight RBIs in fourteen games.

Petit is quickly achieving super stud status. I'm sure you have heard or read what he did in his AA debut this past weekend, but in case you have not, click here to find out. I think you can put this kid at AAA. In the minors a pitcher learns how to control his pitchers, refine his mechanics, learn how to work the hitters, etc. However, this kid already seems to have a amazing grasp on all of those things. As he said, people need to adjust to him, he does not need to adjust to other people. He already went from low A to AA in one season, and there is no reason to think he will not be at AAA sometime in 2005. He may be closer to the majors than we think. It was one game, but it was hard not to get excited about it. Fact of the matter is he has done this wherever he goes. Wins, K's, and does not walk people. Unreal, 10 K's to NO BBs in his debut!

Howe on Kazmir:

When asked if he would watch Scott Kazmir's second Major League outing on Sunday against Oakland, his former team, Howe chuckled. "I've got better things to do with my time," he said. "I've got enough headaches around here to take care of. But it will be interesting to see what he does against a team that's more patient."

Howe does have better things to do, like sabotage the Mets' attempt at victory every step of the way.

From Mets.com:

Howe said that it's "iffy" whether Zambrano will return this season, adding that if he can come back healthy next month he'd like to see it happen. ... Norfolk right-hander Bob Keppel is out for the remainder of the season with shoulder tendonitis. ... Second baseman Jeff Keppinger was named to the Eastern League All-Star team after hitting .341 with Altoona and Binghamton. As of Saturday, he was still leading the race for the Eastern League batting title.

Keppel with more arm problems is not good, but good news for Keppinger. He may be a bit old for AA, but a batting title would sure be nice.

As for Zambrano, there is not a need to bring him back. Just shut him down for 2005 and let him rest that tender elbow. Same with Reyes, he better not see any more action this year, too much risk and not much in terms of reward for this lost team at this point. Why bring either back? If either one steps on the field, it will just speak volulmes to the ineptitude of the franchise. Unless either one can get an entire month, I do not see the logic.

Anna Benson is doing her part.

The gorgeous Anna is seriously considering posing for a "sexy calendar" to raise money for New York's Finest.

"Did you know that if you give a police department $1,200 to buy bulletproof vests, the feds will match that grant?" she asked. "They'll get two-for-one, and that kicks ass.

"Cops have the hardest job in the world, and they need to have the right equipment."

I could do so much with that last line, but I'll leave it alone.

Scott Kazmir was not as effective in his second start as he was in this first start, which is something I bet the Mets are secretly smiling about. He did exhibit a bit more control. He only walked one person in his three innings of work and threw 48 strikes to 23 balls. That is step in the right direction, but the five earned runs was not. He gave up nine hits overall, and got a welcome to the bigs by the first place A's. I'm sure he'll see more days like this.

I think this says it all:

Alay Soler will be sent to the Arizona Fall League.

Bonds is four homers away from 700.

This news story is nuts:

A 35-year-old man was sentenced Friday to three weekends in jail for playing a pornographic movie in his car.

Andre Gainey of Clifton Park pleaded guilty in June to misdemeanor public display of sexual material.

Gainey was arrested in February by Schenectady police who said images from the porn movie, "Chocolate Foam," could be seen from outside his Mercedes as he drove through the city 11 miles west of Albany.

Police, who pulled up behind Gainey at an intersection, said the movie was playing on the passenger-side sun visor of Gainey's vehicle, and was rolling on screens set into the car's headrests.

First, was there really a need to play "Chocolate Foam" while you were driving? I guess he could have been doing it because he does not want to get caught watching porn by his wife in the house, but on the road? Secondly, I really do not think I need a secondly. This one speaks for itself.