The Only Thing I Can Do....Is Drink My Own Pee

If you watched Man vs. Wild last night, you would have seen Bear Grylls drink his own pee as he was showing us how to survive in the Australian Outback. Basically, he did not have any water and needed to drink pee for hydration. Sometimes you have to do drastic things to survive., which leads me to the Mets.

As Gary stated during the game last night, the Mets have played 84 games this season and have not won a game in which a starter gave up more than three runs since May 17th when Jason Vargas gave up five runs and the Mets were still able to pull out a victory. That was the 40th game of the season and since then, they have played 45 games. With this team and this offense, that should be unthinkable. What that means is that the offense is just not consistent and bullpen has been lettering things get away and possibly that this team has been giving up when they are behind.

If the Mets are unable to beat teams if their starters give up more than three runs, they simply are not going to win many games. If you take the games played from the beginning of the season to that point that have a .650 winning percentage in forty games and they have a .467 winning percentage since then. At this point, you would have to side with the discouraging second half of the games played to identify what type of team the 2007 Mets more closely resembles. I did have another post about John Maine being left off the All-Star team, but I had to eschew that for some complaining and more precisely, Emad's rant.

My clamoring for Milledge speaks to my extreme frustration with the composition and performance of this team.

I'm sick of watching one ancient mediocrity after another play day after day. Stache is only playing to pick up his option for 2008. Willie refuses to play Gotay, despite the fact that a healthy Gotay is better than a comprimised Stache. Maddening. It would take Green hitting under .200 before they ever made him the platoon player he deserves to be at this point.

Milledge needs time in the minors. He's had very few AB's this year. We shouldn't expect him to light the house on fire immediately. I doubt Willie will give him enough rope if he struggles out of the box.

Oh, one last thing...

CAN WE DRAW A FUCKING WALK... BELTRAN SWINGING AT PITCHES IN THE DIRT... ITS DRIVING ME BATTY...

Reyes getting pulled for watching Mike Lamb walk to first on a groundball he hit pretty much
sums up the frustration everyone is feeling. You hate to use the word desperation for a first place team, but they are barely hanging on. The Mets truly need to shake something up before this season slips away. They are in first, but we all know that is more of a function of bad competition than solid play on the Mets end. They now own the worst winning percentage of any first place team in the big leagues.

Some fresh faces would not hurt in the form of Pedro Martinez or Moises Alou. I'm not suggesting they will turn things around and carry the team, but this team needs a spark and it is hard to see it coming from the current group.

* * *

Carlos Gomez? Under the bus courtesy of Rob Neyer.

Trouble in Firstplaceland, as Carlos Gomez and Bill Hall both are out for a long stretch, Gomez with a fractured hamate and Hall with a severe ankle injury. Funny thing about Gomez: The reviewers have been raving, but the guy's got a .636 OPS. The Mets would almost have to try to find a replacement who hits as poorly as Gomez. As for Hall, he'll be missed, but the Brewers can survive with Tony Gwynn Jr. and Gabe Gross in center field.

Of course that is not exactly fair as we are talking about ability when it comes to Gomez (aren't we always?) and we are seeing him flash that tremendous ability. I think we all agree it is a bit early for him to be getting that much playing time and let's be honest, he would still be in AAA if it weren't for injuries to Lastings and Moises. Besides, were many people saying how hard it would be replace Alex Gordon's .612 OPS after his dismal April and when it only got worse May? No. You let young guys play through it as everyone is not going to be Hunter Pence or Ryan Braun when they come up.

As for people wondering how Gomez’s hand injury will affect him, Troy Tulowitzki broke his hamate during his final season in college. He missed twenty games and returned and did all right. No need to worry about residual effects of this injury and Carlos should be fine. Maybe not 100% in ’07, but he should be fine when it counts next year.

Neyer also linked to this gem in his blog and if you have seen it, it is always good to watch again and if you have not seen it, revel in its goodness.

I missed this one so it's new to me!

Q: steve from scotia asks:
jim what do you think of the mets draft i love the idea of young cheap relievers being in the mets bullpen the next few years

A: John Manuel: Kunz is a great pick, he can move quickly and gets LH hitters out with his changeup and slider. I don't think they took all relievers, Vinyard and Moviel have a chance to start, but I'm not a Rustich fan, the guy doesn't throw strikes and still hasn't gotten over that finger issue that bothered him last year. He has 3 plus pitches at times, but he lacks pitchability. The rest of their slate hasn't excited me frankly.

Beating might be an understatement.

Outscored by 34-12 during a sweep by the Colorado Rockies — the most runs allowed in a three-game series in franchise history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau — the Mets were still dealing with the aftereffects when they arrived at Minute Maid Park.

Wow. I thought it was ugly, but monumentally ugly?

Kenny Williams says there is going to be a shakeup and many believe that could signal the departure of starting pitcher and Jermaine Dye.

Octavio Dotel is back.

“I’m back,” he says, his eyes beaming, his words a little louder just to be sure you hear him. “I’ve got my velocity. I can throw my fastball against guys. Even when they’re looking for it, I can throw it by them. I feel really, really strong like I did before.”

Jason Kendall? Under the bus.

....and even Jason Kendall hit a homer while even saving enough energy for another extra-base hit in the same week.

Nice.

BP speaks about Pedro.

When a success is followed by ten days off, people get confused. Pedro Martinez threw a great simulated game and now moves into a new phase of rehab, one where he goes from strengthening for function to conditioning for action. Pitching is a very specific activity and while Martinez has certainly been preparing for that during his shoulder rehab, it's a different process to actually get ready to pitch—saying that he's "doing spring training" is a vast oversimplification. It's a different process altogether, so while it is counterintuitive for him to take off time to "recharge" (as the Mets are calling it), it's the accepted move. More than anything else, the Mets are making sure that they do this right.

Swellicious.

I'm back and with me comes a win...coincidence?

I'm back in business for the foreseeable future. I had family in town from Colorado and then I had to head up to Newport, Rhode Island for a wedding. It was great, thanks for asking. While in Newport I was able to partake in what has been coined one of the twenty hamburgers you must eat before you die at the Spiced Pear. It is called the 'Not Just a Burger' and it wasn't just a burger and it was craptastic. It is 1/2 pounds of fresh ground Kobe beef stuffed with Kobe brisket. Just let that sink in..... Then it is served with caramelized red onion tomato jam and topped with Vermont white cheddar cheese and coleslaw.

Needless to say, it was good. Really good. The view didn't hurt either and it was a delightful culinary experience all around. In regards to the list, I've also had a White Mana burger (though not from the Hackensack location) and typically get a double bacon cheeseburger with a fried egg upon some drunken late night food runs. I need to make more of an inroad in the list as there are plenty of places close to me serving up tasty delights. Back to baseball though, this Met team looks light years away from last years baseball team. They are for more inconsistent in all facets than last years version and the bullpen is far, far worse.

It is good to see Lastings making his way back, but I just cannot see many positives at this point to take away. Mike Pelfrey continues to look like a minor league pitcher and the Mets overall pitching depth looks horrific. With Buehrle back on the market, you would have to wonder how the Mets do not make a hard push for him. However, I suspect Williams will be hard to deal with as usual and will be looking for young pitching. While the Mets could certainly deal one top pitching prospect, should they? Would Milledge even be appealing?

A big issue is one of draft pick compensation. No team that figures to be heavily involved with courting Buehrle is going be in the bottom fifteen. That means no first round pick. Do the Mets give up a premium chip for possibly 1/2 a year of Buehrle, a sandwich pick, and a second round pick? Does he even fix the Mets problem? Pedro and another starter into the mix allows Sosa and The Duque to move the pen which just might fix their problems entirely. Add in the prospect of Dave Williams contributing some meaningful innings and I think the Mets will go a long way to solidifying their spot as the NL's #1 team.

One thing is certain that after watching the Red Sox, Tigers, and Angels hit a bit of a lull, no team in the bigs right now stands out head and shoulders above the rest at this point. The Mets are frustrating, but they not far off. If the Mets have to overpay for a chip, so be it. The Mets are flawed and need some tweaking, but they are still big time contenders.

* * *

John Maine won for the tenth time this season is looks like he is going to make a run at twenty wins. If he does win twenty, he would be the first since Frank Viola in 1990. If Maine is going to pull it off, he'll need to pick it up as well as the Mets offense.

We officially have a bullpen problem. It's really ugly. So ugly I'd consider bringing in Scott Williamson. I say give him a workout in front of Rick Peterson to see if there is any chance he looks useful.

Of course, the Mets are looking into Hector Carrasco so they are predictably going to be looking at anybody and everybody.

Always looking for bullpen help, the Mets are "monitoring" reliever Hector Carrasco, who was designated for assignment by the Angels yesterday. Carrasco, 37, had a 6.57 ERA in 29 games this season. A Mets official said the club is checking with scouts to see if he might be an option worth exploring.

And you might as well forget about Duaner making any sort of comeback this season.

Duaner Sanchez, who is rehabbing from two shoulder operations in a span of nine months, was placed on the 60-day disabled list yesterday to make room on the 40-man roster for Alomar. Ricco said Sanchez recently picked up a baseball for the first time and still is a long way from returning.

You have to be on the big league roster prior to September to be included on the playoff roster, but that does not apply to people on the DL. Sanchez could be available for the playoffs even if he returns in September, but counting on him would just mean the bullpen situation has gotten that bad, which it just might become. Adding a guy to the playoff roster who would just be coming back after well over a year off would be a bad sign. The Mets need to start thinking outside the box here.

I'm still not holding my breath, but all of this has to be very encouraging. The Mets need some innings, which he will most likely not be able to provide. However, he does have the ability to chew off six innings with 80 pitches. He cannot be ridden hard, but his inclusion to the rotation will signal someone's exclusion where I think the biggest benefit will be. The only question is, who is the better candidate? Jorge Sosa or The Duque?

Rich Harden returns to the rotation this weekend and although Billy is a shrewd man, maybe he's ready to sell and not watch Harden follow the path of Kerry Wood. Beane may be ready to sell while he still can. Their rotation has been their strength and it has not included Rich Harden all season. For the Mets, we all know it's worth the upside. Even if Harden is used strictly out of the pen this season, it would be a huge boon for the Mets. This definitely warrants a conversation or twelve.

Mike Hargrove retiring mid-season while his team is exceeding expectations is truly a bizarre event. I'm not sure anyone could have seen that one coming and it will be interesting to see how the team responds...good or bad.

I'm just sayin'....

1.45 ERA and 0.85 WHIP
3.82 ERA and 1.36 WHIP
1.96 ERA and 1.26 WHIP

While Heath Bell was never going to get a chance here and the trades did not look bad at the time, I'm sure Omar would love to have a mulligan on those even if Owens has been out for a month.

I think Dave Williams is the likely choice despite the few innings he has pitched this year, but Phil is definitely in the mix. Alomar says he is ready and his last two starts were impressive, but he's not striking out a lot of people. If the Mets want to satiate some curiosity, he's the choice. If he comes up and tosses up a strong performance, he might get another shot at some point.