A blog dedicated to the New York Mets with some other baseball thrown in.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

We know where we are.

Is it just me, or is this a bit of an issue?

“We’ve got to play better baseball,” Randolph said. “It starts on Tuesday. It could have started three or four days ago. We had an urgency three or four days ago. There’s no certain point you get to where you’ve got to make any speeches. We know where we are. We know where we are.”

I know they are all adults and are aware of the fact that they are playing poorly. However, isn't every team full of adults that are supposed to be self aware? I mean for the most part I think they are somewhat at the very least. That being said, that does not mean things should go unsaid and Willie should assume that everything is known and nothing needs to be said.

I do believe this season has been one big colossal team effort of complete ineptitude. Pinpointing this on one person certainly is not right as I have stated many times, but some people are just better motivators than others and some people are better fits for some teams than others.

As for the Mets, whatever Willie's method of motivation is, it is not working. From the worst regular season collapse to being one of the biggest shocks (in a bad way of course) of the 2008 season, it is getting clearer and clearer that something is just not clicking. Getting swept in two four games series in a matter of two weeks is simply improbable, incomprehensible, and unforgivable.

I have been fooled many, many, many times this season in regards to thinking the Mets have turned a corner. I am a beaten man who now has no idea who the real Mets are. I am in denial at this point that the Mets are a crappy .500 team and I am holding out hope this team shakes out of their funk. However, combine 7.5 games out of first with a Philly run differential closing in on 100 and that spells out a bad things for the Mets. It is no longer early anymore, but I remain slightly hopeful. Perhaps misguidedly, but I still think changes need to be made.

* * *

  • The Royals were not impressed by Joba.

    "Nothing like we haven't faced before," leadoff man David DeJesus said after Chamberlain threw 41/3 innings and allowed three runs (two earned) in the Yankees' 6-3 win.

    DeJesus called Chamberlain "all right," saying, "Just a guy throwing hard." DeJesus, who went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk off Chamberlain, said that when he faced the flamethrowing righty, he was missing his location with his off-speed pitches.

    Kansas City right fielder Mark Teahen praised Chamberlain's pitches but said that he was "more or less the same as he was as a reliever," adding, "Nothing special."


    Of course, the media wanted them to fawn all over him and bow down to his greatness....I mean, these guys are competitors? What were they expected to say?

  • And it continues...

    "I was ready to come here at 1 because I thought the game started at 4," Castro said. "I'm a little embarrassed. It's my fault. It won't happen again."

    Randolph, already reeling from the team's fourth consecutive loss, was not amused afterward.

    "The explanation is not acceptable, and he'll be fined for it," he said.


    The Mets have been an absolute circus this year yet again for all the wrong reasons.

  • Church is headed to the DL and I know the Mets have been maligned as it relates to the way they handled Church, but concussions are difficult to deal with. I guess they could have played it more safely, but I really cannot say they did anything egregious.

  • Sugar Pants speaks on the Mets failures.

    “There’s a few options,” David Wright said. “We can just continue to go out there and have these ups and down and just play out the rest of the season or we can figure it out and get things turned around, take this to heart, figure it out and rattle off a good month or so. But this is where we need to make a stand. We’re already too far behind the Phillies as far as where we’d like to be.”

  • BP talks Mike Carp.

    Mike Carp, 1B/LF Double-A Binghamton (Mets)
    In a system running quite low on prospects, at least Carp continues to enjoy the best rebound in the system. Last year, he was one of the organization’s biggest disappointments, batting just .251/.337/.387 at Binghamton, but in his defense, he was just 20 years old at the start of the season. This year he returned to the B-Mets, smacked a home run on Opening Night, and has never looked back since. On Friday night he had a strange game, going 4-for-4 with a double yet somehow not scoring or driving in a run. He made up for those counting stats on Sunday by slugging two home runs (driving in six), which helped raise his season averages to .351/.404/.553 on the season. The Mets have tried to increase his value even more this year by trying him some in left field, but scouts have characterized that as something of a disaster. Offensively, though, he’s a smash hit who could get a shot at being a cheap replacement for Carlos Delgado in 2009.


    He has been great this year and has dropped 24 XBHs in 55 games. Walking some more would be nice, but it is really hard to complain about what he has been doing in 2008.

  • Most mailbags are bad, but this one was chock full o' good questions and comments.

    These guys have it in their noggins that they're really a top-notch team, while they have nothing to prove it except a near-appearance in the Fall Classic a couple of years ago. Hey, the Rockies were there last year, and look at them now.

  • A little sense of urgency would be nice.

    “The Phillies are a good team, they’re on a hot streak and we have be careful about letting them get too far ahead of us,” Minaya said. “Let’s face it, we’re not getting it done the way we should. I know there’s still 100 games left, but you have to be careful with this how-many-games-we’ve-got-left business.”

    That 'how-many-games-we've-got-left business was pervasive in the Met clubhouse at the end of last season and everyone tried to play all calm and cool like there was nothing to get worried about. Well, there was and there is now.

  • Adam Rubin is taking things a bit too far.

    Minaya used to espouse the idea of having a young and athletic roster, which proved lip service in reality. Like a college student with a credit card, he just spent and spent and spent without considering any consequences. He offered too many years - to Luis Castillo, Orlando Hernandez, Guillermo Mota and Julio Franco, to name a few - perhaps even more frequently than too many dollars.

    The Mets also have Beltran, Church, Reyes, and Wright who are extremely athletic as well as Schneider who is an extremely proficient fielder and Santana who is extremely athletic.

    I am not saying that he does not have a few brittle players, but for the most part, they are have some athletes there. The Castillo signing was a bizarre one, but I do not fault him for Alou and Delgado. Delgado was a beast the year prior and pretty damn good in his first year with the Mets. Who knew he would fall off of a cliff.

    He also made some stellar pick ups like Oliver Perez and John Maine for nothing. The worst thing he has done is let the farm system go to shit with terrible picks and the misguided notion he needs to fall in line with the commish while other teams blow through that notion.

  • Griffey Jr. blasted # 600 yesterday and he is in an elite club of 600 or more homers. Only Sosa, Mays, Ruth, Aaron, and Bonds have more and considering how many games he has missed since 2001, it is truly an impressive feat.

    It is rare when a #1 overall pick actually succeeds and becomes the player everyone expected them to be, but Griffey did it.
  • Labels: ,

    16 Comments:

    Blogger Alvin Martinez said...

    A quote from Minaya from yesterday's charity event:

    "“Minaya also told reporters that he is satisfied with the effort being put forth by his manager and players, which he feels is a playoff-caliber roster.”

    And therein lies the problem folks!

    This kind of permeating attitude is why the overall culture of the Mets will not change and result in a real championship team. A sense of apathy and low standards that starts at the top, and Minaya proved with this quote that he is as much (if not more) to blame for this than anyone else. Is Willie off the hook? Absolutely not. He was not a right fit for this team to begin with, and I would not shed a tear iof he was fired, but now we are seeing the man behind the curtain in Omar.

    I am glad the media is holding his feet to the fire. Now he may not be able to hide behind Willie much longer.

    12:15 PM

     
    Blogger michael o. said...

    That was in the mailbag too...the Mets are convinced they are a good team despite having no evidence to suggest that.

    Minaya still put the roster together and I get that. However, his overall body of work has looked good. He has made some mistakes, but he has also done a lot of good.

    I'm on the fence with him.

    Willie however, I am 100% convinced he is simply not a good manager. At least for this team....

    12:21 PM

     
    Blogger Alvin Martinez said...

    Mr. Met, I understand your argument, but the issue here with Minaya is that this team clearly needs more than just a free agent here and a new manager there. It is a clubhouse/front office culture mentality thjng with this team that has festered for the past few years. This sense of entitlement that I thought the Collapse® would have resolved, seems to still be there. Only this time it has metamorphasized into stupidity.

    I guess not when your GM is satisfied with the effort put forth by his 14o million dollar .500 team. and he actually think this roster is playoff caliber, that something is amiss beyond the daily scores.It give me the impression that either he has sleepwalked thru the last 162 games or perhaps he is panicking and has no ability to take this by the throat and deal with it.

    I have said this before and I will continue to say it as long as Minaya keeps making idiotic statements as the above,…If Willie goes (which he should ) then Omar should be right behind him.

    12:51 PM

     
    Blogger michael o. said...

    I am not denying the plausibility that I am being slightly irrational not putting more blame on Omar, but he is not alone in thinking he put a championship caliber team together.

    I mean, the Mets were the favorites according to many experts so in terms of perceived talent, it is there.

    Is it a toxic mix of people? Could be, but temperments and personalities are hard to put your finger on. I have long said they have focussed too much on guys without that edge that Milledge-types had...not saying he is the missing link.

    Omar will be right behind Willie if he is proven to not be the problem. But a shake up is needed and Willie has proved to be a bad tactical manager and proved to be the wrong guy for the job. Start there...it needs to happen anwyway. Maybe that shakes things up.

    12:57 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    The Mets needs some fire. Pedro needs to be old Pedro and throw at someone's head and start a brawl or something. They're just lifeless and it's awful to watch them, let alone drive out to a game to see the debacle that is put on the field night after night.

    I was going to mention a comment about turning it around, but I feel as if I have to write one every other week. They'll win 4, drop 5, repeat. Frustrating isn't the word.

    Gonna be tough to beat Webb and Haren vs. the Snakes over the next few days. Not good timing for Willie.

    Re: the Ike Davis fight from the other comment section, it was a fake fight to psyche the other team out, according to the Sun Valley Times or some shit.

    Also, Callis lists the Mets top prospects as:
    1) OF Fernando Martinez
    2) 1B-OF Ike Davis
    3) SS Reese Havens
    4) LHP Jon Neise

    Shit, I didn't know the farm system was THAT barren. Or are Ike and Reese that good?

    1:19 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    We score one... they get two.
    We score six...they get eight.
    People state that we are in the same position the Phils were in last year so there is hope. But we do not play in a band box, as my buddy in St Lou said my favorite quoter re: this team is that we know how to load the gun(putting runner on)... but we can't pull the trigger. So do we let the team of omar and Willie go, and if we do who do we replace them with, or do we let one go (willie) and put Omar on a short leash and are we going to be buyers or sellers in the next month... we have very little to offer if we are buying other than $$$$$$$.

    1:35 PM

     
    Blogger michael o. said...

    It has been awful watching them. Very difficult.


    Davis and Havens are good...It is common for 1st round picks to be in the top five. These guys are both really good.

    That being said, the Mets are a little weak for sure. The good news is Carp, Murphy, and Evans are doing very well at a high level which adds to them being legit.

    1:40 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    And the better news is that Carp, Murphy and Evans are young and having breakout years. We'll probably trade two of them for Esteban Loaiza!

    I don't know, Mike, I think that Adam Rubin made a pretty convincing argument vis-à-vis Omar. The team is basically a couple of star younger players (Sugie, Jose, Carlos B, Johan & Maine) and a lot of old wood. The game is changing, and the FA market is becoming a less convincing conduit to a good team. Why? Because as the wealth gets spread to downmarket teams, they are increasingly able to lock up young stars until their late twenties. Based on predicted dropoff at that age and the increasing amount of years required to sign an elite FA, you're looking about more and more Delgado's and a lot less Beltran's.

    Carp needs to be promoted. Seems pretty clear that he's ready and better than the 30 something (read 45 yr old) Cuban retread that's playing ahead of him @ Not Orleans. Personally, I'd flip them between AA & AAA. Further, if he's not on this week's prospect hot sheet, there's a conspiracy going on.

    Less convinced that Murphy & Evans need to be promoted. Year of AA is fine.

    Just think, I'm sure Valentin should be back with the Mets soon enough. That should add a little more age to this young underachieving team.

    Lastly, at this point, Wilie could lose his head, gouge the eyes of a third base ump with one of those thin handled splintering maple bats and the Mets would still act like nothing had happened. What does that tell us about this team?

    DG

    5:45 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    I smell a sequel to "The worst Team Money Could Buy".

    Get that laptop ready, Klapisch!

    11:16 PM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    SELLERS we will be... but what do we have as value to trade...bullpen?????..sanchez,feliciano, shoenweis,
    bench...Anderson, Easley, Castro
    would love to get rid of...Delgado(can't believe i wrote that), castillo, Alou, Chavez
    Starters...Ollie

    2:00 AM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Man, the Mets suck. I'm soo happy I havn't been able to watch them completely fuck everything up.

    3:00 AM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Oh and by the way... what the fuck is wrong with Elijah Dukes?

    3:05 AM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Aside from threatening to kill his wife via voicemail, hitting her a couple of times, and having to make some court appearances, Elijah Dukes is a solid American citizen.

    7:48 AM

     
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Yep. I know who we (they) are, too: a pretty shitty team.

    8:05 AM

     
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