Mets Mess: New Manager Introduced: And the Crowd Yawns

Article first published as Mets Mess: New Manager Introduced: And the Crowd Yawns on Blogcritics.


The news that the Mets hired Terry Collins as their new manager did little to inspire dancing in the streets here in New York City. NY Mets fans like myself are sick and tired of an organization treating us with less respect than the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield ever got.


Mets fans wanted a big fish. We wanted Joe Torre, despite all the stuff that went on between him and Jerry Manuel. Who cares about that? We wanted someone like Wally Backman, who maybe didn't ever manage in the majors but was surely a spitfire as a player. We would have even accepted the second coming of Bobby Valentine; at least he had a pulse and caused people to get excited about the game.



Instead, we get Terry Collins, who hasn't managed a baseball game since 1999. Uh, what the heck was Sandy Alderson and that Mets brain trust thinking when they made this choice? This is about as exciting as naming Pee Wee Herman as our starting second baseman for next season. Come to think of it, he'd probably do a better job than Luis Castillo.

Anyway, this Collins guy has an awe inspiring 444-434 record as a major league manager. We wanted a superstar and instead we got the understudy. Mets fans have been so poorly treated in recent years, one has to wonder what objective this franchise is playing for next year. Is this yet another "transition" year? Is this yet another year when we have to suffer with the likes of Castillo and Oliver Perez on the payroll?

Maybe I am wrong and this guy Collins will come in here and make things right again, but during the press conference at Citi Field today it sounded all wrong to me. Collins, who quit as manager of the California Angels in September 1999 due to problems with the team, readily admitted, "I did a bad job managing the clubhouse, no question about it." Way to go, Sandy Alderson, just what we need.

This sounds like another Art Howe kind of guy. Come on, even the Pittsburg Pirates were smarter than this when they hired Clint Hurdle right out from under your nose. If this is the way Alderson plays chess, Mets fans are going to be hearing "Checkmate" before the All Star Break and, if that is the case, the seats are going to be so empty in Citi Field next summer the bored ushers and vendors will be hearing lots of pins drop.

During this same press conference, Collins stated that he felt the Mets had a chance to contend in 2011. Well, right now that sounds to me like the builders of the Titanic saying it was unsinkable. We know how well that turned out.

I wish I could look at this as a good move, but the truth is that I think Mets fans have once again been given damaged goods. Terry Collins? Well folks, I think you all better have a Tom Collins or beverage of your choice and sit back and get ready for what looks like another year of no joy in Metsville.

NY Mets Mess: Goodbye and Good Riddance to Minaya and Manuel

This article first appeared as NY Mets Mess: Goodbye and Good Riddance to Minaya and Manuel on Blogcritics.

Make no mistake about it: the NY Mets will finally part ways with Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel after Sunday's last game of the season. This cannot happen fast enough for me. Goodbye and good riddance to them both.

In the beginning I liked Omar Minaya. I figured this fellow who grew up in Queens in the shadow of Shea Stadium had been a Mets fan all his life. Surely, he would bring something to the table that other GMs lacked: knowledge of the good, bad, and ugly Mets past. This would have to help him fashion a team that would be a winner because every Mets fan wants that, right? Wrong!

Minaya was blamed for many things, but the worst thing I think he brought to the Mets was this: complacency was okay. He seemed to sit on his hands as big fish got hooked by other teams - especially the Yankees - and that made him look either inept or unconcerned about the team. Both attitudes (and I believe Minaya suffered from both afflictions) are deadly in the game and put the Mets into a terrible situation.

Things started to turn for me when he got rid of Willie Randolph. I don't believe that Randolph got sufficient assitance on the field from the GM; therefore, how can he be blamed for the team's performance. Randolph was another local boy who made good, one who went with his father to Mets games from his native Brooklyn. I liked Randolph very much and felt he had a chance to take the Mets all the way, but he was like a carpenter without his hammer and saw. No one can blame him for the team Minaya saddled him with back then.

Of course, Jerry Manuel is not as culpable in this situation. He got dealt a bad hand. He took over for Minaya and he too never got the personnel he deserved. Minaya seemed like a guy standing on the subway platform, letting all the good trains shoot by him. He never made an effort to get Manuel help this year. We wanted Cole Hamels, but what we got was Dillon Gee.

None of this makes any sense and it never will because there is no explaining Minaya's baseball philosophy. It seems to me that he was like a guy trying to hammer nails into a table, but all he did was stand over it and toss the nails in the air. The table is never going to be completed that way, and I think that's why we have the Mets mess we have today.

So goodbye and good riddance to Minaya. I wish Manuel well, but he needs to go someplace else. He is a good fellow and deserves better. Much better.

Whom will the Mets hire as GM? The only more salient question is who will be the new manager. I like Wally Backman very much, and his kick butt attitude got him a long way with the Brooklyn Cyclones. Maybe he is what this team needs. It also needs a guy who can hit 30 homers, a couple of starters who can win 15-20 games, and a bullpen that can close the door.

We have all winter to think about these things, but the Mets organization had better get working on next year this Sunday, October 3, 2010, as soon as the last inning is played. Otherwise, next year Citi Field is going to be a ghost town.

LA Dodgers Get Barajas Off Waivers from the Mets

Article first published as LA Dodgers Get Barajas Off Waivers from the Mets on Blogcritics.

The LA Dodgers (63-62) and the New York Mets (62-62) are not going anywhere this year, but that didn't stop the Dodgers from claiming catcher Rod Barajas, whom the Mets had put on waivers. The Mets got cash in the deal and called up outfielder Jesus Feliciano from AAA Buffalo to take Barajas's place on the roster.

The deal makes sense for LA because Russell Martin is out for the season with a hip injury. Manager Joe Torre had been using veteran Brad Ausmus and rookie A.J. Ellis behind the plate in Martin's absence, but this move indicates how well that was working out.

This Mets fan is sorry to see Barajas go. He got off to a really good start with the Mets this season, but his bat turned cold and then he went on the 15-day DL at the end of July. Since returning he has looked sluggish at the plate and in the field, but the big positive with Barajas is his fantastic presence and team spirit.

As he said goodbye in the clubhouse yesterday, it was obvious that he was well liked by Manager Jerry Manuel and his fellow players. No doubt a few Mets players were wishing they were going with him. Since the All-Star break the Mets are 14-22, and moves like this one - and the release of Alex Cora, another extremely popular player in the clubhouse, on August 7 - must be seen as a message that 2010 is another lost season for the Mets.

Barajas is an over all good guy and deserves a shot at playing every day, which it seems he will get to do in LA. Barajas brings 12 homers and .225 batting average with him to the Dodgers, but the most important thing is his winning attitude. Torre certainly got lucky to get Barajas, who will become a free agent at the end of this season.

The Mets seem very intent on letting rookie Josh Thole spend the bulk of the time behind the plate. All along it looked like next season would have been his turn, but now he gets his shot at being every day catcher. Thole looks very good thus far in the limited opportunities he has had (1 homer, 9 RBI, and .292 avergae), and his defense and handling of pitchers has greatly improved since spring training. It's no surprise the Mets resisted using him for any flashy trades at July 31 trading deadline. It would seem that Thole is the Mets' catcher of the future and that future starts right now.

Good News for NY Mets Fans: K-Rod Gone with the Wind

Article first published as Good News for NY Mets Fans: K-Rod Gone with the Wind on Blogcritics.

For those of you Mets fans who are also movie buffs, do you remember that scene near the end of the classic movie Gone With the Wind, when Rhett Butler (Clarke Gable) and Scarlett O'Hara (Vivian Leigh) say their final words to each other. She asks him about what she will do without him, and Gable utters that famous line, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

Well, flash forward to the drama that has unfolded with Mets closer Francisco (K-Rod) Rodriguez and his going all Joe Frazier on his poor girlfriend's father. K-Rod should have known better, probably did know better, but he was seeing red and cursing his way to a brawl as he entered the Mets' players family lounge. In front of other players' wives, children, and family members, K-Rod punched out an older man and, in the process, damaged his pitching hand.

We learned on Monday that K-Rod will be out the rest of the season because of the injury sustained during his tantrum. I was listening to talk radio here in New York yesterday, and some Mets fans were lamenting another lost season - as if K-Rod's departure is the only reason why the team is floundering - but most were happy to see him go. I count myself among them.

When the Mets signed K-Rod, there were rumors about his volatile personality. I discounted that as the usual stuff when a new guy comes to town, but as soon as he started closing for the Mets, I was less than impressed. He made Armando Benitez seem like Mariano Rivera the way he pitched, with the game almost always tediously on the brink of being lost with him on the mound. Despite his impressive save totals coming from the Angels, we didn't see him as invincible and, in fact, he seemed rather susceptible to being beaten all the time.

Now, it seems, the Mets will have a pastiche closer mechanism, judging from what Jerry Manuel had to say on SNY after Monday's game. It could be Hisanori Takahashi one night; Oliver Perez the next night, and so on. Hey, why not throw Luis Castillo in there and see what the heck he can do? The closer-by-committee version just might end up doing as good a job as K-Rod, but that's not saying much.

It is apparent that K-Rod now becomes K-Dud; he is gone and will not likely pitch for the Mets ever again. The Mets will try to void his contract based on his injury being caused as it was during a fight. The Players Association will probably take his side, but in the end we have to hope he goes someplace else and becomes a problem for another team.

The Mets and their fans know the truth and understand it has to be this way. Wouldn't be nice if K-Rod asked you, "Where will I pitch again?" to be able to answer, "Frankly, K-Dud, I don't give a damn"? Well, the Mets are going to say just that and then he can take his anger management classes in another city and drive their fans crazy with his antics. Gone with the wind never sounded so good!

Tricky Dickey Tosses 1-Hit Gem Against Phillies

Article first published as Tricky Dickey Tosses 1-Hit Gem Against Phillies on Blogcritics.

R. A. Dickey (8-5) beat the Phillies and gave the Mets their first back-to-back wins since June. In notching the one-hitter, Dickey accomplished what has been done twenty-five times previously by Mets pitchers. All who came before him -and now he - stood close to that brush with immortality, but the way things went last night, Dickey was more than happy to take the game the way it went.


Speaking on SNY after the game, Dickey was humble about the whole experience. When asked about the one hit of the game, a blooped single into right field by pitcher Cole Hamels (7-9), Dickey said, "And tonight, I am so thankful. It was a real gift. It was an outing where I didn't have a regret." He had thrown a knuckle ball to Hamels, but he hit it, and Dickey indicated that is the nature of things.

After that sixth inning single, Dickey got back to work retiring the Phillies hitters. This one-hitter is all the more satisfying because it comes against a lineup like the Phillies have, and in the minds of at least some of the players and the fans at Citi Field on Friday night, the Mets are still in the hunt in the National League East.

This second straight shutout (Johan Santana won 4-0 over the Rockies the day before) made it unnecessary to worry about the absence of Francisco Rodriguez, the Mets closer being suspended for two games for fighting with his girlfriend's father on Wednesday after the Mets dreadful 6-2 loss to the Rockies. Manager Jerry Manuel seemed happy to not have to think about who would have closed the game under different circumstances. He said of Santana and Dickey, "For those guys to take it upon themselves as starters to start and complete the game was huge for us."

It is undeniable that after the week of turmoil with Santana being accused of rape and K-Rod being arrested for assault, the Mets needed the peace that only winning can bring to the clubhouse. Those troubling things still exist in the periphery of their minds, but winning, especially over the Phillies, does heal things faster than anything else.

Now the Mets have to worry about the games yet to come, but for a brief moment on Friday night at Citi Field, there was a kind of hush over the crowd, a sensation that they were witnessing a great moment in Mets history. Even though it was not to be a no-hitter, it was an immeasurably significant win for a team that needed another win more than anything.

Will R.A. Dickey be the man to eventually get the Mets first no-hitter? Judging from last night's masterful performance, he may be just the guy to do it. Until then, the Mets and their fans finally have something to smile about.

Santana Blanks Rockies; K-Rod Does the Pokey Hokey

Article first published as Santana Blanks Rockies; K-Rod Does the Pokey Hokey on Blogcritics.

Oh, the slings and arrows of outrageous Mets fortune. Johan Santana is being accused by a woman of sexual assault, and Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod) was hauled off to jail for attacking his girlfriend's father. These two guys obviously have a lot on their minds and on their plates, but Thursday's game turned out to be a good one for the Mets (57-57) as they defeated the Colorado Rockies (59-55) 4-0.

Santana was pitching like a man with a mission out there. He said after the victory that he told manager Jerry Manuel that he felt like going out and pitching ten innings. With K-Rod cooling his heels in court, suffice it to say that the Mets bullpen definitely needed a rest. Santana (10-6) scattered four hits en route to his second complete game of the season.

When reporters asked Santana about the situation with the woman who is accusing him in a civil law suit, Santana answered in his trademark calm and collected style. He said it is a matter for the courts and that was that. Whether or not he's guilty, Santana is certainly conducting himself like a gentlemen in public. Privately, if he had consensual sex with the woman (he is married) as he claims, or if he did indeed force himself on her, he is something less than gentlemanly.

Of course, everything is different with the combustible closer Rodriguez. After the Mets crushing defeat on Tuesday night, Rodriguez was apparently on a rampage. The Mets were up by a score of 2-1 in the eighth inning, but with two out and bases loaded, Manuel elected to not bring in Rodriguez and instead inserted Manny Acosta, who gave up a grand slam to ex-Met Melvin Mora. While K-Rod was right to feel slighted by this (and it proves Manuel's managing skills are severely in doubt), he tore into the clubhouse and cursed at reporters before going into the player's family lounge where he attacked his girlfriend's father.

K-Rod was released without bail on Thursday after appearing in Queens court, while a few miles away Santana was blanking the Rockies. The closer has been suspended by the team for two games, and perhaps more sanctions and punishment await him (including, perhaps, an anger management course?). A restraining order has been filed and he may not go near the house he shares with his girlfriend and her parents. All in all, it was a good day for one Mets pitcher and a very bad day for another.

Still, a fog hangs over the Mets clubhouse now. The allegations against Santana were bad enough to cause ill will with fans, but this thing with K-Rod puts things over the top. No matter how much you love the Mets - and many of us still do after everything that has happened during this disappointing year - this is straining the even most loyal fans and pushing them to the limit.

Santana and K-Rod. Is this what the Mets wanted when they signed these two guys? I know fans thought they would help bring a pennant our way, but once again that's not happening this year. It looks like legal matters are going to hound them both until the end of the season, and things are going to get a lot worse before they get any better as far as these two guys are concerned. That's the lot of Mets fans these days, and across town A-Rod must be smiling from ear-to-ear because no one seems worried about his cheating on his wife or taking steroids for three years anymore.

As they say, folks, only in New York.

Mets Should Bench Beltran

This article first appeared as Mets Should Bench Beltran on Blogcritics.

Only two days ago the Mets released Alex Cora and benched Luis Castillo in favor of rookie Ruben Tejada. Both were good moves to help the team, but there is still a general malaise that seems to hover over the Mets, and I think a good deal of the problem is in center field. It is absolutely necessary for Manager Jerry Manuel to bench Carlos Beltran, and it needs to be done starting tomorrow in the game against the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field.

There has been some talk about trading or releasing outfielder Jeff Francoeur, but I think that would be a tremendous mistake. While there have been times when Francoeur has struggled this season, there have been impressive moments too (like his homer off Cole Hamels in the Mets' 1-0 win against the Phillies on Saturday). There is also the undeniable fact that Francoeur adds a positive spark to the team's chemistry, something the seemingly lethargic Beltran has never done in his time with the Mets.

All season long people were talking about Beltran coming back from the disabled list. Everything would be better then, they thought. Well, since Beltran returned to the team the Mets are 7-16. Now, we cannot blame that all on the switch hitting center fielder, but I do believe the team was doing much better with Angel Pagan in center and Francoeur in right field.

Beltran is currently batting .197 with 1 homer and 7 runs batted in. Looking at Beltran's offensive numbers is only part of the story. He is not the fielder he once was, not fully recovered from his injury, and he is detrimental to the team when he is on the field. There are balls that should be caught that he can't get to, and this isn't changing anytime soon.

Beltran seems like a nice fellow, but he has never been the player the Mets expected him to be when they signed him. He is also not the leader he should be in the clubhouse. Jeff Francoeur's numbers are not stellar (.247 average with 11 homers and 47 RBIs), but he is an integral presence in the clubhouse, a spark plug on a team that needs a jolt to shake it out of its funk.

Frenchy, as his teammates call him, was supposed to platoon in left field with newly called up rookie Fernando Martinez until Jason Bay returns from the DL. Well, I have a better idea for Manuel and the Mets' brass. Send a message to the team that no one has a lock on an every day job (and that should include David Wright and Jose Reyes as well).

They should bench Beltran on Tuesday against the Rockies. Pagan should be in center, with Francoeur in right, and Martinez in left. Beltran should stay on the bench for a week, and then we can see if the team wins more games without Beltran than with him. The way things are going for the Mets, they have nothing to lose and maybe, just maybe, a few more games they can win.

New York Mets Sinking Like the Titanic

This article first appeared as New York Mets Sinking Like the Titanic on Blogcritics.

The once venerable ship known as the New York Mets has hit a figurative and literal iceberg this season, making it ready to sink like a stone to the bottom of the Major League waters it has navigated tenuously all season. If you will bear with this extended metaphor for a bit, you will come to understand that I foretold this sinking of the ship early in the season, but those supposedly water-tight doors took a while to give way. Now the fall to the bottom of the sea is seemingly inevitable.



Jerry Probably Wishes that Finger Was Loaded

At the helm is Captain Jerry Manuel, who looks no more confident than Captain E.J. Smith did when he stared over the starboard side of his ship (captured forever by an amateur photographer) and was probably wondering, "Why don't we have more lifeboats?" Manuel may have well done the same thing in spring training, staring at his porous lineup and rickety vessel thinking he was never going to make the crossing of the season's waters intact.



Captain Smith Looking for Lifeboats

Like Smith who was prodded by his superior Bruce Ismay into pushing his ship beyond its capabilities, Omar Minaya seems to have done the same thing here. He spent little capital in getting the team sea worthy and brought in guys like R.A. Dickey and Hisanori Takahashi without ever going for a front-end starter. He knew Frankie Rodriguez was combustible as the Titanic engines with all that coal causing a big fire down below, making the steel soft and just ripe for that iceberg.

Now that the Mets have hit the inevitability of the iceberg known as the West coast road trip, we see the sinking ship for what it really is: the pitchers can't swim, the bullpen can't find the binoculars in the crow's nest, and the hitters are struggling with the ropes on the lifeboats. Manuel may be running to the rail and thinking, "Man overboard," but he has to be reminded that like Captain Smith he has to go down with the ship.

All of my fellow Mets fans have to face the facts here. This vessel was never unsinkable and never pronounced to be. In fact, it was so obvious in spring training, that it seemed like putting out to sea in a submarine with screen doors. Still, we were wooed by the surge at the end of April, convinced by the trickery of knuckleballer Dickey and that some sort of second coming of Jerry Koosman could be found in Takahashi, but the problem was that there just are not enough water-tight doors to keep this ship afloat.

Since the return of golden boy Carlos Beltran, the Mets are 2-8 with Beltran hitting an abysmal .188. The rest of the team is not doing much better, so they would do well to jump into the lifeboats, but if they can manage to handle the oars as well as they do bats, they probably wouldn't do enough to get away from the wake of the stinking ship (oh, I meant sinking ship).

Mets fans have to look at the reality of 2010 as it is: another lost season. Put on the life vests, get into the lifeboats, and row fast as you can toward the H.M.S. Carpathia of 2011. As with the survivors of the Titanic, that is the only hope we have and we will have to make the best of it.

Vote for Pedro: Why The Mets Need Martinez Now

Article first published as Vote for Pedro: Why The Mets Need Martinez Now on Blogcritics.

As the Mets dropped their fifth in a row yesterday, things are starting to look pretty grim for the team and their fans. In a press conference after yesterday's game, skipper Jerry Manuel said, "Things aren't as bad as they look." Well, Jerry, check your glasses, because your team has lost seven of the last ten games.

To make matters worse, John Maine has his own vision problems. He just couldn't find home plate on Saturday; his first twelve pitches were all out of the strike zone. Hey, Stevie Wonder could do better than that, John.

Now John Niese is hurt, Oliver Perez is banished to the bullpen, and the starting rotation is suddenly looking like it needs more than a boost; it should be sent to the ER.

This is why I am proposing that the Mets should get out there and do whatever it takes to bring back Pedro Martinez. Hey, I know some Mets fans might groan at the suggestion, but Pedro-II will not be a disaster. Look what he did for the Phillies in a limited capacity last year.

Besides, Pedro-I was not such a bad time. I went to Shea when he was starting a game, and I have to say there was a buzz in the stands unlike anything I've seen since. Johann Santana is a great pitcher, but he does not incite emotions the way good old Pedro did. Everyone had an opinion about the enigmatic pitcher, and the crowd would either applaud him or razz him, but it was never boring.

This is a sensible solution for the Mets, and they don't have much choice right now. They wouldn't have to give anything up for Pedro. A trade would cost them dearly, and they don't have much to offer other teams anyway except maybe Ike Davis, and he's not going anywhere.

Despite the problems he had when he was here, Pedro was 32-23 as a Met. I know Pedro brings a bit of the wild card to the clubhouse, but this team needs something to fire them up. Pedro's personality is sorely needed in the dugout, on the field and, yes, even as a means of grabbing away the headlines in town from the Yankees.

So I am casting my vote for Pedro. He could be just what the doctor ordered for a team that looks like the walking wounded right now. If they do bring him back, Citi Field will be a much brighter place, and perhaps the team can start winning some games again, and at least that will be an attempt to save what is otherwise looking like another lost season in Metsville.