Mets Mess: Reyes Wins Batting Title As Another Disappointing Season Ends

This article first appeared on Blogcritics.

No New York Mets player ever won a batting title before. No Mets pitcher has ever thrown a no-hitter. No Mets player has ever been the league's Most Valuable Player. Okay, you get the idea. In a less than thrilling season, the notion that one of our guys would capture the batting crown was something to keep fans going. It even brought fans to Citi Field on the last day of the season.


They wanted to see Jose Reyes compete against Milwaukee's Ryan Braun for the batting title. Some people brought their kids because they wanted them to remember the moment. Others, thinking this could be Reyes' last game as a Met, wanted to be there to appreciate his talents for one last time. All that mattered little when Reyes led off the bottom of the first inning, bunted for a base hit, and then was pulled for a pinch runner.

Did Reyes pull his hamstring? Did something happen to him? The crowd didn't wait to find out and started booing. We found out later that Reyes pulled himself from the game, with the hit guaranteeing him a .337 average and making it almost impossible for Braun to catch him unless Braun went 3 for 4 that evening. Braun actually went 0-4, so it now this stands out as poor sportsmanship for Reyes to have backed into the title that way.

Fans booed Reyes during what is possibly his last game at Citi Field. Long-time Mets fans were annoyed with Reyes' selfish attitude, putting his personal record ahead of the good of the team. Although manager Terry Collins supported Reyes and the decision, it is clear that such a move is at best tacky and at worst emblematic of Reyes' disrespect for Mets fans and the organization that he has called home for the last nine years.

After the game when asked about the unhappy fans, Reyes said, "I don't care what people think. A lot of people told me, 'Don't play today.'"

Okay, so Jose doesn't care what the fans think. That will go over in New York as well as instant pizza and frozen bagels. We Mets fans are passionate about our team and our city. We support our players and respect them, but we want the same from them. It has always seemed the Reyes is a total player. His uniform is always dirty after a game. He throws himself completely into a game, and we have come to appreciate that dedication, so I guess when we saw this completely unexpected cop-out we were more hurt than angry, although many expressed themselves vehemently when they booed.

Some have argued that the 77-85 Mets had nothing on the line in this game. They were just playing out the schedule, and that made it okay for Reyes to take an early shower. Things would be different if this were a game deciding a playoff spot. This would matter more if this game mattered more.

I am sorry, but every game (every inning) counts. It is not about the contest having meaning because the game is more important than anything else. You know the old saying, "It's not if you win or lose but how you play the game." Well, that is applicable here. Jose made a tremendous mistake and manager Terry Collins should have told him "No!" He should have said, "The hell with the batting title. Get out there and play your nine innings and give these fans what they paid for."

Unfortunately, this was not to be. Once again, Mets fans, stung by the Bernie Madoff scandal and injuries galore, had to endure yet another slap to the face. In the old days that might have sparked a duel, but the way we Mets fans are feeling now, we are better off just turning the other cheek and walking away.

Jose Reyes won a batting title; so what? Truthfully, I'd rather he hit .235 and see the Mets were going into the Wild Card series. The batting title is little comfort for a horrible year that has followed other horrible ones. Reyes will no doubt take the money and run - all the way to another team as far as he can go.
So Mets fans, we can once again say, "Wait until next year." It seems that is what we always say. Now we can languish in our winter of discontent, watching other teams make bold moves, and we can be secure in the notion that the Mets are going to cut payroll. GM Sandy Alderson is giving Mets fans about as much hope as those people who jumped off the Titanic without life vests. Wait until next year? What's the point when all we can hope for is another lost season?

Though my blood still runs orange and blue, I am exhausted after this season. I feel depleted; I feel like all Mets fans are the equivalent of the Biblical Job. How much more can we take until we break?

Photo Credits - Daily News

Mets Mess: Team Should Trade Reyes Now!

Article first published as Mets Mess: Team Should Trade Reyes Now! on Blogcritics.

The New York Mets are now 50-50 this season, and the only place they are going is like those cruises to nowhere from New York City. They will circle around and around but achieve nothing, except giving people a good view of the city while they drink and eat. That is basically the same proposition at Citi Field this season.
I know this will be an unpopular point of view, but I think the Mets need to trade Jose Reyes as soon as possible. Yes, I too am going to miss his trademark smile that lights up the dugout, but we have to think about the future here. We also have to be realistic about investing in Reyes for the long haul.

Make no mistake, Reyes is having his career year. At twenty-eight years old, he is at the height of his powers. He is exciting to watch, and I have never seen any player bust it from home to third base like when Reyes hits a triple. That alone is worth the price of admission.

No matter how much we like what Reyes does on the field, we have to be honest
with ourselves, Mets fans. Reyes is fragile, extremely so. He is like a baseball version of a Faberge egg: he is very nice to look at, has something great inside of him, but heaven forbid if you drop him.

Reyes has been on the disabled list this year and many times in other years. His legs, the bread and butter of his act, are always subject to injury. He plays hard all the time; his hundred and fifty percent attitude is very admirable, but it is exactly this kind of play that puts him in harm's way.

Every Mets fan and Jose's teammates are holding their breaths every time he runs the bases. At any moment he can pull up to a base, hold the back of his leg, and cause blood pressure to rise collectively around the park.

There is absolutely no better player on the Mets, and his stock is rising each day, so that is why he must be traded. A long-term deal with Reyes will be a disaster. Say you give him a seven year deal; you know he is very possibly going to be on the disabled list at some point in any of those seasons; sometimes even for a long haul. So if the Mets are thinking of giving him a Carl Crawford type contract (7 yrs/$142M), they should realize what they are getting because Reyes has been their employee since 2003.

Sandy Alderson, although new to the Mets, has been around the block a few times. He has to know that Reyes is like the stock market, so he should follow the "buy low; sell high" philosophy. Reyes will never have this great of return again in his career, so this is the time to shop him and get a great deal.

I am a big Mets fan but I am also a realist. We have no chance of the catching the Phillies and even less of a chance of being the wild card team, so why not secure the future now? Alderson should get as much as possible for Jose Reyes (especially pitching prospects). He should turn around and trade Carlos Beltran too before the deadline for top outfield prospects. Any team trying to make low-ball offers should be rejected.
It will kill me to see Reyes in another uniform, but I can live with Beltran going elsewhere. Still, I can accept Reyes going if we get something really good in return, something that will make 2012 the year we make a run for it all.

Sandy Alderson, you have one week to make the best deals possible, so go out and come back with some really good stuff in your shopping bag, or the good will we've been seeing at Citi Field this year is going to run out very quickly. You know what you have to do, so get it done by July 31st. We're waiting!

Photo Credits: Reyes - Daily News
Faberge Egg - pbs.org

Mets Mess: Reality Rears Its Ugly Head

Article first published as Mets Mess: Reality Rears Its Ugly Head on Blogcritics.

Okay, Mets fans, let's be honest. The party is over. Yes, there were a few exciting moments, and manager Terry Collins and his players had us thinking it was 1973 all over again, but those Mets had Yogi Berra as a skipper, and now the deja vu part is not about winning but about accepting one's fate.

The Mets lost 4-1 to the Florida Marlins in an ugly game. "Ugly" is the operating word because the Mets are getting closer to the cellar in the National League East, which means we're moving back into Basement Bertha territory again. The Marlins are a hot last place team; the Mets are as cold as ice and sinking faster each game. If you are looking to the return of Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran to end the madness, don't get too comfortable because they're probably not going to be around much longer.

There have been rumors about trading Beltran since spring training. Now as the July 31st
 trading deadline approaches, and as the Mets continue struggle and lose games, it is only a matter of time that Beltran will be put in a lifeboat and row safely to a contending team: good for him; bad for us.

Jose Reyes played a game with the Brooklyn Cyclones last night. David Wright is going to get his rehab games in too before coming back. Johan Santana may be back sometime in August. Ike Davis remains in Met limbo, and now super sub Scott Hairston came out of the game hurt. With all these injuries, the Mets should start call their clubhouse the Hurt Locker.

No matter who comes back, who gets traded, and who stays on the DL all season, the Mets and their fans just have to face reality. There's not enough season left for miracles. Collins has done a great job, but you need all the right ingredients to conjure up a recipe for a winning season and playoff run, and Collins is like a baker trying to make a cake without any eggs or flour.

So it pains me to say it Mets fans, but it is all over. Beltran will be gone soon, and Reyes may follow. The AAA boys of Tejada, Turner, Pridie, and Thole will continue to play hard, and they may be able to finish at .500 this year, but don't go holding your breath now. It's more likely we'll be spending the rest of season downstairs with Basement Bertha. We'd better get used to it.

Photo Credits: NY Daily News

Mets Mess: K-Rod Goes to Brewers With Lots of Baggage

Article first published as Mets Mess: K-Rod Goes to Brewers With Lots of Baggage on Blogcritics.

Right after the end of last night's All-Star Game, The New York Mets traded "slugging" relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez to the Milwaukee Brewers for cash and two players to be named later. It could have been two turtle doves and a partridge in a pair tree as far as Mets fans are concerned; good-bye and good riddance to TKO Rod. Let's hope he took all his baggage with him on the way out the door.

The importance of the K-Rod trade is not just the fact that the team cut out a toxic element in the clubhouse, or saved lots of money on the payroll; it also says something about where GM Sandy Alderson thinks his 46-45 team is headed in the NL East: nowhere! That bodes well for impending trades of Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes by the July 31 trading deadline.

Now yes, by all accounts, K-Rod was trying to be a model citizen this year, and Beltran has never looked so thrilled to be in Flushing as he has in 2011. Also, even though now injured, Reyes was a lightning rod and had the team and its fans channeling Tug McGraw's "You Gotta Believe"  as they made their way to Citi Field. I'd hate to see his beaming smile gone from the Mets dugout, but that appears more likely now.

Alas Mets fans, reality has reared its ugly head. No matter how much little General Terry Collins has sparked this team, and no matter how well the AAA boys of Turner, Pridie, Evans, and company have played, the truth is it is going to be another "wait until next year" for the boys in blue and orange.

Sad for the team and sad for the fans, but this trade signals that mentality. Maybe now we can just sit back and enjoy the show, but there should be no illusions of a run for the wild card or even more bizarre delusions of catching the the Phillies. This trade put an end to all that.

Good bye to K-Rod and the 2011 season. Ah, just another day in the never ending Mets mess.

Photo Credit: AP

NY Mets on the Road - To Live and Cry in LA

Article first published as NY Mets on the Road - To Live and Cry in LA on Blogcritics.


There is no doubt about it (or as beloved NY Mets announcer Ralph Kiner used to say "No bout a doubt it") the New York Mets are Amazin’s once again - at least on the road.

The Mets look lost at Citi Field, and I can admit I do feel that way myself sometimes. It seemed like I knew every nook and cranny of good old dilapidated Shea Stadium, and I remembered where Cleon squeezed that last ball in 1969 or Rusty hit the outfield wall in 1973 or where Mookie hit the ball between Buckner's legs in 1986. These were great Mets memories, not to mention the Beatles trying to out scream the fans on a stage out near second base. Those were the days.

But Mets fans have tried to warm up to Citi Field, and it is designed way better than Shea right down to more plentiful - and clean - bathrooms. The food courts are wonderful and plentiful space is available to drink, eat, and be merry.

Still the team struggles at Citi as it did in the last home series against the Yankees, although that last game when the Mets beat Mariano Rivera was pure gold. You could bottle that and Mets fans would buy it again and again. The Mets beat Rivera - what a moment!

Now out on the road they are warriors again, taking the first two in LA. Last night Mike Pelfrey seemed like an ace who never lost a case - no, that's Perry Mason, another LA story -  but I digress.
There is a good deal to be happy about right now as manager Terry Collins has his team believing in themselves as much as he does. They have lots of guts and determination as they strike out on this last road trip before the All-Star break without Reyes and Santana and Davis and Wright.

In another universe we would be crying out there on the West Coast, where many Mets teams went 0 for 9 and came home whipped. This team seems different and they keep finding ways to win. That will definitely keep Mets fans watching and wanting to go to the ballpark. Now, if the team could just find a way to win more games at home, but that's another story.

Photo Credit: NY Daily News

Subway Series Part II: This Time It's Personal

Article first published as Subway Series Part II: This Time It's Personal on Blogcritics.


Okay, I'll admit that I was kind of down on the Subway Series the last time around, but that is not the case now. Why is that? Because back then the Mets were playing like they were in the Pee-Wee Herman League and the New York Yankees were doing their best Incredible Hulk impersonation in the American League East. Since then the Mets have incredulously bounced back from adveristy (even with key players on the disabled list) - with Jose Reyes taking the part of The Flash while his teammates, even the AAA Buffalo contingency, are looking like superheroes in training. So now it is at least interesting enough for this old Mets fan to put on his blue cap with the orange NY and brave the Number 7 train to get out to Citi Field.

Make no mistake - the Yankees have to be favored today. They just steamrolled over Milwaukee, but these are the Brewers and not the Boston Red Sox or the Philadelphia Phillies. When you put the pitching poor Yankees up against those types of teams, they wilt and that is what they will have to face once again in the playoffs this year. Of course, at least they can say they have the playoffs in their future, but that is still a reality for Yankees fans; too bad Sabathia can't pitch every day.

The Mets led by Reyes and much lesser names like Turner, Murphy, and Hairston, are definitely going to be David going up against Goliath in the Subway Series, but we all know how that turned out. Truth be told, the Mets are playing like the Mets of old - most notably the 1973 version - and that team was the little engine that could, knocking out the Big Red Machine of Cincinnati and taking the Oakland A's to the seventh game of the World Series.

I'm not saying anything like that can happen this year, but there is hope in Flushing and the Mets fans can invoke the old Tug McGraw mantra of "Ya Gotta Believe" again, so in that way it becomes very personal for me (and most Mets fans). And don't forget, these are the dreaded Yankees, the minions of Darth Steinbrenner who once circled the city in his Death Star thinking he could rule the baseball galaxy.

So break out your old copies of Return of the Jedi if you need inspiration, Mets fans, and "you gotta believe" the force is with these young Met padawans. Jose Reyes is wielding that bat like a light saber, and maybe, just maybe, some Yankee heads will roll this weekend. So yeah, it's personal this time, and Mets fans have to get out there and cheer this underdog team for no other reason than they are New Yorkers who are not Yankees' fans.

Let's go Mets!

Photo Credit: NY Daily News

The Eternal Sunshine of the Spring Training Kind

Article first published as The Eternal Sunshine of the Spring Training Kind on Blogcritics.

There is nothing more scintillating for me as a baseball fan than when I hear the words, "Pitchers and catchers report for duty today in Florida." That sentence makes the hairs stand up on my arms, and I think back to the countless cool spring days that I played ball myself, with the dream of being like my heroes Cleon Jones, Ron Swoboda, or Tom Seaver. Any kid whoever pounded a glove on the cool wet grass of a field on a spring day knows the feeling, and that is why spring training makes us all young again and filled with hope.


Of course, every team - whether it is the major league franchise or the pee-wee league variety - has the fever that spring brings. No one has any wins or losses that count; everyone's batting average or ERA is zero, and there is the feeling that this year we will go all the way. The eternal hope of spring training manifests itself in these cool bright days, and the only way you become boys of summer is by first being the ones of spring.
Reality will set in eventually for all of us as the long schedule that drags its feet through March produces some malaise even among the most ardent fans. We want opening day to come quickly, but as injuries happen and old knees creak, the prospects begin to look less rosy and some of us may even wish to put off that first pitch of the season if we could somehow.

As a New York Mets fan, I don't have that much to be happy happy about this spring. Other teams have signed free agents of note and are ready to compete, but for the Mets fans we are stuck with mediocrity and the prospect of a quiet spring that will blossom into what seems like it will be another one of those wait until next year scenarios.

You know you're in trouble if the most promising new signings are people named Boof Bonser. I mean, even George (the Stork) Theodore had a more baseball appropriate name than that. The Mets are going to struggle this year because of a lack of starting pitching, a suspect bullpen, and question marks about regular players like Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Jason Bay. In fact, there are so many questions about this team, I think they should adopt the Riddler costume as their new uniform. Can you imagine Luis Castillo walking around saying, "Riddle me this; riddle me that; does anyone dare, give me a bat?"

Still, I want to think of those springs long gone and the ghosts of players who once wore the orange and blue. Where have you gone Tommie Agee? I know you're somewhere up there with Gil Hodges, Tug McGraw, and the rest of the gone but never forgotten Mets greats. At one time we dared to dream and we got a team that beat Hank Aaron and the Braves and Brooks Robinson and the Orioles. That's when they earned their moniker The Amazins. Man, that does seem like a long, long time ago.

So as baseball fans everywhere get ready for a glorious spring, pound a ball wet with dew from the grass inside a glove. Tilt the hat back on your head and look up at the endless blue sky. In the eternal sunshine of spring, anything is possible, even for Mets fans. Even we can dare to dream these days for a little while, or at least until that first pitch on opening day when everything counts and reality sets in.

Photo Credits:
Cleon Jones - Phoenixnewtimes.com
The Riddler - Batman-Superman.com

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.