Mets - Braves Liveblog; Baseballs biggest Joe Buck RETURNS! Part 2

4:36 PM: Kelly Johnson is put away, Buck and McCarver both talk about "sitting on" answers. We get a nice shot of domestic abuse in the stands by Braves fans with those stupid tomahawks.

4:39 PM: Chipper, sick of being ridiculed, gives a ball a ride and the wind knocks it down fast enough for Alou to make a diving catch.

4:40 PM: DirecTV is ruining Major League for me. I have no desire to watch it ever again after this bullshit ad-campaign. I don't care about 1080-I, I just want you to stop ruining good movies. This is exactly like that Duke Phillips invention on The Critic that Jay Sherman saved us from, only worse.

4:42 PM: Edgar Renteria makes a clear error, as Shawn Green reaches. Joe Buck calls it an infield single. Bad eyes on the shortstop side of the infield, with a lot of misplays. Something to look out for. Smoltz is already past 100 pitches. Valentin pops-up.

4:44 PM: Glavine gets his second sacrifice down, and Reyes will be up in another clutch situation. They appear to be pitching around him, and so it falls into LoDuca's hands. LoDuca quickly gets into an 0-2 hole, and Braves fans boo lustily as a pitch 4 feet off the plate is called a ball.

4:49 PM: Ball 2. Long battle with LoDuca fouling off a lot of balls. Joe Buck brings up our record of failure in Atlanta, as if the Braves were not a great team. LoDuca strikes out. Buck rubs it in our face. Then cuts to a Chevrolet commercial that seems to be about how black people are allowed to like Chevy's. If I cut myself, this'd be where I'd be getting out the utensils.

4:54 PM: FOX camera work in the Mets bullpen looks like those webcams they used when we were on the ground in Iraq. Andruw Jones doubles over Wright's head.

4:57 PM: Francoeur singles over Valentin's head, and with McCann up the tie game is very much in doubt. Willie elects to stay with Glavine.

4:58 PM: Valetin makes a diving catch of a line drive, saving the lead, and setting up a double play situation that could end the inning. He's the best defensive second basemen I've seen for the Mets since the Fonz in his prime.

4:59 PM: Glavine goes 3-0 on Craig Wilson, which is not so cool, because there is no right-hander in the pen, and Matt Diaz has crushed both balls he's hit today. Walks him. Glavine will not give in! He is a grinder! Randolph unsurprisingly lets Glavine stay in.

5:02 PM: Glavine throws a ball. Diaz chases a ball way outside. Diaz hits a sacrifice fly, but Shawn Green forgets to catch it, because he's a horrible person and I hate him. 3-2 Braves.

5:06 PM: Official player of FC Pedro Feliciano gets the ball, although I really dislike this situation for him. I think this is more of a Heilman situation. Green catches the fly ball this time, it's 4-2, and it would be 3-2 if Shawn Green wasn't a Jewsy McStagger.

5:10 PM: Tim McCarver gets obsessed with sac flies, talking about some game he worked in the 90's or 80's or Mesozoic era where there was three sac flies. Camera pans to Ma and Paw Braves fan, bundled up, uncaring. Good image. Feliciano walks Kelly Johnson, and his shirt is split open at the back, and Willie goes to the pen again, this time fetching...wait, I can't tell you, because Joe Buck won't give me useful information.

5:14 PM: Joe Smith, rookie reliever, gets the call. He's been used in three straight games, and seems to be an awkward choice. Renteria bounces a ball off the plate, and Shawn Green's error looms even larger. Smith did look pretty solid though, and after being left in to face official Met killer Chipper Jones (TM), get an inning ending fly out to left. Now we get to see Atlanta's new pen: Gonzalez, Soriano, Wickman.

5:22 PM: Gonzalez is up first, he pops up Beltran, but Delgado takes him hard off the middle. Smoltz makes great observations about how the starting staff needs to step up if they want to be a good team, that they can't just rely on the 7-8-9 inning guys.

5:24 PM: "John Smoltz is the Dennis Eckersley of 25 years ago." Do I want to try? Nah. Wright flies out to center.

5:25 PM: "Teams will be lining up to get Smoltz. They'll say, you wanna start, you wanna stop? Thats why I think the Braves will keep him." I don't need to add commentary to this, McCarver speaks for himself.

5:27 PM: Alou walks, and they can't possibly let Shawn Green bat, can they? Oh god they're going to. This won't be pretty. One thing I think Willie could get a lot better at is pinch-hitting. Naturally, Green singles up the middle to make it 5-3. Why is it Shawn Green's quest to prove me wrong?

5:29 PM: Jose Valentin up against a left-hander, this won't end well. What Willie could really get better at is pinch-hitting in these spots against left-handers. Kelly Johnson catches a tough pop-up to end the inning.

5:33 PM: Randolph leaves Smith in, and Smith responds by walking Andruw Jones. Control is a problem right now for him.

5:34 PM: Joe Buck thanks some asshole I don't care about for helping them talk to John Smoltz and ruin the game. Smith gets a double play ball, Reyes-Valentin-Delgado. "Quite an antiquated telestrator," says McCarver. Like we know or care. How about we focus on the game? Would that be hard?

5:37 PM: The DirecTV GAMEBREAK, brought to you by DirecTV, in case you didn't notice. Hey lets have a DirecTV commercial right after the break! OVERKILL IS FUN!

5:39 PM: "One blanket, three people. Maybe five." "MAYBE EIGHT!" David Newhan grounds out to first against Soriano. Soriano is so dark that I can barely see his gruesome beard.

5:43 PM: Jose Reyes apparently strikes out despite hitting the ball and the catcher dropping the ball. I'm confused, he's confused, I think Soriano is confused. Buck too, but he's always confused. LoDuca grounds out to third.

5:47 PM: Scott "The Show" Schoeneweis comes in. They're still talking about the fucking telestrator. I have nominated "The Blow" for Schoeneweis' nickname, but I'm waiting to see where the rest of the Mets Blogs go with it.

5:50 PM: Someone may want to check Carlos Delgado's glove for holes.

5:51 PM: Fans start a "Shawn Green sucks" chant. HEROES. David gets a tough out on a broken bat grounder. He has improved his defense this year, I'll give him that.

5:53 PM: Scott Schoenweis picks off Langerhans, Jon argues that Bobby Kielty is worse than Shawn Green and that Shawn Green is cool. Jon loves him some players with long looping swings who can't play defense.

5:56 PM: An aside, I think the Sobe commercial is cute for now. I won't feel this way after I've seen it a thousand times, but it's pretty okay.

5:59 PM: Wickman is in for the Braves; he thankfully is the worst of the three relievers, so maybe we still have a chance. Beltran works him to a 3-2 count, then whiffs.

6:02 PM: Delgado also works him to a full count, but unlike Beltran, he walks.

6:04 PM: David up, and Wickman throws it to the backstop. 2-0 count, but David has looked horrible today. Another ball by Wickman. David was taking all the way on the 3-0 to get a strike. Singles through the hole! Another ball he didn't hit well, but at least it's a hit.

6:07 PM: Moises Alou up, bloops hit to center, easy out on the first pitch. Leaving the game in the hands of...Shawn Green? OH GOD NO! NOOOOOOO!

6:09 PM: Wright steals second, a single ties the game. But it's Shawn Green.

6:11 PM: Wow. Shawn Green's hardest hit ball of the game, and it's stabbed by Craig Wilson. 5-3, Braves win. The lesson I've learned? Don't liveblog.

Mets - Braves Liveblog; Baseballs biggest Joe Buck RETURNS!

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FC's MLB Preview: New York Mets

Offseason Analysis: The Mets looked at Barry Zito, Danny Haren, Joe Blanton, Jeff Suppan, Tomo Ohka, Javier Vazquez, Bert Blyleven, Oil Can Boyd, and the 1996 Denver Broncos, but decided not to make a move for the second solid starter that everyone wanted them to. The only major loss of the offseason was Chad Bradford, who signed with the Orioles. The only major signing was Moises Alou, who will replace Cliff Floyd as the Mets designated geriatric masher in left field.

Random stat from 2006 that was awesome: Despite Jose Valentin's .271/.330/.490 line, other Mets second baseman at the beginning of the year were so horrible that the Mets ranked 23rd in MLB at OPS by second basemen, at .244/.308/.404, perhaps suggesting that the whole idea of regression by Valentin won't be THAT big of a deal.

Most Overlooked Player: The only player Future Considerations sponsors on baseball-reference, Pedro Feliciano was the real key behind the Mets dominant bullpen last year. Not only did he have the lowest ERA and ERA+, but he got even better after Duaner Sanchez was injured, stepping up with a 1.75 second half ERA. All this, and all they can talk about is Wagner, Heilman, and Bradford. Not bad for someone who pitched for the Softbank Hawks in 2005.

Fun prop bet: Oliver Perez: ERA over/under 4.5. This is the key question of the Mets season, too. I say over, but just barely.

Funnest non-roster invitee: Jose A. Reyes. Just imagine how confusing this could get.

Player unlikely to live up to expectations: Probably Paul Lo Duca. He's coming off a (second) career year, where he hit almost 30 points above his average. He also incredibly hit .338 in the second-half of the year, as compared to his career .270 average after the All-Star break. I predict he'll hit much closer to .280/.330/.380 this year, with the Hernandez's (Ramon, who the Mets should have signed, and Gaby, who they traded to get Lo Duca) both showing him up.

Player most likely to finish second to David Eckstein in this years Holiday Inn Second Look/scrappy white guy award: Easily Lo Duca. Look at all the intangibles and pluck he brings to the plate every time he bats. He willed JD Drew to make that stupid baserunning mistake in game 1 of the NLDS too. Sheer plucky will.

Mike Caruso Memorial Overrated Prospect Award: Here's a controversial pick; Phillip Humber. He's been bombed in Spring Training, he was not good in the AFL, he's already been injured once. I'd love to be wrong, as this is my team, but lets be ballsy here and not pick someone like Michel Abreu.

A Fake Newspaper Headline From Some Point In The Season: El Duque? El Pis! Alou teaches Hernandez how to avoid blisters. (Naturally in the Post)

A haiku about this teams chances:
two okay starters:
duque, maine, pelfrey, ollie
mean playoffs again

My entry into the MetsGeek essay contest

(I know this isn't the Texans thing. I haven't forgotten it, I'll post it in the near future, probably Wednesday.)

PER-OLAF SODERLING IS MORE CLUTCH THAN BILLY WAGNER

I finally made it to Geno’s at about fifteen till nine. Knowing FOX as well as I did, I knew the game wouldn’t start until ten as they had recently decided that sporting events needed more Joe Buck, and had taken to flying him to every sporting event they could; the ones that he couldn’t make were put on a delay so that he could add commentary to them. Then there were the Miller Lite, Coors, Verizon, and Nana’s Natural Grain Bread commercials that he starred in. Sports were taking an even smaller niche in society, due mostly to the presentation. I accidentally slammed my tan pinkie in the similarly tan Yaris door in the rush to get in, but luckily there was no noticeable mark, just a sore sort of thing.

Mark caught up with me at the noticeably smoke-free counter, and we ordered some Flaming Piazza’s. Geno’s at forty-first had become the pre-eminent spot for Mets gameday if you didn’t have tickets, or if you were a Yankee fan looking to start shit. We were there to watch Game 5 of the World Series. The Mets were up 3-1 on the Texas Rangers, who were carried by Ahmed Al-Jorabi and his Triple Crown year. Al-Jorabi was the first international anybody could remember who didn’t play for the Mets that had made any sort of lasting impact, as the Mets had spent much money overseas developing academies in untapped regions for baseball like Africa and Europe. This had created such stars as three-time Cy Young Award winner Geert Van’t Klooster and centerfielder Ndumbu Mintsa-Nga, who many thought was the best defensive center fielder ever; teams were only finally catching on and scouting other regions.

We had a few, got settled in with the rest of the crowd in blue, and watched the TV screens and heard the radio waves; the Mets had just gone up 1-0 in the fourth inning on a surprising homer by speedy leadoffman Ryuichi Fuji. The bar was building in anticipation for the Mets eighth World Title in the last twelve years. Along with the Atlanta Braves of the nineteen nineties, or the Brewers of the twenty tens, they were the only teams in baseball history to have more than eleven consecutive division titles.

In walked these three old men, not in Mets colors, but in formal attire that you normally don’t see at Geno’s. They sat down at the only three stools left and ordered the same drink, one was a chubby-cheeked Asian, one was solemn and had the same tan skin I had, and one was a white guy with a goofy chin and obviously dyed brown hair. They all had the same expressionless look on their face. I sat there, lost in time, feeling there was something important about the men until Mark’s huge white hand clapped me on the back.

Mintsa-Nga had just launched a massive two-run shot that reached the Citifield upper deck in left, he pumped his fist while rounding the bases, stopping only after he reached home and compelled the fans to rise. I high-fived Mark and immediately thought “Shit!” as my grip on my drink loosened and it spilled all over the new Japanese patron.

“Goddamnit it was OVER twenty years ago, why can’t you people LEAVE ME ALONE!” he shouted at me in firm accent.

I stared at him trying to figure out why he would say such an odd thing, when it clicked into my head. “Wait,” I said, stunned. “You’re Kaz Matsui!”

He just nodded as the bar turned to face him, the wrath of the past rising again to a career long buried. The crowd cascaded boos on him, and the man with the goofy jaw finally got up and put his hands up. “Boys, we’re just here to watch the game and converse in peace.”

He had almost bored the crowd into a silence before a elderly man in the back called out to him: “FUCK YOU TRACHSEL! YOU KEPT US FROM WINNING IN 2006!” The crowd got riled up again and started shouting more profanities at the two men. A new figure jumped between the crowd and the two beleaguered old men, and to my surprise, it was Mark.

“Hold up there fanboys, these are just ordinary men like us now.” He paused, recomposed himself, and grabbed a random person in the front row by the shoulder. “I don’t know how many of you remember them actually playing, as there seems to be an awful lot of bandwagonism, but these men gave it all they had for our club on the field. They aren’t to be cursed at. We have a little something called ‘class’ here.”

Geno himself yelled “HERE! HERE!” at the mini-speech, but Mark wasn’t through yet. “As a group, we’re as obnoxious as Yankee fans were during their mini-dynasty in the late 90’s. Yeah, these guys stunk it up on the field. That doesn’t mean anything now. If anything, we should remember that they gave us a reason to enjoy what we have now much more. Having high expectations for our guys is great, but sometimes things just won’t go our way. Who here remembers 2018?”

More general acknowledgement was voiced through murmurs in the crowd. “Without these Mets, without the early sixties Mets, the early nineties Mets, we never would have anything to realize how lucky we are to have these guys on the field now. I remember loving the 2006 team so much, even though they fell short, because they were a reward for my faith in the franchise. Lets not take out our anger on Trachsel and Matsui, but instead lets be happy they were here, to make our good times feel sweeter.”

The crowd stood in awe, or drunken stupor, depending on the person. Geno had never been so moved by an in-door speech, drunken or not, and declared that it’d all be on the house that night if the Mets won the game. So we went back to our real job, cheering, believing, embracing. The only real pause was when the yet undiscovered Hispanic that was with Trachsel and Matsui tried to slide a beer across the table, breaking the mug into pieces, and making it abundantly to anyone who hadn’t figured it out yet that he was Victor Zambrano.

The Mets had brought on closer Per-Olaf Soderling, with their 3-0 lead still intact, and the tension mounted as the first two Rangers to face him reached. He was tired after pitching two innings last night, and it was obvious to everyone in the room.

He got a weak pop-up from Trey Tuloski, but walked the next hitter to set-up a climactic matchup with Al-Jorabi and his impressively long beard. The first two pitches were down and away, putting him in a 2-0 hole, and his third pitch was delivered right down the middle.

The ball was crushed, you really couldn’t hit a ball any harder than Al-Jorabi hit it, but it was right into the glove of thirty-eight year old David Wright, who stepped on third and ended the game, the season, and the playoffs.

Tears and cheers started, the beer flowed happily, and we dumped the champagne everywhere. And we even let Trachsel, Matsui, and Zambrano get showered in it. They were just one of us, after all. We were a family. No matter how bad things got for one another, we had to stick together.

Except for Roberto Alomar. Everyone agreed that he was terrible, and that wasn’t the beer talking.

Lifes hard without baseball

This will do for now. I'll probably continue the Texans series on Friday.

Today is the birthday of our real lord & savior

In honor, I will not be posting anything real today. Everyone celebrate The David's birthday, and be good to yourself and others.

The Barry big question

Every report in every newspaper links this man to the New York Mets. The big question for me as a Mets fan is: Is this a worthwhile move for my club?

There are a ton of factors here, so I've decided to take on the topic with two viewpoints; positive and negative.

POSITIVE:
-Barry Zito is still just 28 years old, so any kind of long-term deal would probably not be as risky as it could potentially be with other starters. Another key point on this fact is that he is EXTREMELY durable. He hasn't missed a start in his entire MLB career (14, 35, 35, 35, 34, 35, 34) and claims not to have missed any in college or high school either.

-Most important from a Mets-perspective: He won't cost anything other than money, and with a new cable network and a relatively shallow talent pool in the minors, not having to give up anything to sign Zito other than a draft pick is a solid play. And the Mets will already have at least 2 supplemental picks to play with after losing Chad Bradford and Roberto Hernandez anyway.

-With Rick Peterson as his pitching coach (not something that I really believe in, but a fun stat nonetheless), Zito has been much better than without him.

2.72 (half season), 3.49, 2.75 and 3.30, then Peterson left; 4.48, 3.86, 3.83

Although I have to say, this quote is a bit creepy:

When Barry went off to the Cape Cod League, he arranged a meeting with Peterson in the parking lot at Edison High School in Edison, N.J. They worked out together in the rain, using a line in the parking lot as a pitching rubber.

When they were finished, they crossed the street to a library and spent hours analyzing Barry’s motion. According to Joe, Peterson told him: “It was magical.”

-Who else could the Mets get to solve their rotation in the near future? Dontrelle Willis is going to cost a lot in players, and hasn't been appreciably better than Zito was at the same age. Nobody else this year is any better than Zito, although some have argued Ted Lilly has the same basic fit.

As far as next year, the list of starters isn't looking any deeper.

2007 FA Starting Pitchers
Kris Benson * BAL
Mark Buerhle CWS
Paul Byrd * CLE
Chris Carpenter * STL
Shawn Chacon PIT
Matt Clement BOS
Bartolo Colon LAA
Scott Elarton KC
Josh Fogg COL
Casey Fossum * TB
Freddy Garcia CWS
Geremi Gonzalez TOR
Livan Hernandez ARZ
Jason Jennings COL
Randy Johnson NYY
Brian Lawrence WAS
Jon Lieber PHI
Kyle Lohse CIN
Wade Miller CHC
Eric Milton CIN
Odalis Perez * KC
Joel Pineiro SEA
Kenny Rogers DET
Curt Schilling BOS
Carlos Silva MIN
John Smoltz * ATL
Brett Tomko * LAD
Kip Wells STL
Jake Westbrook CLE
Randy Wolf * LAD
Jaret Wright BAL
Carlos Zambrano CHC
Victor Zambrano NYM

Carlos Zambrano and Chris Carpenter jump out at you, but Carpenters option will almost surely be picked up, and Zambrano is already negotiating with the Cubs. Colon hasn't been healthy since his Cy Young year and even if he did bounce back theres no real reason the Angels wouldn't re-sign him. Smoltz and Schilling and Rogers and Johnson will all be ancient, and Buehrle and Zito are practically the same pitcher. The only pitcher who I'd rather have than Zito is Jennings, who I already stated my case for in my offseason plan, and I don't know if it's worth waiting him out. Fact of the matter is that players of Zito's talent/skill/age combination are not readily available for only money, usually.

NEGATIVE
- Baseball
is
littered
with
examples
of
why
long-term
deals
for
pitchers
aren't
wise

I didn't even include Kevin Appier!

-Zito's recent performance isn't great at all, in fact, his walk rate escalated to a record high last year. He's not the same pitcher that won those Cy Young awards, and theres not a great chance he'll suddenly remember how to do it either.

-Theres a real debate as to whether the Mets really need Zito, seeing as how they aren't really in any danger of missing the playoffs even if people regress. The Braves big offseason acquisition so far is Tanyon Sturtze, the Phillies are trying to trade Pat Burrell for some reason instead of actually getting better, and other than Adam Eaton they have brought in Wes Helms of 2000 acclaim and their starting catcher right now is Chris Coste.

It's not only a NL East epidemic either, of the NL clubs, I can only see the Marlins, Diamondbacks, and Brewers having the kind of young talent necessary to make a huge turnaround next year. The Dodgers would fit on the list too if Ned Colletti weren't so busy making sure they had nowhere to play all their talented youngsters.

So worst case scenario, those three gel together and become 90 win teams, the Mets get a rough patch of regression and get down to 90 wins too. Who else is going to be a wild card challenger? The Padres? The Dodgers? The Cardinals? I don't see that much reason for concern.

While a Glavine-Duque-Maine-Perez-whoever rotation is hardly optimal, it's not a detriment to the club and with the Mets lineup, all they have to do is get 800 average innings anyway.

CONCLUSION
I'm biased heavily towards Zito because he seems like such a neat guy, and also because he was really awesome in All-Star Baseball 2004, leading the Portland Green Sox to many a title.

I know that it's a risk, and I know it's not neccessary, but I think given all the other options, Zito is a good fit for the club and wouldn't cost anything but money. He's definitely not a franchise player, but he's a good #2 or #3, and that kind of consistency is something that should pretty much lock up a playoff spot for the 07 Mets.

I'd sign him for Kevin Brown money.

No whammies, no whammies

STOP!

I've been pondering what to write about the huge contracts doled out this offseason without saying "OH GOD YOU'RE ALL RETARDED!", and this offseason kind of feels like 2000 all over again. The best comparison I can come up with is related to Press Your Luck contestant Michael Larson, who broke the system. After we got the whole collusion business out of the way, free agents have broke the system again, and are eager to take the dollars before the GM's realize what they just did. As evidence, just look at the free agent market; I can't remember a year where so many top players signed before the Winter Meetings even began. The only real marquee player left on the market is Barry Zito.

How I envy the Cardinals, not only are they in a weak-ass division, and not only do they get 6 free games against the Royals year after year, and not only did they win the World Series, but everyone in their division that actually spends money seems to throw it down the trash can. The Astros paid $100 million to a player who, while very good, doesn't seem like someone who will age well, and was far from elite. Meanwhile, Carlos Beltran is making a similar salary (with one more year), when he could have been a key factor towards the Astros playoff runs in 2005 and 2006. This just goes to show you: When you have a franchise player, you do not let that guy walk. Beltran's move to New York set the Astros back from the moment in happened, and after this years abysmal CF production, it sewed the seeds for the signing of the wrong Carlos. The Astros, by the way, have still done nothing to remedy the fact that Willy Taveras, Brad Ausmus, Adam Everett, and the pitcher will all be batting in their lineup. Craig Biggio is no bet for real production either.

Going back to Beltran, a lot of people (myself included), assumed the leader for his services would be Arte Moreno and the Anaheim Angels. They had a hole, no real prospects who could play center, and the internal options were marginal players at best. Well, after passing him up for Steve Finley, who promptly fell off a cliff faster than SportsCenter did, they were forced to turn to Chone Figgins for much of last year. Once again, the lack of desire to chase a franchise player hurt, and they are going back to the well again this year, with the strange signing of Gary Matthews Jr. for 5 years and 50 million. This contract, like Lee's, will be a sunk cost by year four at the latest; Matthews had a career year and will be 37 by the time the contract ends.

I wonder how much of that 50 million was made just by that one phenomenal catch against the Astros last year.

Slightly better was the contract handed to Juan Pierre, which is damning with bated praise. At an average of one million or so less a year, the Dodgers have their very own league average center fielder. Unlike Matthews, Pierre has been universally weighed as a good defensive center fielder in terms of range. Also unlike Matthews, he's 28 and probably won't fall completely off the cliff by the end of the contract.

One last thing I want to weigh in on regarding these players: The Giants are said to have offered as much or more to all three of these guys. They were fortunate here and it got me to thinking: Without Barry Bonds, would the Giants just be the West Coast Baltimore Orioles?

Just look at their signings the last couple of years:
2006
-Matt Morris, aging rotation vet, horrible.
-Mark Sweeney, aging righty masher
-Tim Worrell, aging mediocre pen arm
-Jose Vizcaino, aging fuck you for Game 1 of the 2000 WS

2005
-Omar Vizquel, aging but surprisingly has played well, although losing a step or 9 defensively.
-Armando Benitez, not quite aging, but horrible.
-Mike Matheny, aging and horrible defensive catcher.
-Jeff Fassero, decomposing
-Moises Alou, aging and pretty good
-Released AJ Pierzynski after giving up Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, and Boof Bonser for him.

You have to go back to the Alfonzo and Durham signings after 2002 to find players that were added in their prime to the Giants team. The farm system has been completely barren-exempting players they've traded. They finally came up with Noah Lowry and Matt Cain (who is promising), in the last few years. Before that, we have a list of shredded arms (Jesse Foppert, Kurt Ainsworth), and mediocre starters/passable bench players (Pedro Feliz, Marvin Bernard). When the best you can produce is mediocrity, and you actively engage in losing draft picks to avoid paying them money (Michael Tucker), you need to be signing free agents in their prime to keep the ship moving. The Giants have not done that, and as such look to be in the bleakest non-Pirates/Royals situation of any baseball team over the next few years.

Offseason Analysis: The New York Mets--A Novella

The Returners
C: Paul Lo Duca 6.25 mil
1B: Carlos Delgado 14.5 mil
2B: Jose Valentin 3.8 mil
SS: Jose Reyes 2.5 mil
3B: David Wright 1 mil
LF: Endy Chavez (arb)
CF: Carlos Beltran 12 mil
RF: Throw Shawn Green down the well 3.3 mil (Arizona pays 5.8)

Bench
PH/"1B" Julio Franco 1.1 mil
IF Damion Easley 850 K
OF Ben Johnson (minimum)

Minors
2B/SS Anderson Hernandez
2B Ruben Gotay
OF Lastings Milledge


SP:
1/2 season at most of Pedro Martinez 14 mil
El Duque 4.5 mil
John Maine (minimum)
Oliver Perez (arb)
Dave Williams (arb)

AAA
Mike Pelfrey (800-ish K)
Brian Bannister (minimum)
Alay Soler (900 K)
Philip Humber (800-ish K)


RP:
Billy Wagner 10.5 mil
Duaner Sanchez (arb)
Aaron Heilman (arb)
Pedro Feliciano (arb)
Jon Adkins (arb)


AAA
Henry Owens
Juan Padilla
Steve Schmuck
Jason Standridge

Free Agents the Mets seem to be interested in keeping:
Chad Bradford
Tom Glavine
Guillermo Mota

Free Agents the Mets don't seem to be interested in re-signing:
Mike DiFelice
Cliff Floyd
Roberto Hernandez
Ricky Ledee
Eli Marrero
Kelly Stinnett
Steve Trachsel
Michael Tucker
Chris Woodward

Free Agents/Arb-eligible guys I can't get a good read on what the Mets want to do with:
Edgardo Alfonzo
Ramon Castro
Scott Kazmir
Darren Oliver

Subplots
1) Second base
Jose Valentin still can't hit left-handers, and the club would love to make him a bench player spotting all the infield (but mainly second). Damion Easley was brought in to give a nominal presence against lefties should all attempts to upgrade fail (.764 OPS last year, .755 career). Anderson Hernandez would be a great partner if he could hit lefties (or anyone), but he's purely a defensive sub for the middle infield.

As far as free agents, Ray Durham hit 26 homers last year and is the premiere second baseman on the market. But the Mets have balked at him before, turning down a Durham for Kaz Matsui offer in 2005 mainly due to concerns about his defense. He also probably wouldn't be willing to split time, so I doubt he'd be a target.

A better option would be Julio Lugo, but I doubt he'd want to play second base instead of play shortstop for the Red Sox, who will probably offer him more money anyway. So, I'm not optimistic about the chances for that.

Theres been some talk about Adam Kennedy, and while he's a surer bet than Valentin defensively and theres not as much a chance of total regression, I don't think he's worth it in this market. You've got to go stars and scrubs at this point, with the fact that people like Mark DeRosa are getting 4 mil a year. Todd Walker is a good player, but has about the same bat as Valentin and less defense, so I doubt he'll be considered.

Probably my favorite target would be Tony Graffanino (ChartAChild). He's solid defensively, hits lefties, and would give us a credible middling option should Valentin turn back into a pumpkin. Mark Loretta provides the same thing, but I don't think he'd be willing to play a platoon role.

2) Corner outfield

Moises Alou is reportedly going to be the next answer here, according to Heyman and Rosenthal. I think Alou fits in well here, as he's essentially the same injury prone slugger that Floyd was, except a right-handed bat that we need for balance. I feel bad for Floyd, he gave us a lot of good at-bats and wants to be back, but he's just so hobbled that it's hard for him to play NL baseball.

Sadly, this shortens the novella as I don't have to talk about why I don't want to give Soriano or Carlos Lee or JD Drew a lot of money.

Alou and Endy should be a solid offense/defense combo and Endy will get some spot starts there and in center. And Lastings can come up during the inevitable 6 week injury that Alou suffers and we'll see what he can do then. Assuming he isn't traded. The real problem is that the Mets seem to think Throw Shawn Green down the well is a productive outfielder, wheras in reality, he sucks major ass. He'd be an okay bench player, unfortunately, I think we're stuck with him. Which leaves us with...

3) The Bench

Assuming Julio Franco is a lock for veteran clutchness and coolness and breaking old man records, he'll join Valentin, second base option du jour, or Damion Easley. Then Endy. That leaves us with two or three bench spots. Ramon Castro should be a fine backup catcher, and I hope he comes back. If not, my favorite catcher on the free agent market is former Blue Jay fluker Greg Myers. But, lets say Ramon comes back.

This gives us 3 righties, 1 switch, and 0 lefties. The problem this sets up is that there is no righty to spot Green, because we need an impact lefty pinch-hitter. I really like David Dellucci, but I think he thinks he's better than Shawn Green (and he's right), so he wouldn't want to be a bench guy again. Theres always re-signing Cliff Floyd. I don't think we want to though. Craig Wilson would be a good option if he weren't a righty. Unfortunately, I think this will probably be a spot that we ignore to our detriment. Heres hoping it's Dellucci though. I'd talk about the other bench spot, but the Mets almost always carry twelve pitchers.

4) Aaron Heilman

Heilman continues to demand that he's a starter. Mets braintrust doesn't agree. The thing is though, he's had two good years in a row out of the pen, so he has a lot of value as a cheap option in the trade market. In a world where Scott Linebrink can be a key piece to a Marcus Giles trade, and assuming we re-sign Bradford, we have a pretty dependable bullpen, I would definitely explore what we could get for Heilman this offsesaon.

He's already been linked to the Red Sox, Cubs, and Devil Rays, and I'll throw in my thoughts on who I would or wouldn't think about on those teams, as well as some other situations I think work.

The Red Sox were really all about Manny for us, and when Alou signs, I think that takes care of any kind of deal with them that doesn't involve prospects. The Red Sox have as much of a problem with starting pitching as we do, and there just doesn't seem to be much immediate help that would be available.

The Cubs can't really help us out starter-wise, as they have no one reliable outside of Zambrano, who shouldn't be for trade. I'd love to get Matt Murton, but thats only because he's the best person ever.

The Devil Rays. I have a lot of interest in talking to them, but I don't think they will give us a fair deal. They have Cantu, who we could be nominally interested as a right-handed bet. Most importantly, they have a ton of outfield talent. I don't know if Carl Crawford is available, but I'd build a Milledge/Heilman/more package and see if they'd bite. Even if he's not, Jonny Gomes and Elijah Dukes could both be solid options, the former more than the latter.

Assuming we want to deal for a starter, the White Sox, Tigers, and Angels seem to have the most to deal from. The former two don't need much bullpen help though, and the White Sox have a bunch of starters that, while interesting, are expensive enough to make me second-guess dealing Heilman for them. There were talks about Javy Vazquez somewhere, but I think with Garland getting dealt we're done with those for awhile. Probably the best option is to work out some kind of deal for the Rockies with Jason Jennings coming back, although I have to admit off-hand I have no idea if they are even interested in Heilman.

Ultimately, I think Heilman will be traded. Where he is dealt will be a big key to what the rest of the offseason will bring.

5) The Starting Rotation

A huge factor this offseason has been the development of the pitching market skyrocketing. The Mets still need at least two more reliable starters, so they will have to play here unless they can get Jennings. I never thought I'd be rooting for Tom Glavine to come back three years ago, but here we are. He's 50/50 between the Mets and Braves and I don't understand how the Braves are in this thing, does he love his family enough to give up the 6 or 7 million extra he tends to gain? I think ultimately, his union rep status will force him to New York, where he will get his 300th win.

As far as the other starters, we are linked to Barry Zito by just about everybody, GM's and writers alike. I don't really think he's better than Matsuzaka or Schmidt (who I'd like to see a play for, but I understand he is a West Coaster), but he's a reliable starter and his ERA may very well come down in the National League. I'm gonna go ahead and tenatively award him to the Mets, though I can't say I'm super thrilled about it like I would be if we had Matsuzaka.

If we somehow whiffed on one or two of them, we are FUCKED. Randy Wolf, Vicente Padilla, and Ted Lilly are pulling insane offers for mediocre starters. If we don't get Zito, I'd rather sit through Bannister than give 48 million to Jeff Suppan, 'nuff said. Andy Pettitte would fit into the Zito/Schmidt conversation if he were not retiring, but I say he is, and even if he isn't, he'd stay in Houston or be a Yankee. Were we screwed into a deal with any of the non-Zito/Schimidt starters on the market, the guys I would target would be people who haven't really been bandied around as much as the Suppan/Lilly/Padilla class, guys like Gil Meche, John Thomson, or Tomo Ohka could be solid third starters, I'm especially high on Meche, since he struck out 156 last year and would probably see an ERA reduction coming over from the AL. However, were we to miss out on all of them, I would hope we would get Kei Igawa from the Hanshin Tigers. Kei translates to around a 4 ERA, and in Shea probably less. He also would have much less leverage as an unproven commodity.

What I'd like to see us break camp with:
Jose Reyes
Paul Lo Duca
Carlos Beltran
Carlos Delgado
David Wright
Moises Alou
Jonny Gomes (Trade Heilman for him and some maybe pitcher)
Jose Valentin

Ramon Castro
Julio Franco
Tony Graffanino
Endy Chavez
Shawn Green

Barry Zito
Tom Glavine
El Duque
John Maine
Oliver Perez

Billy Wagner
Duaner Sanchez
Chad Bradford
Pedro Feliciano
Guillermo Mota
FA/Big Camp Reliever
Darren Oliver/Brian Bannister

Thats a team I'd feel confident defending the NL East with.

Future Considerations: Now the proud sponsor of Pedro Feliciano

It should update in the next day or so, it says.

I encourage other members of the team to drop $10 on random players they love. I actually wanted to sponsor Shawn Green and write "THROW SHAWN GREEN DOWN THE WELL. SO MY LASTINGS CAN BE FREE." as the comment, but he's taken.

I'm mad I didn't think of this before the postseason

In my baseball there is problem,
And that problem is corners.
It not very very strong,
Because Shea Stadium is big.

Throw the corners down the well!
So my Lastings can be free!
We must make winning easy.
Then we go to World Series.

In my baseball there is problem,
And that problem is Shawn Green.
He waste everybody time,
And he never give it back.

Throw Shawn Green down the well!
So my Lastings can be free!
You must trade him to the Royals.
Then we go to World Series.

If you see Shawn Green coming,
You'll have plenty time to run away.
You must notice he has no range,
And I'll tell you what to do.

Throw Shawn Green down the well!
So my Lastings can be free!
You must trade him to the Royals.
Then we go to World Series.

Throw Shawn Green down the well!
So my Lastings can be free!
You must trade him to the Royals.
Then we go to World Series.

The eulogy of the Metropolitans: 172 games.

It's sad, but I feel so much joy. I'm happy that a team could teach me to love baseball like this again. 97 wins. Dethroning the Braves from their stranglehold. As much as I'd love to hate the Cardinals, I really don't even find myself doing that. I don't think they were the better team, I especially don't think they were the better team if we were both healthy, but thats how baseball works out sometimes.

You have a terrific lineup and then at the All-Star break your best hitter goes from Mike Schmidt to Freddy Sanchez sans defense/batting average after giving the fans a show at the Homer Derby, your corner outfield situation solution is a big curly jew who couldn't slug .450 in the best hitters park in the NL. You have the best rotation in the National League and then the best starter is gone for almost an entire calender year and the third-best starter tears a calf days before the postseason and can't pitch. Your left fielder walks like his left foot is a rock and your center fielder MVP candidate is playing through injuries as well.

Yet, this team never relented. They swept the Dodgers convincingly after a rocky Game 1, and of all reasons, lost because of their offense and bullpen in the LCS. The starters gave yeomans efforts, asides from Steve Trachsel, who should have been released as he was being pulled from Game 3. But you had Billy Wagner doing his best Benitez impersonation, you had David Wright looking completely lost at the plate and trying to pull everything, you had a team of "offensive balance" that was completely dominated in the short series by Beltran and Delgado. Yet, we took it all the way to Game 7. And we had a starter allow 1 run in 6 innings. And it just wasn't enough.

I am sad now. I am not sad because we lost. I am sad because this is the last time I'll ever get to see this combination of players and luck ever again. Next year Paul Lo Duca probably won't hit .320, Jose Valentin probably would be hardpressed to match his year, and I'll be blowing my wad on Jessica Alba's face before Endy Chavez hits .308 again. It was a magical ride, and as my heart thudded against my chest after they stranded the two on/one out that Rolen created by throwing the ball to Trenton, I kind of started to get that familiar state of mind that portends gloom and doom and is as impossible to get out of as NFL.com's email list. And as that final Wainwright curve froze us all, and Joe Buck's weiner started rising (not that anyone could see it anyway), I just kind of fell numb. Didn't answer any IM's for a couple of minutes, just sat back with my jaw agape. I thought it was our year. I really did.

So congrats, Cardinals fans who aren't a forty-five year-old fat chick with a David Eckstein jersey, beer drinking Spiezio impersonating douchebag, insufferable pricks, or slackjawed yokel kids. I'm sure you're out there somewhere, I just haven't met you (or you're Will Leitch).

Also, you might want to go hide in the basement, because along with the rest of the national media, I don't think you have a prayer. Tigers in 3. I won't be watching unless it comes on at a friends or something. I've had my Joe Buck fix.

Postseason Recap: One win from the ropes

Mets 12, Cardinals 5
Cardinals 4, Mets 2

Well, lets say it's more like Mets 2, Cardinals 2, Jeff Kellogg 1. His expanding strike zone completely ruined any hopes of the Mets comeback. Not that I'm bitter or anything about the 5 walks the Cardinals recieved as compared to the 2 the Mets got. No, that doesn't factor in at all. As of now the Cardinals are holding the Mets to something stupid like 0 for 31 with 2 outs and RISP, which is both ridiculous and irritating. Irritating only because FOX won't stop harping on it. And no, the Mets offense was not clicking on all cylinders last night, but they were only outhit by two.

All Mets fans have left at this point is "ya gotta believe" and the hope that John Maine remembers his good regular season outings instead of the crapulence he has displayed the last 2 outings. Tommorow the NL could very well have an 83 win team in the World Series. If that doesn't convince the rest of these clubs to spend money, I don't know what will.

Postseason Recap: Leshcart Evets

Tigers 6, Athletics 3

I'll leave the full funeral for this series to Sr. Raymond. Suffice to say, I really doubt it was the best idea to pitch Huston Street for three consecutive innings.

Cardinals 5, Mets 0

Leshcart Evets. Doesn't that sound nice, Steve? Wouldn't you like to say that? Leschart Evets. Leschart Evets.

I have no real analysis for this game. I didn't watch any of it. That is one ugly box score. Lets try to glean positives. 1) The real players in the Mets bullpen got the day off. 2) Steve Trachsel may be injured. 3) Would it really be the National League playoffs if there wasn't a Game 7 that involved Darren Oliver and Jeff Suppan?

The Mets live on, one thing I've noticed about them this year is that they always do better when nobody thinks they've got any chance. Tommorow will involve Oliver Perez, so I suspect that line of thinking will be prevalent. An interesting fact about Oliver Perez is that he's left-handed, which means TLR will probably start Scott Rolen and relegate Scott Spiezio to the bench. An interesting fact about Scott Spiezio is that his beard is made out of dead animal corpses.

Postseason Recap: Fuck. Also, Fuck.

Satanic Fowl 9, Mets 6 - Okay, well. Lets get this out of the way. Willie made a poor move in the seventh leaving Mota in after the first two runners got on. Mota, throughout the postseason, has pitched HORRENDOUSLY in his second inning of work two of three times he has been summoned. Why you would try to go to the well again, I just don't understand. Theres nothing there.

That said, Wagner blew the game. It's going to happen ten percent of the time, it happened here. I'm not going to Benitez this guy, except to say that despite him being a great closer, he has bad games every once in awhile. When the Mets get to the bullpen with a lead, we should be winning 90% of the games. Well, this is the 10%.

Things to be encouraged by: We slapped around Chris Carpenter. We slapped around Carptenter but not Weaver? The difference is in the strike zones. Last night, Tim Welke's strike zone had it's own tax zone, this game, the umpire called it much tighter, but blew a few more calls (which I'll get into). If we can get their best pitcher down, we should be able to whip the rest of them.

Gotta hand it to the Cardinal relievers, they just keep getting clutch outs. The Beltran double play was one of the turning points of the game. They stranded Lo Duca on second with one out as well. These guys will eventually turn south though, they are pitching over their heads in my opinion.

Okay, John Maine. Not a productive outing in any way, shape, or manner. Heres what I saw: First inning was wonderful. Second inning, he had the 2-2 to Edmonds called a ball, and that call got to him and he started trying to be too perfect. At that point, he kept on getting ahead of the hitters, but he would throw junk pitches from 0-2 to 4-2. That killed him. Then after the Edmonds homer, he just gave up any sembelance of command and started throwing ball after ball and hoping they'd put it in play and get out. Not a great approach. He needs to work on his approach with runners on base, and he really does seem shell-shocked out there. Chillax kid.

Also, I have written a haiku about Scott Spiezio:
Who dyes a beard red?
A white trash cunt haunts Mota.
Start Scott Rolen, please.

Detroit 3, Oakland 0
Well if Kenny Rogers is just going to do this every game, we're not going to have much of a World Series. This wasn't a matter of the A's stranding runners; this was a matter of their asses getting REAMED.

I'd ask the A's to emulate the Boston Red Sox, but then their fans would all turn into smug cunts too; theres no need for more smug cunts in this world.

Postseason Recap: A's falter, Weaver good?

Detroit 5, Oakland 1
Detroit 8, Oakland 5

In game one, the A's came out a lot like the Twins did in their first couple of games: fighting and clawing to strand every runner possible. They managed to score one on a groundout, but took the dreaded 0-for with RISP that decided this game. The Tigers got three of their runs on two out RBI's as Barry Zito took his potential FA treasure trove from 15 million a year to 14 million a year.

In game two, the Tigers got a career game from the unlikely Alexis Gomez and started Neifi Perez for some reason as they KO'ed Esteban Loaiza. Oh I know Sean Casey is injured. Theres just still no reason to ever start Neifi Perez. The A's stranded eight more runners and couldn't knock out Nate Robertson.

I had an idea that the Tigers may be doing this by putting low OBP/high SLG guys in the lineup, thinking maybe that they were drawing fewer walks, however, they've drawn the second most among teams remaining. Maybe it's just that since everyone in the lineup other than Polanco is a power threat, pitchers still have to pitch carefully. Wheras good pitchers won't walk hitters like David Eckstein in the postseason.

Mets 2, Satanic Fowl 0

I like Carlos Beltran. He hits homers for the New York Mets.

No really, I saw someone on ESPN this morning (Brantley? I think) talking about how stupid it was for TLR to leave Jeff Weaver in to face him. Jeff Weaver had a one-hit shutout and there were two outs. If Tony had taken him out in that instance, it would've been GROSS incompetence. A bigger problem for the Redbirds is that with the Mets' perceived ability to not be able to hit left-handers, they used Tyler Johnson for 20 pitches and this series is going to play five straight games (or four, I wouldn't complain if there were four). The only other left-hander in their pen is Randy "BERMAN THINKS I AM FUNNY" Flores, who had a 5.8 ERA.

My gut reaction when I saw the Mets rotation being put to the test in five straight games was it was going to hurt the Mets because Randolph wouldn't be able to be as proactive. But what about the Satanic Fowl? They have just two left-handers in their pen. Also, their bullpen is horrendous. I don't care what they've done so far in the postseason, the only real pitcher of any competence is Wainwright.

(No Box Scores Yet)
Nippon Ham Fighers 3, Softbank Hawks 1
Nippon Ham Fighers 1, Softbank Hawks 0

In game one, right-hander Yu Darvish turned out to be too much for the Hawks, as he threw a CG and struck out eleven. Darvish allowed his run in the first on a sacrifice fly after back-to-back hits and a bunt. The Fighters took the lead for good on Tsuyoshi Shinjo's two-out single in the third.

Another gutwrenching loss for Kazumi Saito in Game Two, as he went a CG and only gave up the winning run in the ninth off an infield single to Atsunori Inaba. He had walked the leadoff hitter, Hichori Morimoto, on four pitches. He was bunted over, and then they intentionally walked PL HR King Michihiro Ogasawara to pitch to Fernando Seguignol. Seguignol struck out, but the infield single by Inaba won the game for the Figters. Saito was matched by 22-year-old rookie lefthander Tomoya Yagi, who threw the CG SO for the Fighters to send them to their first Japan Series since 1981.

In other news, Chunichi clinched the CL by taking the Yomiuri Giants 9-3 in 12 innings. Fukudome broke the tie with a bases loaded single and then Tyrone Woods put the game away for good with his second grand slam in two days, and 47th of the year (leading all of Japanese baseball). Ham Fighters-Dragons will meet in the Japan Series, and FC will be previewing it here sometime this coming week.

Postseason Recap: The Best Day Ever...for bitter Mets fans.

Tigers 8, Yankees 3 - An Tigers-A's ALCS. I'm sure FOX is banging on MLB's door demanding more seven game series as we speak.

Actually, as we speak, the motions have already begun for the fun offseason ride that the Yankees will be on. Joe Torre, according to the NY Daily News, is expected to step aside so that the Yankees can sign Lou Piniella. I love this move for the Yankees- they do need a fire under their ass. I'm a staunch supporter of the theory that there are only 3 types of managers: players managers, hardass managers, and McCarthy/Weaver level managers. When your team needs a change of pace, you are better off changing between players/hardass managers than you are sitting on your hands.

ESPN has also already started it's ARod watch, and since you asked me, I'll tell you about my dream: I would love Alex Rodriguez to join the San Francisco Giants.

Let me explain. Barry Bonds + Alex Rodriguez = Profit. Two of the best players in baseball history, two people that the media can't leave alone. The Giants will be shedding a ton of salary and are looking to move into a new era, the Yankees could ask for maybe Matt Cain/Noah Lowry, Pedro Feliz (I guess? Let me dream here), some salary filler. This would be ESPN's wet dream. They'd buy an entire Econosuite and tell Pedro Gomez to live there and follow the two of them around all day. Reality TV series. Theres just nothing that wouldn't rule about this. Imagine the two of them trying to interact? Bonds doesn't give a fuck what anyone thinks of him, ARod cares what everyone thinks of him. This has to happen.

Padres 3, Cardinals 1
OFFENSIVE OUTBURST. Trevor Hoffman finally got to see the field, and the Padres won despite stranding fourteen runners. Good to see the monkey off their backs. Game four is a must-win for the Cardinals in this series. If the Cardinals lose, they'll have seen their ace chased off the field and be looking at Jeff Weaver on three days rest or Jason Marquis for a decisive Game five. Luckily for them, I can't see the Cardinals losing this game. Then again, I couldn't see them dropping 30 games in a row to end the season, and that happened too.

Mets 9, Dodgers 5
I didn't watch the last half of this game, but even despite that, I knew this team would win. They've been head and shoulders above the NL for the whole year, and even despite their rotation being Tom Glavine, John Maine, The Run Machine, and Oliver Perez; they have to be favored over either team they face in the NLCS too, I'd think. Shawn Green played like a man who was pissed off that they traded him away instead of Roberto Alomar, which was a big plus. Randolph was pro-active with the pen again, not letting the lead get away; and as a result, the pen has four days off. Teams that start Marlon Anderson in left field in the postseason are 0-3. Just sayin'.

Expect the recaps for the LCS' to be longer, as there will be less teams to cover. Also, expect someone else to have a blog at some point. Maybe.

Postseason Recap: Five game series are the spawn of the devil

Tigers 4, Yankees 3

Tigers 6, Yankees 0

Funny little thing happened on the way to the Yankees winning the World Series, as they find themselves down 2-1 and sending Jaret Wright to the hill with their playoff lives at stake.

Over at ESPN, we had a bigger split, but the two teams most favored were the Yankees and the Twins. Whoops. I didn't catch most of game two, but I don't think any lineup in the planet was going to put more than six runs in against Kenny Rogers tonight. It's a five game series, and when you play a five game series, these things are bound to happen. Look at these series: Three of the four home teams are losing, and the team that's winning lost two of their best starters and was considered at best a 50/50 proposition against a hot Dodger team. What does that tell us? Nothing matters once you get in a five game series. The sooner MLB figures this out, the sooner we will have the best teams playing deeper into October.

A lot of people are going to point the blame at ARod again for his anemic showing in pinstripes, and you know, rightfully so I guess. But what gets lost up in all his crapulence is that two offseasons ago, the Yankees paid a pretty big price to acquire a stopper for their postseason teams. Randy Johnson has come in, been mediocre in both seasons, and has gotten bombed in two PIVOTAL game threes that have put his team against the wall in back-to-back ALDS'.

Cardinals 2, Padres 0

We have an eighty-three win team here that is one win from the NLCS. And you thought the NL playoffs would lack excitement. The Padres were shutout by Jeff Weaver, which is almost unfathomable. Bruce Bochy really needs to get it through his head that Mike Piazza needs to be starting every game when your team has scored one run in two games.

The deeper question here is: Why didn't anyone else see this coming? Obviously the Cardinals swooned and the Padres were hot, a key factor for people predicting the postseason (This is why the A's were so good in the postseason in 01-03...wait a minute). But, we were really ready to say that a team that starts Geoff Blum at shortstop and Russ Branyan at third base is going to the NLCS? Really? If I were a Cardinals batter I would just slap the ball to that side and hope for the best. It would work most of the time.

Also: Adventures in playoff Bullpen Management.
Scott Linebrink and Trevor Hoffman: one-third of an inning in two games. How does this guy have his job still? I understand it's San Diego and all the owners are too busy living it up in that beautiful city to give a shit, but Bochy has completely fallen asleep at the wheel and cost his team a chance to win at least Game 1 and arguably Game 2 as well.

Mets 4, Dodgers 1

Remember when I told you guys that I hoped Endy Chavez started? Well, that was everything I expected. Not only is he one of the few sparkplugs against left-handers for the Mets, but he actually has the speed and defense to play right-field. Instead of say, Mr. Shawn Green, who has checked out like Roberto Alomar did, minus the head first dives into first base on every play.

This game made me happy. Although we did have to deal with Steve Lyons and Thom Brennaman, who seem to get worse every season. The Mets can't hit lefties blah blah blah. Would it be that hard to give everyone else a chance? This isn't the 1970's anymore. Also, FOX's game presentation continues to be despicable in every imaginable way. Focusing on Chevy billboard ads, zoom ins on every goddamn face, finding every stupid fucking e-list celebrity who ever came to the game (WHOA THERES MATT DILLON! MARY JO HART GOES TO DODGERS GAMES!). I think despite the disparity between every baseball fan's situation, we can put all that aside so we can focus on the worst moment for all of baseball this season: When FOX kept the playoff rights for 7 more years.

A's 8, Twins 3

I'd like to congratulate Jon Raymond on his teams triumphant return to winning postseason series. Since I have nothing to add to this game besides my love of ex-Met Marco Scutaro, I'd like to take on something else here.

Tommy Lasorda commercials. I know it's an obvious (and failing) ploy to get fans of baseball to watch games that don't involve their teams, but I don't think it's doing it for me. Heres what they should've done: Everyone who is a real baseball fan gets sick of this commercial anyway, so instead of airing the commercial normally, have Tommy be featured in every other commercial, then switch the tapes to keep people wondering when they'd see Lasorda again.

Come on, like you wouldn't want to see the dialogue Tommy would have with the Ruby Tuesday's guys. Or John Cougar Mellencamp. Or that chick who gets pissy about them frying green beans. It would be clever, unexpected, and would make people want to watch commercials. Thats exactly why it will never happen.

Postseason Recap: Joe Beimel: The most important person in America

At least according to ESPN.

Dodgers 5 @ Mets 6

It's very hard to express how exhilarating/terrifying it is to watch postseason baseball as a fan of a team to someone who hasn’t experienced it before. Basically, the only thing I could equate it to is asking a girl out for the first time in your life, except it lasts for three hours instead of three minutes. Everything you do is magnified both in your head and in your body movements. So in my case, it was kind of like asking a girl out for the first time in six years. I paced, my entire body was electric. I wasn’t up to talking to anyone who might harsh my buzz.

This game was won and lost by the managers, in my opinion. Willie Randolph, as much as I have bashed him in his tenure in Mets manager, was completely pro-active with his approach with John Maine on the mound. At the first sign of trouble after the first few innings, he went right to the bullpen, even though he ran everyone but Royce Ring out, he won the game. You don’t win postseason games with people who have regular season milestones, and in this case, I thought it was absolutely wonderful that Maine was pitching. I’m not sure if Willie would have been as proactive to the whole thing if Glavine or Pedro was on the mound, and I’d lean towards the answer being “no”. He did not have a perfect game; in my opinion he should have tried to step on the Dodgers’ throat in the sixth instead of letting Guillermo Mota bat, and then handed the last three innings over to Wagner and Heilman. Instead, Randolph let Mota get touched up a bit in the seventh (although he was hurt by the Valentin error), leading the game to be tied again.

On the other side, Grady Little absolutely bungled this game. Game one is the most important game of any five-game series; the Dodgers would have to win three of four games if they lost this game. He went to the seventh with a tie game, and instead of relying on the relievers who got him through the entire season; he brought in a pitcher who had been lit up the last few weeks of the season in Brad Penny, who was thought by many to be injured. Penny immediately coughed up the lead, and the final two runs that the Mets needed to win the game. This was a huge blunder that will be lost under the more ridiculous “two outs at home” double play, which I still can’t believe actually happened.

Other thoughts from this game:

-John Hirschbeck was horrendous in this game, for both sides. He cost the Mets dearly when he called Floyd out and when he wouldn’t call Betemit out, and he cost the Dodgers when Lugo struck out during their three run rally in the seventh. And he wasn’t even the worst umpire today, Kerwin Danley was up to the task, providing a maddeningly inconsistent strike zone.

-Shawn Green has NO RANGE at all. If Endy Chavez were out in right field in the ninth, Wagner arguably could have had a 1-2-3 inning. He’s just a terrible player in all facets of the game right now. I hope he proves me wrong and comes up with some good games the rest of the postseason, but right now I would much rather have Endy Chavez playing.

-Jose Reyes continued to be up and down. His first three plate appearances were just brutal, and then when he stopped hacking at everything, he was the key cog in the comeback, reaching base twice in a row and scoring a run.

-Carlos Delgado is scary when he uses the whole field. It made me wonder what kind of player he could have been if he didn’t have the same kind of power.

-The Dodgers are not really a team with the same kind of star power as the Mets have, where they succeed is by throwing above-average hitter after above-average hitter after you. There aren’t any holes in that lineup, with Betemit batting eighth. I was a little surprised that Ethier didn’t get to play, as Kenny Lofton looked pretty bad out there today.

-It’s bad enough that noted-Met hater Steve Phillips had to be there being a smug cunt about the whole issue, but I was very afraid when Joe Morgan was involved too. Thankfully, Morgan didn’t really commit any mortal sins in this game. He did create this stupid “the most important inning is the half-inning after the other team scores” bullshit, but that was mild in comparison to Phillips’ Met hatred. I don’t understand how he gets assigned to their games every time.

Oh right, there was another game.

A’s 5 @ Twins 2

Not really a lot of managerial blunders in this one. 2-2 game until the seventh, both teams had as close to optimal bullpen usage as can be expected when teams won’t use their closers until the seventh. The Torii Hunter play was brutal, but I feel good for Jon Raymond and his Athletics.

I'd do the Yankees game but since ITS GON RAIN, I'll save that for tommorow.

Pedro Martinez - I'm happy he's not pitching.

My friends, this is a time for celebration rather than pain. We are only 4 or 5 days from seeing the first playoff baseball at Shea in 6 years, the sun is shining, squirrels are stealing food here at the U of H, and all I have is people consoling me on not having Pedro Martinez for the postseason and hearing from my very own community blog that the NL playoffs are now "even".

Kids, losing Pedro Martinez doesn't make the playoffs any more or less even. I know this may come as a shock to you, but this is a man whos ERA's by month since June have been 6.23, 6.00, 5.65, and 11.81. The Mets record in these months? 16-12, 16-9, 19-9, 12-15 (but, 7 of these losses have come since after we've clinched). He is not a driving force for this team this year. Fellow Mets fans, get off that roof. I know it's painful to think of the Steve Trachsel Run Generating Machine (Guaranteed to cause at least 7 runs to appear on the scoreboard between the two teams, or your money back!) potentially starting 5 postseason games and bringing America to yawns between pitches, but you have homework to do anyway. Or wives to please. Trust me, I've seen some of the moves being put on her, you need to do something.

So, are we still the favorite? Have you seen the rest of the NL? We're not unbeatable by any stretch (i'd say we're about 60/40 favorites in the first round and maybe 65/35 in the second), but the offense is what has made us the best team in the NL, and it's the offense we will continue to rely on.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let me take apart another theory that I am positive will come up somewhere along the line: "The ___________ are going to upset the Mets in the postseason because they played well down the stretch and the Mets limped into the playoffs."

The last time the Mets made the World Series was 2000. Eve 6 was popular somehow and I was a high school freshman with an Edgardo Alfonzo jersey. We lost to a team that year in the World Series that seems to be a pretty big hit with the kids these days. Guess their record down the stretch? The Yankees went into the postseason winning 2 of their last 15 games. If the Mets get upset, it will not be because of them being the worse team or them limping into the playoffs; it will be because it is difficult to win series of 5 or 7 games consistently.

On a related note, the Japanese leagues playoff structure (which you've been hearing about from me!) is three teams make the playoffs, one gets the first round bye, and the other two fight for the right to play the top seed. While I don't neccessarily agree with the extra game system, imagine the great playoff chase we would have right now if we just abolished the wild card. The Twins and Tigers would be a national story. We'd be tuning into their games every night as they battled to see who would get to be the second seed (editors note: ESPN's view may vary, I guess we really do need to see more Baltimore Orioles). What are the pennant races this year? Do I really care which 82 win squad from the NL Central gets to go dancing? Did anyone see that Phillies-Nationals game the other night? The one where the Phillies blew it once in the ninth, again in the tenth, then tried dearly to blow it in the fourteenth? I'm supposed to be enthralled over a team that can't even put away the Nationals with its season on the line?

The wild card has given me extra memories of my favorite squad: the 99 Mets. I would trade all those extra memories away if the wild card would do us a favor and die, so that other pennant chases could flourish. Until that day, we will have the occasional down to the wire chase for a wild card that is between two really good teams; The 2003 AL comes to mind, with the Red Sox barely beating out the Mariners. But really, the best idea to get people interested in baseball is to make all the pennant races focus on teams that clearly aren't very good? I understand increasing the number of playoff games creates fans in new cities, but when your system is random enough to where the wild card can win 3 World Series in a row, something has to be changed to protect the teams that actually have the best seasons. It doesn't have to be a free win. Maybe it's a free bye into the CS like the Pacific League system. Maybe it's adding a second wild card team that has to have a play-in game (oooh boy, thats even more markets that get to care about mediocre teams!).

I'm already excited. Bring on the Dodgers, bring on the headphones that are mandatory to avoid ear pollution by Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, and bring on some goddamn baseball. Also, bring on a Mets championship. I'm only asking for one.