Comments on: Bad news for Alou

By: dave

dave — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:48:19 +0000

I do not know who is available. Don’t know the players mentioned above. I would think a decent OF can be had someplace. Maybe not in spring but early.

The 2 guys Brady and Pagan – I think – have done ok so far. Yes, our lineup is weak, but if we pitch and play D we will stay competitive. If the team focuses because of the injuries it would be a good thing.

We have enough talent to win as we are. It will just be close. If Alou comes back and contributes and Delgado can get past his injury problems we have a very good chance to go far. If they don’t we can still win, it will just be close.

There are many teams in the past few years who have won with good pitching and solid team play.

By: JK

JK — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:46:47 +0000

... Wags runs out of gas come Septemeber. Willie needs to be use him in the right situations and someone else has to be the closer on occasion.
Agreed. Wagner’s problem is his age. He’ll be 37 this summer. Willie and Peterson have to be more careful how they use him, avoiding non-save situations and 2-inning saves whenever possible.

By: JK

JK — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:42:53 +0000

DC—stop smoking that stuff of yours! It’s illegal, ya know.

... You are really in fantasy land if you think bums like Church didnâ€™t get a fair chance to play here
It is you who is in fantasy land as I never even made a remark about Church’s previous opportunities.
... He proved hios talent level is that of a 4th outfielder.
Well at least that’s better than what Milledge proved while he was a Met. Church’s career and 2007 OPS and OPS+ are higher than Milledge’s. Guess that makes Milledge a 5th outfielder?
... And you are blind if you ignore the way the Metsies babied Pedro giving him 6 daysa off between every start
No one ignored it. That was just a first stage precautionary schedule mandated by the doctors. It was temporary. You are blind if you don’t see that Pedro’s return from rotator cuff surgery has already been remarkable. Mulder also had rotator cuff surgery about the same time and has not been nearly as effective as Pedro in his return.
... you are really blind if you think that big time choke Wagner will suddenly be Rivera
You have demonstrated that it is you who is hopelessly blind. Because I’m not aware of anyone having compared Wagner to Rivera. There is only one Rivera and, heck, Rivera ain’t even Rivera anymore. Despite his advancing age, Wagner is still one of the elite closers in the game. He is certainly better than the one you have in DC. Right now, he is at least the best closer in the division, if not the league.

By: metsfan

metsfan — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:53:22 +0000

Mike C., you really need to look at actual facts and not base all of your opinions on talk radio, cause that’s what it’s sounding like right now.

By: Annie Savoy

Annie Savoy — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:48:11 +0000

Sloppy – It isn’t Wagner’s head that’s the problem, it’s his mouth.

By: sloppy

sloppy — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:45:21 +0000

You are right. Pen is thin. Just becuase Minaya picked up bodies doesn’t make them quality. Lots to prove on any of them other than Heilmann, Feleiciano. As for Wagner I just don’t agree. He has a posion mouth and he doesn’t and hasn’t done it in the clutch anywhere, not just here. And if you remember, in the past when Willie brought somebody in to get a save he whined to the press about its his job. Remember in SF when Bradford got a save, Wagner made a fool of himself. He sucked in the clutch in 06 he vanished in the pinch last year after sucking and in Philly he single handedly gave the Astros the wild card with his bad clutch pitching.

By: scoopcoop

scoopcoop — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:05:07 +0000

I think all Omar has to trade is some BP arms. Even there if Mets have a couple of injuries, they are thin. So Pagan/Endy might all be what can be done at this time.

By: scoopcoop

scoopcoop — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:02:49 +0000

I don’t think Wags troubles late in the yr are head related. Wags runs out of gas come Septemeber. Willie needs to be use him in the right situations and someone else has to be the closer on occasion.

I like the 3-way deal, but Inge in CF does sound quite strange. I don’t like the Tiger guys that have been rumored to be trade bait.

By: sloppy

sloppy — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:15:45 +0000

Thanks scoopcoop for trying to restore respectable fandom from insanity. This swirling is even too much for me.
The best option isn’t happening. Nady isn’t getting traded unless you give up a lot. New pres and new GM and they are actually trying to restore the franchise to respectability. They didn’t even dump Morris’ and his 10 mil contract. If you want a Pirate there would be a better chance to get Bay because the feeling is he hurts the team with his glove almost as much as he helps with his bat, but they’d probably want a lot for him also. They are also for the first time trying to sign their young guys to long term deals like the Indians do. They’re talking with Snell now and he’s their best kid on the mound.
If all Minaya would offer is Schoeneweis and Sosa, you might as well use Pagan. He grew up a Met and has worked with HoJo in the past and at least can run the ball down. A platoon with Endy would be decent in the field and give some runnoing to offset the power loss if Alou had any power left. Plus, they could both bat 2 if Castillo doesn’t heal.
And why would you trade Smith. The guy should have been in St Lucie/Binghamton last year.

I will say one thing about the invader’s comments from DC. Wagner, is good until September. He has failed in the clutch regularly. I won’t discuss his Chiurch comemnts because I don’t want to beat a guy who has a spinning head. Been there, done that, not by collision but by other means. Let his head clear for a couple weeks.

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:46:47 +0000

My buddy is a Tigers fan. Rumor has it the Cubs are interested in Inge for CF (yes, I was confused as welll, but apparently Inge played CF yesterday.)

Let’s get a 3 way—Inge to the Cubs, Murton to us, and we’ll send some BP help to the Tigers. My buddy said that someone with options would be preferable and he thinks they would possibly accept Smith.

I like Murton the best out of these guys. For the simple fact that he’s RH, only 25 and has a nice stat line. With some more PT, I think he could be a nice addition.

By: scoopcoop

scoopcoop — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:41:55 +0000

ok. Enough bitching.

How about some thoughts on how to fix the problem. Here are some names being floated as trades:

O’s Millar, Cubs’ Matt Murton, Pittsburgh’s Xavier Nady, San Diego’s Scott Hairston, Oakland’s Emil Brown and Texas’ Nelson Cruz

I like Millar and Murton. I doubt Nady would be available. The other guys are probably no better than what we have now.

Mets available might be Show, Sosa, Smith. El duque would be if he was not hurt.

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:30:53 +0000

” We sucked and he still never earned a full time job.”

I’m not basing my evaluation of a player based on how the Nats develop players. You guys have a miserable franchise. And I’m not even discussing Wagner. He’s been one of the best closers in baseball for a long time now.

“You guys think this is a prohibited favoite lineup.”

Dude, pay attention. The point was, two weeks ago we were the prohibitive favorites. Now we lose Alou and suddenly we have no chance? Come on, that’s ridiculous. As for Beltran, he’ll be fine as long as he doesn’t try to compensate for Delgado’s absence (if he is indeed absent.) Lineup protection is another big time myth.

By: Hello from DC

Hello from DC — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:21:09 +0000

JK: You are really in fantasy land if your think bums like Church didn’t get a fair chance to play here, He played more than he should have because of injuries and kids learning the ropes. He proved hios talent level is that of a 4th outfielder. We sucked and he still never earned a full time job. If you think he’s your man HAHA you lose!!! And you are blind if you ignore the way the Metsies babied Pedro giving him 6 daysa off between every start, and you are really blind if you think that big time choke Wagner will suddenly be Rivera. He’s been poison his whole career and a choker everywhere as well. when your metsies are done, please don’t send the flood waters past the NJ Turnpike.

By: dave

dave — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:38:42 +0000

Wow. Not one game played and the fan base picks us for the cellar.

By: JK

JK — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:54:43 +0000

... Canâ€™t wait until youâ€™re fighting the Nats for third place!!!!!!
LOL, can I have some of whatever it is you’re smoking? Must be some pretty powerful stuff, DC.

By: JK

JK — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:53:08 +0000

... This is a below average lineup … Beltran will not have a great year because he will not get pitches because there will be no fear of an injured Delgado.
The Mets’ lineup may be less powerful than Philadelphia’s but I think it’s at least on par with the rest of the teams in the division. Their rotation and bullpen are the best in the division.
... Pedro who really knows. All you have is hope and awesome willpower. Maine had a great April and then was average for 5 months, OP, was up and down , and Pelfrey is doing ehat he did last March
Pedro really knows … his own body and how he feels. He says he feels better than he has in years. Most important, he had a 2.57 ERA in just a handful of starts last year and should be even better this year being further removed from surgery. If both Maine and Ollie simply remain as they were last year, the rotation will still be the best in the NL. But there’s just as good a chance that both will improve in which case it could be the best rotation in all of baseball. Pelfrey has a year of ML experience under his belt now and should be better in 2008.
... Pen Will not be better. Wagner is a bit slower every year and his new pitches are proven??
Strongly disagree. The Pen will be better than last years and I’ll bet on it. They got rid of two losers. And Wagner has already been using his new pitches in spring training and getting outs on them.

By: Hello from DC

Hello from DC — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:32:16 +0000

Boy, the injuries to your overpaid ancient players sure have your fan base in a frenzy. Can’t wait until you’re fighting the Nats for third place!!!!!! Our young stud Milledge is gonna make you rue the day you traded him inside the division for years to come…. Enjoy your long and very mediocre Summer Metsies…... And enjoy those 2 losers we gave you… I know we won’t miss those crappy players.

By: ghosts of bad Met trades

ghosts of bad Met trades — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:16:06 +0000

Lineup: This is a below average lineup. Reyes, Castillo, Wright are fine, Beltran will not have a great year because he will not get pitches because there will be no fear of an injured Delgado. who is definitely # 5, followed by Church, Pagan/Clark/Chavez, and Schneider/Castro. You guys think this is a prohibited favoite lineup. It has no balance , it has devalued Chavez as a sub because he can’t bat 2 or 8, Minaya needed 2 outfielders and got one, and getting one he needed a righty not a lefty knowing Alou wouldn’t play much.

Starting Pitching.. Thin Santna awesome; Pedro who really knows. All you have is hope and awesome willpower. Maine had a great April and then was average for 5 months, OP, was up and down , and Pelfrey is doing ehat he did last March…. and there are no even mediocre back-ups.

Pen Will not be better. Wagner is a bit slower every year and his new pitches are proven?? He had a new pitch last year and when it counted most he was Billy big mouth and no results. There are a lot of names in the pen, but nobody you trust. It will be the same as last year. Use Feliciano and Heilmann and anybody who gets hot until tey burn out. \\
Plus these pitchers will have to be at their best to win virtually every night.

By: JK

JK — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:54:47 +0000

About the bullpen … I expect it to be better this year if for no other reason than they got rid of Sele and Mota. Addition by subtraction. Can their replacements be any worse than those two? I don’t see how, if Sosa replaces Sele and Sanchez or Register replaces Mota. I assume Heilman and Feliciano will be about the same. And I expect Wagner to be better because of his new arsenal that includes a curve and changeup and because he may pitch less innings this year which could keep his arm fresher.

So, with the better bullpen and vastly better rotation, I think that is more than enough to compensate for Alou being out a long time. He was out a long time last year anyway.

By: Dan Gurney

Dan Gurney — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:51:45 +0000

Wasn’t Alou saying two weeks ago he thought he could play 130 games and have 520 at bats? Also couldn’t the Braves have the best starting rotation if Smoltz, Hudson, Glavine and Hampton stay healthy (big ifs to be sure)? The Mets did have a lot of injuries last year but so did the Phillies.