Mets Fans Forever

Analysis: Mets Outfield

Author: Paul Zinn

As the 2009 postseason begins to wind down, one thing is becoming clear to me – the Phillies are not going anywhere. As far as I can tell, they will be a force to be reckoned with in th e National League East for at least a few more years. 

Add two other solid teams to the mix in the Braves and Marlins, and it is clear the Mets need to make changes. One of the areas they will need to address is the outfield. 

As the offseason draws closer, and we start to analyze what the Mets need to do to close the gap for 2010, the outfield is a fascinating part of it. For one, the Mets certainly don’t have a bad outfield. But at the same time, it is one of the areas where they can really make up ground prior to the 2010 season. 

The reason for this is there is a gaping hole in leftfield that has to be filled, and plenty of talent to fill it with. 

As we look at the outfield for 2010, the one sure thing is Carlos Beltran. Beltran, a switch hitter who will be 32 when the 2010 season begins, had won three straight gold gloves coming into this year. Despite an injury riddled 2009 season, there is no reason to believe Beltran can’t come back and be very productive in 2010. Additionally, he came back to finish the end of the 2009 season, which prompts further confidence the injuries won’t carry over into next season. 

Prior to an awful 2009 season, Beltran was a force, and in addition to his three gold gloves, offensively he averaged a .275 batting average, 29 home runs, 104.5 RBI and 20.75 stolen bases in 149 games played from 2005 through 2009. 

Will Hideki Matsui Be A Met Next Year?

Author: Greg Pomes

Thankfully the World Series is finally over, meaning that the 2009 baseball season is over and the Hot Stove season is upon us now.  

There is going to be a lot of pressure on the Mets now to improve the team and not just for the way the 2009 season played out but the fact that the Phillies who are our biggest division rivals made it to the World Series for the 2nd time in 2 years and there is the added bonus that the Yankees who are our cross town rivals have won their second World Series this decade.  

The World Series MVP for 2009 is soon to be free agent Hideki Matsui. Matsui had a great World Series, especially Game 6 where he almost hit for the cycle.  Matsui will be a free agent this winter and there are reports that he wants to play the outfield next year. Matsui is 35 years old, he's had surgery on his knees and did not play the outfield this year for the Yankees and the Yankees don't have any plans to let him play the outfield, at least that was the word going around before Game 6 of the World Series.  The truth be told I believe Matsui cannot play the outfield anymore with his age and bad knees even though when 2010 starts his knees would have almost 2 years of rest from patrolling the outfield.  

With Matsui wanting to play in the outfield and coming off of a good season and good post season will Omar Minaya bite and give the 35 year old slugger a big contract? Unfortunately with Omar's pattern that could happen.  Omar in the past has signed an aging outfielder who is injury prone, remember Moises Alou? I fear that Omar might have seen all he needed to see this post season and will decide to fill the hole in left field with Matsui who is a power hitter, something that the Mets lacked in 2009 and obviously he can play in New York.  I am hoping that this will not be the case and Omar will prove me wrong.  

Matsui can still hit, he still has power which we all know the Mets need next year. Matsui in the World Series started 3 games in which he hit .727 with 3 home rums and 8 RBI's, helping the Yankees capture their 27th World Series.  David Wright for the whole season hit just 10 home runs, so obviously Matsui would be welcomed.  Unfortunately he would be a liability on the field.  Carlos Beltran can only do so much in helping him, in fact I believe that Beltran's knee injury could have been in trying to patrol part of left field as well as center field due to the inability of Daniel Murphy and we cannot afford to lose Carlos Beltran again.

A few years ago I would have loved Matsui on the Mets.  If the National League had the DH rule and Matsui wanted to be a DH then I would welcome the signing but that is not the case.  If Matsui could not patrol the left field in Yankee Stadium then there is no way that he will be able to patrol left at Citi Field which is more spacious.  It is very likely that Matsui will hurt his knees again being an everyday outfielder; do the Mets really need to pay a lot of money for an aging outfielder with bad knees after the disaster that was 2009? 

I hope Omar doesn't continue his pattern of making bad choices because Matsui on the Mets is a recipe for disaster, just say NO Omar, please.

Analysis: Mets Bullpen

Author: Will Hernandez   

    Last October, Mets GM Omar Minaya was trying to figure out how he was going to revamp his bullpen after another dreadful performance down the stretch. In the last two weeks of the 2008 collapse, the bullpen had a 5.63 ERA. The Mets went 5-8 over that span . 

    But the offseason saw much change Minaya shipped out the problems while acquiring Sean Green and J.J. Putz from the Mariners and signing Francisco Rodriquez to a three-year deal. Remember Opening Day in Cincinnati? Green, Putz and Rodriquez combined to toss 3 1/3 scoreless innings and the Mets won 2-1. The Mets bullpen woes were gone and it was time to pencil them in as the division winners. Well, injuries wrecked havoc on the 2009 Mets and a revamped bullpen wasn’t a factor.  

    The biggest question surrounding the relief corps this offseason is what to do with J.J. Putz. The righthander suffered two separate elbow injuries during the season. In June, Putz had surgery on the elbow to remove a bone spur as well as a bone fragment. Then in August, right before he was scheduled to throw in a rehab game with the Cyclones, Putz complained about soreness in his right forearm. It was soon found Putz had a slightly torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. 

Putz has an $8.6 million club option in 2010. While it is widely believed the Mets won’t pick up the option, there might not be a capable replacement on the team or through free agency. 
Brandon Lyon is an intriguing option for the Mets. The righthander converted 26 saves in 2008 for the D-Backs and pitched well this past season for the Tigers. Lyon can probably be had for cheap on a two-year contract. 
 

What Will Adrian Gonzalez Cost The Mets?

Author: Greg Pomes

The Padres former General Manager Kevin Towers spoke with Bill Madden of the Daily News saying that the Padres will eventually trade their star first baseman sooner rather than lately.  The Padres are in financial trouble right now, especially with the bad economy.  Their TV package only generates 2 million for them annually and they owe close to 20 million dollars due to the new stadium they built.  The Padres cannot have more than a 40 million dollar payroll at this time and for the next few seasons.

Gonzalez is 27 years old and left handed.  He is a career .281 hitter, with a gold glove to match his bat.  Gonzalez would also be a solid and cheap pickup as far a money goes as he is slated to make 4.75 million in 2010 and whatever team he will be on will have an option for 5.5 million in 2011, 2012 he would become a free agent.  Now we know that the Mets have a hole to fill at first base as Murphy just is not an everyday player at that position and the Mets have Ike Davis who needs at least 1 more season in AAA before making the jump to the show, perhaps Davis will stay at the minors for another year while Gonzalez plays first for the Mets.

Unfortunately for the Mets Gonzalez will most likely cost them Ike Davis and several other prospects, I'm thinking Mejia as well.  It's a tough call to make as Ike Davis seems like he's the real deal, look at his progression this year in the minors, his performance in both the World Cup and currently in the Arizona Fall League.  We all like to play GM and think we could do a better job than the GM's of the teams we root for but this is one situation where I wouldn't want the job as I would love to have Gonzalez playing for my team the next 2 years but I don't want to lose Ike Davis. 

Do you go for the win now by trading Ike Davis for Gonzalez or do you save Ike Davis for the future?

The World Series - Do I Really Need to Choose?

Author: Clare Lafferty

Everyone that I know has asked me in the last week "Who are you going to root for in the Series?", knowing full well that I am a die-hard Mets fan. First of all, my friends should know that for me, that is like asking " Electric chair or gas chamber?". Both decisions would kill me, wouldn't they?

Let's see - Yankees or Phillies? The hated other team in New York or the Philadelphia rival team, the team who has put down the Mets in the last couple of years and then gone out and backed it up? And, since I live right outside Philly, it makes the Phils an even worse choice for me.

In all good conscience, I can't root for either team. Since I live near Philly, having the Phillies win would be unbearable for about a month after they win, like it was last year. Horrible!  And not liking the Yankees since I am a Mets fan would be unbearable as well. What choice do I have?

Well, I could just say " Phils" to the Yankees fans and "Yanks" to the Phils lovers, just to get their ire up. That could be fun. I could root for the Yanks because I love NYC. I could root for the Phils because the rest of my family (with the exception of my brilliant 14 year old Mets-fan daughter) loves the Phils. I could say " I don't care" knowing that it will eat at me until the Series in completed. Seems like all I have are lose-lose scenarios.

So, when someone asks me " Who do you like in the Series?", I have decided to say " It's football season for me. Go Giants!"

Mets Wil Not Go After Aroldis Chapman or John Lackey

Author: Will Sommer

Bart Hubbach tweeted that the Mets will not be involved in the Aroldis Chapman sweepstakes after they learned that his price tag will be above $60 million.

Good move by the Mets. $60 million, in my opinion, is to much for an unproven player.

Also Jon Heyman tweeted that the Mets will not go after top free agent pitcher John Lackey.

Now that is suprising. I truly thought the Mets would go after Lackey. Does that mean that the Mets do not have the money like we fans originally thought, or will Matt Holliday cost that much?

Mets Minor League Rafael Castro Dies Of Heart Attack

Author: Will Sommer

Rafael Castro died suddenly at the Mets' academy in Carabobo, Venezuela on Friday of an apparent hear attack. He was 18.

"On behalf of the entire Mets organization, our thoughts and prayers are with the Castro family,” said Jeff Wilpon.

That's too young to die. Way too young. I echo what Jeff Wilpon said, my thoughts and prayers are with the Castro family.

Have The Mets Already Lost Out On Matt Holliday?

Author: Greg Pomes

Ken Davidoff, a writer for Newsday reported today that:

" According to a person in the loop, Matt Holliday's top choices in free agency are: 1) Yankees; and 2) Mets."

If what Davidoff reports is true and Holliday prefers the Yankees over the Mets, the Mets have already lost.  There is no way that the Mets can outbid the Yankees in a bidding war, especially with a very soft free agent market like this.  Even though last season Yankee GM Brian Cashman said after the spending spree they went on the Yankees do have a budget, Matsui and Johnny Damon are both coming off the payroll and as of right now it doesn't look like the Yankees plan on resigning either outfielder. 

Davidoff also says that it's not the money that is ultimately pushing Holliday towards the Yankees but Citi Field which as we all know is a pitchers park by design and the Wilpons have already said that they will not be lowing the fences nor bringing them in anytime soon.

While I'm sure money will be a factor for Holliday it's interesting to note that a power hitting outfielder might make the choice of not coming to the Mets due to the size of Ebbets Citi Field.

Mets Fall Ball Update

Author: Drew Costello

Unfortunately for Mets fans, there was no playoff baseball in 2009. While fans of teams who are still alive in the playoffs think about this year, All other fans only have the future to look forward to. The Mets have an abundance of players in the Arizona Fall League and there have been some exciting perfomances from their young stars in the making. Here are the stats to date for Met players in the Arizona Fall League.

Ike Davis 1B: 5 Hits, 9 ABs, 2 doubles, 1 Homer, 8 RBIS

Davis is making quite the impression in the AFL. He has been the best hitter on Surprise and is showing real power potential. Davis could certainly change Omar Minaya's mind on whether or not he needs to sign a first basemen of the future. It is more than likely that Minaya will look for a one year stop gap until Davis has a bit more seasoning in the minors. The question then becomes does this spell the end for Daniel Murphy? Murphy never showed the type of power that Davis has in the minors and may have already reached his ceiling. Murphy could become a valuable trade piece to improve the outfield or the starting rotation.

Ruben Tejada SS: 4 hits, 10 ABs, 1 double, 2 RBIs

Tejada has also looked impressive early on. He is considered the Mets best infield prospect right now and is showing he can swing the bat against higher competition. Tejada just turned 20 years old and still has plenty of time to grow into his potential. The obvious question is will it be with the Mets. Jose Reyes may block Tejada from the big league club, but that is a few years down the line. Tejada could always move over to second or there has been talk about trading Reyes, which could clear the way for Tejada.

Lucas Duda OF: 2 hits, 5 ABs, 2 RBIs

Duda isn't one of the better known Mets prospects. He was a seventh round pick out USC in the 2007 draft and had a solid season in Binghamton. He has a nice bat posting a .281 average this season with 9 Home Runs, but is lacking a natural position. He struggled playing 1B and was moved to the outfield where he is right now. Hopefully the Mets keep him in the minors for as long as he needs because The Mets don't need any more experiments with young players and new positions at the big league level.

Reese Havens SS: 0 Hits 3 ABs

Havens has not yet had many opportunities as he has only appeared in one game. Havens was the Mets other high draft pick in 2008 and has struggled with injuries thus far. It may not be fair to judge Havens until he has a full season without injury.

Jenrry Mejia P: 1 ip, 1 hit, 3 runs, 3 BBs

Mejia is generally known as one of the Mets two best pitching prospects. He struggled in his first start in the fall league, but was hitting 97-98 MPH with his fast ball. The problem with Mejia in his first outing was that he struggled with control. 3 BBs in an inning is Oliver Perez-esq. Mejia has all the tools to be a dominant major league pitcher and needs time to work on his craft in the minors.

Scott Moviel P: 1 win, 2 IP, 0 runs, 3 BBs

Moviel's issue so far in the AFL has been the walks. On top of the 3 walks in 2 innings pitched, Moviel also hit a batter. After last season, the Mets need to stress to their young pitchers that walks are unacceptable.

Other Mets in Action: Eric Niesen, Josh Stinson

Overall, the Mets should be very happy with the way their players have performed. Ike Davis is a rising star and Ruben Tejada has shown he can swing the bat. The pitchers have all for the most part shown that they can at the very least hold their own. Stay tuned for another update in about a week regarding the progress of these future Mets.

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Mets Encouraged Players To Play Ball, Not Have Surgery

Author: Greg Pomes

This past Thursday, KinersKorner posted an interview they did with Adam Rubin, the Mets beat writer for the New York Daily News.  It's an excellent interview, when you have a chance give it read.  Adam Rubin of course got a little more press than he ever wanted this summer when Omar Minaya claimed that he broke the story about Tony B because Rubin wanted a job with player development.  One thing Adam said in the interview with KinersKorner caught my eye and it confirmed what I suspected already.  When asked about the injuries this season Rubin said:

"J.J. Putz was told by Dr. David Altchek he needed to have a bone spur removed from his elbow. The Mets advocated a cortisone shot. Putz had the injection, struggled for a month, then needed the procedure anyway."

Sadly I wasn't surprised by this one bit.  For whatever reason the Mets did not want their players undergoing surgery that was advised by one of the best doctors in the country.  I wonder how many injuries would have been less severe if the Mets had listened to their doctors.  I have to wonder if this happened to Carlos Beltran as well.  Would Beltran's injury healed quicker if the Mets had rested him instead of giving him a cortisone shot and forcing him to play?  Would he have missed fewer games if he they had followed Dr. Altchek's advice? 

This kind of disregard for the players and their bodies is inexcusable as far as I'm concerned.  Your players have a job to play to the best of their abilities and as a team you have an obligation to protect your players, to look out for their well being, even if it my cost ticket sales to slow down while these guys rest on the DL.  Putz will most likely be a free agent this season, the Mets did him a huge disservice by making him play hurt where he couldn't play to the best abilities and finally letting him have surgery that wound up ending his 2009 season hurting the amount of money he will get this off season.

How does a player on this team go into the 2010 season knowing that they don't have their best interest at heart?  That they care more about the almighty dollar then their health and futures?  What does this say to free agents deciding to come to this team?  The Mets have a lot too make up for this season not just to the fans but their players as well, only time will tell if it's too late.