We'll Always Have Paris...

I can't say I'm especially surprised by today's news that Daniel Murphy signed with the Washington Nationals. I'm not particularly upset by it either. I know you don't want one of your own guys to jump to a division rival like this, but let's be real here before we get too worked up. The moves the Mets have made to this point have made it abundantly clear that Daniel Murphy wasn't part of the future plans here. And that's fine.

We've had 8 seasons with Daniel Murphy. I know there's a lot of sentimentality that comes attached to that, but it wasn't going to get any better with age. Mostly, Daniel Murphy played the kind of Baseball that left a lot of us scratching our heads. Yes, there were times when he was really good, and for those two weeks in October he took his version of "really good" to a whole new level. But that wasn't Daniel Murphy. That was Playoff Chosen Daniel Murphy. Nothing exemplifies Playoff Chosen Daniel Murphy more than that Stolen Base in Los Angeles. If Daniel Murphy tries to pull something like that in the regular season, he probably gets thrown out 100 times out of 100. Playoff Chosen Daniel Murphy was safe. But Playoff Chosen Daniel Murphy was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. Regular Daniel Murphy came back to us in the World Series, sometime around the 8th inning of Game 4.

Unfair as it may seem, that's probably going to be the Daniel Murphy that most of us will remember. The guy who was consistently frighting on defense. The guy who would all too often try to be a hero and end up making a semipro-caliber play. The guy who would go on those raging hot streaks and then spend the next two months grounding out to the 2nd baseman. The guy who exemplified the lost era of the Mets when he led the team in Home Runs...with 12. A few years ago, I was watching a program on MLB Network where Daniel Murphy was ranked 10th among MLB 2nd Basemen and I nearly passed out. Murphy was the sort of player that I would watch and after a few years of his schtick I said to myself, "You know, Daniel Murphy is the kind of ballplayer who only has a job because of the Mets. Only the Mets would have a guy like Murphy on the roster."

I guess there's some people who are upset about this, but I can't. I know he went to a division rival, but my feeling is that now, he's going to get himself so cranked up and out of control when he plays the Mets that he's going to do things like try to score from 1st Base on an infield ground out or try to throw a runner out at 3rd base while overshifted into Right Field. These absurd mistakes that he makes are now the problem of Dusty Baker and the Washington Nationals. While he's totally going to hit .340 in April, I feel like more often than not we'll see the Good Ol' Murphy on highlights and silently chuckle.

The other reason people seem to be annoyed really has less to do with Murphy and more that the Mets aren't making those "Bold" or "Flashy" moves. I know general logic would dictate that the Mets should bring back Cespedes and, sure, that makes sense but again, a lot of it comes from that sentimental feeling that most Mets fans seem to have. I mean, sure. I'd love to have that big-time bat back and sure, it annoys me to see the Cubs and Giants gobbling up every big-ticket Free Agent in sight (and if you thought the Cubs had anointed themselves last season...oy veh...), but outside of Cespedes, or possibly Heyward, who sitting out there were the Mets legitimately going to bring in? The idea isn't to make moves for the purpose of being reactionary, the idea is to make moves to improve the team and under Sandy Alderson, the Mets have continually done that. No, I don't especially like the idea that the Opening Day 2016 roster is going to mostly resemble the Opening Day 2015 roster barring a Cespedes Smokescreen. But top to bottom the Mets are a better team right now than they were on Opening Day last season even without Cespedes. Instead of having absolute junk filling out the roster, there's good, serviceable depth here, which is nice to have. Also, I feel like people are forgetting this Conforto fellow. He might be pretty good.

All besides the point. I sort of want to tip my cap and wish Murphy well and maybe that was supposed to be the general intent of this post. I know I really raked Murphy over the coals quite a bit over the years and, well, most of the time he deserved it, but for all his foibles he was a fine Met and it's always a little wistful when a guy who's been with the team a long time leaves. But, that's the nature of the game. Players always leave town and the cynics always win the day. Murph...It's been real.

To The Rescue!

It's already been a long offseason. In reality, I know it's been less than 2 months since the Mets season ended, and yes, amazingly, they were still playing Baseball on November 1st, but the past 7-8 weeks or so since the season ended has felt like 4 months. Not kidding. The World Series feels like a lifetime ago, and maybe this offseason in particular will feel much longer than most. There is, in spite of what you might read or hear and in spite of the grousing of certain fans, a lot to look forward to for the Mets in 2016.

Generally, as the offseason rolls on, I tend to flip certain things in my head over and over again that pertain to the Mets. I've talked about this before and I'm not sure if it's indicative of some underlying insanity or not, but it's just odd things that came up during the past season. But for whatever reason, the thing that's been popping up the most has been the above clip, featuring our old friend Pedro Martinez expressing his adoration for our relatively new friend, Noah Syndergaard.

I've been thinking about Syndergaard and his place in a stacked rotation, up against Harvey, deGrom, Matz, the returning Wheeler and the ageless Colon. I don't think it particularly crazy to say that Syndergaard has a good chance to be the best of the lot. We knew he was good but he sort of snuck up on us with how much he'd matured over the course of the season. But in the pressure cooker of the playoffs, when, really, everyone among the Big 4 had their moment, Syndergaard seemed to stand taller than most. Perhaps it was because he threw himself into the winner-take-all Game 5 in LA after warming up 3 times. Possibly, it was his World Series performance.

Mostly, though, it was prior to Game 2 of the NLCS, when TBS signed on for their pregame show and Pedro Martinez immediately grabbed a Norse hammer and screamed "THOOOOOOORRRRRR!"

When you're continually drawing the admiration of one of the greatest Badasses in MLB History, you're probably pretty badass yourself. Of all the things I'm looking forward to in 2016, it's to see what this guy can do with a full season and some experience.

But, just so you don't think I'm hung up on one guy here, one other thing that's been flipping around in my head a lot lately is this scene:

I know it didn't end well for Matt Harvey or any of us on that last night, but man. That sound.

Rolling Heads

As per usual, I've kind of vanished from the Blogosphere the past month or so. Not so much because I've gone into hiding, but because there simply hasn't been much to say. Sure, I could have come back on November 3rd or 4th and done some soppy postmortem on the Mets season and the ride to the World Series. Hell, if they'd won the damn thing, I might have spent a week waxing poetic. But things went badly against Kansas City and now the Mets have to work on getting themselves back. No longer an also-ran, the Mets have proven themselves among the better teams in the league, and, dare I say it, a Team to Beat.


Which is why it's important that some moves get made here. One of the worst things the Mets did in 2000 was approach the ensuing offseason after losing the World Series with the attitude of, "Hey, we went to the World Series. We're good enough!" That sort of approach has really done wonders for the Mets. Just look at 2001 and 2007.

Which is why I'm sort of refreshed to see the Mets go out and make a couple of moves. Not major moves, but moves to tidy things up. Gone is Jon Niese, after spending parts of 8 seasons here, toiling for mostly bad teams in mostly hopeless situations and at times looking hopeless, but he had his moments. He's off to Pittsburgh in exchange for Neil Walker, who as far as I can discern is basically a more fundamentally sound Daniel Murphy. This, then, would mean that Murphy is most likely gone as well, and quite honestly if the Mets are going to just patch some holes, Murphy was one of the holes that needed to be patched. Yes, Murphy has been here as long as Niese and went through the same stretch of terrible teams, and in a vacuum you sort of feel a sentimental attachment, but let's face it. Daniel Murphy basically happened to have a really well-timed two-week hot streak and that sort of changed everyone's attitude towards him. I wasn't particularly fooled then and I'm still not fooled.

Also appearing will be Asdrubal Cabrera, whose signing really kicks Murphy out the door, possibly Ruben Tejada as well, and also moves Wilmer Flores into a more complimentary role. Again, Cabrera isn't a difference maker, but he's also not going to do stupid shit. And more importantly it's a change of pace. A different look.

Still, more to be done. But this is a good step in the right direction.

...And in Summation...

The Mets salvaged the finale of their series in Miami and the finale of their season yesterday with a 4-2 victory, closing out the year with 74 victories and 88 losses. I'd figured they were good for 75 victories at the outset of the season, so they did me one short.

Coming from 77-85 in 2011 and 79-83 in 2010, this doesn't look much like progress. If anything, it's nice grouping, and it's been only good enough for the Mets to be a 4th place team for 4 years in a row, following 3 seasons of winning records and near misses.

The pattern for the Mets has been similar each time; a first half that may take a few weeks to get going, some unexpected performances from upstart players, leading into some spunky success that starts to make everyone believe that maybe the team is capable of something. By the All Star Break, they're right there...And then they come out of the break and lose 25 of 33 and fall out of the race completely, leaving us to spend some lonely nights in an empty Citi Field come September.

This season, in particular, may be the worst of them all, because for some reason, as much as I didn't want to fall for the ruse again, the way the Mets were playing, the way they rallied around each other, and the amount of unexpected things that were happening really made me believe that they were capable of turning a corner of some kind. But, ultimately, the Mets regressed to the mean that I thought they were going to be at the outset: A team with some good players, but mostly role players and retreads that played over their heads for a few months.

Yes, this season was filled with some great individual accomplishments, and yes, this season held some fantastic moments, and yes, this season we even got a No Hitter, something we never thought we'd see. But with a lot of great efforts that amount to a losing team, what makes a year like 2012 any different than, say, 1996?

I really don't know what the Mets are going to look like come next April. I don't know who will stay or who will go, all I can do, all any of us can do is say who we think should stay, or who we want to stay. It's going to hold little bearing on reality. We all know what the team needs, that's not necessarily worth re-hashing, and trying to look at it from an outside-the-box angle of thinking isn't the way to go, because the needs are obvious: Outfield, Bullpen, Catcher, Depth. These needs are so blatantly obvious that they can't not be addressed somehow, and not in an addition-by-subtraction way of managing the team, by—wait for it—taking some risks and spending some money. All remains to be seen. The only thing I really know for sure is that Opening Day 2013 is on Monday, April 1st against the San Diego Padres, and I'll be there to cheer on whoever trots out to the first base line that afternoon.

I know that 2014 is supposed to be the year that the Alderson Administration is really going to have to start being accountable for the state of the team, because that's when the last contracts of the Omar Minaya regime go off the books, namely Jason Bay, Johan Santana and David Wright, the latter of whom will hopefully have a new contract to kick off. Alderson, to this point, has been able to sort of skate by doing the absolute minimum because of the frugality of Funkalicious Freddie and his son Ratso Wilpon, coupled with the team not being good enough to merit actually making substantial additions. But at some point that's not going to be an acceptable excuse anymore. It's barely acceptable now. I keep coming back to the whole "20-something years since we've won a World Series Championship" summation, but that's what we're ultimately after. So, it's now 26 years. I'm really tired of watching the Mets celebrate victories on a DVD box set. I'd like to see one live.

So I've successfully completed this season, after my year hiatus, and I'm glad to have been back. I'll keep things warm around here for the hot stove. Upcoming, we'll have the completion of the 50 Years in Cards series, and maybe some bonuses if the response is good. I'll have a full report card on all the 2012 Mets coming shortly. I may live-blog a Postseason game if I feel so inclined. I'll be keeping up with the 49ers as the NFL season goes on. And I've got a review to write on the Mets 50th Anniversary DVD set. So, thanks everyone for coming out to this corner of the Internet and stick around.

(Here's where there would be a little season highlight reel, but the Mets didn't bother to show one after the game on SNY today, so I got nothing for you. Sorry.)

What A Putz!

The move made to sign Francisco Rodriguez was more or less a no-brainer. And the signing was made even easier given the terms of the contract that the Mets have given him. With the Bullpen being the #1 problem that the Mets had over the past two seasons, this was a clear and necessary move. As soon as the offer seemed close to completion, the e-mails began flying around. I personally loved the move. Consider that 3 years ago, the Mets gave Billy Wagner a 4 year contract worth even more money. Now, consider that, at the time, Wagner was a 10-year veteran at age 35. Consider that Rodriguez is a playoff-tested veteran in his own right with a similar lights-out track record at age 27, and the deal is fabulous for the Mets. 3 years for a closer isn't overcommitting to Rodriguez, and the money certainly isn't a payroll-buster by any stretch of the imagination.

But that couldn't be the only move made to the Bullpen. It could only be a nice start to moving in a positive direction. Other moves would certainly be necessary. Perhaps the bigger names, Fuentes, Hoffman or Wood, would be in the mix, or if not, other, non-tendered guys would have to be brought in to push the existing names that would survive the offseason. But other moves were necessary. As I mentioned in my 2005 Capsule, it's often the names that arrive in trades that you don't necessarily consider. And late Wednesday night, Minaya and the Mets made such a move, in another brilliant deal to bring in J.J. Putz from the Seattle Mariners in a massive 3-team, 12-player deal.

Here's why I like the move:

Putz, at 32, will be the 8th inning answer. In 2007, he was clearly the best reliever in the AL, before being slowed by injuries in 2008. His talent is evident, a 97-99MPH fastball combined with a diving splitter netted him 40 saves and a 1.38 ERA in '07. He's a guy who can get out just about anyone, and not be spotted simply as a situational guy. The change of scenery from a conflicted clubhouse in Seattle to New York should only help.

I also like the spare parts the Mets got as well. Sean Green isn't someone I know much about, but he's a new face and some fresh blood to try out there. Jeremy Reed is a burner who projects as a 4th Outfielder type, but, again, a new face.

Putting Putz in front of Rodriguez (or even having Putz spell Rodriguez on certain days) gives the Mets a 1-2 punch that they simply have not had out of the bullpen in 2 years, and certainly a combination that far outdistances Heilman/Sanchez and Wagner as far as pure heat. These are guys that will, more often than not, get the job done. This was something that nobody could be counted on to do, especially as last season drew to a close. Rodriguez himself could mean a 10-win differential for the Mets. In either of the last two seasons, that would have been the difference between a Division Title and a trip home. Putz as the bridge from the starter (assuming the starter goes 7, I think you can count on that from Santana and Pelfrey on most days, Maine and whoever on certain days) should only strengthen that argument.

The Mets also could have done quite a bit of addition by subtraction in these deals as well. Gone are:

1) Aaron Heilman, who can enjoy going 8-11 with a 5.13 ERA as Seattle's 4th starter. Won't be missing him at all.

2) Joe Smith, who I would have liked to keep, but in reality, he's a situational righty in a bullpen that was comprised almost exclusively of situational guys that always backfired.

3) Endy Chavez, who I hate to see go. Endy will forever hold a place in the hearts of all Mets fans, no doubt. But in reality, you have to give up to get, and Endy Chavez wasn't going to make or break the fortunes of the 2009 Mets. Replacing Endy with Jeremy Reed is more or less a wash, plus Reed is 3 years younger. Besides, the Left Field wall in Citi Field is 16 feet high. Endy isn't going to scale that wall to rob any HRs.

4-7) Jason Vargas (Yawn), Mike Carp (Ditto), Maikel Cleto and Ezequiel Carrera (If you're at all concerned, I've linked to their Baseball Reference pages so you can see that they're not quite what you would consider a Major League prospect).

On paper, yes, the Mets look like they gave up a lot. In reality, this deal could prove to be a heist for the Mets. If nothing else, it's certainly a step in the right direction, and a good step towards completely re-inventing the nightmare that was the Mets bullpen, replacing the question marks with Winners.

Rehashing Things We Already Knew About The Mets (in 18 point font)

This morning's article by Bob Klapisch on ESPN.com basically tells us everything we needed to know about the Mets postseason pursuits.

Unless you've been living in a cave, or someplace where there is no Sports Media readily available to you, everything Klapisch has to say is probably not news to you.

Klapisch breaks down the Mets biggest problems in the following order:
1) Big-time starting pitcher
2) Bullpen Help
3) Catcher
4) Right Field

Soooo...was this unclear to anyone? No? Was it unclear last month? How about at the end of the World Series? How about September 30th?

These problems were pretty clear going back as far as the trading deadline last season, and some of them were evident at the beginning of June! Klapisch's article might have been better titled "OBVIOUS PROBLEMS WITH THE METS." The Mets have made some strides to address these problems, dealing Mota was obvious addition by subtraction, but others (read: Milledge) have been outright puzzling.

So now, the talk has turned to what, if anything, the Mets can do to bring in one of these sexy starting pitchers we've been talking about, most notably Johan Santana. The Mets, amazingly, appear to remain alive in the chase to bring Johan aboard, and they can certainly afford to pony up if they are somehow able to piece together the chips for him.

I know Omar is out there trying, although his logic sometimes baffles me. And I know he's trying to put together the pieces that shattered at the end of the season. But it's still frustrating, for me and for all Mets fans, having to deal with all this time passing and no obvious sign of anything productive happening for the Mets.

I'm sick of hearing about it. We're all sick of hearing about it. The nucleus of this team got to within an inning of the World Series in 2006, and 2 years later it's turned into this horrible mishmash of retreads and noodle-arms. It can happen that quick, I guess. But there's too much talent here to let waste away with a mediocre supporting cast.

Landing a big-time ace would help allay Mets' doubts [ESPN.com]

The Relentless Pursuit of Nobody in Particular

I'm still stewing over the Lastings deal. I suppose I've softened my stance since Friday, where I said to the former El Guapo, "I don't think I want to be a Mets fan anymore. I am switching to the Pirates. It's easy to not be disappointed when you have no expectations for success in the first place." But still I ask myself, "Why?"

There really was no good purpose for dealing Milledge for the National Pu-Pu Platter. If that was the best deal to be made for him, why do it at all? Because Schneider will be the galvanizing force that Estrada will never be? Because Church is going to surprise us all and become a big time hitter? This deal can at best be a wash for the Mets, and at its worst, a catastrophic blunder.

Even Joel Sherman, two-faced ass that he is, is ripping this trade. And this man never said a kind word about Lastings Milledge in his life.

But I digress. Names and players and deals are sure to be flying around this week as the Winter Meetings have commenced in Nashville (despite the fact that it's not even Winter yet). And so far, the only rumor I've heard concerning the Mets is that they're talking to Baltimore about Erik Bedard. Who's being offered, though? Who's left? It's beginning to sound an awful lot like Pelfrey and Humber have no real value, at least not to the teams the Mets are likely to deal with. My personal preference would be Haren from Oakland (who I'm convinced could be Santana-Lite, kind of like how Rick Reed was Maddux-Lite), but who knows what exactly Billy Beane is using to rate prospects these days. I seem to remember him having a massive orgasm for Milledge a few years back, but if that were still the case, I'd have to imagine Lastings would be packing his bags for Oakland right now.

All this talk, or lack thereof, makes me nervous. Is there a plan? Does Omar really have anything up his sleeve? These articles from the Daily News seem to indicate that he's grasping at straws. It's a little scary to read that your GM is ready to cash in with authority for...Bartolo Colon. Right. I can see it now. I'll be walking down 14th Street drunk, after seeing another Mets debacle, and I'll see Bartolo Colon in the KFC at 2nd Avenue, face down in a bucket of Extra Crispy. That's a deal that doesn't inspire much confidence in anyone.

Right now, I'm inclined to agree with Billy Wagner's comments last week, because this is shaping up to be something in the neighborhood of a 3rd place team, unless a front-line starter finds himself under my Chanukah Bush sometime soon.

Omar Minaya brings mixed record to table for the Mets [Daily News]
Omar Minaya may throw Bartolo Colon into Met Mix [Daily News]

Omar's Thanksgiving Present

You know it's a big deal when I am interrupting my own vacation to write, so, Live, from the Cleveland bureau of The Ballclub, we are most happy to welcome Johnny Estrada to the New York Mets (Or as Joe Buck would say, "JOHNNY ESTRADA, WELCOME TO NEW YORK!").

And what a turn of events this has been, beginning with the non-signing of Torrealba (Yorvit, we hardly knew ye), followed almost immediately by the rumors surrounding David Eckstein, which was then made moot by the re-signing of Luis Castillo (perhaps for two years too long, but I'd rather have Castillo than Eckstein), and finally culminating with this most glorious of trades. For not only are we bringing in a very solid performer in Johnny Estrada, who has proven himself as a quality offensive and defensive backstop, but doubly good because the Mets were able to rid themselves of Guillermo Mota in the process. So, basically, the Mets have just is killed two birds with one stone! Not only do they now have a catcher who is better and younger than the guy they let go (LoDuca), and far better than the one they tried to bring in (Torrealba), they've also fixed a major hole in their bullpen by trading away their least reliable pitcher. I'm not sure what Doug Melvin was thinking about, but if he likes what he saw in Mota, well, he's more than welcome to him. I wish him the best. Actually, no, I don't. Good Riddance, Guillermo!

As The Artist formerly known as El Guapo said, "It's a Minayacle!"

Mets get catcher Estrada from Brewers for Mota [ESPN.com]

The Importance of Being Yorvit Torrealba

I have read many e-mails over the past few days concerning what has now become a reality: The Mets acquisition of the highly sought-after Free Agent, Yorvit Torrealba.

This might be the least-heralded Free Agent signing for the Mets this side of Shane Spencer, but hold on, before we start tearing out our hair, let's dig a little deeper and examine the game plan.

With the LoDuca/Castro tandem, you weren't exactly dealing with the world's greatest skill set. LoDuca's defense was marginal. Castro's was OK. LoDuca also basically had hit his peak in 2006, and was pretty terrible at the plate all told in 2007, despite an increase in power, but considering he was popping HRs in places like Cincinnati, how much stock can be put in that. I'm not going to go and throw LoDuca under the bus, I think he was a good guy to have around, or at the very least an entertaining guy to have around in his two years here, but the press seemed to pick on him at every turn, whether it was the horses, or the penthouse wife, or the MySpace girls, or the English comment, it seemed like he was just a magnet for the ire of the Media. As Metstradamus brings up here, that doesn't seem to jive well with the philosophies of Freddie and the Boy-King, who spend a little too much time reading what's being written rather than examining things for themselves. Plus he's about to hit that age where Catchers hit the wall and don't come back. But I digress.

What we have here are two catchers now, who will probably split the time, I would guess 60/40, where Castro gets the 60%, until he inevitably gets hurt since his offseason conditioning schedule involves running for another helping at the buffet. What I would expect is some relatively improved defense at the catcher position at the sacrifice of some offense. We know Castro will hit. We don't know (or at least don't think) that Torrealba will hit much; his home/away splits will tell you that he was markedly better at Coors Field than anyplace else. What I would hope happens is that the two split the time, each of them has what is for them a decent season, and neither of them will be totally worn down by the time September comes around, which was always something we had to worry about when Piazza was here, and to a lesser degree, LoDuca. I will say that Torrealba is younger and in markedly better shape than Castro, but we are looking at carrying about 800 lbs worth of Catcher on the roster next season.

Furthermore, I believe the Mets interest in Torrealba is based on his name. Broken down, it comes to Torre and Alba. Now, Torre already being a known and trusted Baseball name in New York should add to his marketability; despite Torre's failures as Mets manager a generation ago, he redeemed himself with a very successful run with the Yankees, and is now revered. Alba is most closely associated with Jessica Alba, the attractive starlet making the rounds in the Hollywood Circuit, and should certainly improve the Mets sex appeal.

All these things considered, it is hereby a wise move from a team marketing standpoint, which took a major hit this past season, to redeem themselves by bringing in Torrealba.

What Offseason?

Not that you'd notice, especially if you're in the New York area, but the Baseball season did actually end a week ago. That means very little to most fans, especially the roster of callers to WFAN. Or myself, or the Artist formerly known as El Guapo. We convened during the week and among the discussion was an impromptu selection of who will come out on top in the National League in 2008. You know, without knowing who's on which team and all. But nonetheless, here's our picks, so if either of us end up being dead on, you can know that it was called as of November.

AFKEG's Picks:
NL East - Mets
NL Central - Cubs
NL West - Dodgers
NL Wildcard - Phillies

M2M's Picks:
NL East - Mets
NL Central - Pirates
NL West - Giants
NL Wildcard - Marlins

As you can see, we are both keeping the faith as far as the Mets are concerned. The Former Guap's picks were, I felt, of the relatively safe kind. True, you have to take the "Torre effect" into account with the Dodgers, but considering they have Kent and Penny and a veritable mishmash of players over 40 and under 25 (sort of like the Mets), I can't be sure that it's going to work out in the long run.

Speaking of the Dodgers, how would you like to be Scott Proctor right now? After basically 2 seasons of having his shoulder turned into ground meat by Torre, he was finally free, feeling good and pitching on a normal reliever's schedule. What do you think his reaction was when he picked up the newspaper on Friday morning and saw this?

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!"

But I digress. It's my contention that the NL is basically so parity-ridden that you can't figure out who the hell is going to win, even if you tried to figure it out at the beginning of the season. Think about it. Who the hell thought the Rockies or Diamondbacks would contend at all in 2007? The league is, as a whole, diluted, and there's no dominant team. The case could be made that the NL Central is the worst in Baseball. Any one of those teams could come out of nowhere and win that division and it wouldn't surprise me. So I arrived on the Pirates based solely on their young pitchers, Gorzelanny, Maholm and Duke, and I figure guys like LaRoche, Freddy Sanchez and Bay will continue to improve, and they have a few of those annoying Eric Byrnes/Shane Victorino-type players in Nate McLouth and Chris Duffy, so, why not the Pirates? Same deal with the Giants, who are probably going to end up in some sort of rebuilding state, which automatically makes them a prime candidate to surprise the hell out of everyone. And the Marlins, well, if they hold on to Willis and Cabrera, players like Uggla, Ramirez, Willingham and Hermida perform up to par, and Anibal Sanchez returns from injury and Scott Olsen lays off the sauce (mainly so that they don't have to depend heavily on guys like Byung-Hyun Kim and Armando Benitez), that's as good a pick as any for the Wildcard. Hell, they could win the East if they play out of their minds for a few months.

Then, we have the 3 re-signings by the Mets this week. I'm fine with Easley and I'm more than fine with Marlon Anderson, who, as I've said, should not have been let go after 2005. Then, there's Moises Alou. I guess, given how well he played throughout the latter part of the season, you can't argue with bringing him back too much. But I mentioned it before, and Jason at FAFIF really screamed about it too: Yes, he's a good hitter. But he's not as clutch as he's played up to be, he's going to be 42 on July 3rd, he almost retired, and, most of all, he's only good for the 80-100 games he's healthy for. And that means that the Mets have to figure out who, exactly, is going to play those other 60-80 games in LF when he's out. Endy Chavez is a start. Perhaps Carlos Gomez will ascend. But it was my preference that the Mets go out and find a Left Fielder who will hit and field and hit in the clutch, AND play 150 games in 2008. We can't count on that out of Alou, but here we are again.

OK, fine. Trade Delgado if you have to. A viable Catcher, one big bat and relief pitchers who can get outs are all I'm asking for now. As I say every offseason, just don't do anything stupid.

Lost in the Shuffle

Somehow, the Mets have ceased to exist.

With the quick exit of the Yankees from the postseason, followed by the subsequent chatter over the state of the team, and the future of Joe Torre's job in flux, and the great "meeting" going on between the Yankee Higher-uppers in Florida as we speak, combined with the playoffs continuing on and continuing to surprise everyone, it's almost as if the Mets have become persona non grata across all of Baseball.

That's not necessarily a bad thing right now.

I know there have been the odd rumblings and grumblings being bandied about. Buster Olney of ESPN proposed a massive trade involving Reyes and Johan Santana as the key figures in his blog last week (which I'd link to, but it requires insider, which I don't have), but otherwise, nary a peep from Willie, Omar, heck, you haven't even heard anybody talking about whether or not David Wright has a girlfriend lately.

That's not to say that there's nothing to talk about. Jason at Faith and Fear wrote a compelling breakdown of the state of the team last week. I offered up my player capsules a couple of weeks ago. Undoubtedly, there will be players that I filleted that are sure to return, or others that we like destined elsewhere. There is a short list of pending Free Agents on the Mets, plus a host of other options about to flood the market, lest they are re-signed by their current club before the requisite 10-day period following the World Series ends.

Here's what the Mets have:
Sandy Alomar, Jr.: Hell of a way to start.

Moises Alou: The case for him has been and had been made ad infinitum over the course of the final, miserable few weeks of the season, when he was the few players producing offensively on a consistent basis. The case against him was nailed down perfectly by Jason at FAFIF: Yes, he's great, but we know that he's only great for about 90-100 games, and that means there are 60-70 games that we leave to chance because he'll inevitably get hurt. And for a team that needs time to gel and click, it's difficult to do when you are relying heavily on the dreaded creaky-old-guy-who-can-hit-but-is-rarely-healthy. My thought: If a more attractive, younger, and less injury-prone option presents itself, please take it.

Shawn Green: Green is sort of Alou-lite, if only because he's not as creaky, and not as injury-prone (not yet, anyway), but at the same time, I can't realistically see him even as the lefty half of a RF platoon with Milledge, which is totally asinine, but somehow in the back of my mind I could see Willie doing this because of his hatred of Milledge. But that shouldn't happen. Milledge deserves the RF job, despite what Willie, Boy-King or anyone in the Media thinks about him. If Green stays at all, he should be kept at a vastly reduced price and come off the bench as the key lefty pinch hitter, unless...

...Marlon Anderson is brought back to be that lefty pinch hitter. Which he should be, because he's demonstrated himself comfortable and capable in that role, and can offer a bit more in the spot starter role than Green probably would.

Luis Castillo: An e-mail string I've been involved with was talking about how Jose Valentin was a much more positive influence on Jose Reyes than Castillo, who can apparently be a space cadet of Manny Ramirez-esque proportions. Word is Castillo often doesn't know which city he is in. Then again, if he's healthy and can hit, he can think he's on Mars for all I care. But, like Alou, if a more attractive option should present itself, the Mets should take it.

Jose Valentin: Speaking of Valentin, did you know that he was supposedly a good influence on Reyes? Apparently, Reyes' downward slide coincided with Valentin's trip to the DL. Maybe he can be brought back as a coach...

Ramon Castro: I said it before and I'll say it again. He's not good enough to start every day. He'll get exposed so fast it won't be funny. He's a perfect backup if he'd like to return in that role, or even the righty half of a catching platoon if that should be the situation. But under no circumstances should he start.

Paul LoDuca: I'm convinced he won't be back. It's a shame, since he can be a good vocal leader, but his issues with the Media combined with his age seem to be pointing to LoDuca walking.

Aaron Sele: Darren Oliver put up similar numbers for the Angels that he did for the Mets in 2006, albeit pro-rated over fewer IP. Point is, if the Mets had kept him around and maybe thrown the kind of asinine money at him that they did at Schoeneweis, this wouldn't have been necessary.

Damion Easley: I would prefer that the Mets do their best to keep away from the dreaded "creaky old guys." That said, I know they won't, and it's pretty much impossible to fill out a roster without at least one or two of them (even the Rockies are trotting out the ancient Matt Herges), and if there has to be a couple of them here, I would like Easley to be one of them. He provides a nice righty counter to, say, Marlon Anderson off the bench.

Tom Glavine: Go back to Atlanta. I would prefer to have Philip Humber make the 33 starts. Or someone who won't shit the bed in the biggest game of the year.

Jeff Conine: Retired.

Mike DiFelice: See here.

There are other Free Agents out there, a comprehensive list is here. There are some nice, attractive options out there (in the vein of players like Bobby Abreu, Francisco Cordero or Mike Lowell (if this season proves that Lowell is Lowell again, and if he could, perhaps, be moved to another position, say, 1B, but that leaves a very expensive mess in the name of Carlos Delgado, who I've completely soured on after the evasiveness and the Jeter jersey incident, but this is another issue for another time)), but for each guy like that, there are another 10 Steve Trachsel/John Mabry/Neifi Perez types who are completely useless, except for those guys who could catch lightning in a bottle for a season (which is all hearsay at this point), or for me to put in a list to make snide remarks about in a future post.

It's going to be a head-scratching good time.

Congratulations, Rockies. I wish I'd put $100 on them to make it to the World Series back in April.

Five Key Mets, and the Official Ballclub-Approved 2007 Mets Lineup

Over the past few weeks, since we got this thing up and running, Mets2Moon has been covering five key Mets for 2007. To the list I would only add Shawn Green. Because of the money owed him and his past glory as a power hitter, he's got the inside track for the right field job. But given the severe dropoff in his production recently, it's hard to justify watching him stumble around in right while Lastings Milledge continues to impress and at the very least Endy Chavez and Ben Johnson could form a more than capable platoon. I've said it before, I like Shawn Green; I just don't see him being the guy for this team this year. What can I say? As a baseball fan I'm big on defense, athleticism, and Christianity.

(For those of you who don't know me that well yet: Yes, I'm kidding about one of those three things.)

To review, here are your official Ballclub Five Key Mets for 2007:

#1: John Maine
#2: Endy Chavez
#3: Oliver Perez
#4: The Pen, collectively
#5: José Valentin

* * *

El Guapo: El Gerente General

I know you all were wondering but were just too polite to ask, so I'll save you the suspense and give you the Mets 25-man rotation as picked by me, knowing what we know on March 14:

Rotation SP1 Tom Glavine L SP2 Orlando Hernandez R SP3 John Maine R SP4 Oliver Perez L SP5 Mike Pelfrey R	Bullpen Billy Wagner L Aaron Heilman R Pedro Feliciano L Joe Smith R Ambiorix Burgos R Scott Schoeneweis L John Adkins R
Lineup SS Jose Reyes S 3B David Wright R CF Carlos Beltran S 1B Carlos Delgado L LF Moises Alou R C Paul LoDuca R 2B Jose Valentin S RF Lastings Milledge R	Bench C Ramon Castro R OF Endy Chavez L OF Ben Johnson R IF Damion Easley R IF/OF David Newhan L

Notes on the guys who didn't make the cut:
IF Anderson Hernandez: Keep an eye on him to see how he's hitting in AAA: Valentin's old.

IF Ruben Gotay: Ditto. But A-Hern is the better defender and also plays short (well), so he's ahead on my imaginary depth chart.

OF Shawn Green: You've had a wonderful career, Shawn. Please do try to make a go of it in Colorado (or Pittsburgh or whatever).

IF Julio Franco: Are they organic eggs? I always wondered that. I'm not big on the whole organic thing, but for some reason I always buy organic eggs. If I ate eleven egg whites every morning like you do, I'd be even more committed to that. Anyway, I don't know how to tell you this, but it was between you and Newhan, and he bats lefty and can play more positions. I'm really sorry. Can we interest you in a coaching position?

LHP Jason Vargas: First guy out of Triple-A for the rotation, if need be. I have a good feeling about him. Florida rushed him and it set him back, but I've liked the stuff and the results so far this Spring. Still only 25.

RHP Jorge Sosa: Good Spring. Still don't trust him after his '06. Behind Vargas in my opinion.

RHP Philip Humber: No one's given up on you, Phil. Tough Spring so far. Just keep working and your time will come soon.

RHP Chan Ho Park: Second guy out of Triple-A if things get really unfortunate with the rotation. Also a decent long man bullpen candidate.

RHP Aaron Sele: Sele can be given his unconditional release to go sign with a club that needs him, like the Royals or the Nats or someone. Not being snotty, that's just what usually happens with veterans who don't make the cut, at least in most cases.

Other notes:
I've read good arguments for Wright in the two-hole and good arguments for him to stay in the five-hole. To be honest, I haven't really decided. In the interest of not being wishy-washy I've placed him second on the theory that your best hitters should logically get more plate appearances than your other hitters. After a few weeks, in my imaginary scenario Milledge hits himself into the two-hole and we rethink things from there down.

Steve Keane of the Eddie Kranepool Society also has a suggested lineup up on that blog, so check that out too. He's got a couple different ideas than what I've put together, but really, there's really not too many contested spots, even with the pitching staff being what it is.

The All-Mediocre Team

Page 2's David Schoenfield has a really entertaining piece today about the well-documented spending spree this offseason. Tens of millions of dollars have been lavished upon the Jeff Suppans of the league, and Alfonso Soriano's pitiful on-base ability has been ignored in favor of those shiny, shiny RBI and home run totals. What Shoenfield did was put together a lineup of the highest paid mediocrities of the offseason and played out several seasons' worth of video game simulations to see how they did as a unit. Highly scientific stuff. Here's his lineup:

C: Begie Molina, Giants
1B: Nomar Garciaparra, Dodgers
2B: Mark DeRosa, Cubs
3B: Aramis Ramirez, Cubs
SS: Julio Lugo, Red Sox
LF: Alfonso Soriano, Cubs
OF: Juan Pierre, Dodgers
OF: J.D. Drew, Red Sox
DH: Carlos Lee, Astros
Ace: Barry Zito, Giants

The results are about what you'd expect: mediocre! In an offseason where the Mets held back from giving Zito seven or eight years and otherwise kept it sane (you can argue that they were too cautious; we'll see what happens), it's nice to sit back and mock other teams' desperation (until a month into the season when I start complaining to anyone who will listen that we should've bid $55 million on Dice-K).

The most mediocre team money can buy [ESPN.com]

Willie Also Ghost Rides the Whip From Time to Time

You've gotta have the arm rest. And the wide-brim hat cocked to the side, but it's gotta be a real pimp hat. You have to look real cool while you're doing it.

So, any guesses who's talking and what he's talking about? Why, it's Willie Randolph, and he's describing how to execute a perfect gangsta lean. For some reason.


Big Willie Style [New York Times]

Still at It

Chavez, back in Venezuela, saves another's pitcher's ass:

The Most Popular Chavez in Venezuela? [New York Times]

Eastward Ho!

This is the sort of signing that sums up the Mets' offseason when it comes to pitching. A mediocre (7-7, 4.81 ERA) veteran to throw in the mix with other vets and the young guys.

But if that sounds like a complaint, it's not. Don't let anyone tell you the Mets blew it this offseason with free agent pitchers. They bid handsomely on Dice-K, but no one was going to get within leagues of what the Red Sox put down. And as far as Zito is concerned, they were right to pass. It isn't so much the money as the years. Seven years is too long for all but the most special (and young) players, it's not for the guys who are good, but only commanding that attention because they're the best who happen to be on the market.

Chan Ho is not likely to give the Mets much of anything. This isn't really about him. The strategy is the right one.

Chan Ho Park reaches deal with Mets [AP/Yahoo Sports]