New York Mets 2011

[sonny10305]

Nice hitting from Turner last night to give us the walk off win. But forgotten in all the talk was the fact that Nick Evans got the hit that ended up being the winning run. Without Nick Justin would not have had that walk off win, I’m just sayin.
Meantime Justin woke up with a belly ache this morning actually it’s a virus and was scratched from today’s game, Tejada will play second.

Johan Santana pitched well yesterday allowing an unearned run on two hits, striking out one and walking one in three innings he threw 39 pitches. After the game Johan said he still has some work to do, but overall he feels like he is making progress from one start to the other, which is pretty much all they are looking for. He also went on to say that the whole situation that is going on right now is that he is in rehab mode and not in regular season mode. The next couple of days are going to be important once he throws a bullpen and see what they want him to do, whether it's in the big leagues or in the minor leagues or instructional league. Whatever it is he will be ready for it, as long as we find ways to perform and get the strength back.
The game was a no decision for Johan

Last night the Cyclones pounded out 16 hits, and scored nine runs with two-outs to a 12-5 win over the Staten Island Yankees to force a game Three tonight. It is a must win for my boys tonight to even the series,
guess where I will be.

 

[sonny10305]

Last night I went with Danny Muno and Matt Harvey to Citi field to support them as they were honored in a ceremony before last nights game for their Sterling Award. Other players honored were Josh Satin who was named organization player of the year, Darin Gorski a terrific up and coming pitcher I am very excited about who won the Florida State League ERA title and was pitcher of the year, last I checked his ERA was around 2. Also honored was Cam Maron, a catcher, who was named the organization's top player at Kingsport, Chris Schwinden who will pitch again this afternoon, was also honored and about four others kids I really do not know much about. Of course you have seen me write a lot about Muno he is one talented kid, I love hanging with him and just talking baseball. What a thrill he had before the game when he got a chance to take batting practice with the guys, Danny hit a bomb over to the Shea Bridge. How bout that

Just a quick note about DWright, dono what is up with him he has not been himself for over a week now, something is bothering him that’s for sure. He has lost all concentration and has committed seven errors in his past 10 games. David is down over the Mets performance this year and was genually surprised they finished as they did, yesterday they were officially mathematically eliminated. He just looks so tired, so very tired I have never seen him look so bad. A lot of the guys are tired and are looking for a rejuvenation over the winter. Many of the new kids will play over the winter; in particular will be Lucas Duda who has got to learn that right field position in order for him to make the team next year as more than just a bench player. He will go to Venezuela to play winter ball under Tim Tuefel who is going to manage the team this year Tim will be a great help to Lucas I am really happy about that decision. Lucas has got a lot to offer offensively but his defense skills are pretty shabby he is basically lost out there does not know how to read an incoming ball at all, but Tuefel will fix that have no fear. Tuefel is currently on the Mets coaching staff in Flushing and of course he managed the Bisons this year. Wally Backman is supposed to join the Mets coaching staff any day now as well.

This afternoon Chris Schwinden gets another chance to pitch, he was very very nervous in his first outing and not pitch all that well, but I have watched him many times and I promise he is better than you saw that day. I hope his nerves will be ok today so you can see what he is really made of, Paulino will catch him.

Also today you guys will get a look at Valentino Pascucci who is fresh out of Buffalo and was recently promoted. He is basically an infielder but will play right field today. Pascucci was the Bisons 2011 Most Valuable Player and he played with Buffalo for the entire 2011 season as I recall he led the club in pretty much every offense category.

I have written about Johan Santana wanting to play at least once in flushing before the season ends but that aint happening. His next step will be to throw a simulated game on Sunday in Fort Myers, Johan lives there and will finish the season nether before heading over to the fall instructional league which is also in Fort Myers. He will not pitch in the majors this season.

Lastly I want to mention that little experiment SNY is doing with Kevin Burkhardt and Chris Carlin switching roles, I am not amused. Of course this is good for Kevin he gets to do the post and pre game shows and is really doing a great job, but Carlin sucks in the role as field reporter I mean he blows big time. He does not have the personality or the ability to do interviews as well a KB can. But again if this is good for Kevin then I am all for it. Even if it means I have to endure Bobby (windbag) O in the shows with Kevin. Exactly what SNY has in mind here or how long this is going to last is unclear, no one is talking not even KB, just noncommittal comments to any questions regarding all this, I have told him privately and thru twitter what a great job he is doing which he is. But Carlin…. Ugh.
I did ask KB if this will change his plans for the Mets Hot Stove show which he does every winter and Kevin said it will not and he will do the show again this winter starting in mid November.

 

[sonny10305]

Change in todays lineup, in my post above I mentioned Valentino Pascucci will get his first ML start with the Mets today but he was scheduled to play in the outfield which made no sense to me since he is primarily an infielder, a first baseman to be exact. Well apparently that is what will happen and the Mets will now play him at first and Nick Evans will move to the outfield.

In addition, I guess the Mets read my disapproval of the Burkhardt/ Carlin switch and today we will return to normal with Carlin inside and KB will do the field reporting. I will get to the bottom of all this trust me

 

[Sausy]

Yes.....I have not fallen off the Earth,I'm still here!

I am still reading sonny and everyone contributing,and I have a lot to say about a lot of things,lol!And sonny,I know especially how tough it is on you.Glad you could be spending some time with the Mets future,some of the up and coming stars like Matt Harvey and always enjoy your insights into their farm clubs...we need all the hope we can get!

Was planning on making it to CitiField today,but the forecast wan't great and well,the Mets probably wish to high heaven they would have been rained out instead today!10-1,for fucks sakes!!!!Collins would have had my approval if he kiclked some players in the nuts for the atrocious lack of effort and urgency.............NOBODY has ANY business quitting!!!Especially with the Nats really showing something.....they haven't been any good in a serious matter since they played in Montreal!!!But they play for pride,play for a future that seems to be more apparent to them than to many wearing a Mets uniform.....all the shit NY mets teams have put us through over the past five years ,even if they ended the season 50-100 they at least should play like each game fucking MATTERS!!!


Fucking pissed now...more tomorrow(hopefully calmer)!

I love my Mets,will NEVER,EVER be seen rooting for the Phils or adopting the Nats or Braves as my surrogate hip,up and coming team....

 

[syam24]

I agree Sausy, it's been obvious for the past week that the Mets have quit on the season. Although the starting pitching has been more than adequate, the lineup and bullpen absolutely sucks! THere is no life in the lineup! How many times did the Mets have first and second, nobody out, and not score! Nobody can put down a sac bunt, no power whatsoever. On defense, it's error after error, or plays not being made. They disgust me, the end of the season can not come quick enough.

 

[sonny10305]

Nice to hear from you again Saucy you have been missed. It sure has been an awful couple of weeks for Mets baseball it's hard to understand what happened to them. Considering all they have been thru with injuries and the like they still manage to stay around the .500 mark with a bunch of minor leaguers battling the big boys and in many cases out playing them, It was a lot of fun to watch. But lately just about everyone has, as Collins said “folded up”. No one is hitting mistakes and errors are to the point of embarrassment and overall morale seems at an all time low. The season ends in two weeks just 13 skinny little games but for many Mets fans it is already over. The team is painful and no fun to watch as we embarrass ourselves more and more everyday, a sad ending to a season that started out with so much promise. We had new leadership and started out on what looked like a very successful season, all the signs were in our favor but then those injuries started, oh those injuries, they were just devastating, what happened to Murphy and Davis was tragic both of them knocked out in the beginning of what was to be a great season for both of them. Who knows what Murphy would have accomplished with the tear he was on and Ike was just beginning on his journey to stardom. But with both of them doing so well now I have no doubt they will pick it up next year where they left off. Still with the arrival of the Buffalo Mets we still had fun baseball as we watched theses kids scrap it out and in many cases outplay the big boys what a thrill it was. I have the privilege of knowing many of those kids having followed them thru the minors so it was an extra kick for me. Of course sometimes the bad times bring I some good cause if the injuries to Ike Murph and Reyes we got some great emerging talent like Duda and Turner as well as the return of Tejada and Evans all of whom were given new chances to shine. Santana’s loss gave us a good look at out pitching future as well, so for me that was the positive I took out of all this.

It is way to early to think about next year but jus cause I am a major Mets fan and like Saucy could never root for any other team I love to stay positive and put this year to bed and think about all that talent waiting to bust out next year, yes Mets fans 2012 will be awesome ya gotta believe. To quote Syam as he ends all of his posts “Lets Go Mets” and add, in 2012.

Before I close out this thread for the year I will outline some of what to expect in 2012 I have some thoughts on that and will share them with you guys over the next week or so. Of course there will be a Mets winter report were I will keep all of you up to date on what the guys are doing. I also plan on as I did this year on going to Mets camp to see first hand how our guys are doing.
A few of the guys will be playing winter ball, Duda for example, and I will follow that all winter and keep you all informed. Others like Murphy and Davis will continue to get back to 100% and be ready to go get em in 2012. Murphy will take it easy this winter with no winter ball but he will be in St Lucie early in January to begin his comeback. I am sure you saw Ike in the dugout all these last weeks, as I told you he wanted to hang with the team till they left town. To that end Ike is preparing to fly home to Arizona where he will lay low for a couple of weeks and then he said he wants to start training starting with some weightlifting. There are no effects with his injury at the moment however he expects there may be lingering mild discomfort as he begins training again and the docs have told him to expect arthritis to develop as he gets older.

So tonight we face the Braves I know that Collins is on a tear to motivate the team to finish with some respect and if anyone can fire up that team he can. Sure would be nice to see the guys come back and end the season at .500 and go home with some dignity. But first we gotta get thru the Braves we need desperately to be the spoilers here against that team. Of course they biggest issue for me is the fans in Atlanta with that goofy and annoying chop chop. Who knows maybe I will finally get my wish and watch a Mets player hit a grand slam and as he rounds the bases giving those fans the ole chop chop
Oh come on…that would be awesome.

 

[Scrub]

I love my Mets,will NEVER,EVER be seen rooting for the Phils or adopting the Nats or Braves as my surrogate hip,up and coming team....

Yes, but at the least the PHILS WIN

Sorry Sonny, you know I love to tease you

 

[syam24]

Well, the Mets showed some life this past weekend, taking 2 of 3 from the Braves. About damn time. Perhaps they can close on an up tick instead of just sliding into oblivion.

 

[sonny10305]

Sorry Sonny, you know I love to tease you

Always live the teasing babe and congrats on your team clinching their fifth straight NL East title.
I just appreciate your guys taking another loss last night to the Cards aggravating the Braves and makin em fight harder for the wild card. The Mets helped as well by beating the Braves 2 out of 3. Anything to keep those chop chop idiots quite makes my day. GOD I hate those Braves!!!

Yup that was fun Syam I love playing spoiler to those Braves

Not much to tell you guys today the team left last night for St Louis for a three game series starting Tuesday. The annual rookie hazing took place yesterday were dressed as cheerleaders, they had to wear the outfits on the plane last night. Probably the funniest of the group was Lucas Duda who had to squeeze his 6-4 255 lb body into a two-piece outfit which was custom made with the team's orange NY logo stitched on the front.

DUDA

[/URL][/IMG]

[/URL][/IMG]

Turner

[/URL][/IMG]

Gee

[/URL][/IMG]


Pridie

[/URL][/IMG]

Nicklous

[/URL][/IMG

 

[Sausy]

Love it,sonny.........my favorite pics of the year include the annual rookie hazing ones....this time Jason Isringhausen planned all the details if my info is correct(think Josh Thole also was one of the hazed rookies though he may not be technically a rookie)Lucas looked like he is having a ton of fun,so happy to see the progress big Luke's been making this year....he really has grown so quickly into a real threat in the middle of the order.Justin looks great too......nice calves on that cheerleader!Love Gee and Nickeas,too!A great win to go off to St.Louis on such a fun,light hearted note....Tejada has done an amazing job too...so young at 21 but such a cool professionalism to him.(Don't know if he qualifies for a rookie either since he had some time last year,like Josh Thole)


Any Ike Davis or Daniel Murphy updates?

Oh,and Scrub.....love ya!

 

[sonny10305]

Tejada has done an amazing job too...so young at 21 but such a cool professionalism to him. Any Ike Davis or Daniel Murphy updates?


I have not spoken to Murph in a few weeks, we exchange goofy e-mails here and there, but I am going to be with him when I go to Florida in January so I will have much to tell you then. As for Ike I spoke to him he day he left for Arizona last week and he is really very relived about the surgery and as I told you he will rest a month or so before doing any kind of just about anything,. I will prolly call him in a week or so and see how is doing. For right now it’s just eating, sleeping and fishing.

Interesting to hear Sandy Alderson talking about ”significant” dimensions changes are coming to Citi Field in 2012. He suggested the wall in left field will not remain at 16 feet, whether the distance from home plate remains the same or a new fence is erected closer. The "Mo Zone" crevice in right field looks it will be gone too. Of course nothing's finalized, in fact they haven't got an architect. Should be a lot more on that next month or next. By the way I am in favor of changing things as Citi

I also loved hearing Sandy say the Mets will go outside the organization for their 2012 closer rather than use Bobby Parnell or another in-house option. I think his exact words were “I don’t think our closer is currently on the roster” Oh man did I love hearing that.

It is hard to believe that a year has passed and yes indeed Tyler we will never forget you

 

[Sausy]

Very much sonny looking forward to the changes in the CitiField configurations,certainly the big wall in left that stopped a number of home runs coming down to a fairer more conventional size will help.As will the reduction of the vast right center field from 415 to a much fairer distance,say 390 or so.Sandy Alderson feels for the best benefit to the Mets the distance neither be pitcher favorable of hitter friendly but neutral...hopefully they can keep the best of the park and yet not give David Wright or Jason Bay nightmares about having to hit it a ton to go out(though interestingly when Ike Davis hit his homers earlier in the season,they couldn't be kept it just about ANY park,how tremendous those shots were.The evidence speaks for itself though as overall the Mets had a losing record home at CitiField and weren't generating any consistent explosiveness in their offense,so even if the effect is psychological alone hopefully it can help gain the home field advantage,at least confidence in the players they can win at home.

Disappointed in the last few weeks of play,especially in the past few games.Wasted opportunities when they hold it close like tonight's 5-4 loss to the Reds....or getting blown out with Mike Pelfrey looking like he couldn't be any more lost out there giving up five runs in three innings.Whatever happened to his sinker,he has to find it again or basically the Mets should say adios after next year....Matt Harvey,the Familias kid,Jennry Mejia hopefully,or the Zack Wheeler maybe in the next two years at the latest offer some hope if their healthy,always a risky Mets proposition.Two big plusses though going into next year is the play of second baseman-shortstop Tejada who only 21 plays with the savvy and talent of a cagey master veteran...so impressive is his defense,hitting development,ability to do the right thing at the right time,know the situation and perform accordingly.....how tough a plate appearance he has become,fouling off even the most tempting pitches,showing patience and determination.Lucas Duda too,becoming a clutch power bat who after a shaky first month drove in 50 runs,hit ten homers and appears to be on the verge of becoming a powerful bat in the middle of the lineup.A tremendously modest kid,even to the point of doubting his presence on the club early on....just has unbelievable power potential,and adjusts well to the situation,being a good natural hitter in addition to having that burst of power.They'll both be fixtures at CitiField hopefully for a long time.

Will be taping the last game of the season tomorrow,hoping with everything I've got it won't be Jose Reye's last time on the field at CitiField as Mets shortstop.Two home runs tonight,three hits and three runs scored...please,please,please with everything going wrong for the Mets win that batting title,Jose....give the Mets something to cheer about,and give them more by signing again as soon as possible!

We need a revival to Jason Bay's career,good health and consistency...something first two years of his contract he hasn't shown at all.Plays hard,good defense(much better than advertised)always seems to have great admiration and respect among his teammates.But the clock is ticking,and the Jason Bay we expected is nowhere to be found as of yet.Angel Pagan regressed at bat and in the field much of the year,and we need David Wright to regain something close to the stature of one of the best all around players in the game.He recovered from the back fracture but has been wildly inconsistent offensively and made an alarming string of errors and misplays in the field.Hopefully the best of David has not passed and he and Jose Reyes can both be here to finish what they started back in 2005.Either Josh Thole has the confidence of the organization or he doesn't and should go....projected as a guy who can make contact and potentially hit .300 while being solid behind the plate saw too much playing time go to Ron Paulino....almost a platoon/personal catcher situation.new York born and raised Cam Maron appears to be a similar type,a very good contact hitter decent behind the plate,maybe another two years he'll be ready.Also we have to find a place for Daniel Murphy,the guy flat out hits and the Mets need all the consistent offense they can get.

Kudos to RA Dickey,the results didn't show much but after a shaky start a whale of a finish to the season...all you say you want to do is always keep the Mets in the game,and as much as anyone could have done you did yourself proud.If you could ever transport any of that toughness,that resiliency and professionalism to constant underperformer Mike Pelfrey,you'd be a real legend,too!Hopefully Jon Niese can come in healthy and show the exciting stuff earlier in the season that showed how great his potential can be...but again,gotta grow and develop because potential can soon fade to has been....and he has Mike Pelfrey to personify how quickly one's fortunes can go all sour so fast.Chris Capuano isn't always dazzling but stayed healthy and showed great competitiveness,cetainly if other options prove dicey he definitely should be brought back.The bullpen is such a frustratingly inconsistent problem....Bobby Parnell shows the past couple of weeks a much better side of himself than when as a closer he was a one man burn the house down band...Pedro Beato went from temptingly brilliant to more and more flat....Josh Stinson went from big hope to nevermind....JD Carrasco was horrible at times....Jason Isringhausen likely won't be back despite even with a few flat performances, pitching beyond anyone's expectations and even closed for a time after K-Rod's trade getting seven saves including his 300th with the club he started his career with.

Lastly good for Sandy Alderson to extend Terry Collins throgh 2013....though injuries took their toll again with this club he set an optimistic,professional standard that this club needs desparately.He won't put up with packing it in,and despite the times the Mets still showed their fundamentals were horrible(can ANYONE lay down a textbook bunt,PLEASE!!!)Terry has changed the losing culture of this club and there is much more pride and fight in these Mets.Things still need to improve SUBSTANTIALLY from within and outside moves for the Mets to seriously contend in the near future.

A lot of questions remain in the offense as weell

 

[syam24]

Nice to see the Mets close out the year on an up note with the 3-0 blanking of the Reds. Outstanding effort by Miguel Batista, not bad for an "old guy". Congratulations to JOSE REYES, first Met to win a batting title!!!!! Hopefully, he'll be back at Citi Field, no matter the dimensions, for many more years!! Looking forward to some upgrades for the Mets, especially, the pitching staff for next season. THanks, Sonny, for another superb effort at keeping us Mets fans informed and entertained during some trying times. Looking forward to the "hot stove" edition. Lets Go Mets!!

 

[sonny10305]

Whew, I am still rockin over that awesome finish to the wild and wacky wild card race last night, what a ride. I watched most of the games at a viewing party last night, a couple of Met players had cable hook up set up so we could watch most of the games almost at the same time. Phillies/ Braves, Cards/Astros, Rays/ Yankees and Sox/Orioles. It bang bang bang in the last two hours with the outcome leaving most of us horse and out of breath. How sweet to see those Braves go down in a nail biter of a 13 inning game. Oh man I was so excited you’d a thought the Mets had won the World Series. I’m thinking it took some of the heat off the Mets collapse of 2009/2010 with the Sox and Braves collapse which was monumental. The Rays and the Cards both had two of the greatest September comeback in MLB history.

Syam I appreciate the kind words and you can be sure I will be here all winter keeping you guys up to date on what is going on with the Mete all winter. I will be with the team in February but I am also going down to visit Murphy in late November as well. You were dead on about Miguel Batista that was his first complete game since 2006 and the two-hitter was his first shutout since that season as well.

Some of the guys headed home this morning some last night, Lucas Duda still suffering from headaches wanted to get home to California right away he was a little worried about the long flight home and how it might effect his head, I will check in on him from time to time to see how he feels, he has no winter ball plans.

Some of the boys I spike with said they would do absolutely nothing for at least a month before getting back to the gym and training. Thole said he is going to spend less time working with the weights, as he did last year, and more time working on his defense, Evans said it will be at least a month before he does anything then hit the batting cage and Turner is also going to lay low for a couple of weeks but is looking forward to going to St.Luice in February. I told Justin that the boos from the crowd yesterday were a result of Reyes being out and not directed at him when he took Jose’s spot in the lineup. Still, the boos were painful for him to hear.

I want to say I fully support Jose Reyes decision to come out of the game, it was what he wanted to do and Terry let him do it. The fans who booed and got their panties in a bunch need to understand that it was Jose’s choice to make and stop feeling sorry for them selves cause they did not see him get a couple of more at bats which might have cost him the title. At the time no one knew Braun would go 0-4 and Jose could not have lost the title but at the time it was the right choice to make. I’m just sayin. We may hear more from Jose this afternoon he is gonna stop by Citi Field along with Sandy Alderson.

I thought Saucy did a nice job of capping off this thread, I would only add that out priorities are clear, sign Reyes and then its pitching pitching and more pitching. We need one starter and a whole new pen. I want us to get a 7-8-9 guy especially a new closer but set up as well.

We saw a ton of new talent this year, like Duda, Turner, Satin, Baxter and the outstanding work from Nick Evans. Makes me feel really good about 2012 But I always knew we had talent in the wings I have written many times about what I saw in Buffalo and around the minors, so if the Mets can fix the pitching and those kids work hard this winter along with the return of Davis and Murphy I see no reason why we cant compete well in 2012.

Thanks to all of you who contributed here and I will see you in Mets winter report