Mets Fans Forever

J.J. Putz Talks About Mets Incompetence

AUTHOR: GREG POMES

Last Friday Comcast SportsNet Chicago ran a story on their website which you can view here.  We all know that Putz was traded from Seattle to be a setup guy for K-Rod.  When the trade was announced the thought of the 1-2 punch of Putz and K-Rod seems like a dream come true for Met fans, especially after the way the bullpen killed the playoff chances of the Mets in 2008.  Unfortunately for us Putz was injured for most of the season, severely hurting our bullpen in 2009.  Putz says of his trade to the Mets last year:

"When the trade went down last year, I never really had a physical with the Mets."

There you go, right from the man's own mouth.  The Mets never gave him a physical before completing the trade.  That is unheard of in the game today.  How does a team not give an incoming player with known injury problems a physical before completing a trade?  Putz goes on to say:

"I had the bone spur (in the right elbow). It was discovered the previous year in Seattle, and it never got checked out by any other doctors until I got to spring training, and the spring training physical is kind of a formality. It was bugging me all through April, and in May I got an injection. It just got to the point where I couldn’t pitch. I couldn’t throw strikes, my velocity was way down."

This shows exactly what is wrong with the Mets.  They knew the bullpen was a big reason why the Mets failed to make the playoffs in 2008 and they knew that K-Rod alone was not enough since he only pitches 1 inning per game and they refused to go out and spend money on a setup guy so they make a big trade, make sure to tell the press and ticket holders the news without checking on the health of a player.  There is no organization in Major League Baseball today that operates like this. You can criticize teams like the Nationals, Pirates, etc... about their records over the years but I doubt they run their organization like this.

Once Putz was hurt the Mets also made sure to shut him up about the injury:

"I knew that I wasn’t right. I wasn’t healthy. The toughest part was having to face the media and tell them that you feel fine, even though you know there’s something wrong and they don’t want you telling them that you’re banged up"

The Mets as usual make a mistake and then instead of fessing up to their mistake and take their lumps they try to cover it up or blame beat reporters for just doing their jobs.  They also have no regard for the player’s health or careers as the Mets tried to have Putz come back in August but as he was trying to come back he felt tightness and then the Mets finally told him:

"I blew my elbow out. That was kind of a shock because I never felt any pain in it."

Putz said the one thing he learned from this situation was:

"That it’s my career, and when you know something doesn’t feel right, and they want to take these little sidesteps to do something, and just wait and wait and wait, you got to get it taken care of instead of trying to prolong the inevitable."

This off season we have seen guys take offers from other teams in smaller markets and in some cases for less money to avoid playing for the Mets.  I think now we know why.

This is just embarrassing now.  If the Mets are going to succeed things need to change.  You cannot run a successful team like this.  It's one thing not being able to sign players or trade for players because of a lack of money but when you do spend the money on a free agent and make trades for a player you have to make sure they are healthy and follow the correct procedure.  The White Sox made sure to give Putz a physical first before signing him as Putz says:

"They wanted to do a physical right away. They took an MRI. The elbow looked clean"

This shows that the Mets organization as it is structured right now is a complete mess and as long as Omar is the GM whether or not if it's in name only and rich boy Freddy Wilpon wants to be a baseball guy nothing is going to change.

The Day the Music Died

Author: Clare Lafferty

Jane Jarvis died over the weekend. For those who are not familiar with Jane, she was the organist at Shea from 1964 to 1979 and as much a fixture there as the NYC skyline sign, the 410 center field marking and Lindsay, Murph and Kiner.

When I used to go to games as a kid, the music was a big part of the whole experience. Not only did Jane play the traditional tunes (National Anthem, Meet the Mets) but she played jazz tunes. Her background was in jazz and she knew many famous jazz icons, like Lionel Hampton. She also worked for Muzak (you know, the elevator music people) composing songs that were also jazzy in nature.

Jane Jarvis brought a happy and uplifting attitude to Shea through her music during many years of bad baseball and sparse crowds. I'll never forget feeling so bad when the Mets announced they were going to canned music and Jane would no longer be playing the organ live there. A piece of Mets history was gone in an instant replaced with "progress".

Thank you Jane for the joy you brought me and many, many Mets fans throughout the years. You played for the Mets for 15 years and made Shea better because of it. Rest in peace, Jane.

Sensible? I Think Not

Author: Paul Zinn

This is the time of year when baseball fans start turning their attention toward spring training. Football season is winding down. November, December and January (the three months with absolutely no actual baseball) are also winding down. You are supposed to be focused on the enthusiasm of Opening Day.

But for me, the enthusiasm of Opening Day and the 2010 edition of the New York Mets, is really starting to wane. This has been an awful offseason.

Since the conclusion of last year, I have been a big proponent of making big moves this winter. However, if the Mets would prefer to stay the course, get healthy, play out this year, and focus on big moves next offseason with a better free agent market, I am okay with that. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I understand it.

What I don't understand is the Mets current operating procedure. It seems to make no sense.

Manager Jerry Manual has talked frequently about the need for this team to get off to a quick start, clearly insinuating that he will lose his job if that doesn't happen. I have to believe the same is true of Omar Minaya.

What I also have to believe is that Minaya and Manual can't be at all excited about putting their jobs in the hands of a rotation that includes Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez and John Maine, in addition to a yet-to-be-named fifth starter.

I think this rotation will leave them jobless, and I have to believe Minaya and Manual know there is a very realistic chance that is how it will play out as well.

From the end of the season, it's been clear the Mets needed to add pitching, as a top priority. Yet they have done nothing in that department, despite clearly having the ability to obtain a number of second tier pitchers if the team just spent a little more money. And they didn't seem to make a move at either of the available aces, Roy Halladay and John Lackey, either.

So where exactly is the breakdown here? Why would Minaya and Manual put a team on the field that could certainly lead to them losing their job?

Did they spend money incorrectly? Did their budget change midseason? Did they not have any budget?

Well the answer to the last question is clearly no. They had $80 million to spend on Jason Bay, a move I was a big proponent of, but not if it was to come at the expense of adding pitching.

If this was the extent of the budget, it should have spent on the clear top priority - starting pitching. That's what the team needed most. And Minaya and Manual would probably have the same line of thinking, if for no other reason than they need a stronger starting rotation to get off to a strong start for job security more than they need Bay.

Cather Bengie Molina is another example. If the budget was small, it should have been used to fill the pitching need, the catching need and the leftfield need, all at a lesser level. In other words, it only made sense to get Bay if there were more moves to come. Despite having Bay, the Mets have gaping holes in the pitching and catching departments.

I guess the budget could have changed midway through the offseason, but if that is the case, I believe Minaya and Manual are being put in a position to fail before the season even starts. And why would either of them want to be in that type of situation?

Maybe the Wilpons are forcing Minaya's hand. But then again, Jeff Wilpon was on WFAN after the season ended, and said Minaya would be the one making the personnel decisions, that he would have the power to make moves and that the team would be built around pitching and defense. Starting pitching and catching clearly fall into this category. 

Yet the Mets went out and got a leftfielder, which was also a priority, but not like starting pitching was. They then passed on every pitcher to date the market place offered, as well as the best catcher. Finally, they secured Gary Matthews Jr. in a trade that no one can make any sense of.

It is no wonder there have been reports this week from Ken Rosenthal and Buster Olney that the Mets need to change the way they operate.

There just doesn't seem to be a plan.

Beltran Mess Gets Messier

Author: Greg Pomes

Yesterday John Ricco, the assistant general manager of the Mets held a conference call with reporters to talk about Carlos Beltran's injury and surgery.  Ricco said the following in the call:

When asked about Beltran not getting permission on the surgery Ricco said:

"There is an issue with the process in that we told the the agent that we wanted the ability to discuss the diagnosis and possibly get a thrid opinion. We were never afforded that opportunity, and that’s the only issue."

David Lennon of News Day asked: 

Is this an open wound from a legal standpoint?

Ricco Replied "We alerted his agent via letter that we were not afforded the opportunity that we asked for."  He went on to say:

"We are reserving our rights under the contract that we were not afforded the opportunity we asked for. That said we’re looking forward to getting him back as soon as possible."

Carlos Beltran released his own statement via his agent Scott Boras saying:

"I am totally surprised by the reaction to my recent knee surgery. I have done nothing but follow the directions of my doctors.

Any accusations that I ignored or defied the team’s wishes are simply false. I also spoke to Omar Minaya about the surgery on Tuesday.

He did not ask me to wait, or to get another doctor’s opinion. He just wished me well… I do not know what else I could have done.

No one from team raised any issue until Wednesday, after I was already in surgery.  I do not know what else I could have done. The most important thing here is that the surgery was a total success and I expect to be back on the field playing the game I love sooner rather than later"

This mess just got worse.  According to Beltran the General Manager not only knew about the surgery but gave Beltran his blessing and wished him well.  The Mets say that Beltran did not tell anyone until it was too late to stop him.  

This makes the Mets look even worse.  The Mets should have just said that they knew about the surgery and wish Carlos Beltran a speedy recovery.  It is fitting that the first thought that came to the mind of the Mets were to void Beltran's contract or to acquire some sought of financial restitution.  

This disconnect between Beltran and the Mets show that the players do not trust the Mets medical team and this could become a trend among Mets players who feel that the medical team last year waited too long to diagnose injuries and waited too long to decide on a treatment for the injuries.  

Obviously one side is not being 100% truthful, Carlos Beltran either told the Mets he was going to get surgery that would keep him out at least 3 months or he didn't.  I'm going to take the side of Beltran. This miscommunication is just typical of the Mets.  We saw last year how the Mets like to lie to the media or not be truthful and throws people in the organization under the bus.  How does Omar not tell the ball club that he talked with the Mets star player on Tuesday about getting surgery?  What exactly is Omar doing these days?  Certainly not his job.  Spring Training has yet to start and yet the Mets are already embarrassing us, 2010 is going to be another long year.

The Injury Mess Continues

Author: Greg Pomes

Last night the Mets twitter-world was ablaze as it was being reported by bloggers that Carlos Beltran needed to have knee surgery.  First reports suggested that he would be getting micro-fracture surgery which would put an abrupt end to his 2010 season and perhaps his career.  Fortunately for Beltran, the Mets and the fans it turns out that Beltran was getting his knee scoped.

Unfortunately for us it does not end there.  Beltran reportedly had this procedure on his knee without telling the Mets and without their permission.  This shows that nothing has changed except for the calendar year.  It's also obvious that after not firing most of the training staff and the Mets blaming other team doctors Beltran just does not trust the Mets medical staff with his body and career.  Last year Beltran after having been diagnosed with a bone bruise on his knee seeked a second opinion with a doctor in Colorado. 

This is not a way to run a professional organization.  The Mets were the joke of sports last summer and now with this latest development I'm sure they will be the butts of many jokes from writers and radio guys as well as ESPN for months to come. 

This is not the way to start a season.  I was hoping that the Mets would have learned something from last year but I should have known better than that when it comes to this ball-club.  They will never learn from history and therefore doomed to repeat it.

Beltran Goes Under Knife, Without the Mets Permission?

Author: Will Sommer

Update: 10:55 PM: On his Twitter account Kevin Burkhardt had this to say, "Let me clarify 1 thing - Mets knew about this, but didn't agree with surgery."

Also in regards to the Mets taking action against Beltran Andrew Marchand tweeted this, "The Mets might have something else in mind, but an official not with the team said they don't have much course of action against Beltran.

OK at least the Mets knew he was in pain. It will be fun and painful to see how this plays out in the next couple of days.

Original Post: Press release from the Mets:

FLUSHING, N.Y., January 13, 2010 -- Mets centerfielder Carlos Beltran had worsening of osteoarthritis of the right knee during the offseason. He had not been experiencing pain following the conclusion of the season and into his early offseason conditioning. The symptoms returned to the point where pre-spring training conditioning became too painful. He elected to undergo arthroscopic clean out of the arthritic area of his knee by Beltran's personal physician Dr. Richard Steadman today in Colorado. He is anticipated to return to baseball activities in 12 weeks.

This is obviously not good. First he has knee surgery and will miss at least the first month of the season. The second reason this is not good is because Beltran had this surgery without the Mets permission. I don't care how bad the Mets medical staff is, you have to tell your employer if you are going to miss 12 weeks of work as is the case with Carlos. Based on reports the Mets will take some type of action against Beltran. Kevin Burkhardt put it best when called this most recent news, ‘a flat-out disaster.' So get ready folks it's only January and the fun has already started. 

Carlos Beltran Expected to Miss 8-12 Weeks

Author: Will Hernandez

About an hour ago, Will Carroll from Baseball Prospectus tweeted that there was big news coming from the Mets and "it doesn't sound good." Apparently Carlos Beltran will miss 8-to-12 weeks due to microfracture surgery he had today on the same knee that forced him to miss much of last season

The New York Post is reporting Beltran got the surgery done without the Mets' permission.

The initial rumor was that Beltran would miss the whole year. Another rumor circulating was that Beltran had the procedure done two weeks ago at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York

If you remember when the injury occurred last season, there was talk it could be a career-threatening one for the centerfielder.

If rehab goes according to plan, Beltran could be back in action in mid-March. Knowing the Mets, they will take it slow, but you have to wonder why this wasn't done in September.

This also makes you wonder if Carlos Delgado's return is a lock considering the potential offense he can bring to the club in case Beltran misses a significant portion of the season.

Q & A With the Tomahawk Dudes, David Cutler and Casey Morris

Author: Will Sommer

The other day Andrew Vazzano of The Ropolitans linked to a video titled “I Hate the Mets Most” it was a nice song with a catchy tune. Actually it was a very good video even though I hate their title the most. Anyway I e-mailed David Cutler and Casey Morris who  go by the name "Tomahawk Dudes" a couple of questions, and they were nice enough to respond. (Editors note: Braves Fans are actually nice people, unlike the fans from a certain city named Philadelphia.)

What happened to the Mets' identity?

Author: Will Hernandez

In five weeks, Port St. Lucie will come to life with the sights and sounds of spring training. That first workout will end nearly four months of dissecting what the New York Mets did in the offseason to improve the 2010 edition of the team.

But as the chill slowly starts to fade from the Florida air, one thing that still isn't clear about this organization is an identity. A team's identity can be cultivated in spring training, during the season, or over multiple successful seasons. But recently, the Mets have lacked one coming into February.

If you're a New York Giants fan like myself, you know the two building blocks that franchise is based on are a strong running game and tough defense. No matter who's lining up on either side of the ball or who the head coach is, that's been the organization's identity since at least the Bill Parcell days.

The Mets used to have that kind of identity. The organization for many years was known to put an emphasis on pitching. Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Dwight Gooden and even the ill-fated trio of Jason Isringhausen, Bill Pulsipher and Paul Wilson (Remember that poster? I had it!) But now that the Mets are playing in a stadium that benefits the man on the mound, it suddenly seems pitching, and defense, are not so important.

And we can attribute that to the unfortunate events of last year.

Let's get one thing straight about the 2009 season. It was a freak accident made worse by the previous two collapses. But that, in turn, made securing a power bat a perceived must for 2010. And I say perceived because I believe it was not an absolute necessity for the Mets to sign a big bat this winter.

The Mets had big bats in their lineup last year that spent a significant amount of time on the disabled list. The ballpark got into David Wright's head and he's been working with hitting coach Howard Johnson to tailor his swing for Citi Field. While Carlos Delgado might not return this year, he was hitting home runs before his initial injury. The home run hitters were there, but not on the field when needed the most.

Jason Bay and Bengie Molina were among the first two names we heard this offseason, again a direct result of last season's power outage. Meanwhile, Johan Santana continues to wait for the two to complete a 1-2 combination at the top of the rotation.

We heard the Mets were interested in John Lackey, but he had no interest in pitching in New York. Neither did Roy Halladay. The Mets have been linked to the likes of Joel Pineiro and Jon Garland and in trade talks with Reds about a couple of their starters, but where are the results?

For an organization that has repeatedly publicized its intentions to build the team around pitching and defense because of Citi Field, it continues to do the opposite. There is some potential in the minors with the likes of Jenrry Mejia and Jon Niese. Mike Pelfrey still has a ton of potential and he's poised for a breakout season in 2010. But yet that doesn't seem like enough.

Maybe the Mets hope they stay competitive this year and then pounce on the next free agent class, which includes the likes of San Francisco's Matt Cain. I covered a bit of Cain's career when he was a rising prospect in the Giants' organization and knew then he was the real deal. He has the mentality that will enable him to succeed in New York and that's half the battle. And I think he would strive in the New York environment.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We still have this season to get through. And maybe somewhere along the way, the Mets will finally find that once-trumpeted identity and run with it all the way to a playoff berth.

Jason Bay to join the Mets for 4 Years.

Author: Lenny Chiarello

WFAN’s Mike Francesa said on Monday night that he had some big Mets news to announce on Tuesday afternoon.  

Mike delivered.  

Francesa was the first to report that the New York Mets and free agent slugger Jason Bay have agreed to a four-year contract worth $66 million. SI’s John Heyman and the Post’s Joel Sherman confirmed the details soon after Francesa made the announcement on his daily radio show, “Mike’d Up.”  

The four-year deal includes a vesting option, which is reported to be close to the average annual payout of the guaranteed contract. The option seems to be based on plate appearances and offensive production—in essence, if Jason Bay stays healthy, he will be the Mets’ left fielder in that 5^th season (which is 2014).  

It’s unclear whether the deal will be back loaded or not, with the majority of his contract coming in 2012 and 2013.    

The question of Jason Bay’s health seems to be a trending topic in the Mets Blog-o-sphere, especially after Joel Sherman of the NY Post had this to say about the newest Met:  

“There has been a lot of talk in the sport that the Red Sox were hesitant to do a long-term deal with Bay because they were concerned about the health of his shoulders.” 

Nothing against Sherman, but Bay has averaged 154 games the past five seasons---During his Boston days, Jason Bay was the designated hitter 1 (ONE) game.  

Listen, I understand that you cannot take the “pending physical” part of the press release for granted…If you don’t believe me, ask Boston fans how they feel right now that Mike Lowell is still a member of the Red Sox. 

Going back to the Mets, I feel this is a fantastic pickup for the Metropolitans. I was never a believer of the “make a deal for the sake of making one” attitude—in tomorrow’s papers, many will feel that Jason Bay is a Met for this reason.  

I always was a big fan of Omar Minaya (see my “In Omar I Trust” article if you don’t believe me). Put this right up there with the big Omar acquisitions. It gives the Mets a legitimate power threat who has proved his durability and has proved he can play in a big market (unlike Matt Holliday).  

What’s the best part of this deal? We are 50 days away from pitchers and catchers. What does that mean? The Hot Stove season is still young.