Mets Fans Forever

Trade Deadline Has Passed

Author: Will Sommer

The trade deadline has come and gone for the Mets. There were some rumors involving the Mets, but that's all they were, rumors. The big news today was that the Red Sox acquired Victor Martinez from the Indians. According to Matt Cerrone Omar Minaya declined a trade that would have sent Jon Niese and Brad Holt or Jennry Mejia to the Indians for Victor Martinez.

Personally I'm happy that Minaya didn't make this deal. That would have made the farm system dust. If you looked at the deals that the Sox, and Phillies they could do it because they have the farm system to make that type of deal, and the Mets do not. That being said Holt & Mejia are excellent prospects with high ceilings.  Hopefully in years to come the Mets will be able to make these type of deals because they will have a strong farm system.

Mets looking to add lefty reliever?

Author: Drew Costello

Jon Heyman of SI.com has tweeted that the Mets have been looking for a left handed reliever to compliment Pedro Feliciano. The targets are said to be Blue Jays LHP Scott Downs, Nationals LHP Joe Beimel, and Pirates LHP John Grabow.

This doesn't make a ton of sense to me. I understand that the Mets could use another relief pitcher, but they were getting shut out most of the month of July and are in desperate need of a bat. I understand Omar doesn't want to trade prospects, but I have to believe there is a lower end guy like a Russell Branyan that can help the Mets out much more than any of those relief pitchers can right now.

Castillo Leads the Resurgence

Author: Drew Costello

Last night on SNY's broadcast of the game, they showed that Luis Castillo is hitting over .400 in the month of July. Castillo also is hitting over .360 since dropping the famous pop up. He has done most of this from the 2-hole. Howard Johnson has worked with castillo at being more aggresive. Instead of taking a lot of fastballs down the middle he is not taking that pitch and getting solid singles and doubles.

It is time to give credit where credit is due. Castillo has been a punching bag for many fans for the past year and has had quite the bounce back year. The most impressive thing for me was that even after he dropped the pop up, he stood by his locker and took questions. A lot of other guys in the league would have left the clubhouse long before the media was allowed access.

Castillo's hits have given David Wright the chance to get at bats with runners in scoring position. The combination of Castillo being on base, and Francoeur hitting behind him, has allowed David to be pitched to with runners on base. Keep it up Luis you've become a valuable member of this baseball team.

Phillies Acquire Cliff Lee

Author: Drew Costello

It might be good that the Mets are focusing on the wild card because the Phillies have acquired LHP Cliff Lee and OF Ben Fransisco from the Indians for P Carlos Carrasco and Jason Knapp along with SS Jason Donald and C Lou Marson. The prospects are known as their 2,3,4 and 10th best prospects.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Cliff Lee and think he's a very good pitcher, but I was much more afraid of the Phillies getting Roy Halladay. Lee, Hamels, and Blanton are a pretty solid front three if the Phillies make the playoffs. It will be interesting to see if the Mets do anything or if they stand pat like a lot of people think they will.

Today in Mets History July 29

Author: Drew Costello

Birthdays:

Luis Alicea (1965)
Felix Mantilla (1934)

Transactions:

July 29, 1963: Mets trade Jacke Davis to the Cardinals for Duke Carmel

Games and Events:

July 29, 2000: Two new additions to the Mets have productive first days with the team. Mike Bordick goes 2-3 including a home run on his first pitch as a Met. Rick White pitches a scoreless inning of relief later in the game.

July 29, 2004: Eric Valent becomes the eighth Met to hit for the cycle. The Mets beat the Expos 10-1. Valent is the fourth player in the majors to hit for the cycle in the 2004 season.

July 29, 2008: David Wright scores for the 13th consecutive game setting a new Mets record in a 4-1 win over the Marlins. Wright broke Carlos Beltran's record that was set in 2006.

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Mets Win Fourth Straight 4-0

Author: Drew Costello

The Mets won the second game of the series against the Rockies Tuesday night by a score of 4-0. Mike Pelfrey got his 8th win of the season going 6.1 and giving up 0 runs on 7 hits. Pelfrey was able to escape jams in both the 4th and 6th innings by getting Clint Barmes to pop up on both occasions.

The best part about Pelfrey's outing tonight was how hard he was throwing. His fast ball was consistently clocked at 95. With that kind of velocity, he can make a mistake or two and not have it hurt him. It was also nice to see him get some double plays tonight, which has been his bread and butter, but lately have been hard to come by.

The Mets continued to score runs by playing smart baseball. Jeff Francoeur picked up his 16th RBI in his 14th game with his second inning single that gave the Mets the early 1-0 lead. Alex Cora later singled, was sacrificed over to second base by Mike Pelfrey, and Luis Castillo knocked him in with a base hit. Brian Schneider added a sacrifice fly and Daniel Murphy had an RBI single to round off the scoring. 

It was a thing of beauty after what has been a lot of sloppy baseball by the Mets this season. The Mets did a ton of things tonight that will not show up in the box score, but really helped them grab the win tonight.

The bullpen was once again very solid and kept the Rockies off the scoreboard. Pedro Feliciano pitched an inning and two-thirds and Sean Green shut the door on Colorado.

It was nice to see the Mets shut a team out after watching them get shut out on numerous occasions the past couple of weeks. The win brought them to within 5.5 games out of the wild card. A few more wins in the next few days and we may have something here.

The Mets continue the four game series tomorrow night with Johan Santana (11-8, 3.12) facing off against Jason Hammel (5-5, 4.28) at 7:10.

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Today in Mets History July 28

Author: Drew Costello

Births:

None

Transactions:

July 28, 1975: Mets purchase Skip Lockwood from the Oakland A's

July 28, 1978: Mets purchase Gil Flores from the California Angels

July 28, 1995: The Mets trade Bobby Bonilla and a player to be named later to the Baltimore Orioles for OF Alex Ochoa and OF Damon Buford

July 28, 2000: Mets trade Mike Kinkade, Melvin Mora, Lesli Brea, and Pat Gorman to the Orioles for SS Mike Bordick

Mets trade Paul Wilson and Jason Tyner to the Devil Rays for Rick White and Bubba Trammel

July 28, 2003: Mets trade Graeme Lloyd to the Royals for Jeremy Hill

Games and Events:

July 28, 1970: Don Clendenon hits two 2-run home runs and drives in 7 runs in a 12-2 victory over the Giants. Dave Kingman would set the Mets record later with 8 RBIs

July 28, 1993: Mets win against the Marlins 5-4. The win snaps Anthony Young's Major League record 27 losses in a row.

July 28, 2001: Robin Ventura hits a walk-off home run against Turk Wendell and the Phillies. Wendell had been traded the day before along with Dennis Cook From the Mets to the Phillies.

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Mets Win 7-3

Author: Drew Costello

Fernando Tatis slugged a pinch hit grand slam in the eighth inning as the Mets beat the Rockies 7-3. Tatis was hitting for Cory Sullivan with the lefty Franklin Morales on the mound. Fernando took an 0-2 change up and drove it over the left field wall. It was the Mets first pinch hit grand slam since Todd Pratt in 2000.

It was easily the most exciting moment since Omir Santos' home run against the Red Sox in May. When Tatis came up, everyone in the ball park was terrified that he would hit into a double play. Tatis had hit into 25% of potential double play situations which was good for second in the National League. Manuel rolled the dice and it payed off in a big way.

Pedro Feliciano got the win for the Mets pitching a scoreless eighth. Oliver Perez went an effective 5 innings giving up 3 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks. Rounding up the pitching for the night was Brian Stokes and Frankie Rodriguez who combined to pitch 3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

Ollie was effective tonight. He kept the team in the game and for the most part was around the strike zone. The walks need to come down for him to be able to go more than 5 innings a start. The bullpen was solid tonight keeping the Rockies off the score board and giving the Mets offense the chance to capitalize in the eighth inning.

The Mets were able to tie the score in 6th inning manufacturing 2 runs. Wright and Castillo led the inning off with base hits and Daniel Murphy drove in Castillo to bring the Mets within a run. Jeff Francoeur moved the runner over with a fly ball to right and Cory Sullivan hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 3.

The sixth inning was an example of great fundamental baseball. Francoeur has been a breath of fresh air for this team. On top of moving the runner over he hit his first Citi Field home run and made a nice catch. Offensively, the Mets continue to click and they are doing it against teams that are in contention which is a very positive sign.

The Mets continue their four game set with the Rockies when Mike Pelfrey (7-6, 4.99) hosts Jason Marquis (12-6, 3.49) at 7:10.

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Omar's Meltdown

Author: Will Sommer

Update: Gary, Keith & Ron are speaking about it right now before the game. They agree with me and everyone else that Omar should not have spoken about Rubin, and it should have been JUST about Tony B.  Keith stated that "Adam Rubin is not the issue here. adam rubin is a beat writer. he got ahold of the story and he was right."

Also Jon Heyman, Buster Olney etc. all say that Omar's status is very very iffy. Also this is a small sample, but about 10-12 people on twitter said that before the presser that they were neutral, or for Omar, but now they want him fired.

Original: Today's firing was supposed to be about the firing of Tony Bernazard. The firing was going to be a story for a day or two, and then the focus should have been on playing baseball. Well, the story won't be about Tony B, it will be about MFF favorite, Daily News Mets beat writer Adam Rubin. Minaya attacked Rubin since Adam was the one that broke the story about Tony B. Minaya had this to say, "Adam Rubin had been lobbying me for a player development position." And the press conference went down hill from there. THAT will be the story tomorrow not Tony B. If you were watching SNY at that moment, Rubin looked to be in shock. Even if Rubin did ask Jeff, Omar and others for a job (which I believe Rubin, when he say's he didn't) Minaya had no right to single him out. Minaya didn't say that Rubin's story was false, he just said that Rubin have asked the Mets fron office for a job. The presser wasn't about whether or not Rubin was being unethical it was about the firing of Tony B.

Omar now has to show proof like Jon Heyman said. Minaya has to show some sort like a resume or cover letter, that was written by Adam Rubin stating that he wants a job with the Mets. Which in my opinion he won't because there is none.

Congrats Omar, this story was supposed to be over in a day or two instead Met fans, and probably reports are out to get you. You should have been fired right then and their. I guess I will have to wait until the winter for you to be axed. 

Congrats again for tarnishing Adam Rubin's reputation. You may have knocked Rubin off the Mets beat because in my opinion some lie you told.

Omar, you should be embarrassed of what you did today. The press conference was supposed to be about the dismissal of Tony Bernazard, and instead you turned it yet again into another circus. And I am speaking about all Met fans when I say "You should be axed"

As Buster Only notes "At the instant that Mets General Manager Omar Minaya veered unexpectedly from discussing why he was firing a trusted confidante during his press conference Monday, and instead began uttering words that impugned the integrity of a New York Daily News reporter, his time in power officially began to run out.

He will not survive this, and this has nothing to do with whether what he said was accurate or inaccurate. He won't survive because Minaya now has become a public liability, a target of criticism, and if there is a defining characteristic of the Mets' organization,...

...Minaya has mere hours to contain this. He could start with what would have to be a retraction and a full-blown apology. And unless that happens, his performance at the press conference today will be replayed and reviewed and recalled until the Mets' ownership finally won't be able take any more."

Why Can't The Mets Do Anything Right?

Author: Greg Pomes

Today's news conference should have been very easy, Omar announces that the Mets have fired Tony Bernazard, fields some questions, says thank you and leaves.  It would have been a great way to wipe the dirt of this story off their hands and start an important series against the Rockies.  Sounds easy right?  Of course we're talking about the New York Mets, the team that cannot help but screw everything up.

Omar's press conference turned into a 3 ring circus, much like the Mets 2009 season.  He attacked Adam Rubin of the Daily News saying that Rubin has been lobbying for years for a job with the Mets and that is why he wrote the article on Tony Bernazard. 

Omar was malicious and instead of wiping the slate clean he adds yet another distraction as Adam Rubin is having to answer questions from the media. 

Last year the Mets fired Willie Randolph, something that writers and fans a like were waiting for.  It should have been satisfying but instead it was embarrassing when the Mets fired Willie in the middle night on a road trip.  Once again another easy task turns embarrassing.  Omar cannot do anything right, it's time to shea goodbye to Omar.  He attacks a reporter because that reporter did his job and reported on an embarrassing situation that resulted in Omar having to fire his friend Tony B.  That is unprofessional and just not right.  Rubin's job could be in question because Omar cares more about hanging out with his friends than running a ball club.