Mets Fans Forever

What Will Adrian Gonzalez Cost The Mets?

Author: Greg Pomes

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

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

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

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

The World Series - Do I Really Need to Choose?

Author: Clare Lafferty

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

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

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

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

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

Mets Wil Not Go After Aroldis Chapman or John Lackey

Author: Will Sommer

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

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

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

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

Mets Minor League Rafael Castro Dies Of Heart Attack

Author: Will Sommer

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

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

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

Have The Mets Already Lost Out On Matt Holliday?

Author: Greg Pomes

Ken Davidoff, a writer for Newsday reported today that:

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

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

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

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

Mets Fall Ball Update

Author: Drew Costello

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reese Havens SS: 0 Hits 3 ABs

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

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

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

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

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

Other Mets in Action: Eric Niesen, Josh Stinson

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

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Mets Encouraged Players To Play Ball, Not Have Surgery

Author: Greg Pomes

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

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

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

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

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

What Was So Great About The Mets Media Blitz?

Author: Greg Pomes

I've been on the blogosphere and the internet the last 2 days and Met fans are in a positive mood after all the press the Mets did on Monday and I just don't understand why.  I feel that the Mets just said whatever Met fans wanted to hear and the fans seemed to buy it hook, line and sinker.  Is it just that 2009 was so horrible that when we hear of improvements coming our way we are buying it up too easily?

Jeff Wilpon made it clear that the Mets will have one of the highest payrolls in 2010.  They had one of the highest payrolls in 2009 too.  He says the Mets don't have a figure in mind on what their budget will be.  The Mets have been rumored all year long to be cutting the budget down for the 2010 season.  The Mets could have the 5th highest payroll in the majors and I think most people will agree that is one of the highest payrolls in MLB.

The fact that the Mets did not fire HoJo and Dan Warthen does not encourage me.  I know the Mets had a high team batting average as well as a good on base percentage but let's not forget that the Mets were horrible with runners in scoring position.  They could not move runners over and their situational hitting was horrible.  David Wright only hit 10 HR's.  The excuse the Mets used was Citi Field but what about the other 81 games that he played on the road?  He had 5 HR's at Citi Field and 5 on the road.  Wright knocked in 72 RBI this season.  Howard Johnson convinced Wright this season to adjust his swing.  Obviously the new swing didn't work and HoJo didn't try to get Wright to go back to his old approach.  Since HoJo took over for this team as the hitting coach the situational hitting has been bad.  In the last 3 games, all games the Mets needed to win they scored just 5 runs in 3 games against the Marlins. 

The pitching staff under Dan Warthen has regressed.  Pelfrey showed so much promise at the end of 2008 but took giants steps backwards after the 2009 season.  We are now back at square one with Pelf, wondering if he has what it takes to be a major league pitcher.  Oliver Perez has gotten worse this year, his command was horrible and it was not just this knee injury he suffered.  Warthen had no idea that Santana was hurt and skipping bullpen sessions.  His job is to lookout for the pitchers and to let the Mets ace pitcher risk his arm is inexcusable to me.

The excuse Jeff Wilpon gave Mike Francesa on WFAN about the injuries was lame and using a word the Mets like to use "unacceptable."  The fact that other team doctors diagnosed player injuries and the Mets who have some of the best doctors in the country if not the world on retainer did not send them for 2nd opinions is plain dumb.  I cannot say it any other way.  I'm not giving them a pass on this at all, in fact I don't know why Wilpon even brought this up it only made the Mets look more foolish.

Omar continued to backtrack and stutter as Mike Francesa of all people grilled him.  Omar said he would still sign Oliver Perez even after this season.  He even had the audacity to compare Oliver Perez to Jason Verlander. 

There were 2 good things that I heard on Monday.  Number one is that they recognized the error of not putting more of a team presence in the ballpark.  Jeff Wilpon and Dave Howard promised a Citi Field Mets museum that will be ready for next season.

The only other I good thing that I heard on Monday was Jeff Wilpon said that it was time for Omar and Jerry to step up.  It sounds like the Mets are not going to take anymore excuses from management on the shortcomings of this team.

Now I'm not trying to be pessimistic, I really hope the Mets do spend money on quality players to fill the many holes they have coming into 2010.  I also hope that this team will improve but as far as I'm concerned the Mets have lost all credibility.  This was a team that promised changes last year and did not deliever on that promise.  This is a team that told us over and over again that our injured players would return to the team after the all-star game and would guide us into the playoffs.  That did not happen.  Reyes has not returned, Delgado never returned and Beltran took almost 2 months past the promise the Mets gave us to return.  The time for promises is over and the time for action is now! 

Omar, Jeff Wilpon and a guy named Dave Howard Talk With Mike Francesa

Author: Greg Pomes

The 2009 season is (thankfully) over.  The Mets have started work for the 2010 season.  Today CEO Jeff Wilpon, General Manager Omar Minaya and Executive Dave Howard joined Mike Francesa on WFAN to talk about this awful 2009 season and what's ahead of them for 2010.  They addressed the budget for next year, the state of the Mets finances, the injuries, the lack of Mets history at Citi Field and Omar's responsibilities for the upcoming season.

2009 Season: Jeff Wilpon, Omar Minaya and Dave Howard all agreed that the 2009 season was "unacceptable."  They threw that word around a lot while discussing 2009.  They said like the fans and media who predicted that the Mets would be playing this week in the playoff's they are disappointed in how the season turned out and will be working in the off season to make sure 2009 does not repeat itself again.  Wilpon said the most frustrating thing this season was the team’s inability to drive in runs even though they were one of the best team’s in batting average and on base percentage.

Omar Minaya: Jeff Wilpon says Omar is the GM.  He has 100% faith in him and his responsibilities have not been taken away from him.

Jerry Manuel:  Jeff Wilpon said that the decision to bring back Jerry was all up to Omar.  Omar said that this season's turnout was not Jerry's fault, the injuries the Mets had gave him no chance to have a winning season for 2009.  Part of the decision Omar said to bring back was Jerry's success in 2008 and his body of work throughout his coaching career.

Citi Field:  The Wilpons consulted with Omar for their plans to build Citi Field and the impact that it would have on their offense and pitching staff.  They feel that the park didn't get into David Wright's head.  Dave Howard said the lack of homerun production from Wright was due to the lack of protection in the lineup with all the injuries.  Omar said that this is the first year David did not have that kind of protection in the lineup and feel that with everyone healthy David will be back to hitting 30 HR's next year.  Dave Howard said that the lack of team homerun's was due to having Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado out of the lineup.  On the lack of Mets history Jeff Wilpon says "I don’t think we did anything to slap anyone in the face.  It’s not like we said, gee, let’s honor the Brooklyn Dodgers and not honor the Mets.  Those claims are unfair, but we’re gonna make those changes and correct it, because it is a proper criticism."  Wilpon said that they will also be naming different areas of the ballpark with something associated with the Mets. 

Budget:  According to Jeff Wilpon the Mets have not yet set their budget for the 2010 season.  Wilpon said that the Madoff scandal had no affect on the Mets, saying "what happens this year between free-agents and trades and whatever Omar wants to do to get us back to a Championship-caliber team will be up to Omar."  He also said the Mets are committed to having one of the highest payrolls in the major leagues.  Asked why they don't spend the same as the Yankees he said "Yankee-economic structure are unto themselves, they have their own structure and we fall much more in line with the rest of the league."  Asked if they were going to cut payroll Wilpon responded by saying "Whether it ends up being more or less I can’t tell you until Omar makes suggestions.  We’re going to be aggressive, we have to be, whether it’s in trades or free agents."  Wilpon doesn't understand how the fans can call the Mets cheap even though they have one of the highest payrolls in major league and currently have the highest payroll in the National Leaue. 

The handling of injuries: the reason for the mishandling of the injuries was that most of the injuries happened while the team was on the road and that the team relied too heavily on other team doctors.  This is without a doubt a big cop out.  They could have easily put the injured player on a plane back to New York and got them looked at by their own doctors.  Omar and Jeff said the team is "creating a protocol that will improve on how they communicate to media, players and fans the status of the team’s injuries."

Minor League System:  Omar feels the Mets "I like to think in our minor-league system we have talent."  Omar goes onto say Adam Wogan, who is the farm director will be taking on more responsibilities and have a more prominent role with the organization.  Omar also said that the team will hire a Field Coordinator ho will be in uniform and traveling the system.  He will be working with the minor leaguers and reporting to Wogan.  Omar's assistant and the assistant General Manager John Ricco will be involved in working with the minor-league directors. 

They also discussed how Daniel Murphy is still young and has the ability to be an everyday superstar.  Omar defended Murphy saying that he's still a rookie and he is improving.  He says he's a good kid who shows up and works hard.  He compared him to Kevin Youkilis, saying "He was not the big, productive hitter that he is early on, but they surrounded him other guys who had power so when you put the team together, there are eight guys, and how are you going to balance that offense.”  He defended his signing of Oliver Perez last year saying that pitchers have hot and cold season's much like Jonathan Verlander. 

In the final analysis they didn't come off very well.  You can hear them at a certain point getting annoyed with Mike Francesa as he was asking questions they weren't comfortable answering.  I have to say I'm not a fan of Mike Francesa but he almost reminded me of a journalist.  Omar stuttered his way through hard questions, kind of reminding me of the public defender in the film My Cousin Vinny.  When asked about free agents, trades or any on the field decisions he said it was up to Omar and that it was on him.  Jeff Wilpon made it clear that he expects the team to be a championship calibur team, so we will see what happens as the off season progresses. 

Reyes to have Surgery

Author: Drew Costello

The Mets announced today that Jose Reyes will have surgery on his leg to repair the scar tissue around the accessory hamstring tendon in his right leg. Reyes should be ready for spring training. Reyes will not have surgery on the separate hamstring tear in his right leg that took place when Reyes ran the bases in September. Dallas Cowboys team Dr. Daniel E. Cooper will perform the surgery.