Game 13: Loss

Braves 7 Mets 1

I have to admit I did not watch this game live. It had something to do with the fact that Victor Zambrano was starting, and the game was already out of hand in the 4th. Further, the starting outfield looked like this:

LF Jose Valentin
CF Endy Chavez
RF Xavier Nady

Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran are both out, subject to day-to-day, with minor injuries. Knowing that, the Mets thought it was more important to have lefthanded pitchers Pedro Feliciano and Darren Oliver on the roster, than have outfielder Victor Diaz. Diaz, of course, is the only legitimate backup OF with a legit Big-League bat. He’s now in Norfolk for a minimum of ten days. During these next ten days, Floyd and Beltran are day-to-day.

Will someone please wake up Mr. Minaya? There’s a season going on, and the Atlanta Braves are in town! And while you’re at it, can someone bring a baseball card of Jose Valentin over to Willie Randolph? He needs to know that the guy hasn’t hit in four years, and even back then he didn’t hit that well.

This starting outfield harkens me back to the days of Shinjo-Perez-Payton-Agbayani — only worse. Ouch.

No one knows why Victor Zambrano is in the rotation.

No one knows why Victor Diaz is in Norfolk for the next ten days.

No one knows why either Feliciano or Oliver are on a Major League roster, much less BOTH of them.

No one knows why Jose Valentin was given a guaranteed, one million dollar contract.

Those are some of the tougher questions, and they need to be answered quickly!

Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.