Putz and Kendall Sign
J.J. Putz agreed to terms with the White Sox on a one-year, $3M contract plus incentives. Heck, at that price I would’ve liked to have seen him return to the Mets, who paid for his surgery and rehab. Oh well.
But hey, the Mets won’t miss the 7 players they sent to Seattle and Cleveland for the pleasure of 29 innings thrown by Putz and 161 at-bats by Jeremy Reed. And hey, there’s a good chance Sean Green returns to the Mets bullpen in 2010, so the deal wasn’t a complete loss. Meh.
In other news, Jason Kendall signed a two-year, $6M deal with the Kansas City Royals. I realize Kendall wasn’t the “sexy” choice among the free-agent backstops, but he wasn’t the worst either. The price and the two-year commitment seems steep for a 36-year-old catcher who makes Luis Castillo seem like a power hitter.
You could argue that the relatively expensive cost Kendall gives Bengie Molina leverage, but I believe just the opposite. Signing Kendall takes the Royals off the board in regard to the tiny and ever-shrinking demand for starting catchers. The only teams left who are definitely in the market for a veteran everyday receiver are the Giants (who publicly stated “that ship has sailed”), Astros, and Mets. The Rangers might be in play as well — despite having youngster Taylor Teagarden and Jarrod Saltalamacchia — but we haven’t heard any buzz about them going after Molina. So really it comes down to the Mets and the Astros, with Molina, Miguel Olivo, Rod Barajas, and Yorvit Torrealba all available — though, most believe that Torrealba will re-sign with the Rockies to platoon with Chris Iannetta.
Not to be ignored is the fact that Dioner Navarro — among others — may be non-tendered soon, swelling the pool of available catchers a bit more.
That said, you have to hope that the contract offer tendered by the Mets to Molina this past week was for one guaranteed year and an easily digestible salary. Anything else is bad business, since the supply exceeds the demand.
Where’s the Market for Bengie Molina?
It’s no secret that the plodding Bengie Molina is the #1 choice of Omar Minaya to be the Mets’ starting catcher in 2010. However, talks appear at a standstill as Molina is looking for a three-year deal — something the Mets are intelligently refusing. So far.
Does it make sense for the Mets to stick to their guns, and play hardball with Bengie Molina?
First of all, we need to get past the argument of whether Read more
Mets Game 162: Win Over Astros
Mets 4 Astros 0
Finally, it’s over.
The worst Mets season since Art Howe “lit up a room” has come to a close — and the team finished with a bang.
The Mets swept the ’stros behind the spectacular pitching of Nelson Figueroa, who pitched the best game Read more
Mets Game 161: Win Over Astros
Mets 5 Astros 1
Only one more to go.
The suddenly inspired Mets took another one from the ’stros in front of the hometown crowd, despite missing cavalry members Carlos Beltran and David Wright from the lineup.
Pat Misch was impressive once again, allowing one run on five hits in five frames.
The offense took advantage of the Houston outfielders’ unfamiliarity with expansive Citi Field, getting several extra-base hits resulting from poor positioning and judgment of balls off the outfield wall. Carlos Lee, in particular, had a rough afternoon, with several balls going off his glove and/or falling safely behind him.
Brian Stokes, Pedro Feliciano, and Sean Green threw 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief before Frankie Fantastik came on in the ninth to get the last out of the game and earn his 35th save.
Notes
In a fabulous, heads-up play by Kaz Matsui early in the game, Josh Thole was thrown out at home on an infield ground ball that was knocked down by Lance Berkman. Catcher J.R. Towles did an excellent job of blocking the plate, and the SNY crew suggested that Thole’s best plan of action would have been to bowl over Towles. Gary Cohen added that the last Met to knock over a catcher in a play at the plate was Ty Wigginton in 2004.
Hard to believe, but I think Cohen’s right. Ballplayers today avoid contact at the plate as a rule; I suppose it comes from the fact that most youth leagues have rules that disallow physical contact, and players develop the instinct to slide at all times. Perhaps also, the players today are too palsy-walsy with each other and don’t want to be “a bad guy” by doing something that might incur injury on another player. That’s too bad, because that’s not the way baseball is supposed to be played. There was and should continue to be a physical element that includes contact. People are quick to point out the Pete Rose – Ray Fosse tragedy, and indeed there have been a few frightening and career-ending incidents, but a handful of those over the course of 100+ years is not enough reason to change the way you play the game. Once in a while, a situation warrants the runner attempting to clock the catcher — and in those situations, it’s usually more dangerous for the runner to be sliding. Personally, I’d prefer to see a little more passion, fire, and aggression when it comes to trying to score. (I’m not singling out Thole; you can point to just about every Met and most MLBers who have the same defensive, “always slide” approach — it’s the way the game is played today.)
Thole’s triple gave the Mets 48 for the season, breaking the old team record for triples in a season — which was 47 in 1978. Hard to believe that the ‘78 Mets held that record, especially when you look at their roster that year. The only guy on that team that you would qualify as a legitimate “speedster” was Lenny Randle, who had 8 three-baggers. Remarkably, the team’s stolen-base leader in ‘78 — John Stearns with 25 — had only one triple. (Stearns, btw, set a record for stolen bases by a catcher that season … what a bizarre year.)
Stearns also was the man who clocked Dave Parker in Gary Cohen’s “favorite home plate collision” (mine too). The 6′5″,240-lb. “Cobra” came steaming into home plate like a freight train but the 6′, 185-lb. “Bad Dude” held his ground and upended Parker — busting Parker’s cheekbone in the process.
Hard to believe that Sammy Gervacio had a 1.15 WHIP and 2.25 ERA through 28 appearances coming into this game. His mechanics make it almost impossible for him to command his pitches — his front shoulder flies open way early and stride foot lands a good three feet to the left. As a result he has no balance, his momentum is going sideways rather than toward the plate, and his release point is wildly inconsistent. I suppose the wacky motion throws hitters off, but how long will that last?
I like Sean Green’s new submarine style, though he’s having trouble adjusting to it. His command is not great with it but with time it should take some strain off his elbow and thereby allow him pitch more often without a loss in effectiveness. If you are a longtime MetsToday reader, you know I’m a big fan of the submarine arm motion for several reasons.
Fernando Tatis and Cory Sullivan had a combined 9 plate appearances while Nick Evans remained on the bench. Perhaps Jerry Manuel wants Evans to finish the season on a high note, and feel good about Friday’s triple all winter.
Last Mets Game
For the first time since 2005, we know for sure that game 162 is the last one of the season. Brooklyn native Nelson Figueroa faces Nicaraguan Wilton Lopez in a 1 PM start on Sunday afternoon.
Mets Game 160: Win Over Astros
Mets 7 Astros 1
A chance to go out with a bang.
After getting swept four times in their seven September series, the Mets won the opener of their final series of the season — guaranteeing, at least, they won’t go oh-fer-October.
John Maine was brilliant, pitching perhaps his best game all season. Maine went a full seven frames, allowing only one run on five hits, walking none and striking out seven.
Meantime Wandy Rodriguez’s magic against the Mets continues to occur only in Houston — though his six-inning, 3-runs-allowed effort was respectable. It was reliever Doug Brocail who got whacked for four runs in the ninth inning and swelled the final score — making the game seem less close than it really was. (Was that a Yogi-ism?)
Notes
For one of the few times since 2007, Maine had sharp command of his fastball. His velocity was encouraging, as well, reaching 93 on occasion. He had the ’stros batters jumping out of their shoes on his slider, as well, which he mixed in expertly. Though, I’d still like to see him throw his change-up more often, especially early in counts, rather than use the slider as his change of pace.
If nothing else, this outing pretty much cemented a 2010 contract for Maine.
Both David Wright and Jeff Francoeur went 3-for-4, Frenchy with 2 RBI.
Daniel Murphy hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer, his 12th of the season.
Nick Evans shook off the mothballs and appeared as a pinch-hitter as well — and blasted a triple.
What in the world was Michael Bourn doing attempting to steal third in the first inning with none out and Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman, and Carlos Lee following him in the lineup? I haven’t watched enough of the ’stros to know what went wrong for them this year, but boneheaded decisions like that are a clue.
Equally strange, in the fifth frame, Wandy Rodriguez sacrifice bunted with a man on second and one out.
Nice conversation among Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ralph Kiner about the enormous number of strikeouts in this day and age. The idea of cutting down the swing and protecting the plate with two strikes has completely left the game since teams pay more millions for more homeruns and Beanehead math said that the risk of swinging for homers and missing on strike three outweighed the negatives. But now that steroids are less prevalent — and in turn homerun totals are dropping — I wonder if two-strike strategy will go back to the old-school philosophy.
Next Mets Game
The next-to-last game of the season occurs on Saturday afternoon at 1 PM. Pat Misch faces Yorman Bazardo.
Mets Game 97: Win Over Astros
Mets 8 Astros 3
Who needs Gary Sheffield’s “power bat”, anyway?
For the second time in as many games, the Mets proved that they do indeed have Major League Players on their roster, and enough of them to win Major League Games — handily.
The streaking Mets offense was out of this world against the Astros, pounding Houston pitching for 13 hits, including three triples. Meanwhile, Livan Hernandez shook off a rough first frame and solidified his spot in the rotation with his second consecutive seven-inning start, allowing only three runs on eight hits and striking out a season-high of seven.
Sean Green earned a most unusual save for his 1 1/3 innings of work.
If the Mets can continue to play like this, they’ll be in line for meaningful games in September.
Notes
Why are people so surprised to see Livan pitch well or pitch poorly? There isn’t much mystery involved — basically, Hernandez eats up overly aggressive hitters such as those on the Astros, and generally gets into trouble with more patient teams such as the Yankees. So if Livan has a few bad starts in a row, it’s probably because he’s facing lineups that have what’s called a “team approach”. This isn’t rocket science.
Luis Castillo went 2-for-4 with a triple, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored. He’s now hitting .301, and sporting a .398 OBP.
Jeff Francoeur had only one hit but drove in two. He now has 14 RBI in 12 games as a Met. Say what you want about his over-aggressive approach, but so far he’s producing.
It’s great that the Mets are finally scoring runs and winning ballgames. Unfortunately, they have not gained any ground on the Phillies throughout this two-game winning streak, and remain 11 games behind the leaders (in the loss column). They can keep putting W’s in the left column, but unfortunately they can’t lose less.
Next Mets Game
The Mets return to Flushing to begin a four-game series against the rejuvenated Colorado Rockies. Oliver Perez throws the first pitch at 7:05 PM on Monday night, while Ubaldo Jimenez takes the hill for the Rockies.
Mets Game 96: Win Over Astros
Mets 10 Astros 3
Who said the Mets couldn’t win MLB games sending out a lineup like that?
For once, everything that could go right, went right. Heck, even David Wright was finally, right — right over the fence, that is.
The Mets offense exploded for 9 runs in the first six innings, and tacked on another one in the final frame to annilihate the Astros in front of a capacity crowd.
In addition to the offensive output, the defense was equally stellar, highlighted by outstanding plays from Angel Pagan and Luis Castillo that kept the Astros grounded.
Also inspiring was the performance of young Jonathan Niese, who allowed one measly run on four hits and two walks over seven solid innings. Other than a shaky first inning — likely due to nerves — Niese was masterful.
Notes
When I said everything went right, I meant everything. By blowing out the Astros with an offensive onslaught, the implausible DL’ing of Gary Sheffield was completely forgotten. Had the Mets lost 1-0, you can bet that move would have been the focus of the postgame interviews.
Dan Murphy hit two doubles and drove in a run out of the cleanup spot. Dan Murphy, in the cleanup spot. Yeah.
No less than five Mets had two hits apiece; they rapped a dozen all told.
Angel Pagan is a man on fire, and seems determined to prove that he belongs in the big leagues as an everyday player. Maybe the Mets should trade him while he’s on this hot streak and his value is higher than it will ever be.
In addition to his sixth homerun, David Wright saw 30 pitches in five plate appearances, walking twice. That was three times as many pitches seen by the usually patient Danny Murphy.
Jeff Francoeur is delivering everything the Mets expected and then some. If only they had his homerun bat from the beginning of the season, they might be ten games back instead of eleven.
Omir Santos and Cory Sullivan did an outstanding job of executing a hit-and-run in the top of the fourth, leading to Sullivan scoring on a DP ball a few moments later. Strangely enough, I’ve seen the about as many hit-and-runs this month from the Mets as I’ve seen homeruns.
Also interesting, Santos is providing both small ball and the long ball lately — he hit his second homerun in as many nights, and is now tied for team lead for homers in July. Dollars to donuts says he sits on Sunday, though, since it’s a day game and Brian Schneider’s getting rusty.
Jon Niese in the postgame interview reminded me of Jamie Don Weeks of Long Gone (which was an AWESOME baseball movie, btw).
Very bizarre to see John Franco relieving Bobby Ojeda in the SNY postgame show; it was kind of like time travel or a Strat-O-Matic game. Note to John: your preparation is appreciated. However, we know that “good pitching, good fielding, and good offense wins games”, and we know that a pitcher needs to throw strikes to keep the defense alert, and we can see how many batters Jon Niese retired in a row, and we know how many games out of the wild card the Mets are, etc. What we want from you is the MLB player’s perspective. For example, what does an MLB pitcher think about with a big lead? How does he keep from getting too complacent? What is it like for a young kid to have a game like this after coming back from the minors? How might a young pitcher attack a lineup like the Astros’, which has a number of aggressive hitters? That kind of thing. Leave the details and numbers to Gary Apple.
Next Mets Game
The series finale occurs at 2:05 PM EST on Sunday afternoon. Livan Hernandez faces Brian Moehler. Wow … Hampton, Ortiz, and Moehler in the rotation, and the ’stros are in third place, four games over .500, and one game out of first.
Mets Game 95: Loss to Astros
Astros 5 Mets 4
The Mets finally got some offense, and had their ace on the mound. But their ace did not pitch like an ace.
Johan Santana was removed from the game after allowing five runs on a career-high 12 hits and 3 walks in 6 2/3 innings. He was bitten by the long ball in the fourth frame, allowing a two-run homer to opposing pitcher Mike Hampton and a near-homer to Jeff Keppinger only moments before Hampton’s blast.
Yet, it could’ve been worse, as Santana was constantly in trouble — it seemed that every inning the Astros loaded the bases, but one way or another, Johan got out of trouble. It’s never a good idea to skate on thin ice in a hot town like Houston.
Notes
Omir Santos went 3-for-4 and hit the Mets’ fifth homerun of the month. With a week left, there’s still an outside chance the team gets into double digits. My money is on the under.
Luis Castillo had four hits in his first four at-bats, but couldn’t get a fifth with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the 8th. That’s the way it goes for the Mets in 2009.
Both teams struggled to push home runs — the Mets left 10 on base, the Astros, 11.
The AT&T high speed pitch of the day (as of the 6th inning) was 93 MPH — both Santana and Hampton reached that figure. Is it me or is it bothersome that Johan Santana’s fastest pitch was equal to that of the broken-down, 36-year-old, nearly washed up Hampton?
For the young catchers out there, I hope you saw the high tag applied by Pudge Rodriguez to Jeff Francoeur’s face in the top of the seventh. The reason you aim for the face in that situation is because a) the body goes where head goes, so you can’t miss him / he can’t get around you; and b) by tagging in the face, there’s next-to-zero chance of the runner barreling you over. Unless you are a boxer, it’s a natural immediate reaction to be defensive, rather than aggressive, when something is coming into your face. Keith Hernandez (and Bob Ojeda in the postgame) neglected that factor when he suggested that Francoeur might have “made the wrong decision” by not trying to plow over Pudge — in reality, Pudge removed that option. Understand, however, that such a tag only works when timed right — you can’t stand there with the glove high for a few seconds, because then you remove the surprise and the runner has time to react; it has to be applied just before potential contact. Pudge played it perfectly.
Speaking of perfection, Angel Berroa is quickly showing why he’s been released 18 times in the last two months. He can’t field, he can’t hit, he can’t bunt, he can’t run, and he appears barely awake. I think he might be able to throw, but I’m not sure. He is the MLB equivalent of a lazy employee that clocks in, surfs the internet all morning, takes a long lunch, browses eBay all afternoon, and leaves five minutes before 5 PM.
Another note on Pudge: the propellerheads can talk all they want about OBP, OPS, BABIP, and every other number that makes the future HOFer look bad. But there is NO question who is in charge when he is on the field. Case in point: the 8th inning, when Astros pitching coach Dewey Robinson visited the mound, and Pudge took over the conversation. The Mets, of course, don’t need such leadership — they need OPS. Good thing they passed on him in the offseason.
Is it me, or is Jose Valverde slowly evolving into Jose Mesa?
During the postgame, Bob Ojeda mentioned that the Mets have been losing games due to a failure of executing “the little things” since the BEGINNING OF THE SEASON. In other words, since the team was whole and healthy. We’ve been saying as much here, haven’t we? The only difference is that now, those little things are more glaring because you don’t have Carlos Delgado to bail you out with a three-run homer. But either way, it’s still bad baseball — the brand of ball the Mets have been playing for now three years running.
Despite the close score, my attention continually drifted out the window, where a mild lightning storm was occurring. I remember having better focus in the past … is it age, or this team?
Next Mets Game
Mets and Astros do it again at 7:05 PM. Young lefty Jonathan Niese makes a reappearance against Russ Ortiz. Russ Ortiz? First Mike Hampton and now Ortiz … who’s pitching on Sunday for the ’stros, Freddy Garcia? Carl Pavano? Wayne Garland?
Mets Acquire Fernando Nieve
Hot off the heels of shutting down Tim Redding, the New York Mets have claimed Fernando Nieve off waivers.
Nieve, a 26-year-old righthander, was vying for a spot of the Houston Astros’ rotation. The hard-throwing Venezuelan has struggled in his young career with injuries, and posted an 8.44 ERA in 11 relief appearances for the Astros last year. He had been competing for one of the last two slots on the Houston staff against MLB veterans Brian Moehler, Russ Ortiz, and Jose Capellan.
In 4 2-3 innings this spring, Nieve has allowed eight hits, seven runs and walked six. Astros manager Cecil Cooper acknowledged that Nieve had been a disappointment.
“Nieve needs to step up because he hasn’t pitched the way I’d hoped,” Cooper said. “He’s lost some ground.
“It’s imperative that he pitches well,” Cooper said. “He has a great arm; right now I’m just not seeing it.”
Astros Sign Mike Hampton
The Houston Astros signed Mike Hampton to a one-year, $2M contract.
Reportedly, the deal includes performance incentives.
Hampton’s injury-riddled career is well documented, and he’s appeared in only 25 ballgames in the last two years. However, I like this signing immensely. One year for two million? That’s a bargain for a guy who, when healthy, is a solid starting pitcher and a fierce competitor. Especially if you compare the deal to the $6.5M that similarly fragile Orlando Hernandez received last season.
Of course, the Mets could not have signed Hampton — he more or less burned the Tri-Boro Bridge on his way out of Flushing. In Houston, where he is still beloved, and has little pressure, Hampton has an ideal opportunity for a comeback. Win-win for both sides.
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