Submitted by robsafuto on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 21:44.
Boy the Mets are weak at the plate tonight. David Wright is in one of his horrifying mini slumps. He had four strikeouts on Wednesday night and he's 0 for 4 tonight including a strike out with the bases loaded and one out.
There's no way the Mets are gonna move Omir Santos now to make room for Schneider. We've probably seen the last of Schneider playing a big role with the Mets. He's a weaker hitter than both Castro and Santos and isn't anything special behind the plate. I wouldn't be surprised if he was traded in a package maybe with a Ryan Church down the line. Nice win tonight, great effort from Big Pelf.
Submitted by robsafuto on Sat, 05/30/2009 - 00:50.
As I said in my comment earlier, Ramon Castro was the odd man out. As such, the Mets traded him to the Chicago White Sox after the game.
"The Mets traded catcher Ramon Castro to the White Sox in exchange for right-handed pitcher Lance Broadway after their 2-1 win over the Marlins on Friday."
I have mixed feelings about losing Castro. He was an excellent backup but it became obvious that Omir Santos had played his way onto the team. The Mets have a lot more dollars tied up with Brian Schneider and I think he was the better defensive catcher.
2 weeks ago I would have been very skeptical of Omar trading Castro in favor of Santos, but now I think it is the right decision. Castro's biggest benefit was that he had a lot of power and was capable defensively, but with Santos' big game last night he had equaled him with 3 homers in fewer at bats. Santos is just as good defensively at C (as his diving, run saving tag vs. Washington illustrates), is very fast for a C, has a higher batting average, strikes out far less, is hitting .375 with RISP this year with a couple huge late game clutch performances, and is 4-5 years younger to boot. Schneider isnt as good a hitter as either of them as an everyday starter, but he is the only lefty amongst them so he has a slight advantage against RHP. Schnieder is also the best defensive catcher on the roster. So platooning Santos and Schneider is probably the best thing we can do for this team at the C spot, and that left Castro the odd man out. All we got in return was a struggling AAA prospect SP (Lance Broadway) but with a day game today and a late nighter last night, with Schneider coming off the DL today, we didnt have any time to work out a bigger deal so we couldnt be choosy about who we got in return. I just hope neither catcher gets hurt, because then we wouldnt have enough C's instead of having too many.
Submitted by robsafuto on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 22:38.
The Mets have a big decision to make now that Brian Schneider is ready to play. For the moment it looks like Ramon Castro is the odd man out. I like Castro as a backup but Santos is coming up big in the right spots. Santos is hitting .375 with runners in scoring position.
Frankly, I have about as much confidence in Schneider as a starter as I did in Ayala as a closer. I don't see a huge downside to shipping Schneider off in a package and shoring up our weak spots.
Can't wait to see the highlights later or find out what the atmosphere was like when Sheff took off for second there.
I guess I picked the right game to go, huh? an 11 inning, walk off win with Omir Santos as the hero to stay in first place. Before Sheff broke for second, the pitcher had thrown over there like 6 times, and the crowd was getting very annoyed. "He's 40 years old!" we kept yelling. "he's not going anywhere!". Sure enough the very next pitch he stole second base and the ball dribbled out to the OF so he got up and took third too. The crowd went crazy, tatis, got plunked, and Omir came through in the clutch YET AGAIN to get us the walk off.
While our pitching was superb last night, our lineup didnt really play that well. We only got 7 hits in 11 innings against a rookie pitcher. Santos was clearly the hero, hitting the walk off single and the solo homer that forced extras in the first place. If it weren't for him, our energizing walk off win would've been a demoralizing 1-0 loss that kicked us out of first. And he was rewarded with the starting catcher spot as we traded Castro after the game.
I agree with Jerry Manuel's idea of resting players so that they stay fresh, but does he really need to rest all our guys at once? He gave David Wright, Gary Sheffield, and Luis Castillo the day off today, leaving us with a roster of pagan, fmart, beltran, tatis, murphy, ramon martinez, schnieder, and wilson valdez. beltran, murphy, pagan, and possibly tatis are the only ones who are even capable of hitting over .270 in that lineup! I can understand resting Wright vs. a tough righty when he's slumping a bit, but Sheffield and Castillo are our hottest hitters in an already crippled lineup. With the shaky Tim Redding on the mound and vs. great Marlins pitcher, im not sure we can afford to keep our better hitters out of the lineup. We're already down 2-0 in the first inning, so it will be a serious challenge to push our winning streak to 5 this afternoon.
1) I agree that it's almost tantamount to surrender before the game even gets going. Any backup can have a good day, but expecting that many to get their acts together at the same time's another.
2) The bigger problem is that you're sending out the B team on a Saturday afternoon at Shea. Just like the old days when Piazza would play a Friday night game and then you'd go out to Shea and not see the marquee player in front of probably the biggest crowd of the homestand. Fans last again.
I doubt the Gnats will pull off any late heroics, which will drop us ½ gm. back into 2nd. OK, no big deal and nothing unexpected. Had to expect Washington would get swept (yes, I'm counting tomorrow's game already). Bright side? Philadelphia is about to take a 3-game trip to SD followed by 4 in LA and then visiting Citi for games 8-10 of the road trip. We might get them tired, LA's hot and we've seen what SD can do from the first series of the year.
By the time I got to work and logged on to check the updates on the game, it was already over. Mind you, I'll take a 3-2 win any day of the week, but you'd think we might put up 5-6 runs someday even if by accident. And Philadelphia sweeps Washington, what a shocker.
Submitted by robsafuto on Sun, 05/31/2009 - 17:35.
It's all about the pitching and defense right now. I think it's going to be hard for the Mets to get moving without Beltran and Reyes in the lineup. Even if David Wright breaks out (and I hope he does soon) there are still a lot of holes in the lineup. We've got some scrappers in there though (hope Pagan is okay) and some weak competition for a few more games. But it's going to get much tougher and we can't expect to win most of the time on 2 or 3 runs a game. I'm still happy with the effort today as the Mets have faded in Sunday games in the past. K-Rod is a life saver.
I really didn't know much about Putz coming into this year and haven't watched him pitch much on TV yet, but I hear he was booed out of the game again today. I remember back when it sounded like he just as easily could've wound up as our closer. Imagine that nightmare. I just hope he doesn't turn into a Doug Sisk for the new millennium.
Submitted by robsafuto on Sun, 05/31/2009 - 17:58.
JJ Putz didn't get the job done today. Got himself into a pickle and had to be bailed out by Bobby Parnell. Parnell game up a hit to the first batter (charged to Putz) but then got two more outs to end the 8th inning. I'm not sure what to make of Putz at this point. When we needed him to close he got the job done. He's got skills but he's not consistent. Reminds me a little of Aaron Heilman.
I personally really like Putz, and think he just has to get used to the setup role. He has more innings than any other Mets RP, so obviously when we're working him that hard he's going to have an off day every now and then. He is a big part of what has been a great Mets bullpen, and even though he struggled today I still have faith in him and view him as our second best reliever. He was stupendous in Seattle, so I think he'll settle in here quite well if we give him the chance.
vs. 
No Punch Right Now
Boy the Mets are weak at the plate tonight. David Wright is in one of his horrifying mini slumps. He had four strikeouts on Wednesday night and he's 0 for 4 tonight including a strike out with the bases loaded and one out.
but...
...we've got Santos! All hail Santos!
Bye Bye Brian Schneider!
There's no way the Mets are gonna move Omir Santos now to make room for Schneider. We've probably seen the last of Schneider playing a big role with the Mets. He's a weaker hitter than both Castro and Santos and isn't anything special behind the plate. I wouldn't be surprised if he was traded in a package maybe with a Ryan Church down the line. Nice win tonight, great effort from Big Pelf.
Wrong! Mets Trade Castro
As I said in my comment earlier, Ramon Castro was the odd man out. As such, the Mets traded him to the Chicago White Sox after the game.
Mets Trade Castro To White Sox
I have mixed feelings about losing Castro. He was an excellent backup but it became obvious that Omir Santos had played his way onto the team. The Mets have a lot more dollars tied up with Brian Schneider and I think he was the better defensive catcher.
The Right Decision
2 weeks ago I would have been very skeptical of Omar trading Castro in favor of Santos, but now I think it is the right decision. Castro's biggest benefit was that he had a lot of power and was capable defensively, but with Santos' big game last night he had equaled him with 3 homers in fewer at bats. Santos is just as good defensively at C (as his diving, run saving tag vs. Washington illustrates), is very fast for a C, has a higher batting average, strikes out far less, is hitting .375 with RISP this year with a couple huge late game clutch performances, and is 4-5 years younger to boot. Schneider isnt as good a hitter as either of them as an everyday starter, but he is the only lefty amongst them so he has a slight advantage against RHP. Schnieder is also the best defensive catcher on the roster. So platooning Santos and Schneider is probably the best thing we can do for this team at the C spot, and that left Castro the odd man out. All we got in return was a struggling AAA prospect SP (Lance Broadway) but with a day game today and a late nighter last night, with Schneider coming off the DL today, we didnt have any time to work out a bigger deal so we couldnt be choosy about who we got in return. I just hope neither catcher gets hurt, because then we wouldnt have enough C's instead of having too many.
Omir Santos
The Mets have a big decision to make now that Brian Schneider is ready to play. For the moment it looks like Ramon Castro is the odd man out. I like Castro as a backup but Santos is coming up big in the right spots. Santos is hitting .375 with runners in scoring position.
Nats castoffs
Frankly, I have about as much confidence in Schneider as a starter as I did in Ayala as a closer. I don't see a huge downside to shipping Schneider off in a package and shoring up our weak spots.
Can't wait to see the highlights later or find out what the atmosphere was like when Sheff took off for second there.
It ignited the park
I guess I picked the right game to go, huh? an 11 inning, walk off win with Omir Santos as the hero to stay in first place. Before Sheff broke for second, the pitcher had thrown over there like 6 times, and the crowd was getting very annoyed. "He's 40 years old!" we kept yelling. "he's not going anywhere!". Sure enough the very next pitch he stole second base and the ball dribbled out to the OF so he got up and took third too. The crowd went crazy, tatis, got plunked, and Omir came through in the clutch YET AGAIN to get us the walk off.
While our pitching was superb last night, our lineup didnt really play that well. We only got 7 hits in 11 innings against a rookie pitcher. Santos was clearly the hero, hitting the walk off single and the solo homer that forced extras in the first place. If it weren't for him, our energizing walk off win would've been a demoralizing 1-0 loss that kicked us out of first. And he was rewarded with the starting catcher spot as we traded Castro after the game.
Resting Players All at the Same Time
I agree with Jerry Manuel's idea of resting players so that they stay fresh, but does he really need to rest all our guys at once? He gave David Wright, Gary Sheffield, and Luis Castillo the day off today, leaving us with a roster of pagan, fmart, beltran, tatis, murphy, ramon martinez, schnieder, and wilson valdez. beltran, murphy, pagan, and possibly tatis are the only ones who are even capable of hitting over .270 in that lineup! I can understand resting Wright vs. a tough righty when he's slumping a bit, but Sheffield and Castillo are our hottest hitters in an already crippled lineup. With the shaky Tim Redding on the mound and vs. great Marlins pitcher, im not sure we can afford to keep our better hitters out of the lineup. We're already down 2-0 in the first inning, so it will be a serious challenge to push our winning streak to 5 this afternoon.
and on a Saturday at Citi
1) I agree that it's almost tantamount to surrender before the game even gets going. Any backup can have a good day, but expecting that many to get their acts together at the same time's another.
2) The bigger problem is that you're sending out the B team on a Saturday afternoon at Shea. Just like the old days when Piazza would play a Friday night game and then you'd go out to Shea and not see the marquee player in front of probably the biggest crowd of the homestand. Fans last again.
back to 2nd place
I doubt the Gnats will pull off any late heroics, which will drop us ½ gm. back into 2nd. OK, no big deal and nothing unexpected. Had to expect Washington would get swept (yes, I'm counting tomorrow's game already). Bright side? Philadelphia is about to take a 3-game trip to SD followed by 4 in LA and then visiting Citi for games 8-10 of the road trip. We might get them tired, LA's hot and we've seen what SD can do from the first series of the year.
Sunday
By the time I got to work and logged on to check the updates on the game, it was already over. Mind you, I'll take a 3-2 win any day of the week, but you'd think we might put up 5-6 runs someday even if by accident. And Philadelphia sweeps Washington, what a shocker.
Winning With Weak Offense
It's all about the pitching and defense right now. I think it's going to be hard for the Mets to get moving without Beltran and Reyes in the lineup. Even if David Wright breaks out (and I hope he does soon) there are still a lot of holes in the lineup. We've got some scrappers in there though (hope Pagan is okay) and some weak competition for a few more games. But it's going to get much tougher and we can't expect to win most of the time on 2 or 3 runs a game. I'm still happy with the effort today as the Mets have faded in Sunday games in the past. K-Rod is a life saver.
Putz or putz
I really didn't know much about Putz coming into this year and haven't watched him pitch much on TV yet, but I hear he was booed out of the game again today. I remember back when it sounded like he just as easily could've wound up as our closer. Imagine that nightmare. I just hope he doesn't turn into a Doug Sisk for the new millennium.
Not Getting It Done
JJ Putz didn't get the job done today. Got himself into a pickle and had to be bailed out by Bobby Parnell. Parnell game up a hit to the first batter (charged to Putz) but then got two more outs to end the 8th inning. I'm not sure what to make of Putz at this point. When we needed him to close he got the job done. He's got skills but he's not consistent. Reminds me a little of Aaron Heilman.
Putz
> Reminds me a little of Aaron Heilman.
Ouch.
Be Patient with Putz
I personally really like Putz, and think he just has to get used to the setup role. He has more innings than any other Mets RP, so obviously when we're working him that hard he's going to have an off day every now and then. He is a big part of what has been a great Mets bullpen, and even though he struggled today I still have faith in him and view him as our second best reliever. He was stupendous in Seattle, so I think he'll settle in here quite well if we give him the chance.
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