mets – Page 4372 – The Mets Police

May 23, 2008

Marchman in The Sun

Some good rips in here from Tim Marchman, who is always entertaining, but he writes for The Sun which actually now has fewer readers than the Mets Police.

There was a brief time in which it seemed as if the Mets, with several of the best young players in baseball, a new television network, Citi Field on the rise, and shrewd, even-keeled management, could not possibly botch things up. There was also a brief time in which it seemed that Gregg Jefferies would join Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden in leading the Mets on a thousand-year reign of terror. In one case as the other, the natural order asserted itself, and the franchise continued its long history of agonizing farce.

The worst thing about all this, of course, is that the team isn’t even entertainingly dreadful, as the Jeff Torborg/Dallas Green Mets were, but rather relentlessly dreary, along the lines of Art Howe’s clubs. If the Mets are doomed to follow a cyclical pattern of tantalizing success followed by miserable under-performance, as they have as long as I’ve been alive, the least they can do in the down years is be truly wretched. Luis Castillo and musings on SNY’s camerawork are a long, long way from Anthony Young and threats to show reporters the Bronx. This team isn’t even any good at being bad.

Great read here for those of you that don’t subscribe to the New York Sun.

http://www.nysun.com/sports/randolphs-mets-perilously-close-to-rock-bottom/77386/

May 23, 2008

>After Willie – Should There Be An Omar Watch?

>Willie is done in New York, at this point it’s not if but when. The problems with this team go beyond the manager though.

Are the Mets underperforming? Definitely

However, are they a well put-together team? That is the responsibility of the GM and given the lack of depth both on the bench and in the pen, Omar has not done a good job.

John Peterson over at MetsGeek puts together a good analysis of this team from, well, a geek viewpoint.

“The Mets have been a little unlucky, but â€œluck is the residue of design,â€ and Omar Minaya hasnâ€™t designed this team very well.

Consider the offense: Moises Alou is still a good hitter even in his forties, but itâ€™s no secret to anyone that he misses lots of time to injury. But his backup options for Alou this year consists of Marlon Anderson, Endy Chavez, Angel Pagan and Brady Clark. Endy is the only one of the group who excels defensively, but his career 74 OPS+ is abysmal and not good enough to play for any length of time in the outfield. So the other guys are good hitters who make up for their poor gloves with the bat, right? No.”

Minaya has been overrated as a General Manager. The Johann Santana trade was a no-brainer. especially after Boston and the Yankees dropped out of the running (though questions now are coming up about Santana’s speed – seems to be off by about 5 mph). Other moves he has made though, especially the non-big name ones, when looked at with a critical eye are very questionable. Get ready for the Omar Watch.

Blame Minaya Too

May 23, 2008

>Jo-Han Cannot Save You Now

> Losing with Santana on the mound doesn’t help the Willie Watch. By the time Santana starts again, someone else will be manager.

The Mets Police predict Willie will be let go after meeting with the Wilpon’s on Monday. The Mets Police predict Jerry Manuel will be named interim manager for Monday night (sorry Lee, I’m really trying).

The fanbase will be unsatisfied with the choice.

Meanwhile, The Mets Police took a field trip to Yankee Stadium last night and witnessed something – apparently managers are allowed to yell and scream and kick dirt when they don’t like a call. I know, right?

So Girardi does this yelling thing and wow the yankees won the game 5 minutes later. I hope Willie was watching in the clubhouse – eh what does it matter.

Seriously, is there anything that could possibly make anyone think Willie is the man to lead the Mets out of a tailspin?

Jerry in the dugout Monday night. Conference Tuesday. You read it here first.

May 23, 2008

>Willie Watch – Peter Gammons: If The Mets Have Someone Else, Willie Is Gone

>Peter Gammons was just on ESPN’s Mike & Mike In The Morning Show and when asked about Randolph had this to say:

“To be honest, I think that if there were another manager out there that they thought was an immediate fix, Willie would be gone.”

Gammons continued that maybe there needs to be a fire lit under the team and that Jerry Manuel, while a good man, is too much like Willie.

Peter, as we have been saying here at the Mets Police for a few weeks now, there is someone that can step in immediately.

Let the Lee countdown clock start.

May 23, 2008

Steroids!

Runs and home runs in the AL have sunk to their lowest levels since 1992, the year before expansion helped trigger the greatest slugging boom the game has ever seen.

Hmmm I wonder what could have changed, that all the great baseball players of all time played between 1995 and the Mitchell Report. What a glorious age we lived in.