Catching has not been one of the Mets’ strengths this season. When Sandy Alderson signed Ronny Paulino in the offseason, it appeared to be a very good move, as he seemed an ideal platoon mate for Josh Thole. A Thole-Paulino combo looked liked it could give the Mets above-average production for a minimum investment. However, [...]
Last year at the All-Star break the Mets were 48-40 and in second place in the NL East. They were a game behind the Dodgers in the Wild Card race. But they started the second half of the season going 2-9 and never recovered. This year the picture at the All-Star break is not nearly [...]
Manager Terry Collins has given more playing time recently to Ronny Paulino, essentially splitting time equally behind the plate between Paulino and Josh Thole for the last six weeks. Before the season started, I suggested that the duo would make an ideal platoon team, with Thole getting the majority of the ABs due to being [...]
Four games, 52 runs scored, 69 hits, only three of which were home runs – all hit in a single game and two of those were grand slams. As Casey Stengel meant to tell us all those many years ago, “The Mets are amazin’.” Every cylinder of the offense is firing, the pitchers are unfettered [...]
While Ronny Paulino will not make you forget about Mike Piazza, he could possibly make it easier for you to dismiss Josh Thole and his slow start. Paulino has come back from the DL with authority. Although it’s a very small sample size, the club likes what it sees in Paulino. Paulino is 7-13 thus [...]
The Mets’ catching situation in 2011 is potentially a team strength, but that fact has been all but lost given all of the hoopla around the ownership situation plus speculation how the big guns will do. Before we look at what the Mets might get from Josh Thole and Ronny Paulino this year, let’s look [...]
After avoiding platoons for most of the past few seasons, the Mets could be moving back to this strategy in 2011, with potential platoon situations at both catcher and second base. With the LaRussification of bullpen usage, platoons have fallen out of favor throughout the majors in recent years, as spots that would go to [...]
The Mets have already had their team Christmas party but they must have decided this year not to exchange gifts. Now, you may be wondering what millionaires give as gifts or what millionaires want to receive as gifts. I cannot answer that question. But I can tell you what players on the Mets really need. [...]
Prior to the Winter Meetings, general manager Sandy Alderson promised he would come home with some new players. Tuesday, he kept that promise by signing free agents Ronny Paulino and D.J. Carrasco. Paulino is a righty-hitting catcher while Carrasco is a rubber-armed reliever and both players do a nice job of filling roles on the [...]