The Mets are embarrassing themselves. None of them wish to, of course. But sometimes you just can’t help but do the exact thing you desperately do not want to do. Albert Einstein defined Insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”, and right now Sandy Alderson’s approach to making the playoffs is looking a little insane. This group of Mets can not score. They have proven that time and time again, yet the same league-trailing team average disguises itself as a lineup each night. The bullpen has cracks and seams that need to be addressed as well.
Horrible base running, poor relief performances, and useless bats defined the game, and more over the second half of the season thus far. More and more it looks like the team has lost almost all confidence, and manager Terry Collins seems unable to stop the bleeding. He has had to deal with a vast variety of issues, but at some point he has to lead this team out of the doldrums. He, like his team, is failing to do their job.
Granted Clayton Kershaw was beyond great tonight, but the Mets can’t keep using the excuse that the other team simply beat them. Sometimes, it’s painfully obvious that you allowed yourself to be beaten.
As a quick measuring stick, Adam Rubin notes the following: the 2015 Mets, the team we were told had 90 wins in them, have a team batting average of .235, which is lower than the .240 of our beloved ’62 Metsies.
Read into it what you wish. Rubin also has a nice series of stories about the aldreson presser today. Please take a Xanax before reading however.
An utter disgrace. You’re summary speaks for itself. It’s not the game that might have put the nail in the coffin, it was the words of Rob Manfred.
I also pray for the individuals involved in the shooting in Louisiana
Fire Alderson and Collins.
Since the beginning of May (and including today)
Player A: 84.2 IP, 5.10 ERA, 1.33 WHIP
Player B: 79.1 IP, 5.33 ERA, 1.40 WHIP
Player A plays in a pitchers haven while Player B plays in a hitter’s paradise.
Player A is… Bartolo Colon
Player B is… Kyle Kendrick.
Why the hell is this loser still on this squad? And for those asking to trade him, what idiot squad would give up anything for him? Release him and be done with him.
When players do not run out ground balls or pop ups, they are congratulated by their manager. The same t-ballers are corrected and the Little Leaguers’ scolded.
Here is a team with a sterling pitching staff but with a AAA or AAAA line up. But don’t worry about Eric Campbell or John Mayberry Jr not hitting their weight. Sandy likes a “peripheral stat”…which has nothing to do with minor league salaries at the major league level.
Grandy breaks up the no-no. Mets down 1-0. Tejada comes to bat— in what Universe is Tejada not bunting?
Who bunts their best hitter?
Ha!
As a matter of fact, just last Wednesday Michael Fulmer and the Bing Mets were playing the Rock Cats of New Britski. In the first inning, the first frigging inning, the Cats got a runner on base against Fulmer, and instructed their #3 hitter to bunt him over.
Darin Everson manages the Rock Cats; a man who understands how to make Small Ball even smaller.
The Bad News: The roster has four position players below the Mendozza line.
The Good News: The Mets were not no hit.
The Bad News: Aramis Rodriguez was traded for the Pirate’s 30th best prospect or the equivalent of Miller Diaz or Matt Koch.
The Good News “Look, we’re not trading the four young players in our rotation right now,” Alderson said. “That’s not going to happen.”. I didn’t realize that Diaz or Koch were in that foursome.
The Bad News:Michael Cuddyer was not disabled and the offensive juggernaut was forced to play shorthanded.
The Good News: The Mets are concerned about Conforto’s future “The downside is sometimes not being successful at the major league level can have a longer-standing impact on a player. There are a variety of other issues,” Alderson said.
He failed to state the other issues which are starting Conforto’s salary clock and player control.
The Bad News: Rob Manfred offered a healthy endorsement of the New York Mets’ ownership and front office during an appearance Thursday at Sleepy Hollow Country Club
The Good News: He too may wake up in 40 years like his fellow Sleepy Hollow resident, Rip Van Winkle
The Bad News: Three more games against the Dodgers without reinforcements
The Good News: The Greinke’s had a baby and he isn’t pitching tonight.
I thought the strategically weak move was the failure to pinch-run for Duda in the 8th. Not necessarily a standard move, but one that you had to consider.
First, it was the bottom of the 8th and the Mets had done nothing to that point. Duda leads off with a single. Given that Lagares was bunting in that spot — a decision I agreed with from my seat in the stands — it makes sense to me to bring in a speedier baserunner. Muno, probably.
Duda was picked off for a variety of reasons, a failure to have his head in the game being the biggest. But also, how many times in his career do you think he’s been in that situation? Standing on 1B with a guy trying to bunt him over? My guess is possibly never. So he’s anxious to get a strong secondary lead, a big jump to 2B — he knows he’s slow, he knows how desperate the situation is with this offense, he’s pressing and trying to force things — so he gets picked off. Kershaw has a great move.
Now maybe you don’t want to pull a big bat like Duda’s out of the game. He’s hitting, what, .170 over the past 2 months? Maybe. But imagine he gets to second. Wouldn’t that be the spot when you’d put in a pinch runner? You somebody over there who can score on a single, right? And if you are going to pinch-run for him at that point, then you’ve got to make that move sooner.
A little thing, and nit-picking for sure, but a manager needs to put his players in the best situations for them to succeed. Duda was out of his comfort zone there, and Muno is doing nothing on the bench.
It is the small things that make great managers. Great observation James!
I don’t think it’s nit picking — I think it’s a legitimate criticism.
Kershaw has a great move.
True. But when I saw it, the first thing that came to mind before the ball made it to 1B was this: balk.
James, you were thinking. Collins…..
The guys above me are right, it was a smart thought.
Yes Jim…that one Too!!!
Does it concern anyone that the Mets are offering their #1 overall draft picks from 2011 and 2012 and the baseball world doesn’t seem to be too interested?
The Mets are seeking rentals, bodies, competent hitters from failed teams that are presumably building for the future.
Worth noting, also: Both Nimmo and Cecchini are hitters who include “the approach” in their hitting philosophy. In fact, I’d contend that they were drafted, in part, because they take a lot of pitches.
From day one, Sandy has fashioned himself as an expert on hitting. He has installed his approach organization wide. They preach it up and down. Well, here we are in year five and what I see is abject failure.
Amen James.
Had I been at the presser yesterday, the question I would have asked is: for years now, this team cannot hit the baseball well, and we are presently seeing one of the worst offenses in team history. This is your team now. Is the lack of offense a problem with the philosophy? Instruction in teaching the philosophy, or on-the-field execution of the philosophy? Clearly, the offense is completely impotent, why and who is responsible?
That is on you, JP, you are looking at silly statistics like runs scored. Sandy defended Campbell yesterday and cited his “peripherals.”
If we just had the intellect that Sandy has we would understand that the data dePo runs shows that the Mets won the Peripheral World Series the last four years.
He quoted the pythags a lot last year, trying to show how the Mets were better than their record. He’s not doing that this year, because those numbers indicated a 44-50 ballclub. But you know how it is with stats, there’s always a way to spin it.
Now we’ve got exit speeds and line drive % and so on to tell us that Eric Campbell is actually just a really, really, really unlucky guy.
Funny, my 22-year-old son asked me the other day: “What’s Eric Campbell’s natural position?” It stumped me, so I made the “DH” joke. But seriously, does anybody know?
Third base.
Truck driver.
Marriage counselor
But Keith Law!!!
One last note before I run: This Cuddyer nonsense is a huge negative. They are giving him shots and hoping for miracle cures and throwing away games in the process.
Consider for a moment that the Mets lined up their rotation against the Nats to throw their 3 best pitchers, or supposedly their 3 best pitchers. They looked at that series, circled it in red, and made a plan.
Then they played it a man short on the offensive side of the ball.
And meanwhile, they carry Alec Torres who they are (rightfully) afraid to use, in a bloated bullpen.
It is counter-productive.
We are willingly playing with 24 guys. We have done so against the Cards, Nats, and Dodgers. Are we so good a team that we can self-imposed play a man down? No. However, it is clear that the FO has zero belief that there is anything in the pipeline near MLB level.
Until then, lets send Mistress Cleo over to Citi Field and get a tarot card reading and some answers from the magic 8 ball.
Side note: Consultation with my Magic 8 Ball this morning yielded the word “sell”.
Welcome to NY Michael Conforto. May you hit up here like you have done everywhere.
My favorite point of Sandy’s latest joke press conference was when he was asked if doing zip at the deadline was acceptable:
“Not as long as we’ve worked as hard as I think we need to and have worked the process as hard as we possibly can.”
The Sandy Alderson front office – everyone gets a trophy!
By the way, it should be mentioned that Billy Beane drank Sandy’s milkshake yesterday when he traded Kazmir for two prospects.
Beane had Colon and let him walk to the Mets for 2/$21 million. Beane turned around and signed the younger, better Scott Kazmir for the same money. This year Kazmir’s ERA is around 2.60, while Colon’s is at least two runs higher (in the non-DH league).
Colon is untradeable. Kazmir, well, obviously . . .
Alderson said “no” to Kasmir very early that off season and we all know why. The Coupons would never have such a negative prior transaction on display every fifth day. It would have been nice to admit a mistake and move on, but these people don’t make mistakes. It’s the paying customers that keep making the mistake.
Pure speculation, but who do you think said the “he’s hitting one f’ing seventy” line?
My guess is either Harvey or Niese.
Doesn’t sound like Grandy or Duda. I’m not sure that Murphy curses. Most of the other guys just don’t have the stature or the balls. So that leaves me with the pitchers. Not deGrom, not Syndergaard. Too young.
Thoughts?
Im going with someone batting >.200
Well that narrows it down quite a bit.
It could be DeGrom. I think he’s had enough too.
Deductive reasoning leads to deGrom as he fits both of the requirements above.