213 Miles From Shea

The Brooklyn Clyclones Continue to Make Fantastic Promotions

OMmetsfan07 — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:58:00 -0500

Every baseball season I am blown away by the marketing department of the Brooklyn Cyclones. They routinely think of things that are either unique or extremely awesome (or both). There was a link featured on uniwatcblog today that showcases another great move by the Cyclones. If you are unaware, the Cyclones (the Mets Class A short season team if you are really that unaware) are celebrating their 10th anniversary. In celebration this summer, on 7 Thursday Nights this summer they will feature a new Jersey.

Here is the list of the Jersey's:

1) Home Replica
2) Boardwalk Blues
3) Cyclones '86 Backman
4) Italian Hertiage
5) Irish Hertiage
6) Pitch Black
7) Original Road Replica

(Image from the Brooklyn Cyclones Official Page)

The above picture is the '86 Backman style. Notice how it looks like a 1986 Mets Jersey. Really these are all beautiful designs and will be available for the first 2500 fans on the nights that they are be given out. The actual article on the Brooklyn Cyclones website can be found here, and on that site are the pictures for the other 6 jerseyes. Really check it out. If you like uniform aesthics or if you like Brooklyn you will really like that page. I think my favorite is probably the Italian Jersey.

Read: I Can't Believe I Haven't Written About This Yet

OMmetsfan07 — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:47:00 -0500

Over at Fan Huddle yesterday I wrote this article about the whole JJ Putz revelation that came out last week. I know this isn't news anymore, but I wanted to put my two cents in.

So check it out.

Could F-mart Make Spring Interesting?

OMmetsfan07 — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:10:00 -0500

To start off my gut answer is a "no" in quotation marks (due to my cynical nature sometimes with the Mets) but of course there is a story that will lead to this conclusion.

Thursday night I was watching the Maryland Basketball game with a few of my fraternity brothers (Alpha Phi Omega- Coed Community Service Fraternity, any other APO Mets fans out there?) and it was a slow night, mainly because the campus was already closing for the major snowstorm that was really 18 hours away at that point, but its DC so thats expected.

Anyway one of my brothers is also a Mets fan and we were talking about the state of the Mets and he was very strongly for trading Fernando Martinez because as he sees it, he's a player with no potential. After I explained in detail why he was wrong, I figured this article was necessary to write.

One of the struggling points with Fmart is ability to stay healthy. He has shown at a few levels in the minors that he can hit and that he has a fantastic swing when he is healthy. He is also very young as well, which can be linked to his lack of power and ability so far to hit at the major league level. I would say that up until last week, he was not being considered at all for the Centerfield job at all next season. We have Pagan and GMJ and Fmart still was not ready at all.

However he released a statement last week via an interview saying that he was expecting to get playing time (before the GMJ trade). Since that statement, he has really been turning it on in the winter leagues. During the actual season in the winter league, he was hitting below .200 but since the playoffs, he has been hitting above .330 and this week alone he has 2 homeruns. If he can continue to play strong into Spring he could potentially make things interesting.

Overall though, even if he comes out of spring with 15 homers, he will ultimately start off in the minors. The Mets already have 2 CF on the roster without Beltran, and Fmart really needs to be playing every day to not only get rythem but to also get stronger for future season. However, I am hoping that he really succeeds in Spring, because we will need him down the road.

Three Years Strong! Thanks For Reading!

OMmetsfan07 — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:56:00 -0500

Hey Readers,

Today marks the third anniversary for this blog. It was back on January 31st, 2007 that I started this blog as a Mets fan in Baltimore looking to reach out and interact with the Mets community. Since then I have written nearly 1100 articles (a total that should be surpassed this week), contributed to two more Mets blogs and have changed my personal location to outside of DC.

I know this past year has been a rough year for the Mets, but we have gone through rough seasons before and made it back on top. Its easy to say that now as well since Spring is right around the corner, where optimisim is rising to its peak.

Personally, if you have been reading this site, you probably realize there has been a drop off in my writing over the last 6 months or so. I am hoping with this upcoming season to return to my familiar high volume of quality writing for the following season. I normally don't talk on this site too much about what I do outside of the Mets writing world, but I would like to digress for a little bit. I am an undergraduate Astronomy and Physics double major at the University of Maryland College Park. The last several months has been an extremely busy time as I had two labs (including an observation lab at night) which cut a lot into the time I usually try to get some writing done. Hopefully my next semester isn't as busy, which is why I see my writing returning to normal.

This is an exciting time to be a Mets fan, believe it or not. We are either desitined for big things right now, or we are on the cusp or a new generation of players and talent of for the amazin's and possibly (or more hopefully) a more competent front office if needed. Lets Go Mets! Lets get ready for the optimism of Spring and the most optmistic day of the year, Openning Day.

Thank you all for reading, and I am always open for comments and advice,

Elliot Teichman

eteich@umd.edu

Read: The Mets Must Be the Awkward Kid at the Dance (Moves They Must Make)

OMmetsfan07 — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:34:00 -0500

Over at Fan Huddle, I just posted this article, where I describe the Mets as the either the awkward kid at the dance or the kid who talks big game and just does nothing at the dance, because that is what it feels like to be a Mets fan.

On top of that I suggest 4 things they can do If you go read the article, you will know what I would do if I was the GM of the Mets. So check it out.

Playoff Drafting in the Puerto Rico Winter League

OMmetsfan07 — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:15:00 -0500

I was prepping an article about moves made this week, and how Delgado is still be considered, for some reason, for Fan Huddle recently (article not posted yet, should be later tonight and I will post a link here) and I came across something interesting from the Puerto Rico Winter League wikipedia page (and also on Metsblog).

In the Puerto Rico League, there is a draft held for teams that are still competing where they can pick up players from teams that were eliminated. That means, if you are an all-star player, you could possibly continue with a team through the post season?

Can you even imagine if that existed in the MLB? It would be as if the playoff's would be smaller versions of the All-Star game and then eventually, the World Series could basically be the All-Star game.

That is just bizarre. Now I haven't been able to find too much information on this yet, and I am sure there is some limiting fashion to this draft, and that there is a limited number of drafts (or maybe not) but think about competition. Lets use the 2009 Post Season as an example. In September, there was a back and forth battle between the Tigers and the Twins where they both just fought for the last playoff spot. According this league, it would be possible for the Twins then to draft a player for the playoffs from the Tigers, where that player probably just spent the better part of a month hating the Twins and then has to be teamates. Or lets look at the other side of that. What if the Yankees then picked up someone from the Tigers, who could tell them all of the up to date "secrets" of the Twins. This is just so strange to think about.

What Baseball Team Does Indianaopolis Root For?

OMmetsfan07 — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:42:00 -0500

At the very end of the AFC title game today, they showed a fan waving a the Chicago "W" (for win) flag which got me thinking, which team does Indianapolis root for?

As a quick side note, to all the Jets fans out there, sorry you didn't win today. I was rooting for you. I don't talk about Football here that much, but many of you who follow this blog know that I am born in North Jersey but I was raised in Baltimore. Through my childhood I had a strong connection the New York Mets, but not to any New York football teams. I was in first grade when Baltimore got the Ravens, thus that Baltimore bond was formed (yet I say Baltimore like I'm from the north, so Ravens fans see me as an imposter as well).

The more I started to think about this, the more I realized how complex of a question this is. My knowledge of sports in that region of the United States is slim. In fact, it really only goes as far as knowing that I have relatives that live in Louisville, KY, which basically borders south Ohio and south Indiana. From what I understand, in at least football terms in that part of KY, fans either root for the Bengals, or the slightly farther Colts.

When it comes to baseball in Indiana though, because that is where this article focuses on, there are no major league teams in the state, but the state is surrounded by several teams. In neighboring Illinois, there are the Cubs and White Sox. In neighboring Ohio, there are the Indians and the closer Reds. In fact, the Reds seem to be the closest team to Indianapolis. That does not mean that Colt fans root for the Reds.

My understanding of fandom out in most of the country is mostly due to this map. While I take this map with a grain of salt (mainly because it does over exaggerate a lot of places), there is some truth in it. The Cubs are an extremely popular team, an atribute that is helped out by their coverage on WGN. Of course there is also the ever popular Cards as well. Another team to cosider (oddly) is the Pirates. Conventional thinking would say that the Pirates are too far away however Indianopolis does have a baseball team, and its the AAA affialties of the Pirates.

I think this is just a long explanation to say that I have no idea who Colt fans root for, and if any of you out there know, I would really appreciate it.

Read: My Opinion about Molina

OMmetsfan07 — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:23:00 -0500

Every once in a while I write an article over at Fan Huddle and I forget to tell you fine folks over here about it, and that was the case on Wednesday when I wrote this piece.

It was about how I am glad that the Mets "missed out" on Molina. My opinion was further solidified later in the week when we traded for Matthews (a line up with Matthews and Molina would be way to slow) and then even further solidified when Molina came out with a statement saying that he would have signed with the Mets only if they guranteed two years. So check out the article if you want to.

Uh...What Was That?

OMmetsfan07 — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:37:00 -0500

The title probably is a good explanation of how you feel at this point in the offseason if you still have hope in the front office to make competent decisions. If you are more cynical than your response was probably more like "Oh, that makes sense for the Mets, because it doesn't."

Alright, so I'm being a little too harsh on the Mets but seriously Gary Matthews Jr? At least it is only for 1.25 million a year. The Mets management made this move as back up for Pagan as a back up for Beltran. The only way this move will make sense for the Mets is if Pagan, and lets hope not, gets injured, which can easily happen. But the part of this move that is puzzling is that it cost the Mets one of their suprisingly more effective pitchers from the pen.

I liked Stokes. The Mets however do not like Stokes. He could go long periods of time without seeing action, and taking that into his account his 3.97 ERA from the pen is better than it actually is. But the part of this move that is really just strange is that we still need pitching, and we have a lot of players that we could have signed to minor league deals that would probably give us the same production in the outfield that Gary Matthews will.

Compounding the disapointment in the Mets making this move is that they still have not been able to accomplish two of their main goals for this offseason. Sign/Trade a Starting pitcher to help out Johan and crew. Trade Castillo away (and sign Hudson). If those two things happen then this move will be able to be over looked, but until then this is just a frustrating move from an offseason of frustrating moves.

Ed Hern and Chase Community Giving

OMmetsfan07 — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:30:00 -0500

I received an email a few days ago from Cynthia Marrero talking about the Chase Community Giving. Its a contest where non-profit organizations of 10 million or less (budgets) can win via Facebook a 1 million dollar grant.

Here's the email:

Hello,

My name is Cynthia Marrero, and I work with the Nephcure Foundation. We have a video featuring Ed Hearn that you might be interested in. Ed is leading the charge for Nephcure in the Chase Community Giving Facebook Contest. Nephcure is among 100 non-profit organizations with budgets of 10,000,000 dollars or less, who are competing for a 1 million dollar grant. Here is the youtube link to Ed’s video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoeuz2fVHGU

New Batting Practice Hats (All Teams)

OMmetsfan07 — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:40:00 -0500

If you ever want uniform news, I really hope you use uniwatchblog.com because it is an unbelievable site. Anyway, they announced that New Era has released new BP hats for every MLB team (and this explains why the old BP hats are only $10 on the official online shops right now).

The main complaint for these hats, at least asthetically, are the inappropriate amount of piping. Below is a photo of the BP hat that Mets wore last year:

(Image from the USA Today Sports Store)

And Here is the new hat:
(From the New Era Online Store)

Before we explain the differences you can see, there is one that you can't see in the photos which is on the back of the new hat, the MLB logo is surrounded by a half circle of piping and is inset I believe in black fabric.

I have two main problems with the new hat design. The first is I am not a fan of hats that have different color piping that runs up along the top of the hat, especially when the hat is not a pinwheel design (meaning that in a pinwheel, the hat top itself, not including the bill, is several different colors). With this, I am not a fan of when official hats have multi-colored bills, its fine for hats that fans where, but looks kinda silly for MLB teams.

The second main problem I have with that hat is the colors they decided. The orange outnline along the old BP hat was really nice. Once again with this new hat, Orange takes a a back seat as a New York Mets color, which is sad.

Serious Bad News For the Mets

OMmetsfan07 — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:48:00 -0500

Just a quick note:

It was revealed today that Beltran had some sort of knee surgery and the Mets are claiming that they didn't know that this was going to happen and didn't know that this was even a problem. (although there are some who say the Mets did know and didn't give permission for the surgery). Right now there are conflicting reports on whether this was routine or not.

As details come out, more conclusions will be able to be made. Right now it looks like that Beltran could be out up to 12 weeks (or more or less, things are very unclear). Personally, I feel this means the Mets will now have serious problems moving Angel Pagan because CF will either be Pagan or Fmart for at least the start of the season.

Oh boy, this is just bad.

Read: Delgado Has First Major Hit

OMmetsfan07 — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:04:00 -0500

Delgado hit a homerun a few nights ago. You probably already heard this. I wrote an article immediately after it happened, but I never linked it to here.

So you can find that article here.

The article contains his winter stats and some opinions of why it would be appropriate to bring Delgado back, why it wouldn't be, and how he would affect the lineup.

Reviewing the Decade: The 2003 Draft

OMmetsfan07 — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 09:30:00 -0500

2003 Draft

In part three of this series, we look at the 2003 draft and more memories of this decade begin to emerge as we get a chance to remember our fun times with the first round pick, Lastings Milledge. Overall, the Mets drafted three players in 2003 that would eventually play in the majors and several players that would later lead to trades to get more major league talent.

Lastings Milledge: We all remember Lastings. He was a big, big deal when he came up. He was also the first of a series of highly touted outfielders from the Farm System. His reputation as a lose cannon was cemented early on as he high fived fans after a home run and released a rap album with some questionable lyrics. He had a short temper and later was traded to the Nationals. He was traded for Schneider and Church in a trade that many opposed at first. After some short success in Washington, Lastings tailed off, as Church played well in New York. Milledge was then traded to the Pirates, Schneider has signed with the Phillies and Church has been traded for Francoeur. In some respect, the Mets turned Milledge into Francouer.

Brian Bannister: Bannister had a pretty good first stint in the majors as he pitched a 4.48 ERA over 38.0 innings. In a bad trade for the Mets, they sent this starter from the 2003 draft over to the Royals where has had success. The player the Mets received Burgos, has never really had success so far with the Mets.

Carlos Muniz: Muniz has bounced between the minors and the majors since his debuted in 2007. He didn’t impress much in 07 but he was better in 2008. He doesn’t factor to be a major part of the Mets plans in the near future.

Bonus: The Mets fifth round pick Corey Coles has played a role for the Mets in the last few years as the Mets traded him to the Cubs in 2007 and received Angel Pagan in return. Coles has yet to make the Majors, but his trade to the Cubs led to a very exciting player for our team. One would have to imagine though, that the way injuries to the outfield core went 07-09, if Coles was still in the system, he probably would have played.

Why I Love Mets Fans

OMmetsfan07 — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:26:00 -0500

For those of you who are new to this site, I am a Mets fan that grew up in Baltimore (and now live outside of DC), so for the majority of my life I have been an away fan. I have never met a group of fans though like Mets fans. While I don't always agree with some of views as fellow Mets fans (a friend of mine and I constantly argue over Dan Murphy. I'm for him, he's not), Mets fans always seem educated in what is going on with the team. They know the recent moves. They have opinions. They know the recent story lines.

I was walking to work yesterday and I hear a car honk. I look around and someone was waving at me. He asked me where I got my jacket (I was wearing a Mets winter jacket that I got for $90 off a few years ago because I bought it in Baltimore, seriously if you want cheap Mets gear, Baltimore has it cause stores stock it and then they can't sell it). So I told him and he told me he was from Queens and has been a Mets fan his entire life.

We then started a five minute discussion where he asked me my opinon about Jason Bay (without saying Bay, we both knew who we were talking about) and then I asked him about the rotation where he stated his opinion about the quality of pitchers after Johan. After this we parted ways (and I forgot to tell him about this website, which happens a lot. If you ever meet me in real life, there is a 90% chance I will forget to mention this site).

I'm sure there are Mets fans that don't represent this mold that I'm talking about here, but I haven't met them yet, and I go to a good number of games and talk to people in the street if I see them wearing Mets stuff. Lets Go Mets! Come on Spring, get here sooner.

Reviewing the Decade: The 2002 Draft

OMmetsfan07 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:38:00 -0500

2002 Draft

The Mets drafted two major leagues in 2002, one who we later flipped for a few players that ended up benefiting the other team slightly more than it helped us. The other player we drafted in 2002 became an icon for entire front office organization.

Scott Kazmir: This lefty was drafted as the fifteenth overall draft pick and was supposed to change face of the Mets rotation. He had major league talent and was ready to shine in New York. Then, in one of the most infamous moves in the history of the Mets and one of the most infamous moves in the majors (for this decade) Kazmir was traded to the Rays for Victor Zambrano. Kazmir has since been an All-Star twice, has played with the historic Rays and now is an Angel. Kazmir defines this draft for sure as he is an All-Star (the second straight year the Mets drafted a later All-Star) and his move to the Rays defined the pre-Minaya front-office.

Matt Lindstrom: Lindstrom was drafted in the tenth round and was later traded with Owens for Vargas and Bostick. Lindstrom broke into the majors in 2007 and had two very successful years with the Marlins in 2007 and 2008. He had a so-so year last year. His mild success makes two major leaguers from this draft for the Mets.

Bonus: The Mets also drafted the recently praised Shawn Bowman in this draft.

Reviewing the Decade: The 2001 Draft

OMmetsfan07 — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:23:00 -0500

As time has transpired so far, this draft has proved to be the best for the Mets in the decade (which is hard to say since 2008 and 2009 draftees are still very young). In a draft, when you get one player who can play at the major league level either as a bench player or platoon (or more) its considered an average draft. When you get one who is a starter, it is considered an good draft. When you get an All-Star, it is considered a great draft. When you get a player who is consistently an All-Star and a leader, it is considered an amazing draft. By now you figured out who the Mets drafted in 2001, David Wright. The Mets over all had 5 members of their 2001 draft class play in the majors. Overall for the Mets, this was a very solid draft class that produced three solid major league players.

Aaron Heilman: A player who has a lot of history with Mets fans, especially after the 2006 and 2007 seasons was drafted 18 overall by the Amazin’s. Despite his struggles at the end of his tenure with the Mets, he was a good selection by the Mets. Originally slated to be a starter, he ended up being a set-up man who went through highs, and recently lows. His last contribution to the Mets was when he was traded as part of the three way trade that brought JJ Putz to New York.

David Wright: Selected as the supplemental pick for losing Hampton, Wright has quickly become the face of the franchise for the New York Mets. There is not much to say here about Wright as his successes are pretty well. The future of the team depends on Wright and he is the type of player that not only makes the 2001 draft but makes up for a decade worth of drafts.

Lenny DiNardo: Drafted in the third round by the Mets, DiNardo was originally drafted in 1998 but didn’t sign. He was then drafted by the Red Sox in 2003 in the Rule Five draft and debuted with the Red Sox in 2004. He has played in every season since then playing for the Red Sox until 2006, Oakland in 2007-2008, and the Royals last season. His best season was in 2007 where he posted a 4.11 ERA over 131.1 innings pitched.

Denny Garcia: Garcia was drafted in the fifth round and played for the Mets in 2003 and 2004 before being released (and being signed by two other teams, and not making the majors with either team). In 2003 Garcia batted .214 for the Mets and batted .232 in 2004.

Joe Hietpas: The 16^th round pick for the Mets in 2001. His inclusion on this list at this point is just a formality because he made the majors, but he didn’t even have an AB in his debut in 2004.

Reviewing the Decade: The 2000 Draft

OMmetsfan07 — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:05:00 -0500

In this series of articles (as described earlier) the Mets drafts of each year of the decade will be analyzed in terms of players that made the majors, and for more recent years, players that were drafted that were traded in key trades (this section will be focused more on later drafts, where the players haven’t made it to the majors yet).

Since this article is focusing on the 2000 draft, it will be more of a focus on how the players that the Mets scouted turned out after they were drafted. There were four players the Mets drafted that made it to the majors later on in their careers.

Billy Traber: The Mets first pick in the draft came from the 16^th pick in the first round (via the Mariners) and the Mets selected Billy Traber, an LHP from Loyola (CA). Traber was part of the trade that brought Roberto Alomar over to the Mets. Traber himself made his major league debut for the Cleveland Indians in 2003 where he had a 5.24 ERA over 111.2 innings pitched. He was then claimed off waivers to the Red Sox in 2004. In 2005 he rejoined via Free Agency the Indians and then in 2006 made his way over to the Nationals where he pitched 43.1 innings in the majors and then 39 innings the following year (ERA’s: 2006-6.44, 2007-4.76). In 2008 he played with the Yankees where he pitched a little over 16 innings and in 2009 he pitched 3.2 innings with the Red Sox.

Bobby Keppel: Keppel was the second draftee for the Mets in 2000. They selected him with pick 36 in the supplemental round. Keppel stayed in the Mets system until he was released by the Mets in 2005 where he then joined with the Royals. In 2006 he made his major league debut where he had a 5.50 ERA over 34.1 innings. The next season he was with the Rockies where he had an ERA over 11 over 4 innings of work. He made it back to the majors last season with the Twins with a 4.83 ERA over 54.0 innings pitched.

Chris Basak: Basak was the 25^th pick in round 6 for the Mets in 2000. He has not had much success in the majors. He was released by the Mets in 2006. In 2007 he played in 5 games for the Yankees where he had only one at bat (and didn’t get a hit).

Jeff Duncan: In round 7, the Mets selected Duncan. Duncan was first drafted in ’97 by the Cubs, but he didn’t sign. He is the only player the Mets drafted in 2000 that made the majors with the Mets. He played in two seasons for the Mets in 2003 and 2004. In 2003 he hit .194 and in 2004 he hit .067. He hasn’t played in the Majors since.

Mets Drafts In the Last Decade

OMmetsfan07 — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:03:00 -0500

Tonight I will be starting a series where I look at the drafts in the last decade for the New York Mets, starting with 2000 and through 2009. The reviews look basically at the players that Mets drafted who eventually made it to the majors for the earlier seasons, and for the later seasons, the reviews look at players involved in key trades, and players who look to be making a big impact in the near future for the Amazin's.

So far 6 of the 10 reviews have been written, and its not secret that the 2001 draft so far has been the best for the Mets, where they drafted David Wright (you may have heard of him). Also, 2005, depending on how the players develop, could possibly pass the 2001 draft thanks to a couple of pitchers a catcher that caught our eyes late last season.

I hope you all like the series, suprisingly I have learned a lot from researching these posts.

Programming Note

OMmetsfan07 — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:00:00 -0500

Hey Readers:

I am currently working right now on two separate projects right now for this site, and my site over at Fan Huddle. As of right now, the first set of articles I am working on is a review year by year of the Mets draft "success" of this decade (which means for the early 2000's, the success is pretty well determined at this point, but later years the success (or lack) has not been seen yet). I have finished 2000-2004 and I am planning to start posting these articles on this site starting on January 4 and going through January 14.

The second set of articles I am working on will be posted on my Fan Huddle site, and will be a Spring Training Preview of possible position battles, and story lines to look for. The series will go by position. Most likely these articles will start to be posted on the 10th, as we wait to see a clearer picture of what the 40 man could look like.

Of course I will continue to post regularly on both sites on other topics, but get excited for these two series (especially the Decade Draft series, I am really happy with it so far).

-Elliot

Mets Make Top 10 Plays For 2009

OMmetsfan07 — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:59:00 -0500

In this morning's Sports Center on ESPN, the Mets made both of their top 10 lists. ESPN presented, as usual, its top 10 plays of the year and of course, that had to be followed by the NOT top 10 plays of the year. The Mets were honored by being featured in both lists.

For the actual top 10 list, the Mets Daniel Murphy was #9 with his fantastic flip of the glove to the pitcher covering first base after the ball bounced off the edge of the base. Its one of those plays that is hard to describe in words. Below is the video of this amazing play.

The Mets also made the #1 NOT top ten play of the year. It's a night you probably remember. A night a lot of your hope for this season just went away completely. I am talking about of course when the Mets where about to get a great 8-7 win over the Yankees and then Luis Castillo didn't catch an easy two out pop-up, two runs scored and the Mets lost the game 9-8. That play is probably still in your mind if you saw it, so there is no reason to post it here.

Signings You May Have Missed

OMmetsfan07 — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:19:00 -0500

In all of the excitement with Bay to the Mets, the possible (and not possible) availability of Carlos Zambrano, and Matt Holiday, there has been very little coverage of five minor signings that have occurred from yesterday to today.

The Phillies have been busy with one major league signing and one minor league signing. On the major league side, the Phillies added another arm to their bullpen in the form of Danys Baez. Baez just finished a contract with the Orioles where he had an up and down time where he pitched poorly and pitched well. He is coming off of a better year than 08, when he didn't play at all, and a poor 07. The contract is said to be for two years. The other players the Mets signed is Tagg Bozied, who was a big prospect several years ago, and then suffered a major injury in 2004 in a celebration. He played for an AAA team last season. He is 30 years old.

The Cubs have signed Marlon Byrd to a three year contract today. Yesterday the catcher's market got slightly smaller as the Rockies negotiated a one year deal with Miguel Olivio, which leaves Torrebela with one less option and leaves more compeption for the Mets catching job that Molina is holding out on.

Another NL East move happened yesterday as Kelly Johnson ended his time with the Braves. The Brave who caused the Mets much grief in the last several seasons has signed a one year contract with the Diamondbacks. I'm pretty glad to see him not in the division anymore.

Bay Watch Part 5: No More Bay-Ruit for Bay

OMmetsfan07 — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:12:00 -0500

Jason Bay and the Mets agreed to a 4 year, 66 million dollar deal with a fifth year option yesterday (pending a physical) meaning that the slugger will be patrolling left field. At first, believe it or not, I wasn't excited about this deal, but now I am, because I am excited about some of the promise this provides.

Think about the outfield of the Mets now. We have Bay, Beltran and Francoeur. A combination like that in the lineup is one of the best outfields in the league in terms of hitting (assuming Francoeur plays the full year for the Mets next year with the numbers he put up as a Met, not a Brave). There is the potential here for a lot of homers and really a lot of runs. If the lineup looks like this:

1. Reyes
2. Castillo
3. Wright
4. Beltran
5. Bay
6. Francoeur/Murphy
7. Francoeur/Murphy
8. Santos/Thole/Blanco/Coste....Maybe Molina (which then complicates this more, so lets assume here no Molina)
9. Pitcher

This lineup looks great, when healthy. Beltran starts to clear the bases with RBI's, Bay powers to wrap it up, and then Francoeur/Murphy can finsih the run producing roles. Potentially, between Wright, Beltran, Bay and Francoeur, this team has four, yes four, clean-up hitters (where Beltran and Wright can both be three spot hitters and Wright and Bay could both be fifth spot hitters).

This really could be great for the Mets, and I am really ready for Spring Training and the season now (and will be more ready if we can get one more starter).

Read: The Case for Androis Chapman

OMmetsfan07 — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:56:00 -0500

A few days ago, over at Fan Huddle, I made my case for the Mets signing Chapman. This was of course before the signing of Bay, but I stand by my words and still feel that Chapman is a worthy route for the Amazin's to go.

Later I will be posting my new look at the pitching on the Mets a direction to go now that they have committed money over to Bay.

Bay Watch Part 4

OMmetsfan07 — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:09:00 -0500

Well, it has been a while since the Mets initial contract offer, and still no Jason Bay. A few days ago Gammons made a statement about how Bay would rather "play in Beirut than in Queens". This sounds like a classic "he's just not that into you" situation. He doesn't want to play for us (based one what we are offering) and we are, smartly, not going to over buy on Bay. So what does that mean?

Well first for Bay, that means he will have to drop his requests becuase there are close to zero teams out there that can pay him what he wants to play.

For the Mets, it means they are probably making the right decision, as long as they go and plug up some holes. You know when you are hungry, and it is just as easy to eat a salad as it is to eat some Fast Food. You want to eat the Fast Food, and you will enjoy it, but you know later on it will hurt you. Well thats the situation here. We will enjoy having Bay in the lineup, and at first it will be good. However, as the year's go on, he will become a problem, especially if we give him 5 years. It won't be too big of a problem, but still a problem.

So what do we do instead?

We need to sign a pitcher, still look for a Castillo trade, and find a power outfielder that is reamining on the market that we can sign for one year (and only one year) and then spend big money on Free Agents next year, as that class is looking better. We still have a good core of players, we need to fill in the gaps right now.

Rick Dempsey...The Singer?

OMmetsfan07 — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:56:00 -0500

This isn't about the Mets but its the holidays! That time of year where there people wish for snow, are the in mood to give, families get together and listen to Holiday music....by Rick Dempsey?

For those of you who don't know who Rick Dempsey is, he was the catcher for the Orioles for a while, and the MVP of the 1983 World Series. He was also known for his great antics during rain delays in Baltimore. Now he can be known for his album of holiday songs. I was filling up on gas at my local Royal Farms (in Baltimore) and they were playing Christmas songs. After one song, they advertised Rick's album and said that the previous song was sung by Rick himself. He actually does not sound that bad.

You just don't wake up to find a catcher singing, but whatever. Happy Holidays to everyone out there.

(If you are curious about the musical styling of Rick Dempsey you can preview his album on I-tunes)

Read: Fernando Nieve, Reyes

OMmetsfan07 — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:49:00 -0500

Last week I wrote two articles for my other website, the Fan Huddle network, the New York Mets page, that I never linked here. The first of the two articles was about Fernando Nieve. Before his injury last year, he was a good surprise for the Mets in the starting role. Well he has been recovering well and he was doing pretty well in the Winter Leagues. The post written about him can be found here.

The second article was about Jose Reyes' interview with WFAN about he was happy, feeling better, and getting ready for next season. That article can be found here.

Beltran Named To All Decade Team

OMmetsfan07 — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:31:00 -0500

Tim Kurkjian over at ESPN has posted his all decade team for the 2000's and one current Met and one former Met was named to the team.

For the current Met, the honors went to Carlos Beltran for his amazing play in Center Field. As Mets fans, many of us take his play for granted as his silent play carries great offensive stats and great fielding. Tim adds in:

"He played the most games in center field of any player in the decade. He hit 251 home runs, stole 256 bases, drove in 920 runs and won three Gold Gloves. His performance in the 2004 postseason for the Astros -- eight home runs, tying the record for the most homers in one postseason -- was one of the best in baseball history."

That postseason performance was basically how he ended up with the Mets, and we all remember that terrible year he had in 2005, where he was booed, but he shock it off and since 2006 he has been a key part of this team. A healthy Beltran is part of the reason why I have so much hope for 2010.

As for the former Met named to the all-Decade team, those honors went to Jeff Kent at second base. He never played for the Mets in this decade, so we can end the conversation about Kent now.

Bay Watch Part 3

OMmetsfan07 — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:00:00 -0500

Bill Madden for the NY Daily News wrote a very interesting piece regarding Jason Bay today that brings up a few good points that are worth discussing/sharing. The first main point he brings up is that Bay's original demands probably got him out of a position to play for the Red Sox, and now with Mike Cameron signing a contract, Bay's services are no longer needed.

The Market now has shrunk to just Bay and the Mets and while money is usually what seals a deal, Bay has some concerns about going to the Mets. The first is the dimensions of Citi-Field, which honestly I am sick of hearing. The Mets hit a very low amount of homeruns last season. They were injured and had no power in their lineup, so that was one of the main reasons for the Mets not hitting long ball. Second, there are statistics that show this! The Mets hit more homeruns at home than they did on the road (although that difference is small).

The more concerning aspect of Bay being hesitant to sign the contract is a general feeling that the Mets are projected to finish 3rd in the division. Now of course I am biased, but I think the Mets, if healthy by next season and with another starting pitcher, could very well be projected to at least finsih second in the division next season if they have Bay. It is so difficult to draw conclusions from last season and project them into next season because of the uncanny amount of injuries. The Mets lineup, with Bay, will be one of the best in National League if they are healthy. One more starter (or two more) can make the Mets into a contender.

While Bay to the Mets seems inevitable, I want Bay to be happy being with the Mets, not to feel obligated because they are team with the money. In other words, he needs to have Queen's in his heart.

Bay Watch Part 2

OMmetsfan07 — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:34:00 -0500

Since writing that article yesterday, the trade went through where Milton Bradley was sent over to the Mariners for Carlos Silvia, which means two things. First, the Cubs were able to get rid of their bad contract and got a bad contract that fits them better, which does leave some feelings of jealously of why we cannot do that. We have two perfectly bad contracts, (Castillo and Perez) and we have a lot of gaps that we can fill with other teams bad contracts instead, but that has nothing to do with the title of this article.

Anyway what that trade really means is at this point in time, the Mets real competition for Bay is themselves. The only other two teams that I could see as competition at this point would be the Angels, but they need to focus on starting pitching and the Orioles, who seem to creep into the conversation, and then leave.

In this regard, you can almost think of the Orioles as that guy at the party who you might be having a conversation with a few people and this person comes up, stays on the fringes, says something, but its awkward and out of place, and then a few minutes later leaves. That is what the Orioles are at this point. So at this point in time, its the Mets, Bay and the mystery team which is the Mets. Lets not bid against ourselves, like in the article last night, patience is the way to play this out right now.