Concerns?

[metirish]

OK Pedro is on the DL, Glavine lately when he pitches good still can't win, we don't have a right fielder or a left fielder and Delgado and Wright are not hitting,I am concerned, I wish we had Nady.

[nymr83]

get Green. he's the best thing out there that can clear waivers.

[RealityChuck]

Too early to panic. Do you know that, with the three wins in a row, the Phillies are exactly as far behind the Mets are they were ten games ago?

Pedro on the DL will mean he's in top shape in October. And the bad hitting is not just the corner OF -- the entire lineup (except for Reyes) is slumping. They'll get it back eventually. Plus Cliff will be back for the playoffs.

[Elster88]

I'm concerned.

[Guest ABG]

I'm concerned that, for all his great moves, this season will be defined by Omar's failure to/decision not to get a top flight starter at the deadline.

I'd still rather have Nady/Oswalt or Zito than Hernandez/Milledge/Perez.

[Elster88]

Oswalt wasn't a possibility because of the reprecussions of Sanchez's injury. Not Omar's fault.

My own feeling is that Omar's mistake wasn't his decision NOT to overpay for a starter but his panic-move of Nady for Bert.

[Guest ABG]

Elster88 wrote: Oswalt wasn't a possibility because of the reprecussions of Sanchez's injury. Not Omar's fault. My own feeling is that Omar's mistake wasn't his decision NOT to overpay for a starter but his panic-move of Nady for Bert.

I still don't buy this assertion that Sanchez getting hurt prohibited getting a starter unless you assume that Heilman HAD to go in any deal. Also, your two statements are contradictory.

[Willets Point]

We're doomed!

[Guest sharpie]

This is the same team that swept the Padres a week ago. Heck, we looked crappy against the Red Sox and then played well after that. Bad stretch, stop moping. Nady wasn't the key to this season.

[Guest cleonjones11]

Just a flat team...but our corner OF's are lacking and the starting pitching is a mess.

No guarantees on Pedro

[Benjamin Grimm]

No, Nady's not the key to the season. But we may end up regretting his absense in October.

[Elster88]

ABG wrote: Elster88 wrote: Oswalt wasn't a possibility because of the reprecussions of Sanchez's injury. Not Omar's fault. My own feeling is that Omar's mistake wasn't his decision NOT to overpay for a starter but his panic-move of Nady for Bert. I still don't buy this assertion that Sanchez getting hurt prohibited getting a starter unless you assume that Heilman HAD to go in any deal. Also, your two statements are contradictory.

How are they contradictory?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Oswalt wasn't available.

Trading Nady was a mistake.

I don't see any contradiction there.

[MFS62]

The Mets have through their recent dry spell with 5 All-Stars in the lineup -Reyes, Wright, Beltran, LoDuca, Martinez(voted to the team) and Glavine - and one many-time All Star (Delgado). You have to look at their career and 2006 bodies of work and say that this is just an abberration.

Each (other than Reyes and LoDuca) has encountered some bumps in the road.
Wright may be suffering from Post Derby Syndrome (see Abreau, Bobby). His power numbers have dropped dramatically since the ASG.

Delgado, according to a comment I read the other day, may have an injured hand. He has reportedly been a good August/September hitter throughout his career, so there may be some credence to the injury story.

Beltran - I don't know what to say......

Pedro - he had pitched well in his recent games until the other night, so the rest on the DL may refresh him.

Glavine hasn't pitched poorly - he's not getting lit up. His peripherals aren't that much different from when he was winning. His W-L record has suffered due to lack of run support.

That said, until at least a few of those players starts to get back on track and Floyd returns, I'm beginning to get a little concerned.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

If a team gets hot in October, it can win a World Series.

If a team is cold in October, it can have an early playoff exit.

In October, the Mets may be hot, they may be cold, or, more likely, they'll be somewhere in-between.

Right now, in the middle of August, they're cold. Nothing to worry about. They may very well be hot again in October. This recent spell won't have any impact two months from now, unless everyone is nursing secret injuries that will need more than two months to heal.

[Guest ABG]

Elster88 wrote: Elster88 wrote: Oswalt wasn't a possibility because of the reprecussions of Sanchez's injury. Not Omar's fault. My own feeling is that Omar's mistake wasn't his decision NOT to overpay for a starter but his panic-move of Nady for Bert. I still don't buy this assertion that Sanchez getting hurt prohibited getting a starter unless you assume that Heilman HAD to go in any deal. Also, your two statements are contradictory. How are they contradictory?

They're contradictory because you are blaming Omar for addressing the bullpen in one statement while using it as his defense in another. You will say that you are blaming him for addressing it in the manner he did, but my point is that he didn't need to address it at all. The team's weakness, even after losing Sanchez, was the front end of the starting rotation. Not the bullpen. I do not believe that any trade we could have made or not made for the bullpen could have changed that equation.

Oswalt wasn't available. Trading Nady was a mistake. I don't see any contradiction there.

And no, it didn't have to be Oswalt. But my belief is that had he been willing to trade Milledge that he could have had someone out of Schmidt-Zito-Oswalt. And my belief is that this team will not only fail to win the World Series, but will likely fail to make the World Series because of this singular decision around the deadline.

We agree that Omar panicked in making the trade of Nady for Hernandez. What we don't agree on are the questions of his need to address the bullpen, his fundamental misunderstanding of the teams weaknesses and (maybe) his mistake in keeping Milledge at the expense of missing out on a starting pitcher.

And, for the record, I'm not especially concerned about the state of the corner outfielders. That has little if anything to do with my opposition to his deadline actions.

[HahnSolo]

Pedro on the DL will mean he's in top shape in October.

I'm not sure how one can draw this conclusion. You may be right, but I don't know how you can say this with certainty now.

I'm not panicking, but the Nady-Roberto trade, especially when it doesn't seem Bert gets appearances in meaningful spots, looks like it could have been a mistake.

[Elster88]

ABG wrote: ABG wrote: Oswalt wasn't a possibility because of the reprecussions of Sanchez's injury. Not Omar's fault. My own feeling is that Omar's mistake wasn't his decision NOT to overpay for a starter but his panic-move of Nady for Bert. I still don't buy this assertion that Sanchez getting hurt prohibited getting a starter unless you assume that Heilman HAD to go in any deal. Also, your two statements are contradictory. How are they contradictory? They're contradictory because you are blaming Omar for addressing the bullpen in one statement while using it as his defense in another. You will say that you are blaming him for addressing it in the manner he did, but my point is that he didn't need to address it at all. The team's weakness, even after losing Sanchez, was the front end of the starting rotation. Not the bullpen. I do not believe that any trade we could have made or not made for the bullpen could have changed that equation.

You are completely wrong in saying that my statements are contradictory. I'm blaming him for making a bad trade, and saying it's not his fault that a deal fell through when a guy got hurt. There is no contradiction.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

As I understand it the failure to trade for Oswalt had to do with the O's unwillingness to part with Tejada.

The Nady deal was obviously prompted by Sanchez' injury: It's possible Heilman's new value could have prevented a Jason Schmidt deal but that's all speculation right now.

At any rate, it seems a stretch to frame the Oswalt non-deal as a either-or thing with the Nady-Hernandez trade.

[Elster88]

ABG wrote: Oswalt wasn't available. Trading Nady was a mistake. I don't see any contradiction there. And no, it didn't have to be Oswalt. But my belief is that had he been willing to trade Milledge that he could have had someone out of Schmidt-Zito-Oswalt. And my belief is that this team will not only fail to win the World Series, but will likely fail to make the World Series because of this singular decision around the deadline. We agree that Omar panicked in making the trade of Nady for Hernandez. What we don't agree on are the questions of his need to address the bullpen, his fundamental misunderstanding of the teams weaknesses and (maybe) his mistake in keeping Milledge at the expense of missing out on a starting pitcher. And, for the record, I'm not especially concerned about the state of the corner outfielders. That has little if anything to do with my opposition to his deadline actions.

He had a trade ready to go through for a frontline starter on the day of the deadline. That day it fell through due to injury. I don't see how you blame him for not being able to start from scratch and come up with a brand new trade in a 12 hour window.

[Willets Point]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: If a team gets hot in October, it can win a World Series. If a team is cold in October, it can have an early playoff exit. In October, the Mets may be hot, they may be cold, or, more likely, they'll be somewhere in-between. Right now, in the middle of August, they're cold. Nothing to worry about. They may very well be hot again in October. This recent spell won't have any impact two months from now, unless everyone is nursing secret injuries that will need more than two months to heal.

Of course, this assumes the Mets get to play in October. If they keep up the way they've been playing lately that is not guaranteed.

[Guest ABG]

Elster88 wrote: ABG wrote: Oswalt wasn't available. Trading Nady was a mistake. I don't see any contradiction there. And no, it didn't have to be Oswalt. But my belief is that had he been willing to trade Milledge that he could have had someone out of Schmidt-Zito-Oswalt. And my belief is that this team will not only fail to win the World Series, but will likely fail to make the World Series because of this singular decision around the deadline. We agree that Omar panicked in making the trade of Nady for Hernandez. What we don't agree on are the questions of his need to address the bullpen, his fundamental misunderstanding of the teams weaknesses and (maybe) his mistake in keeping Milledge at the expense of missing out on a starting pitcher. And, for the record, I'm not especially concerned about the state of the corner outfielders. That has little if anything to do with my opposition to his deadline actions. He had a trade ready to go through for a frontline starter on the day of the deadline. That day it fell through due to injury. I don't see how you blame him for not being able to start from scratch and come up with a brand new trade in a 12 hour window.

I blame him for just not making the trade he had ready to go. Unless you're saying that Sanchez was IN the trade.

[Benjamin Grimm]

He didn't make that Oswalt trade because the Orioles backed out, and refused to include Tejada. Once Tejada was off the table, the Astros were no longer interested in dealing Oswalt.

Not Omar's fault at all.

[Guest ABG]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: He didn't make that Oswalt trade because the Orioles backed out, and refused to include Tejada. Once Tejada was off the table, the Astros were no longer interested in dealing Oswalt. Not Omar's fault at all.

Elster is saying it fell through because of the injury to Sanchez.

And I'm saying he should've made a trade for Schmidt or Zito or someone if Oswalt was unavailable.

[Elster88]

Whatever the reason it fell through....I was trying to get a handle on how saying that I don't like the Nady trade and that I don't blame Omar for the Oswalt deal falling through is a contradiction. Either way I don't see it. And either way I'm getting bored with this discussion.

And it was at least in part due to the Sanchez injury. Even if Baltimore didn't pull out, I swear I heard Omar say he wouldn't have gone through with it after Duaner got hurt.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

It does seem like Omar overcorrected for the Sanchez loss, and paid full retail for Hernandez.

The fact that neoither Schmidt not Oswalt was traded to anybody suggest they may not have been as available as described.

[Guest sharpie]

The Giants always maintained that Schmidt was unavailable and never entered into discussions about trading him. That was all wishful thinking on contenders' part.

[Frayed Knot]

I blame him for just not making the trade he had ready to go.

This assumes that there WAS a trade (or trades) ready to go.
It takes two to tango and a GM can't unilaterally decide to make a deal unless he has a partner agreeing to the swap.
Maybe it's just post-deadline spin but:
- the Giants maintain that Schmidt wasn't available
- the A's ALWAYS maintained that they'd need to be blown away for Zito
- and not only did numerous reports have the O's backing out of any deal involving Oswalt (which would allow them to flip him to the Mets) but the Astros deny that they even offered Oswalt to Baltimore in the first place.

But my belief is that had he been willing to trade Milledge that he could have had someone out of Schmidt-Zito-Oswalt.

Between just the rumors of any or all of the above trades, to the Manny discussions of a year or so ago, I think it's clear that Omar IS quite willing to deal Milledge.

[Zvon]

As long as we are not in a position where any one series cant hurt the fact that we have a runaway lead in the division, Im not concerned.

And this Philly series confirms that to me. We got our ass whupped and we still have a commanding lead.

My only concern at this point, as far as it stands as of this date, is to assure come the end of Sept we are as close to firing on all cylinders as we possibly can be.

I think Pedro getting rest now helps towards that goal.
Id like to see Bannister come up and take his next two starts.
Hopefully Delgado and Beltran may be able to carry the team for a bit as we wait for Wright to snap out of his funk.

And Reyes should just continue doing what he has been doing, as well as the Met reserves/bench and pen.

I dont know that Milledge can be counted on-
not doing what he has been doing while we have a guy like Chavez on the bench. Maybe their roles should be reversed.( Milledge should play for Floyd till he returns, and hopefully we have a fresh and productive Cliffy for the rest of the run.)

But the great thing is we can afford to give Lastings an extended look right now. We can afford a lot of things Im not used to, like this series against the Phils.

I am a lil currently concerned about Valentin and his hammy, which happened just today. His value to the team cant be measured in conventional terms.

[Theoldmole]

The way I figure it, Omar can't be relied upon, because look at the mess he's gotten the Mets into already. A real general manager would have them 30 games in front. So why should we assume that he maybe sees something in Lastings Milledge that a little big league seasoning may bring out?