First Half Met Impressions

[G-Fafif]

The Mets have just completed 56.17% of their schedule, also known as the first half. Taking into account record, standings, injuries, ownership, whatever you care to name, how did it go by your reckoning?

[Ceetar]

G-Fafif wrote: The Mets have just completed 56.17% of their schedule, also known as the first half. Taking into account record, standings, injuries, ownership, whatever you care to name, how did it go by your reckoning?

Satisified. I'd hoped they'd be a wee bit better, and I hoped the Phillies and Braves would be a wee bit worse, but with all the injuries I'm satisified with where they are. Here's hoping good health, good luck, and a good second half.

[metirish]

Was hoping to see" I'm chuffed" because I am you know.

I'll settle for enthused.

Seriously though , if the Mets were ten under who'd be surprised?, one characteristic they seem to have is much overused cliche of never quitting and keep fighting , this Mets team has that, a fun bunch to root for.

[G-Fafif]

Choices revised to reflect respective states of chuffage.

[Guest themetfairy]

I'm short of chuffed.

[MFS62]

I'm chuffed anough to need talcum powder, but not enough for it to be painful.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

I voted for the middle option. My overall interest isn't what it used to be*, otherwise I'd probably have voted for the first choice.


*That's more of a reflection on me than on the Mets. The 2011 team is certainly an appealing one.

[Lefty Specialist]

I was chuffed, but rest and therapy helped.

As Metirish said, no one would have been surprised if this team was 10 under given all the injuries they've had. Hell, no one would have been surprised it they were 20 under. That they're above .500 at the break is a minor miracle. Collins gets a big attaboy for that.

Can't be enthused, though, because they're going nowhere. They'll play over their heads, but there's no chance of a postseason for this bunch. And you have to think that one of the reasons they've been able to stay where they are, Carlos Beltran, will be gone by the end of the month.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Considering they're doing it all with less talent than almost any opponent on any night, they aren;t half bad.

On the other hand, they're half bad.

This morning I realized what they have to do is trade Beltran to the Pirates and have us align with them spiritually. Go Bucs!

[Guest Edgy DC]

I don't think they're going nowhere. Nor do I think there's no chance of a post-season.

I think they'll likely hang on to Beltran until the last minute possible and decide then what their chances are. I think so should we. Losing Beltran and getting two draft picks certainly isn't the worst possible outcome. Meanwhile, the team has made a lot of strides forward in areas that they were largely disregarded in. It would be as good a year as we could have hoped for, where it not for a few key injuries.

[G-Fafif]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Considering they're doing it all with less talent than almost any opponent on any night, they aren;t half bad. On the other hand, they're half bad. This morning I realized what they have to do is trade Beltran to the Pirates and have us align with them spiritually. Go Bucs!

Our demi-miracle comeback over the Bucs in early June is the difference between the would-be first-place Pirates standing out as the story of the first half and them being just another Wild Card contender at the moment. Or any one Buc loss, I suppose, but losing 9-8 after leading 7-0 tends to stand out. (Of course that win is the difference in our being an over-.500 club at the moment, so I'm not endorsing giving it back.)

I do hope they overtake St. Louis and Milwaukee so I can root for them with non-Met implications.

[TransMonk]

They've been fun and satisfying. Their record is better than I had expected, but their level of play is about where I thought it would be.

I like that they are fighting as a team and are playing well through key injuries this season.

[G-Fafif]

My overall impression of this club is it's a shame they're not better, because then they'd be really good. It's a depleted team that has given its all and wins half the time as a result. Engaging to watch when they're competing, deadly at other times though only through the fault of their lack of active talent, not for lack of effort. They almost never give the impression they're dead in a given game. Even in the 6-0 loss to Kershaw I kept expecting them to come back, something I wouldn't have much expected a year ago even when they were going well.

It's impossible to say if the same dynamic that has made them embraceable would have happened with David and Ike healthy these last two months -- I sense there was almost an adrenaline rush at play from being so up against it injurywise -- but their potential imminent returns (and Jose's) would be a fantastic shot in the arm in the coming weeks. I don't expect a huge surge past Atlanta, but I can see them hanging in there, and that would my maintain my moderate chuffage a while longer.

[Ceetar]

G-Fafif wrote: They almost never give the impression they're dead in a given game. Even in the 6-0 loss to Kershaw I kept expecting them to come back, something I wouldn't have much expected a year ago even when they were going well.

Get away day yesterday for a four-day break for most, and yet they're still fighting and battling top-9.

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens in the second half. They're getting the big bats back, but are they losing some to trades? The real 'test' in terms of playoff races doesn't really happen until August, lots of home games, 6 against the Braves and another 3 against the Phillies. I could see them, with Wright and Ike and Reyes in the lineup, wearing out a lot of pitchers and bashing a lot of other guys around.

[bmfc1]

I predicted 82-80 so 1 over at the break is on schedule. But I wouldn't have made that prediction if I knew that Ike would miss most of the year, David would miss most of the year, Jose would miss several weeks, and Angel would miss a month. I'm pleased that we have a manager that we have confidence in and that we may have stumbled upon a 2B of the future in Justin Turner. What makes me less than "over the moon" is the fact that the Mets are in the wrong division--move them to either Central or West and we'd be saying "stock up on a run at first place!" They won't make the playoffs so there's no "climax" to this season. Still, it's been fun and should stay as fun to keep our interest but we won't be celebrating the Class of '11 in the future.

[metirish]

I agree with what's being said , nice team but not making the playoffs....still, what does a GM do here, I think most Mets fan at the least find that this is a team worth going to see, Alderson trades away the guts of it and the new look team loses ten in a row or ten of twelve the place will be very dead.


Are those things factors for him or not?

[Guest Edgy DC]

They are until the price is right.

[Willets Point]

I voted the middle one although I've been the suckiest of sucks this season and hardly watched the team at all (life gets in the way you know). I vow to pay better attention during the second half.

[Ceetar]

metirish wrote: I agree with what's being said , nice team but not making the playoffs....still, what does a GM do here, I think most Mets fan at the least find that this is a team worth going to see, Alderson trades away the guts of it and the new look team loses ten in a row or ten of twelve the place will be very dead. Are those things factors for him or not?

My interpretation of Alderson is that he's going to go for a fire sale. He's spoken about attendence before too, and it being important. (well, obviously) They've got a big long roadtrip still in July, with the real 'make or break' month being August. But there is waivers too..and Beltran probably makes it through. I also think the Mets can probably survive/win/be exciting without Beltran and K-Rod (two of the most likely to get traded?) even though my selfish Mets fan sides wants Beltran to be here forever.

I'm real curious to see what he's going to do. He's been on record saying he does like to make trades, but regardless of our belief in the playoffs or not, I don't think a "big buy" is in the cards/plans this year, and I'm not sure what little pieces are worth picking up. Maybe a better backup SS/util type guy? A reliever is an easy one,but then they're talking about trading 1-3. Seems pointless to both trade and trade for a reliever. might as well just keep some of them. Always could use more starting pitching, but this probably isn't the time with 5 guys going well, Santana possibly coming back, and the idea that maybe you want to get a big league look at guys like Schwinden or Cohoon out of the minors.

[G-Fafif]

metirish wrote: I agree with what's being said , nice team but not making the playoffs....still, what does a GM do here, I think most Mets fan at the least find that this is a team worth going to see, Alderson trades away the guts of it and the new look team loses ten in a row or ten of twelve the place will be very dead. Are those things factors for him or not?

There's a damned-if-you-do/don't quality to whatever Alderson does by July 31, assuming moving Reyes is a don't. If he can legitimately sell a trade of Beltran or Rodriguez as forward-looking, and the Mets are not exactly breathing down the Braves' necks by then, it will be tough to argue with -- though it will probably be framed as "there go the Mets screwing their fans again" for a couple of days. Short of an enormous move in the standings, as in "how could you trade Beltran when we're only three out?" a la the White Sox' surrender of 1997 when they were still contending, I don't sense attendance the final two months will hinge on what Sandy does (a trade of Jose excepted, and that seems less and less likely). OTOH, if they announce "Carlos and Frankie are too important to this clubhouse and we owe the fans a full season's effort," et al, and the Mets don't get/stay hot, they'll be assailed for not looking at the long term.

So he's gotta do what he's gotta do. If anyone can sell it, the Sandy man can. And if anyone can sell it internally, the Terry man can.

[metirish]

Izzy asked Alderson not to trade him......good luck with that.

[Ceetar]

metirish wrote: Izzy asked Alderson not to trade him......good luck with that.

This isn't the first time Izzy's suggested a "I want to be a Met..or retired" attitude. what type of value can he really have?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Ceetar wrote: metirish wrote: Izzy asked Alderson not to trade him......good luck with that. This isn't the first time Izzy's suggested a "I want to be a Met..or retired" attitude. what type of value can he really have?

I accidentally bought a copy of the Post this morning and it noted that Izzy strongly denied ever "pleading" with Alderson for any result. Not that such a plead in the first place would mean much of anything. He's Cheap Veteran Experienced Relief Help making peanuts. If he's not traded I'll be shocked.

[bmfc1]

Izzy's a goner. The guys they got for nothing will go--anything they get in return for the future is a bonus. Izzy, Scott Hairston, Capuano, time to start packing.

[batmagadanleadoff]

If it's good to be chuffed, then chuffed is what I was about this thoroughly compelling season. Right up until the moment when the Wilpons successfully maneuvered their Madoff lawsuit out of Bankruptcy Court and into the US District Court. I'm thinking long term here.

[Ceetar]

bmfc1 wrote: Izzy's a goner. The guys they got for nothing will go--anything they get in return for the future is a bonus. Izzy, Scott Hairston, Capuano, time to start packing.

This is what I doubt. there isn't going to be a fire sale so Alderson can pick up a couple of additional type C prospect that has a 1% chance of being a backup MI in 2014.

Most of those guys aren't worth any more than that. Cap may have value, but most of the other guys wouldn't fetch anything.

[TransMonk]

If we're putting starters up on the block, I'd rather keep Cappy and trade Pelfrey.

[bmfc1]

TransMonk wrote: If we're putting starters up on the block, I'd rather keep Cappy and trade Pelfrey.

Oh yeah.

[seawolf17]

bmfc1 wrote: TransMonk wrote: If we're putting starters up on the block, I'd rather keep Cappy and trade Pelfrey. Oh yeah.

Absolutely. There are plenty of guys who could bring real value.

I'd deal Pagan and Dickey too.

[Ceetar]

seawolf17 wrote: bmfc1 wrote: TransMonk wrote: If we're putting starters up on the block, I'd rather keep Cappy and trade Pelfrey. Oh yeah. Absolutely. There are plenty of guys who could bring real value. I'd deal Pagan and Dickey too.

Yes, because watching Jason Pridie play CF all next year, that'll be fun.

I'm not sure there's any real net value in trading away parts we need, particularly reasonably affordable ones, for prospects.