Benjamin Grimm

It really looks like Matthews and Jacobs are the first two things that are going to give, barring an imminent hot streak on either of their parts. We'll need another couple of turns through the rotation in order to get a sense of whether or not it will be as big a problem as I fear.

I'd much prefer to skip Perez than Niese, at least right now.

Is Niese the fifth guy? Or is it Perez?

TransMonk wrote: I had forgotten about the 13 starter circus in 2006. And look how smoothly 2008 went.

No, although the fifth guy, Mike Pelfrey, did get skipped for his first start in 2007.

How flattered are you to be confused with Steve Rogers?

Well, it's also better to get one extra start from Santana and one fewer start from Perez. I understand that most pitchers can no longer pitch regularly on three days rest, which is why we need five starters. But I think the fifth guy, unless he's really just as good as the rest of the rotation, should get skipped whenever possible. Maximize the number of outings from your better pitchers, and minimize those from the poorer ones. I'm surprised that most managers don't seem to do that.

Totals for April 8, 2010 (14 votes) Florida Marlins 3, New York Mets 1 NameTotal PointsPoints AwardedPlayer PerformanceJon Niese26.761.91(L) 6.0 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO.Jeff Francoeur25.951.852-4, 2B, RBI, SOAngel Pagan9.660.692-4Ryota Igarashi9.440.671.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO.Jason Bay8.150.581-4, R, SOHisanori Takahashi7.570.541.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO.Pedro Feliciano5.140.370.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.Fernando Nieve2.400.170.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.Luis Castillo1.450.101-4Rod Barajas0.550.041-4

I only start IGT's while naked. Simpler that way.

So which are the six teams that draft before the Mets? Hopefully they're six teams that are not interested in having the greatest player who ever lived.

It's easy to get in the 'Grimm State of Mind' right now - Last season was just such an energy suck. 2-4 to start with not a lot of offense in the losses reminds me of last year. BUT....its still just the second week of the season and I'm inclined to remain optimistic. As Smiggy said - Harris doesn't make that catch and our boys are 3-3. Yesterday Matthews came up 3 (4?) times with RISP and did dick. Put Beltran in CF and I'd like to think that that spot in the lineup comes through just once and changes the entire game. This team could be 4-2 just as easily as they are 2-4. My outlook isn't necessarily one of pessimism, although I am a bit on the pessimistic side right now. I think there's enough talent for this team to potentially contend, so I'm not ready at all to give up on them. I think the best way to describe my approach to my Mets-rooting is that I don't get upset when they lose. I mean, I may groan and say, "that sucked!" but then I shake it off and get on with the important aspects of my life. The Mets are a diversion, if they win, it's a lot of fun and I enjoy it immensely. October 2006 was terrific, a fun ride and I enjoyed the ups and downs. And just because it ended on a down didn't undo the fun that preceded it. When Beltran was called out on strikes, I stopped thinking about it and went to bed. If he had hit a three-run homer, I would have been thrilled, and probably would have slept very little that night. I know we don't all have the same perspectives. But this is what works for me, and I'm quite happy with it. Anyway, here's what I see ahead for the Mets over the next few weeks: If the losses continue (and they may or may not) and Jacobs is still struggling, he'll be the first to pay the consequences. I think they'll ditch him and promote Davis or Carter. (I read that keeping a guy like Davis in the minors for the first 20 days of the season delays his potential free agency by a full year. If that's true, I can see Davis lingering in Buffalo until late April or early May.) Yesterday's homer notwithstanding, Jacobs has been a dead spot in the middle of their lineup, and his position is one where they have a few options for upgrading. (Davis, Carter, and Murphy, depending on how he's doing.) We may also start seeing more Pagan and less Matthews. As for the pitching... it's certainly too early to tell after six games. We've had good starts from Santana, Niese, and Pelfrey, and bad starts from Maine, Perez, and Santana. If somebody starts becoming consistently bad, I guess Nieve could step into the rotation. If the Mets were to bullpen or demote Perez it would be seen as a bit drastic by some (and overdue by others) but I think the Mets will feel desperate to stay at least on the outskirts of the race this year, and they'll do what they have to. Jerry has a short leash, I'm sure, but I think he at least gets the full month of April, unless the Mets really tank, like losing 9 of their next 10. I don't know who would replace him (Hale? Teufel? Oberkfell? Backman? Melvin?) but if he does get fired, I'd like to see them not go the interim route. Take an extra day or two to decide and pick the guy who they want to manage the Mets into 2011 and beyond. (I'll pause here for everyone to fantasize about Bobby Valentine for a moment or two.) I don't think Jerry is incompetent or evil. I think he's a manager of roughly ordinary ability. I'd like to see the Mets replace him with somebody who brings more than that to the table. And yes, Bobby Valentine is one such manager. But I'm sure that there are others as well.

Voting for Thursday night's loss to Florida will close on Tuesday morning, perhaps very early. If you have a vote that hasn't been cast yet, please try to get it in today. Schaefer POTG 4/8/10 - Marlins 3, Mets 1 And I'll post the official announcement tomorrow, but the entire weekend series against Washington will close on Wednesday.

Francoeur 2 Jacobs 1.5 Valdes 1.25

I suspect it won't be long before the buzzards start circling over Jerry Manuel. I think he's been dealt a bad hand this year, but I won't regret his departure if it comes to that. Of course, I hope the Mets start a 12-game winning streak tomorrow (or Tuesday, or whenever they play again) but my guess is that the next hot streak will come after there's a new manager in place.

Henry Blanco is number 882.

Box score Igarashi 1 Feliciano 1 Mejia 1 Francoeur 2

Cora sacrifices Jose to second?

Jo-se to-day! Jo-se to-day!

Cool! How did they make room for him? Tejada demoted, I suppose?

A Boy Named Seo awarded 11 points, and his points were automatically prorated as follows: Cora 1 0.91 Castillo 1.5 1.36 Wright 1.5 1.36 Bay 1.5 1.36 Matthews 1 0.91 Francoeur 1 0.91 Tatis 0.5 0.45 Feliciano 1 0.91 Rodriguez 1 0.91 Nieve 0.5 0.45 Barajas 0.5 0.45 Totals for April 7, 2010 (18 votes) Florida Marlins 7, New York Mets 6 NameTotal PointsPoints AwardedPlayer PerformanceJason Bay19.391.081-3, 2 R, 2B, 2 BBDavid Wright18.671.041-3, R, 2 BB, SO, SBLuis Castillo17.560.980-2, 2 RBI, BBFrancisco Rodriguez16.160.901.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO.Pedro Feliciano12.400.691.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO.Fernando Nieve11.170.620.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.Gary Matthews11.180.620-3, R, 2 BB, SOAlex Cora11.020.611-4, R, 3BJeff Francoeur8.360.461-4, R, BBFernando Tatis7.720.431-2, RBI, BB, SORod Barajas3.200.180-4, RBI

Box score Pelfrey 3 Barajas 3 Francoeur 3 Takahashi 1

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: This is immature, and totally unbecoming of someone who's somebody's dad, but I really want to take a big, steaming Campanella on that couch. Well, remember, they charge almost $400 per brick.

Not too shabby!

There's also some guy named Earnest who's going to be "running in carlos" today, but we don't really care about him.

| year | lastname | usename | tr | +------+-----------------+--------------+------+ | 1983 | Ashford | Tucker | 1 | | 1983 | Backman | Wally | 1 | | 1983 | Seaver | Tom | 2 | | 1983 | Foster | George | 2 | | 1983 | Hernandez | Keith | 3 | | 1983 | Brooks | Hubie | 4 | | 1983 | Wilson | Mookie | 6 | | 1983 | Strawberry | Darryl | 7 | +------+-----------------+--------------+------+ | 1999 | Kinkade | Mike | 1 | | 1999 | McRae | Brian | 1 | | 1999 | Dunston | Shawon | 1 | | 1999 | Hamilton | Darryl | 1 | | 1999 | Alfonzo | Edgardo | 1 | | 1999 | Ord��ez | Rey | 2 | | 1999 | Agbayani | Benny | 3 | | 1999 | Cede�o | Roger | 4 | +------+-----------------+--------------+------+ | 2005 | Wright | David | 1 | | 2005 | Zambrano | Victor | 1 | | 2005 | Floyd | Cliff | 2 | | 2005 | Cameron | Mike | 2 | | 2005 | Beltran | Carlos | 2 | | 2005 | Diaz | Victor | 3 | | 2005 | Matsui | Kaz | 4 | | 2005 | Reyes | Jos� | 17 | +------+-----------------+--------------+------+