Benjamin Grimm

Yeah. They could end up looking like NASCAR drivers.

Takahashi 3.5 Francoeur 1

I think if you use a lesser reliever in the bottom of an extra inning, he has a better chance of giving up a run and losing the game. In each extra inning, when the score is tied and you're on the road, it's critical to hold the opposition scoreless. If you don't, you lose. So when you get into that situation, you use your best available pitcher.

I'm not saying this means anything, but here's the ratio, for all Mets managers since 1969 (when the save became official) of wins to saves. (The columns are wins, saves, and the percentage. For example, half of the games Joe Torre won as a Mets manager ended with a pitcher getting the save.) I would have expected the old-timers to be at the bottom of the list, and mostly they are. But there are a few anomalies here, like Bamberger and Randolph. Bamberger 81 47 0.580 Green 229 126 0.550 Valentine 536 282 0.526 Manuel 174 90 0.517 Howe 137 69 0.504 Torre 286 143 0.500 Johnson 595 280 0.471 Harrelson 145 67 0.462 Randolph 302 135 0.447 Howard 52 23 0.442 Torborg 85 37 0.435 Berra 292 116 0.397 McMillan 26 10 0.385 Cubbage 3 1 0.333 Frazier 101 29 0.287 Hodges 339 87 0.257

Cora's been hated on since he arrived, and I don't understand it.

Edgy DC wrote: ...and when Jerry's successor is interviewed, "How do you intend to use your top reliever?" should be a top question. I remember, when the Mets were interviewing potential replacements for Art Howe, wondering what kind of questions would be asked at a managerial interview. (I still wonder that.) But I've recently realized that questions like the one above are definitely among those that I would ask. In fact, I think I'd insist on finding a guy who would be willing to break with the tradition that Tony LaRussa initiated. I'd go all Branch Rickey. "Son, I'm looking for a manager with the guts not to kiss his closer's ass!" Maybe I'd even consider some kind of end-of-season bonus based on the ratio of wins to saves.

Ceetar wrote: What'd you use to calculate this anyway? I was trying to find somewhere to do and and couldn't. I have a vast and powerful database at my fingertips.

All-time Mets record in one-run games (regular and post season) is 1202 and 1311. With Willie Randolph as manager, they were 81-65. Under Jerry Manuel, they're 40 and 51. Here's the full list: Bamberger 28 44 Berra 100 107 Cubbage 1 4 Frazier 32 41 Green 77 93 Harrelson 38 46 Hodges 124 114 Howard 23 16 Howe 38 52 Johnson 182 155 Manuel 40 51 McMillan 4 9 Parker 1 2 Randolph 81 65 Stengel 69 115 Torborg 26 40 Torre 107 133 Valentine 178 155 Westrum 53 69

Give me a minute...

Buffalo Bisons press release wrote: The New York Mets today announced that they have signed RHP CHAD CORDERO to a minor league deal and assigned the pitcher to the Bisons. Cordero, 28, began the 2010 season with the Seattle Mariners organization. He was 0-1 with a 4.12ERA and six saves in 17 games with Triple-A Tacoma before being promoted to the big league club at the start of June. In nine games with the Mariners, the reliever was 0-1 with a 6.52ERA (9.2IP, 10H, 7R, 7ER, 5BB, 6K). Cordero has a career 20-15 record with a 2.89ERA and 128 saves in seven major league seasons with Montreal, Washington and Seattle. He was a National League All-Star in 2005 and won the NL Rolaids Relief Award with a major league-best 47 saves that same year. Cordero was originally a 1st round draft pick (20th overall) by the Expos in the 2003 amateur draft. Cordero spent last season recovering from a torn labrum in his right shoulder suffered early in the 2008 campaign. The reliever had surgery to repair the shoulder on July 8, 2008. Cordero pitched in 14 games between the rookie-Arizona League Mariners and their short-season club in Everett in 2009.

The solution to this is not to have a designated closer with a designated ego. I think the Mets would be just as well off, if not better off, with Bobby Parnell and Pedro Feliciano playing the parts of Roger McDowell and Jesse Orosco. (Or Danny Frisella and Tug McGraw.) Let each of them save games if the situation, not the statistic, calls for it. You don't have to account for the "closer mentality" and you also save however many millions in salary. Sometimes I think I'm some old fuddy-duddy, lamenting that things aren't the way they used to be, but most of the major league managers are older than I am, so they certainly remember how it once was. Does anyone really think this way is smarter? I suppose they do; the "shorten the game" logic does seem to be prevalent.

I agree that the strategy is horribly flawed. But the top reliever hasn't been so "top" lately, so it probably hasn't mattered as much in the last couple of weeks.

Frayed Knot wrote: Everything I've heard/read over the last month has Houston asking for a lot in return for Oswalt - like several top prospects - and now Oswalt apparently wants his 2012 option picked up before he'll agree to waive his NT clause. True, but it's possible that Oswalt's demand may reduce his trade value. (Depends on how determined the Astros are to trade him.)

There's one blogger, a former Expos beat writer, who's speculating that Francouer and Mejia might go to Houston for Oswalt. But it didn't seem like anything more than pure speculation.

Remember, pitchers are eligible too. Here's the current Top Ten for July, through Sunday's game: 1 Johan Santana 19.14 2 Jon Niese 13.35 3 R. A. Dickey 12.49 4 Ike Davis 11.79 5 Angel Pagan 10.24 6 David Wright 8.34 7 Jason Bay 6.89 8 Alex Cora 5.68 9 Josh Thole 4.97 10 Hisanori Takahashi 3.07

Francoeur trade may be in the works By MIKE PUMA Last Updated: 8:59 AM, July 22, 2010 Posted: 4:20 AM, July 22, 2010 PHOENIX -- Jeff Francoeur's days in a Mets uniform could be numbered. According to an industry source, the team is trying to trade the right fielder, and could have a deal in place by the time the Mets finish their series in Los Angeles this weekend. Francoeur would welcome a trade, according to a person friendly with the right fielder, if it gave him a chance to play every day. Francoeur's playing time has been diminished with Carlos Beltran's return from the disabled list. Angel Pagan has assumed the starting right-field duties, with Francoeur coming off the bench for the first time in his career. If Francoeur still is with the team on Sunday, he likely would start against Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw, who yesterday appealed a five-game suspension for intentionally throwing at San Francisco's Aaron Rowand Tuesday night. But manager Jerry Manuel likely will give Beltran a day off before then, giving Francoeur an opportunity to start. Full article

There's one player with a fairly comfortable lead. And it's not Pagan.

Voting for Monday and Tuesday night's losses in Arizona will close on Friday morning. Tuesday's game is still rather lightly voted. As yet we've only heard from Edgy DC, Ashie62, G-Fafif, Kong76, themetfairy, Benjamin Grimm, and John Cougar Lunchbucket. Nevertheless, voting will close tomorrow. If you'd like to chime in, please try to do so today. Schaefer POTG 7/19/2010 - ARI 13 NYM 2 Schaefer PotG, 7/20, Diamondbacks 3, Mets 2

No joking during a losing streak! Alex Cora may be lurking!

The Mets are now a robust 3 and 11 in walkoff games this year. Hard to believe, given the clever manager that they have.

Pagan 3 Barajas 1 Valdes 2 Beltran 1 Dessens 0.75 PFeliciano 0.75 Parnell 0.75 Perez 0.75

Add Clint Hartung, 87, to the list of recent baseball passings. He was, as you probably know, the runner on third base when Bobby Thomson hit his pennant-winning homer.

I would guess that Mattingly is being groomed as Torre's successor. And Bowa isn't.

I guess that's his shtick, then.

I remember one time in a Mets game, a manager went on to the field to check an injured player, and then made a brief stop on the mound to say something to the pitcher. The opposing manager said that that had to count as a visit, and forced a pitching change. I don't remember, though, which side of the issue the Mets were on, or which manager it was.