Ceetar

I wonder how the lineup would succeed in numerical order? 1 Luis Castillo 2B 5 David Wright 3B 7 Jose Reyes SS 12 Jeff Francoeur RF 15 Carlos Beltran CF 16 Angel Pagan LF 29 Ike Davis 1B 30 Josh Thole C 43 R.A. Dickey RHP

Edgy DC wrote: That I certainly can agree with. The winds of critical consensus blow strong. There also seems to be a theme of them trying to get ahead of a story. And since it's speculation, they can never actually be wrong. So take a theme that's been mentioned for weeks/months, one that was even mentioned here today and you can expect... Metsblog has a post up from Rubin about Backman being the next manager in waiting.

my 'other' was for the negative pissy fans that annoy me. I want to fire them, preferably by firing squad.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Speaking of which... the "demoralization" bid'ness has to be on the beat writers/media hangers-on a bit, doesn't it? I mean, you're in New York's media cauldron, surrounded by competitors with Trumpian ambition, expected to churn out drama on deadline (and more often than that, if you're blogging). Writing about a team in indefinite, undramatic malaise has got to be pretty stultifying for the beat guys... so, in lieu of an actual story, the thinking might go, why not go with demoralization? After all, there has to be a reason for the lack of success, right? It meets the writers' wants/needs, it goes a good way toward stoking customer interest... why not? (And yeah, while mood might help perpetuate a run of poor play, it sure as hell didn't cause said run.) This is the first year i've paid much attention to the beat writers guys, via twitter. For the most part, they're very negative, and many of them are sarcastic. They also seem to go through very many memes, that only they think are funny/worthwhile, or they carry it on way too long. Carter as the Animal/Intense guy, Mejia to make the team, Oliver as the brainless dolt, Maine as a whiny liar. They're the quickest to typecast a guy, and it's almost like once one person criticises a guy, it opens up the floodgates for everyone to. It's like when your boss comes in wearing jeans, it's suddenly okay for everyone to do so.

Ceetar wrote: Ceetar wrote: Edgy DC wrote: I know good basebally is inside these guys. Heck, we've all seen it. The thing that hurts the most is that many people are starting to doubt this. And radio hosts perpetuate it. I just hope it doesn't lead to something extreme like trading Reyes, because THAT would demoralize ME. Dude , you tweets during every game add to this doubt, come on man. Do they? I don't mean to be. Maybe i'm already demoralized. I keep feeling like these guys are about to break out and the offense is actually going to work..and then they don't again. Looking back, I was pretty rough on Frenchy. But then, he's not one of the guys I expect to suddenly start hitting.

metirish wrote: Ceetar wrote: Edgy DC wrote: I know good basebally is inside these guys. Heck, we've all seen it. The thing that hurts the most is that many people are starting to doubt this. And radio hosts perpetuate it. I just hope it doesn't lead to something extreme like trading Reyes, because THAT would demoralize ME. Dude , you tweets during every game add to this doubt, come on man. Do they? I don't mean to be. Maybe i'm already demoralized. I keep feeling like these guys are about to break out and the offense is actually going to work..and then they don't again.

Edgy DC wrote: I know good basebally is inside these guys. Heck, we've all seen it. The thing that hurts the most is that many people are starting to doubt this. And radio hosts perpetuate it. I just hope it doesn't lead to something extreme like trading Reyes, because THAT would demoralize ME.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: There's been a few articles recently suggesting the Mets are "demoralized" given events including the return of Oliver Perez, the Phillies' acquisition of Oswalt, the Cliff Lee trade, etc etc. The team has certainly been more sloppy in the field (Wright, Reyes and Casdtillo have all butchered their way into trouble) and seemingly less able to concentrate (the deluge of 2-out runs against, the first-inning). Do you buy it? No. (No that it's anything but losing anyway) Wright has always been a guy that presses too hard and struggles (Beltran too, he had a chance to throw a guy out at second last night and overthrew it into the ground) . Castillo was rushed back from the DL, and I think he's just rusty, shows at the plate too. Reyes also, while not DL'd, basically went three weeks without really playing the infield much, even in practice. Davis has been a bit off too. I wonder if that's just the grind of the season and taking his slump into the field with him.

TransMonk wrote: The grass may be greener, but I think there are acres and acres to explore before settling on Backman's patch. Definitely this. They should interview everyone who's managed so much as a little league team. They should do a similiar thing with the pitching and hitting coach, although letting the manager in on that decision making process. If they like Backman and what he brings to the table, then fine. If not, that's fine too. What about Tuefel? I do find it hard to believe anyone could actually be worse than Manuel, without trying. I dont think Davey is looking to be a fulltime manager anymore.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Because a large part of being a manager is being a figurehead and representing the organization in a public sense, and Jerry for whatever his so-called faults isn't really embodying that role successfully while there's a feeling that Backman could and will. I think some of that could rub off on the players by the way. I am certain these last 40 games has demonstrated to everyone in the clubhouse that Manuel isn't likely be the Met manager next season. I also think some of the smartypantassers getting on Backman for his tendencies while managing 19 year olds and projecting the same in the big leagues are wasting at least a little energy. You never know for sure how a guy's gonna manage until he actually does. part of it's grass is greener, anybody would be better than Manuel including willie, art howe, etc, but the other part is the attitude that people liked in Backman, the connection to winning, etc. I'm not sure how much value that has, but probably more so in a manager than in a backup middle infielder. Maybe it's that the players haven't really seemed to be accountable. That they often play sloppy and unprepared and that these are traits people associate with Backman? (I don't know, I wasn't even double digits in age when he was a Met)

Edgy DC wrote: Valentine continuing to run Pedro Astocio when he was apparently hurt and clearly ineffective (three managers and two GMs ago) suggests to me that the Mets are never in the mindset of evading a vesting option. Yeah, if the Mets were intrigued about Francoeur's relatively productive second half, they might have done better to non-tender him and try to bring him back cheap. But Francoeur's agent is Molly Fletcher. And nobody says no to Molly Fletcher. At least the rumor of a 3 year 15 million dollar contract didn't come to fruition.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Yes, Ceetar, Cora sucks because of Manual. Geezus. I agree with what was said above: It's not Cora per se, it's Cora, plus Perez, plus Francoeur, and to a lesser extent Castillo and Barajas. It's as if you release one, there's less ground to stand on with regard to not releasing the others, but that's real money at some point. At any rate, pretty strong indictment of Omar. No, i meant Cora is close to vesting because of Manuel and his personal feelings about Castillo.

I've never minded Cora really. He plays too much, isn't very good, etc, but I'm not sure there is actually, or that their was in the offseason, a guy that would actively be better than him as a backup. When they signed him they were probably assuming 160 games from Reyes and 140 from Castillo. I think he does add some value as a clubhouse guy, just in an overall "nice to have" kind of way. Doesn't contribute to winning, but it'd be a nice perk if he wasn't getting too much time. Things didn't work out that way, but I think Manuel's usage of him has contributed to the problem. Take Sunday. Was there any real indictation that Castillo needed a day off? Doesn't he actually need less days off to get up to speed, since he hasn't really since he's come back? If you trust Manuel to be on the same page as the front office (I don't. Mejia, Perez, etc suggest that he disagrees) then Cora really only has August to get those 18 games or he can be effectively buried in September.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: For me, it's not that Hagin is bad all the time, it's that he's really bad sometimes, good only other times. But he really hasn't improved much since arriving. He is a little clunky and indirect at times. I think if they cut down the innings he actually did play by play people wouldn't mind as much.

metirish wrote: A bit weak no? a bit.

Stat's I'd like to see: What the result is immediately following a coaching visit to the mound? It'd be interesting to see how much value this provides. Is it a waste of time beyond allowing some guys to warm up in relief? I feel like Warthen is crap, always comes out too late to "settle a pitcher down" or share a scouting report. And then yesterday his brilliant insight led to yet anotehr 3-run home run to LaRoche on the next pitch. I'm curious if stats back up my "he sucks" philosophy.

dgwphotography wrote: I'm just going to enjoy each game as it comes. Having Gary, Keith and Ron to listen to every game certainly makes it more enjoyable... That's pretty much how the Mets seem to have suggested we take it. Got a very telling week coming up though, after that all the stress may be off.

It's a Pepsi Porch afternoon.

bmfc1 wrote: Fair point Ceeter. Maybe a AA starter with a 5 ERA. BTW, all the Giants gave up for Ramirez is a AA pitcher with a 4.09 ERA: http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=turpen001dan But who says that the Mets aren't doing anything... Alyssa Milano is signing autographs tonight. grabbed a "prospect" for Jacobs. I'm sure they re-configure stuff via waivers. Michael Baron made a couple of points that do seem like they're basically treating anything this year as gravy though. So..i dunno.