Mostly Mets

Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News wonders aloud if Rick Peterson will be fired first. The wondering begins in the last sentence of the third to last paragraph of the article. (Thanks to Matthew Cerrone at Metsblog for the tip in this post.)

Tags: Adam Rubin, Matthew Cerrone, Metsblog, New York Daily News, Notes, Rick Peterson

• The Mets have some tough decisions to make today. It looks like Moises Alou is ready to begin his season. The scare with his foot (where they thought he may have a fracture) has passed. But how will the team make room for Alou?

  Common thinking is that if Brian Schneider is ready to return from a staph infection in his left thumb the team would be able to send third catcher Gustavo Molina to the minors. But what if Schneider isn’t ready? Then it would likely be a DL stint for him. He has not played in a week so any DL stay would be retroactive to last week.

• Amid the return of Alou there has been some lineup speculation. One of the things discussed on the blogosphere is the possibility of batting Alou sixth and dropping Carlos Delgado to seventh.
• In the New York Sun Tim Marchman calls for firing Willie Randolph
• Over at Take the 7 Train Andrew Rizzi awards Ryan Church as the Met of the Month for the month of April.

Tags: Andrew Rizzi, Brian Schneider, Carlos Delgado, Gustavo Molina, Mets Blogs, Moises Alou, New York Sun, Notes, Ryan Church, Take the 7 Train, Tim Marchman, Willie Randolph

I wrote yesterday that it’s too early to panic. But after yesterday’s horrific loss I’m beginning to think that maybe it’s not too early. Oliver Perez looked horrible and made me question whether I actually want this team to make the playoffs. can you imagine this guy taking the mound when a playoff series is on the line? Scary thought.

Thankfully Billy Wagner had some balls to call this guy out. “Perez has honestly got to step up and know that we’ve just used every guy in our bullpen the night before. He can’t come out there and decide that gee, he hasn’t got it today, and so be it.”

Perez wasn’t the only offender yesterday. There wasn’t plenty ineptness to go around. But it all starts on the mound. And if the guy on the mound isn’t anywhere near where he should then he’s just asking for trouble. And that’s what happened yesterday.

Tags: Billy Wagner, Game Comments, Oliver Perez

Can someone please explain to me why Doug Mientkiewicz was booed last night? Sure he came to the Mets and didn’t play up to expectations (I know I’m putting it mildly) but what’s the point in booing? I can understand not cheering him on like some other former Mets who have come through Shea again but why boo him? I don’t Get it.

Tags: Commentary, Doug Mientkiewicz

I was going to post a piece about injury status but Matthew Cerrone already did over at Metsblog. Simply put there will be some roster changes for the weekend series in Arizona.

Tags: Injuries, Matthew Cerrone, Metsblog

The Mets beat the Pirates last night thanks to one of the longest singles I’ve ever seen hit in my life. The hit came from the bat of David Wright in the 11th inning and scored Endy Chavez from third base.

Usually when a team wins an extra innings game there are feelings of euphoria, excitement, invincibility. But for some reason the feeling I got after last night’s game was relief. I was relieved that the Mets were able to beat a team in extra innings that they should have been able to put away much earlier. When I saw today’s New York Post I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one thinking that way. Kevin Kernan has a column discussing this issue.

In short it appears that this team lacks the killer instinct needed to win at this level. As good as many of the players are there is no fire there in a team sense. The closest they came last year was Paul Lo Duca but with him gone now we’re left with a bunch of plain vanilla personalities led by a manager who is was too calm for a guy whose job is on the line.

It’s only late April so it’s too early to panic. But it’s not too early to take a hard look at the team as well as available players and see if there’s anyone who could come in and breath some life into this team. And if there’s no player who can do that then it may be time to find a manager who can.

Tags: Commentary, David Wright, Endy Chavez, Kevin Kernan, New York Post, Paul Lo Duca

Last night’s game was rained out so we suffer through another day of talk about Carlos Delgado’s non curtain call. Yay! (That’s me being facetious.) I was happy to see Darryl Strawberry on SNY last night saying that Delgado was right. Strawberry said that Delgado owed the booing fans nothing and that he used to use boos as a motivational tool.

If nothing else this issue has brought me what is now one of my favorite quotes from Delgado via the New York Post. “What am I supposed to do? Am I going to stay out here until they start booing. I don’t know the etiquette.” Great stuff.

Tags: Carlos Delgado, Darryl Strawberry, New York Post, SNY

Carlos Delgado’s non-curtain call after hitting his second home run of the game yesterday begs the question when is a player obligated to give a curtain call? The question is even tougher to answer in Delgado’s case as the fans (including myself) have soured on him due to his slow start this year following a poor year last year. So the question must be restated as follows: Is a player obligated to give a curtain call to fans who booed him before the game even started (such as when the lineups were announced)?

I say no. A player is never obligated. A curtain call is nice and, as the fans pay the players salaries through ticket sales, is something we have come to expect. But there’s no obligation there. And if a player isn’t feeling it then why should he?

What do you think? Leave a comment or email me.

Tags: Carlos Delgado, Commentary

Over at Mets Today Joe writes about bunting.

Tags: Mets Blogs, Mets Today

• Last week I praised Aaron Heilman and the rest of the Mets bullpen. Almost immediately thereafter Heilman has come unglued again. Last night was the latest display of ineffectiveness when Heilman gave up 3 hits, 2 earned runs 1/3 of an inning. I think it’s about time they made a move with him. They probably can’t trade him right now but what have they got to lose by sending him to New Orleans to start? They lack rotation depth right now so they may be able to use him in that capacity once he’s been stretched out effectively. Or if they don’t want to use him as a starter they could send him down to work up his trade value. They won’t get top value for him but if he could put together some good outings in the minors (either as a starter or reliever) they may be able to get a little bit more for him. Just a thought.
• Brian Schneider has been sidelined again. He had a hamstring injury during spring training and sat out a few games earlier this week with a forearm sprain. Now his left thumb is infected. He’s in New York undergoing treatment with antibiotics. If that fails it may need to be lanced. A DL stint is possible. In the meantime the Mets have recalled Gustavo Molina to backup Raul Casanova. Brady Clark was DFAed to make room for Molina on the roster.
• Many Mets fans seem to revel in bad Lastings Milledge stories lately. If you’re one of those fans then you’ll appreciate this one. Milledge was benched for last night’s game for showing up late to the ballpark. There you have it.

  On a side note I don’t understand why Mets fans were booing Milledge at Shea last week. I understand why they don’t really like him. He wore out his welcome with his immature behavior. I get that. But he’s gone now. So what’s the point? Can anyone explain that to me?

Tags: Aaron Heilman, Brady Clark, Brian Schneider, Commentary, Gustavo Molina, Lastings Milledge, Notes, Raul Casanova