Teixeira Lands on DL: How It Affects the Yanks

Mark Texeira spent very little time on the DL over the first nine years or so of his career and for the first three years of his Yankees tenure he rarely missed time, missing only 16 games in that span, but the last year and a half hasn't been kind.

Just a few days after telling reporters he wasn't sure if his surgically repaired wrist (which cost him 147 games last season) would ever be the same, Teixeira pulled up lame during last night's win over the Toronto Blue Jays. While the severity of the hamstring injury is not yet known, it was evident in Teixeira's face and reaction that it wasn't good. He was visabily upset and slammed his glove when he came out (thankfully not injuring anything else in his fit of anger).

To me, this is a fairly decent blow to the Yanks. I have felt that they need Texeira to have a solid season in order to make it back to the playoffs. Now, a two week stint on the DL isn't going to break his or the Yankees season, but you have to hope that it's limited to a two or three week at the most stay. Out of the big editions the Yanks have made in the offseason, I think Tex returning was a big one. Ellsbury has to prove he's going to be able to stay on the field and even with the solid season he had last year, Beltran is getting up there in age. There's already some question marks in the lineup at second and third base, so adding first to that weakens the team both at the plate and defensively. If Teixeira isn't going to be out there for at least 140 games and give the Yanks the glove and bat he was for the first three years in pinstrips, there is going to be that much more pressure on the new guys to produce. To my thinking, the biggest bat in this lineup with a chance to carry the team on his shoulders may very well be Brian McCann, who if he stays healthy might ravage that short left-hand porch in Yankee Stadium to the tune of 35 to maybe even 40 home runs. That doesn't remove the need for Teixeira in that lineup though.

My gut? Teixeira is going to be hard pressed to be the player he was. While I'm not thinking he's going to miss most of the year again, I have a feeling this isn't going to be his one trip to DL Land, and Yankee fans might want to temper expectations for him going forward.

Enough Already

Just what the heck is wrong with New York baseball fans?

I'm sitting here listening about how terrible the 2011 season is going to be for the Yankees if they don't get Cliff Lee because of how improved the Red Sox are and I have to wonder... with the possible exception of Andy Pettite, isn't this the same team that the Yankee fans expected to storm through the AL into the World Series before a hot Texas team cooled those plans?

I mean, let's see... They have a $25 Million dollar 1st baseman who is pretty much considered a top 5 first baseman (both in hitting and fielding). You have an MVP candidate at 2nd base who took a fairly strong career and made it even beter with a monster season. You have a guy playing shortstop that, despite his age, is still one of the smartest guys on the field and is more likely to raise his game back up then allow it to stay to the depths it was stuck in during the 2010 season. You have a $30 million 3rd baseman who really is likely to give you a 30 homerun, 110 RBI season and that's considered a DROP in production. You have an ace starting pitcher who has been a mixture of solid and dominating in the two years he's been here. You have a young, talented and soild #2 pitcher who will likely improve upon his impressive 2010. You have an, admittedly old, closer who defies all logic and shuts down other team's bats 99.9% of the time. I haven't even started on your very talented, if slightly uneven, outfield who's regular season stats have been pretty damn good.

In other words, why do the Yankees have to worry so much for? I'm not saying they are a lock to make the playoffs in 2011, but the team, just as presently constituted is as strong as most of the league and you know... you just KNOW they will find a way to add a pitcher. I think Pettite will be back and I could see the Yanks winding up with someone like Matt Garza, James Shields or a Wandy Rodriguez.

My gut is that Lee will remain in Texas. I think he's just trying to use the Yankees to get as much as he can there. In fact, I'll go as far as to say I don't think he ever wanted to go to New York. That doesn't matter though. The Yankees are a solid team who, frankly, still have a leg up on most of the AL. A.J. Burnett is not as bad as Yankee fans seem to think he is, and can easily be a #4 guy and contibutor. The offense is more than fine as long as Swisher continues to perform as he has (and there is no reason to think he won't) and A-Rod, Cano and Teixeria do what is expected of them (and there is not reason to think they won't).

As for the Mets... I'm SO SICK of the whining going on here. Everyone... and I mean EVERYONE wanted Omar and Jerry gone. Well they ARE gone and so is the way they did things. The new mangement group is looking to steamline the entire organization and with the lack of real talent on the free agent market this year, I'm GLAD to see them playing it smart and not grabbing someone for the sake of making a splash.

This organization needed a change and we're getting it. As fans, we have to be patient and let this season play out to get some money off the books and be able to make some moves to contruct this team with some real solid pitching and a view for longer term success as well as short term.

Listen. I know I'm in the minority, but I expect the Mets to be competitive next season. Yes, the loss of Johan Santana until June will hurt, but I have faith in the tandum of Pelfrey, Dickey and Neise to be decent. I'm also looking at an offesne that will have a full season of Carlos Beltran in a contract year, a bounce back season from Jason Bay (who I expect to come back to his normal numbers in a big way) and the solid performances of David Wright, Jose Reyes (also in a contract year), Ike Davis and Angel Pagan. If they can keep themselves at .500 until Santana comes back I can see this team being in the wild card mix. Do I thnk they could win the division? No, not at all unless one of the Roys misses a chunk of the season for the Phillies, but to automatically think the Mets are a 4th or 5th place team is ridiculous.

I expect the Mets to sign someone like Brandon Webb or Chris Young to an incentive laden contract and who knows... maybe they'll catch lightning in a bottle. The thing is, look at the big picture here folks. The Mets STILL will be in the top 5 or 6 in payroll in 2011 and odds are will spend a little more for the 2012 season. This is NOT going to be the Oakland A's East. The Mets aren't going to be a Moneyball team. Just shut up and let the new front office crew have some time to reshape this franchise like we've all been begging for the last three years.

Please. Enough.

Salvaging Some Pride

Well, it’s about time.

While it really is a matter of too little too late, the Mets made a statement this weekend to the Phillies and that statement was hopefully fairly clear: “We’re not going to stand here and be your whipping posts anymore.”

After Friday night’s game in which Chase Utley slid late and VERY hard into second base and collided with 2nd baseman Rubin Tejada, the Mets were steaming. A lot of comments were made about the rough slide which while no one actually used the words “dirty play”, it was certainly implied. The Mets hinted that a retaliation might be in order, but with many other Phillie-related incidents over the last few years, many figured it would be a matter of talking but no real action.

For once though, the Mets were good to their word. They not only stepped up and beat the defending NL Champs twice in a row (the Phillies hadn’t lost two games in a row in over a month) and denied them the oppertunity to win the NL East and celebrate with the Mets in attendance (something there were rumors that the Phillies were REALLY hoping to be able to do… celebrate at home and in front of the Mets) but Carlos Beltran returned the favor on Saturday night and slid late and hard into second base to break up a potential double play, after which the Mets surged with 3 more runs in the inning to take a 5-2 lead.

Beltran was furious with the Utley play from Friday. “To me, yes, he crossed the line,” Beltran said in a pretty worked up manner. “Not only on that play. He has done things in the past, like blocking bases. It’s O.K. to play hard, it’s O.K. to get outs. But once you try to hurt somebody, that’s no fun. He’s such a good player, too good, to be doing that. But I guess that’s the way he plays. We can play like that, too.”

Beltran backed up his words even more on Sunday, hitting a pair of homeruns, including one of them off losing pitcher Cole Hamels who finished the year 0-4 against the Mets this season, and making a fantastic diving catch.

What I’m hoping for is that the team sat down together after Friday night and said to each other “I’m sick of this $^!#. Enough is enough. I’m not going to be a punch line or a punching bag anymore.” and decided it was time to start playing the sort of baseball (and having the sort of attitude) that demands some respect.

A perfect example is the below video which Frank posted. It’s a video created by a comedy duo from New York and the video itself is very funny, but the idea behind it is that the Mets themselves are a bunch of clown shoes. It’s really about time the team took it upon themselves to shake that label off. While the last two days haven’t done that, it’s certainly a step in the right direction.

Is the Walter Reed Medical Center Controversy really that big of a deal?

So by now odds are you’ve heard about the Mets trip to Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Tuesday to visit wounded soldiers.

There were four Mets absent from the team’s visit. One was Dillon Gee, the rookie who was starting that evening against the Nationals and had been excused. The other three were Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez.

Since the report was made that these three missed the scheduled trip (of which the Mets have gone each year for the last few years) and the rest of the team was there, a lot has been made about it. A report came out saying the Mets front office was “very unhappy” with the three players and the fans and media coverage have blasted the trio.

Beltran wound up explaining he missed the trip (which was NOT mandatory by the way) because he had a meeting with his foundation (The Carlos Beltran Foundation) to discuss plans to build a high school in his native Puerto Rico. He also explained that he visited the Veteran’s Hospital in the offseason with owner Fred Wilpon. He said he had “liked it. And I wanted to go. But I had my own things to do.”

Castillo and Perez had less “explanation”. Castillo felt he would have been too traumatized by the sight of injured soldiers and would have not been comfortable seeing them. Perez gave no explaination at all saying “I don’t answer (questions about) anything about outside the stadium.”

The reports go on: The Wilpons are mad, their team-mates are mad, the fans are mad, the media is mad.

However, is this really something that is the big deal they are making it out to be?

Beltran’s explaination was a pretty good one. He had been to the hospital before and the meeting he was at was for charitable reasons.

Castillo’s may sound weak, but we don’t know the extend of his ability to filter out the situation. I know of people who lost children to a particular issue, be it accident or cancer or whatnot who are not able to visit other kids in a children’s hospital because of the memories it drudges up. Perhaps Castillo has a simular situation in his past with soldiers/wounded vets.

Perez… his refusal to give an explanation doesn’t mean he doesn’t have one. (However I would actually think it’s more likely Perez is in no rush to do anything for the Mets he doesn’t have to do.)

Listen, was the move a public relations mistake? Of course it was, especially with the seasons each is having. Right now, it seems the fans and media is looking for any excuse to pile on these players. I’m actually surprised that Perez is able to walk around in New York right now listening to how much he seems to be disliked by the team and fans.

Supporting our Military Veterans is something I very strong about. I don’t take anything like this lightly, however the players not only had the right to not go, it seems that people haven’t even considered that there was legit reasons they didn’t.

With all of the problems the Mets have right now, making this an issue is just stupid. Celebrate the players who went and how the visit made them feel, but enough is enough with killing the few that didn’t go.

What Now?

Ok, so the Mets are techically still in the playoff hunt. They’re on the fringe, but still in it.

But not really.

The Mets are 8 1/2 games behind the Braves for the NL East lead and 7 1/2 games back in the wild card from the Giants (maybe soon to be 7 games back since the Giants are training the Cubs inthe 5th). There are four teams betwen them and the Giants for the Wild Card . It’s not going to be an easy task and it’s one the Mets look ill equiped to handle they way they’ve played since the all-star break.

They’ve made a few moves including releasing Alex Cora and bringing up youngsters Fernando Martienez and Ruben Tejada. What does that mean? Likely they want to see if these guys can play at this level because I get the feeling they both are auditioning for roles with the club in 2011.

Fred Wilpon seemingly gave GM Omar Minaya a vote of confidence for 2011 which shows once again the orgainzation doesn’t have it’s thumb on the pulse of reality.

Everyone and his brother is saying the Mets have no money to spend and will not be players in this offseason’s free agent market. If this is true, you are going to see a very young team next year.

Let’s assume that the Mets part ways with Jeff Francour, John Maine and Sean Green. Let’s also say they finally wake up and let go of Oliver Perez since there is no way he’ll ever be able to throw a meaningful pitch for the Mets ever again.

So right off the bat, seeing who are pretty much no doubts… the roster looks like this:

INFIELDERS
Jose Reyes
Luis Castillo
Ike Davis
David Wright
Josh Thole

OUTFIELDERS
Angel Pagan
Carlos Beltran
Jason Bay

STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
Mike Pelfrey
Jon Neise
R. A. Dickey

BULLPEN
Francisco Rodriguez
Hisanori Takahashi
Bobby Parnell

That’s 15 players.

Pedro Feliciano is a free agent. I think the Mets resign him since he’s been pretty much invaluble. So add him. Now, with only one year left on Castillo’s contract… can the Mets move him? Owed $6 million, if the Mets eat say… $4 million I’m sure a team might chance $2 million on a veteran 2nd baseman, but who knows. For now he stays on the roster. I can see the Mets keeping Tejada on the roster either in a platoon or as the starting second baseman if he performs well enough the rest of 2010.

With Feliciano and Tejada, that makes 17 on the roster now.

You need another catcher to likely platoon with Thole. Either Henry Blanco or Rob Barajas will likely be back. Let’s say it’s the better hitting and younger Barajas. Rounding out the bench you will likely see Chris Carter and Daniel Murphy playing utility/pinch hitter roles.

That’s 20 players.

You still need another starter, and three more bullpen arms or two more arms and one more hitter.

Odds are, Manny Acosta or Jenrry Mejia will be on the team in the bullpen. Let’s say it’s Acosta.

Three more spots now.

You may have names like Raul Valdes and Ryota Igarashi in the mix. Let’s say Valdes makes it.

Two spots.

Here is where the Mets will likely spend free agent money on.

Now if you told me those two spots would be Cliff Lee and say… Jason Werth… well… Then I would say the Mets are contenders next year.

They won’t be.

Hell, Cliff Lee alone would be a solid move and at least give he fans some hope.

I doubt we’ll see him even rumored.

I think there might be a chance for a Bronson Arroyo, a Ted Lilly or a Javy Vazquez. Let’s say it’s Arroyo for argument’s sake.

You’d have a club of:

INFIELDERS
Jose Reyes
Luis Castillo
Ike Davis
David Wright
Josh Thole
Rob Barajas
Ruben Tejada
Daniel Murphy

OUTFIELDERS
Angel Pagan
Carlos Beltran
Jason Bay
Chris Carter

STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
Mike Pelfrey
Jon Neise
R. A. Dickey
Bronson Arroyo

BULLPEN
Francisco Rodriguez
Pedro Feliciano
Hisanori Takahashi
Bobby Parnell
Raul Valdes
Manny Acosta

You’d have one spot left for either another outfielder or another bullpen arm. Fernando Martienez perhaps? A Vetern like an Austin Kerns?

Could that team compete?

If you knew you could count on Bay returning to form and Beltran having a great season in his walk year maybe it could.

I don’t know right now.

All I know is the Mets better pick a plan and stick with it. The management once again looks like a pack of unorganized fools.

What do you think? Could that team I listed above be contenders?

Not What Anyone Had In Mind

The Mets needed a win last night, and getting a strong performance from their pitching staff was important. Well, Jon Niese did his part last night. Seven innings of 1 run ball was just what the Mets needed. Of course the 8th inning was a disaster, as the bullpen (most notably Bobby Parnell) allowed the first 7 batters of the inning reach base. Six would score. A 2-1 lead became a 7-2 deficit.

The Mets continue to find new and frustrating ways to lose. Time is running out very quickly. As I stated yesterday, there is no reason the Mets should not be able to beat a team with it’s starting all star 2nd baseman and 1st baseman on the DL, as well as their starting Centerfielder.

Of course, the Mets total inability to score runs is killing them. The team is hitting a combined .251 (24th in the Majors) and have scored 444 runs this season, which is 7th worst in the MLB.

Today’s match-up is Johan Santana (8-6, 3.20 ERA) and Cole Hamels (7-7, 3.56 ERA) . In all honesty… the Mets should have the advantage here… just like they had it last night.

At this point, I’d go into today’s game allowing Santana at least 125 pitches and lok to see if he can throw a complete game. The Mets need this in the worst way. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t jeopardize his health for it, but the man doesn’t need to be brought out at 100 pitches like Jerry Manuel seems to think every pitcher does.

David Wright needs to break out of the slump he’s in. After going 8 for 14 with 2 home runs and 8 RBI, Wright is just 1 for 19 with 3 strike outs, no RBI and no walks. The Mets are 1-4 with just 13 runs scored during this slump. It’s also time for Reyes to wake up and Beltran to find his stroke. Without them, this team is not going to score runs and will not win.

Time to Drop Your Socks and Grab Your… Bats

Ok, the horrible 2-9 road trip is over. The trip where the Mets showed an insane inability to score runs is done.

The question is… are the Mets done as well?

Well here is where we’ll find out. The next three weeks will basically give us a fairly well indication of what to expect with this team for the rest of the season.

They will wrap up a three game set with St. Louis and look to avenge a pathetic sweep by the Arizona Diamondbacks this upcoming weekend. Then it’s gut check time. Six in a row on the road with the Braves and Phillies where the Mets can either pick up some needed ground or basically allow themselves to be pushed back out of reach of the NL East (and maybe even the Wildcard) contention.

After that it’s a three game set against the Rockies and then three games at home against the Phils.

After that the schedule gets much easier with ten out of the next thirteen against the Astros and Pirates… who are just about the two worst teams in the NL. By then, however, it may be too late.

While this six game series at home is quite important (anything less than a 4-2 homestand is going to be seen as a disaster) it’s those six games on the road in atlanta and Philadelphia that are going to loom large in everyone’s eyes.

A 3-3 trip will be considered a success. A 2-4 trip is what is going to be expected by the media and the fans. a 1-5 or 0-6 trip will likely kill this teams’ chances of playing meaningful games in September.

The question comes down to… can this team hit? The Pitching is NOT the question right now. R.A. Dickey, Johan Santana and Jon Neise all pitched great on the road trip. Mike Pelfrey’s last start was very good as well. The starting pitching hasn’t been an issue in this losing streak. It’s been the hitting. The Mets were shut out five times in a thirteen game span, scored only one run in another two games and two runs in another two games during that span. That means they scored two runs or less in nine out of thirteen games. That’s not a power outage… that’s a blackout of near fatal extremes.

Last night’s explosion against one of the best pitchers in the Majors was a nice sight, but what use is an 8-2 win last night if they lose 2-1 tonight? This team needs to stop swinging at everything and have a smart approach to the plate. More than anything else, Carlos Beltran and Jason Bay need to start living up to their contracts and superstar expectations.

It’s now or never. If they go 10 – 3 in the thirteen games they have in August against the Astros, Pirates and Marlins it won’t mean much if they go 4 – 8 against the Braves, Phillies and Rockies at the beginning of the month. It’s time to stand up and be counted gentlemen.

Not the End of the World

So, the Mets blazed into Philadelphia on Friday and cut through the defending NL Champions like they were a minor league team. At the end of the game my 15 yr old son, Patrick, turned to me and said “They’re killing them.” I nodded but warned him: “Don’t get too excited. There is a lot of baseball to be played.” Pat agreed.

Two days and two rather large losses later, the Mets have returned to earth. The Phillies stormed back and made short work of Mike Pelfrey (who didn’t exactly get defensive help) and Johan Santana.

But I wouldn’t get too down Met fans. I would actually take a look to see how the Mets follow this series up. Do they bounce back and start a new streak? Do they stay down and return to the uninspiried play of the first 10 games? How does the team react? That, to me, is a hell of a lot more important than two games in early May.

The incredible streak the Mets were on did something important. It showed that the team is capable of some strong play and has the ability to contend. I don’t think any realistic baseball follower REALLY thought the Mets were suddenly better than the Phils, and this weekend showed the fortitude the defnding NL Champs have… however as long as you are prepared to temper your expectations, I think this Mets squad is one that will give us some very meaningful games this summer.

There was news that the Mets hope to have Carlos Beltran resuming baseball activities in the next week or so. Hopefully this is true. Beltran will be a nice lift to this team, as will the return of Daniel Murphy, who can replace Frank Catalanotto as the utility/pinch hitter. Beltran playing will return Angel Pagan to the fourth outfielder’s spot and hopefully bring about an end to the horrible Gary Matthews Jr. experiment. That alone will improve the team.

So don’t get down about two bad losses. Instead, hope that the Mets can bouce back and show you there is hope and something to look forward to in the upcoming weeks and into the summer months. This team has shown us something, so let’s be glad for that.

Biggest question marks: Mets

Yeah I know, the Mets have a LOT of question marks. However instead of this being a sixteen page post, let’s keep it to the largest ones, shall we?

I’m going to limit this to five (with a bonus one!). I’ll do the Yankees next.

1. Can this team win with this starting rotation?
Well… yeah. It can. Is it likely? I guess that is a harder question. Listen, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine and Oliver Perez have ALL had good seasons in the last few years. If the Mets get the 2008 Pelfrey and the 2007 Perez and Maine then the Mets starting rotation suddenly looks pretty strong. However the odds of all three doing that aren’t the best. The one I have the most faith in is Pelfrey. I think he is a very legit starting pitcher and can rise to the top and be a solid #2… but the defense needs to improve behind him and he needs to have his head on a little straighter. Perez is an enigma. He’s been almost lights out against teams like the Braves, Phillies and Yankees for most of his Mets career and fairly terrible against the Pirates, Marlins, Nationals of the world. The guy makes no sense. Odds are, without an addition to the rotation via trade at some point in the season, the team’s starting pitching will be a weakness.

2. Will the offense be ok without Beltran for the first month of the season?
If we’re only talking a month into the season then I think the offense is ok, that is if everyone else is healthy. If we’re talking longer (like two to three months or more) then, no… the offense will need a more solid link in the chain than an Angel Pagan/Gary Matthews Jr. platoon. Listen, Pagan can hit. He’s not going to give you power, but the guy CAN get on base and create some extra base opportunities out there. A month of him would be ok (with the occasional Matthews afront I suppose) as long as the other players are pulling their weight. However, Pagan is a very solid and useful #4 outfielder overall at this point in his career. From what we have seen of him, he’s not going to be able to be a full time centerfielder for a full season. Too much time out there will expose him. In other words, Mets fans need to pray that Beltran is back in May.

3. Is Reyes healthy enough to become the force he needs to be?
Everything I have seen and read leads to to belive that YES, Reys will return and be REYES. This offense is dependant on Reyes being the MAN. He needs to get on base and cause total havoc on the basepaths. He can only do this if he is 100% healthy. I know many naysayers point to his early career injury history as a reason to feel he won’t get through the season healthy, but before last year’s debacle, Reyes had a number of healthy seasons in a row. He should be fine and with him the offense will greatly improve.

4. Who’s going to catch?
Well, from what it looks like it’s going to be a platoon of Omir Santos and Henry Blanco. Neither one will strike fear into opposing pitchers, with Santos being the better hitter of the two. Both are decent defensively, with Blanco being the better of the two. I myself would like to see them offer free agent Rod Barajas a one year $2 million dollar deal. The guy plays decent defense and has some real pop. However, suddenly it seems the Mets are done spending. Count on the Santos/Blanco platoon being it for the year making the position neither a plus or minus… just being about average.

5. Will Omar and Jerry make it through the season?
My first thought is to say no to both… but then upon reflection it really comes down to this: Will the Mets contend? If this teams starts off 13-25 then yeah I think both are gone and rather quickly. However, if the team fights to a record around 17-17, 18-16 or even a 16-18 start with Beltran on the way back and positive signs like close games and no little mistakes that drove us all crazy last year (not stepping on third base anyone?) then they’ll get to the all-star break. If the team is within five games of a playoff spot, then they’re likely ok for the year unless they fall completely apart in late July (like losing 13 out of 15). All in all, if the team contends it will be hard to dismiss the GM and manager. I do believe that short of a playoff spot they’re both likely gone at the end of the season however. The fear here is that the NL has a shaky year and the Mets manage to blunder their way into a wild card spot and both Omar and Jerry get three year extentions.

BONUS QUESTION: So, will they contend or what?
Questionable starting rotation spots #2-5, your best player on the DL for at least a month to start the season, a lot of important players returning from injury, your GM and manager on the hot seat before the season even starts, an organization seemingly in chaos… how in God’s name CAN this team contend? Well… believe it or not. They can. Consider this: They have one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, a top five player at three positions (that would be Wright, Reyes and Beltran… with a top ten player at a 4th positon in Bay), a pretty decent offense and a top notch closer. Plus, the Mets often seem to traditionally do better when they are NOT favorites. This team is NOT as good as the Phillies. They don’t pitch as well as the Braves. They don’t seem as brash or confident as the Marlins. But you know… who in the NL outside of the Phillies is really a powerhouse? The Cardinals? The Dodgers? Nope. There is going to be a lot of scrambling for that wildcard spot, mark my words. A playoff spot is not out of the question for the Mets, abeit it’s not likely either… but this is a team that should be able to fight to about 83 wins and a few bounces their way that 83 could be 86 or 87. With a trade for someone like Broson Arroyo that number might be close enough to put the wild card in their sights. Hey, you never know.