Tag: baseball

It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there

The season is over — if you listen to the sports talk radio callers in New York. The Mets, having played mediocre baseball (and often times just plain terrible ball), find themselves 5.5 games behind the Florida Marlins and two games under .500 — not the kind of record expected from a team with a $140 million payroll.

So, let’s just move on, right?

Not so fast. The Mets need to make some changes — which may include the axing of Willie Randolph — but writing the team off is just plain foolish.

Consider the 2007 season. On May 28 last year, three teams that would end the season in the playoffs — including the N.L. pennant winning Colorado Rockies — were under .500 and a fourth, the Phillies, was just a game over.

In fact, the four teams that would eventually qualify for the National League playoffs were a combined 16 games out of the playoff spots they eventually qualified for.

Does this mean that the Mets will find their way back? No. It just means they can.

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Omar’s best decision

Omar Minaya has made a lot of interesting decisions as the man in charge of the Mets, some good, some not so good.

But the best move he has made maybe the signing he decided against — you know, the $75 million he offere Barry Zito, a pittance compared to the $126 million the lefty received from the Giants.

If I recall at the time, there were plenty of Mets fans calling into sports radio calling for Minaya’s scalp. Given the fans’ propensity for making loud, boorish fools of themselves, Zito is probably glad he took the money and ran.

I know I am.

Read this AP story to see what all that money managed to get the Giants:

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -Barry Zito was demoted to the bullpen Monday by the San Francisco Giants, who hope the former ace can correct his problems by working in relief.

Zito, who only 16 months ago signed a $126 million, seven-year contract with the Giants to lead their rotation, was informed of the move in a meeting with manager Bruce Bochy.

The left-hander has lost his first six starts this season and has a 7.53 ERA that jumped considerably after Zito was tagged for eight earned runs in a 10-1 loss Sunday to Cincinnati.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

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Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

The best sign of spring

No, not the cardinal I saw this morning high in the tree in the front yard.
Not the tufts of grass sprouting up from dormant law.

Not the little buds on the rose bush on the flower bed.

All of these are good signs, no doubt.

No, the best sign of spring is the news that Johan Santana (AP picture from NY Mets Web site) will be taking the mound this afternoon against the Florida Marlins to kick off the Mets’ 2008 season.

Spring, in baseball, is about hope — even for teams like the Marlins, the Washington Nationals and the Kansas City Royals. For the Mets, opening day hopefully will be the beginning of a season-long cleansing of the soul, a 162-day erasure of last season’s ugly and painful collapse.

This team continues to have significant questions:

  • Age and health — Carlos Delgado, Moises Alou, Pedro Martinez, Duaner Sanchez, Carols Beltran, Orlando Hernandez and Luis Castillo are either coming off injuries or bad years or are injured. Each of them is imporant for the season.
  • New faces — Santana, Ryan Church and Brian Schneider need to provide what is expected. Santana, of course, is the big one, but Church needs to hit and field well enough to make Met fans forget the promise that Lastings Milledge had. And Brian Schneider needs to show what a strong defensive catcher can mean for the pitching, especially the bullpen.
  • Maine and Perez — if these guys repeat their 2007 performances, albeit with a bit more consistency, the Mets will be tough to beat.
  • Jose Reyes — he came up small during the second half and even smaller during the collapse. No surprise, of course; as Reyes goes, so go the Mets.
  • Bullpen — if the starters can consistently get into the seventh, this may not be as much of an issue, but the relievers have to do better than they did a year ago. In particular, Aaron Heilmann has to come up big as the eighth-inning guy, Billy Wagner has to remain healthy and get some rest and the other guys have to do their jobs. If Sanchez is healthy and can regain some of his 2006 form, the team can turn what is a question mark into a plus sign.

The rest of the division is interesting, but just as flawed. The Braves have a solid lineup, but a weak outfield and an aging starting rotation that features two guys in their 40s and another who is coming off several seasons of injuries. The Phillies’ pitching is a mess after Cole Hamels (can Brett Myers return to the starting rotation and who pitches after him? Is Brad Lidge healthy and what of his mental make-up?). The Marlins and Nationals are, to put it mildly, just plain awful.

My predictions, for what it’s worth: Mets in a close race over the Phillies, with the Braves in third followed by the Nationals and Marlins. The Cubs will win the Central in a tight race over the Brewers and the Diamondbacks should repeat in another jumbled race, followed by the Padres as the NL Wild Card, the Rockies and Dodgers.

The top nine teams will be separated in the standings by only a handful of games.

In the AL, look for the Red Sox, Tigers and Angels to win their divisions in close races, with the Mariners edging out the Yankees and Indians for the Wild Card. For the Yankees, this would mean a disappointing final season for the ballpark in the Bronx. But then, I’ve been wrong about this in the past — a fact I’m sure that Yankee fans will be all too willing to remind me of.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.