Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Giving up on the Mets?? Not me, not yet

Last night's 7-1 drubbing by the Cardinals could be explained by any one of: terrible, awful, disaster, gross, boring, ugly...so on and so forth.

I've heard many claims for trades to go down, to start selling the farm and some major leaguers in return for prospects with talent and futures.

Not me, not yet. And here's why:

It's the first of July. The Mets are 3.5 games back, and only three in the loss column. The Mets have the talent, but most of them are under-performing.

Here are some reasons the Mets won't make the playoffs:
  • Pedro Martinez might be done. He just doesn't seem to have it, tipping pitches or not. His power is gone and he seems to be throwing batting practice on the mound.
  • Moises Alou is old and injured. 15 games is all Alou has been able to play this season. He's on his way to returning to the Mets, possibly by next weekend, but how long will it last?
  • The bench has been awful. Just...awful.
  • Another concussion for Ryan Church and he's really in serious trouble. He has to protect that noggin.

Reasons the Mets will make the playoffs:

  • Johan Santana is a second-half pitcher.
  • Aaron Heilman is a second-half pitcher.
  • David Wright is a second-half player.
  • Carlos Delgado's days are numbered. He may not be cut, but his playing time will diminish.
  • Omar Minaya will pull off another spectacular trade. I'm just waiting for it. I don't know who it will be for, but it will work in the Mets favor.
  • Fernando Martinez will be called up in late August and have a Jacoby Ellsbury type of season.

I still think the Mets will make the playoffs. I know my father wanted me to rip into them, but I'm still confident in this baseball team, and probably will be until they're mathematically eliminated from contention.

3 comments:

  1. this is exactly where i didnt want to be at the halfway point: reaching for the playoffs, with just a crappy enough team that we could easily implode, but just good enough for omar to waste fmart on cc sabathia. when i head the guys on baseball tonight talking about the rays last night, they were talking about the rotation and said "well kazmir, hes just a given..." and he couldve been our given. he would be holding strong for us right now, providing a nice 1-2 punch with johan. that was exactly the same situation were in right now, and exactly why we should give up. though my dad did make the point that citi field is one big reason we shouldnt... i dont know. id rather have two crappy years rebuilding so that we can spend the next tne on top. we should be on top right now, but decisions like castillo, alou, and delgado have gotten us in trouble. we need to reclaim the future.

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  2. Hey Andy. Jc here. I am going to say this. If they play the game the right way, if they make good decisions instead of bad ones, if they play with passion instead of just going through the motions, if they catch the damn ball instead of letting it go through their legs they can be a great team. One that has the ability to make a run at this thing. Unfortunately the key to this whole thing is a 40 year old outfielder who can't ever stay healthy. If Alou can stay on the field he is the one who can make the line up complete. He hits for power, average, and he is so aggressive. He is the only one who seems to swing at first pitches. He is the guy who can split up the lefties, he drives in runs. He is what they need to be complete again. Now he may just be here for a day, or a week, or a month but if he can stay around until the end they can start to be a productive offensive club. Then the fielding gets better, the pitchers feel looser, and less stressed. I mean if you are a starter on this team you feel like if your not perfect your going to lose. Johan is 7-7 and in his last 6 starts we have scored a total of 10 runs. That is hard for a starter to have to deal with. I just hope they can win tonight and make me feel better.

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  3. The have the ability to play better...and I'm hoping they will. I know they can.

    I sound like such a sap.

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