NL East: Bruney traded to Nats

Two things…

1. How many times do Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Bruney argue/fight/whine in 2010?

2. Are only NL East teams making moves?  That’s what it seems like so far.

Mets have interest in Willingham? [Twitter]

Here’s Ladson’s article on the Mets interest in Josh Willingham.

But here’s a pull from a Ladson article from two days ago…

LF Josh Willingham: The Braves are one team that has shown interest, but it seems doubtful the Nationals will trade him. He provided the power Washington needed last year and he was an excellent clubhouse presence.

(Ed. note: Over the course of the Winter Meetings, and likely for the rest of time on this site that Twitter is a relevant means of communication (hint: a while), you’ll see more posts like these.)

Will the Mets finish in last place in the NL East?

The New York Mets are currently 53-61, a .465 winning percentage.  They’ve dropped seven of their last 10 and 10 of their last 14.

The team currently last in the NL East, the Washington Nationals, are 40-74, a .351 winning percentage.  But they’re won eight of their last 10 games.

So with the basic Excel skills I know, I wanted to see if the Mets could end up in last place in 2009. 

Answer: It’s possible (maybe if the season never ended).

Here’s the two teams winning percentages on a graph, with an average trendline.  (Basic trendline rules: trendline going up = winning more games of late, trendline going down = winning less games as of late.)As you can see, the Nationals have been winning more games lately, while the Mets have not.

Taking a very rudimentary approach to extrapolating this out, I turned to Photoshop and traced the trendlines out, so you could see what would eventually happen if both teams stay on their respective paths.Eventually, if the season lasted forever, the Nationals would overtake the Mets if each team kept playing (read: winning and losing) at their current pace.

I’m not sure if this is possible in the games left for the 2009 season, but if they just kept playing baseball until next March, it would happen.

The Mets can stay out of the basement with a few more wins here or there, but if they don’t veer off their current path, the Nationals may have a change to leap-frog them into fourth place.

Scary, isn’t it?

Acta out as Nats manager; Met implications

Manny Acta has been fired as manager of the putrid Washington Nationals.  Jim Riggleman will take over in his place as interim manager.

When Acta was with the Mets, there was some indication that he might be in line for the job the next time it was available.  Ownership was very high on him before he jumped ship to join the Nats.

Now, with a season teetering on the brink of disaster, the Mets brass might be prime to shake things up in the coaching staff.

First base coach Luis Alicea could be an odd-man out if the Mets do go through with any firings.  It’s not that Alicea has done anything wrong, per say, but just to light a fire under the remaining coaches and the team to show they better kick it up a notch, it might be a move they consider.

In Alicea’s place, the team would likely try to bring in Acta, again.

I’m against that.  Acta was a coach under Willie Randolph and bringing him back into the fold would be taking a few steps back.  It would also be a punch to the guy of Jerry Manuel, a manager who has already suffered enough this season.

I wouldn’t want to see Acta back in a Mets uniform even if he’s the bat boy.  At a minor league level, though, it’s a different story.

The Buffalo Bisons are about as bad as the Nationals, both with winning percentages below .400.  A shakeup there might be the best thing for everyone.

All in all, Acta steered the mostly talent-less Nationals to a 158-252 record in his years in Washington.  Talk about a mercy firing.

Ex-Mets: Milledge traded away from Nats

It’s a sad day on The ‘Ropolitans having just learned that the Mets will likely see Lastings Milledge only six times a year from here on out.

Milledge and his teammate Joel Hanrahan were traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates today.  In return, the Washington Nationals received Nyjer Morgan and pitching prospect Sean Burnett.

Good luck in Pitt, L-Millz.  You’re going to need it.

Mets leading NL East pitching

I know ERA isn’t the best way to evaluate pitchers, but it’s the most widely understood.  Here are three charts, breaking down the NL East pitching staffs by starters, relievers and combined using the ERA stat.

First, the starters… Surprisingly, and despite their 25-25 record, the Braves are leading the NL East in starters ERA.  The Mets are sitting pretty in second, obviously inflated by the ERAs of Tim Redding and Oliver Perez.

Now the relievers… The Mets are leading this category by a fairly wide margin.  For the Nationals, none of this is good news.  They’re 28th overall for starting pitching and 29th for relievers, easily placing them in dead last for total stats.

And now combined…So far, so good for the Mets pitching staff.  Lately, with the position players decimated by various injuries, the rotation and bullpen has really carried the team to wins.  Going 19-9 in May must be mostly attributed to the hard word out of the guys on the mound.

The Mets can hit, so can the Nationals.

The top five teams by batting average and their records:

1. New York Mets (.289), 21-18
2. Toronto Blue Jays (.286), 27-15
3. Los Angeles Dodgers (.285), 28-13
4. Los Angeles Angels (.285), 20-18
5. Washington Nationals (.278), 11-27

Hey, who let the Nationals into this party?

Nats sign Beimel

A one-year, $2 million deal got it done for Joe Beimel, as he will head to the nation's capital to pitch for the Nationals.

In a corresponding move, the team cut Shawn Hill.

Starting squad against Nats

Here is today's starting line up as the Mets take on the Washing Nationals.

Angel Pagan -- CF
Daniel Murphy -- LF
Nick Evans -- 1B
Ryan Church -- RF
Fernando Tatis -- 3B
Mike Pelfrey -- RHP
Jose Valentin -- SS
Ramon Castro -- C
Andy Green -- 2B

If you thought the pitcher batting second in the order was weird...Jerry Manuel likes to keep people on their toes.

The game is not available on TV.

Jim Bowden resigns as Washington GM

After being investigated for skimming money from Latino players and news that one of the top prospects in the organization had lied about his age, Jim Bowden has resigned as general manager of the Washington Nationals.

Likely the worst team in the league heading into 2009, it's a tough blow for an already shaky franchise.

The team is yet to announce an interim GM.

Report: Nats sign Dunn [Updated]

According to the Washington Post, the Nationals have signed Adam Dunn, possibly to a two-year deal.

As if their outfield wasn't crowded already.

Update: The deal is two-years, $20 million.

Jim Bowden makes no sense.

Sign Tim Redding

On my personal quest to find the Mets another starter, Tim Redding came across my computer screen.

Recently non-tendered by the Washington Nationals, Redding is now a free agent.

The man would easily be the fifth starter at best, if the Mets decided to take a chance with him. Last seasons he went 10-11 in 33 games with the Nats. 182 innings pitched and a 4.95 ERA later, Redding could be a nice fit to challenge Jon Niese in spring training.

But the real reason I think the Mets should sign him, according to his Wikipedia page, he is the nephew of Joyce Randolph, who is famous for playing Trixie Norton on The Honeymooners.

I can see it now...

• Every time he comes out to the mound, they play "Hamana-hamana-hamana-hamana." The crowd echoes it.
• If he ever pegs someone in the head, or gives him a little chin music, they would play "POW! Right in the kisser!"
• If he ever hits a home run, they play "One of these days, Alice...Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon!"

He's also from Rochester, New York. He appeared in one game for the New York Yankees in 2005, pitching one inning and surrendering six earned runs for a 54.00. Not the best stat ever, but he's a fifth starter!

A minor league deal, with incentives. Time to stockpile pitchers, Omar Minaya.

Olsen, Willingham traded to Nats

In an odd in-division trade, the Florida Marlins have traded pitcher Scott Olsen and outfielder Josh Willingham to the Washington Nationals. The Marlins will get infielder Emilio Bonifacio and a package of minor leaguers, reports Ken Rosenthal.

The Nats are make a huge push to improve this off-season, as they're of the top teams to land free agent Mark Teixeira as well.

Willingham has been somewhat of a thorn in the Mets side. He's hit .285 against the Mets, but has hit 10 home runs and driven in 34 RBI in 50 games. Olsen has struggled against when playing New York. In 13 games, he holds a 1-5 record and a 4.74 ERA.

Bonifacio has only played in six games against the Mets, and holds a .190 batting average. Ex-Met Anderson Hernandez may take over the void left by Bonifacio at second base.

Strange trade. Still have to tango with all the players in 2009.

The Wild Card doesn't seem like a good fit for the Mets

If the season ended today, the Mets would play the Chicago Cubs. Looking back to the beginning of the year, that wouldn't be a very good thing.

The Mets played the Cubbies twice, for one of those weird two game series on April 21 and 22nd.

Both of those games saw the Mets only score one run, losing 7-1 against Carlos Zambrano and 8-1 against Ted Lilly.

The way these two have been pitching, with Zambo throwing a no-hitter against the Astros last time out, and Lilly taking a no-hit bid into the seventh inning the next day, and the way the Mets offense has been hitting, I wouldn't be surprised if another no-hitter is in the stars.

The Mets have been making the Nationals starters look like Cy Young. John Lannan? One hit. Odalis Perez? Four hits. Shairon Martis? We'll see.

Chicago comes to Shea during the last week of the season, for a four game series September 22 - 25. It's the second to last regular season series at the old park, so hopefully the Mets can do something special.

If they can, they just might be able to get October baseball into the old park one more time.

Well, that was ugly

I hope I never have to watch a baseball game like that again.

In a game the Mets should have easily won, Christian Guzman the Washington Nationals came roaring back and could have won it if it wasn't for some timely hitting.

Looks like the stellar pitching went into the tank, and fast.

A win is a win, and the Mets are now 3.5 games up with 17 to play. I feel much better about this season than last, especially because the Mets have seemed to find out how to beat the Nationals in September.

Last season, the Mets couldn't seem to figure out Washington, and it cost them the postseason. This year, though the Nats bats seem to know every pitch the Mets are going to throw, the Mets have been just a tad bit better, and that's all that matters.

Keep winning, and all the problems will be solved.

Another day off today, which is a little odd, but it's giving them a break for the home stretch.

Amazing photo of National Park

Quick post to point you in the direction of this photo (actually a few photos stitched together) of the Nationals Park from Opening Day 2008.

It's awesome.

I'll take it

On Friday, I wrote that this series against the Marlins was big. The Mets took two of three, faltering in the final game. I'll take it.

The Mets jumped into second place, and are only two games back of the Phillies. These two teams will meet five more times before the season is over, twice in Philly and three more times back at Shea.

Looking at the schedule, the Mets will play the Nationals and the Braves a combined 18 times, and the Marlins another six times, again finishing out their regular season against the Marlins at home. Let's hope we don't have a repeat of last year.

That's a total of 29 more games against the NL East. If the Mets can go 18-11 during those games, I'll be a happy man. I'll even take 16-13.

A good series for the Mets. Wished they could have swept, but it was good enough.

So long, Jon Rauch

The wookie, Jon Rauch, has been traded from the Washington Nationals to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Oh, thank goodness. As long as he's out of the division, I don't care. Wonderful.

The NL East gets all the press

Two articles today break down the NL East.

Jayson Stark gets absolutely blasted by Mets fans in his "That's Debatable" column where he breaks down the National League East. (Spoiler: He picked the Phillies to win it) Read the comments for the angry fans from New York.

Here is his case for the Mets:

It's September in reverse for the Mets. It took them less than four weeks to slice a 7.5-game Phillies lead to a half-game, just before the All-Star break. And they went from 5.5; out on the 4th of July to a tie for first quicker than you could say, ''10-game winning streak.'' So while there's still a debate about which of these teams is better, there's no doubt who's hotter. Since Jerry Manuel became their manager, the Mets are 19-12. They've averaged more than six runs a game. And they have a much more positive vibe, on and off the field.

I'll allow it. I'd rather be the underdog here than the top seat and set up for disaster (again). Everyone is loving the Jerry-vibe.

John Donovan reveals the cons for the teams of the NL East. The Mets is kind of iffy:

BUT ... Johan Santana, as good as he's been (3.10 ERA), hasn't been as dominant as many assumed he'd be. Pedro Martinez (3-2, 6.25) has been awful in his return from injury. The rest of the rotation is barely average. And the bullpen, with a 3.85 ERA, is better only than the Nationals in the East.

Last time I checked a 3.10 ERA is nothing to scoff at.

Again, as I said this morning, it really looks like it's going to be a fun stretch run. It seems to be a three team dogfight as of now, but all the Braves need is a good run to be right back in it.

I'm going out on a limb and calling the Nationals over. I don't think anyone can disagree with that statement.

Ex-Mets: Lo Duca to first

You know your season is in the tank when...

From the Washington Post:

At 36, for the first time in his career, Paul Lo Duca has become an everyday starting first baseman. All it took was the emergence of Jesús Flores at catcher, the wrist injury to starting first baseman Nick Johnson, the various maladies of backup first baseman Young, and the left calf strain of another first base option, Aaron Boone. As a result, Manager Manny Acta said Sunday that Lo Duca, at least for the short-term, "will get most of the at-bats at first base."

Yeah, Nationals, good luck with that.