Just last week I suggested the Mets bring up Fernando Martinez to get some playing time at the major league level. This week he’s returned to the DL. Maybe the guy will eventually stay healthy, but right now he’s not an option.
Terry Collins mentioned getting Lucas Duda some playing time in right field, and now seems like the time. One of the Mets other almost ready prospects, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, is also on the Dl rendering another RF option unavailable. These are two of the probable candidates for Duda to compete with in Spring Training for a job in 2012 ,and right now it looks like he’s got the leg up having been successful at the major league level, and having stayed healthy.
I don’t really care to see a ton of Scott Hairston, Jason Pridie or Mike Baxter. Nick Evans is another guy that seems like he’d like to compete for that 2012 RF job but probably won’t be a real candidate. Evans can play first at least, and I’d rather Evans get those AB than the other bench guys, but the Mets might as well give Duda an extra month or reps in the outfield with an eye on 2012. He’s definitely starting to look like a solid hitter that will need a position for the future.
The Mets are on the west coast to play the San Diego Padres and tonight and tomorrow the game doesn’t start until after 10. I’m not usually one to complain about this; normally I like the quiet nights when everything else has been done for the day and there is nothing left to do but sacrifice sleep to the Mets.
But this Mets team is out of the playoffs. The Padres are out of the playoffs. These games have almost no meaning and the Mets are missing some of their most watchable stars to injuries. Additionally it’s early enough that I don’t feel the panic of “Pretty soon there will be no more baseball games, so I better savor every one” that comes mid-September. There are still over a month worth of games to watch and they’ll happen at much better hours of the day and the Mets aren’t even playing well right now.
So while baseball, particularly Mets baseball, is always worth watching, if there was a game or series to skip and get other things done, it’s this one.
It’s not like we’re expecting Mike Baxter, Nick Evans, or Scott Hairston to be the solution in right field, so why not bring up our oft-injured forgotten prospect Fernando Martinez? He’s back from his latest injury, is already on the 40-man roster, and has already had his option burned for this year. He’s 11/36 with 2 walks, 1 HR and 5 doubles since returning to Buffalo.
I had wondered if he may be out of options. The rule is a little confusing, but it seems to state that a player is on optional assignment in any year that he is on the 40 man roster but spends 20 or more days in the minors. This would apply to 2011,2010, and 2009 for Martinez. A player may be optioned a fourth season if he has less than five years of professional experience. Martinez first year of pro ball was in 2006 at 17 with three different Mets minor league teams, which would give him six years of experience, so it seems like he cannot be optioned next year. A little digging seems to find an interview with Paul DePodesta saying he does have another option for next year, so it’s probably not D-Day for him yet. It looks like him being injured in the majors in 2009 prevented it from counting as an option year. If you’re curious about which players do and do not have options, there appears to be a handy little list right here by tpgmets.
Still, it’s growing close and 2012 will be the last season you can easily bring him up and down. Obviously the biggest concern is injuries keeping him from getting full seasons of plate appearances in the minors. He’s never played 100 games in a season, although if he doesn’t have another injury this season he will. He can prove he’s healthy just as easily in the majors as in the minors, and it seems like giving him the opportunity to prove he’s ready is pretty much win-win for the Mets.
Trading him is certainly an option too, but he’s had DL stints this year and hasn’t exactly destroyed AAA although his .766 OPS isn’t bad either. You’d basically be trading low, given his history, unless he shows you something through the rest of the season. The best way for that to happen is for him to show it at the major league level where it has the most clout. If he can hit major league pitching over the next six weeks in the majors, it only increases his value and the options Alderson will have regarding him.
As the Mets injuries pile up and they continue to prove they’re not going to make a significant break with .500 and legitimately chase the Braves, it seems like it’s in everyone’s best interest to promote Fernando Martinez to the big club. At this point I’d suggest just releasing Willie Harris, who isn’t very good and isn’t part of a solution.
Of all the players that have been on the major league roster this year for the Mets, only four of the opening 25 guys have missed no time with the Mets.
Capuano
Dickey
Niese
Pelfrey
All four of those are starting pitchers.
Update 8/24: Looks like Niese makes it three.
Hairston, Byrdak, Thole, and Harris only missed a couple of days due to bereavement, paternity or foul balls.
And three more got a late start, but have been here since mid-April
Isringhausen – Delayed until 4/11
Gee – First Start April 17th
Turner – Up since the 19th of April
The Mets actually traded two of their healthier players.
Beltran – excepting brief bout of flu
Rodriguez
Of particular note here is the position players. Two of the bench guys, Hairston and Harris, have stayed healthy all season and Thole is the only regular. Justin Turner, despite playing through some bruised thumbs, was added to the roster quickly and has remained on the field throughout. Everyone else has gone to or from the minors or disabled list, or to another team.
I’d say that’s probably a big factor in why the Mets have only around a .500 record on the season.
Thrilling come-back win by the Mets. Just when you’re ready to eulogize and bury the team, when you expect them to spiral out of control and crash and burn when two of the best hitters in the league go down, the backups step up and stage an Amazin’ win. The Mets basically erase themselves from playoff contention and the most exciting player in the game is on the shelf leading many to believe it’s time to tune out, and then they turn around and remind everyone that they’re stilling playing baseball. They remind us that whether or not we believe in them, they believe in themselves. It doesn’t matter if we think they’re worth watching, because they think it’s worth playing.
It’s all about depth sometimes. One of the reasons the Mets have been able to stay afloat through all these injuries is that they have had suitable prospects and veterans that aren’t terrible to step in and contribute to winning baseball. That none of the injuries, barring one, have been to the rotation has also helped since the Mets don’t really have as much depth there.
The Mets have sustained a massive amount of injuries, but they still have enough talent and depth to win ballgames as much as they lose them. They will likely stick around .500 the rest of the way because right now they’re missing those players that would keep them winning consistently, although anything is certainly possible. What is pretty certain is that the Mets are creating a lot of options for Sandy Alderson in 2012. The Mets have guys up and down their 40 man roster, and beyond, who have been proving they can be part of a winning baseball team.
So sure, one win is hardly cause for much celebration and doesn’t change anything in the bigger picture, but it still feels good. It’s not just about winning sometimes and it doesn’t matter what’s going on outside of the stadium or in the owner’s box. These 25 men on the field, and their coaches, are giving it their all and it’s been fun to watch. They’re not likely to ride home in a parade, but in 2011 I’m proud to be a Mets fan.
I don’t quite want to eulogize the Mets just yet. While the chances of making the playoffs just went on the DL with little hope of returning this season, there is still baseball that’s being played, and out of the playoffs is not the same as no longer playing. There will be plenty of time to deconstruct and over-analyze 2011 in the offseason, while we’re rooting against all those evil teams that made the playoffs.
So where do we direct that optimism that failed us in 2011? For starters, the rookies and prospects that will get some extra time will go a long way towards being able to make informed decisions about the 2012 roster. How feasible is Lucas Duda going to be? Has Josh Thole rebounded from a poor beginning to the point that we don’t need to look at other options? There are enough guys that will get some playing time to have a lot of options for the future.
The other place to direct the optimism is at the teams we hate. The Phillies, despite the pitching, tend to look like they can be had if the opposing team’s pitching is on. Given that they may have to face the Giants and the Braves, they certainly could be looking at an early exit from the playoffs if they hit a hot pitcher in a short series. The Yankees look more well rounded than the Phillies, but they also seem to lack a certain depth that may leave them exposed if everything is not clicking when they reach the playoffs.
Personally I’m rooting for Carlos Beltran and the Giants over the Red Sox in the World Series.
It’s amusing how whenever a team approaches the winning percentage you predicted preseason, they’re “right where they should be.” A week earlier, or a week later and you could be completely wrong. A week ago the Mets were four games over .500. Were the people that predicted .500 so completely off base last Friday? Of course, maybe the Mets were playing over their heads. But why is them winning four games in a row over their heads and losing four isn’t under their feet?
It was pretty easy to see the Mets were capable of being a winning team with a couple of things breaking right, and a losing team with some key injuries or bad luck or under-performing. Every season for every team is like that. If you predicted the Mets to be at .500, which it’s still not guaranteed they’ll do when it’s all said and done, did you predict it with a healthy David Wright? Did you think Jason Bay would be this bad? Carlos Beltran that good? That the Mets would trade Beltran and K-Rod? That Murphy would hit .320? That Josh Thole would take a step backwards?
Right now the things that went right have been balanced with things that went bad. But all it takes is a lucky bounce, or a Jon Niese injury, or a couple more home runs from Jason Bay for that prediction to look way off. 18 games into the season the Mets looked like a bad team, and those that predicted them to be in last were excited to be right. A week ago the Mets were flying high four games over .500 and predictors that guessed 88 wins were starting to feel excited about the return of David Wright and the emergence of Lucas Duda propelling the team to those heights. Now they lost a couple and the .500 guessers are out in full force, citing how the Mets keep returning to .500 like a yo-yo because they’re just not that good.
So stop applauding yourself for roughly guessing how many wins the Mets will finish with, or any other team. Likewise, you’re not “smarter than the experts” because you selected an already really good pitcher to pitch really well and contend for a Cy Young. Some guesses are certainly better than others, but at best they’re just guesses. This same rule applies to radio hosts and sports show analysts as well. So stop gloating.
Optimistic or not, the best chance for the Mets to be serious contenders or fade out of it is coming this weekend. Fans often aren’t competitors, and give up before it’s seriously over. They make judgement based on what they believe will happen, and based on what has happened already, or based on small samples or bad losses. That doesn’t mean it’s true, or that the Mets are eliminated, but right now the signs do seem bleak as the Mets have had dozens of opportunities to climb back into the race and haven’t.
So with the chances slim and the pessimists laughing at you for holding out hope while the Mets still have their own destiny in their hands, each loss becomes a nail in the coffin of this season, each opportunity to gain a game missed hurts all the more. The Mets aren’t competing for a wild card spot although they’re not eliminated either. The Mets are one losing streak from the season being all but over, but right now they’re a tease of maybes and what-ifs. The Mets could host Atlanta seven (or six or eight) losses back in the wild card race, and sweep the series to get to four losses out with 50 games left to play, which is certainly on the fringes of the race. They’ve played the Braves well this season so it wouldn’t be shocking to see that happen.
It’s too early, perhaps only days too early, but too early nonetheless to give up on the season. Still, many see the high probability of the Mets staying home in October and start thinking about the future. They opine about where Murphy should play in 2012, and if he should be getting more time at 2B or RF right now. They think about which players will be here, and which won’t. Who will be a free agent? Which teams should we root for in the playoffs? (that’s easy, the Carlos Beltran Giants)
All that discussion is certainly fair given how the Mets have looked lately. But they’ll go through a stretch where they look good again too. Maybe it comes at the right time and they play the Braves tough. Maybe it doesn’t and they’re all but eliminated on Sunday. There will be plenty of time for player development discussion when the rosters expand and in the offseason. It’s a long offseason. You may believe it’s better that the Mets get knocked out now to save us the heartbreak later, but the offseason is long enough as it is and I’ll cling to that small glimmer of hope as long as I can. Stranger things have happened than teams like the 2011 Mets suddenly making the playoffs.
This is from last week. Why is there a phantom NYY on the out of town scoreboard?
There are plenty of parts of Citi Field that remind me of Shea Stadium. Being able to watch fans wind their way into or out of the stadium is one of them.
I always love taking random shots of things and areas around the stadium. Citi Field doesn’t create standing pools of water like Shea did, but here’s a part that does accumulate some water.
With that four game sweep of the Reds the Mets have inched closer in the playoff race. They are now 6.5, 6 losses, behind the Atlanta Braves for the Wild Card, and 3.5, 3 losses, behind the second place Arizona Diamondbacks. What makes those numbers even less daunting is that they play both those teams.
They have nine games left against the Atlanta Braves, who they’ve already beaten in five of their previous nine games. If they could play well against Atlanta, that number of games behind would shrink fast. The Mets have six games against Washington and Florida before playing the Braves next weekend. The Braves also have six games against those same teams. It’s shaping up to be a huge series for the Mets, one that could really make or break the season.
I would like to see the Mets play better than the Braves during these next six games. Gain one game before going head to head, so that they are five out. Then they have the possibility to push it to four games with a series win, or really put the pressure on with a sweep and go to merely two games behind them. Right now the Braves aren’t playing well and just lost Brian McCann, and the Mets are playing well and some of the guys that were slumping are now hitting.
It’s time to start surprising some people. Not just “Hey, this team isn’t a disaster” surprise, but a “Hey, this team is actually _good_” surprise. Let’s Go Mets!
Just last week I suggested the Mets bring up Fernando Martinez to get some playing time at the major league level. This week he’s returned to the DL. Maybe the guy will eventually stay healthy, but right now he’s not an option. 
