I thought it was funny when everyone was killing Newsday's Ken Davidoff's prediction that the Mets would finish 80-82. This was a very mediocre baseball team vastly overrated by New York fans who think nothing of players on other teams they haven't heard of and inflate the value of gritty no-talent losers like Jeff Francoeur, the worst right fielder in baseball. The Mets lineup features a rookie first baseman who is struggling mightily, a washed up second baseman, the worst right fielder in baseball, and for a long time, a catcher with a sub .290 on base percentage. When you combine that with the pitcher, that's five nearly useless at bats on most nights. This is a bad baseball team. -X-
The Mets should pay me to go to games. They win about 80% of the time I attend. I disagree. One of the big reasons they aren't good is because they've gotten nothing from Bay and Beltran this season. If you had those two healthy and hitting anywhere near what they're capable of, this is probably a playoff team. The issue for this team now is Perez, Bay, F-Rod, and Beltran eating up huge chunks of the payroll while not producing. If Beltran can even be decent next year, it's a pretty solid lineup. The only position I'd be worried about is 2B. Francouer could go to the bench where he belongs. Beltran, Bay, and Pagan is a pretty good OF. Reyes and Wright are among the best at 3B and SS. Ike Davis is a decent enough player. Same for Barajas.
Buddy, they traded Barajas. And they need both Beltran and Bay to play to their potential. 2B is definately a hole as well as the bullpen and a 5th starters. The mets haven't played to their potenial for a while and rumor has it that they might go the young path and let Tejada and Thole and Ike the opportunities to prove themselves and be the new faces of the franchise. 2012 will be the year this team can change dramatically as K-Rod, Beltran, Oliver Perez, and Luis Castillo will be coming off the books and give the mets over 50 mill to spend
Barajas doesn't matter. He was filler anyway. Thole with Blanco backing up is servicable enough. What I'm saying is the Mets have a pretty good lineup if Bay and Beltran stay healthy and hit anywhere close to where they have been in the past. It's not a bad team. Above average, and certainly should be above .500.
Well, I don't know who you think was killing that prediction, but it sure wasn't too many people here. If you go back to the offseason thread, you'll see that almost no one on this board was high on this Mets team going into the season. And if you look at the very first post of the thread, you'll see quotes from 8 of us saying at the time (September 2008) that when Wilpon gave Minaya the extension it was insane - and remember, the Mets were still contenders then. I think this team was overrated by very few people. http://forums.theganggreen.com/showthread.php?t=49496 While many of the comments in there were proven very true (Jacobs, Matthews, etc.), there were more worries about the starting pitching than the hitting, which of course turned out not to be the case.
Wow my quote "odds this team wins 80 games" currently at 63-63 the Mets have to go 17-19 to finish 80-82. With a bunch of game against the Pirates, Marlins, Cubs and Astros that seems possible. My prediction for the final 36 games... 15 -21 to finish 78 - 84
Mets were winning 4-2, I go upstairs to finish packing, come back down and now they're losing 9-4. Cool
Hey we got the old W now still chugging along at .500 ball. That being said at least the playoffs look to be setting up nicely for everybody else. I'll really be pulling for Cinci and SD to get there. Any postseason matchup between Phillies and Braves will make me wanna puke. I'm curious to see how good the Phillies will be once they get everybody healthy. I think they're still the class of the NL but the Padres can win games in SD and the Reds have a pretty good team and you can't sleep on the Cardinals. IN the NL it's 6 teams (if you wanna include the Giants) fighting for 4 spots and the AL you've got 6 as well. I think the Yankees are still the class of the AL but Tampa and teh Sox are right there which is amazing considering all the ups and downs for them. Ultimately I still think both Sox miss out and we'll see a Rays vs Yankees ALCS. If Texas can some how make up the games to get the number of games to get homefield they'll be dangerous with that lineup but I don't see that happening.
I don't like Dusty Baker one bit, so it'll be tough for me to root for Cincinnati. I don't like Tony LaRussa, either. I can't root for the Braves or Phillies. Therefore, I'll be rooting for the Giants or Padres to win the NL. In the AL, my order of preference is Rangers, Rays, White Sox, Twins.
Ratings wise could there be a worse WS then Twins and Padres? If MLB could really sell the small market success story the Padres are it could work but I have no faith in Selig to accomplish anything even remotely close to that.
Why would you not include the Giants? Them and Philly have been swapping the Wild Card spot back and forth for the last few weeks. They're well within striking distance of San Diego.
Because I knew it would piss you off to not have them That being said I find this hysterical.... http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-burgoscharged SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP)—Police have charged former major league pitcher Ambiorix Burgos(notes) with kidnapping and attempted murder after his ex-wife said she was forced to eat rat poison. Judge Freddy Frias ordered Burgos on Saturday to remain in jail for three months while prosecutors prepare the case. The 26-year-old is suspected of kidnapping Dilenia Reynoso on Thursday from a prosecutor’s home where she was hiding after allegedly receiving death threats from him. In 2008, authorities dropped charges against Burgos, who was accused in a fatal hit-and-run involving two women. Last year, a New York jury found Burgos guilty of assaulting his girlfriend in a hotel near Shea Stadium. He was sentenced to nine months in jail. Burgos pitched for the Kansas City Royals from 2005-06 and the New York Mets in 2007. He was released by the Mets in December 2008. Another fantastic Omar move....
This post is comin from citi field. I am here with Chief Runningballs and Fried Beans Jones. The mets are a horrible fuckin' team to watch in person. Boring as watching garden slugs maneuver while engaging in their slug activities.
One reason they're not getting any production from Beltran this season is because in order to sell tickets, they made him trot out their on a crappy knee last year and forestall surgery until he was forced to do it on their own. The Mets are the most injury irresponsible franchise in professional sports. They're a rotten organization, they have no one to blame for Beltran struggling but themselves. Had Beltran gotten surgery when he needed it, last July, he may have been rounding into shape right about now, or they'd have addressed their outfield depth with someone better than Gary Matthews Jr in the off season. We'll never know. Rod Barajas had one good month. He hit .183 in June and .143 in July. He hit one home run after May. He was offensively worthless. Jeff Francoeur and Alex Cora were given completely worthless at bats by the hundreds. Nick Evans and Justin Turner could have probably done better, for much less money. You're right on Jason Bay, but despite his lack of power he was having a better year than any Mets corner outfielder since Moises Alou. So injuries aren't the entire problem. The problem is the Mets insistence on stocking their roster with otherwise worthless veterans, and long term investments in declining assets like Bay. -X-
Barajas was not offensively worthless. Francoeur certainly was, though. lineup: Castillo Duda Beltran Carter Wright Davis Arias Blanco pitcher brutal top four. That's as bad as it gets.
