Top Three Scariest Moments for the 2011 Mets

The New York Mets have had a season filled with their share of tricks and treats. From the Saturday afternoon comeback against the Yankees and Mariano Rivera to the several Bobby Parnell blown saves, this team has had a wild ride.

On this Halloween day, and in the theme of the the season, I thought it would be interesting to look at the moments that scared us the most from the 2011 season.

Number Three: A 5-13 start

The Mets began the season with decent expectations. They were starting without ace Johan Santana, but were hopeful he would be back by the All-Star break. With a new manager in the fold, they were looking to make a statement. The statement they ended up making was that they were not going to compete. Fans saw the 5-13 start as the end of the season. Only real fans continued to follow them into May and June.

The team started the first series in a promising way by taking two of three from Florida. It went downhill there, though. They lost two of three in Philly and in Washington. If that wasn't bad enough, they were swept in a four game series by the Colorado Rockies at home. That series included a double header sweep.

Two days later, they were swept again in a double header by Atlanta. They even lost two of three to the Houston Astros. That start kept this team out of contention. Even a .500 record in this initial stretch would have been sufficient. They went the rest of the season trying to get even.

Number Two: Two for one special

On August 7th, the Mets were finishing a series with the Atlanta Braves. Jose Reyes suffered a re-strain of his left hamstring. The first injury kept him out from June through the All-Star break. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, they lost Daniel Murphy. Murphy tore the MCL in his left knee.

Prior to this, he was carrying the team in the absence of Ike Davis and David Wright. This killed the Mets already slim hopes of putting together any kind of postseason run. Reyes came back to win the batting title (though not without controversy) for the first time in Mets history. Murphy is still uncertain for next season.

Number One: Goodbye Carlos

On July 28th, the Mets came to a big decision at the time. They traded their leading power hitter, Carlos Beltran to the San Francisco Giants. The Giants gave up minor league pitching sensation Zack Wheeler. With this trade, the Mets were not only announcing their best hitter this season was no longer a Met, they were saying they were changing direction and had given up on the season to an extent.

It was a scary time for fans because it meant change. As much as Beltran had been scrutinized in Queens, he was also one of the Mets all-time top 15 stat leaders in several categories. They were losing a solid hitter in their history in exchange for an unproven pitcher. For the team, it was scary because the clubhouse dynamic had changed. They had to change with it. The players had to agree that they were not going to throw in the towel.

In hindsight, it may be for the best. Beltran struggled with the Giants and eventually finished the season injured, while Wheeler may turn out to be a top tier pitcher in the rotation. Time will tell just how much the Mets won this trade by, but for now, Sandy Alderson still looks like a genius. At the time, though, Mets fans were being scared out of their seats.

Happy Halloween!

The Second Base Race

While the main debate remains whether the Mets will re-sign Jose Reyes and/or trade David Wright, I want to talk about a position with options. The Mets have plenty of options for who will end up playing second base, let's look at some pros and cons.

Daniel Murphy:
Murphy can hit, he doesn't have a TON of power but he can hit. There is hardly a soul alive that doesn't think Murphy has a legit MLB bat. There are PLENTY of people who don't think he has an MLB position. The fact is he's played okay at first base, reasonably well at third, passably at second... and not so great in the outfield. Before the season I was one of the people who picked Murphy to beat out Castillo, Emaus and Turner for the starting job based on his bat. I was not at all surprised when he wound up there after a few weeks.

Pros - Murphy's bat is what makes us fans clamor for him getting into the starting lineup. He hits for average with some solid power and very good contact.

Cons - Murphy is not a natural fielder. He makes most of the plays but will not do so well and WILL lead to errors no matter where you play him.

Odds - 10:1 (Murphy's biggest issue isn't his glove, it's that he's not viewed as a starter. Some bloggers will talk about the need for defense up the middle, but ESPECIALLY if Reyes and Wright are going away, the Mets NEED to pump as much offense into the lineup as possible.)

Ruben Tejada:
It's no secret that I'm not a huge Tejada fan. Ruben's bat does nothing to excite me and he's always struck me as a solid backup IF. He does show flashes of contact at the plate, but doesn't provide power or speed in such a way that I groan when I think of him as a starting everyday player. Ruben gets his support based on his outstanding glove work which gets rave reviews at SS and 2B. A big thing to consider is that if Reyes leaves town he has NO chance of starting at second as he's almost guaranteed to start at SS.

Pros - The biggest pro is his glove but I guess you could also love his age as it might allow him growth. Any way I cut it, I can't see that meaning power or speed... which translates into minimal production.

Cons - Tejada may occasionally hit for contact which keeps his BA above .260, but his power is non-existent and his speed is minimal.

Odds - 4:1 (Tejada has a good shot to win the starting 2B job IF Reyes is back with the team. If Reyes is not I would say he has NO shot... as he'll be the starting SS.)

Justin Turner:
Big Red was a big, pleasant surprise for the Mets in 2011. He doesn't have a ton of speed or power... like Tejada but he's got double power and seemed to get a ton of clutch hits. In the field he's not exactly a dynamo with the glove and leaves something to be desired, but he CAN handle 3rd, 2nd and 1st. The fact remains that Turner strikes almost everyone as a backup IF. He DOES do more with the bat than Tejada and he DOES have more fielding chops than Murphy but does any of that make him a SOLID starter?

Pros - Jeterlike intangibles? How else can you quantify that he simply seemed to collect BIG hits.

Cons - Completely average. He doesn't do anything that is THAT impressive.

Odds - 6:1 (If Reyes is gone, he has a VERY good chance of at least starting the year on second. His biggest competition would be Jordany Valdespin and my bet would be that Terry would prefer to avoid the immaturity issues that Jordany brings to the table.)

Josh Satin:
Most bloggers love Josh. He's not supposed to be anything special but the guy keeps hitting. I don't think he's a great option to start at 2nd, he's like Justin Turner with less MLB experience. For that reason he's really an after-thought in the race for the position. At the same time he will be a part of the bench and from what I've seen him do in the minors, I expect he'll be useful in whatever his role ends up. BECAUSE of that I think he could work his way into Terry's good graces for a time-share at second by the half-way point of 2012.

Pros - Josh Satin has a GREAT eye. I don't know if it will mean a ton of walks in the majors as pitchers will not be trying to pitch around him, but we can expect he'll not swing at bad pitches.

Cons - Defense is not his strongest suit and though I don't think he'd hurt us, I can already hear the people calling in and saying defense is the most important thing up the middle.

Odds - 15:1 (The odds are not good that he gets ANY starting position, but he SHOULD make the roster.

Jordany Valdespin:
I like Valdespin a lot, but I'm not a manager and I don't have to deal with discipline. Of all the candidates his glove is among the best, his power is among the best and he has the most speed. Should Reyes leave... Jordany WILL be with the Mets as they need the legs in the lineup. He's not the smartest base runner, but that will come with time. The knock against Jordany is his work ethic. Terry loves gritty guys who will kill themselves for their team. Jordany has been disciplined by minor league teams multiple times and that is a bad sign.

Pros - Raw talent is all in the kid's favor. He's got a glove nearly as good as Tejada's, power similar to Murphy and more speed than anyone else on the depth chart for second.

Cons - He's a bit of a problem in terms of discipline.

Odds - 13:1 (He's a bit of a long-shot to make the team unless Reyes leaves town. Then he's a longshot to NOT be the starting 2B.)

Reese Havens:
Reese is the wild card. He's still the 2B of the future and he's got the skills to blow most of the other players away. The issue with Reese is the same issue he's had for years. He cannot stay healthy. I love that he did not go to the AFL and instead is focusing on conditioning and weight training to get him healthy for 2012-13. It makes him a longer shot to win the job this spring, but if Wright and Reyes are gone it's going to be hard to keep him out of Queens. We could have a redux of the 2010 Ike Davis situation very quickly.

Pros - GREAT bat. The guy commands the plate, has a good and powerful line drive swing and plays reasonably good defense.

Cons - HEALTH! If he cannot stay on the field he's useless.

Odds - 20:1 (It's a long shot for him to win the job but a longer shot for him not to earn it if he's healthy.)

Don't Find The Best 25, Find The RIGHT 25

Apparently a ninja attacked me with a throwing star and I chose to defend myself by swallowing it. So I'm gritting through immense throat discomfort as I'm writing about the first thing I thought of that I could tie into the Mets.

"Miracle" was on this morning. First, it's a great sports movie (Good Sports Movie = You Care About the Team ... GREAT Sports Movie = After It's Over You Want To Go Out And Play That Sport). I could only stay through the beginning but something Herb Brook's (Kurt Russell) said stuck with me.

"I'm not looking for the best players, Craig. I'm looking for the right ones."

THAT made me think of the Mets...

Question: Is Lucas Duda a Top 20 RF?

Answer: No.

Question: Is he a premier choice to hit third for a team?

Answer: No.

Question: Might he be the best fit for the Mets right now?

Answer: Yes.

My Point:

Maybe instead of trying to build a team of great players who should succeed based on their raw skill (Like the Yankees), the Mets should build a team based on dynamics. Where one player's skills makes up for his compatriots deficiency. It's just a thought but... maybe Josh Satin, Ruben Tejada, Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans are the players we should be focusing on this offseason. Maybe THEY are simply the RIGHT players to make the Mets winners again.

Cutnpaste: Rey Ordonez, Shawn Bowman, Daniel Murphy, Phillip Evans, The String

A brutal offensive player, but his defensive reputation is almost otherworldly. Every scout, manager, or GM who's ever seen him play swears he's the second coming of Ozzie Smith, and some have even been foolhardy enough to claim he's better than the Wizard was. He better be, if he wants to be a major league regular. Twenty years from now they might be calling a .200 average the "Ordonez Line". But if the Mets are willing to use pinch-hitters for him anytime he bats after the sixth inning, he could be a genuinely useful player. The Mets are generally considered to be the worst defensive team of the '90s, but for 1996 they could start an outfield of Everett, Johnson, and Ochoa; an infield of Alfonzo, Ordonez, Kent, and Brogna; and Hundley behind the plate. It wouldn't score many runs, but that defense and Shea Stadium could keep Mets pitchers very happy all season. - http://www.baseballprospectus.com/other/bp1996/mets.html

photo by Mack

How do you negotiate with a dream? Shawn Bowman is navigating that. The 26-year-old third baseman from Port Moody, B.C., has been close enough to the major leagues that you couldn’t help but wonder if he keeps a travel agent on retainer to get his family and friends to a big-league city at a moment’s notice. For instance, he was slotted to be the Atlanta Braves’ triple A third sacker this season. That makes you an understudy to Chipper Jones, and that generally puts you in line for big league at-bats, since it can feel like duct tape is keeping aging Jones together. Read more: link

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photo by Mack

The New York Mets’ 2011 season has been one of pleasant surprises, an unfamiliar feeling for this generation’s fanbase, thanks mostly to a rebuilding state and expectations lower than the Phillies’ team ERA. Daniel Murphy, the lefty hitter from Jacksonville, Florida, stroked his way to a .320 batting average through 109 games before suffering his second MCL injury in two years.  At the time, he was fifth in the league in hitting. As the rebuilding movement in New York evolves completely into Sandy Alderson’s brainchild, the GM has a lot of options and freedom over what to do with Murphy, as he does with the rest of the team.  Here are four of those options, ranging anywhere from realistic to bold. - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/855948-new-york-mets-offseason-what-does-gm-sandy-alderson-do-with-daniel-murphy

9-20-11: - http://www.nctimes.com/sports/article_8da63360-2b6a-58f5-8774-c126796b81d8.html#ixzz1YVtT8erv - Some people join the Navy to see the world. Phillip Evans signed a professional baseball contract with the New York Mets. A 15th-round draft pick by the Mets in June out of La Costa Canyon High, Evans signed hours before the Aug. 15 deadline for what amounted to a bonus typically given to players taken at the bottom of the first round. Evans, a shortstop, started his pro career in the Rookie Gulf Coast League with Port St. Lucie, Fla., played four games and was promoted to Kingsport, Tenn., of the low Rookie Appalachian League and finally to Brooklyn of the New York-Penn League

That the Mets are playing out the string at this point, rather than competing for a playoff spot, is not all that unusual based on recent history. What is out of the ordinary is the fact that they are in the position to play spoiler to other more fortunate teams. The last two seasons, as the Mets came to the end of September, they encountered virtually no opponents whose playoff chances they could damage in any appreciable way. The only exception was when they hosted the wild card-hopeful Braves for three games on September 17-19 last season, and made the least of the opportunity by allowing Atlanta to sweep. - http://www.amazinavenue.com/2011/9/20/2436699/remembrances-of-spoils-past-part-one