MEET THE METS - THE BENCH

The Mets bench in 2008 will look an awful lot like it did in 2007. In addition to Endy Chavez, there's Damion Easley, Ruben Gotay, Ramon Castro, and whoever else fills in that last role.

The backup catcher is Ramon Castro, and he could play a pivotal role. Paul Lo Duca missed a lot of time last year, and Castro proved his worth as an everyday player. While Castro is not an everyday player (I maintain he loses his effectiveness the more he plays - I just think he's more apt to wear down, and is more effective off the bench), he could be a short-to-long-term solution if Brian Schneider is hurting the Mets at the plate more than he's helping them in the field.

You might notice that there aren't many alternatives in the outfield for the Mets. I wrote about Endy Chavez yesterday, and he's a left-handed hitter, as is Ryan Church (the starter in right for now). There's no real right-handed bat off the bench for the Mets who can play the outfield. There's a possibility the last bench spot will go to Angel Pagan, who the Mets acquired in the off-season, and he's a switch-hitter. But there's also a real chance he'll be in the minors. There are non-roster invitees Ben Johnson or Brady Clark, but there's also a reason those guys are non-roster invitees. (Jose Valentin was also invited back, and though he's a switch-hitter, he won't be seeing time in the outfield...if he makes the team.)

The Mets are going to be giving Damion Easley plenty of time in the outfield this spring, and if I recall correctly, he played a little outfield last year. Primarily, though, Easley is a middle infielder. So is Ruben Gotay, and Gotay figures to be the backup shortstop, as Willie Randolph wants to get Jose Reyes more rest this season.

The easy solution to the outfield problem is twofold - 1) the people in the lineup who aren't Ryan Church produce, taking off some of the pressure that's on him to hit lefties. 2) Ryan Church hits lefties, and the issue is moot.

One more factor to watch is 19-year-old Fernando Martinez. He already predicted that he will be in the majors at some point this year (which would make him the youngest Met to make the pros since Dwight Gooden). But Martinez definitely factors into the Mets' plans for the future, and there is a chance we could see him at Shea even before September call-ups.

There are a lot of question marks surrounding the Mets bench. This is an issue that will need to be revisited as the regular season draws near, and the final spots on the team are awarded.

IS ESTRADA NOTHING MORE THAN A CHiP?

All puns aside (I've never seen 'CHiPs', so I don't even know if that title makes sense), I'm not sure I understand this Johnny Estrada deal. First I'll clarify a few things, then I'll get into what the story appears to be.

Clarifications
I wrote last week something along the lines of not reading that Estrada has been a clubhouse problem, so I wasn't sure why he is now on his fifth team in seven years. After the deal, reading newspaper articles, I read about the fact that Estrada clashed with his pitchers in Milwaukee and had some conflicts with his coaches (there was a near-fight with either pitching coach Mike Maddux or manager Ned Yost in Milwaukee...I've read conflicting reports about who it was...might have been both). So I guess he's a hothead. Probably not more so than LoDuca. Estrada, though, is supposedly not a great handler of pitchers....again, not much different than LoDuca.

Also, Estrada is not very good at throwing out runners attempting (and usually succeeding) to steal. He threw out something like 8% of runners last year. But I think, according to what I've read, the Mets think the surgeries Estrada underwent after the season will improve that stat for him.

Now the speculation
Now that all that's out of the way, here's what's being speculated:
1) I've read that it's highly unlikely Estrada will be on the Mets' Opening Day roster. I don't know who the Mets would have as a catcher if this is the case, because I don't think they view Ramon Castro as an everyday guy.
2) The Mets might just have acquired Estrada (for Guillermo Mota, so it was worth doing) as leverage, so other teams can't hang the fact that they don't have a catcher over them when they try to make deals for other players. Now it looks like they have the catching hole plugged, and they can't get roped into taking a catcher or someone they wouldn't want, and it gives Omar Minaya more freedom to make a deal for a frontline starter. I'm not totally sure I understand this viewpoint, but there it is.
3) Instead of number 2, and I understand this point a whole lot better (but I'm also not a GM, so do I really need to understand all of these things?), Estrada could be a bargaining chip in another deal, and he'll just get turned around in said deal.

The bottom line here is that I like Johnny Estrada, and if he is the Mets' starting catcher on Opening Day, I'm happy with that. But I suspect this won't be the last time this off-season that I'm writing about him.

HOPE YOUR THANKSGIVING WAS BETTER THAN KELLEN'S
Meanwhile, I would be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to write about Thursday's debacle by the Jets. It wasn't so much a debacle for me, though. I had the Dallas defense in my fantasy league, so in addition to rooting against Kellen Clemens, I had the opportunity to root for the Dallas defense to do well. (I loved the Terrence Newman interception return for a touchdown.)

I learned this on Thursday: You have a much higher probability of successful cheering when you root against the Jets than when you root for them. I won't be doing this forever - it'll just last the rest of this season (except, maybe, when they play New England) - but it was an interesting Thanksgiving experiment.

SCORE-E-ALBA

The news on Sunday is that the Mets have now broken off all talks with Yorvit Torrealba, and that he might re-sign with the Rockies. It doesn't really matter where he goes, it just doesn't seem like he's coming to the Mets anymore.

This is both good news and bad news. Good news, because, as I said, I didn't really want him. I don't think he's the piece that's been missing to lead the Mets to the championship. Unfortunately (this is the bad news), there's no one out there who can...and that includes free agent catcher Paul LoDuca (he had his chance). I hope LoDuca doesn't end up coming back - he's just got way too much going on off the field. I think it affects what happens on the field. I don't even know who the other free agent catchers are - I should look into that and see who else fits with the Mets.

The Mets did make the Ramon Castro re-signing official, but I don't think he's an everyday guy - he's valuable because he is able to do what he does in spurts off the bench. I don't think he'd give you that over 130, 140 games.

The new talk now is that the Mets are very interested in signing David Eckstein and moving him to second base. They like his fire, and approach to the game - they feel he was the type of player that was missing down the stretch last year. I agree with that, because he certainly approaches the game the right way...but I don't think now is the time to pursue Eckstein. He's not the same player - he's more beat up, and I think he's on the down side of his career. I'd love to see him prove me wrong if the Mets sign him........but I'd rather see Luis Castillo as the Mets second baseman in 2008.

ON FOOTBALL:
-How do the Jets end up beating the Steelers? That frustrates me...I didn't get to see much football due to a variety of situations on Sunday. I wonder if I had been watching if the Jets would have played their usual brand of losing football.
-I take back what I said about the Bills and the Patriots. I suspect Marshawn Lynch wouldn't have made much of a difference in this game.

REELIN' IN THE FISH

Mets 11, Marlins 3 (NYM: 10-4, FLA: 6-9)

(No picture capability again) The Mets continued their hot hitting in Florida on Thursday night, banging out another 16 hits in an 11-3 win, completing a 2-game sweep.

Interestingly, the Mets did not play their cleanest game of the year - committing 2 errors, but it didn't matter. Paul Lo Duca missed the game, since the hand he hurt the other night was acting up. So the Mets shuffled their lineup. Carlos Beltran batted second, and was 4-for-6, hitting his 4th home run (and two doubles). Moises Alou hit third, and was 2-for-4, and Ramon Castro hit in the seventh spot, going 2-for-5 with a homer. Shawn Green also had a good game (2-for-5, 2 doubles). This is one tough lineup, and against a young pitcher in Rick Vanden Hurk of the Marlins, it's almost unfair. The Mets blew this game open with 6 runs in the third inning.

Orlando Hernandez has pitched well in his career against Florida, and on Thursday he went 7 innings, giving up 3 hits, 2 runs (only one earned), 2 walks, and he struck out 10, improving his record to 2-1. He was lights out after the first inning, when he gave up his two runs, not helped by an awful throwing error by David Wright.

The Mets are a half-game ahead of the Braves in the division, entering this weekend's three-game series at Shea. I'll write again either Saturday night (after Saturday night prime-time NASCAR, woo!), or Sunday after the game.

BANK OF AMERICA JOHNNYMETS.BLOGSPOT.COM PLAYER OF THE GAME: Just because I don't know how often this will happen this year, the award is going to Ramon Castro for Thursday night. Castro didn't just fill in for Paul Lo Duca, he was a big part of the Mets' offensive attack. Castro was 2-for-5, with 3 RBI, and a run scored.

WRIGHT WATCH: David Wright was 1-for-3, continuing his hitting streak. He still doesn't have a homer on the season, but he is hitting about as consistently as anyone in baseball. It's a 14-game hitting streak on the season, 26 games over two seasons.

BEAT THE STREAK: David Wright got me a hit - I'm going with his hot bat for a couple more days.

ALAY-ING SOME FEARS

Mets 5, Phillies 4 (NYM: 28-17, PHI: 23-22)

It's getting to the point where we might not have to worry about the Mets rotation anymore. It didn't look like that would be the case early on in Wednesday night's game....but by the end of the game - it's like the Mets are a whole new team.

Alay Soler, Cuban Defector, started for the Mets, and walked the first three batters. (I forgot to mention this in my posting Tuesday - but 5 of 7 batters the Mets walked through the first nine innings on Tuesday scored. The three Soler walked in the first inning Wednesday, scored.) They all scored (helped by a bad error by second baseman Chris Woodward), and it looked very, very bad for Soler. But he settled in VERY nicely, and gave the Mets six innings, walking only one more batter, giving up 5 hits, 2 ER, and striking out 5. I can't wait for his next start, when he won't be nervous from the get-go, to see what he can do.

(Speaking of Cuban Defectors, the Mets acquired Orlando Hernandez on Wednesday, trading Jorge Julio to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Hernandez is not having the greatest season, statistically, but this is going to be a great trade for the Mets. Historically, it takes Hernandez a little while to get comfortable in a new place...and he's already comfortable in New York. That's one thing. Secondly, the true value in this trade will come in September and October, when Hernandez really shines. Thirdly, although I liked the direction Julio was heading, I feel a little better thinking about the Kris Benson trade, and seeing the Mets net a starter out of that trade. John Maine, the other man acquired in that trade, is due back soon from his injury - I wonder if he now heads to the bullpen to replace Julio. Either way - looks like Jeremi Gonzalez heads back to Norfolk.)

Unfortunately, Soler did not get the win, because Pedro Feliciano served up a late homer to Met-Killer Pat Burrell, which tied the game. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The Mets started cutting into that 3-0 lead very early. In the first inning, Carlos Beltran* homered, making it 3-1. Later, Future Hall of Famer David Wright hit career homer number 49 (8 on the season), making it 3-2. A bloop single tied the game, and a sacrifice fly later gave the Mets the lead.

After Feliciano blew the lead, David Wright came through in the clutch again, lining a single to left with men on the corners to give the Mets the 5-4 lead. And "The Closer" looked good in the ninth, closing the door for the save. (Full Disclosure: I actually went upstairs to watch the final minutes of American Idol to see who won in the bottom of the eighth, and missed a little of the top of the ninth. Oops. But it was worth it to see the cutaway to David Hasselhoff, who looked like he was wiping a tear from his eye after they announced the winner. HA!)

The thing about the Phillies, which we all know, is that they don't scare me. And I don't think they scare the Mets. It doesn't look like the Mets ever feel like the Phillies can slam the door in a game they play - no matter what the score is. So even if Philly takes a 3-0 lead in the first inning....it's worth watching to see how quickly the Mets even things up.

Jeremi Gonzalez starts Thursday afternoon for the Mets. This will most likely be his last Mets outing. The Mets now lead the Phillies by 5 games...a sweep would really do some psychological damage to the Phillies, I think, especially with the bad news they got Wednesday. Their phenom, Cole Hamels, who was supposed to start Wednesday, was placed on the DL after hearing a 'pop' while playing catch. That's not good. I know I say a lot of bad stuff about the Phillies, but I hope the kid is OK. I would hate for a young star like that to be seriously hurt. He has real potential - the veterans on the staff were pointing to this kid they just called up and saying he was their new number one starter. That's high praise. They're a team on the ropes right now - the Mets can really hurt them on Thursday.

TUESDAY NIGHT LATE EDITION: Just to wrap up the 16-inning game from Tuesday, which ended at 12:22am, and would have ended at 11pm had Steve Trachsel not been the starting pitcher, that was a great win. For the Mets to come from behind so often, and then not win would have been a shame - so to go on to the 16-inning win was huge. And for Carlos Beltran* to finally hit a game-ending homer as a Met (if he's done it before, I don't remember it)...he's really starting to put last year behind him...and most Mets fans.

There was never a point Tuesday night, when the Phillies led, where I didn't feel like the Mets were NOT going to come back. That's a really good sign.

LINE OF THE NIGHT: This was really good - I had to repeat it. Ramon Castro started at catcher Wednesday night, spelling Paul LoDuca after the 16-inning game. In the early-going, Soler shook off a few of Castro's calls, and Gary Cohen says, "That seems about right, the Cuban defector is shaking off Castro." (I hope that translated OK from aural to written form.)

MEDIA: I forgot about this, until they showed the radio booth during Wednesday night's game on SNY, and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo was there, and Gary Cohen said, "There's tomorrow's broadcaster with Howie Rose!" I think tomorrow Mike & The Mad Dog broadcast the Mets game on SNY. I wasn't going to TiVo the game, but now I think I have to, just to see what that's like.

MINOR LEAGUE NEWS: Before I get to the Mets-related stuff, I noticed something that involves a player I love watching, but who's been cursed the past couple of seasons. Rocco Baldelli began a 20-game rehab stint with the Durham Bulls Tuesday - and hit a game-winning single. So good news - hopefully Baldelli makes it the whole way back without getting hurt. I like him a lot.

THE KID'S KIDS: St. Lucie's lead in their division is down to a half-game, after a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Yankees. This is where Hall of Famer Gary Carter really needs to show off his managing skills, and get that team to believe in itself again!!

LAST-PLACE LASTINGS (AND MAIL): This, from Dave in Brighton:

"Johnnymets,

Will you rename your Last-Place Lastings feature if the Tides overtake Richmond to get out of the basement of the International League's South division?

Signed,
Dave in Brighton"

I guess I would probably have to, Dave, but I don't know if that will happen. I will acknowledge....it's getting very close.

The Tides were also working extra innings on Tuesday, beating Syracuse 3-2 in 11, winning the game on a Lastings Milledge double. I gave Milledge's numbers Tuesday night, but didn't have the details of the game.
The Tides are on their way to another win (and taking another step towards getting out of the basement - they're leading the Sky Chiefs 10-3 in the ninth. Milledge is 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored - his average is now .289.

A couple of things of interest - I'm starting to wonder if there will be suspensions from the brawl the other day, and hopeful that Milledge won't be suspended for Monday's game. Also - Monday is five days from today, meaning tonight's Tides starter should start Monday's game, meaning we should get a look at Evan MacLane, someone who I don't know anything about. Former Met Matt Ginter should be pitching for Pawtucket that day.

FANTASY UPDATE: The What If Mets have won three in a row - I wonder if I've done that before, where I've won all my games in one day....it doesn't seem familiar. Anyway, I won one against the Braves, and two against the Nationals/Expos. I'm now alone in second place, but I'm still 3 games out of first. It's the Blue Jays and Dodgers tomorrow.

BEAT THE STREAK: Vladimir Guerrero continued his massive hitting streak versus Texas with a weak 1-for-5 on Wednesday, upping my hitting streak to 4. I'll take Ichiro to keep it going on Thursday against Rodrigo Lopez and Baltimore.

METS MAGIC

Mets 6, Phillies 4 (NYM: 69-62; PHI: 70-62) East: 5 GB Wild Card: 0.5 GB

Those of you who know me well, or read my blog, know how I feel about the Philadelphia Phillies. If the final playoff spot came down to a Mets-Phillies one-game playoff (not that it would ever come to that, because Philly would have choked long ago), I'd book the Mets a flight to Playoffville. No questions asked. (Where is Playoffville?, you ask...and don't the Mets have a traveling secretary to take care of booking their flights? All good questions - for another night.) So when the Phillies jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Jae Seo in the first inning, and then led 4-1 mid-way through, you'd better believe I was not switching off my television set. Nope. I was pretty sure the Mets would either make a game of it, or they'd come back and beat the Phillies outright. Both happened.

It looked like the Mets blew their chance in the seventh. The bases were loaded for Cliff Floyd - and the Mets got to within 4-3 on a wild pitch by Ryan Madson. Then Floyd flailed at a pitch, he looked just awful swinging at it (he was 0-for-4 - bad night for Floyd), striking out and stranding the two runners, with the Phillies up 4-3.

In the eighth, though, the Mets made the move I'd been waiting for all game. Future Hall of Famer David Wright led the inning off with a walk. He stole second during Mike Jacobs' at-bat (he struck out), and barely....I mean, BARELY, made it. Victor Diaz then worked a walk from Ugueth Urbina, before Ramon Castro hit a three-run homer to left. So clutch. Amazin'. It's the type of thing that happens to the Mets in championship seasons. Braden Looper was very good getting the save - 1-2-3.

Actually, the Mets bullpen in its entirety was good on Tuesday night. Aaron Heilman relieved Seo, and was his usual effective self. Then Juan Padilla pitched a good inning of relief. As bad as his first inning was (almost 30 pitches), Seo was able to gut out five innings for Willie Randolph, giving up just the four runs. He gave up homers to Kenny Lofton and Pat Burrell in the first, by the way. But the bullpen has been good in recent days - they keep the Mets in games that they're behind in, allowing the Mets to come back, or else they've been holding leads. It'll be interesting to see what the Mets do if they trade Trachsel, and what they get in return.

Also interesting is the fact that the Mets have no lefties in the bullpen right now. They survived without one Tuesday, and they just have to get to Thursday when the rosters can expand. We'll probably see Dae-Sung Koo again and Royce Ring, probably, too.

The Mets got some help, but not enough, on Tuesday night. They drew a game closer to the Braves in the NL East, but unfortunately that means the Nationals, who were playing the Braves, also won. The Marlins came back after blowing a lead, to beat the Cardinals by a run. And the Astros beat the Reds. But the Mets are still tied with Houston, and the Marlins and Phillies are now tied atop the Wild Card standings, a half-game in front of New York.

ELTRAN*'S: This could be a turning point game for Beltran*. We'll have to watch and see, as September nears. He went 3-for-3, homering in his first at-bat, and looking very good in all at-bats - a rare thing this year. He also walked.

39-for-144 (.271 AVG.) 4 HR, 18 RBI, 27 Runs, 11 SB

WRIGHT WATCH: Wright was 1-for-3 Tuesday night, upping his average to .315, but no doubles.

SECOND HALF: 13 SEASON TOTAL: 35 TEAM RECORD: 44

NEEDS 10 DOUBLES IN TEAM'S FINAL 31 GAMES TO BREAK RECORD!!

CAM DO

The Mets game is still going on as I write this, but I need to go to bed, and I wanted to weigh in on some things.

First of all, Victor Zambrano was awful Tuesday night. He gave up 4 homers to the first eight batters, and couldn't make it through the second inning. Aaron Heilman, Jose Padilla, Jose Santiago, and Roberto Hernandez were awesome in relief, giving the Mets a chance to get back in the ballgame.

Ramon Castro played great - he got the Mets to within 7-6 in the 7th (following David Wright's 30th career homer) and then Marlon Anderson got his 1,000th pinch hit of the season, tying the game at 7. The Mets just battled and battled in this game - it definitely has the potential to be a turning-point type of game.

Hernandez gave up the go-ahead homer to Geoff Jenkins (his second of the game) in the top of the ninth, and then after Wright struck out against Derrick Turnbow, the least clutch hitter of all-time shed his moniker. Mike Cameron is a brand-new ballplayer. I think he's been bothered by trade rumors for a very long time. He's happy to still be in New York, and it's showing on the field. He needs to stay as hot as he is right now, and play like he played when he came of the DL at the beginning of the year - and he needs to play at that level for the rest of the year. Incidentally, that was the first run Turnbow had given up since June 23.

I may overuse the preface, THE GREATEST PLAYER WHO EVER LIVED in referring to Jose Reyes. But let's revisit why he is THE GREATEST PLAYER WHO EVER LIVED. Reyes causes things to happen. He sparked the Mets when he first came up, and last year when he came back from his injury. This year, he's gotten better as the year has gone on. He's fifth in the National League in hits. Whenever he gets on base, he scores, and he's always in the middle of Mets' rallies. The offense revolves around him. He's also very clutch. His speed causes pitchers to balk. Sure, he doesn't walk a whole lot - but he gets a lot of hits. He's got the greatest arm in the history of the game (OK, that might be an exaggeration, but he's got a great throwing arm). The Mets need to make the playoffs so the entire country can get an extended look at THE GREATEST PLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes.

The game's going to extra innings, so I'm going to go. ELTRAN*'S and WRIGHT WATCH will return tomorrow, but you only need to know Wright homered instead of doubled, and Beltran* blew a bunch of opportunities to drive in runs early in the game...he hit the ball hard, but he's 0-for-4 right now.

THE KID'S KIDS: Mets split a doubleheader with the Marlins, losing 4-1 and winning, 5-2. The Mets are 23-11, 6 games up.

WRIGHT ON, PADRE!

Mets 12, Padres 0 (NYM: 49-46, 4.5 GB; SD: 50-46)

The Mets wanted a hot streak, they went out and got themselves on a hot streak. Now they need to keep it up.

Thursday afternoon's game was never in doubt (OK, that's sort of a lie - Kaz Ishii started, so it wasn't a guarantee). But Ishii pitched himself out of a few jams, and the Mets got to San Dieo ace Jake Peavy...in a big way.

You knew it was going to be a good game for the Mets when the first bats to get going were Doug Mientkiewicz and Ramon Castro. Mientkiewicz opened the scoring with a solo homer early on, and Castro added a two-run laser in the fifth. The Mets broke the game open with seven runs in the sixth, including two hits in the inning from future Hall of Famer David Wright.

Wright was celebrating his first year in the majors. He was called up on July 21, 2004, in a game against the Montreal Expos. Wright's numbers over that year - in 161 games he hit about .290, with 28 homers, and 87 RBI. The Mets announcers said those numbers compared very favorably with current (within the past 15 years or so) superstars in the majors - actually ranking Wright fourth statistically, behind Vladimir Guerrero, Mike Piazza, and Nomar Garciaparra. I think all of those guys hit over .300...and Wright's numbers were better than current young stars like Miguel Cabrera.

The Mets not only had a huge sweep against the first-place Padres, but also picked up big ground on the Nationals - now just four-and-a-half games out of first place. The best part about this is that now I'm not the only one who thinks the Mets have a shot at winning the NL East - now the Mets are starting to think that way too. The Nationals lost to Houston Thursday night, and the turmoil continues to build in Washington, D.C. The latest saga involves Livan Hernandez, who said Wednesday night after he lost his start that he was going to have season-ending surgery on his troublesome knee, and said he was mad about something, which he'd fill reporters in on after the season was over. Hernandez came back on Thursday to say that he would NOT shut it down for the year, in an expletive-filled tirade to reporters. He apparently said he was misquoted too. I doubt it, for some reason. The Nationals, by the way, are still trying to talk Barry Larkin out of retirement. And, at the top of their worry list - they are no longer alone in first place - the idle Braves moved into a tie for first with the Nationals' loss.

Hopefully the 12-0 win was a sign that the Mets bats are alive and well - they need to keep up that offense...especially when Kris Benson is pitching. He's been the hard-luck pitcher of the year - pitching very well, but getting no decisions or tough losses. Another good sign out of the Padres series is that Cliff Floyd has gotten hot again - he had cooled off right before and after the All-Star break..but looks good again.

The Dodgers are in New York for a weekend series - with the way the Mets pitching lines up, this too is a very sweepable series.

ELTRAN*'S: Carlos Beltran* was 0-for-3 Thursday, but he did drive in a run with a sacrifice fly. In the 2nd half, he is 7-for-27 (.250-ish) with 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 runs, and 0 SB.

WRIGHT WATCH: Wright was 2-for-4 on Thursday, with both hits coming in the sixth inning, and one of those hits was an RBI double. SECOND HALF: 2 doubles SEASON: 24 TEAM RECORD: 44

THE KID'S KIDS: The Gulf Coast Mets are now 16-8, losing to the Nationals, 8-6 on Thursday. They still have a 3-game lead in their division.