ARTICLE REVIEW

The Mets are 2-3, after a disappointing weekend in Atlanta. Too early to draw any conclusions. We'll re-evaluate after the Mets take on the Phillies and the Braves at Shea this week.

In the meantime, I read an article in New York Magazine this week about the Mets. I actually read it Sunday night, and I think it was a week old. I wouldn't go searching the internet for it.

The part about it that bothers me is that on the cover, it advertises an article on the "Post-Choke Mets". That makes you think the article will be about the Mets' approach to the season, no? Well, the article is another story, literally. The first sentence talks about last September's collapse, and the rest of the article is about the pitching rotation, with Rick Peterson as the central figure, shedding light on the Johan Santana acquisition.

The picture here is probably the best part of the whole article - not sure why I like it so much, but I do like it.

The article is all about the pitchers' personalities, and how they might do in the coming season. So just two games in, it was already dated, after Pedro Martinez's* injury.
There's nothing in there you didn't already know. Some of Peterson's approach to coaching pitching is interesting - there's a bit about the psychology of a pitcher.

Overall, I say skip it - which is a good thing, because I guess the new one is already out, and this one is old news.

ODDS AND ENDS

Seeing as how I'm not sure when the next time I'll be able to update will be (keep checking back - you never know when it'll be - it'll be a fun surprise!), a couple of the more time-sensitive issues that I've been meaning to get around to:

-From winter ball, some good news. Anderson Hernandez discovered his stroke. After hitting .246 in the minors last season, and .152 with the Mets, the second base prospect hit at a .287 clip during the winter ball season. He also hit .310 in 6 games of what I think is the equivalent of the winter ball post-season. We'll watch to see if he carries that type of hitting into spring training. I think that would be important because I'd much rather see Anderson Hernandez and his glove at second than Jose Valentin, who I don't feel so good about as the Mets' regular second baseman this year.

-The Mets did not tender a contract to Victor Zambrano back in December, making him a free agent. There were rumors the Mets would re-sign Zambrano at a later date, but he ended up signing with Toronto. That officially makes the Scott Kazmir trade a disaster (as though there were any doubt), and if Zambrano comes back strong from Tommy John surgery with the Blue Jays, look for lots more criticism headed Rick Peterson's way. I feel Peterson could be doing a better job for the Mets...at least, the Zambrano thing was a huge failure on his part.

-On the subject of Peterson, he was one of seven coaches the Mets locked up under contract this off-season. Peterson got a three-year deal, third base coach Sandy Alomar, bullpen coach Guy Conti, hitting coach Rick Down, and bench coach Jerry Manuel all got two-year extensions, and newcomers Howard Johnson (first base coach) and Tom Nieto (catching instructor) got one-and-two-year deals, respectively.

HoJo beat out Gary Carter (among others) for the first base coaching job. Remember, Manny Acta has left the staff to be the Nationals' manager.

-Finally, another Blue Jays connection: John Thomson also signed with the Blue Jays, after receiving overtures from the Mets as another possible arm for the pitching staff. And after he turned down the Mets because he didn't want to pitch to Paul LoDuca or for a team with Cliff Floyd in the outfield. Wow. Talk about taking shots. I don't remember LoDuca having a response to that, a little surprising, since he can be a hothead.

Floyd, though, shot back, saying from Cubs camp last week, "From what I've seen, he's not one of the greatest pitchers in the game. It didn't really affect me in terms of my pride....People who talk a lot seem to always be on the short end of the stick. I wish him the best of luck. Hopefully, his luck can change in Toronto because it didn't change in the National League." Nice job, Cliff. Well said.

Thomson did make 9 starts for the Mets, incidentally, in 2002, going 2-6 with a 4.31 ERA.

FLASHBACK: I've mentioned many times how my mom is cleaning out lots of my old stuff as my parents renovate their house. Recently, I got a bunch of stuff, and I just went through some of it today. Among the books were a few years' worth of the old Topps Sticker Yearbooks. I remember my brother and I competing over stickers to fill every page. Fun stuff. Surprisingly, the price was just 35 cents. And I was going through the 1987 edition, and came across the 1986 World Series page. Thought it was a good excuse to use the new scanner at the House sponsored by DirecTV. So here it is:

A lot has happened since my last posting, so I will see if I can offer a full recap and some opinion. I will start with an opinion, on the off chance Omar Minaya sees this and takes it under consideration.

DO NOT ACQUIRE MANNY RAMIREZ!!!!! PLEASE!!

I can't believe pro athletes and what they say anymore (see johnnyjets.blogspot.com) but Ramirez tells ESPNdeportes that he no longer wants to be traded, and wants to stay in Boston where he has many friends, especially David Ortiz. (Ortiz has to feel very special to be singled out like that, by the way.) This guy is clearly a head case, who swings a very good bat, but can't be a good influence on the fine core the Mets have built themselves. Do not get Manny. Stop your obsession with him. Let the Sox keep him...or trade him to Baltimore. But don't get involved. Please.

Now, on to what the Mets have done. Miguel Cairo has signed with the Yankees (again), so the Mets have lost another valuable utility man (Marlon Anderson went to the Nationals earlier this offseason). In an attempt to make up for these losses, the Mets signed Bret Boone to a minor league contract. I say this move is worth the risk. Boone, a few years back, was a power-hitting second baseman the likes of which has never before been seen in baseball. Then the steroid scandal hit, and Boone's power numbers dropped like a stone. I'm not implying anything here, I'm just giving you a frame of reference, as far as timing. When the Mariners released him last year (come to think of it, the entire Mariners offense stopped producing when the steroids scandal began - no one notices what goes on in the Pacific Northwest, I guess), I thought it would be a good idea for the Mets to try to pick up Boone. The Twins did, and Boone was brutal with them. So I guess in retrospect it's good the Mets didn't get him then. Now, Boone has another chance to prove he's valuable to a Major League team, and I would love for him to be serviceable at second base.

The Mets made another deal, trading Jae Seo and Tim Hamulack to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Duaner Sanchez and Steve Schmoll. I like that Steve Schmoll's last name is Schmoll, but it's too bad the Mets had to get rid of Seo. He is a very good pitcher, but the Mets never really seemed to want him in their plans. I think it's because of his admitted stubbornness a couple of years ago, which the Mets (and in particular, I think, Rick Peterson) could never get over. In Sanchez, though, the Mets are getting a guy who, along with Aaron Heilman, could be a bridge to Billy Wagner. So that move goes a long way to shoring up the Mets bullpen. Schmoll and Hamulack are a wash, basically. Schmoll's numbers weren't too impressive last year, but I do remember him picking up a couple of saves back when Eric Gagne got hurt, in a couple of good outings, then seeing things turn sour. He may have appeared on my fantasy league roster after those saves (the good outings), just in time for all the succeeding miserable outings.

The Mets' rotation will not suffer from the loss of Seo - and it looks like Kris Benson will be sticking around (much to the relief of our good friends at naturalbl0g.blogspot.com). The rotation will be made up of:
Pedro Martinez*
Tom Glavine
Kris Benson
Steve Trachsel
Victor Zambrano

The plans for Heilman are to keep him in the bullpen, which I am happy with. I would not be happy if he is traded to Tampa Bay for either Danys Baez or Julio Lugo. I like Lugo's numbers, and he could be a long-term solution at second base, but I'm not crazy about the Mets giving up Heilman. If the Mets traded Heilman for Baez, it wouldn't be much of an upgrade. I'll leave it at that. I have my doubts about Baez's ability to pitch for a winning team in pressure spots (he would be setting up Wagner, which by the way, he doesn't want to do). We know what we have in Heilman.

One thing about Pedro Martinez*. He's been complaining about his toe, which acted up on him late last year. My thoughts are that Pedro* will be fine for the regular season. If his past with the Red Sox is any indication, I think Pedro* is talking up the toe problem as a reason he will not have to pitch in the World Baseball Classic, and then he'll come back for spring training, and be ready to pitch for the Mets. Pedro* doesn't like to do the extra-curricular stuff.

5 weeks until spring training!

Lots going on, both with me and with the Mets. I'm going to be out of commission for about the next 10 days, because of the move. So I wanted to check the mailbox and update the Mets' news.

First of all, the Mets traded Jason Phillips to the Dodgers for Kaz Ishii. Ishii will be the number five starter, replacing Steve Trachsel, who will be sidelined until further notice with the back problem we mentioned last week. Ishii has control problems, which have been well documented. But as I've talked about - a lot - Rick Peterson is the best in the business, so I'm looking forward to seeing Ishii work. The positives everyone has been bringing up, opposite the walks Ishii allows, is that he wins games. So the runners might get to first, but Ishii doesn't give up a lot of hits, so the runners don't advance very much. And, personally, I've seen Ishii do well on a winning team, which can't be said for Trachsel. So I think the Mets didn't lose much here, and they might just have ended up with a better pitcher.

The loss of Phillips doesn't hurt very much. Ramon Castro now becomes the backup catcher, and he's good defensively. The Mets probably lose something offensively, but Castro has some pop, evidenced by the fact that he did hit a game-winning homer in Tuesday's spring training game.

The Mets, by the way, have the best winning percentage of any baseball team so far in spring training. This is not encouraging for me, because whenever the Mets do very well in spring training (much like the Jets during the exhibition season), they have an awful regular season. That may change this year, but I don't pay much attention to the fact that they do well in March.

In other Mets-related spring training news, Joe McEwing was released. He had no chance of making the team, and I guess the Mets got no interest in a trade. The Astros and Cardinals were said to be interested in McEwing - he ended up getting signed to a minor league contract with the Royals on Wednesday. The bench is now shaping up like this: Chris Woodward, Marlon Anderson, Miguel Cairo, Kerry Robinson. Andres Gallaraga looks like he'll start the season in the minors - despite a recent hot streak. The Mets figure their subs can all split time at first base. (I feel like I'm missing another big bench name.) Victor Diaz will be the starting right fielder if Mike Cameron does not make it back in time...but it's looking more and more like Cameron's wrist will be ready by Opening Day. If that's the case, Diaz will start the season in the minors, because Willie Randolph's priority is getting Diaz plenty of playing time and at-bats. So he'd rather Diaz play every day at Triple-A than sit on the bench in the bigs.

That about catches us up on the spring training news. Oh, one more thing - I read today that Aaron Heilman has gone back to his college windup, rather than the windup he had adopted with the Mets, and he's on a pretty good streak right now - four scoreless innings Sunday, and a good bullpen session. That bodes well, if someone else in the rotation gets hurt.

Now it's time to look at the mailbag, a couple of days late:

"Hey JohnnyMets-

Let's take a look at who's on the 2005 Mets this year ... Pedro Martinez*, Doug Mientkewicz, Cliff Floyd, Brian Daubach .. is it time we start calling the team the AAA Flushing Red Sox??

-Your Wife"

Wow, cheap shot from the co-inhabitant of The House sponsored by DirecTV. It'd be nice if she checked the spelling of Mientkiewicz.

"Dear JohnnyMets,

Kaz Ishii doesn't seem like a bad No. 5. He averages about 160 innings.

He's gone 36-25 in his 3-year ML career, with a 4.30 ERA. Though his K-BB ratio fell to almost 1-1 last year, which could be a cause for concern.

Are you pleased with the trade? Do you miss Jason Phillips already? Who will back up Piazza? How will Ishii's stats translate from Dodger Stadium to Shea?

Dave in Brighton"

Dave, good questions. I addressed some of them above, when I talked about the trade. But I do like it. Phillips proved to be streaky, if nothing else. You don't know if you're getting the guy who hit .290 a couple of years ago, or the one who hit .200 most of last year. Ishii will be solid. I do think his stats will transfer from Dodger Stadium to Shea quite well - they're both notorious pitcher's parks....and Ishii has a great defense behind him with the Mets.

One more thing I remembered as I wrote about Ishii, and thought about Trachsel's back. Kaz Matsui's back has been bothering him recently - he's sat out a few games. Hopefully he gets better - it'd be a shame if the Mets' middle infield starts the season injured, like it did last year.

OK - I have to go, quite possibly for a few days. Thanks for reading - and when I write next, Opening Day will be right around the corner.

The rotation. This is going to be one of the Mets' strengths this year. It's really outstanding. Before I comment further on the '05 Mets pitching staff, I turn to an e-mail from Dave in Brighton, which has been sitting in the johnnymetsmailbox for more than a month:

"Dear JohnnyMets,

NESN is replaying the 1986 World Series this week (after broadcasting the '75 Series last week, and before they show the '04 ALCS and WS starting next week).

Seeing Ron Darling on the mound prompted me to wonder:
Which was/is the stronger rotation...'86 Mets or '05 Mets?

Darling ---------- Martinez
Gooden --------- Glavine
Fernandez ----- Anna Benson's husband
Ojeda ------------ Zambrano
Aguilera --------- Trachsel

And a follow-up question. If you think this team is stronger, and since pitching wins championships, do you think the Mets are World Series bound this fall?

Dave in Brighton"

This, I think, is one of my favorite e-mails ever on the site. I never get tired of talking about the 1986 Mets. I'm going to re-match-up the rotations here, for comparison's sake.

Gooden was the '86 ace - he started Game 1 of the NLCS - if the Mets are in the postseason this year (maybe when??), you better believe Pedro Martinez* is out there.
So #1 - Gooden-----------Martinez*

Let's make #2 - Ojeda---------Glavine

Then #3 - Darling------------Benson

And #4 - Fernandez----------Zambrano

Then #5 - Aguilera---------Trachsel

Besides the obvious differences (ages, like the youth of the '86 Mets' staff, and the relative age of the '05 staff [average age = 33]), I think this is a fair matchup.

I think Gooden in 1986 was more dominant than Pedro Martinez* will be in 2005. That said, Gooden never pitched too well in that post-season, and Martinez* has had some of his greatest performances in the playoffs. So with the goal being a World Series championship, this matchup is a tie.

Bobby Ojeda and Tom Glavine are similar in that they don't overpower hitters - but they are both effective lefthanded pitchers. Let's take a look at the career numbers:

Ojeda - 15 yrs., 115-98, 3.65 ERA, 1128 K's
Glavine - 18 yrs., 262-171, 3.44, 2145 K's

Ojeda's season-high in strikeouts was 148, Glavine's was 181. I'm giving Glavine the edge here, because in his 18th season, he showed he still had something left. Also, he's a potential Hall of Famer, Ojeda was just a solid pitcher.

I think Ron Darling has the edge over Kris Benson now, but I'm looking forward to a full season of Benson with a good team. If he still produces a .500 record and an ERA over 4.20, then I'll believe he's an average to below-average pitcher.

Sid Fernandez and Victor Zambrano is a tough one, because there's not much to go on with Zambrano, and El Sid was actually pretty tough to beat in '86 through '89. I think Zambrano will be better this season than he's been in his career to this point (he's supposed to have a lot better control this season), but Zambrano's health issues give the edge to Fernandez here. (Come to think of it, this wasn't a tough one...it was actually pretty easy to call.)

Finally, Rick Aguilera and Steve Trachsel. Aguilera was never the most effective starter (hence the move to the bullpen after he was traded to Minnesota), and Trachsel hasn't had the most impressive career. But if you look at pitching careers with the Mets, you have to give the edge to Trachsel - if the Mets weren't so bad the past couple of years, Trachsel could have had one or two 20-win seasons. I give the edge to Trachsel here. (In the interest of full disclosure, a friend of mine and I have our doubts as to whether Trachsel would have pitched as well as he has the past few years if the Mets were competitive. We think he isn't a pressure pitcher. I guess we'll find out this year).

So if you break down my breakdowns, it's 2-2-1. A tie. Wow that worked out well. I seriously did not try to fix it that way. I do honestly think these pitching staffs match up very well. Whether that leads to a world championship for the '05 Mets or not remains to be seen (although it's all I got to root for this year), but here's the X-factor. Let's look at pitching coach.

Mel Stottlemyre was the Mets' pitching coach in 1986. He's been one of the best in that position in the majors for a couple of decades now. But the '05 Mets have one of the greatest pitching coaches of all time - Rick Peterson. This guy is unbelievable. This is one of the reasons I feel so strongly about the Mets' pitchers this year. He firmly believes he can fix Victor Zambrano's problems on the mound, and I have no reason to doubt him. I also think Peterson, having a full season to work with Benson, will make Benson a much better pitcher. And he sure can't hurt Martinez*. So maybe the presence of Peterson puts the '05 Mets over the top.

I do believe this year's pitching staff can take the Mets far. And if the hitters support the pitchers (the lack of which was the major reason for last year's disaster), getting them to the playoffs, imagine what kind of staff the Mets can throw out there in a short post-season series, and how much stronger the bullpen gets when at least one of the starters turns into a reliever. The bullpen as it stands could be a potential problem....I'll try to give an update on that later in the week.

Wednesday is e-mail day....so Tuesday night is the deadline to get your e-mails in. One more thing - the reference to Anna Benson's husband...and maybe this is a personal note to Dave in Brighton. Since you wrote that more than a month ago, I wonder, since Mike Piazza has gotten married now, if they announce the battery on days Benson pitches as:

"Anna Benson's husband throwing to Alicia Rickter's husband". Or is that just how you announce it?

Oh, another one more thing...bashing Dave has just reminded me that he will be filing a report for Thursday's blog on Wednesday's televised spring training opener. Thanks, Dave, for being a team player! We'll save you a spot at the DirecTV-sponsored bar when the DirecTV kicks in (end of March).

Here's hoping there's no school tomorrow...........

Marlins 6, Mets 5 (46-46, 3 GB)

Absolutely horrible. This is an absolutely horrible loss for the Mets. Scott Erickson pitched great. He definitely pitched well enough to win. Ugly defense combined with some poor relief cost the Mets. What a way to ruin July 19th, aka "Mike DeJean Day".

So I guess I'll start with DeJean. The Mets finally traded Karim Garcia, to the Orioles, for the reliever. (I should be so happy right now, but instead, I'm so sad.) DeJean's numbers, to put it bluntly, suck. I'd like to think Rick Peterson can work with him to improve those numbers, but I just don't know. Peterson has done wonders with the Mets' starting pitching, but it seems like it comes at the cost of the relief corps. So the other hope with DeJean is that he performs better in the National League than he fared in the American League.

Now to the game. A 4-0 lead!! The Mets blew a 4-0 lead! Here were the encouraging aspects of the game. Mike Piazza seems to have found his stroke. He hit the ball on the nose a couple of times. "The Greatest Ballplayer Who Ever Lived" Jose Reyes had one of his best games since he's been healthy. He also is playing very well in the field. And Erickson, again, looked great. Maybe he'll feed off the fact that he's playing important games and continue to pitch well.

Unfortunately, there won't be many more important games at this rate. The bullpen inherited a 4-2 lead, and blew it. Vance Wilson looked like crap behind the plate. I don't know what was going on with the catchers last night, but there were more balls going to the backstop than you see on the pee-wee fields at I.C.Y.P. (My little league.)

I don't want people pointing fingers at Art Howe for this one either. The man takes enough crap from enough people (including my mom). He couldn't leave Erickson in much longer - the man hasn't pitched a major league game in years. He pushed all the necessary buttons - the players just didn't come through for him. The one move which probably raised the most eyebrows - when he brought in John Franco - turned out to be one of the best moves all night. The bullpen has had its share of shining moments this year...but it needs to be perfect if the Mets are going anywhere.

If I were a betting man...wait, I am a betting man.... If I could legally bet on a baseball game in the next 24 hours, I would bet a lot of money on the Mets winning Tuesday night's game. They won't lose two in a row at home to the Marlins. The big problem, though, is that the Mets should have won two in a row at home against the Marlins.

The Braves are playing the Phillies, and beat them on Tuesday night, so for now, the Mets are chasing Atlanta, and they're tied for third with the Marlins, 3 games back.

WRIGHT WATCH: Sorry, forgot about the Wright Watch yesterday. The Tides were off on Monday, and maybe that's a good thing for everyone's phavorite phenom, David Wright. Wright's been slumping. He went 2-for-4 in his last game, Sunday, and is hitting .308. But he's just 4 for his last 17...2 for his last 12.