The John Delcos New York Mets Report Featuring Mets' commentary, analysis and news.

As I sit here and watch the snow fall, I can’t help but think about how nice spring training sounds. The Mets need some work to do before finalizing their roster. Here’s what I have for the Mets right now regarding their 25-man roster.

CATCHER
1. Omir Santos
2. Henry Blanco
Comment: If they land Bengie Molina, they’d send out Santos.

INFIELD
3. 1B: Daniel Murphy
4. 2B: Luis Castillo
5. SS: Jose Reyes
6. 3B: David Wright
7. INF: Alex Cora
8. INF: TBA (first base platoon)
9. INF: TBA
Comment: They need a RH bat to platoon with Murphy at first base. Ryan Garko would be perfect. They also need another utility infielder. A guy who could play both infield and outfield would be ideal.

OUTFIELD
10. LF: Jason Bay
11. CF: Carlos Beltran
12. RF: Jeff Francoeur
13. OF: Angel Pagan
Comment: They’d like somebody who could come off the bench with some power.

STARTERS
14. SP1: Johan Santana
15. SP2: Mike Pelfrey
16. SP3: John Maine
17. SP4: Oliver Perez
18. SP5: TBA
Comment: Yes, they might go short with the off-days in April, but they’ll need five eventually. In the interim, look at what they have now. I’m not thrilled.

BULLPEN
19. Francisco Rodriguez
20. Kelvim Escobar
21. Bobby Parnell
22. Pedro Feliciano
23. Sean Green
24. Brian Stokes
25. Ryota Igarashi
Comment: If they could find a utility player to play both infield and outfield, they could add another reliever.

Posted under Commentary/2009, Mets Commentary

I never thought the Mets would have or could have gotten Jason Bay. I also never thought they should have at the expense of pitching, which is still the team’s top priority. I had Bay returning to the Red Sox and didn’t think the Mets would go as high as potentially $80 million for him. I was surprised they targeted offense first considering the holes in their rotation.

Bay will make them better, and his production will at times overcome the defects of Mike Pelfrey and Oliver Perez. The three-run homer, as Earl Weaver used to say, is baseball’s great eraser.

There are reports the Mets are also close to getting Bengie Molina for two years. I’m against signing a 35-year-old catcher to a two-year deal, but he might be the ticket in turning Perez around. Perhaps there will be a chemistry between the two.

Posted under Commentary/2009, Mets Commentary

The end of the year always brings moments and memories to mind. What was important during the year? What will I take with me into the new year? It’s a time for reflection, but this year also is the passing of a decade.

So, I ask you:

What was the most exhilarating moment of the decade?
The worst moment?
The one play that will stick in your mind?
The player of the decade?
The bust of the decade?

Scratch your heads, and let’s have the moments.

Posted under Commentary/2009, Mets Commentary

I posted yesterday the Mo Vaughn trade and Ray countered wondering about the Staub-Lolich trade. Fair enough. Let’s talk about the worst Mets’ trade ever. What are your nominations?

Posted under Commentary/2009, Mets Commentary

Since the Mets have Kelvim Escobar plugged into the set-up role it leaves them with a decision to make on Bobby Parnell.

Do they leave him in the bullpen in a less pressurized role, or if their long-term projection is for him as a starter, do they send him to the minors in that capacity?

The Mets bounced Parnell around last year from a seventh-inning reliever, to set-up reliever when JJ Putz was injured to the rotation when the roof caved in.

Parnell has a starter’s arm, but is lacking in the development of his secondary pitches. That was apparent in his stint last September as a starter. Parnell did not pitch well, but with the season lost, I thought the Mets should have stayed with him longer in the rotation. It could have only helped in his development.

I don’t know where the Mets’ thinking currently is on Parnell. If they like him in the pen, then keep him in the pen on the major league level where he had some success. But, if they believe he’s a starter, then they should have him start the season in the minors in that capacity.

However, and this is where the Mets’ lack of depth hurts them again, their bullpen is so weak they might not have any other option but to use him in relief, further delaying his development as a starter.

Posted under Commentary/2009, Mets Commentary

The Mets were 70-92 last season, 11 games off the pace to finish .500 and 22 behind the wild-card Colorado Rockies. For the record, they were 23 games behind Philadelphia in the NL East.

They have done precious little this offseason to make anybody believe they will cut substantially into those deficits. At least, little in comparison to the front office comments spouted by Jeff Wilpon and Omar Minaya in the immediate days following the end of the disastrous 2009 season.

Because they know it won’t go over well in selling tickets and creating goodwill, the Mets can’t articulate that their plan is to bring back their pieces intact and hope for the best.

With each passing day that becomes clearer and clearer. Let’s try to put numbers to their thinking.

With the healthy comebacks of Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, and return to power for David Wright, the Mets picture 85 victories, going under the assumption each player individually accounts for five more wins over the course of the season. That’s roughly three more victories per month.

That’s doable. It gets them over .500, but still out of the wild card picture.
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Posted under Commentary/2009, Mets Commentary

The real trend-setter for starting pitcher’s contracts isn’t John Lackey but Randy Wolf, he of the 101-85 career record in 11 years (basically 10-9 a season), who signed a three-year contract with Milwaukee for $29.75 million.

Ben Sheets, despite his injury history, wants $12 million per season and Joel Pineiro wants a four-year deal with a higher annual average than Wolf. Aroldis Chapman, the Cuban defector who has never thrown a pitch in the major leagues, has a $15.5 million offer on the table from the Red Sox.

Also, lurking are Pedro Martinez, Erik Bedard, John Smoltz, Randy Johnson and Brett Myers. There are three Hall of Famers there, but that’s in the future and past tenses. Present tense, well, they aren’t much better than whom the Mets have now.

For the Mets to add pitching, their choices are to overpay for mediocrity, or in the case of Sheets, take a health gamble. The Mets are gambling their current rotation will progress, and if it doesn’t, then at least they have the economics on their side (save Oliver Perez).

Not encouraging, is it?

Posted under Commentary/2009, Mets Commentary

I hope everybody had a happy and safe holiday. I enjoyed spending time with my family. I don’t get out here that often, so the time is special.

I wrote several days ago it was time for the Mets to take a “take it or leave it” approach with Jason Bay. With his agent, Joe Urban, talking to the Red Sox and stonewalling the Mets, it’s obvious where Bay’s heart lies.

The Mets are ignoring one of the cardinal rules in dating when it comes to Bay, which is some girls play hard to get until they become hard to take.

It has come to that with Bay. It’s time to cut the fantasy with him.

He doesn’t want to play for the Mets, but would be willing to for five years and not four. I’m not deluded into thinking Bay is any different from any other free agent. He’s following the money.

The Red Sox don’t want to go over the $170 million luxury tax marker, so Urbon will have to be creative in backloading the deal. I would have to think the Red Sox would rather have Bay in their batting order over Mike Cameron (making him a fourth outfielder).

But, what about your heroes? Who’s going to play left field for them? They should be thinking hard about this because it should have been obvious to them Bay was a longshot.
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Posted under Commentary/2009, Mets Commentary