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

I hoped the Mets would close out this disappointing season strong, if for no other reason than to leave a fresh taste in their mouths.

It won’t happen.

For the 25^th time in their 49-year existence, the Mets will finish with a losing record. They enter the final weekend of the season against the Washington Nationals having lost nine of their last 12 games, including three straight to Milwaukee.

Nothing could have saved Jerry Manuel, and this finish only underscores change is needed.

There are a lot of glaring records that explain the Mets’ demise this season, including a 7-8 record against Washington, of which they are 2-4 at home.

How can a team call itself a contender when it routinely loses to the worst team in the division?

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Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

For all the talk about the Mets needing starting pitching, they are going through a stretch now where that seems inconceivable.

Game #63 at Orioles

After winning the first two games of their series at Baltimore behind RA Dickey and Hisanori Takahashi (who gave up one run in a combined 14 innings), the Mets have pitched to a major league-leading 2.31 ERA in June as they have won eight of their last ten games.

They look to complete the road sweep – it would be their first in two years, and first ever in interleague play – behind the sizzling Mike Pelfrey (8-1, 2.23 ERA), who is seeking his fifth straight victory.

The last three-game road series they swept was Sept. 1-3, 2008, at Milwaukee.

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Posted under Chat Rooms, Chat Rooms/2010

After another successful homestand – and it doesn’t get much better than a shutout sweep of the Phillies – the Mets hit the road to Milwaukee and San Diego.

Bizarre scheduling, yes, but nonetheless another obstacle for the Mets and challenge for manager Jerry Manuel. The whispers have eased about his job, but if they continue to stumble away from Citi Field could easily resurface.

This trip is one letter away from a trap, in that the Mets must guard against the inevitable letdown after beating the Yankees and Phillies. Milwaukee has the worst home record, but hasn’t always been an easy place to play for the Mets and the Padres have a good team.

The Mets are bearing down on the Phillies for the NL East lead, but they are still only a few games over .500 and have shown little ability thus far at winning on the road.

A baseball season is long and arduous. It is about sustaining power and that’s something we haven’t yet seen this year.

Posted under Commentary/2010, Mets Commentary

Who’s remaining in the free-agent pitching market isn’t good, and it seems as if the Mets are thinking who they currently have is better.

The Cubs want Ben Sheets and appear willing to spend the $12 million or so it would take to get him. He’s good when he’s healthy, worth the coin, but there’s no guarantees he’ll hold up. Ditto with Mark Mulder, who’s talking with Milwaukee.

The Mets waited for the market to come back to them on Joel Pineiro and the pricing might well have. So has the competition to get him: Los Angeles, St. Louis and Washington are linked to him as well as the Mets. Washington also has interest in Doug Davis. Can’t imagine the Nationals getting both, but what if?

That leaves us Jon Garland, Erik Bedard, Jarrod Washburn, John Smoltz, Mike Hampton (been there done that), and Chien-Ming Wang.

There are flaws with all of them, just there are flaws with the Mets rotation, which now has four arms, three of them coming off surgery (Santana, Perez, Maine). They’ll liable to get Garland as their No. 5 and call it an offseason.

Posted under Commentary/2010, Mets Commentary

By this time you should know the Brewers hired former Mets manager Willie Randolph as bench coach on Saturday.

Said Randolph: “I’m excited, looking forward to this next challenge and getting to work. I love teaching and I’m passionate about being in the game. … Eventually, I do want to get back to managing. I didn’t really want to wait around. … I thought it was best to make this move.

The Mets were 302-253 (.544) under Randolph, second to Davey Johnson in club history.

With the turnover in managers and Randolph’s numbers, there’s no doubt he’ll get another chance.

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

Pat Burrell turned down $22 million over two years from Philadelphia and CC Sabathia is about to turn down over $100 million from Milwaukee.

All signs are pointing toward the Yankees getting Sabathia. They don’t appear to have a ceiling. The same can’t be said about the Mets. They’ll have money coming off the books with Pedro Martinez, Orlando Hernandez and Moises Alou going, but they’ll be giving raises to David Wright and Jose Reyes.

Their payroll last year was $143 million, and I don’t see it going much higher.

We can discuss all of that tonight.

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

Good evening. A lot going on today kept me away from the blog. We have a few items to touch on before we get to Garza vs. Moyer.

-Willie Randolph turned down the Washington Nationals to be a coach. He must have a good feeling about either the Milwaukee or Seattle jobs. He’ll land somewhere.

-The Phillies are feeling a bit miffed because their complete rosters weren’t introduced. They weren’t because MLB and the network, that would be FOX, couldn’t have the time to squeeze that in. Actually, that’s part of the World Series TV experience I enjoy.

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09

Greetings to all my friends on the West Coast. During the season I’ll call this post “Mets after Midnight.” I had this post before and will do my best to keep it going as to get a dialogue going with you guys two and three time zones away.

I have a good feeling about this World Series. Not so much in the winner, but in that it will be a compelling Series. How did the Phillies leave as many guys on base as they did and still win? Oh yeah, the Rays left a bunch, too.

As far as the Mets go, Mets.Com wrote today that HoJo will be back as hitting coach. That’s not the impression a lot of us had after the season when the Mets were whining about their situational hitting.

Willie Randolph will interview with Milwaukee. Doug Melvin, Milwaukee GM, was once in the Yankee farm system. He knows Willie well. Wouldn’t be surprising if he got the job.

If you don’t want to talk about the game or the Mets’ coaching, don’t worry. This is the message board for you night owls and those on the Coast. And, I’ll answer your questions and address your comments in the morning.

Posted under New York Mets 2008-09