Robert Shatzkin's New York Mets fan blog

Yes, the Mets have been decimated by injuries. They have lost more of their core players then any team I can think of in recent history. They have a built-in excuse for losing. Trying to compete every night with role players and rookies is hard. Yes, I understand. But the Mets play terrible defense, they make mental errors, they throw to the wrong base, they drop balls, they don't run out pop-ups, they give up hits to bottom of the order hitters, they WALK OPPOSING PITCHERS and they don't show any willingness to fight when they get behind. And all of this points to the manager. It points to a lackadaisical culture created from the top. Whether or not Jerry and his staff condone this type of play is beside the point. The fact that it doesn't seem like he is willing or capable of correcting

Continue reading "The Bad News Mets"

I don’t like where this is going.

One of the chief criticisms of baseball is that it puts people to sleep. It’s slow, it’s boring, nothing happens and the games last forever. That’s what foreigners and Communists say at least - and those people who don’t understand the tension and the passion of a well pitched game. Well here’s a brilliant plan – let’s create a situation where everybody stands around while a group of umpires disappear for ten minutes to watch replays of a disputable home run. So instead of a game taking three and a half hours, by the time everything gets sorted out and play resumes it now takes three hours and forty five minutes. Not what I’d call an effective strategy for speeding up games. I’ve got plenty of ideas for picking up the pace and that’s definitely not one of them.

Continue reading "My Brief Thoughts on Replay"

Mets GM Omar Minaya finally woke up and DL'ed ailing starters Jose Reyes and Ryan Church. As a result, the team called up their prized prospect Fernando Martinez and debuted him tonight against the Washington Nationals. After hearing about this kid for years I've got to say his first game was pretty anti-climactic. I didn't even realize he was starting till I got home, having already missed his first two at-bats (a strikeout and his first Major League RBI on a fielder's choice). Looks like a kid with a good swing who will strike out A LOT while he's up in the bigs. My first impression of his defense was equally incomplete as he got turned around on a well hit fly ball to right that probably would have been over his head anyway. My guess is that barring a ridiculous Benny Agbayani-like offe

Continue reading "The F-Mart Era Begins!"

Do you really mean to tell me that the Mets don't have a single capable shortstop in their entire minor league system? That's insane. Suffice to say, Ramon Martinez is not the answer. However, at the very least I have a newfound appreciation for Jose Reyes. For all his shenanigans and stupid pop ups (which begs for the Willie Mays Hayes treatment) he may some day win a gold glove.

Continue reading "The Mets Need Players"

We are just about two months into the 2009 season and the Mets have proven so far to be just as maddingly inconsistent as they've been since Carlos Beltran left the bat on his shoulder in '06. I must say I was proud of the team (and understandbly shocked) by the moxie they showed in winning the first three games of their series against the Giants, including some late night heroics against that guy from the Beach Boys. Of course I remain convinced that they won because I only watched about 15 minutes of the games all weekend. But Sunday's game just goes to show why the Mets make me insane. To look at Mike Pelfrey's stat line one would think he had an impressive outing. And in many ways he did but ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? Only the Mets have a guy get such a bad case of the "yips" that he commits THREE balks in one game and gets taken out after only 79 pitches. Oh yeah and then there was the offense. What does this team have against hitting with the bases loaded? I want to know what the record is for double plays grounded into with the sacks juiced. I swear other than the grand-slams from Omir Santos and Fernando Tatis it seems like the Mets never get more than a run from these situations. Can I see a bases clearing double please? I miss the days of Robin Ventura hitting a grand salami in each game of a double header.

Continue reading "Team Inconsistency"

The Mets went from zero to sixty in a flash, signing top free agent closer Francisco Rodriguez and trading for another, J.J. Putz of the Mariners. And just like that Omar Minaya, who many accused of sleepwalking through the winter dramatically addressed the team's most glaring weakness. How K-Rod and Putz will co-exist in the Mets' bullpen remains to be seen, but all of a sudden sports pundits across America, including John "I still get a paycheck from the Phillies" Kruk are touting the duo as devastating and game changing. Many talking heads also called Omar one of the biggest winners at the Winter Meetings, considering that he was able to completely re-build his bullpen without giving up any blue chip prospects or key big league contributers (plus the losses of Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis have to be addition by subtraction).

Continue reading "Off Season Check In/Most Epic Post Ever"

On today's Mets broadcast Gary Cohen talked about the bullpen being the Mets only major weakness. While it's somewhat reassuring to consider that the Mets are second in the league in runs scored and when healthy have the deepest starting pitching, it's still frightening to consider how much damage the team's relievers coud do in a pennant race. Off the top of my head I can think of one great example of a team winning with only a dominant bullpen--the '02 Angels who prayed every night that the starter could make it to the 6th inning. On the other hand, everyone remembers that the '01 Diamondbacks won the title that year on the backs of Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling--two starting pictchers. One of the keys to Arizona's run was Johnson'd shut down performance out of the pen--something Bob Brenly didn't trust his normal corps of relievers to do. Remember Byun Hyung Kim? My point exactly.

Continue reading "Bad Bullpen = No Title?"

Sometimes I feel like I've lost my innocence when it comes to sports. As a child I don't think the outcome of the game was ever more important than the game itself (with the exception of any and all Knicks playoff games). In most of my early memories of going to Mets or Knicks games with my father I can't remember who won. I had little concept of what the game I went to meant in the grand scheme of a larger season or a period in a franchises' history. I'm nostalgic for a time where I could go to a game and not have my day utterly ruined if the home team lost.

On a similar note, it occurred to me today that I pretty much know for a fact that the Mets will not win the world series this year. With the exception of three or four teams a season doesn't every fan somewhere inside k

Continue reading "The Phallacy of Victory"

It's been a long time since I've posted and so much has happened that it's almost impossible to summarize my reaction in a single entry. The Willie era is over, some would say mercifully, and the Jerry "Gangsta" Manuel era has begun. So far this season I've already been burned too many times by the "maybe this is the turning point theory". Just look at my post after the Yankees series. But while I'm still wrestling with my feelings toward Randolph's tenure--the feel good story aspect of it at the beginning and the tragic fall from grace at the end--I must admit that I'm just a little excited about the team's new direction.

There are still huge problems to address, the Mets are OLD and banged up and they don't always seem to be giving 100% every night. Omar Minaya at least in my mind now has a HUGE target on his back both for the way he handled Willie's firing and for what many are only now realizing is a tremendously flawed roster. For the team to get back into the pennant race heading into the All-Star break they need to play HARDER, SMARTER and be more consistent. They need to get leads and keep them and they need show some fight when they get down. The win against the Angels in the rubber match of that series was vintage, the team's best players Reyes and Wright getting big, CLUTCH hits against one of the best bullpens in baseball.

Continue reading "Death and Rebirth"

I wish I never wrote my previous post. It now sounds ridiculous. Something needs to change and it probably will soon. Interestingly, I read somewhere that Willie won't be fired until after he makes his appearance as a coach at the All-Star game. Don't know that for a fact but it definitely sounds like something the Mets would do.

Sheeeesh.

Continue reading "The Depths"