Billy Wagner

's been well documented how unreliable the Mets bullpen has been this season, both with and without Billy Wagner.  Should the Mets fail to win the division like last year the blame will be squarely on the bullpen's shoulders.  As a unit they have underperformed and have not pitched as consistently as they should have.  Jerry Manuel has done a fine job since taking over as manager, and he has played the matchup game with this bullpen as well as he could have.  The bottom line is that the pitchers he has to choose from in his bullpen frankly just aren't any good.  Regardless of whether the Mets make the playoffs this season, Omar Minaya's first off-season priority will be to upgrade the bullpen--something he failed to do after last year's September collapse.

Continue reading "Ayala Joins The Blown Save Party"

season:  Moises Alou, Ryan Church, Luis Castillo, Pedro Martinez, Marlon Anderson, John Maine, Billy Wagner, Duaner Sanchez, Brian Schneider, Ramon Castro, Damion Easley, Claudio Vargas, Endy Chavez, Angel Pagan, Trot Nixon, Tony Armas, and Matt Wise.  But the Mets are in first place now, in large part due to contributions from the likes of Fernando Tatis, Argenis Reyes, Daniel Murphy, Nick Evans, Robinson Cancel, and the core of players who have remained healthy.  Excuses don't win games, but a solid bench does.

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return to the big leagues this weekend.

    The news wasn't quite as promising for Billy Wagner, whose agent said it will be at least three weeks until he can return to the mound.  As a possible insurance policy, the Mets signed reliever Al Reyes on Wednesday, and have sent him to toil in the minors until rosters expand on September 1.  Tampa Bay released Reyes earlier this year, but he saved 26 games for the Rays last year and has a 3.82 career ERA.  Like Luis Ayala, if the Mets can catch lightning in a bottle with the addition of Reyes, he will be a valuable contributor down the stretch, especially if Wagner cannot return.

Continue reading "Pelfrey Goes The Distance"

d solid in the win over the Braves, the outlook became bleaker earlier in the day on Tuesday.  Billy Wagner's prognosis is not good, as his sore forearm has not improved, and swelling has increased in his elbow.  At this point there is too much inflammation for Wagner to be properly evaluated, but he definitely will not be pitching for quite awhile.  For now, it is probably best to assume the worst--that the Mets will need to move on without Wagner for the remainder of the season.  If that is the case, Jerry Manuel will need to continue to play the matchups, and use his bullpen in committee form, but if possible, acquiring a difference maker in the pen would be a viable alternative.  Trevor Hoffman's name has been floated around, but he can veto any trade, and San Diego most likely would not want to part with their potential Hall-of-Fame closer.  An interesting possibility might be Mike MacDougal of the White Sox.  He has experience closing in Kansas City, and has had success at the major league level, yet he has been toiling in Triple-A since April.  He is not necessarily a distinct upgrade over anyone currently in the Mets' bullpen, but it could be useful to see what he's got when the rosters expand on September 1, and it probably would not take much to pry him away from Chicago.

Continue reading "Delgado, Easley Spark Comeback Against Braves"

y have the last two games, they may not need to bother sorting out their closing situation, because Billy Wagner's rehab is going right on schedule.  He pitched a scoreless inning Thursday for Double-A Binghamton, and is slated to return to the Mets when he is elgible to come off the DL before Monday's game in Pittsburgh.  The Mets will roll into Pittsburgh tomorrow riding a three-game winning streak, and sit alone atop the NL East after Los Angeles finished off their sweep of Philadelphia.

Continue reading "Mets Finish Off Sweep in D.C."

sp; Well, it's become quite obvious that the Mets desperately need to find someone else to close in Billy Wagner's absence.  When Wagner had to miss a game against the Phillies three weeks ago with forearm stiffness, Duaner Sanchez dropped the ball.  Since Wagner was placed on the DL last week, Heilman has been awful in two of his four ninth inning chances.  In order to put an end to the bullpen's pattern of implosion, Jerry Manuel offered two other options after yesterday's game:  Eddie Kunz and John Maine.

Continue reading "Mets' Season May Depend on Kunz"

o Feliciano then came in and got four outs to bridge the Mets to the ninth, leading 6-2.  With Billy Wagner on the DL, Jerry Manuel turned to Aaron Heilman, and then the floodgates opened.  Heilman walked the first batter and the second reached on a misplayed pop-up that fell in between Argenis Reyes and Carlos Beltran.  He recorded an out on a fielder's choice, but then Jody Gerut hit a three-run bomb over the right field fence, and suddenly it was 6-5.  Joe Smith and Scott Schoenweis entered to retire a batter each and save the game, but the victory left a bad taste in any fan's mouth because of the continued struggles of the bullpen, namely Aaron Heilman, in Wagner's stead.

Continue reading "Heilman Nearly Wastes Efforts of Pelfrey and Tatis"

th a slew of injuries.  Marlon Anderson and John Maine were put on the DL over the weekend and Billy Wagner joined them today with a strained left forearm.  Ramon Castro is still shaken up from the bizzare home plate collision on Saturday, and is listed as day-to-day with a sore ankle.  Rather than make any external moves, the Mets have turned to their farm system for help.  Although for the time being Jerry Manuel says he will use a bullpen by committee in the ninth inning, Eddie Kunz, the heir apparent to

Continue reading "Mets Look to Bounce Back at Home"

rk Loretta.  To add insult to injury (literally, considering the ailing arms of John Maine and Billy Wagner), Heilman was tagged with the loss again on Saturday in another collapse of sorts from the Mets’ bullpen.  This one was a group effort though, with Scott Schoenweis and

Continue reading "Shaky Pen Gets Mets Swept By 'Stros"

n homer in the eighth for insurance, and Heilman pitched two scoreless innings for the hold, before Billy Wagner tossed a perfect ninth for his 27th save.

    There were lots of good signs in this game:  continued success from both Perez and Wagner, Delgado's bat remaining hot, Jose Reyes getting on base three times including two doubles, and clutch hitting from Beltran.  But the most intriguing possibility this game presented was Heilman's ability to stretch out his work to more than one inning.  Right now the entire bullpen is in a bit of a rut.  Duaner Sanchez seems to be in a dead-arm period, Pedro Feliciano has been inconsistent since the All-Star break, and Scott Schoenweis and Joe Smith have had their ups and downs as well.  But Heilman's two innings yesterday, coming off his three innings on Saturday, might give Jerry Manuel the assurance that he can pitch the sixth and seventh, or seventh and eighth, in a tight game in front of Wagner.  Now of couse, knowing Heilman, he could pitch terribly his next time out and struggle to get through even one inning.  But if the starters can continue to go a little deeper into games, like they have been more frequently of late, and Manuel uses Heilman expediently, he could pick up his share of two-inning holds and be effective in that type of role.

Continue reading "Heilman Holds Perez's Lead, Delgado Puts it Away"

Mets pitchers combined to allow six runs on five hits and two walks in the ninth inning when closer Billy Wagner was unavailable to pitch.  Granted, Wagner has blown six saves this season, and sometimes he makes even his successful saves a bit too interesting.  But he has never had the type of meltdown the rest of the Mets relief corps had last Tuesday, and he has saved 26 games this season.

Continue reading "Mets Fried By Fish, Maine Leaves Early"

Romero, in the eighth, and Billy Wagner nailed down the win in the ninth with his 26th save.  Fittingly, Jimmy Rollins, who did not start because he arrived an hour late to the ballpark, made the final out of the game.  After Tuesday night's ninth inning meltdown, the bullpen tossed 4.1 scoreless innings, including back-to-back saves by Wagner, and the Mets took two of three from Philadelphia, despite losing the first game of the series.  New York is now 9-4 against the Phillies this season.

Continue reading "Mets Continue to Roll Behind Delgado, ..."

bsp;   A day after the Mets' bullpen acted out a microcosm of the final 17 games of 2007, Billy Wagner was back on the mound with a three-run lead in the ninth inning on Wednesday, and Mets fans could not be happier.  Wagner's save in the 6-3 victory not only sealed the win and moved the Mets back into a first place tie with the Phillies, but it also put the minds of many a Mets fan at ease, knowing that the true closer is once again available to pitch.  After the game Wagner said he looked better than he felt, but hopefully he continues to feel well enough to pitch 1-2-3 ninth innings.

Continue reading "Billy Wagner Never Looked So Good"

    Billy Wagner had an MRI on his left shoulder today.  It revealed a muscle spasm, and he is considered day-to-day, although GM Omar Minaya said Wagner is available to pitch tonight.  While it is good news that this is something Wagner can pitch through, hopefully without any problems (he did strike out the side Sunday night despite experiencing discomfort), the possibility that Wagner may go down with an injury is alarming.  Although it is easy to bring up Wagner's six blown saves and poor performance at times, the Mets frankly don't have anyone else on the team who can close.  Mets relievers not named

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    Aside from Billy Wagner, who picked up his 23rd save with a perfect ninth, the Mets' pitching was bad all around last night in Cincinnati.  Johan Santana's velocity was alarmingly low, and he was battered around, pitching through bases loaded trouble in the second inning before giving up five runs in the fourth, his final inning of the night.  Aaron Heilman lost his command after getting two outs in the seventh, and Scott Schoenweis allowed the big blow, a bases clearing double by Javier Valentin.  But the offense continued to roll, as Carlos Delgado, Fernando Tatis and David Wright each hit two-run homers, and the Mets pounded out 10 runs, including four in the ninth off closer Francisco Cordero.  Wright's bomb tied the game with one out, and Delgado followed three batters later with the go-ahead RBI single.  The victory moves the Mets into a first place tie with the Phillies at 52-44.

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ks a lot better during a six-game winning streak.

    In Manuel's defense, I found Billy Wagner's perspective on the managerial change very interesting.  Wagner told the following to Jayson Stark for his July 10 column on ESPN.com:  "I don't want to bash Willie, because I liked him.  But before it was more of The Yankee Way.  It wasn't The Mets Way.  There was no facial hair.  You could never have music in the clubhouse.  You couldn't have kids around.  Believe it or not, some of us in here actually like kids.  [Manuel told us to] play hard, play fearless and have fun.  You know what?  We've found out it's pretty easy to play when you stop playing for stats and just go out and play hard and play to have fun."

Continue reading "Mets Go For Seven Straight Tonight at Shea"

2.5 games of the division lead--but they certainly could have looked better in doing so.  That Billy Wagner was awarded a save in return for allowing two runs in the ninth and almost blowing the game calls into question whether three-run leads should qualify as save situations at all.  Wagner was downright awful, but still "saved" the Mets from yet another brutal collapse.

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SotoOF Carlos LeeOF Alfonso SorianoOF Matt HolidaySP Johan SantanaSP Roy OswaltSP Jake PeavyCLOSER Billy Wagner or Bob Howry or Kerry Wood

 NL BATTING CHAMP

Jose Reyes

HOME RUN LEADER

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