Since I don't actually play for the Mets, I don't have to take it "one game at a time".  So lets assume for a second that the Mets go on to win the NCLS, and just for argument sake, lets assume they win the next two games, to win the series on Wednesday night.  

I know many people (including myself) are happy that Glavine is getting his full rest due to last night's rainout.  But it hit me last night, the issue it now raises.  Game 1 of the WS is Saturday night, which would mean if Glavine were to pitch game 1, he would be going on 3 days rest.  And with Maine throwing tomorrow night's game 6, he wouldn't be avaliable for game 1 either.  So who goes game 1?  Glavine on 3 days (I say no, let him pitch 2 & 6 on full rest).  Oliver Perez?  Darren Olive?  Maybe El Duque?  

Thoughts?

Has anyone taken the Mets Express from the NY Waterway Taxis?  I am thinking about taking it for tonight's game, but can't decide if it is worth it.  Can't figure out where it drops you off near Shea.  I usually take the LIRR but the lines for getting back to the train have been unreal, and trying to find a way to avoid the lines.

With the Mets magic number getting lower by the day, I find myself gearing up for football season.  

I am not one for posting to often, but I do check this site daily to see what is going on.  And I was hoping to find the same sort of site for the football season.  I have looked around but haven't found anything that is worth my time yet.  I was wondering if anyone has any good sites for the NY Giants?

(moved from diaries --eric)

The Mets will be getting Jon Lieber tonight and Brett Myers on Thursday. Not sure this is a good thing, although Lieber and Myers will not be working on their normal rest. I know Hamels is supposed to be a stud, but it still would have been only his third professional start. Now the Mets face the Phillies' best pitcher in the series finale against Jeremi "Batting Practice" Gonzalez.

Link: CNNSI

After attending last night's amazin game, and reading the following post:

http://www.amazinavenue.com/story/2006/5/19/154739/783#commenttop

I was wondering, do we as Mets fans enjoying being the NY minority.  Or would you rather be like the Yankees and have the majority of NY rooting for the team.

I know I enjoy being the minority (maybe it has something with growing up Jewish).  I enjoy the us against them mentality, and the fact that as Mets fans, there seems to be a struggle to each season.  We did not take the easy way out and join the evil empire, we understand anything worth acheiving should be earned.

So what are your thoughts?

I have seen this mentioned a few places this morning:

"The Dodgers will explore trading Odalis Perez to the Mets, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Dodgers tried to trade Odalis Perez during the offseason, but no one was willing to take on his salary. Including a deferred signing bonus, he is owed about $9 million this season and $10 million next season. There is also a club option for 2008, which can be bought out for $1.5 million.
Meanwhile, Perez told Dodgers assistant GM Kim Ng that he would return from bereavement leave Tuesday. He has been visiting his mother, who is in a Dominican hospital. The Dodgers would have to make a roster move when he comes back, and the pitcher who replaced Perez (Aaron Sele) isn't going anywhere."

Not sure how I feel about this, it is a lot of money for a so-so pitcher (3 game sover 500 for Career, doesn't walk many), but it doesn't sound like the Mets would have to give up much for him, as long as they are willing to take on his contract.  I do think he is a better choice than Lima Time, and I am against trading Milledge for Zito.

There was an article in today's Post, in which the reporter uses the term Braden Wagner to describe the Mets closer.  And although he goes on to say that he is not Looper as of yet, he does think there is something to be concerned about.  Here is the link:

http://www.nypost.com/sports/mets/68029.htm

This is how I see the 3 blown saves.

Nationals:  Made a good pitch to Zimmerman, he just made a better swing

Giants: If Wright makes the play at 3rd, Bonds never gets up.  However I believe he should have pitch Bonds inside, as all of his HRs to that point had been to the opposite field

Pirates:  Just Horrible.  You can't walk the two batters, when you are up two.  And then give up a single to a guy batting .185.

Overall, I am not worried yet.  As I still think Wagner is just getting the innings in that he should have during the spring.  His velocity is starting to appraoch what he normally throws, and I think Wagner is known as a slow stater.  Plus I really only have a problem with last night's blown save.

What do you think?

I was shutout of opening day tickets, and have been looking online to see what is avaliable.  I was wondering what people would be willing to pay for 2 Mezz tickets to see the 06 Mets open the season.

I have posted a Poll Question on this topic, let me know what you think.  Also, anyone know of better sites to get tickets through than craigslist or ebay?

Eric -

First, let me say I love this site.  Not only was it a great place during the season, but I think I am enjoying it even more during the offseason.  Love reading all the rumors and everyone's reaction to trades and trade speculation.

But I also thought, how can he make this better.  And the one suggestion I have is this:

Is it possible to set the site up, so that when I go to read comments, I am sent directly to the first new post since I last read them?  I know of other sites that have this functionality.  

Thoughts?  Anyone else have any ideas for Eric?

Since Buster the Yankee blogger, decided to state that Mets are overspending, and wants to make it sound like they are heading for a big disappointment.  I thought I would share with you an intersting arcitle from Tom Verducci.  He does a good job of explaining why the Mets can spend this money on Delgado and Wagner, and it is not just because they are a NY team.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/tom_verducci/11/29/tom/index.html

I know that this is a Met site.  But I am wondering what people think of this trade.  To me, it is obvious now that the Marlins are in the middle of a fire sale.  Which means Delgado and Pierre or on the way out also.

That can only be good for the Mets, as Florida will probably be the least competive team in the East next year with only Cabrera and Willis.  And of course it will be nice to see Beckett beat up on the other NY team.

And interesting side note.  Apparently one of the reason the Marlins are in fire sale mode, is because of the hurricane damage in Florida.  There is so much money being spent on rebuilding the Broward/Dade county area, that there is no public funds for a new stadium.

Cameron expected to become a Padre
Nov 16 - The Mets and the Padres are on the verge of a deal that would send Mike Cameron to San Diego, baseball officials told ESPN's Buster Olney on Wednesday.

Other parts of the prospective deal are not known at this time, although the Mets are reportedly looking for bullpen help.

The Padres nearly signed Cameron as a free agent after the 2003 season and still have a need for someone to patrol center field at Petco Park. Cameron won Gold Gloves in 2001 and 2003 playing center field for Seattle.

Update: It looks like Newsday is reporting this as fact. Terrible trade for the Mets, IMO. It remains to be seen what the Mets will do with their vacancy in right field. Who knows if they're planning on stick Nady out there, Victor Diaz, somebody else...

some numbers from the elias sports bureau, courtesy of espn.com:

For the first time in their 44-year history, the Mets have won consecutive games by at least 10 runs each -- 14-1 on Tuesday, 18-4 on Wednesday, both against the Diamondbacks. The only current MLB teams never to win consecutive games by at least 10 runs all debuted after the Mets: the Expos/Nationals, Marlins, Rockies and Devil Rays.

Incidentally, the Mets became the first team since the 1936 Yankees to win consecutive games, both on the road, by at least 13 runs.

With two homers against the D-Backs, Mets rookie Mike Jacobs became the first player in major-league history to hit four home runs in the first four days of his major-league career, starting with his MLB debut. Three players hit three homers over their first four days: Joe Cunningham (1954), Dave Kingman (1971), and Brant Brown (1996).

Jae Seo allowed two runs in seven innings to record the victory in the Mets' rout. His ERA of 1.30 is the third lowest in Mets history over any pitcher's first seven starts of the season. Only Frank Viola (0.87 in 1990) and Nolan Ryan (1.05 in 1971) posted lower marks.

After yesterday's sweep of the Padres, the MEts wake up this morning to find themselves in 3rd place in both the NL East and Wild Card (tied with Houston) 4.5 games back, and with Philly in 4th 5 games back.

Looking at the Mets schedule and those of the Nationals, Braves and Astors, the next 10 days will go a long way in determining who might come away with these two races.

The Mets have 3 against the struggling Dodgers this weekend, then 3 against the always struggling Rockies, before 4 with the Astros.  If the Mets can take care of 2 teams they should beat, then the series against the Astros will be Huge.

Meanwhile the Nationals are falling to earth hard, and continue a series against the Astros this weekend, before playing Atlanta and Florida next week.

The Astross meanwhile finish up the series against the Nationals before hosting the Phillies, followed by the series agianst the Mets.

By this time next week, the Braves will probably be in first place in the NL East, but with Philly, Washington and Houston playing each other this week, and the MEts with the 4 against the Astros, there is a good chance the Mets could find themselves leading the Wild Card race if they play the type of ball they played the last 3 days against the Padres.

I had good luck finding someone for the Braves game last week, I figured why not try again (actually this is the second game in a row I can't get too).

The last game the Mets won, so I guess when I sell tickets it is a good luck charm.

So if anyone is interested in tickets to Wednesday nights game, please email me at brian_schiff@hotmail.com

So I have two tickets for Thursday night's game that I don't think I can use.  The tickets are Mezz, down the first base line.

I live in the East Village and work down in the finacial district.  So if anyone is interested in the tickets, I can meet up with you on wednesday or thursday to give you the tickets.

I am asking for $30 for both.

I also have two for next wednesday game against the Padres, that I won't be able to use.

(Eric if this isn't an appropriate post for this site, I am sorry, but I figured this was a good place to find people who might want to go to the game).

I was reading an article in today's Post in which Omar Minaya stated that the Mets are buyers right now. http://www.nypost.com/sports/mets/49733.htm

One quote jumped out at me:

 "In fact, although the Mets are in fifth in the NL East, they actually have the seventh-best winning percentage in the National League."

The Mets are also only 5 games out of the Wild Card.  So I decided to take a look at the Mets win/loss breakdown:

NL East: 22-20
NL Central: 11-10
NL West: 4-2
AL: 5-10

The first thing that jumps out at me, is that without Interleague play, this team would be 5 games over 500.  But what I also found surprising, when comparing these numbers to the rest of the NL East, is that the Braves are the only team that has a better record against the rest of the East.

Washington: 17-15
Atlanta: 24-18
Florida: 20-21
Philly: 19-24

To me, these numbers paint a postive picture heading into the 2nd half.  With no interleague play, and the majority of the games aginst the NL East, the Mets should be looking at a better second half record.

According to the NY Post, the Mets and Yankess are talking about a Cameron for Sheffield trade.  I don't see how this is actually going to happen, but I would pull the trigger on this in a heartbeat.  I think Sheffield is still one of the most dangerous hitters in the league, and this might be the only way we get wright in the 2 spot.  The lineup would have a little more pop to it, and with Beltran looking like he is coming around this would be a nice lineup:

Reyes
Wright
Beltran
Sheffield
Floyd
Piazza
Anderson
Eyechart

Continue reading this post »

Jayson Stark wrote an interesting article on Beltran's struggles. I believe it is an Insider article, which means you need to have an ESPN Insider account.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2093787

I didn't realize how much he had struggled in his 2nd year in the league, and the begining of his 3rd year.  The good news from that of course is the fact that in his 3rd year he was able to still put up some really impressive numbers.

Also, if he is as hurt as it sounds, they need to shut him down for a couple of weeks, so that he can get healthy, and start using his speed.

This is the second time the post has mention this, hopefully this time they will be right..

" Jose Reyes was atop the lineup again. Reyes is expected to be dropped from the leadoff spot when Cameron gets healthy."

I would really like to see Cameron in the leadoff spot, it seems to me, in a lot of games where cameron is batting second, he is getting on with one out already in the books.. I also find that there are a lot of times, that the Mets clear the pitcher's spot, only to see reyes popup or strikeout with men on.. i think Cameron could be a tremendous leadoff hitter.. high OBP, power, speed, sounds a little like Ricky to me.. keep wright in the two hole and the offenese could come back around.. just need to see beltran swing the bat better

Interesting info on mets.com about possible leading off with cameron.  I for one think that this is a great idea.  And if he makes this move, I think he should move wright to second in the order, which i know has been discussed a lot on this board.

here is the link:
http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050526&content_id=1063950&vkey news_nym&fext.jsp&c_id=nym

Not sure if this is the place to post such a message, but I have two tickets to the Mets vs Yankees game on Sunday May 22nd.  I was hoping to find someone to sawp tickets with for one of the other games in the series (my nephew's b-day is the 22nd)

If anyone is interested, email me at brian_schiff@hotmail.com

Thanks.