Saturday, April 17, 2010

This One Cuts Deep

This is what happens when Raul Valdez's glass slipper breaks.

Well now the season is truly underway, isn't it? Now that the Mets have had their first true kick in the stomach, we're now officially wading waist deep into the season. There's no turning back to shore now. It's onward to the ocean floor without a life raft.

For me, I think we're now starting to see how a front office and a manager can lose ballgames. Omar Minaya, bless his heart, having been hamstrung by ownership's budget, couldn't bring in a quality lefty for the bullpen to complement Pedro Feliciano. Instead, he borrows one from the Mexican league. Nobody, not even Gary Cohen had heard of Raul Valdez when he made his spring training debut in mid-March. Despite that fact, he made the Mets roster ... which tells you something about how easy it must have been to make the roster.

But when you keep relying on Mexican league castoffs when your ace bullpen lefty looks like death, you're going to get burned more often than you should in a 162 game season. You aren't going to be burned all time time, but in a league where the difference in talent can come down to a few pitches here and there (like the one Valdez threw to Felipe Lopez for the deciding grand slam), you will be burned enough times to make the difference between being in contention for a wild-card spot, and battling the Nationals for fourth place. This is why the Phillies can survive injuries to Jimmy Rollins, Joe Blanton, J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge and go 8-2, while the Mets have Raul Valdez.

Also, when you consistently rely on the likes of Mike Jacobs and Fernando Tatis, you will be burned. But when Jacobs is placed higher in the order than the white hot Jeff Francoeur by the manager, then there's plenty of flame to go around. Jacobs ended the Mets' first inning rally with a strikeout with Frenchy on deck. Then, with Dennys Reyes coming in to face Jacobs in the all important eighth inning rally, Tatis comes up to pinch hit and he strikes out. The alternative would have been Frenchy batting in that spot and facing the righty, Blake Hawksworth.

(Wait a second ... Blake Hawksworth??? Come on. That's not a real person. That was the name of a villian in "Spenser: For Hire". Or Joan Collins' love interest in "Dynasty". Or a Peter Griffin muse in "Family Guy". I mean, are the Mets this bad that they can't muster up a rally against a fictional character???)

Now don't get me wrong. Ultimately, it's players who win or lose ballgames. I believed it when Willie Randolph was making questionable moves/non-moves with the bullpen, and I believe it now. But the people in charge aren't helping any. Friday night was proof.

The shame of it all was that the good Oliver Perez actually showed up to the ballpark tonight. We haven't seen Good Ollie for a long time! For all we know Good Ollie was on a Himalayan expedition since 2008. And this is how he gets treated upon his return? He'll never come back after this. He was shaky in the first couple of innings (walking the immortal Allen Craig in the first inning with first base open and some guy named Pujols on deck had me inventing new curse words) but finished brilliantly. Oliver Perez did this.

And yet, the fruit of his labor was the pumpkin that Raul Valdez's limousine turned into before midnight could cast it's shadow on St. Louis. It was so bad that I wanted to vomit voluntarily ... but there wasn't an 11-year-old in the immediate area so I passed.

10 comments:

Stachelicious said...

Metstra - You ned to take down that countdown to Perez's contract clock and put one up for Snoop Gangsta on the right and another one on the left for Omar-one-win-in-St.Louis-is-actually-good-Minaya. Yes, because being 54-108 is what every team in this league strives to finish the season at.

Can't believe I'm posting shit on the internets at 4AM. Fuckin' team is giving me ulcers

Joe Cook said...

I don't think taking Ollie out was a wrong decision, but putting in Valdez (and actually, even putting in Nieve before that with the way Nieve has pitched his last couple appearences out in Denver) was a wrong decision. Igarashi and/or Takahashi would have been much better options at the time; neither have been shaky yet and neither was worked heavily in the Rockies series the way Valdez and Nieve were.
But Manuel's biggest mistakes are still Mike Jacobs and Gary Matthews Jr. If you want to platoon at first base until Murphy comes back, fine. Give Catalanotto a couple starts against righties. Jacobs has done nothing. And you won't be tempted to bat Catalanotto so far up in the order (I'd hope.). And I can't even come up with any logical reason why Gary Matthews Jr. continues to get starts over Angel Pagan. On that one I'm just completely baffled. Is Matthews holding a relative of Manuel's hostage somewhere or something, and playing time is his ransom demand?


And the Blake Hawksworth name analysis really made me laugh because I just saw this yesterday before the game: http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2010/4/15/1424459/the-all-jane-austen-team

Anonymous said...

I hate to mention this but felipe lopez who hit the grand slam last nite was available for 1 mill a year to the mets, but we would rather play the banjo sisters (castillo and cora) at 2nd base all year.after all when lopez hit the grand slam last nite, i'm sure cora went up and down the bench and made his "presence" felt.nice move by snoop manuel pulling a cruising ollie out after 97 pitches to bring in 2 castoffs to give away the game.

James Allen said...

Bottom 18... food ration running out... can't understand how the Mets who managed one hit in the first 4 hours of the game can't even score off the middle infielder who hit the grand slam last night.... irony- so heavy... can't imagine what M will write after this game is over... I imagine his head will, in all likelyhood, explode... water rations gone, consciousness fading... tell my wife--- I love her.....

James Allen said...

... consciousness fading... just thought I saw the Mets sacrifice off an outfielder... lack of water making me delusional... can't believe the Mets manager is that stupid... light fading... 19th inning... am I living in a dream? If the Mets actually win the game, is it real? Someone touch me.... please...

James Allen said...

I see water... an oasis... is it a run? I will run towards it... is it real? I reach for it... reach... is it real... please, God, save me, please... a run? A run? Save me... my wife... I love you... please God...

James Allen said...

Puljos... goodbye Mom... goodbye dad... I see Yadier... Molina... Yadier... 2006... NLCS... Game 7... Yadier... God... don't take me... Yadier... oh God... oh God... tell my wife I love her... oh God...

James Allen said...

20 innings... please God... save me... please... the pain... oh, the pain... position players pitching... 1-1 game... 6 hours... please, God, save me.... please.... Metstradamus help me.... PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

James Allen said...

Oh my God... Oh my God... I have been rescued... water... please, water.... and scotch... please... tell my wife I love her and she can join me in a few hours... Johnnie Walker Green-- aaaahhh... yeas... good stuff... 20 innings... Fox? Wha? Er... ah....

mistermet said...

it is so easy to make this team's roster, yet Chris Carter is rotting in Buffalo. is it just me or is something awry here?

can't wait for your post on today's marathon (or death march, i guess, would be more appropriate). what irony it would've been if Raul Valdes hit a game-winner off of Felipe Lopez. But nope...Valdes reaches on an error and still finds a way for Lopez to win again. i'll take a win anyway i can get it, but this one was ugly and embarrassing.