New York Mets 2016 Season Thread

['7']

Bruce actually made his first decent contact of his Mets career today...but it was an at'em ball to CF

We've had good swings today but 0 luck as always. Just hope Bart doesnt implode. Kind of lucky they didnt start ARod with how he kills him.

I just wish we can undo Bruce for Herrera. Want a do over on that. Pretty clear we are never getting him Ces and Duda in the lineup together.

This season shouldve been punted

Edited August 4, 2016 by '7'

['7']

6 strong from Colon

Bruce finally did something! I have to be honest...it was a big HR. We needed it.

This team is still going nowhere

Edited August 5, 2016 by '7'

[NJDevs4978]

13 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Funny you mentioned Jason Bay in a previous post, because as I was driving home I was thinking that's exactly who Jay Bruce is going to become while he's here...the next Jason Bay.  Of course he'll get some hits here and there, and will drive in some runs here and there, but there's plenty of evidence to suggest that Bruce could be plenty lousy at the plate (as in, just about all of 2014 and 2015).  And Sandy chose to ignore all of it.  And now yep, we've got another guy who fits right in:  doesn't hit the ball enough and can whiff with the best of them.  I'm all for Sandy getting canned after this season, because I think he's just too limited skill-wise as a GM and he's taken the team as far as he can (too little creativity and too many shaky moves to think he can do much to build upon the pitching staff he's got)...but it won't happen. 

I lost a LOT of respect for Robles last night...letting a declining Teixeira get inside your head that easily is a serious joke.  That's as bad as the Devils allowing Avery to get to them in the playoffs.  Robles obviously has ability, but no way do I ever trust him not to have a meltdown in a big spot.  But he's just a microcosm of what this team is.  They're Charmin soft.  No guts.  No balls.  No heart.  Nothing. 

As for the suckage with RISP...I agree, I think it's so on these pussies' minds now that this can't be fixed.  And of course, there's that complete lack of accountability thing that's been a staple of the Alderson Era. 

And geez, would it be too much for Senile Sandy and Terrible Terry to have a fvcking chat with Cespedes and say "Hey, maybe it's not such a great idea for you to play golf right now, even it's not that big of a risk to worsen your current injury.  Why don't you cool it until your quad feels better?"  The guy has hit plenty while he's been here, no disputing that, but he can definitely be a maddening presence at times (and feel free to learn English any time...gotta admit that it bothers me that some guys can't be bothered to learn the language of the country employing them).

re: Cespedes there's no way to prove or disprove that him playing golf exacerbated his injury but it sure as hell didn't help.  It's a little hard for the Mets to come down on him though with that whole opt-in opt-out nonsense at the end of the season.  The only chance they have of him opting in is unfortunately to 'let Yo be Yo' and that means him playing golf even when it seems like it's not a very good idea, or letting him play a corner outfield when he decides he doesn't want to play CF again.  Let's be honest it was only a matter of time before we saw the other side of Yo being Yo and the reason why he's been on four teams in a short period of time despite his talent.  We're kind of fortunate it took this long and got a lot of good play out of him before seeing any of the nonsense he brings hurt.

re: Robles yeah I've never had any use for him because he's a hothead and showed it on more than one occasion.  Supposedly he was annoyed Tex was clueing the batter in on location from second base but that's no excuse for being an ass.

And I'm not really in any hurry to read Lenny's book, he definitely comes off as a narccistic personality but getting those facts wrong...that alone really damages the credibility of anything else he wants to claim.  I get maybe he was thinking of Ojeda when he was thinking of Sid as someone who came in just before '86 but still, being three whole years off on the Keith-Darryl fight is pretty bad unless there was some other fight we didn't know about

I actually checked Doc's book out of the library recently but have only read parts of it to this point, most of it the post-'86 stuff but yeah he definitely went into dark places and gave great detail about it, and he certainly seems to have a LOT of justifiable grievances with Darryl lol.  He did lay off the drugs for several years but I don't think ever gave up drinking, which as he put it was usually the gateway to drugs otherwise.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

8 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

re: Cespedes there's no way to prove or disprove that him playing golf exacerbated his injury but it sure as hell didn't help.  It's a little hard for the Mets to come down on him though with that whole opt-in opt-out nonsense at the end of the season.  The only chance they have of him opting in is unfortunately to 'let Yo be Yo' and that means him playing golf even when it seems like it's not a very good idea, or letting him play a corner outfield when he decides he doesn't want to play CF again.  Let's be honest it was only a matter of time before we saw the other side of Yo being Yo and the reason why he's been on four teams in a short period of time despite his talent.  We're kind of fortunate it took this long and got a lot of good play out of him before seeing any of the nonsense he brings hurt.

re: Robles yeah I've never had any use for him because he's a hothead and showed it on more than one occasion.  Supposedly he was annoyed Tex was clueing the batter in on location from second base but that's no excuse for being an ass.

And I'm not really in any hurry to read Lenny's book, he definitely comes off as a narccistic personality but getting those facts wrong...that alone really damages the credibility of anything else he wants to claim.  I get maybe he was thinking of Ojeda when he was thinking of Sid as someone who came in just before '86 but still, being three whole years off on the Keith-Darryl fight is pretty bad unless there was some other fight we didn't know about

I actually checked Doc's book out of the library recently but have only read parts of it to this point, most of it the post-'86 stuff but yeah he definitely went into dark places and gave great detail about it, and he certainly seems to have a LOT of justifiable grievances with Darryl lol.  He did lay off the drugs for several years but I don't think ever gave up drinking, which as he put it was usually the gateway to drugs otherwise.

Cespedes...yeah, he just seems like one of those guys who's just going to be aggravating from time to time.  If he was performing like the pre-Mets Cespedes (OK to good but far from great), it would be a lot harder to take...but he's pretty much been the team's best hitter since coming here, and has taken his level of play to a much higher level (especially at the plate).  I know some people will say "Re-sign him, no matter what", and I get that, in that Sandy seems to be incapable of finding decent offensive players (or finding any outside of the low-BA/high-K/random power model)...replacing him will be a real bitch, and Bruce is nowhere near replacement insurance for Yoenis.  But any big-money contract that Cespedes signs seems almost certain to blow up sooner than later.  The Mets are really damned if they do and damned if they don't with him.  Really tough position with him.

Robles is a clown.  Like I said, lost all respect for him.  You can't be more mentally fragile than he is.  As Armando Benitez showed, pure talent means squat when you're that easily rattled.  Good arm, rotten head.

I wasn't planning to read Lenny's book either, but when I saw it on the shelf, I said "What the hell" (also bought Darling's 1986 Game 7 book, which I will read next).  I read a bunch more last night (about 180 pages in now), and his tooting his own horn is definitely getting old...the guy constantly comes off like he truly believes that he was one of THE best players of his era, and it's simply not true...not to mention that his best years couldn't have been more tainted (though he admits that they helped him, he doesn't seem to grasp that they took him to levels that he never would've gotten to without PEDs...he simply wasn't nearly as good as he thinks he was). 

Doc definitely comes off as infinitely more likable...and despite the many relapses and missteps, you find yourself always hoping that he can pull himself together for good and conquer his demons.  He's still easy to root for, and many fans still do.  With Lenny, it's much more "loved him as a Met, but man what a real piece of sh!t he really was...and still seems to be."  Narcissistic sociopathic con men (he is absolutely ALL of those things rolled into one sh!tty package, and his book does nothing to convince you otherwise) are impossible to cheer for...the closest I can get to "rooting" for Lenny is hoping that he doesn't screw over too many more people (though if you do some browsing, looks like he already has recently, yet again). 

----------------------------------------------------------

Big HR for Bruce.  Unfortunately I think at his best, he'll be Lucas Duda with a lot less walks.  I still think he's going to be closer to Jason Bay...but at least he's not signed to a toxic multi-year deal like Bay was.

For whatever it's worth (I say not much), Montero had a pretty good outing for Binghamton.  Some numbers so far are good (only 19 hits and 8 ER allowed in 31.2 IP), some not (14 BB given up in those 31.2 IP and only 1 K in 7 IP last night...K to BB ratio is only 25-to-14...in his first AA jaunt back in 2013, it was 72-to-10).  Really curious to see if stays on the 40-man next season...or if he gets sent back up to Vegas before season's end. 

 

[nmigliore]

Amazing that this team is just 1 game behind in the Wild Card race despite all the things that have gone wrong of late (or this season as a whole, frankly).

 

 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

5 minutes ago, nmigliore said:

Amazing that this team is just 1 game behind in the Wild Card race despite all the things that have gone wrong of late (or this season as a whole, frankly).

Kinda shows how meh the competition has been for the second WC spot, really.  Could take less than 90 wins to nab that spot (possibly even 85, though usually someone gets hot and distances themselves from the rest)...Mets are very fortunate to still be relevant.  But I think hovering a little over .500 and thinking they're going to get in is Fools' Gold for the Mets.  They're now 4 games under .500 since starting the season 15-7...and a very blah 9-11 since the ASB.  I have no faith that they're going to go on that 14-6 kind of burst that will propel them past everyone else, or win the games they really need to win...and even if they did, knowing them, they'd probably follow that up with a 7-13 slump that would negate it all.  

I was still kind of hopeful for 90 wins, but now that Cespedes is out, it's really hard for me to make a case for the Mets to win more than 85.  It's pretty scary that they've actually NEEDED Colon to be as good as he's been.  Credit to him to really limiting the implosion outings.  And for providing not just innings, but a lot of quality ones. 

[capo]

2 hours ago, nmigliore said:

Amazing that this team is just 1 game behind in the Wild Card race despite all the things that have gone wrong of late (or this season as a whole, frankly).

 

 

I don't usually look at the standings but I did last night and I couldnt believe it. There's no way in hell I would bet on this team in a 1 game playoff against Kershaw.  I would actually take the odds on them getting no-hit.

Edited August 5, 2016 by capo

[nmigliore]

4 minutes ago, capo said:

I don't usually look at the standings but I did last night and I couldnt believe it. There's no way in hell I would bet on this team in a 1 game playoff against Kershaw.  I would actually take the odds on them getting no-hit.

Anything can happen in a single game, but yeah, it's hard to be optimistic when the team's best outcome is a one-game playoff vs Kershaw. There's no way we're catching the Nats, unfortunately.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Mets will probably lose a one-game playoff against the Dodgers by a score of 5-0 or something like that.  Whoever starts for Mets will give up 2-3 runs over the first two innings (just to make sure his teammates feel like they're in a hole they can't climb out of right away), then will stick around until the 5th or 6th inning, having thrown over 100 laborious pitches.  Then the relievers will give up another 2 runs or so (probably Robles).  The Mets will wind up with 5 hits or less, over 10 Ks, a walk or two, and will go 0-fer with RISP.  Terry will make at least one baffling decision that will have everyone screaming louder than ever for his ouster.  Who wants to take bets on this not happening? 

 

Oh, almost forgot...Cespedes will strike out in his final AB with two on, then announce as he's heading back to the dugout that he's opting out of his contract.  He won't be available to the press after the game because he'll be heading to the golf course (regardless of what time the game ends). 

Edited August 5, 2016 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[nmigliore]

58 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Mets will probably lose a one-game playoff against the Dodgers by a score of 5-0 or something like that.  Whoever starts for Mets will give up 2-3 runs over the first two innings (just to make sure his teammates feel like they're in a hole they can't climb out of right away), then will stick around until the 5th or 6th inning, having thrown over 100 laborious pitches.  Then the relievers will give up another 2 runs or so (probably Robles).  The Mets will wind up with 5 hits or less, over 10 Ks, a walk or two, and will go 0-fer with RISP.  Terry will make at least one baffling decision that will have everyone screaming louder than ever for his ouster.  Who wants to take bets on this not happening? 

 

Oh, almost forgot...Cespedes will strike out in his final AB with two on, then announce as he's heading back to the dugout that he's opting out of his contract.  He won't be available to the press after the game because he'll be heading to the golf course (regardless of what time the game ends). 

Ha, the second part made me laugh. The first part was too depressingly realistic for me to laugh.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

9 minutes ago, nmigliore said:

Ha, the second part made me laugh. The first part was too depressingly realistic for me to laugh.

Sounds crazy to say this after seeing the Mets get to a World Series and with the hopes we had coming into this year...but seriously, IF this team actually wrapped up a wild card berth and IF they then managed to win the WC playoff game...I'd feel like everything after that was gravy.  I actually feel decent about their chances to nab the berth simply because no one's gone on that big run (yet).  But the scenario I described is the one I absolutely think will happen if they play that game.  I'll be stunned if it turned out any differently...the only other way would be the Mets nursing a 1-0 or 2-1 lead in to the 9th, having chances to tack on, not doing it, and then Familia (who will be partly responsible but will be the victim of at least one horrible defense gaffe) blowing it...and I like Familia. 

[nmigliore]

If the Mets were to make it -- no easy task since, despite being 1 out, they're chasing TWO teams, one of which has really under-performed this year -- AND take out the Dodgers, my hopes will shoot up. This lineup has been frustrating to say the least but there's still some hitters in here who can ignite the offense if they got hot; a playoff rotation built around Thor-deGrom-Matz gives us a chance in any series; and the back end of the bullpen, while certainly not elite, is still pretty strong with Blevins, Robles, Reed, and Familia.

 

Edited August 5, 2016 by nmigliore

['7']

Our only hope to make noise is if the Dodgers fall out of it somehow and we play somebody else in a 1 game playoff. Dodgers are only +3 on the rest of the crew so it's not outlandish...but I still expect them to be there

My only hope for this offense would be Yo healing, Duda healing, and lining up Yo-Duda-Bruce in the same lineup. That could be formidable if they're all hitting on all cylinders.

Barring a miracle, Duda is done for the season. There won't be any triumphant return for Wright either. 

I don't see this offense just flipping a switch like they did last season. 

[nmigliore]

Per Rubin, Amed Rosario was activated from the DL, back with Binghamton. Good to see.

Speaking of prospects, Jeff Paternostro of Baseball Prospectus chatted about (nearly everything) Mets today: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/chat/chat.php?chatId=1364

Keep in mind Jeff is also a Mets fan. I used to read a lot of his work in the past when he contributed to Amazin' Avenue - he's good but I feel there is a small bias in his Mets' prospect views (which kind of shows with the fact he answered like 90% Mets questions in that chat).

Edited August 5, 2016 by nmigliore

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Good re:  Rosario.  Was hoping to see him back sooner rather than later.

LOL @ Sandy when he was talking about the organizational "strength" at Herrera's position.  Who?  A diminished, fragile Reyes and friggin' error machine Cecchini?!  Don't see either of them helping much. 

[NJDevs4978]

1 hour ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Good re:  Rosario.  Was hoping to see him back sooner rather than later.

LOL @ Sandy when he was talking about the organizational "strength" at Herrera's position.  Who?  A diminished, fragile Reyes and friggin' error machine Cecchini?!  Don't see either of them helping much. 

The funny thing about Cecchini is that Ron Darling basically pooh-pooed the idea of Ceech ever being any part of the solution during an interview with Joe/Evan yesterday, hinting that he talks to Wally a lot and 'well I can't say more than that...' then going on to say that despite Ceech's high average they called up Matt Reynolds first and in his words 'what does that tell you?'.

Edited August 5, 2016 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Overrated Thor of course can't give up a 2-run HR fast enough to offset the support given to him.  The staff is just as unclutch as the hitters.  Why does Dan Warthen still have a fvcking job here?  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

About time Dan...glad you still have a heartbeat.

['7']

If this is how Thor is going to pitch than go ahead and shut him down, get the surgery to remove the spur, and punt the season.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

These gutless turds are doing a fine job punting away the season all on their own.  

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Of course Verlander will mow these zilches right down this inning.  These pussies don't have it in them to answer back.  

[NJDevs4978]

18 minutes ago, '7' said:

If this is how Thor is going to pitch than go ahead and shut him down, get the surgery to remove the spur, and punt the season.

The Mets just never ever ever get any luck when it comes to wishing away injuries.

['7']

It almost seems like the Mets violated some universal law last year by winning the NL. HOW DARE THEY. Now every single thing. Every single event, injury, break, MUST break against us. The Mets going to the 2015 WS was just such a monumental rift in time and space that int 2016, everything must go against us in every which way shape and form to make up for the joy we experienced

['7']

4 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

The Mets just never ever ever get any luck when it comes to wishing away injuries.

The Nats need a rash of injuries and bad luck at this pojnt. From the start of the season until now, they are the luckiest,  most blessed team I've ever seen. We've had 1000 terrible things happen to us. They've had 0. It's like we now have to suffer for the joy of 2015.

I think as years go on we will truly see how rare and blessed the 2015 run really was. We played in the god damn world series! When will be the next time we see that again!?

Really this game was no surprise. When they got a brief lead they just barfed it back again. What has it been, a month since our last 2 game winning streak even?

It's readily apparent this team doesn't have the guts, luck...or anything to make any sort of run. We've have gotten literally a million signs that this team is just not going to take that next step, it will not contend, it will not challenge, it will never get a clutch hit, it will never get a clutch break.

It's just not our year. 

Edited August 6, 2016 by '7'

[capo]

This team is the bad movie you just spent the $100 to take your family to. You can't leave... you just have to sit there and endure the pain. On top of that you gotta piss like a sumna... and now it's causing you physical pain to.