Double the Applesauce - Reyes officially done, where's Evans?, Beltran wants to retire as Met

by Joe Budd on Sep 29, 2009 8:40 AM EDT in Applesauce Comment 47 comments

So, when I don't write one day, it turns out that there are a lot more links to be included in the next day's post. Wow. There is a lot here. Oh, and by the way, the Mets have lost 90 games this year and there are only five games remaining. New York is 23.5 games behind Philadelphia for first place.

Meet the Mets

The Met rookie hazing occurred over the weekend and I'm still trying to scrub my eyes clean.

David Wright slacked off.

Carlos Beltran wants to spend the rest of his career with the Mets. I would be very happy with that circumstance.

Jose Reyes began running, but will not make it back into the Mets lineup the remainder of the season.

The Mets picked up Rutgers product Jason Egbert from the White Sox waiver wire. Quick grammatical question: would that be White Sox's?

Octavio Dotel has said that he'd like to return to New York, preferably with the Mets.

The Nick Evans watch has reached a critical level. Metstradamus comments. So does Fire Jerry Manuel.

Rob Neyer lists the Mets as the most disappointing team in the Majors.

The New York Times' Jim Luttrell argues that the Mets can get by with Daniel Murphy at first base because they have gotten by with players like John Olerud and Keith Hernandez before.

The Mets did not fare well against the Jets.

More good reasons to fire Jerry. A few more here too.

After watching the Mets organization this year, Mets Today has decided that it needs more Backman.

Around the NL East

You know it's bad when Federal Baseball refers to the Mets as"lowly." By the way, that was Ross Detwiler's first MLB win.

Former Phillies GM Pat Gillick is willing to return to baseball in the right situation.

The Braves have won seven straight games and are now only 2 games back in the wild card standings. Can someone explain to me why on earth this news doesn't upset me anymore? For some reason, I have this weird desire to see the Braves pull this off. If there is a tie, Atlanta gets home field in the one-game playoff.

Bobby Cox's lame duck status hasn't sunk in yet.

The company that owns the Braves has been linked to steroids dealing.

Around MLB

Rangers shortstop Omar Vizquel is going to try bullfighting this offseason.

Zack Greinke shuts up some of the win-mongers, but not with his words.

Carlos Zambrano might retire. He is hilarious.

The Brewers are interested in Rick Peterson as their next pitching coach.

The Astros will look at Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell in their managerial search.

Ichiro was ejected for the first time in his career.

Eddie Guardado will likely retire.

Felix Hernandez is having a really good season. He just got CC Sabathia's endorsement for the Cy Young. Also, this is probably going to mean a huge payday in the near future.

Rich Harden is also going to do pretty well in free agency.

Zach Duke was pulled with 2 outs in the 9th inning of an 11-1 Pirate lead so that he could get a standing ovation from the Pittsburgh crowd.

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Erm

I would say White Sox’ Waiver Wire

by deadspy3 on Sep 29, 2009 9:28 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Blueandorange.net

Really loved that take on Jerry: comprehensive and insightful

by OlStubbleBeard on Sep 29, 2009 9:40 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I've liked almost everything I've read on that site so far.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Sep 29, 2009 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's definitely one of the better Mets blogs around

by James Kannengieser on Sep 29, 2009 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did anyone read that piece about Murphy at 1B?

What a terrible rationale, that because Pete Rose, Olerud and Hernandez didn’t hit for power Murphy is OK at first.

If Murphy were a significant plus defender like Olerud or Hernandez AND had anything close to the on-base ability of any of those guys it would work, but he doesn’t.

I think Murphy will be better next year, as he has shown signs of improving this year, but I would only keep him at first to hold down the fort for Ike Davis and if we get a good bat in LF.

Too bad Murphy can’t play 2B, because his bat would play there.

by Balagast on Sep 29, 2009 10:29 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, that was absurd.

On pretty much every level. Murphy isn’t anywhere near the player Olerud or Hernandez is. And the Olerud-era Mets were getting 35 homers, 100+ RBIs from the catcher’s position, something this team certainly isn’t doing.

by Bieser's Balk on Sep 29, 2009 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Right, they are only getting it from CF now, and big production out of SS.

At least give Murphy a couple months to show if 2008 was a complete fluke, or if 2009 was.

"It's like the old phrase goes.....The balls in your court now Mr.Church, so you take that ball, you dribble it up the court and....................................... get a layup"
- Keith Hernandez

by nrmax88 on Sep 29, 2009 5:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He. Is. Not. John. Olerud.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Sep 29, 2009 5:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and we know that how?

"Solo homers usually come with no one on base." -Ralph Kiner

by metsguy234 on Sep 29, 2009 6:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Even if he somehow could hit like John or Keith

Which I think is a huge stretch, I see no way that he ever has the defensive ability Olerud or Keith did. He just isn’t a very athletic guy and that isn’t something that is simply going to change simply though hard work etc.

I highly doubt Murphy ever has a single season that even matches Olerud’s career .398 OBP or .376 wOBA.

I don’t know for sure Murphy will not be that good, but its kind of like I’m not 100% sure the world doesn’t end tomorrow. On one hand you cannot be 100% sure it won’t happen, but you can have an educated prediction and be very confident it won’t.

by Balagast on Sep 29, 2009 7:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

because John Olerud is a borderline hall of fame player.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Sep 29, 2009 9:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

John Olerud was the man

baseballprojection.com has him at the 129th most WAR for a position player. He had a career .398/.465. Murphy is no where close, not now and probably not ever.

by EtSuKe on Sep 29, 2009 9:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This

In fact, I’ll take it one step further and say Daniel Murphy is going to be Lou Gehrig. I mean, there’s no way we can know he won’t be, right?

"We must win and we must know how to win rather than win because we have statistical people."

by Evan_S on Sep 30, 2009 12:42 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Omir is more clutch than Piazza

/snark

Somehow, a chain of events unfolded that put Steve Phillips in a professional broadcast booth Sunday night so he could rip Carlos Beltran. Try to explain that in any other terms.

by Greenpoint Ian on Sep 29, 2009 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ugh, how stupid

I’ve been harping on this poor logic all year. “Murphy, who does not hit for a lot of power, will be fine at first base, because Hernandez and Olerud, who did not hit for a lot of power, were fine at first base” is like saying “Stephen Hawking, who is confined to a wheelchair, would be a good wartime President, because Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was confined to a wheelchair, was a good wartime President.”

by JoshNY on Sep 29, 2009 6:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually, I can think of worse prospective wartime presidents than Stephen Hawking.

More like, “Stephen Hawking, who is white, would make a good basketball player, because John Stockton, who is white, was a good basketball player.”

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Sep 29, 2009 9:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Grammar question

For nouns ending in -x, you do use apostrophe-s for the possessive. So it would be White Sox’s.

by dcmetsfan on Sep 29, 2009 11:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

That's true

but Sox isn’t a real word, and is a cipher for Socks which ends in s….

by deadspy3 on Sep 29, 2009 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

when we spell Socks! it has to end with an exclamation point

"Solo homers usually come with no one on base." -Ralph Kiner

by metsguy234 on Sep 29, 2009 6:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think many of the criticisms of the Mets W/L record in the minors is unfair.

The Mets are the only franchise in the majors that currently has an affiliate in all 7 minor league levels (23 franchises have only 6, 7 teams support 7) as well as teams in both the DSL and VSL. They spread their talent over more levels than any other organization.

"We're just as bad as the old Mets, but this time nobody's laughing"
-Dallas Green

by Schmidtxc on Sep 29, 2009 12:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree with your Braves sentiment!

I was actually thinking about it during my last class; I kind of want to see the Braves pull this off, and it freaks me out!

by Metzfan22 on Sep 29, 2009 12:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I disagree

And if the Marlins fail to ruin the Braves season the way they did ours each of the last two years, I vote for launching nuclear missiles at Cody Ross’ house.

The ONLY way the Braves making the playoffs would be worth it is if by some miracle, the Phillies collapsed and Colorado still won the wild card.

Somehow, a chain of events unfolded that put Steve Phillips in a professional broadcast booth Sunday night so he could rip Carlos Beltran. Try to explain that in any other terms.

by Greenpoint Ian on Sep 29, 2009 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Even better

the Braves are even making Phillies fans sweat. The Phils have struggled, and there are posts on their blog about a potential collapse. If the Braves catch the Phillies (and the Rockies pass them too), I will officially forget every bad thing they did to us from 1999-2005 and will root for them to win the World Series.

"[The Giants] beat us down. We were beat by a grown-man team, a team we want to be like one day. They came in here and took it to us. Out-manned us, out-gunned us. ... It wasn't even close." - Raheem Morris, 9/27/09

by cjmulrain on Sep 29, 2009 12:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Me too

I don’t think I’ve ever really rooted for the Braves, but now I am.

I live in Philly, the general sports radio talk is awesome right now. If they lose again tonight there might be full blown riots in Philly.

by Balagast on Sep 29, 2009 1:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

it's funny

A die-hard Phillies fan friend of mine has been sending me increasingly frantic text messages. His latest gem was that if the Phillies blow this, it will have canceled out the 2008 season for him entirely.

Somehow, a chain of events unfolded that put Steve Phillips in a professional broadcast booth Sunday night so he could rip Carlos Beltran. Try to explain that in any other terms.

by Greenpoint Ian on Sep 29, 2009 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It would go some way to cancelling out 2007 for me

But god doesn’t love me that much.

by SuperT on Sep 29, 2009 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the real question is,

if the Phillies blow this, will Cole Hamels come on the radio and admit THEY are choke artists, too ?>

by fxcarden on Sep 29, 2009 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

heh

I told my friend that the best thing about a Phillies choke is that it would shut up all the obnoxious Phillies fans who call the Mets chokers.

Somehow, a chain of events unfolded that put Steve Phillips in a professional broadcast booth Sunday night so he could rip Carlos Beltran. Try to explain that in any other terms.

by Greenpoint Ian on Sep 29, 2009 6:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Also

I didn’t read the article, but I can already tell you it’s a major fail saying we can survive with Murphy b/c we “survived” with Olerud and Hernandez. Olerud and Hernandez were both plus defenders and among the best OBP guys in the business. Murphy is neither.

by cjmulrain on Sep 29, 2009 12:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Somehow I just stopped watching

right about the time training camps opened for the NHL.

After last years disasterous Islanders season I figured a contending Mets team this year would be a nice escape. Funny now that I am actually more excited for the Islanders this season and they are in rebuild mode. I’m not even lookin forward to April 1st.

by Chickendirt on Sep 29, 2009 1:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

at least with the Isles

we know they’re in rebuild mode. Even though they’re most likely gonna suck this year, it’ll be fun to watch the young guys develop, and who knows maybe they’ll surprise us. This Mets season has just been such a waste – we were supposed to be good, instead we suck, and we have no idea what the future holds. Other than Thole we haven’t gotten a good luck at anyone who might have a real future in Queens, we don’t know if Reyes or Beltran will ever be the same again, we don’t know if Wright will ever hit 15 homers again, etc.

2009 = worst baseball season ever. I’d almost prefer to watch the ’62 Mets – at least they had no expectations.

by cjmulrain on Sep 29, 2009 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ichiro ejected?

That’s just…wow. You almost never see Japanese ballplayers argue with the umps. I’m guessing it’s a cultural thing.

Somehow, a chain of events unfolded that put Steve Phillips in a professional broadcast booth Sunday night so he could rip Carlos Beltran. Try to explain that in any other terms.

by Greenpoint Ian on Sep 29, 2009 2:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

or a language thing

what the hell are they gonna say to each other?

by cjmulrain on Sep 29, 2009 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I thought that too

According to the blurb linked, Ichiro drew a line in the dirt showing where he thought the pitch was, and that’s what got him tossed.

Somehow, a chain of events unfolded that put Steve Phillips in a professional broadcast booth Sunday night so he could rip Carlos Beltran. Try to explain that in any other terms.

by Greenpoint Ian on Sep 29, 2009 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

In all seriousness

there is literally NO good reason why Evans isn’t playing. But after all, I really want to see what Cory Sullivan showcases for us.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Sep 29, 2009 3:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ninth inning pinch hitting

disappointments?

by deadspy3 on Sep 29, 2009 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the reason evans isnt playing

.240 average

OBP under .300

last time I checked, that’s bad

"Solo homers usually come with no one on base." -Ralph Kiner

by metsguy234 on Sep 29, 2009 6:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

except against lefties

he has a 135 OPS+, which is very good.
so yeah, like I said, no reason why he shouldn’t be playing every single game against left handed pitchers.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Sep 29, 2009 9:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Where's Nick Evans?

Catching in the bullpen at Nationals Park – no joke, I’m sat above the Mets bullpen again today. Evans just spent some time catching Dan Warthen in the pen. I asked Nick if he had caught in the minors, he said not really, so I said “is this just for fun then?” and he said “we’ll see what happens” or words to that effect.

by deadspy3 on Sep 29, 2009 5:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs