Thursday Morning Applesauce: Marlins can't touch Dickey, Schwinden about to debut, Reyes not type A?

The Mets offense didn't do much yesterday, but who needs offense when R.A. Dickey is on the mound? The Duda and Reyes were content to give him a run in the first inning and simply sit back and enjoy the show from that point on as the Mets managed a 1-0 victory over the hapless Marlins. The game marks the last time I'll ever have to stare at the ugly orange seats of whatever you want to call it stadium, but I'm really hoping I get to see the stadium one last time as it joins Fulton County Stadium, the Kingdome, and Three Rivers Stadium in the scrap heap where it belongs.

The Marlins will be opening their new stadium to the countless hordes of other teams fans next season, and when the Mets come to town they are hoping to treat those fans to a Johan Santana start. To that end, the Johan is expected to be pitching in a rehab game this Friday. If all goes well we might actually be seeing him in the major leagues this season, but frankly I'd just be happy to have him back for 2012. Even with the impending return of Johan Santana, Dave Searles doesn't see a whole lot of reason to think the Mets will be better in 2012. I don't know that I'd really agree with much of what he wrote, but he's certainly entitled to his opinions. Howard Megdal sees a good reason to be excited for 2012 though. He took a look at the return of David Wright over at his blog and pointed out that his recent hot form isn't necessarily something out of the ordinary.

One pitcher who has a chance to prove he can contribute to the 2012 roster is Chris Schwinden. Schwinden will hopefully be making his first start in the big leagues today as the Mets have a double header with the Braves. He's certainly had himself a nice year to date, so hopefully it ends well for him. 

Bobby Parnell is another Mets pitcher who's been auditioning for his 2012 role. Dan Martin notes that his role has become somewhat murkier with his recent outings. The 7 train to Shea also recently looked at the struggles he's had in the closer role. I'm firmly of the opinion that these guys are forming their opinions on too small a sample, but I have hopes that Parnell will be penciled into a role other than the 9th going forward simply to keep his arbitration figures less expensive.

It doesn't look like the Mets will be faced with too many difficult arbitration decisions this year in regards to free agent compensation. Offering to Jose Reyes is a lock, but what kind of compensation we can expect isn't. According to the latest Elias rankings at MLBTR, Reyes is right on the edge of type A/B compensation status. If that's not a pretty clear indication of how terrible that ranking system is, I don't know what will convince you.  

In ex-Mets news, Lenny Dykstra was back in court where he pled not guilty to his most recent charges. If this doesn't show what being traded to Philadelphia at a young age will do to youngsters, I don't know what will. Bud Selig really needs to take note and just contract the Phillies for the well-being of society in general.

Around the NL East:

Speaking of those nasty Phillies, they won again to sweep the Braves in the only other game involving NL East teams on the day. The Braves will now look to continue their losing ways against the Mets. The Phillies did get some bad news from baseball, however, as MLB told them to quit crying about the use of instant replay. Crybabies...

MLBTR took a look at the depth the Braves have currently built up in their rotation. They certainly look formidable for 2012, but I don't know that it's of all that big a concern to Mets fans at this point.

FanGraphs took a look at the start to Stephen Strasburg's career. He's certainly going to be a fun pitcher to watch if he stays healthy, it's just too bad he's in our division.

Around MLB:

One area where the Mets may being looking for reinforcement this winter is behind the plate. BtB takes a look at what the catcher market may look like this coming winter.

Those pesky Rays won their 1000th game last night in walk off fashion. Congratulations to Rays fans, hopefully they won't have to suffer through too many more wins at that awful stadium.

Baseball Prospectus took a very interesting look at umpire positioning. The article is not behind a paywall, so enjoy...

Lookout Landing tackled the issue of cheering for losing in September. In addition to being interesting, it's probably very relevent to the current Mets club.

Mike Trout was named the BA minor league player of the year. Congratulations.

McCovey Chronicles takes a look at the way the club has used Brandon Belt. I'm a huge fan of the lineup card they submitted.  

Finally, Jeff Passan takes a look at some of the baseball issues that could make September interesting with the lack of pennant races we have.