Santana and the Mets Shine in Miami; Everyone Else Loses

IMAGE: ALPINEINC FROM FLICKR


So it's only April, yeah, and it's only April 1st, but that being said I couldn't have asked for much more to kick-start the 2008 season and completely bury 2007.

Johan had no opening day butterflies, and was simply brilliant, making one mistake to the Hammer, Josh Willingham, after getting squeezed for a walk the previous batter, hence the two runs. Aside from that blemish, Johan gave all the elements of a well-pitched game that you could ask for. He fanned 8 in 7 IP, at one point downing 4 consecutively, but also mixed up his outs, getting fly balls when it was easy to do so and ground balls, less so, when required. He made a couple of solid plays with the glove, and when he got into trouble, he got out of it. For me, the highlight of his performance was the full-count strikeout of Hanley Ramirez, leaving two runners stranded for the Marlins in their only real shot at a rally.

And then we had our rally...

And as an aside, yes, I will loosely refer to the Mets as us, though some folks turn their nose up at it. I will not follow a team day in and day out, on season and off, buy merchandise and buy seats all year, and refer to them as some alien entity with which I have no identifiable connection. They're Us.

But anyhow, when was the last time we had a rally like that? My guess would be August? Everyone got involved, and the big guys led the way. That is how an offense of this caliber is supposed to function, not scattering hits and relying on the longball, but looking to Wright and Reyes and Beltran to get things churning or finish them off, while the lesser hitters just keep it going in between. Again, this was only day one, but it's all we've got, and I can't think of a better way to get it going. Let me reiterate, too, as always, David Wright was huge, and needs to be the Captain of this team,

Pagan, at least for a day, really earned his spot on this roster, while Ruben Gotay was busy striking out in one pinch-hit AB in a braves uni.

Which leads me to the other news of the day. I have been in Atlanta for over a week now for family/business reasons, and am staying through this weekend to see the Mets come in to town, hitting a peak on Sunday with Santana v. Smoltz. But yesterday, I watched the Met game, happily, and then turned the Braves on. Noticing plenty of empty seats, I decided what the heck, why not go, and sure enough, not only was Turner Field NOT sold out on opening NIGHT, I mean you can't even say you had to go to work, but I got in there, complete in a Mets hat, jersey and '86 starter jacket, for FREE. Some guy just gave me his extra ticket as I walked up to go buy one. What I got was more than I expected. I expected to go antagonize some rednecks, which I did, but what I got was an epic game, with the Braves scoring 5 in the 9th to force extra frames, the last two runs plated on an error on a pop-fly, only to be defeated by good 'ol Xavier Nady, the X-man himself, who belted a 3-run game winning shot about 10 feet away from me in the 12th inning, and also went 4 for 7 with 4 RBI on the night. I wanted to get some angry rednecks and maybe see the Braves lose to a sorry team, and what I got was angry, drunk, tired, heartbroken rednecks and a disgrace of a loss for the Braves. All I can say is This.

Did I mention that Flash Gordon got absolutely Mota'd in the 9th down in Philly? 5 runs on 4 hits in the 9th=it's gonna be Mets-Nats on top all year. (Ok, well...) The Phils still hit like they do, but their criminal of an ace, their hero Brett Myers, was very unspectacular, yielding 4 runs over 5 innings to a weak offense. Day One in the NL East could not have been scripted better.

Elsewhere, the spanks' final opening day at the toilet party was ruined by rain, the Injuns beat the ChiSox in a good one in 10 innings after a horrible interference call that prevented a Chicago run scoring in the 9th. Ozzie Guillen, not so much with the happy.

The Cubbies and Brew Crew duked it out for 8 innings without scoring once, as Sheets and Zambrano were both excellent, and then it got real interesting: Milwaukee scored thrice in the top of the 9th, setting the stage for Eric "le drug buddy de Paul LoDuca" Gagne to walk two batters on 9 pitches to start the bottom half of the 9th. Then stepped in the new guy, Kosuke Fukudome, already 2 for 2 with a walk on the day, who proceeded to take Gagne's 3-1 over the Ivy and outta here. That Japanese guy, he's good. But oh wait a minute...Kerry Wood can't hold the tie in the 10th, Brewers win anyhow, oh well.

Rocktober has clearly come to an end, as the Rox hot finish last year was cooled with a 7-1 thrashing from the RedBirds. Eric Bedard was pretty good in his Mariners debut, Webb outdueled Harang for a Dbacks W, and Peavy did the same to Oswalt as the most boring team in the majors that doesn't play in Oakland won their opener and stayed classy in SD.

The scrappy Royals spoiled the Tigers opener with an unlikely rally, Tampa downed the O's, Barry Zito still ain't worth all that cash, and apparently the Twins will not go winless without Johan or Torii Hunter, the latter of whom got a standing O in Minnesota yesterday, then went 0-4 in a Twins win. And that's that.

So long, it's been good to know ye

IMAGE: CHSCHWA17 FROM FLICKR

The image to the left was taken by someone else, who I'm glad took it and took the time to post it on flickr. The scene it shows took place during quite possibly the most memorable baseball game I have ever attended, certainly the most memorable regular season game. The primary reason for that is that attending this game with about 20 other people, using my 2 season tickets and going stubhub crazy, was the highlight of a great, clean, bachelor party last spring. That alone would have made this a game that would stick out in my memory, but on top of the event, it also happened to be an interleague game, and ended in a David Wright walkoff double. Even better. Oh, and Brooklyn's own Paul LoDuca went absolutely ape on the umpire, not once but twice, totally inspiring the crowd and apparently the team as well.

This is what Paulie could do above all else. I know I'm beating a dead horse by alluding to Duca's heart, but there's a reason that every Met fan on the internet or in any deli or bus stop says this, and that's because it's true. On a team rife with players possessing questionable drive, he was among a small minority who really gave it their all, and stood out.

Now he's a Nat, and I for one hope he gets a Piazza-esque standing O next year at Shea. (Oddly enough, Mikey P got a Shea standing ovation at that same bachelor party game) I can guarantee anyone that he will stand out against the Mets from here on out, as he probably feels slighted by them, and should.

The real annoying part of all this is that the only logical explanation I could find for not resigning Duca was an insistence on multiple years in a contract. That made some sense, what with his clear tendency to wear down. But he signed a one year deal in DC! Somehow I doubt he wouldn't have done the same to stay in a place he loved.

I wonder what would happen in a collision at the plate between Paulie and Brain Schneider. Ugh...

The Santana race continues, and frankly, if what we're hearing is true, I'm frustrated, and my reason for it probably puts me in the minority. If John Heyman's article on SI.com is accurate, Johan Santana would be a Met, done deal, if the Mets were to include both Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez.

Here is where the whole prospect thing aggravates me. Youth and Minor League talent is certainly valuable, and something to be held on to at almost any cost. Don't for instance, trade your best pitching prospect for an aging, mediocre starter when your team probably can't contend anyhow (Kazmir). Don't trade an OF who has allegedly been the gem of your system for years when his value is low for a truly sub-par return (Milledge). In short, don't sell the farm for mediocrity or mild improvement, but by all means sell it all, sell anything for the chance to bring the best pitcher in the game onto a team that is already a borderline contender in the weaker league.

What I don't get about all of this unwillingness of Omar's (and, admittedly, most Met fans...) to trade both of these guys is that at the same time the Mets are talking them up and don't want to give them away, everyone else seems to be killing the quality of the Mets' collection of top prospects. We go from "not having the chips to land a front-line starter", which I've heard again and again, to being unwilling to include one more guy to get THE front-line starter of all front-line starters.

Remember, we're not talking about hurting the quality of the on-field product. In any of these Gomez and F-Mart scenarios, we keep Reyes, Wright, Perez, Maine, Beltran, and every other current potential starter except maybe Church, while adding Santana. How can you not do that? Especially in a year when the Mets are particularly draft-heavy, having effectively three first-round picks in the upcoming draft. I don't mind if the farm system takes 2-3 years to be rebuilt while I watch ballgames in late October at Shea/Citi.

My vote: if they want 'em all, give it to 'em.
I'll probably get killed for this in the era of BA, BP, etc. Oh, well, I think I'm right.

Bring Your Kiddies, Bring Your Wife, Bring 'Em All...

IMAGE: MICHAEL G. BARON FROM FLICKR

So after driving cross country, totaling my car and getting stuck in the Show-Me State for 3 days, I came home to some serious family matters, and thus have been absent blogwise for a glaring amount of time. Hopefully, somebody noticed.

Where the hell do I start? It's difficult to navigate through all of the non-action/potential yet improbable action that the hot stove has yielded through early December. You probably gathered what my feelings were with regards to the Milledge debacle based on the last post and the current poll, and I've simultaneously softened and hardened towards the deal. I've softened because time has passed, we have what we have, and one must always try to practice acceptance; I've hardened because since the moment of that deal, all the really juicy wheeling and dealing began, and the Mets, if they were not going to let 'Stings play, are at the very least short one more chip. Mets PR is telling us that there wasn't much interest in Milledge, but you just can't tell me that a 22-yr old who has been touted as a 5-tool player for the last three years (whether those tools work or not...) wouldn't be of some value in a trade, even as a throw-in. Not many teams would refuse to take him. I put a lot of stock in what Peter Gammons says, and he said this (2nd paragraph from bottom).

But again, what's done is done, and I can only hope that Brian Schneider solves the whole staff and that Ryan Church either helps acquire something bigger, or decides to play against everyone else the way he has played against the Mets.

Now we come to the winter meetings madness. It was really wishful thinking on all of our behalves approaching the Santana situation, and it seems as if Omar and Co. knew that. If what appears is going to happen happens, and the Red Sox end up with Johan, you can start talking about a rotation of historic proportions. Remember Pedro and Schilling in 2004? Subtract 14 combined years of age. Oh, and they've still got Curt Schilling, and the other guy, that japanese guy. I recall some sort of mild hubbub surrounding him about a year ago. If this Yankee "deadline" with Santana and the Twins proves to be a reality, Hank Steinbrenner is simply a fool. Not only have they (the Yankees) arbitrarily withdrawn from a negotiation they certainly weren't out of, they've also made things a lot easier for their arch-rivals. Just don't make no sense. Sometimes the whole prospect thing just gets a bit out of hand. You won't give up Hughes, Cabrera and Kennedy for JOHAN SANTANA? Melky Cabrera is not a star, and he never will be a star. He's a little better than Preston Wilson at his prime, but still with less power. Phil Hughes has definitely been pumped up quite a bit for a while now,and showed flashes of real effectiveness but he's already been injured. Ian Kennedy is basically Mike Pelfrey with less hype-time behind him. If I'm a GM, I give up just about anyone for Johan Santana. It's great to hold on to young talent, but when one of the best pitchers the game has ever seen is on the table, let it go. Remember, blue chip prospects can always turn in to a deal for Ryan Church and Brian Schneider. Hank Steinbrenner's misconduct to date is encouraging to me as someone who has a vested interest in seeing the Yankees in peril.

So Johan's out. Next stop? Dan Haren. Simply, I really, really don't see it happening for the Mets. I hold Dan Haren in a very high regard. He's very young, very good, and very consistent, all nice things, but early reports are that Billy Beane is coming out guns blazing as he shops Haren. The word is that it'll take about what it takes to get Santana from the Twins to get Haren from the A's, and there are two reasons that that should leave the Mets out of it. A) They don't have what it takes to get Santana, so they wouldn't have the equivalent of something they don't have. B) Good as Haren is, he's not Johan, and no one should pay that price. Maybe I'm wrong here, maybe Beane backs of a bit, but unless that happens, you can count the Mets out of Haren.

Then there's Erik Bedard. The nice thing about him is that the two biggest suitors for any big name (NYY-BOS) are just about eliminated from the start by sharing the division with the Orioles, as are the Blue Jays, who apparently have expressed interest in him. Common sense, as well as winter meeting rumblings would say Baltimore wouldn't deal him withing the AL East, although Peter Angelos has a tendency to be a complete moron.

Bedard is an option that I find to be very attractive. He brings a little more flash than a Haren, if not a little more risk, and probably at a lower price than the two pitchers mentioned earlier. The Mets are said to have offered Humber, Gomez and Heilman for Bedard already, twice actually, (credit to MLBTraderumors.com)and the O's declined both times. What's encouraging is that if that package is a discussion, maybe Pelfrey/Mulvey instead of Humber is a deal, and I'd be happy with either scenarios. Also, the Dodgers initially appeared to be the front-runner in the Bedard race, and have now backed off significantly. I say go get him if you can.

The next option would have been Dontrelle, but Dave Dombrowski dropped a bomb on all of us by acquiring him and more notably Miguel Cabrera, thereby creating a potential powerhouse in Detroit. I'm not gonna lose any sleep over missing out on Dontrelle Willis, at this point.

A.J. Burnett? Meh. I suppose he's better than a lot of other options, and definitely better than no one, but at what price. He has an opt-out clause in a year, and a bad history of injury. If this drives the price for him down considerably, say a Humber/Pelfrey and a minor-leaguer, I'd go for it, but anything more is too much of a risk to give up a lot of value for a potential albatross is he got injured and then didn't opt out.

I don't see why the Mets don't sign Carlos Silva regardless of anything else, and I have a feeling they will. Can't hurt.

With all of the pitching talk, I'd be curious to see if the Mets were inquiring on any outfielders, via free-agency or trade. Not the priority right now, but another bat that's better than a Church would be nice if the pitching thing can get worked out...

Or maybe nothing happens at all, Pedro pitches 200 innings, Delgado returns to Toronto form, and Ryan Church explodes. Or not.

Go get that Canadian lefty from Baltimore, dammit.

Explanation

I have been in the midst of a family emergency for some weeks now; not a bad one, but one requiring of my undue attention. That is why the blog has been inactive. Will post very soon concerning many things, but I had to hop on and chip in on this:

I have supported Omar Minaya from the get go, but right now I hate his miserable guts for making this team considerably worse. Milledge for Church and Schneider?