Your 2011 Mets - Part 7 - Big foot steps to follow

While the Mets have been a revolving door at Third Base, they have been well represented by all-stars and hall-of-famers behind the plate. The first player the Mets ever drafted was Hobie Landrith, a catcher. So no pressure Josh Thole.

Thole held his own against major league pitching during his first real taste of the majors in 2010. Hitting .286 so far in his major league career. He isn't going to be a power hitter or middle of the lineup batter like some of his famous predesecours. But he is a solid spray hitter with a little bit of pop. Most importantly Thole calls a good game and has a descent arm. The Mets would be smart to find a more reliable backup for Thole than Ronny Paulino.  He needs an experiecned backup (a Todd Pratt type) who isn't going to push him to be teh starter, but will be a good sounding board for him, and help him get to the next level.

Is he going to be a Buster Posey or Joe Mauer? Its way to early to tell. But young man who was born the day after the Mets last won the World series, is going to be a solid preformer for the team for years to come.


Josh Thole (pronounced toll-EE)

Your 2011 New York Mets - Sitting at the dock of the Jason Bay.

Most free agents and newly traded players struggle a little bit when they come to New York. And eventually after their novelty time ends, if they are not living up to expectations, the boo birds come out. Jason Bay struggled with New York and the vast dimensions of Citi Field were quite different than the coziness of Fenway Park.

Luckily he was spared the ire of the Flushing faithful, as we had enough villains in blue and orange to boo. But did he really struggle, or were we all expecting monstrous homeruns and gaudy RBI numbers.  Yes there were times that it seemed a week would go between Jason Bay hits, but then all of a sudden he's easing into  second base after nearly every at-bat. Like team mate Carlos Beltran, Jason is smooth in the field and on the base paths and it appears he isn't giving 100% effort.

He played a solid left field and was beginning to hit when his season was cut short by a concussion. Luckily the Mets let him take his time recovering and he is ready to go for Opening Day. He could have a big year especially is the guys in-front of him are getting on-base consistently, if those doubles are driving in a run or two he can become a fan favorite like another smooth hitting lefty from the Pacific Northwest John Olerud. If he is inconsistent he will be booed and though of like another very calm left-fielder Kevin McReynolds.

Jason Bay will be one of at least seven Mets in the 2011 Opening Day lineup who in the Mets minor league system. Reyes, Pagan, Wright, Bay, Davis, Thole and Pelfrey.

Your 2011 Mets - Part 4 - I had no catchy line to describe ... Carlos Beltran

With Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo gone, the Mets fans will have Carlos Beltran to kick around. Unless he gets off to a hot start and is traded. Regardless, the Carlos Beltran era for the New York Mets will come to an end in 2011, as there is no way he will be resigned. 

I think part of the fans problem with Beltran is he doesn't look like he is hustling. He isn't diving all  over the place, "running through walls", getting really dirty. He is a much more nuanced ball player than that. He is more like a fine wine rather than a six pack of PBR.  I always thought he doesn't run to the ball like a wild man, because he knows where its going and he's gotten there already.  

During his career Carlos has proven himself as a five tool player. Probably the only one the Mets have ever had during the prime years of his career.

a five-tool player is one who excels at hitting for average, hitting for power, base-running skills and speed, throwing ability, and fielding abilities.

Yes this year will be sort of an experiment with Carlos in right field. I think the transition will be easy on him, being such a gifted outfielder.  He has such great instincts out there he is going to be such a huge help to Angel Pagan in center. I hope that his last year in Flushing will be a good one and that we can once and for all forget about the called strike three in the 2006 NLCS.

In addition to being such a fine overall player, he is such a valuable cog in the line up. As power hitting switch hitter he protects the righty David Wight before him and the lefty  Ike Davis behind him. He helps extend the line up out. 

     

Projected lineup with Carlos

1. Reyes (s)
2. Pagan (s)
3. Wright (r)
4. Beltran (s)
5. Davis (l)
6. Bay(r)
7. Murphy (l)
8. Thole (l)

Projected line up without Carlos

1. Reyes
2. Pagan
3. Wright
4. Davis
5. Bay 
6. Murphy
7. Thole
8. Duda (Seriously Lucas Duda would be replacing Carlos Beltran! F-Mart sprained an ankle just thinking about replacing Beltran)

I think without Beltran in the line up there is something lacking and you quickly get

unproven players in the line up. With him you have unproven hitters 7,8 and 9, without him your lineup drops off after the five hole. 

So Mets fans boo him while he is still here. But ask your self why. What did Carlos Beltran ever do to you?

Carlos is tied with Todd Hundley as the Mets single season home run leader with 41.

Technology sucks!

So I wrote this really great post about Ike Davis for my "Your 2011 Mets" series but then I accidentally deleted it off of my Blackberry. So I'll have to re-write it.

I head K-Rod and Dan Warthen on WFAN yesterday and they both were so positive ... I was really pumped up. I want the season to start right now. The pitching staff seems good and solid and quoting the human-cliché machine David Wright "if we play up to what it says on the back of our baseball cards" this team should hit. So if they stay healthy  ... Maybe they can make a run.

I was so pumped up, I threw on a Johan Santana t-shirt and a Mets onsie for my son.

Speaking of Johan, apparently he had a great throwing session.

Angel Pagan said he is going to steal more bases as a Met this year than Jose Reyes ... Sure because Reyes will be gone long before Jose Reyes banner day in August.

I think this blog his becoming a little anti-David Wright. Hmmm.

Your 2011 Mets - Part 3 – JOSE! JOSE! JOSE! JOSE! JOSE! JOSE!

 

I was driving to work this morning and I finally came up with the words to describe Jose Reyes. Close your eyes.  Image what it sounded like at Shea Stadium or sounds like at Citi Field when Jose Reyes makes the turn around second base racing towards third.  Doesn’t that sound the same as a young Dwight Gooden rearing back and hurling a fastball in when he had two strikes on a batter? Yeah it does.

This is going to be a big year for the most talented player EVER to come through our farm system. I’m not going the best since Darryl route. I’m saying most talented ever to wear the uniform. He is fast on the base paths, he has great range, he has a canon arm, the fans love him and he loves to play the game.  I’ll admit it I like Jose Reyes a little bit.

I like Jose like I like Keith Hernandez, Mike Piazza and Edgardo Alfonzo.

With his contract up at the end of the season, and the current sorry state of the Mets now make me worry what uniform Jose will be wearing Opening Day 2012. I worry what uniform he will be wearing by the time when the Happy Recap has their annual outing n August.  But economics aside the Mets need to keep Jose in Flushing.

Here are some Myths and facts about Jose Reyes

He is injury prone – MYTH  - Last year Jose played in 133 games. He lost a bunch of games early in the season because he was sick.  2009 was an anomaly he (like virtually every other Met) caught the injury bug. But 2005-2008 he played a minimum of 150 games.

Citi Field was built for him – FACT – come on look at those gaps. Look how far back those walls are. You watch games and he hits a liner between the centerfielder and right fielder and I say Triple. Seriously that place wasn’t built to hit homers.

He got lazy after he signed his first big contract- MYTH – He was awesome during the summer of 2006. He finished 7th in MVP voting, won a Silver slugger, was an All Star and led the team to a division title.  He nearly led the team to another division title in 2008.

So enjoy Jose while we still have him. 

Your 2011 Mets - Part 2 – Hu’s on Second … or Emaus … or Murphy … or God forbid Luis Castillo

It’s a really rainy day here in New York and I’m working form home. Well I was this morning, now I’m taking a personal day.  So I went over to Metsblog.com and was watching some footage from SNY on Brad Emaus. He looked pretty slick out there. Its funny how they make a point of showing him catch a routine fly ball.

I think Second base is going to be an intriguing choice for Terry Collins.  I think you have three legitimate candidates.

Lets start with the incumbent … Luis Castillo who was the regular second baseman yesterday is a solid fielder (despite the image above) and when healthy is a valuable asset at the top of the lineup behind Jose Reyes. He is a patient contact hitter who can work the count allowing Reyes to get himself to second and then move him over to third giving the Mets a good chance to score. But he along with Oliver Perez became the face of everything that is wrong with the franchise.  I’m pretty sure he invested a chunk of that huge contract Omar gave him with Bernie Madoff.

Next we will look at the man without a position. Daniel Murphy. He can hit, and had he not gotten injured at the beginning of last year, perhaps he is the Mets starting first baseman right now. What he lacks in experience he makes up with determination. HE paled second base in the AFL and in the Dominican this off-season and hopefully he can get some extra instruction from two of the Mets minor league managers who happened to have won rings with the Mets while platooning at second. And with the plan of having Pagan hit after Reyes at the top of the line up, Murphy slots in better in the seven hole. 

Lastly we have Brad Emaus who admittedly I know very little about, other than watching that video.  From what I read he is a good hitter (albeit he hasn’t played in the majors yet) and a good fielder. Not as good a hitter as Murphy not as good a fielder as Castillo. Hopefully he plays this weekend in one of the games the Mets play this weekend, and I can get a fuller look.

Chin-lung Hu, and Reben Tejada are on the outside of the competition looking in. 

Your 2011 Mets - Part 1 - Angel Pagan

I wrote an article a few years ago for Seven Train to Shea about Angel Pagan ... and I just can't find it anywhere. I don't remember what I thought about Angel two years ago. I know what I think about him now. I am pretty sure he is not a legitimate major leaguer ... perhaps a AAAA player. Yes he had a good year in 2010 .290/11 hr/69 rbi ... actually 11 hr and 69 rbi is not that impressive.  He was better in the outfield and didn't make all the mental mistakes he had as a part time player.

Pagan will probably hit second behind Jose Reyes, but I personally like him down the lineup better. He isn't a very patient hitter and not the ideal contact hitter to help move along Jose Reyes. I understand having him bat after Reyes, since they are both speedsters. But I like the idea of having a second leadoff batter down the line up, perhaps sixth. Here's to me being wrong about Angel.

As of August, 2010 Pagan has had over 1,150 plate appearances without being hit by a pitch. Take one for the team dude!