I Fear For the New Mets Closer

With the trade of Fransisco Rodriguez to the Brewers, the Mets have created a hole in their bullpen. We also saved $17.5 million. And we have some monies.

People are reacting one way or the other about the Frankie Rodriguez trade. I've heard people say that the Mets just forfeited. I've also heard people say that we can get Reyes now with the money we saved on K-Rod.

I really don't care.

Yup. I really don't care. Why? Rumor has it that Bobby Parnell or Jason Isringhausen could step up and become the next closer. In my honest, humble, Post Traumatic Mets Disorder-influenced opinion, the ninth inning will always be an interesting affair. Sure, Frankie would get the job done...after runners are on first and third for the opposing team there's a full count on the batter. You could put whoever you want in the closer's role, we still wouldn't have a reliable closer. I'd say that the most reliable guy in the last decade or so has been Billy Wagner, but even he had his epic hiccups.

Put Parnell and his 100 mph fastball in. Put Isringhausen in with all his experience. Put Ryota Igarashi, who's on his way to New York, in the game. The Mets can't close the door easily. The bullpen has always been a crutch for the Mets, but I feel that Parnell and Pedro Beato can be groomed into a decent 8th-9th inning platoon.

I don't care who pitches in the ninth inning...whoever it is will have me biting my nails till the end.

The Mid-Season Metsy Awards

Well, the All Star break is finally upon us, and while most Met players have a 4 day vacation, most Met fans are figuring out what to do about four days without baseball. Sure, there's the All Star Game, but that forces me to root for players I hate simply because they play for the National League. So with that in mind, I present the first ever IAMTM Mid-Season Metsy awards! Hooray!

Mid-Season MVP: No questions here, Jose Reyes is our mid-season MVP. At the time he went on the disabled list, he was putting up Ty Cobb numbers with a .354 batting average, 65 runs scored, 124 hits, and 30 stolen bases. Then he tweaked his hamstring and lucky for us, he'll be back within the next three weeks, maybe even in time for the Phillies Series of Death.

Mid-Season Cy Young:While all of the Mets pitchers have had their moments, as well as their struggles, I pick DillonGee as our mid-season Cy Young. No rookie pitcher as gone 7-0 since Jon Matlack did it in 1972. Currently, Gee is 8-3 with a 3.76 ERA, even though I'm willing to argue that two of those three losses are unfair.

Most Improved: The most-improved player of the mid-season, for me, is Carlos Beltran. Beltran went from a player who is only 80-85% to a guy that plays every day and gives it his all every time. I even demoted him as my team sad sack. Now that's scary.

WTF Moment of the Mid-Season: Barring any other bizarre moments, this may be my WTF Moment of the entire season. The Ike Davis and David Wright collision that landed both players on the disabled list, although only Davis's injury is directly rel

ated to the collision. First of all, they're on opposite sides of the field. Second of all, doesn't one player call the other one off? I'm still trying to figure out how this happened. The good news is that Terry Collins hopes both players can return to the team in the next three weeks.

Most Pleasant Surprise: The most pleasant surprise for me this season has been Justin Turner. He lost out to Brad Emaus for the 2nd base job in the last weeks of spring training, got called up near the end of April, and began the season on a tear. He's also the only Mets player to interact with his fans on Twitter. You can follow him (@redturn2), but you probably already do.

Sad Fact of the Season: Even though they have been on the disabled list for two months, both Ike Davis and David Wright remain among the team leaders in home runs. I'm serious. Go check it out.

Most Anticipated Return: I think most Mets fans have been looking forward to the return of Johan Santana for a year now, mainly because of the questions it represents. The main question on my mind: who gets cut from the rotation if/when Santana comes back? Maybe there will be 40-man rosters by then because I've become attached to everybody.

Player I Miss the Most: Yes, I made up a Metsy so I could give David Wright an award. Do you hold it against me?

Injuries, Injuries, Wait....Someone's Coming Back????

Mets GM Sandy Alderson was a guest on WFAN this morning and provided updates on some injured superstars.

There will be more clarity as to when David Wright and Ike Davis will be returning next week when they both get re-evaluated. Alderson feels Wright will return before Davis and is "hopeful" that Wright gets the "green light" next week.

Alderson also feels that there will be an emotional lift when Wright returns (and one very happy Strikeout Counter) and that Wright, Davis, and Johan Santana coming back will provide a similar boost to acquiring players at the trade deadline.

According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, Santana has dealt with soreness in his surgically repaired left shoulder for the last week and a half and now might not return until August.

The Mets have done a good job gaining in the standings since Wright and Davis have been on the DL. Now, they just need a little push to get over .500 and contend in the NL East. I still think they can contend; winning is a different story. They're playing scrappy and they employ arguably the best player in the National League. When Wright, Davis, and Santana come back, things can only get better.

David Wright Strikeout Counter (just for old time's sake): $4.30

What Can You Get for $1? Apparantly a Majority Stake in the Mets

You can get a bottle of water for $1. But can you also get a 60% stake of the Mets?

According to Forbes, you can. Last month, Einhorn, the MLB, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz reached a deal in which Einhorn pays the $200 million for a 1/3 stake in the team. He would also have the right to obtain a 60% interest unless Wilpon and Katz returned the $200 mil, in which case, Einhorn would still own 33% percent of the team.

The strike price for a 60% stake in the team? Just $1.

However, some sources familiar with the deal are calling it hogwash, especially the part about buying a 60% stake for $1. The team has also refuted these reports.

Whatever deal the Mets and Einhorn have reached, it has been sent to the MLB for review.

I'd like to believe that it'd be this easy for Einhorn to gain control of the team. Pay $1 more and own 60% of a baseball team. If it was that easy, I'd personally give Einhorn the dollar. But that's just nonsense.

I have to wonder if Forbes knows what they're talking about sometimes. First, they value the team at -$225 million. Yes, that's negative two hundred and twenty five million dollars. Now they're saying this guy Einhorn can buy the Mets for $200,000,001. Only negative 24,999,999 dollars until we break even.

Top 5 Reasons I'm Aggravated This Season

I'm going to be honest here: I'm very frustrated with the way this season is going. Sure, there's a new GM and a new manager and new coaches but the problem is still there. This team still stinks...and they might even be worse than last year. It seems like anytime we gain the back page in the New York sports pages is when we epically fail...or when someone gets hurt...or when Fred Wilpon opens his mouth. It's hard picking out just five things that I'm angry at. I'm just angry. It's not fun watching this team anymore. Anyway...here goes:

1. The ownership thinks the team is a piece of s***. At least according to The New Yorker anyway. I can't help but wonder if the Wilpons want the team to stink so that they can move it to Florida, like Rachel Phelps. But when the ownership doesn't give a rat's ass about the team, it's hard for the fans to care. They took a step in the right direction by naming David Einhorn a minority stakeholder...but the Wilpons still have the controlling majority and Einhorn has no say. I think the Wilpons should just sell the team to somebody who gives a damn and get it over with.

2. Pitching, pitching, pitching. Three things you need to win a ballgame. Three things we don't have. It's bad when I'm counting down the days until Dillon Gee pitches so that we have half a chance of winning. Dillon Gee was just supposed to make a spot start for Chris Young and now he's the only pitcher I rely on in that rotation. How long until Johan Santana comes back? At least a month? Good grief.

3. The Mets haven't hit rock bottom yet. Really? It can get worse? When you consider that we're basically fielding the Buffalo Bisons and Carlos Beltran and that we're hanging on to 4th place by a thread, yes. And bottom might still be a long ways down, so buckle up; it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

4. There's not one scapegoat. Some days, we lose because of starting pitching. Some days, we lose we get no offense. And even still, other days, we lose because of the bullpen. I really can't pin anything on one player not performing or one un-clutch at-bat, and for some reason, that aggravtes me. I mean, if you ask me, the real scapegoat is Fred Wilpon, but he doesn't put on a uniform and play a baseball game for nine innings.

5. David Wright is on the DL. Yup...I'm angry this happened? Sure, he was htitting a .236 with 6 HR's and 18 RBI, but I just like seeing David's gorgeous face on the field everyday. Is that so wrong? The real travesty here is that we lost both Wright and Ike Davis in the same week, but Ike Davis doesn't have a Strikeout Counter in his honor, now does he? That and without the David Wright Strikeout Counter, there really is no purpose anymore.

Honorable Mention: Ike Davis is on the DL. Ike Davis was one of the few Mets players that had gotten off to red-hot start this season. In fact, even though he's on the DL, he still is near the top of the team leaderboard in most major hitting categories. At the time of his injury, he was hitting a .302 with 7 HR and 25 RBI. What bothers me even more is how he was injured. He collided with David Wright? David Wright? Don't they play on two opposite sides of the field? Allegedly. But this is the Mets we're talking about. Anything can happen.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $4.30

Daniel Murphy will not play 3rd base...

That would just make too much sense to put a player back into the postion in which he was orginially drafted.

Just had to put that out there.

Willie Harris gets more playing time unless they find Nick Evans.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $4.30

There's Something Wrong with David Wright

I was all ready to write a nice, happy, optimistic post because the Mets are not in last place anymore, if only by proper grammer.

But then I checked Facebook. And I found out about David. And his lower back stress fracture. And how he's getting a second opinion on his back before he makes a decision about the DL. Yeah, it happened on that tag to Carlos Lee last month.

And now it makes sense. The .226 batting average. A David Wright Srikeout Counter that desperately needs to be updated. And at least now I'll forgive him for colliding with Ike Davis because for the longest time, I was mad that it was Ike who was on the DL and not David (but mainly because Ike was actually hitting the ball).

I'd like to believe that David won't go on the DL but this is the Mets we're talking about. Of course he's going on the DL. I saw the story on SportsCenter about the squirrel in the Padres bullpen and was surprised it didn't happen to the Mets, only because it seems like something that would happen to the Mets.

But anyway, I really honestly hope David's lower back is the reason behind his slump. But for all the haters out there, he hit the game-winning home run while playing hurt. That's truth.

My other hope out of all this is that they finally call Buffalo and ask them to find Nick Evans. Really this time....not just showing us a Buffalo Bisons game on MLB Network to let us know he's still there.

David Wright Srtikeout Counter: $4.30