Can We Forfeit Yet?

There's four games left in the 2010 Mets season. Four. And three of them are against the Nationals (although this might actually be a point in our favor). For the Mets to crack .500, they can't lose again. But this is the Mets we're talking about, not a team that...gee, I don't know, wins games! (By the way, I'm fully endorsing the Tampa Bay Rays in this year's playoffs)

Nick Evans is shut down. Carlos Beltran is shut down. Although I can't find myself too upset about the latter. I strongly dislike Beltran and fully blame him for the Mets trading away Frenchy. However, since things have been pretty downhill since the team went to Puerto Rico, I can't blame him for entirely breaking up the team's chemistry.

Is it possible for this team to cry "Serenity Now!" and forfeit the rest of the games? I wish they would. Maybe it would give Jerry and Omar extra time to clear their offices out. Come Monday, hopefully we will also have some answers as to the future of this team.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $15.90

R.A. Dickey Is the Only Reason I Still Watch the Mets

I'll admit, when Omar Minaya signed R.A. Dickey this offseason, I thought to myself, "Why are we wasting our money on a 35-year-old pitcher?"

Well, R.A. Dickey has proven pretty much everybody who had that same thought wrong. R.A. Dickey's knuckleball may arguably be the sole bright spot in a season that might perhaps be the most epic failure of a baseball team ever. Now, when I see that R.A. Dickey is pitching, I say to myself, "We have half a chance of winning today, provided that the offense actually shows up."

Dickey leads all Mets starters with a 2.80 ERA and is in second in wins, only behind Mike Pelfrey. Dickey's allowed 48 earned runs in 154.1 innings pitched, even though because of the Mets offense doesn't show up half the time, I don't think this stat reflects accurately on his 11-6 record (even though out of our regular starters, he has lost the least amount of games).

We have half a chance of avoiding a sweep of the Braves today because of R.A. Dickey. Not because of David Wright or Angel Pagan (who, FYI leads the team in batting average), or the bullpen or the management. When R.A. Dickey takes the mound, it's like I have better confidence in this team. Of course, this team has totally crushed me in recent weeks. Lets just leave it at I feel better with Dickey on the mound than anybody else.

Can we please bring him back next year? Kthanksbye.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $15.00

The David Wright 150th Strikeout Extravaganza!

If I had a dime for every time David Wright struck out, I would now officially have $15.00!!! Huzzah!!!

My goal was make $20 on David's striking out, but I will have to settle for $15 and thank God his whiffing isn't as bad as it was at the beginning of the season. Sure, David may lead the team in swinging and missing, but we can all rest assured that he also leads the team in home runs :D

Just because the Mets are mathmatically eliminated from ever amazingly coming back from behind and destroying the Phillies, the David Wright Strikeout Counter will not die! I think I'm both proud and sad that I cared about a stat this long into the season.

Well, Mets fans, enjoy these last few games we have left; it's gonna be a long winter. And always, always, always root for whoever ends up playing the Phillies in the playoffs. And I really miss the Great Gazoo/Dark Helmet batting helmet.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $15.oo

I Can't Believe I'm Writing This Sentence

The Mets have won three games in a row.

I can't believe I just wrote that. The Mets have won three games in a row. The Mets have won three games in a row. That, my friends, is called a winning streak and their first one since June 10-18, when they had that 8-game winning streak. June seems like so long ago.

With this win, the Mets have climbed back to .500, which I am perfectly content with. However, I do think we got lucky thanks to a couple of defensive errors on Pittsburgh's part, a 7-run 4th inning and a key hit from Angel Pagan.

Jenrry Mejia left the game after 2.1 innings with shoulder issues....I have a feeling he would have pitched the first Mets no-no. An MRI is scheduled for tomorrow. Raul Valdez came in and immediately got us in trouble. Well, it could have been worse....it could have been Oliver Perez.

Tomorrow, the Metsies wrap things up with Pittsburgh and try to complete the sweep (really, I just wrote that?!?!?). Mike Pelfrey takes the hill against Charlie Morton, a guy who is 1-11 with a 9.05 ERA. Future Cy Young anyone? Somebody's in line for their second win of the season.

Dear God, please let me be wrong about the outcome of tomrrow's game.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $14.90

I Like Dan Warthen

As the Mets near the reality of being mathematically eliminated (Tragic Number: 5), rumors are swirling around about whether or not Omar gets re-assigned, about who might replace Omar Minaya, and about who might replace Jerry Manuel. Because lets face it: Omar and Jerry will not be at the helm for 2011. If one of them is still here and 2011 is totally depressing, at least we know who the common denominator is *cough* Omar *cough* and can assess the situation.

However, with all this talk of firing and hiring, what about the job status of some of Jerry's coaches? Obviously, Howard Johnson is on the chopping block. But if I had to pick somebody to survive the inevitable housecleaning, I would say Dan Warthen.

Pitching has never been an issue for us all season, except when Oliver Perez was in the rotation. But we fixed that...and now we're paying Oliver Perez $12 million to sit in the bullpen (somebody tell me where to sign up for this gig). In our current rotation, only R.A. Dickey is over the age of 30. Jon Niese, Dillon Gee, Jenrry Mejia, and even Mike Pelfrey are still young, impressionable starters. Whatever Dan Warthen is doing with these guys is obviously working. If we were to change that, I don't know how well that bodes over.

Mets pitchers have pitched 18 shutouts this season, and that's no small feat considering the lack of offense they get. Any hit can be the game winner on this team. I think the pitchers have even greater pressure on them when the hitters aren't hitting. I give Warthen and his pitching staff a ton of credit for the job they're doing. I hope everybody sticks around for 2011.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $14.70

I Literally Cried.

In case Mets fans have been living under a rock for the last six hours, or have been totally disgusted by the team all together and have stopped caring, Johan Santana is having season-ending shoulder surgery*. He should be fine by the beginning of spring training 2011 and the prognosis for a full recovery is "execellent."

When I heard this news, I literally cried. Like not a fake cry. A full on cry. Not because our ace pitcher is hurt. I mean, lets face it: the Mets would be lucky to finish the season with a .500 record. Because I know what's coming. The Mets already need to get a solid #2 starter for the 2011 season. Or even a #3 guy if they re-sign R.A. Dickey (which I totally think they will). Oh yeah, and maybe a closer guy.

Looking into the crystal ball that is our already-doomed 2011 season, neither void in the rotation will be filled if Omar Minaya remains the general manager. Sure, the neccessary changes to our coaching staff will be made (buh bye Jerry!), but no new players will be signed and we'll be stuck with Oliver Perez and John Maine, who is apparantly still a Met.

I think I cried because I'm thoroughly disgusted and I just want the season to end. I want the pain, and the suffering, and the misery to end! And then I want Omar to get re-assigned. Although I am a fan of a good firing (au revoir Jerry!), we do have all that "untouchable" young talent in the minors/Mets thanks to Minaya.

But I just don't see the preverbial gap in our rotation ever being filled.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $14.30 (the David Wright Strikeout Counter does not reflect tonight's plate appearances. But they're losing badly like I said they would, so....yeah)

*This photo is not from today's press conference. Luckily.

Oh. Em. Gee.

In the epic battle of two pitchers making their major league debuts, Dillon Gee was the winner. Oh course he was the winner. I mean, it was their turn to win. That being said, expect R.A. Dickey to go down to Nationals tomorrow.

But back to Dillon Gee. He pitched 7 innings of one-run ball, and no-hit the Nationals for five innings. The next time this happens, might I suggest to Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez that they should probably shut Gary Cohen up using whatever means necessary.

Met-killer Willie Harris continued to be a Met-killer by killing Dillon Gee's no-hit effort. It's like the Nationals assembled a team of Met-killers that can totally annhilate (you thought I was gonna say kill, admit it) the Mets, but not tonight!!!!!!

Ike Davis hit a three-run homer in the first inning to provide all the offense we needed. We scored another run in the second to...you know...give us breathing room.

David Wright apparantly has a bruised ring finger and was a late scratch from the lineup tonight. He better come back soon. He was on a tear. But at least now I know he isn't on the shit list.

With this victory, Omar Minaya's job is saved for another day. However, the tragic number still goes down to 12 because I just realized that the Phillies were in first place. Bastards.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $14.10

I'll Take Anybody

As we get into September and perhaps the most irrelevant baseball of the entire Mets season, we are asking ourselves questions like:

"Who is going to be the next manager?"

"Will Omar get fired too?"

"Who will stay and who will go?"

"Which needs will and won't be addressed?

"Is Oliver Perez going to be in a Mets uniform?"

"How bad will Luis Castillo's knees be next year?"

"Will Carlos Beltran ever be at 100%?"

Obviously, I know the answer to none of these questions. If I did, then I'd say the Mets will win the World Series in 2013 and David Wright finally gets the NL MVP award he should have gotten three years ago (By the way, this year, I'm endorsing Joey Votto for the MVP award. Don't judge.) and Johan Santana wins a Cy Young Award. But really, I wish I could be that optimistic. But the Mets make it hard.

Two names have come up for opinion in the Mets managerial race for 2011. They would be Wally Backman and Bobby Valentine. Currently, Backman is within the Mets organization, leading the Brooklyn Cyclones to the playoffs. Jeff Wilpon met with Backman earlier this week to discuss "stadium renovations" to KeySpan Park. Something we all surely believe. Backman has also recently said that there are some things he could probably do better than Jerry Manuel.

The other name tossed into the ring is Bobby Valentine. Valentine got the heave-ho back in 2002 along with Steve Phillips after a dismal effort. However, Valentine has the ability to take nothing and make into something. I mean, who knew who Benny Agbayani was before Bobby Valentine hit the scene? And he did something right in Japan if all those Japanese baseball fans protested to keep him around, right? But really, I miss a good ejection followed a sneak attack into the Mets dugout whilest wearing a Groucho Marx mustache.

Peter Gammons is reporting that Bobby Valentine is the frontrunner to come back. But really, at this point, I think I'd take anybody. Really, I'd take anybody. I would like for it to be Wally Backman or Bobby V, but instead of endorsing one or the other, because I'd be happy with either one, I'm gonna say that the next Mets manager should not be Jerry Manuel.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $14.00

They Should Have Forfeited

When I saw the lineup of Castillo, Thole, Wright, Carter, Beltran, Davis, Duda, Tejada, and Pelfrey, I thought that this team should just forfeit. And that they did. They snuck in a run in the eighth inning, but otherwise only got two hits.

Mike Pelfrey let off four runs in five innings. Billy Wagner got his 31st save of the season...for the Braves. I forgot how much I hated the Atlanta Braves. But I think I hate our team more at this point.

While it's great to see a lineup filled with young players, we're playing for dignity at this point. If you put the Buffalo Bisons (plus David Wright) up against the Atlanta Braves, the Atlanta Braves win every time. We really don't have a better lead-off hitter than Luis Castillo?

This team sure knows how to piss off its fans; they could give me free tickets and I wouldn't go to the game. They could let me meet David Wright before....wait, I'd go to the game, bad example.

Au revoir, 2010 season.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $13.90

How Come We Can't Trade the Players We Hate?

I liked Jeff Francoeur. He had a cannon of an arm. I'm pretty sure he led the majors in outfield assists. Sure, he didn't hit the ball very well this season, but when Frenchy did hit the ball, it mattered. Six of the 11 home runs he has hit either tied the game or put the Mets in the lead. I'll be honest, I was hoping we'd keep Jeff Francoeur around. He seems like such a refreshing clubhouse personality and always has a good demeanor about him.

Frenchy's all-around good persona made him an instant fan-favorite, despite his career low .234 average or whatever it is. I stopped looking at stats about two months ago (save for the strikeout counter, which is sadly bookmarked on my laptop).

Now, Frenchy isn't the only fan-favorite to either not come back next season or get traded mid-season. Most naotably, there is Tom Seaver and the Midnight Massacre. Although it's hard to say who was more upset: the fans or Seaver himself. We got rid of Nolan Ryan; however, Ryan had requested the trade and is now El Presidente of the Texas Rangers, where Frenchy will soon be landing.

More recently, I cried when I found out that Edgardo Alfonzo was going to the Giants. I was upset when Mike Piazza didn't get another year with the Mets. And although I liked Carlos Gomez and was sad when he left, we got Johan Santana in return so we really couldn't mourn that loss for long.

Thinking about how some of these players left and thinking about hasty trading just because we didn't really need Jeff Francoeur anymore (and because he was on Jerry's $#*! list) makes me think that nobody in that Mets front office is thinking about the bottom line. They're not thinking about which players really draw fans to the ballpark. Jeff Francoeur was a player that I would want to sit in right field for. Now I have to retreat back to my usual seat of choice...along the third base line.

I also want to know why we can't trade away the players that we hate. It's not like Luis Castillo is hitting any better than Jeff Francoeur; it's just no team was stupid enough to claim him when he was placed on waivers. I don't anybody, the Mets included, wants to touch Oliver Perez with a 10-foot pole. But at the same time, who wants to pay Oliver Perez $12 million for doing nothing? I wish I could get paid $12 million for doing nothing. Oh wait, that's called hitting the lotto, which is exactly what Oliver Perez did, contractually speaking.

So basically, I'm blaming Omar Minaya for everything. Again. Even with ticket prices slashed down to $11, you're still gonna have the fan base that is pissed off at you...which is basically the whole fan base.

Au revoir, Frenchy. You'll be missed.

David Wright Strikeout Counter: $13.80