MLB Talk: The Mets, Starter or Reliever? And Instant Replay

To hear, read and watch anything related to the New York Mets is like rereading the book “The Worst Team Money Can Buy” and then realizing that the story was about the 1992 Met team that flopped tremendously.

It seems like three days are not allowed to go by with another Mets related drama. Whether it is Carlos Delgado not giving curtain calls to the fans. Jose Reyes not hustling. Carlos Beltran’s inconsistent play. Billy Wagner’s mouth. Mets fans booing of everything. Now Willie Randolph thinking that his performance is being evaluated in racial terms, and David Wright is (or is not) calling out his teammates.

It does not stop. And it certainly does not appear to end anytime soon. At 23-25, the Mets have continued the inconsistent trend that carried them through must of last year and culminated in the biggest collapse in the history of baseball in September. Johan Santana was supposed to remove the stench of 2007, but he is only one man. He cannot make up for the games that feature Mike Pelfrey, Claudio Vargas and Oliver Perez.

Santana also cannot make up for an offense that is littered with age, and inconsistency. Six of the every day eight hitters in the lineup have an OPS (on base plus slugging) of .800 or less. Or those six, three of them have an OPS of less than .700. Jose Reyes, the driver of the Mets offense, is falling off the planet offensively. If it were not for the hot start of Ryan Church, the record would be much worse. The offensive is in need of a Viagra type boost, but help will not be able to come from the outside. Bad contracts have the team stuck with what they have in left field, second and first base. Catchers that can hit are not available. Personally, they do not need any reinforcements. They have the pieces necessary, but are not playing to their abilities. Reyes needs to hit. Delgado has to prove that he is simply in a slump and not old. Beltran and Wright need to supply the power. Church needs to be steady. And Alou needs to find his way on to the field.

The problem with the Mets and their fans this season is that they will not be bad enough to be out of the race because Atlanta and Philadelphia are not good enough to run away from them. But they will not be good enough to sustain any long-term success. Hovering close to first place but not showing any signs of really being a first place team. It makes each game and each inning as if it were football, rather than the marathon that is the baseball season. It is a very uncomfortable way to watch these games.

The Great Debate: Starter or Reliever

Much discussion took place before the season as to whether the Yankees would be better off with Joba Chamberlain as a starting pitcher and being able to dominate over a course of seven innings, compared to the one inning he would pitch in the eighth inning. He has been so dominant in that role, that it would difficult to replicate that kind of success as a starting pitcher. This led to the following question:

What is more valuable? #1 starter or #1 relief ace?

What you are asking is who is more important to one’s team? The Josh Beckett type starter or Mariano Rivera coming from the bullpen to end the game. On the surface, the answer would be a starting pitcher. However, with the evolution of pitch counts taking starters out of games after the 7th inning or 100 pitches (whichever comes first), it makes getting the last six out of a game very difficult to navigate. The road is even more treacherous when you have no confidence in the people you have in the bullpen to get those outs. It can be a deflating feeling for a ballclub to get a great pitched game only to have victory snatched away in the late innings.

However, let’s be real about this. No relief pitcher can ever be as valuable as starting pitcher. Think about it, how many failed starters and mediocre relievers have been able to channel their energy into pitching one good inning and be an effective closer? Now, how many of those same pitchers have been able to become number one type starting pitchers?

The answer: None

Finding that type of pitcher is so rare and that’s why it costs so much. It is almost never available for a trade. And teams that have it exhaust all means to lock them up financially.

Answer these simple questions:

Is Jon Papelbon more valuable than Josh Beckett?
Is Billy Wagner more valuable than Johan Santana?
Is B.J Ryan more valuable than Roy Halladay?

The answer to all those questions are no. This is especially true in postseason baseball when one tremendous starting pitcher can win a game all by himself.

Remember, you cannot utilize a bullpen ace unless your starting pitching can get the ball to him. Mariano Rivera doesn’t get into the game when the team is trailing.

Instant Replay: Took long enough

Let’s see...if you have the technology, why not use it? Seems like a novel concept to me. If people in the stadium can see it on a monitor, and people at home can see it within the span of 30 seconds, wouldn’t it make sense to use this to correct obvious faults?

In the last seven days, at least four homeruns could have been called correctly had instant replay existed. Major League Baseball has always been slow to administer change, so it no surprise why it doesn’t exist now. What they are really waiting for is a team to lose a playoff or World Series game before having an epiphany on the matter.

I guess getting the call right is not as important as the "drama" of being upset over a blown call. How sad is that?

Yankees Talk: The season can start now.

There is usually a turning point in a season when a team is struggling and they have that one game or moment where everything turns around

For the Yankees, that “moment” came this afternoon in the eighth inning against the Seattle Mariners.

Trailing 5-2 going into the second to last frame of the game, the team put together their most impressive comeback of the season, scoring four runs in the inning to take the lead and hold on for a 6-5 win.

It was strange because as the game was going on, I was never concerned that they were going to lose this game. When they were trailing 3-1 in the fifth, there was a quiet confidence. When the game was 5-2 in the eighth, I still had a feeling the game was not over.

There was a game last year when I had the exact thought pattern. The game was in Chicago in June, and the Yanks had won two games in a row from the White Sox and were showing signs of turning things around. Bobby Abreu, who had been struggling all year delivered a two run double, and Alex Rodriguez capped off a six run ninth inning with a grand slam. Right then, I knew all the bad moments of the previous 50 plus games had been put aside and good days were ahead.

On Sunday afternoon, once Derek Jeter walked and John McLaren walked to the mound to bring in Arthur “Mr. Gasoline” Rhodes, the game was there for the taking. Abreu (remember him) double into the right centerfield gap to make it 5-3. On came the closer J.J Putz to get six outs for the save.

That was not going to happen on this day.

Perhaps suffering from a lingering injury, Putz’ velocity was noticeably down. Rodriguez worked a 9-pitch walk. After Giambi was called out on a borderline strike three from the ump, Hideki Matsui hit a chopper to the left of the pitchers mound. Putz made a diving attempt to stop the ball, and his throw to first that went over Richie Sexson 6-7 frame into foul territory scoring a run to make it a 5-4 game. Robinson Cano tied the game with a sacrifice fly, followed by Jose Molina’s lead changing run scoring double.

Yankees now lead 6-5. Enter Mariano. Game over.

It was the teams first come from behind victory after trailing by two runs or more. The win was their fifth in a row to get them back to .500 at 25-25. No team outside of the Red Sox and Angels has established themselves. For all of the drama that has taken place, they only Boston by three games in the loss column.

How is this possible?

And things are only set to get better. The offense is finally starting to hit and Jorge Posada is set to return in several weeks. The starting pitching is making improvements. The bullpen has been spectacular. The schedule is there to make plenty of noise in the month of June. If that can happen, the team will position themselves for a very good summer.

The 2008 season can officially begin.

Political Chatter: Dont bet against McCain

In the interest of fairness, I must disclose that I am a supporter of Sen. John McCain. With that being said, we can now proceed.

As I am watching the Democratic Primaries play out, I am simply amazed (or maybe I should not be) by the way their infighting has carried on and is likely to play on through the convention in Denver. It has began to make me wonder if McCain could pull what to me would be the greatest upset in the history of presidential elections.

Let’s be honest, because the last four years of President Bush have ranged from below average to downright bad, and he has put the Republican nominee (no matter who it was going to be) in a near impossible situation to win. McCain, who as a moderate, does not appeal to a sizable percentage of the "base", is forced to adjust his own personal views to “fit in”. It is to suggest that he was not “Republican enough” for his party. This has led to him not being able to maximize fundraising, as President Bush was able to do in both 2000 and 2004. And it puts him at an extreme disadvantage in comparison both Senators Clinton and Obama, who are raising at least double the money he is. In Obama's case, I've been wondering if he has a secret room to print money.

Then you add the other factors that are working against him:

Age: He is a 72-year-old man. For the most grandpa running for office. In some voting circles, that alone makes him the butt of many jokes and in others, disqualifies him from being president.

War: McCain voted for the war in Iraq. He has been 100% behind it since Day 1. This in many ways is very noble considering that many politicians have been quick to flip flop when it suits their position best (see: Kerry, John and Clinton, Hillary). At least Obama can make the argument that he voted “No” to the war from the beginning much like McCain voted “Yes.”

Economy: Polls over the last decade have shown that Democrats are better at handling the economy than Republicans are. Factor in the rising fuel prices, unemployment, mortgage crisis, and higher cost of living across the board, and this has left many voters in November looking for a change. President Bush now hands off these problems to the November winner. McCain has stood behind most of the President’s policies that has brought about the phrase “Bush’s Third Term”. He has just over five months to make a clear distinction on how he will solve those problems and not come across as Bush’s hanger-on. But he is helped by the fact that both Clinton and Obama have clearly (under)stated that they plan to raise taxes in order to get out of this hole.

Essentially, McCain is running a 100-yard race against either candidate and is starting 30 yards behind. Everything is working against him. In reality, this election should not even be competitive. Yet as of right now, if the election were held today, McCain finds himself nearly even with Clinton and leading Obama in national polls.

How is this possible?

It is to McCain’s credit that we live in a “45-45” world, meaning that both Republicans and Democrats will get that percentage of the vote no matter what assuming each party has a strong turnout. It is that remaining 10 percent that is up for taking. The way the electoral map is breaking out, if Obama (most likely) is the opponent, he will have a chance to win this unlikely election.

Obama has had problems in states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, that total 41 electoral votes. If McCain is able to win those states, along with taking Florida and Michigan, he will pull this upset in election that is shaping up to be as close as it was the last two cycles.

He should not even be this close in the game. But the Democrats are allowing him to stay close enough to give him more than a punchers chance in November.

That is all he needs to win this thing.

Yankees Talk: Getting late early? Or is it?

Sure, it is one thing to watch these games each night and conclude that the 2008 version of the New York American League ball club is simply a not very good team. They have aging players with fat contracts causing roster inflexibility. A starting staff that the organization illogically concluded that starting two pitchers (more like one) who were coming off their first serving of Similac would somehow provide enough effective innings over 55 to 50 starts. Mix in some timely injuries here and there and you have what you see over the first 45 games of the season.

A 20-25 record nearly mirrors their start from the 2007 season. Looking back 365 days, the Red Sox had gotten of to a great start and by the end of May, had built up a double-digit lead. This season, Boston has not gotten off to the razor sharp start, but as of this moment leads NY by 7 ½ games and gives every indication that this race will not be a contest by the All Star break.

Where does that leave the Yankees?

Think of it like this…

The main contenders for the Wild Card in the AL are the Indians, who are 22-22. The Detroit Tigers, who are 18-27. And the Seattle Mariners, who are 18-28. Unless I am to believe that the Tampa Bay Rays are going to hold up the entire season (they will not), the Yankees are only 1 ½ games behind Cleveland. They have gotten very lucky that the main contending teams have fared so abysmal in the first quarter of the season that it has allowed them to stay in this malaise without any repercussions.

Before the season, I was of the belief that the Yankees would not make the playoffs. I still believe that this will be case simply because of an innings chart that did not balance out and project to enough victories to make the postseason. My initial theory was that 94 victories were going to be needed to make the postseason. If after 80 games, Cleveland, Detroit and Seattle continue to have similar records, I will have to amend that number to 90.

Coincidentally, my win projection for the NYY this season was 91.

The team awaits the return of Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada. Possible reappearances from Robinson Cano, Johnny Damon, and a return from the dead by Jason Giambi. This is all before finding two starting pitchers who will be able to provide stable innings the rest of the season.

The Yankees will have their chance to fatten up their record in June as they have 22 of 25 games from June 6 to July 3 against pedestrian opponents. If they can do that, they will be able to change the fortunes of their season as the summer brings more home games and a good chance for another postseason appearance. Forget about the Red Sox. They are the best team in the league and they will not be caught in the AL East.

I know New York patience is about as existent as a $3 bill. But fellow fans, everything should work out fine.