R.A. Diculous

So everybody is all abuzz now about R.A. Dickey.  Most of what I have been reading and hearing from the media has been overwhelmingly positive, however I did witness MLB tonight commentators Al Lieter and Mitch Williams being a little down on the Dickster.

These two took the apparent "prevailing baseball" mindset towards R.A. and his craft, saying that while it's nice so see Dickey have some success at this point in his journeyman career, he is by no means the best pitcher in baseball right now.  To that I say, "Sirs, I respectfully disagree."

It's fairly arrogant and short sighted to assume that just because a pitcher does not have the ability to dial up his velocity 10MPH in the later innings of a game, a la Justin Verlander, does not mean that said pitcher lacks the talent to become successful in the MLB.  R.A. Dickey is a unique specimen in baseball, and possibly Baseball history.

R.A. Dickey has mastered a pitch that requires enormous precision and control, and needs to be repeated almost perfectly in order to be effective.  To imply that Dickey has been successful due to luck or "trickery", as the MLB Network commentators did, is asinine.

I think other Met fans can relate to the current media frenzy around R.A. Dickey as being a little bit confusing.  Met fans  have been here for the whole ride, and witnessed the evolution of R.A. Dickey personally.  Dickey took the mound in Washington for Stephen Strasburg's home debut, and OUT-DUELED HIM.  The Mets wound up losing the game on a K-Rod blown save, but had the lead by the time both starters had made their exits.  Dickey has gotten better each season, and has finally refined his particular brand of pitching to the point where he can throw it for an unhittable strike at will.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is enjoy this great run for R.A. for however long it lasts, but don't be surprised if he is able to sustain this level of success for longer than you might expect.

Oh, and LETS GO METS!

Best Weekend Ever

This past weekend was the best weekend I have yet to experience as a Met fan.  Three stellar performances against the defending World Series champions, including the franchise's first no-hitter, followed by a complete game shutout.  Even in today's loss, David Wright managed to tie the franchise record for runs scored.

I'm convinced that this team is for real.  The Mets have been changing the conversation on the national level.  For once it seems like the baseball gods are smiling down on the Mets and they've put together a competent team.  If the bullpen situation can improve a little bit, I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.

Futility in Motion

Let's all think back to the 2012 pre-season.  Sandy Alderson had apparently fleeced Brian Sabean in a trade for Ramon Ramirez and Anders Torres.  The bullpen had been set, and was deemed an improvement, everyone was convinced the Mets were going to have an above average offense, and the biggest concern was the starting pitching.  Now here we are, with Santana's ERA under 3, R.A. Dickey with 7 wins, a negative run differential and every Mets media outlet calling for the heads of the entire bullpen.

It all seems kind of silly in retrospect, doesn't it?

It turns out, this is why we have a season, rather than a bunch of talking heads simply just tell us who the best team is going to be each year.  After 51 games, The Mets are 5 games over .500 and in close contention for the division.  For whatever reason, this team is winning more than in recent history and should stand to improve.  There are important position players coming off the DL soon, while Lucas Duda and Ike Davis have been under-performing.  The only regular position player who has been over-performing lately has been David Wright, and while he looks to be coming back down to Earth, this should not hurt the team dramatically.

As for the rotation, it's great to see Santana pitching as well has he has ever pitched for the Mets, and Dickey seems to get better each year.  Honestly, the 1-3 spots in the rotation look very solid.  Gee has been decent as well.  With a little bit of luck, Chris Young can shore up the back end of the rotation and all of a sudden Met pitching starts to look pretty good.

The team has been winning, and it's evident on the TV broadcasts that more people have been coming out to games.  The baseball has been fun to watch, and for the first time in a long time it looks like the team has some solidarity and drive to win games.  Hopefully this translates into funds available to put back into the on-field product, because while the team has been scrappy and competitive, it is nowhere near ready to take on playoff powerhouse teams like Texas and Los Angeles.

The bullpen is the most obvious candidate for an upgrade, but as can be shown by this offseason, even the most well meaning bullpen acquisitions can be a crapshoot.  I would hope for another left handed reliever, and perhaps a long man/spot starter for some added protection at the back end of the rotation.  I would also like to see a power bat added, though we may all be singing a different tune if and when Ike Davis shows up to play.

Trying to predict the outcome of a season without playing the games is pointless.  I'm glad that the Mets are winning and can't wait to see what the rest of the season has in store, but I have a good feeling about this season.  I think the ship has been righted.

Early Season Check In

2012 is shaping up to be a refreshing season for Mets fans. The team is winning baseball games and staying healthy. Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda and David Wright are fun to watch and to root for. Injuries have not been as detrimental to the team as in previous years. The team will probably not contend for a championship with the current rotation, but that is a better situation than watching a team that should contend melt down. I believe that Sandy Alderson is well on his way to righting the ship and hopefully we can look back on 2012 as a turning point.

4-0

Baseball is awesome. F**k the haters. Nothing much else to say other than LETS GO METS!

Open Foot, Insert Mouth

Spring training is in full swing, and so is the accompanying media blitz. Spring training offers unparalleled access to the players', coaches' and even team owners' views on the beginning of the season, and already the Mets cunning owner Fred Wilpon has come up with this gem. (Emphasis added, full story at The Bergen Record.)

"When [Sandy] came in [he said], ‘I want to do some things; I want to have some flexibility and I want to have flexibility in the four or five areas you can have flexibility in.’ And that’s what he’s doing. I don’t remember a time where we’ve turned down [our baseball department] when a general manager and the manager and the people wanted certain people. Look at our history. We had a lot of payroll for a period of time. Some of it wasn’t well invested.”

Hah.

Ha ha ha ha. Hah.

So we have a supposed real estate mogul who is currently caught up in the legal trappings of the biggest Ponzi scheme in history talking about making wise investments in a baseball team. That is too rich.

I'm actually glad Sandy Alderson appears to be behind the decision to cut payroll. It's a lot like one of those reality shows where Gordon Ramsay shows up to a failing resturant, swears a bunch, throws out a ton of things, and then starts over with his own menu. I hope that's what's going on here, because so far all the Wilpons have done to distinguish themselves is hand out some confusing t-shirts and admit that they make bad investments. Clowns.

Play Ball!

Alright friends, winter is coming to an end and baseball activities have officially resumed. A lot of fans are already phoning this season in for the Mets, but I'm not one of them. For one, baseball is totally sweet and I'm exited for its return in general. Another reason is that I saw the movie Moneyball last year and it inspired me to believe that a team lacking in so-called "star power" can still win. Perhaps the strongest reason that I'm exited to watch this Mets team play is that I read the book Moneyball as well. I realized that the same people in charge of that floundering, backwards, cash strapped organization are now in charge of this floundering, backwards, and cash strapped organization and that gives me great hope.

Sandy Alderson seems to be a very smart guy, and I think he has something up his sleeve. I think Terry Collins is in on it too. The quote "we are going to be better this year than a lot of people expect us to be" has a certain air to it, a tone that these guys know something that the rest of us don't. If I had to guess, I would say that the secret weapon is Lucas Duda. I expect a monster year from him, as well as an offensive spark that the team has not seen since Carlos Delgado was healthy.

Another point of interest to be taken from Moneyball is that we should not expect the opening day roster to look the same as the roster after the All-Star break. I expect Sandy Alderson to capitalize on opportunities to make the team better in ways that Mets fans have not seen before. This year's off season market was relatively thin and supremely overpriced, and Sandy simply didn't bite on the big players. I can respect that, especially considering the current state of affairs was partially caused by Omar Minaya's offseason spending sprees.

I highly suggest reading the book Moneyball if you have not. Doubly so if you are a Mets fan, because if there is ever going to be a sequel, then the source material will come from what is happening right now. The philosophies explained in that book definitely cast a new light on Sandy's actions and non-actions this offseason. All the noise and outrage over not making a big move, even not retaining Jose Reyes, is ridiculous. I understand the fan sentiment, but the Mets entire history has been defined by spending big on free agent busts. It's time to move away from the conventional wisdom and try something new. Sandy is the man to do that, and this season we get to see what that looks like.

I'm not going to talk a lot about what happened this winter, because there's not a whole lot to report. We lost Jose. We have a ton of young talent eager to make its mark. We have a former ace starting pitcher returning from injury. Most importantly, I think, is that we have a plan for the future and I'm excited to see those seeds get sown this season. Let's play ball.