Caught Lookin' Announcement: Heading To Metszilla.com

After a few coversations about the future of Caught Lookin' and the decision to close down due to difficulties managing the blog by myself, Caught Lookin' has decided to join Metszilla.com and add to their team.

I'll be starting over there relatively soon, and should be back to blogging shortly.  The guys over at Metszilla have been providing some quality content for some time, and both sides felt that this was a great match.  I'm very excited to start over at Metszilla, and look forward to continuing their tradition of quality Mets content.

Thank you for reading Caught Lookin' and I hope those of you that haven't seen Metszilla will come on over and continue to check out my stuff, along with the excellent content the guys at Metszilla already has.  For those of you who already are regular readers of Metszilla, you can look forward to the same Caught Lookin' but with a new Metszilla home.

Thank you for your support, and I'll see you on the 'Zilla side.

Sad Day: Caught Lookin' Closing Up Shop

Thanks to everyone who has been reading Caught Lookin' during this season long experiment.  However, due to the time commitment needed to run this blog on my own, I've decided to close up shop.

While I won't have the time to run this blog anymore, I will, however, do my best to keep writing about the Mets and baseball.  That being said, I hope to have an announcement about where I will continue writing within the next few days.

Stay tuned for more information.

Before I go, I would like to say a few quick things.  I have learned a lot working on this blog, and have definitely had some fun doing it.  I loved reading comments (even if they did tell me to go F-myself), and enjoyed sharing my Mets opinions and baseball thoughts with you.  I hope that the people that did read, and enjoyed, this blog will follow me on to my next "writing space", where I promise to continually blame Luis Castillo for everything that has happened since 2006.

Thanks again.

-Caught Lookin'

Mets Lose Game, Santana for the Season

Well after the press conference to announce the Mets have lost Johan Santana to his second consecutive season-ending shoulder surgery, the Mets went out at lost to the Phillies 8-4 (box score).

Jenrry Mejia has been less than awesome so far as a starting pitcher for the Mets, granted last night he faced a hot Phillies team with a powerful left-handed line up.  BUT, that shouldn't matter because if Mejia wants to be a major league starter he's going to have to beat teams like the Phils.  And if the Mets want a real rotation next year they're going to need Johan Santana back in top-form.

In conclusion, yesterday was awful. 

Kyle Kendrick and Mike Pelfrey face off this afternoon at 4:10.

Evans Comes Through With Game Winning Hit, Mets Win 3-2

This afternoon the Mets won took the game 3-2 (wrap/box), and the series from the Nationals today, on the strength of a Nick Evans RBI double.

Another nice performance from Dickey who went 6 innings giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and getting his tenth win of the season.  Dickey has been great for the Mets this season, and they should reward him for that, as long as it's reasonable.  R.A. Dickey deserves to be rewarded for the way he has pitched this season.  Now, if the Mets can get that same type of consistent performance from Mejia, I think their rotation would be pretty set for next season.

Speaking of Mejia, he starts Friday against Halladay and the Phils Friday at 7:10.  Should be fun to see the kid get a challenge like Halladay, and see if he steps up to the challenge.

Dillon Gee Pitches Well, Wins Debut 4-1

Let's not put Dillon Gee in the hall of fame, or even the conversation for the rotation for next year just yet...BUT...Gee pitched well tonight in the Mets 4-1 (box score) victory tonight.

Ike Davis provided the offense tonight, along with Gee himself.  Davis went 2-3 with a three-run homer, and that was more than enough for Gee who allowed no hits until the sixth, and only gave up one run on a solo homer from Met-Killer Willie Harris...Man, I hate that guy...

Oh, and the Mets won tonight's game without Reyes and Wright tonight.  Not that it's a big deal, but it's worth mentioning.

The Mets look for the series win tomorrow afternoon when they send R.A. Dickey to the hill against Livan Hernandez at 10:30.

Mets Go 1-3 Over The Weekend, Fire Everyone...

After today's 13-3 lashing at the hands of the Nationals (box score), I think it's finally about time we fire everyone...

There's no reason to wait, because there's nothing to gain by waiting.  Fire Jerry and Fire Omar already (HoJo can go too-as much as that hurts to say)...The team is done this season, at least give them a few extra games to get acclimated to their new manager, whoever the team feels it should be next season.  If you're going to fire Omar, then do that first, bring in your new GM and then let him get his manager in here.  Either way, something needs to be done.

The only real things left to look forward to this season is watching the young kids get a taste, and see what they're made of...

Speaking of young kids, Dillon Gee gets the start tomorrow against the Nats.  That should be fun to see...

Mets Lose Again, Are Borderline Un-Watchable

Last night the Mets lost AGAIN to the Braves 4-1 (box score).  At this point the team is borderline unwatchable and to be honest trying to write this blog everyday is becoming less fun and more work because of that. 

Let's just dump Jerry and move on here.  Unless the plan is to let Jerry finish the year in the hopes that things get REALLY terrible and they can increase their draft position.  Personally, I'd rather see progress towards next year.  By the way, if they lose again tonight, there is ABSOLUTELY no justification or excuse I'll accept to keep Jerry.

Let's just get this over with already.  The future is bright, so let it get some experience on ALL fronts.

A Whole Buncha Staff: Another Loss, Frenchy Traded, Duda and Mejia Come Up and Multi-Year for Dickey

How things have changed in 48 hours...

After the Mets were man-handled for a second consecutive day by the Braves 9-2 (box score) and Philly beat the Dodgers 8-4, the Mets seem to be done.  Any lingering hope that the Mets would make a run and make this season interesting has died over these past two days as the Braves continue to show the Mets what a good team looks like.  It's not worth lingering on this game because more important things have since happened...

First off, Jeff Francoeur was traded to Texas for Jaoquin Arias.  Arias is a utility infielder and probably was worth it in as much as the Mets got SOMETHING back for Frenchy.  And for the record, I still really like Frenchy, and would love nothing more than to see him win a ring with the Rangers.  Most because if the Rangers win that means the Yankees, Phillies and Braves won't win.  Regardless, I hope Frenchy can turn it around down there, he seems like a hard worker and a guy who really wants to win.  I'm just upset he couldn't win, and produce, here in New York.

As I first discovered on rotoworld, the Mets have promoted by Jenrry Mejia and Lucas Duda.  I like it, keep the kids coming and let Duda play.  I think the next move is getting rid of Jerry and let the building towards next season begin...

And finally, according to Andy Martino of the Daily News, here, the Mets are willing to talk about an extension with Dickey in the off-season.  This is dangerous to me.  While I am down for the Mets bringing back Dickey, as he's been awesome this season, I'm afraid.  The Mets have saddled themselves with some bad contracts in the past few years, so while I want Dickey back, I don't want him back if it's going to hold the team back in the future.  The Mets should make a deal with Dickey, but it sure as hell better be reasonable, and most importantly, tradeable should they need to move him...

I just look at what happened with Perez and Castillo and see that potentially happening with Dickey.  At the same time, he's been awesome and deserves to get a new contract and a good one.  If the Mets re-up him, I think the rotation for next year is probably set with Santana, Pelfrey, Niese, Dickey and Mejia. 

The Braves Are a Better Team, Beat Mets 9-3: Confidence = Production = Winning.

After watching last night's 9-3 loss to the Braves (box score) one thing became PAINFULLY clear...The Braves are a VERY VERY GOOD team, and are MUCH BETTER than the Mets.

Here's the thing about the Braves that I think the Mets should consider...

Everyone always says the Mets need better play out of their star players, but where are the Braves stars?  I would say that Heyward, McCann and Chipper Jones (out for the season) are their only real stars.  Yes, Hudson and Hanson are awesome, but not stars.  The big difference between the Mets are Braves is this...

EVERYONE on the Braves can and will hit.  Infante, Prado, Lee, Gonzalez and even Melky Cabrera and Matt Diaz can hit.  Every single person on that team is a serviceable MLB player and at the least a decent hitter.  In the meantime, the Mets have struggled with Barajas, Castillo, Tejada and Francoeur in the line up in some capacity all year. (Although I give Tejada a pass because of his defense, it would be stupid to ignore his lack of hitting thus far.)

So, what's the answer...

Keep developing the young talent.  Because Davis, Thole, Pagan and even Carter are just examples of good young players the Mets can build off of, in a similar way that the Braves have built off Heyward, Prado and McCann.  Add a good pick up (ie Omar Infante), and a guy who knows how to win (ie. Eric Hinske) and the Mets can become next year's Braves.  But first, They need to become more of a team, and letting the young guys play together really builds confidence within the organization.  Maybe the Mets will be as good next year as the Braves are this year, but in order to make that happen they need to rely on the young guys to produce.

The bottom line...

Confidence = Production = Winning.

That crappy song says, I believe the children are our future...

If you're the Mets, you best be taking that advice...That means you too Jerry...

Mets, Dickey, Win Game and Series; Get Back to .500

Well, if we've learned anything this year it's R.A. Dickey is a damn good baseball player.  Not only can the guy pitch, but he's probably been the Mets best hitting pitcher this season as well.  BOTH of his talents were on display this afternoon in the Mets 5-1 victory over the Astros (box score).

Dickey went 7 innings plus, giving up only one run on 6 hits.  But Dickey wasn't just dealing today, like I said before, he had a good day at the plate as well going 2-3 at the plate with 2 RBI and a run scored.  Pagan and Thole also had multi-hit games for the Mets, which included Thole's second homer of the year. 

It was nice to see a LITTLE power out of Thole, but I get concerned about guys who don't hit homers after they hit a homer.  Thole chokes up and is all about bat control...that being said...I hope he remembers that even though he's gone deep, especially considering the way he homered today.  Thole first homer was truly an accident and wasn't all that impressive, but today's was a REAL homer and hopefully that doesn't go to Thole's head.

The Mets start a very interesting 4 game series with the Bravos tomorrow in Hotlanta.  As much as I don't want to help out the Phillies, and as much as I don't want to get thinking that a series win in Atlanta might push the Mets back into contention...I want the Mets to throttle the Braves this week.  I hate them....

Pat Misch against Jair Jurjens in game 1. 

Time for the Mets to win back to back games and make things a little hotter down in Atlanta...