Olney Ranks Contending Teams Schedules, Mets at 13

In an article for ESPN.com insider, here, Buster Olney ranks the difficulty of the remaining schedules for the 17 teams currently above .500 in MLB. 

Good news, the Mets schedule is 13th hardest out of the 17 teams currently over .500.  Bad news, the Braves have the 14th hardest schedule...Although the Mets have only 36 games remaining against teams over .500 while the Braves have 37.  Meanwhile, the Phillies have the 10th ranked schedule according to Olney with 39 games against teams with plus records.

To be honest, this is interesting, but none of this really matters.  The games are played on the field, not on paper.  So, the Mets will need to take care of business one way or the other.  However, I do like that Olney thinks Strasburg will most likely be shut down for the year by the team the Mets finish the season against the Nats.  That could be helpful...  

Late Postgame Friday

Last night in Washington, the Mets held off the Nats as Jon Niese went seven strong and gave up only one run. Niese has been the savior of this team, really stepping up when the Mets need a victory. This was definetly a big win, coming off of a loss thursday and the debacle in San Juan. Niese threw a career high 117 pitchers and stuck out eight.

One again we saw another dicey K-Rod outing as he let up two runs on two hits before picking off Bernadina at second to end the game.

David Wright stayed hot, smacking 3 hits and Alex Cora came up huge with a three run triple.

Mets split the first two games of this series and it would be a huge confidence booster to win today vs. God (Strasburg) going up against a guy who's completely opposite stuff (Dickey). Knuckler vs. the Ultimate Flamerthrower, Mets get their first taste of the chosen one this year. Game is 4:30 on Fox.

Lets Go Mets

Countdown to Opening Day (7 Days): Your Cliche of the Day

In honor of the Mets looking to rebound from last season, and Opening Day being only a week away, I will be revealing a-cliche-a-day slogan for the Mets in efforts to be positive about the upcoming season.

Today's cliche:


2010 NEW YORK METS: HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL

Mets Get Calero on Minor League Deal

According to David Lennon of Newsday (which I annoyed you have to pay for),  the Mets have signed Kiko Calero to a minor league deal.  Last year Calero put up a 1.95 ERA for the Marlins, but was having trouble signing because of a history of arm injuries, and concerns about his current health.

I have no problem with this, because it was on a minor league deal.  This makes me think is that the Mets don't like the way their other bullpen guys are performing so far, or that this could be in some way indicative of where Escobar is in his re-hab.  Kiko provides some nice insurance at a low financial risk.

Once again, I like the risk...

Escobar Still Aiming For Opening Day

Mike Puma's been busy this morning...

In yet another article for the New York Post, Puma talks about Kelvim Escobar and his desire to "not be ruled out" yet for the season opener.  Puma quotes Escobar as saying, "Don't rule me out for opening the season...I know once I get going, I can get ready very quickly, and a lot of people could be surprised."  Escobar says he's feeling better, looser and stronger, which seem contradictory but are both very important to pitchers.  There is nothing worse than being tight or weak armed.  Pitching, like hitting, is all about torch and fluidity, and without either it's almost impossible to be effective.  It's nice to hear Escobar is getting there...

Puma also gets a timetable from Escobar who says of his setback last week, "I didn't expect to be in this position and they weren't expecting to have me in this position...But it's two full weeks. It's 4½ weeks until the season starts and I'm going to continue to do my work and we'll see where we are in two weeks."

Well it's nice to see some motivation out of Escobar to prove people wrong and make the opening day roster.  I think most Mets fans would agree with me when I say, I hope Kelvim can prove us wrong.

Sherman Does His Best To Kill Mets Fans Optimism

No matter how excited or optimistic Mets fans want to be there will always be those looking to bring you down.  Joel Sherman does his best, in this article, to point out once again how miserable 2009 was and how hard it will be to overcome it.  Sherman says, "it is hard to dismiss a year as awful as 2009, even when you see good signs of a new year involving the hamstrings of Jose Reyes and Jon Niese, the promise of Ike Davis and Jenrry Mejia, and the renewed sense of purpose with Oliver Perez and Mike Pelfrey."

Also in the article Sherman tries to show that the Mets are "mishandling" the pink eye situation with K-Rod, are having FBI issues, and are also now blaming Tony Bernazard for a lot of what went wrong in 2009.  Sherman says, "Fred Wilpon showed up earlier in this camp to say the baseball operations department picked the players who tanked in 2009, not ownership. Of course, ownership hired all the executives who picked players, including Bernazard."

Alright, I get it the Mets are not well-run.  The Wilpons definitely have screwed up a bunch of stuff, but in all honesty this article really bothers me.  Sherman's K-Rod pink eye argument is grasping for straws here in an effort to bring down the hope of the Mets' fan, as is the him bringing up the FBI stuff, which he coincidently leaves A-Rod out of the talk of.  And as far as Bernazard being blamed for everything, that happens all the time.  Sherman tries to say this is a completely Mets phenomena.  It's not, it happens in all professional leagues and all cities.

Please Sherman, I usually like your stuff, but do me a favor and let the Mets fans be optimistic for the time being.  You WILL have time later this season to rip the team and the organization, but for now, just let the team and the fans enjoy a new beginning...

Is Piniero Really the Best Pitching Option? And How the A's and Marlins Should Show the Mets Something.

If the Mets are intent on continuing their recent (last 24 hour) spending spree and are looking to sign Joel Piniero I would not be upset, but I'm not so sure that he's the best free agent pitcher available as most outlets are reporting. There is at least one untapped resource that might be worth the risk for a few reasons, Aroldis Chapman.

The knock on Chapman is that he may need seasoning and is "unproven". And, while it's impossible to deny that he is unproven on a professional level, he has been very effective in international play, which has served as a good barometer for other pitchers, ie., Daisuke Matsuzaka.

But to me the bigger question isn't how unproven Chapman is, but rather how proven really is Joel Piniero.

FACT: Piniero has only once in his 9 year career put up back-to-back seasons with an ERA under 4.00 (2002 and 2003).

FACT: Prior to last season Piniero had not had a season with an ERA under 4.00 since 2003.

FACT: Jeff Suppan had an ERA of 4.17, 3.57 and 4.17 in his last three years with the Cardinals before signing as a free agent with Milwaukee and putting up years with ERA's of 4.62, 4.96 and 5.29.

OPINION: Dave Duncan is a damn good pitching coach and is capable of doing some really nice things with some marginal pitchers. Whether that means taking a lesser talent (like Suppan) and getting the most out of him, or taking a talented player (like Piniero) and making him realize his talents, Duncan does a damn good job. So, the question becomes has Piniero realized his talents and discovered how to pitch heading into his prime? Or has Dave Duncan done another fine job making a good pitcher look great?

If I'm Minaya I have to take a few more things into consideration when looking at signing a starting pitcher to be your number 2 starter. First, Chapman is 21, ten years younger than Piniero. Chapman throws 7-9 mph harder than Piniero. And, Chapman is a lefty. Chapman will cost a bit more, but if he's within the Mets spending range than there is no reason not to take a shot on a 21 year old stud, who could become a young anchor to your pitching staff for years to come. Or, he can turn into Jose Contreras...

Picking between going after Chapman and Piniero is NOT an easy call for Omar, but here's a little something that pushes me over to the side of Chapman. The Marlins and A's are in on Chapman.

Now, what I'm about to say is as much of a knock on the Mets scouting as it is a glorification of the A's and Marlins scouting departments. If the Marlins and A's are both in on Chapman, the Mets should be too. The A's and Marlins are two organizations with financial restraints and the uncanny ability to produce solid young talent. So, if they are both believe this kid is the real deal and are willing to throw a good amount of money at Chapman, so should the Mets.

So, if the 21 year old flame throwing left hander is still in play for the Mets, I'd take a chance and seriously look into signing him before we're looking to trade our top prospects for him in 2-3 years anyway.