Viva La Potencia

The Mets resigned Yoenis Cespedes for 4-years and $110M.
It's a slight overpay for a guy who is like a 3.5 - 4 WAR player, but not so outrageous when you factor in other things such as the Mets really needed him, he's one guy who has proven he can hit in CitiField and most importantly, they got him on a 4 year deal through his age 34 season.
I like the deal and I am happy with it but it means the Mets absolutely positively get rid of Bruce or Granderson or both.
Trading Bruce would bring back very little, meaning they would take a big hit on a trade that netted almost nothing.
Keeping Bruce and getting rid of Granderson would be high ceiling, if Bruce can rebound after two dreadful months in New York, but his age may make Granderson a little harder to deal.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of both and giving Conforto, Lagares and Nimmo more time to develop.
But they absolutely cannot saddle this great young pitching staff with an outfield of Granderson, Cespedes and Bruce, which would be historically bad defensively.

Outdueled

I got to witness an all-time great pitching duel in a winner-take-all wild card game.

Unfortunately angry and ornery Madison Bumgarner

beat our lovable Thor who was equally as awesome, but a little less efficient, and therefore only pitched 7 innings.

I blame Terry Collins only slightly here, I would have given Thor a chance against the bottom of the Giants order in the 8th, even though he struggled in the 7th, because I knew Bumgarner would keep putting up zeroes.

I don't however blame the Mets strategy of swinging early in the count. They knew Bumgarner was going to throw strikes. If you don't swing, you're in a hole against a great pitcher. If you swing at least you have a a chance to get a hit on a good pitch.

It sucks to lose, and not have another crack at the Cubs, and it sucks to watch a team celebrate on our field for the second year in a row.
But it was a difficult season with a lot of injuries and realistically, they didn't have a good chance of beating the Cubs anyway.

But the hurt is still very real right now.
I suppose Noah Syndergaard put it best when he said on Twitter "Baseball has a way of ripping your heart out, stabbing it, putting it back in your chest, then healing itself just in time for Spring Training."
And I can't wait for spring training because maybe, just maybe, next year will finally be our year.

I Get To Do Cool Things

Three years ago I was lucky enough to attend a Mets game and spend pre-game on the field, and take one of my favorite pictures ever, with Mr. and Mrs. Met.
The experience I had before Friday's game against the Twins was even better. Thanks to the dogged persistence of a friend we were invited for a behind-the-scenes tour of the stadium by the Mets PR team.

We entered at the Hodges gate, where right through that door is the press room where we often see Terry Collins discussing Mets injuries.

From there we were led down a back hallway, where the clubhouse is. And at the moment we passed by, Brandon Nimmo emerged on his way to the video room.

He stopped and chatted with us briefly about money and investing and the rapid depreciation of expensive automobiles.

To our left in that hallway is the batting cage where players can take some in-game cuts.

Lined up along the walls, where the bats and other equipment for every Met.

And in the best part of it all, we were led out onto the field, THROUGH THE DUGOUT!!!!!

Don't I look happy?

We were offered a piece of Major League gum. I brought two pieces home for the boys, who were initially unimpressed until they realized, that later that day the Mets had stuck their hands in that same bucket. They asked if the Mets get a new bucket of gum every day. I said yes. They decided the Mets must be rich to afford new gum.
They chewed it and decided it tasted better than the regular dubble bubble available to the public.

After a few more moments sitting on the dugout bench, and taking pictures we were escorted onto the field to enjoy batting practice.
Unfortunately, the Mets had concluded and the Twins were hitting (Kennys Vargas hit some bombs).

After a while we were asked to leave the field and head back to our seats, which we purchased ourselves, which explains the view from the 500 level.

But from that vantage point I got to see a masterpiece from Bartolo Colon, back to back homers from Jose Reys and Asdrubal Cabrera, and a 3-0 Mets win, topping off another memorable experience I was fortunate enough to enjoy. Note: Please forgive the lousy way this displays. I wanted pictures to be as big as possible, which doesn't work well with this template. For best experience click on the first picture and use the viewer to peruse them all.

Mets Sign Tim Tebow

The Mets signed Tim Tebow to a minor league contract in a completely irrelevant, inconsequential and strictly PR move.
He will never make the major league roster and it would be a shock if he was even good enough this year and in the Arizona Fall League, to get a spring training invite.
That is unless, of course, he gets help hitting a curveball.



"Are you trying to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball.
Let's not start a holy war Harris."

I Don't Hate It

Maybe I am just tired of getting angry and upset at every trade the Mets make, I just can't take the pain anymore, but I don't hate the deal for Jay Bruce.
Yes, I think it's mostly bad, and shows a lack of understanding in two key areas by the Mets front office, but I think Bruce is actually an excellent player, and a major improvement over what he Mets have right now.
And I don't think the two prospects offered, Dilson Herrera and Max Wotel, are likely to develop into above-average major leaguers.
First, the Mets are way out of the divisional race, and have to catch two teams to get the second wild card. So it doesn't make sense to trade to young players when they have only a 26% chance to make the playoffs according to FanGraphs.
Second, Bruce plays right field. And not very well. He is an absolute butcher out there. And he replaces Curtis Granderson who is also bad. And Yoenis Cespedes has been bad this year (likely attributable to injury and playing out of position). And if Cespedes is not healthy enough to play left, Granderson and Conforto will split time in center, meaning the Mets are supporting a great pitching staff, with the worst outfield defense in the majors. Not smart.
Third, they failed to look to next year, when they will have Bruce and Granderson under contract and Cespedes will likely return, unable to best his contract coming off this injury-plagued season. That means delaying by a year (Bruce and Granderson both have contracts that expire after 2017) the Conforto-Lagares-Nimmo triumvirate that should be the outfield of the future.

But the Mets did get a good hitter, who is not past his prime yet (this is his age 29 season) and he will surely improve the middle of the lineup.
Unfortunately too much stock is placed on his RBI and batting average with runners in scoring position, which is a lot about opportunity and luck.
There is a chance that Cespedes gets healthy, maybe Duda comes back, and some other guys get going (and the RISP bugaboo ends in a flurry) and the Mets get hot and do win the wild card.
And with their pitching, in a one-game scenario, or even a 7-game series, anything can happen.
As long as the other team doesn't hit the ball to our outfielders.

Note: I hate the Antonio Bastardo trade. I know he has been terrible, but his track record and his unusually high home run rate indicate that he should improve either this year, or next. Plus we know what Jon Niese is about and he just isn't any good.

The Gnome Knows

I went to two Mets games last August and I learned something important at each:
On August 2nd, I learned that Julian loved Thor aka Noah Syndergaard.
On August 29th, I learned that if you wanted to get a promotional giveaway you need to get there early, or spend a lot of money to buy it on eBay.

As soon as we heard the Mets were giving away Noah Syndergaard-en Gnomes, we got our tickets.
We gave them the tickets for the 8th night of Hanukkah, so they had been looking forward to it almost as long, and perhaps much more excitedly, than to the arrival of their new brother.

Unfortunately, for the second straight time, a game I looked forward to all winter, became an inconvenience when the time was changed, this time from 7pm to 4pm.
That caused Mrs. Poop to have to miss the communion of her friend's daughter, Chase to miss the second tryout for travel baseball and it came into conflict with the final hours of Passover.

To avoid the traffic, parking fiasco of last year's Jesse Orosco bobblehead day, we left our house 4 hours and 20 minutes before game time.

We arrived at 12:15 for a 4:05 start, and had one hour and 50 minutes until the gates opened. We sat in the car, walked around the parking lot and got on line at the left field gate at 12:45. That's when a man came by and said this gate opens half an hour later than the main gate by Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Gnomes would still be given away, but we'd have half an hour less inside the stadium. So we relocated. At 1:05 PM, a full hour before the gates opened, the lines were so long that I almost doubted whether we would be among the first 15,000 to get them.

We did and the kids loved them.

Because our seats were in left field we watched batting practice along the wall on the Giants side of the field. Relief pitcher Derek Law made two enemies for life by not tossing the ball in his glove into the crowd.

Mrs. Poop was a trouper, toughing it out, from a seated position, at 36 weeks pregnant.

The game started off well, as the Mets scored 2 each in the first and second innings, but then deGrom game up 3 runs to make it close.

But Chase's burgeoning favorite Met (Michael Conforto) homered in the 5th, and Julian's favorite Met (Wilmer Flores -- they share a birthday and a tendency to cry on the field) homered in the 6th and the bullpen held on for a 6-5 win.

The enduring memory of this game will be the gnomes.

I offered the kids to keep one for their room, one in its box in the basement as a collectible, and sell the other 2 (they consistently sell for $80-$100 on eBay) but they the gnomes are way too cool to sell.

Note: One guy was walking the concourse before the game with a $10 bill offering to pay cash for the gnomes. People were laughing in his face.

A Big Dropoff in Horsepower

Yoenis Cespedes downgraded horsepower on his latest method of transportation to Mets camp.
From 800 or so for his Lamborghini to 1.

Cespedes rode a horse. And even put on a cowboy hat. And he got Noah Syndergaard to ride with him.

Cespedes Isn't Cheap Either

For $27m the Mets bought themselves a power-hitting outfielder with a rocket arm.
Yoenis Cespedes turned around and spent a lot of that money and fancy cars and motorcycles (kinda), showing up for the first week of spring training in a different one every day.

Starting with a customized Polaris slingshot

Then it was a Lamborghini Aventador which allegedly spits fire out of the exhaust pipes like the Batmobile. He reported let a Mets staffer drive it to go get waffles.
The car reportedly costs more than $400,000.

Next up, an Alfa Romeo Competizione, which costs $250,000 and had been driven around by Wilmer Flores.

But those cars are so impractical, he needs something more down-to-earth, like this Jeep. Which after all the modifications (done by a company called "Avorza" whose name appears on several of these vehicles) cost a mere $80,000.

And then there's his Ford F-250 truck which had $30,000 of upgrades done by Avorza.

And finally, Cespedes rolled up in another Slingshot, this one likely for days when he's feeling down, because it's painted blue, as opposed to red.

I Should Have Paid Better Attention in Mrs. Rosler's Class

The Mets are looking for Spanish language interpreter.

Here are the main job requirements:
Attend Mets Spring Training in Port St. Lucie, FL for all workouts and games.
Attend all Mets home and road games during the regular season, all Postseason games, and any other events to be covered by local or national media at which Mets uniformed personnel are present

Basically you get to go to every game and translate interviews for the Spanish-speaking players.
I would expect the Mets to get 1000s of applications for this job.
But it will probably go to a friend of Yoenis Cespedes and this whole process is a sham to satisfy some fair employment posting requirements.

Ambivalence

The Mets have signed Yoenis Cespedes for 3 years, $75 million, with $27.5 million in the first year and an opt-out for Cespedes after year 1.
I like the deal. I think the Mets got a good player for a short contract. It's a lot of money, but in baseball nowadays it's better to pay more money for fewer years, than to get a long-term discount.
The Mets get an excellent hitter, a right-handed power bat, something they didn't have.
If he hits the way he did last year for the Mets, at an MVP level, he will make the entire lineup better and be well worth the money.
And he will do it all while giving the Mets another year to evaluate Lagares and Conforto while not totally relying on them to perform.

BUT... This move really hurts the Mets defense. Lagares is a great centerfielder and Yoenis is a very good leftfielder. Cespedes is an average centerfielder and Conforto was good last year, but there's reason to believe he benefited from a small sample size.
The Mets are spending a lot of money on two bad defensive middle infielders (Cabrera & Walker) and weakening the outfield too might be a bad idea, especially in a big park.

Also, Cespedes is not as good as he was last year. His OPS in 2013 and 2014 were 736 and 751. Last year he improved to 870. If he reverts to sub-800, he would not have the positive impact we hope for. Also, he would not have the suitors next year and would like opt in for two more years with the Mets.

Lastly, I don't like his attitude. He's made some bone-headed plays and he doesn't always try hard.

In summary, if we get the Cespedes of late 2015, the Mets made a great move.
If we get the Cespedes of 2013 & 2014, we're stuck with a basically average outfielder at an exorbitant cost for 3 years.

Only time, and Cespedes will tell.

Mets Offseason Plans

The Mets should sign Ben Zobrist. They should give him the 4th year, and pay up to $80M if they have to.


Here's why:
He's a great player. His last six full seasons he had a WAR above 5 in 5 of them. That's outstanding, MVP-level production.
He's exactly what the Mets need. He's a good contact, high on-base guy who could and should bat second for the Mets.
He can play several positions, including the Mets biggest need (second base), but he can also play third base to give Wright a rest, and the outfield to give Conforto and maybe Granderson a day off against tough lefties.

But Paul...
He's old. Yes, he's 34 now and would be 38 by the end of a 4-year contract. But his skills, on-base, versatility, are not skills that erode as quickly with age. Though his drop-off in defense last season is concerning, he has always been a great defender.
Shouldn't a $15-$20 million a year man hit home runs? No! Didn't you watch the playoffs? The game is changing. The Mets are built around pitching and defense. They play in a big park and they need to tailor their offense to it as well. Contact hitters who can reach base are what the Mets need.
Don't you hate paying a lot of money for free agents? No! The efficacy of spending money on free agents, especially older ones, is entirely dependent on where your team is on the win curve. If your team is likely to win fewer than 80 games, it's unlikely one player would make any difference. Even improving from 80 to 85 wins accomplishes basically nothing, you still miss the playoffs. But the Mets were so close to winning it all last year, that one player could make a huge difference. And that's why the time to spend is now.

Other possibilities:
Jason Heyward:
Great player. Fantastic. Some team will likely give him $200 million over 10 years, and they will probably be happy to do so, and the deal will work out. But I just don't think that's the best option for the Mets, because I think Conforto, Lagares, Granderson is a good enough outfield.

If somehow the Mets did get Jason Heyward, I wouldn't object, I just can't see it happening.
Carlos Gonzalez:
I heard talk about the Mets trading Matz and Nimmo for him. That is absolutely insane. In three of the past four seasons he was 760 OPS or worse on the road. And CitiField is worse than the average park. Plus, he's frequently hurt.

Ian Desmond:
From 2012-2014 he had a WAR of 4 or better in each season. That's great. For a shortstop. Sign him up. But he fell to 1.7 last year. Would you really want to spend $60 million over 4 years on a guy who wasn't better than Wilmer Flores in 2015? Wouldn't the extra $15 or $20 million be better spent on Zobrist?

Dexter Fowler:
This is exactly the type of player the Mets should not go after. Last year was the best year of his career. Before this season he had never been higher than 2.3 in WAR. In his 2 non-Colorado years his OPS was 774 and 757. Which is fine, but not so much better that its worth the downside, which is taking away playing time from developing young players like Juan Lagares, Michael Conforto and eventually Brandon Nimmo.

Denard Span:
Similar thoughts apply to Denard Span, except his is a better player than Fowler (though they are fairly similar) but he is recovering from an injury. The Mets haven't had too much luck with injured players on the wrong side of 30.

Relievers:
The Mets need a couple but I am not really sure who is available and at what price. But I think they really need to sign a couple of hard-throwers.

Bottom Line:

The Mets need to spend responsibly and deploy their resources (money) where it will have the most impact, ie filling the biggest areas of need. The Mets must resist the temptation to spend a lot of money to make minor improvements over their existing players (at first base and in centerfield). I want the Mets to sign Zobrist and a couple of relief pitchers for around $100 million, or $30 million per year, roughly the salary that is coming off the books anyway.

These young Mets proved they were championship caliber last season and now is the time to make practical improvements to make the 2016 Mets a serious World title contender without impacting their ability to add and develop more young players to help the Mets win in 2017 and beyond.

Mets Roster Evaluation

The Mets are ready. After a long, painful teardown and a frustrating rebuild, the 2015 Mets made the World Series, and could have been champions with a little bit better play.
2016 is the year the Mets make the transition from building to winning. They are on the correct side of the win curve to start to add players who can provide a couple of wins that will push the Mets over the top from playoff contender to World Series champion.
But the Mets must also remember they have a fantastic young core, and they should make moves designed to help the team this season -- and beyond -- without blocking young players and the contributions they can make.
I'll go through player by player with some comments:

Yoenis Cespedes:
Cannot be resigned. Had the best six weeks of his life then went ice cold and really hurt us in the World Series. Brain fart at end of Game 4 has been overlooked, but cost the Mets a decent chance to get back in that game. Look at his WAR season-by-season over four years in the majors: 2.9, 2.4, 3.3, 6.7. Weight runs created plus (100 is league average): 136, 102, 109, 135. He's a good hitter, great leftfielder, average centerfielder.
And again everything has to be looked at through the scope of what else can be done. Cespedes + Conforto with Lagares on the bench or Conforto and Lagares and $100M+, which scenario makes the Mets better.

Daniel Murphy:
I wouldn't hate resigning him but I think they have to let him walk. You cannot pay him based on the playoffs, because odds are he will never hit like that again. But he is a good hitter, a useful player and could still be valuable for three years around $40m.

Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard & Matt Harvey:
Should not be traded under any circumstances.

Steven Matz:
I wouldn't trade but could see including him in the right deal.

Zach Wheeler:
I would not trade him coming off and injury and not ready to pitch until mid-season. No team in their right mind would give anything close to full value.

Lucas Duda:
I know he's frustrating. I know he played poorly in the playoffs and blew a key play. I agree there are better first basemen out there, but here's the problem: think about what you would need to give up in players and money to get a first baseman significantly better than Duda. Would the team be better off with just that one player or with Duda and whatever else had to be given up. I know it's abstract but let's try this. He's been a 3 win player each of the past two seasons. That's about average for a first baseman. When you get to 4+ WAR, you're getting into very good players who are very difficult to acquire. For better or worse, keeping Duda is the Mets best option.

Wilmer Flores:
Similar story here. Whichever position they elect to put Flores at he'll be league average or so. And think about how hard and expensive it is to get a shortstop above league average. As far as defense, according to the advanced stats he is better at second, but has great range for a shortstop. I would like to keep Flores and hope he continues to improve at the plate and in the field.

Ruben Tejada:
Should be a backup infielder. Sad he went out that way, but he just isn't good enough on offense and his defense is decent, barely above average.

David Wright:
He spent a lot of years suffering on lousy teams and he deserves to revel in glory now that the team has turned the corner. Let's hope his health will allow him to be a valuable contributor.

Travis d'Arnaud:
A budding superstar. He had the 6th-highest WAR among catchers in 2015. And he only played 67 games. If he plays a full schedule of 130 games, he could easily become the clear #2 to Buster Posey. I know that's a big if, but I think he's the Mets surest thing offensively going into 2016.

Kevin Plawecki:
He has potential. A backup catcher is important, especially behind d'Arnaud, but he is someone I would be willing to trade if a good reliever could be had.

Juan Lagares:
I love him. My favorite player on the Mets. He had a bad year. He looked a little heavy, a little slow and probably injured. And his defense and his hitting suffered. But in 2014, he was league average offensively and legendary on defense which translated into a 4.0 WAR, which is better than Yoenis Cespedes had in any of his first three full seasons in the majors. I think Lagares deserves another year to prove which player he truly is.

Michael Conforto:
Very promising young player. Should be a cornerstone of the Mets for years to come. The Mets should put him in left field and leave him alone.

Curtis Granderson:
1.6 WAR in 2013. 1.2 WAR in 2014. 5.1 WAR in 2015. Which Granderson will we get? If he continues to reach base and hit the way he did in 2015 he should be batting in the middle of the order.

Jeurys Familia:
Charged with 3 blown saves in the World Series but really only one was his fault. Great closer, unlikely to face those issues again.

Hansel Robles:
I like his arm. He needs to mature and not get rattled so easily.

Jerry Blevins:
I hope the Mets can bring him back.

Tyler Clippard:
I never want to see him in a Mets uniform again.

Addison Reed:
He's not terrible but I think the Mets can find better options.

Jon Niese:
Trade him if anyone is interested, if not, use him as 5th starter until Wheeler is healthy.

Bartolo Colon:
It was fun while it lasted, but it's time to move on.

Rights and Wrongs about 2015

Evaluating where I was right and wrong in my opinions about the 2015 Mets:

I was wrong about one major thing: I thought the Nationals were good. They sucked.

Here's what I was right about:
Getting Cespedes was a good trade. He was exactly what the Mets needed at that time.
Every other trade was bad. Yes Juan Uribe did well in certain spots. Kelly Johnson was awful. Tyler Clippard and Addison Reed helped in the regular season but were generally too unreliable to be trusted. Eric O'Flaherty sucked.
The Flores and Wheeler for Gomez trade would have been a disaster.

And most of all, it was way too early in the cycle for the Mets to go that hard after a title.
Remember, mathematically, after the July 30th disaster the Mets had only a 22% chance of making the playoffs. Even if Cespedes put them even with the Nats, they were still a huge dog to win the World Series, not the kind of odds you should max out for.
And before you say most of the players given up (except for Clippard and Cespedes) were useless, remember, if they could bring back something of value this year, they could do the same next year.
The Mets gave up 11 or so pitching prospects this season. That will surely come back to bite them at some point down the road.

Also remember, what happened after July 31st was the absolute peak of what could have been expected, it wasn't a fait accompli, get Cespedes make the World Series.
If the Nats hadn't folded the Mets might not have even made the playoffs. And if not for a few breaks against the Dodgers, they could have been out in the first round.

The Mets have followed the formula for sustained excellence: draft and develop good young players, especially pitchers.
They should not have sacrificed all that for a <50% chance to make the playoffs. Hopefully, this magical run to the World Series will be the beginning of a long sustained period of success, not a momentary glimpse of fleeting happiness.

Wait Til Next Year

At the end of the year, one team wins, every other team loses. In the world of professional sports there are no moral victories or nice tries. You either accomplished the goal and won the title, or you failed in your quest.
That's one way of looking at the 2015 New York Mets.
But there's also another side to this team.
This team took us on an incredible ride from July 31st (which should be remembered as the day Wilmer hit a walkoff home run, not the day we got Cespedes) until Game 4 of the NLCS.
It's unfortunate the car ran out of gas before the journey ended, but it was still a fun journey.

The enduring memory of 2015 for most fans will be how Wilmer went from weeping to winning in the span of two days.

And I will always remember the game two days later when the Mets blasted three home runs in one inning to sweep the Nationals and take control of the division.

2015 should also be the season when the Big 3 came together and began to dominate the National League. If Harvey, deGrom and Syndergaard stay healthy and stay together, the Mets will have a powerful rotation for many years to come.

And when I look back at 2015, I want to remember the Daniel Murphy who dominated the first two rounds

Not the Daniel Murphy who helped blow the World Series

If you have any other great memories of the 2015 Mets please share them in the comments section.

Unhappy Recap: Royals 7 Mets 2

Congratulations to the Kansas City Royals, 2015 World Series Champions.

The Royals are a great team and a very deserving champion.

As good as the Royals are, the Mets played horribly in this series. Three blown leads, in the 8th or 9th inning. Errors and otherwise dumb plays in every single game, leading directly to Royals runs. And a complete and total lack of hitting by the Mets lineup.

As good as the Royals are, they are incredibly lucky. Every bloop and bleeder fell in, every bounce went their way.

As good as the Royals are, Terry Collins gifted them this series. How did he lose Game 3? He took out a pitcher who just had an easy inning (Reed) for another guy out of the pen (Clippard). He left in a pitcher after a walk (Clippard), making it tougher for Familia.

Does that sound familiar?

I do not blame Terry for letting Harvey start the 9th. But there is absolutely no way he can leave him in after that leadoff walk. He's seen how Familia has been going, why risk putting more runners on. And why take out Niese after a strong inning for Reed who has pitched in every game?

What a great game by Harvey. He deserved a better fate. After all those asshole Mets fans criticized him and wanted to trade him. The guy was a horse in the playoffs. Now we need to pray that this ill-advised workload doesn't cause injury. Even so, we should call Scott Boras, ask his highest offer, add 10 million to that and sign him up for 8 years.

Very selfish of Cespedes to ask to stay in when he could barely walk. A pinch hitter with two good legs could have gotten the Mets an extra run there. And of course stupid of Terry to leave him in.

The 2015 Mets had a great season and a thrilling run through the playoffs but somehow it all just evaporated in the World Series.

Some of it has to do with the Royals, maybe there is something about the whole layoff things (now 8 of 9 LCS sweepers have been World Series weepers), but 3 Mets had good World Series (Harvey, Syndergaard and Granderson). Some others did ok (Conforto, Lagares, Matz). Everyone else was far below their expected performance, including playoff hero Murphy who couldn't hit or field the ball.

Obviously, I'm tremendously disappointed with losing in the World Series, especially in this manner, when it could have just as easily been the Mets winning in 5 games, but I will also remember the great 2 1/2 months from August to mid-October that this team gave us.

Unhappy Recap: Royals 5 Mets 3

Starting pitching is important. Timely hitting is essential. Defense is imperative. But relief pitching is the most important thing in the playoffs.

And the Mets bullpen has not done the job. And of course Terry Collins makes it work with his mishandling of the pen. I do not know why he insists on going to Tyler Clippard. Reed was going well. Why not let him start the 8th and if someone gets on bring in Familia.

I cannot stand guys who come into games and walk guys. That's why hard throwers are so important. Clippard is afraid to let guys hit his pitches, so he's too fine, and he walks guys.

Also, why the fuck did he bring in Familia last night? Knowing he might need him tonight.

You absolutely, positively cannot blow games, and the Mets blew a 9th inning lead in Game 1 and an 8th run lead in Game 4. And that is why they will not win the World Series.

That, and an absolutely choke job by the two biggest reason (offensively) that the Mets have even gotten this far, Daniel Murphy and Yoenis Cespedes.

And if their horrible hitting weren't enough both of them made horrible, inexcusable mistakes, Murphy's error, Cespedes's bone-headed base-running that probably bought each of them a ticket out of town.

The Mets had their chance to retake control of this series, and they blew it.

Congrats to the Royals. They are just an incredible team that capitalizes on your mistakes and gets hits in bunches when the need to. And their bullpen doesn't blow leads.

Happy Recap: Mets 9 Royals 3

The Mets bats finally woke up!

Huge home runs by Wright and Granderson.

This game started like the others ended with the Mets making mistakes and the Royals slapping hits all over the field.

Then Syndergaard finally got some swinging strikeouts and cruised for long enough for the Mets hitters to get some hits and the Royals to make a mistake the Mets had been making.

Franklin Morales gets the ground ball he needs, but has no idea what to do with it. Funny thing is, they ruled it a fielder's choice. If he had made that bad throw to second right away, it would have been an error. But because he waited and then made a bad throw, it's not an error?

Conforto throwing out Gordon in the second inning was a huge out as it turned out. The Royals could really have broken the game open.

But Conforto has been hitting so poorly and Lagares so well, I think Lagares needs to start, even against right-handers. Also, this is just a really awesome picture of Lagares sliding in with the 6th run of the game.

Funny thing is, even with a 9-3 win, two of the Royals runs were still gifts, the botched double play by the two giants (Syndergaard and Duda) and then a wild pitch that d'Arnaud couldn't find.

The opening pitch by Alcides Escobar is not nearly as big a deal as everyone is making it out to be. I'm sure the Mets just knew he had been jumping on every first pitch and Noah wanted to make him uncomfortable. And Harold Reynolds is dumb as shit for saying it "woke the Royals up." First of all, it's the World Series. They don't need to be woken up. Second, they did exactly what they did for the first two games. I hate dumb "analysis" like that. Just words that mean nothing but are so abstract they can't be disproven. And people actually buy into it.

I don't agree with pitching Familia in the 9th. The next two games are must wins for the Mets. And using him for an inning with a 6-run lead could possibly limit his effectiveness or ability to pitch two innings in one or both of the next two games.

While this was a good first step, the Mets are still along way from having a real shot to win this series. They must win both of the remaining games and CitiField.

And they are not going to do it if Cespedes, Conforto and Wilmer don't get some hits. And postseason hero, Murphy has joined them in having a horrible World Series.

Unhappy Recap: Royals 7 Mets 1

Maybe there is something to this thing about the long layoff. The curse of sweeping the LCS, or just too many days off, but this is not the same Mets team that swept the Cubs.

It has a lot to do with the Royals of course. deGrom just couldn't strike those fuckin guys out. And even though he sailed through four innings (mostly, barring a couple bad/unlucky defensive plays) once they got hits, they came in bunches and put the game away.

And the Mets hitting has just been atrocious. Cespdes, Wright and d'Arnaud all of them, awful. Conforto seems to have a huge hole in his swing.
He's got a big loop and is popping everything up. If he even makes contact, and doesn't just swing at bad pitches. The Royals have an entire lineup of guys hitting singles. The Mets have half a lineup of automatic outs.

There were no dramatics, no subtleties, just one big inning and a team that just cannot hit.

This series is starting to remind me of the 2000 World Series where the Mets had a lead going into the 9th and their closer blew it. They lost in extra innings, lost in Game 2 and were basically not a threat for the rest of the Series.

Unhappy Recap: Royals 5 Mets 4

What a crazy way to start off a World Series, with an inside-the-park home run. Just a crazy fluke play. I'm still not sure if Cespedes really lost the ball, or there was confusion between him and Conforto, and he pulled up thinking Conforto would catch it. But I do think Lagares makes that play 99 times out of 100.

Also, given Lagares's performance, I think there is a pretty good chance he starts the rest of the Series in center with Conforto at DH.

Kelly Johnson is 1 for 7 in the playoffs. Michael Cuddyer is 1 for 11. Unfortunately, Conforto is 1 for 17.

But the game was really lost by Jeurys Familia. I don't blame him. He's been lights out and you can't expect him to be perfect. But in a short series against a good team you just can't afford to play a game in which you took a lead into the 9th inning. Especially because of how unlikely it seems the Mets would be able to do the same against Wade Davis.

The Mets need better production from Cespedes, Duda and d'Arnaud if they are going to win this series. Cespedes looks terrible at the plate right now.
The Mets bullpen pitched well, Reed, Clippard and even Colon, but they just couldn't hold out that long.
As Reissberg pointed out, so many, rare, unusual, downright crazy things happened in this game: the inside-the-park HR, a run-scoring error, a game-tying HR, the longest game in World Series history (tied), a TV power outage, and the death of the starting pitcher's father before the game.
But here's the bottom line: the Royals are an excellent team. They are great at building rallies because they make contact and cut down their strokes to hit singles, instead of swinging like Cespedes trying to hit the ball 500 miles. They play great defense and their bullpen is spectacular (thought I can't figure out how soft-tossing junk-baller Chris Young so thoroughly dominated the heart of the Mets order.
In a short series between two evenly-matched teams, each game means so much. You never know when a bad bounce or a lucky break will turn against you (like a ball hitting third base with your slowest runner chugging down the line) so you never want to be in the position of having to play must-win games.
But as I always say, momentum is only as good as the next day's starting pitcher. Jacob deGrom has been great in these playoffs, Johnny Cueto has been bad.
If that holds to form in Game 2, the Mets will come home with the advantage again.

Let's Just Win

The New York Mets are in the World Series.
I couldn't possibly be more excited. I can barely sit still or keep a thought in my head.
The Kansas City Royals are an excellent team. Unlike the powerful sluggers of the Cubs who were shut down by the Mets, the Royals have a lineup of pesky hitters who keep rallies alive with singles and walks.
They take extra bases and they don't make errors. There will not be dropped fly balls like the ones Schwarber gifted the Mets in the NLCS.
Also, the Royals have Wade Davis. He is virtually unhittable. Since becoming the Royals relief ace last season he has a sub-1.00 ERA.
But the Mets have Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz.
The Royals will be starting (in order) Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto, Yordano Ventura and Chris Young.
Do this thought experiment: take the four pitchers for each team, add them to an otherwise identical roster of 21 other players. Computer-simulate 1000 7-game series. How many do the Mets win?
Reissberg and I each speculated the number would be between 800 and 900.
It is with that reason, that I believe the Mets will win the 2015 World Series.
Let's Go Mets.