The Good

There isn’t much that I’d define as “good,” but how about we go with “encouraging” instead? Let’s apply that to the fact that General Manager Omar Minaya has decided to infuse a touch of youth onto the roster. I don’t know if there’s anybody who doesn’t like Alex Cora, but we all know he wasn’t going to start the amount of games necessary for his vesting option to kick in, and he wasn’t very effective anyway. Jesus Feliciano is a guy who I’ve never seen swing so hard to hit a ball 6 feet in front of him. The Mets welcomed Ruben Tejada and Fernando Martinez back to the Majors, and Luis Castillo has been delegated to a bench role. Is this the answer? No. But it is encouraging that some young guys are here to play.

The Bad

Can anybody answer what the hell’s going on with Mike Pelfrey? Anybody? Bueller? I remember how, after a month of a half into the season, Small Pelf was a part of early Cy Young and All-Star game discussions. Any discussion concerning Pelfrey now pretty much always starts with “I don’t know…” Why? He’s a guy with all the talent in the world, and clearly has the ability to be an extremely effective pitcher. His fall from grace this year has been nothing short of alarming, and if the Mets are going to at the very least make the last two months of the season remotely interesting, they need him to return to form.

Other problems with the team pretty much all concern the heart of the order. I’m talking about Carlos Beltran, David Wright, and Ike Davis. This trio are 11-62 over the last week, with Ike responsible for 6 of those hits. Together, they have 3 RBI. If you’re head didn’t just completely explode, and I hope it hasn’t, you’re probably thinking that that is completely unacceptable. Because it is.

The Ugly

Jose Reyes has been absolutely brutal with the glove - and more confusingly, his arm - last week. The only thing that’s worse than Reyes making an error is the fact that it seems as if it always leads to at least a run, and usually more.

Someone needs to teach Jerry Manuel how to use a bullpen. After walking Chipper Jones in the Mike Pelfrey game, why he was left in to pitch to Brian McCann, who already had 2 hits on the day, is beyond me. How about leaving him in long enough to hit a batter with the bases loaded to force in a run? The only thing I’ve been able to say whenever the manager makes a mistake like that is: “Oh, Jerry.”

Then, there’s this:

The Good

Why is it that “The Good” is becoming harder and harder to write? Could it be because of the up and down nature of the team? Could it be because the valleys are much deeper than the peaks are tall? Whatever the case may be, there is at least a teaspoon of good in this cup of awful. Exhibit A: RA Dickey. Robert Allen started a game last week, and Robert Allen was once again, effective. 8.1 IP, only 4 hits, and 0 runs. When do we, as a collective fanbase, start expecting great outings of him every time out? I think I’m already there. Can you say “5th starter in 2011?” It might soon be time to ask that question.

When David Wright is hot, he is red hot. We’re looking at, in 22 plate appearances, 8 hits, a double, 2 homers, 9 RBI, and 4 walks. It’s a little tough to go too crazy when his defense, especially yesterday, continues to frustrate. Still, David has the ability to carry a team on his back when he gets on tears like this. It’s just unfortunate that, right now, it’s not translating to more wins.

The Bad

The Diamondbacks are awful. Aaron Heilman is their closer. Aaron. Heilman. They’re in last place in the National League West. And they own the Mets. The Mets continue to lose against the awful teams, which confuses me to no end. They play incredibly solid baseball against the St. Louis Cardinals, and could’ve swept them (more on that later), only to come out flat and with zero pride against the Diamondbacks. They exacted no revenge for the embarrassment that was the Mets’ trip over to Arizona by letting that terrible team come to Citi Field and do nothing but spank them all over the field. How the Mets eked out a win on Saturday night was, frankly, a surprise to me. Any goodwill they could’ve gained from the Cardinals series was destroyed and more over the weekend.

The Ugly

This is a pivotal week in the Mets’ season. With back to back series’ against the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies, this is when the Mets either put themselves back in the race, or get buried so deep in the standings that climbing back up will be very unlikely. Some might say that they have to win in spite of Jerry Manuel, who thought it was a good idea to leave Pedro Feliciano in as long as he did in Wednesday’s extra inning loss to the Cards. He also thought it was a good idea to let Pedro pitch to Albert Pujols. Nicely managed, skip.

Also, Oliver Perez is still on the team. I needn’t say anything else on the matter.

The Good

Let’s see, the good… the good… the pitching’s been pretty good, yes? Great, except…

The Bad

Everything else. Especially the hitting. Will the Mets find a way to score more than 15 runs this week? If that number sounds absurdly low, I chose it because that’s all the team scored last week. 15. And 6 of them were in one game. Their batting average over that time? .195. This lineup looks excellent on paper, and I don’t remember the last time I saw such a rock solid-looking lineup underachieve at such an unheard of level. They make every single pitcher that goes up against them look like Cy Young, and I can’t think of a more frustrating display than we’ve seen over the last 7 games.

The Ugly

Will Jerry Manuel be the manager of the team for the rest of the year or not? We hear a new story about the guy after every brutal loss, so can we either get a vote of confidence through the rest of the year or the dropping of the guillotine now? A decision should be made. Speaking of Jerry, he wasn’t dealing with a young prospect in RA Dickey. He was dealing with a journeyman veteran who knew better than anybody whether he can keep pitching after slipping on Clayton Kershaw’s lousy mound hole. Dickey wasn’t very happy when he was removed from yesterday’s game, and neither were many frustrated Mets fans.

The rumors have been circulating. Jerry Manuel is on the hot seat. As well he should be, but it should not stop there.

Sure, Manuel isn’t the greatest manager. He can’t get his offense hot, he continuously tinkers with his batting order, and his bullpen is as taxed as ever. What else can be wrong?

You can change the manager, but it’s not going to solve anything. The problem lies within the front office.

Omar Minaya took over in the end of 2004, hired his manager Willie Randolph, and survived another managerial change when the team switched to Manuel, and now with Manuel on thin ice, is Omar really going to get another opportunity to switch managers? How many chances is this guy going to receive?

While it’s not over yet, the Mets appear destined to miss October baseball for the fourth consecutive season. Since 2005, when Omar’s tenure started, the Mets have made it to the postseason just once. How can any fan support this? How can any fan constantly make excuses for Omar? If the Mets do not make the post season this year, they will have only made it once in the past ten years.

I’m sure Omar is a nice guy and terrific person (though Adam Rubin would say otherwise), but it is absolutely time for the Mets to move on and make a change in the direction this team is heading.

Applaud Omar for building a team that got the Mets to within one base hit from the World Series in 2006. Applaud him for bringing in essentially the best pitcher in baseball in Johan Santana.

Give me a glimmer of hope in the future. Please move on.

We made it. We’re at the All-Star break, Carlos Beltran’s coming back on Thursday, the team hasn’t lost 17 players to injury, and they’re 8 games over .500, good for 4 games back in the NL East, and a game back in the Wild Card standings. So what’s good, what’s bad, and what’s badder..er (ugly)? Let’s discuss:

The Good - Santana’s becoming Santana

Johan Santana has given up only one run in his last 23 innings, and none in his last 16. He’s got 2 straight wins, which has pretty much been unheard of during his time with the Mets (though through nearly no fault of his own), and his ERA is now 2.98. It’s funny that, while his greatness is appreciated, it hasn’t been mentioned as often as his line drive home run down the right field line, against the foul pole, in his start against the Reds. What I’d like to mention, though, is the reason I love the guy. In the 9th, when Jason Bay (who I’ll get to very, very soon) FUBAR’ed an easy fly ball, Jerry Manuel went to the mound to take Santana out of the game. The meeting on the mound lasted about as long as a sneeze, as Santana looked his skipper right in the eye, and said “I’m finishing.” and Mr. Overmatched himself immediately went running back to the dugout. But a couple pitches later, the game was over. That’s an ace.

Honorable Mention: Angel Pagan has been the greatest and most pleasant surprise of the team this year, by far.

The Bad - Where art thou, Jason Bay?

There it is. There’s the line that nobody seems to be willing to say, and why is completely beyond me. He’s now hitting .265, with 6 homers (4 of which came in 2 games), and 44 RBI. I don’t think I need to tell you that this isn’t his usual pace, and the streaky hitter hasn’t hit a streak that’s lasted more than 5 minutes. He’s got 2 hits in the last week, none in his last 10 at-bats, and sat yesterday on his own bobblehead day to give him that much more rest over the All-Star break. He looks completely lost at the plate, and finally, the boo birds have started to swarm him during this homestand. Beltran’s going to bring a huge boost to this lineup, and hopefully take some pressure off of Bay, allowing him to get back to basics and work on getting back to being productive. What I’d like to know though is why Beltran was absolutely murdered his first year here, as he was struggling yet stoic, and everybody thought he didn’t care, while Bay, who’s also struggling and also stoic, has gotten a pass until very, very recently.

The Ugly - Are the Mets broke or not?

First we heard that the Wilpons lost a ton of money because of Bernie Madoff, then we heard that they actually gained money because of him, before hearing that really, they lost money. Schwa? Which is it? Attendance is dropping, and Bob Klapisch has reported for the Bergen Record that the Mets are losing around $10 million a year because of it. What’s worse, the wide perception is that the team will not be able to add payroll dollars by the trade deadline. This is concerning because, while the Mets are definitely contenders and will remain that way through September, I don’t believe that, as constituted, this team will be able to gain a playoff spot without adding another arm. Hopefully, if this is the case, Omar Minaya and the Wilpons get clever and add another piece while not having to dip into the coffers.

Apologies for taking a short hiatus last week from providing the masses with my Man Crush and Dog House Resident of the Week, but I’m back, and decided to share a quick little review of the last week in a bit of a different way.

The Good

I’ve been sternly in the camp of Mets fans that were completely confused as to why Jenrry Mejia was in the majors as a reliever, when he really should’ve been in the minors as a starter. At least, in baseball terms. As a business move, it made perfect sense. His stuff looked good, he threw hard, and he looked like a piece that would help the club in the later innings, not to mention help Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya keep their jobs. The problem with all this was, he just wasn’t panning out as a dominant reliever. He’s got 15 walks and 3 hit batsmen in 27.2 innings pitched. The bigger problem I have with Jenrry being in New York as late as yesterday involved the spots that he being used in. He was brought into games that were essentially over, stunting his development. Baseball America’s #1 rated Mets prospect had no business being in the Major Leagues, so I was pleased to hear that he was optioned to AA Binghamton following yesterday’s conclusion to the 2010 Subway Series. There, he’ll be converted back to a starter, and perhaps will help the big league club in the future, or, as is being speculated, will be used as a trading chip for a starting pitcher before the deadline.

The Bad

Is Johan Santana ok? This is the question everybody’s asking today after the “ace” of the staff got touched up for 4 runs off the bat of one Mark Teixeira in yesterday’s loss to the Yankees. Granted, it all came on one pitch, and someone can argue that he was fine if you erased that one pitch. But guess what? That pitch happened, and you can’t erase it. His velocity has dropped, he looks eminently hittable, and frankly, I don’t remember the last time I didn’t hear the following: “Santana’s battling through this start like a true ace, because he clearly doesn’t have his best stuff today.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t know what that even means anymore. His “not best stuff” has recently become “his stuff,” and I’m more than a little bit concerned. The good news is that he’s known as a second-half pitcher, so there’s still time for him to look like Santana again. Is he capable, though?

The Ugly

Who in the blue hell came up with that awful, awful Go Gaga For Wright promotion? Who thought it was a good idea to give fans a blue foam finger to fans to hold up to ramp up support for an All-Star Game appearance? That person needs to be fired, and banned from being within 250 feet of any Major League ballpark. If you ask me, David Wright’s made a great case to go to the All-Star game in June, but this promotion is just… you know what? I have no words. Oh wait, I do. Horrible.

Before you question this choice and ask me if I’ve even been watching Oliver Perez pitch his last 2 starts, hear me out. First of all, you don’t watch Oliver Perez pitch. You merely sit back and tolerate the pain as best you could. Second of all, though he’s still owed about $20 million dollars, he’s a person you can send down to AAA Buffalo, and only kills the team, at worst, every 5 days. Jerry Manuel, on the other hand, is someone you could fire, yes, but I doubt it happens any time soon. Maybe I’m wrong, but he’s a guy who I have a feeling will do just enough to stay here until the year’s over. And he’s killing the bullpen, slowly but surely. Guys like Fernando Nieve were doing a great job to start the year. That is, until he amassed more appearances than there were games, and that’s impossible. The bullpen is starting to spring a leak, and while short starts by the starting staff aren’t helping, Skip surely isn’t either.

Then there’s the curious case of Jose Reyes, who I never want to see hitting 3rd again. In the 3-hole, he hit .207. He started to pop everything up. He couldn’t put down a sacrifice bunt. Twice. Which yes, is something he has to be able to do, but it’s also something a 3rd hitter should not be asked to do. Twice. If Jerry didn’t have any faith in his 3rd hitter getting a base hit, maybe that guy shouldn’t be batting 3rd. Leading off, Reyes is hitting .242. Not much better as a whole, but understand that he started off slow when he first came back. It’s such a tiny sample, but since being put back in the 1-hole, he’s looked more comfortable and spry. You know, like Jose Reyes. Manuel taking this long to realize he wasn’t going to work hitting 3rd is completely lost on me.

Then there’s this little gem, as quoted by the Post:

I don’t think we’re in as big a trouble as it seems we are… I think we’re better than what we’ve been seeing.

Are they this bad? No. Are they in trouble? Absolutely. Take a look at the upcoming schedule, Jerry, and tell me that series’ against the Yankees and Phillies aren’t looking bad considering the way your team is playing right now. Obviously, the next 2 weeks don’t a season kill, but they certainly can help put the team in a tailspin.

Jerry Manuel, who looks as if he’s managing to save his job, and not to win with a talented baseball team, is my Dog House Resident of the Week.

It’s basically a tale of two pitchers. Originally a couple of “throw-ins,” one looks like he’s on his way back to relative normalcy, the other continuing to do nothing but struggle.

John Maine, a guy who is by no means a world beater, is also a guy that the Mets needed to stabilize himself after missing so much time to injury. He posted an 8.64 ERA after his first four starts, with 16 runs and 10 walks in 16.2 IP. He had lost the life and velocity on his fastball and everybody was starting to think that he was on his way to being finished. Then, his last two starts happened. Were they dominant? Not at all. Were they a bit gutsy and a lot hope-inspiring? Yes. His last two starts saw him giving up 3 earned runs in 12 innings pitched, with 15 strikeouts and 5 walks. He’s not exactly Cy Young out there, but those last two starts make you hope that he’s on his way back.

Listen, he’ll never be an innings eater - he went 6 innings both of those starts - but as long as he gives the team a chance to win, I can live with what Maine gives the team. Ideally, I still believe he’s a bullpen guy, but the team clearly isn’t inundated with quality starting pitching, so to keep him in his role is to keep hoping he can give you what he has the last couple of starts. For that improvement, he’s my Man-Crush of the Week.

Honorable Man-Crush mentions: Rod Barajas continues to be clutch, Mike Pelfrey bounces back nicely, and Henry Blanco hits the Mets second walkoff homer in as many nights.

Speaking of garbage starting pitching (oh, did I not actually mention garbage?), Oliver Perez. I - and many other Mets fans - have been calling for Perez’s contract to be eaten since last year, and he’s still here, doing nothing but—

Oh, what’s that? He walked someone else just now?

For anybody who took their mom out to Citi Field to watch the game for Mother’s Day, good for you! Also, you better make up for that with a nice dinner or something, because she hated watching this guy watch 7 batters in 3.1 innings, and let’s be honest - so did you. That the Mets even had a chance to win the game at the end was an utter miracle after that disaster. Watching Oliver pitch is like watching a car wreck in slow motion. The Giants could’ve just left their bats in the dugout, because all they had to do was stand there while Ollie struggled against the wind, and against his own footing, as he wasn’t anywhere close to the zone.

Ollie’s previous start was one that gave me zero hope, even if it was a “quality start.” That game, he went 6 innings and gave up only 2 runs and 4 walks, which for him is excellent. It gave me zero hope because from game to game, and inning to inning, Perez has shown anything but consistency. Can management just get over the fact that Perez simply isn’t a good pitcher, and that he will never, ever, ever… match that great 200+ K season he had with the Pirates. Ever. Forget Resident. He’s the damn Dog House Landlord.

Other people belong in the House with him, including David “Strikeout” Wright, Jason Bay, who’s allergic to RBI, Bengie Molina, who needs a Wahmbulance, and Jerry Manuel, who’s bullpen will have to throw with their opposite arm when their throwing arms fall off by Independence Day.

Submitted by Dave Rosado

I grant you that there are still 2 weeks left in spring training, but these guys are so exciting to watch that I’m confident in making the following arguments.

Slugging percentages of .917 and 1.000. Batting averages of .472 and .500. 6 homers between the two in exactly 60 at-bats. 57 total bases. And they said the Mets farm system was weak. Who am I talking about? Anybody who’s paid attention this spring should know that these are the numbers of Ike Davis and Fernando Martinez. These are a couple of guys that we’ve heard plenty about (moreso about F-Mart) the last couple of years, but only now have gotten to see just how good they can hack it. And how about that Jenrry Mejia?

F-Mart

Martinez used to be called the “teenage hitting machine,” but has taken a bit longer to be noticed because of all the injuries he’s had to deal with. Last year, when up for a cup of coffee, Martinez struggled at the plate and in the field (type his name into a Google search and look at the auto-fill options. “Faceplant” is one of them). His value took a little bit of a hit, and he wasn’t spoken about too much for the rest of the season. This spring, however, has been Fernando’s coming out party. Unfortunately, however, there’s a pretty slim chance we see him patrolling center field at Citi anytime soon, with Angel Pagan likely getting the nod. Martinez has not been playing center in Florida, and I’m guessing the logic is that they’ll keep him at AAA to get uninterrupted playing time while Pagan keeps Carlos Beltran’s spot warm for him. Might he end up being a blue chip in a trade deal down the line?

Ike Davis

There’s been less hullabaloo concerning Ike Davis when compared to Martinez before this spring, but it’s clear this “kid” (he is 23 today) can hit. And hit. And hit. He’s made a few errors in the field, but his reputation is that of a more than capable defender. So why is the prevailing thought that he’ll start the year in AAA? Daniel Murphy, whose hype machine (through no fault of his own) ran completely rampant last year, will get every opportunity to fail at first base in 2010. He’s hitting a paltry .133 this spring, but look! He’s got a new, taller batting stance! I like Murphy a ton. He’s a hard worker, he’s great when interviewed, and you can really tell that he cares. Can you hit a ball into the gap with caring, though? We’ll get a chance to find out, and I’m far from alone in saying that Murphy’s leash will shorten in a hurry if he continues to struggle into April and May.

Jenrry Mejia

The guy I least want to start the year in the Majors is the guy who’s most likely to. Go figure. Still, he’s having a very productive and impressive spring, basically using one pitch to strike out 8 in 9.1 innings pitched. Talk about efficient. There are guys who, when pitching, are just fun to watch, and he’s one of them. It’s easy to see his potential, and his “I’m ready now” attitude is always a plus. Thing is, the bullpen does not look like a weakness on this year’s Mets team, but manager Jerry Manuel, perhaps in a bid to save his job, insists that Mejia be a part of it when the squad comes north anyway, and that’s the unfortunate part. I believe he should be in the minors to get some more seasoning as a starter, which would potentially make him much more valuable to this team down the road. Instead, he’ll probably be pitching in the 8th inning, which certainly might be an upgrade from Bobby Parnell, but in a role that might interfere with his development, especially if he hits a snag and starts struggling against some bonified Major League lineups.

Man-Crushes

These guys are the reason to watch spring training this year. They’re energetic, full of talent, and are basically pounding on the door to the MLB. That’s why this trio of Mets prospects gets my nod for Man-Crushes of the Spring.