Those Lucky Sons of Bitches...The Mets

Those gosh-darn New York Mets. They go up 8-0 then 10-1 and somehow only end up winning by a single run. The crazy thing is that the Mets are now above .500 and only 2.5 games out of first place in the pitiful division, commonly known as the National League East. The Phillies cannot seem to get a win, the Marlins have slowed down tremendously, the Braves are beset by injuries and the Nationals are just awful. This leaves the Mets as a viable option to come out of the division and make the playoffs. This New York Mets baseball team is just not very good, you know it, I know it, and everyone in baseball knows it. The offensive is terribly inconsistent, the starting pitching is not deep, and the bullpen is lacking ability. With all of these problems it is clear that if the Mets want to continue to make a playoff push they are going to have to make some midseason moves to acquire a solid 8th inning reliever and another hitter.

The Mets current bullpen setup looks something like this: Starter comes out of the game in the 6th inning. Joe Smith comes into the game and gives up a couple of hits then Pedro Feliciano comes in and closes the door on the threat that Smith has just created. Duaner Sanchez comes in for the 8th and gives up a run, and then Wagner comes in to blow the game or dominate depending on his mood the given evening.

The problem with this is that every game that the Mets are leading by only one or two runs becomes a dangerous, since Feliciano is the only consistent guy in the 'pen and he is only brought in after Smith, Heilman, or Schoenweis create a dangerous situation. Acquiring a pitcher like Brian Fuentes would solve this problem, giving the Mets a solid option in the 8th or 7th. A 7th, 8th, 9th combination of Feliciano to Fuentes to Wagner is a whole lot better than anything the Mets are currently putting out there. With the inclusion of a solid end game reliever the Mets can continue to win games like the one last night, only without the heart-attack inducing trauma that occured after Pedro Martinez left the game.

TODAY IN SPORTS (SUNDAY, JULY 6, 2008)

• Mets at Phillies 1:35 p.m. (CW11) - The Mets can't count on clutch hits from Brian Schneider every night.
• Red Sox at Yankees 8:05 p.m. (ESPN) - Even if the Yanks pull off a win tonight, their season may be over. Right now, they are behind Tampa Bay, Boston, Chicago, Minnesota, Los Angeles, Oakland and are only up one game on Baltimore and Texas in the American League standings.

- D. Spell

TODAY IN SPORTS (SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2008)

• Red Sox at Yankees 3:55 p.m. (FOX) - The last time the Yankees were in fourth place on July 5th or later was 1992. Does that explain to you how badly this team is playing?
• Mets at Phillies 7:05 p.m. (SNY) - Last night's game was the perfect microcosm of the Mets' season. Santana allows two runs in eight innings only to find himself with a no decision and the Mets' untimely hitting leads them to a 3-2 defeat in Philadelphia. I'm impressed. Could Omar Minaya be the next one out? More to come on this later...

- D. Spell

TODAY IN SPORTS (FRIDAY, JULY 4, 2008)

• The Annual July 4th Hot Dog Eating Contest 12:00 p.m. (ESPN) - I wonder if Joey Chestnut blogs...
  

• Red Sox at Yankees 1:05 p.m. (YES) - Mr. Girardi seemed quite peeved after the Yankees' 7-0 loss to Boston last night. Let's see how the team responds to his closed door meeting.
• Mets at Phillies 7:05 p.m. (SNY) - As badly as the Mets have been playing, they're only 4.5 games out and they play the first place Phillies in a three-game series this weekend.

- D. Spell

Jetting Jeter to the Outfield

Derek Jeter never had very good range at shortstop, but now it seems to be plummeting, and fast. Jeter, who always ranged well to his backhand and poorly to his glove-side, is now only average ranging to his backhand well below average ranging to his glove-side. 

For those of you who contest Jeter's poor defensive ability, look at the stats. According to baseball-reference.com, he has a 4.04 range factor in his career. Over his time in the league, the average shortstop has a 4.11 range factor. Jeter's range factor has decreased in every year since 2005 (4.56 in 2005, 3.97 in 2006, 3.80 in 2007 and 3.79 this year). Although Jeter still has soft hands in the field - he has a .980 fielding percentage this year - he is hurting the team too much at shortstop. Thus, I propose that it's time for Joe Girardi, Brian Cashman and the rest of the Yankees' organization to move Jeter to right field next year and start to find a replacement for him.

Bobby Abreu is a free agent at the end of the season. There will be a hole to fill in right field and Jeter would be the perfect player to fill it. He has always been great on pop-ups. The most impressive part of his game in the field is ranging back and towards the line for fly balls. He still has the arm to play right field, as exemplified by his almost-great backhanded jump-spin-and-throw play against Texas on Monday. 

You may ask, who would play shortstop if Jeter moves? If the Yanks are moving him for defensive reasons, they should be signing a defensively capable shortstop. Orlando Cabrera and Rafael Furcal are both free agents at the end of the season. Cabrera has great hands and a good arm in the field. Although he is not known for his hitting, he is competent at the plate. Furcal has good hands and a tremendous arm, not to mention that he was hitting .366 before he got hurt earlier this year.

If Derek Jeter is truly about the team, he will realize that his defense is only hurting the Yankees at this point. It would take an adjustment, but there is no reason Jeter can't be as good in right field as he was in the prime of his career at shortstop. Now, all the Yankees have to do is realize that Derek's not the player that he once was. The real question is: will they ever come to that realization?

- D. Spell