I’ve been following Toby Hyde’s career since he joined Matt Cerrone’s network. He’s been like a baseball prospect, advancing every year based on past performances. Toby has talent to be sure, but he’s accomplished alot on work ethic. He’s starts a new season in Savannah and I hope he will continue his comprehensive posts on the Mets minor leagues. Have a great season, Toby.

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I’m glad that Matt Cerrone reminded folks that Jack Zduriencik started his career with the Mets.

A small fact about Zduriencik is that he was part of the group of advance scouts who followed the Astros prior to the 1986 playoffs. They provided some extremely important tid bits. One involved right fielder Kevin Bass. It seems that Bass, while having a strong throwing arm had become wildly inaccuarte and was missing the cut-off man.

After Darryl Strawberry’s Game 6 lead-off double in the 16th, Ray Knight followed with a base hit to right field. Third base coach Buddy Harrelson did not hesitate sending Strawberry home even with the ball being hit right to Bass. His throw was wild to the plate and it allowed Knight to easily get to second. The Mets added two additional runs and after a nail-biting bottom half of the inning, we won to go on to the World Series.

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Finally.

Frank Cashen, Davey Johnson, Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry to the Mets Hall of Fame.

Matt Cerrone’s informative post indicated the Mets quietly named four people – Marty Noble, Howie Rose, Gay Cohen and Jay Horwitz – to it’s Hall of Fame committee. I can’t think of four better people.

The inclusion of Horwitz is telling and signals a change in the way the powers that be make decisions. For many years, the club sought to supress Horwitz’ influence. He was perceived to be too close to on-field personnel, and it took almost two decades before he was named a vice president. It always seemed that some were jealous of Horwitz’ ability to forge relationships with people throughout the game. Even while overwhelmed with paranoia, they could never bring themselves to fire him. He’s just too good. And it’s time they started taking advantage of this remarkable and gifted man.

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If it’s about salary on the Reds’ part, there’s a match. Matt Cerrone’s take is right on:

…yes, it would be crazy creative, border-line stupid, yet potentially brilliant, if a team could send, say, Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez, who will cost $18 million each of the next two seasons, to the Reds for arroyo, phillips and cordero, saving the Reds $12 million this season, and $5 million next season, while replacing them with legitimate major-league talent… yes, this is far-fetched, and total mock-GM’ing, and i can’t recall the last time i saw a deal like that happen, but, the point is, the Mets and Reds fit one another’s needs, in some way, shape or form, and i would hope they discuss a way to help eachother out, because it looks like they can…

The talent is the thing. I don’t see the Reds’ doing this without inclusion of young talent from the Mets. Say Mike Pelfrey, but hopefully not Bobby Parnell. Any one or combination of the four Reds mentioned – Cordero, Phillips, Harang and Arroyo – represent the talent fit the Mets are looking for.

I remain astonished by the amount of energy Minaya is putting into moving Castillo. Is there more of a there, there under the radar about team chemistry issues? One reason Kevin Mitchell was moved in the December 1986 Kevin McReynolds deal was to remove him from Doc Gooden. Do the Mets feel the need to remove him from Jose Reyes?

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I’ve always been a fans of Matt Cerrone’s use of polling data of Met fans. One today gives me a reason to believe I’ve been right about something. I wrote the following in a post last week:

The Mets’ historical identity of being built around strong starting pitching has always appeared to be absolute. Last year’s failure of any starter to assume the role of a #2 behind one of the game’s best necessitated the club’s turn it’s attention to acquiring one. Met fans have a comfort level when their clubs are built around it’s stating pitching.

Metsblog offers a choice to fans to select between John Lackey, Matt Holliday and Jason Bay. Lackey leads all with 44%.

The Mets are an organization with a relatively short history in that there are fans alive who were there at the beginning. The first taste of glory came with a team built on strong starting pitching in Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Jon Matlack. No one will never forget the Dwight Gooden led staffs of the late 1980′s. It was the Mets dependency on starters which prompted Joe McIlvaine to give up Rick Aguillera along with four other players to get Frank Viola during 1990. Reacquisitions of Seaver, along with such pitchers as Brett Saberhagen, Al Leiter, Mike Hampton, Tom Glavine and Johan Santana support this hypothesis.

Even after a season such as 2009 that witnessed such offensive impotence, Met fans still put a premium on starting pitching.

I voted for Holliday in the poll, as I see the Mets need for a right-handed bat to be the greatest. They must compete with the Phillies whom have very good lefthanded pitching in Cliff Lee, Cole Hammels, J.A. Happ and Jamie Moyers. Righthanded hitters like Holliday and Jason Bay may not be available again.

Maybe I’m being allowed to buy into the weakness of catching last year and am optimistic of a positive return of some of the starters – except for Oliver Perez that is. And don’t get me wrong, if it’s any of these three, I’ll be pleased that the Wilpons are trying to win.

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Matt Cerrone offers a fair speculative update on where Jose Reyes is with his hamstring.

My own thoughts are as follows: Like Cerrone I understand Reyes hesitancy. Tom Mckenna once said to always give your athletes the benefit of the doubt. While admittedly hard at times, I will be so with Reyes.

Several reports indicate that Reyes has scar tissue built up in his hamstring. This is both a difficult thing to treat and perform with. I have a player currently dealing with the same from a hamstring injury he sustained last spring. It limits stride and explosive power. A player of Reyes skill set and abilities is significantly limited when such symptoms are present. Everybody is different and some are more likley to develop such scaring than others. The time that is taken Reyes to return is unfortunate but not at all unprecedented.

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For the five or six folks whom still read my drivel:

2:33: Mets win 7-0. Tim Redding finished up. Nice DP started again by Daniel Murphy. Like Gary said at the end, this can be the best day of the season if we can get tonight’s game.

2:22: To the 9th. We lead 7-0. They just showed Rockies coach Don Baylor. My own memory of Baylor come from the 1986 World Series when he almost hit me with a foul ball in the 3rd base dugout. I tripped and smashed face first into one of the polls. After I put ice on Gary Carter’s knee after the game, I held an ice bag over the right side of my face. A real big league dork moment.

2:02: Santana’s done, leaving with a 6-0 lead after 7. Bobby Parnell will relieve. That was my first look behind the scenes at Citi Field. Nice shot by SNY getting Santana walking up the runway. A Cora single and David Wright double makes it 7-0.

1:54: For those of you whom don’t already. You need to have Tim Dierkes’ MLB Trade Rumors minimized today. No other site covers it better.

1:50: Cory Sullivan’s had a nice game. Two hits – one a triple, an RBI. Three nice plays in leftfield. He can play CF, too, so their might be something to the talk that the Mets could move Jeremy Reed to the Rockies. They don’t need them both.

1:46: They’re talking about Bob Apodaca, the former Met and Rockies pitching coach. I had the proviledge of working with “Dac” in the 1983 season in Jackson AA Texas League. Great pitching coach-better person.

1:35: Gary and Ron spoke about Omar Minaya’s comments today and were disappointed that Minaya didn’t really “close the door” on the issue. And I am glad that Darling was very Mets get to 6-0 after an Angel Pagan triple.

1:30: Mets lead 5-0 after 5.

1:28: Santana just dove after a ball that got by first base and Ronnie said that when Santana is in the game “he seems to be the toughest guy on the field.” That’s high praise.

1:21: SI’s Jon Heyman reports that the Marlins are close to getting Heath Bell.

1:10: Cory Sullivan single-handedly kept the Rocks from scoring with two really good plays in left.

1:07: They’re saying how well Billy Wagner is doing well. What a great set-up guy Wagner would be for K-Rod.

1:04: Geez, I didn’t know Matt Cerrone was doing TV spots, too on SNY. What a major media star he’s becoming. Still, what an amazing rise in success from a man with a vision.

12:58: Santana’s 4th strikeout. He must be really filthy today as the Rocks are swinging and missing alot….and missing the ball by a mile.

12:53: Plug here for Gary, Ron and Keith’s web site

12:48: 5-0. Notice I had trouble decided how to spell drivel.

12:44: Ronnie talked about the squeeze play and that the hitter has to answer back. I however remembering that the Cubs during the 80′s required no such answer. They have just better get it down or the thing blew up. Plus, some clubs knew that Keith Hernandez was not only good an snuffing it out defensively, but he was good at stealing the sign from the manager in the dugout.

12:40: Cool. Five straight basehits. 4-0. Great to see Cory Sullivan and Angel Berroa get hits.

12:37: Four straight hits. Good guys lead 2-0. Ron’s complementing the offensive approach.

12:32: After running out to get a sandwich…..Murphy just doubled to lead off the 2nd…..Gary talked about the astonishing drop-off in stikeouts by Santana…..Francouer first pitch single to right…..Ron said its that there is a slight drop-off in velocity and that he’s missing inside. I wonder if its that Santana is trying to get more contact from hitters and getting deeper into the ball game.

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During the 1986 season, I was in the clubhouse at the beginning of the game doing something in San Francisco. The only way to the field was an entrance right next to the Giants’ bullpen down the right field line. A little chicken coop cage is where the pitchers sat during the game. I got to the heavy steel door and watched us hit in the top half of the first. When Wally Backman came up, a voice from the Giants bullpen said, “hit him in the f….ing head.”

I told Backman about it later and he laughed loudly. In fact several players did. It meant mission accomplished. Backman got under the other team’s skin. How many current Mets spark this sort of response.

Matt Cerrone’s reporting on Minaya’s commnets was excellent in that he noted how Minaya made his initial pointed comment that clearly was intended to point to this club’s particular passion and intensity. Another more appropriate word would be moxie, a term that measures one’s ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage.

Minaya’s use of the word, “edge” is more subtle and more ill defined. But to use my word, moxie, on the surface only a few current Mets clearly appear to have it: Johan Santana, Francisco Rodriguez and David Wright. When Jose Reyes is playing with his devil may care attitude and the other team hates him, he has it. But these times are not seen often enough. Essentially only one of these is an everyday player.

Yes, here is where that other ill defined term, chemistry comes in. It’s not just liking and getting along and/or respecting each other. Whatever the particular personalities, a sense of shared purpose needs to exist. Resolve to acheive you goals.

And yes, you are what you appear to be – to opponents, to fans and yourselves.

With the current batch of players, all of these issues and subsequent questions are out there. The 2006 team that reached Game 7 of the NLCS had two players with which played with the aura of these intangible qualities in Cliff Floyd and Paul LoDuca. Pedro Martinez was also still around.

Omar Minaya did indeed walk back from his thoughts not because he believed he was wrong, but beacuse he knew he was right and there isn’t a whole lot he can do about it.

Chemistry can develop though as a team begins to find its way. But this team’s starting rotation will have to do more. The model for victory in last’s night’s game – needing three relievers to win – cannot sustain itself over a season. The line-up cannot continue to watch leads they’ve gotten during the early innings fade while they are playing defense during the middle of the game. There will be way too much psychological drama and the bullpen’s most talented pitchers will be spent by the time August gets here.

Daniel Murphy’s first inning two-run homer held up last night. Its these sorts of things that can help build something. Murphy is batting 3rd alot and its a traditionally an important spot in the batting order for the Mets. See Keith Hernandez and John Olerud. He’s done nothing but hit since he’s arrived. Maybe it will be that his emergence as a young star the Mets will have a badly new source of positive energy.

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Mike Vaccaro believes so. Its worthy to pay tribute to Jackie Robinson, the great man who broke down the racial barrier in baseball. But from all reports it seems that the Robinson rotunda is afocal point of the new stadium and one which focuses on a man who never played for the Mets but did for Fred Wilpon’s beloved Dodgers.

There still is no worthwhile Mets Hall of Fame. In fact the current list carries as many non-players as it does players. Its a disgrace that Davey Johnson, the winningest manager in the club’s history is not in its Hall nor was in attendance at the date which recognized its 20th anneversary.

This fault clearly lies with Fred Wilpon whom has the clout to get Davey back to Shea Stadium, but it would take a personal contact on his part. Whatever problems the Wilpons had with Johnson, it was with them and not Mets fans.

There have been whispers that they Wilpons were more interested in creating a ballpark that focused more on the Brooklyn Dodgers and not on the franchise that is playing in its 48th season. During that time it won two of sports’ most magical world titles.

The slights over the seasons the Wilpons have been in control are measurable in their failure to make peace with Davey Johnson and its disinterest in a Hall of Fame for its own players.

A few of the most important Mets of all time have passed on in Casey Stengal, Gil Hodges, Tug McGraw and Tommie Agee. Many, many more are still with us and deserve a home that helps fans stay close to their teams history. There’s still time for the Wilpons to right this wrong.

Begin a Mets Alumni Organization thats seperate from the memrobilia dealers. The team will have to spend its money to bring ex-players and coaches in for one weekend every season on say, Old Timers Day, but it needs to be done. They could entrust Matt Cerrone’s growing network of blogs to maintain a website for former Mets. I’d help in any way they’d let me.

Change in some fashion is in order from the Mets point of view and badly needs to embrace its former stars in a manner thats reflects the way their fans do.

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Nick Evans in all fairness made the club in spring training, but in a numbers oriented move the OF/1B was moved down to make room for the signing of Gary Sheffield. The question that remains is what the Mets will do when Livan Hernandez is needed as that fifth starter.

Matt Cerrone speculated today that the club could opt to move Darren O’Day out. I agree that this could be a smart play. The two games this weekend at Citi Field had to change quite a bit.

The new ballpark is big and likely to be bigger than anyone suspected. The gaps are much deeper than anticipated and ball that get to the wall may become triples more often than anyone would have liked. The high walls in the outfield seem to deaded the ball and there’s a difficult well to play in RF. You saw an accomplished major league outfielder in Ryan Church have trouble with it. Marlon Anderson showed that he won’t be very good at home in CF. It makes Jeremy Reed much more valuable that expected. Sheffield and Daniel Murphy could prove to be liablilities in the OF when the Mets play at home.

If Sheffield hits, he’ll stay. And if he does, he might replaced after his 3rd time at-bat by Church or Reed. Hopefully Murphy will be able to hold his own in the OF. If not, the Mets could find themselves with a team that does not match their own home stadium.

The Mets have a fly ball pitching staff and it will be a disaster if they find out they don’t have a fly ball outfield.

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