Apologies to Nirvana. But when in doubt, why not turn to the king of angst, Kurt Cobain, for, um, perspective:

Gotta find a way, find a way, when I’m there
Gotta find a way, a better way, I’d better wait

The morning reality check needs to remind us all that Jon Niese is really still a rookie and that growing pains occur when developing a major league starter. Unfortunately for the Mets, they are already saddled with a couple of drama queens. Any club, good or bad, could live with starts like last night from a talented and polished kid like Niese. But even Wally Backman on steroids couldn’t make the current situation work.

Keep your head. Make sure nobody is considering the Kurt Cobain final solution.

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This post was written by bobsikes on April 15, 2010

Tags: Apologies, Current Situation, Drama Queens, Final Solution, Growing Pains, Jon Niese, Kurt Cobain, Major League, METS, Nirvana, Perspective, Reality Check, Steroids, Wally Backman, When In Doubt

John Harper revealed that Tony Bernazard made the entire organization emhasize hitting the ball the other way. The grip this man had on the Mets continues to amaze me.

The fact that he could control a major league manager’s philosophy like that is surprising. The minors, yes. But not at the major league level. Why Omar Minaya let him get away with it is beyond me. But the fact that he did shows that Bernazard was out of control and had the Wilpon’s snowed.

Organizational moves since Bernazard’s departure indicate that Jeff Wilpon is taking a bigger role. Minaya did not want Wally Backman, but he’s back now. The philosophical change could have only been prompted by Wilpon. Recruitment of Mets alumni from the 1980′s seems to be ongoing. Maybe they finally realize that having these guys around is a good thing.

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Fernando Tatis is returning to the Mets.

When thought of in terms of the roster, it makes sense. He can play both infield and outfield corner positions. In an emergency, he can play second base (7 games in 2009) and even shortstop (2 games). Importantly, he knows what the Mets’ situation is. The club wants and needs Daniel Murphy to succeed at first base.

Murphy represents the only young everyday player that they are currently trying to develop at the major league level. He seems to be entering the season a stronger and better athlete. Murphy’s 38 doubles last season display significant potential for power and run production.

Any negatives impressions from last season hold less weight as Murphy never had a consistent place in the batting order. Intrestingly, he proved to be a pretty good RBI guy by hitting .345 with runners in scoring position with 2 out. Jerry Manuel’s recent comparison of Murphy to Mark DeRosa are thoughtful, and I think that he did that to motivate him. I doubt that Murphy wants to be considered as a utility player. I see him as a more durable Dave Magadan and with more power.

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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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Somehow, its louder and more personal if you are sitting in a dugout.

Matt Cain never meant to hit David Wright, but was forced to deal with the fact that he did. His body language conveyed as much, but the code had to be addressed and Johan Santana answered even though he knew that it wasn’t warranted. A “Just in case” thinking prevailed and Pablo Sandoval’s skip out of the way thankfully ended it all.

I’d imagine that Santana knew that Matt Cain didn’t intend to hit David Wright, but its been a long and painful month. The losses and all that crap back in NY with the Cradinals and Albert Pujols still lingers.

Damned code.

I heard that sound three times in my career from a dugout as an athletic trainer in professional ball when a pitched ball hit the helmets of three good men. One was an accident, while the other two were, well, likley to be something else. I’ve had major league pitchers tell me they intended to hit a batter because a hitter had done something. I’ll not share their names and don’t enjoy knowing what they are.

An idescribable beauty of baseball exists that players and fans share. It bonds them as there’s not a player alive that cannot share some unforgetable moment with a dad or mom.

My mom placed two ticket stubs over a large photo from a game my late father and I went to in 1974 and had it framed. She gave it to me at Christmas. It was the game that Hank Aaron hit his 715th homerun. Dad checked me out of school and we went up to Atlanta for the series hoping to see Aaron’s homerun. We saw it and I’ll never forget the smile on my Dad’s face when he realized what we just shared. My son has the framed photo displayed in his room.

A raw human experience always exists in any sport that forces reality on us all. David Wright will be ok, but that word, “perspctive” comes to mind.

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* Lets face it. Bobby Parnell was a real shot in the arm last night wasn’t he? Sixty-one of 86 pitches were strikes. Pretty good stuff and evidence the Mets made the right decision to move Parnell to the rotation for the rest of the season.

* Doesn’t it seem like everytime the Mets have needed Brian Stokes to do something he has?

* Angel Pagan’s lead-off homer shows that he is a difference maker-an impact player. Players who have injuries early in their careers get labled as injury prone becaue they are, well, injury prone. While Pagan’s contribultion has been significant, the Mets cannot see him as en everyday player until he shows he can get through a major league season without getting hurt. To be fair, he’s more than adequately started the process. Still. I hope the Mets do not pencil him in as an everyday player just yet and will go out and get another everyday major league outfielder in the off season.

* If someone else had worn that same salmon colored jacket that Clint Hurdle did on the MLB network the other night, Hurdle would have slammed him. Clint, what were you thinking dude? You looked like a South Beach pet groomer.

* Admit it. You’ve kind of enjoyed seeing the Nats on that little winning streak, right?

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This is good news.

As Putz only needed to have spurs removed, his return this season was likely. If he had soft tissue damage to a ligament or tendon, it would have been see you next year.

A return of both Putz and Billy Wagner seems imminent sometime this month. There wasn’t any need to spend what few minor league assets the Mets had on an arm with these two returning.

September could be different in that Manuel will have an expanded roster with more players on the bench to pinch hit. A bullpen that includes Putz and Wagner will benefit a staff who’s starters do not go deep into games. If the Mets recall a catcher, they will be able to pinch-hit and double switch comfortably.

If they are in contention it will make sense to promote the two major league bats that are on the AAA roster in Mike Lamb and Nick Evans.

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I was glad to see Fred Wilpon at the ballpark yesterday having a sitdown with Omar Minaya. I hope that he and his son read a Human Resources report which documented numerous incidents involving Tony Bernazard and that they realize that they have to do some serious damage control throughout the organization.

I’m not sure if I necessarily agree the negative reports which indicate there is a lack of talent in the system. But the extremely poor showing of the AA and AAA clubs is astonishing and speaks more to a culture of dysfunction. To have successful clubs at these levels isn’t entirely dependent on having alot of prospects. Clubs win championships here because they have winning players many of whom never will put on a major league uniform.

Every organization knows they need this core group of players and they are both appreciated and treated with the same respect as are prospects. It seems that under Tony Bernazard players like these were likely to have been treated contemptuously.

That’s why the Wilpons need to make sure they take a road trip around the organization to reaffirm their appreciation for everything everybody does. They should emphasize new leadership and direction. This simple gesture will create positive energy and will go a long, long way.

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Maybe.

But what did everyone expect? When executives became obsessed with wearing out starters, teams began carrying more pitchers on there staffs. During the late 80′s it wasn’t unusual for staffs to be carrying nine pitchers for periods, with the norm being ten. Then the number became eleven or twelve. And now its not surprising to see teams carrying 13 pitchers on 25 man rosters.

The game has changed subtly in the last 20 years. We’ve seen the complete game become rare. Not only is it not allowed in the minor leagues, guidelines are in place which limit pitch counts early in the season to 75, forcing managers to use more relievers. The policy is carrying over to the major league level as unintentional ceilings are embedded into a starters training early in career. Hence the five inning quality start in the minds of many.

In golf, it might be similar to the conditioning that goes into playing 18 holes. If young golfers were conditioned to go 12 holes, it would be quite a shock to go the extra three holes.

But this seems to be the way that baseball has chosen to go in protecting its best young pitchers with limits. Monetary investments in talent have advanced, and the precaution is understandable.

Nonetheless, for Mets starters 100 pitches are going to have to get more than 15 outs. Better command and more first pitch strikes please. Getting only five innings means the club will have to use 4 relievers, with JJ Putz and Francisco Rodriguez being limited to an inning.

Last night playing a run down, Jerry Manuel opted to attempt to get a run or more by forcing the Marlins to pitch to Gary Sheffield with a runner in scoring position or Jose Reyes with 2 on. It was the smart thing to do at this point in the game and season. It was a vary good time to use the power the Mets had on the bench.

Maine pitched well and only faced 18 hitters in five innings. I’ll take that every time. His pitch count – eighty three was solid as well. With the lead or playing at home, Maine might have stayed for another 4 or 5 outs which would have gotten the club into the 7th. Its the kind of start that they will look for from Livan Hernandez tonight.

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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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