One of the most knowledgable baseball bloggers whom focuses on the Mets in Mets Today’s Joe Janish. His daily notes are probably read by some of the beat writers. Here’s his take on Oliver Perez’ start yesterday:

Perez took another step backward. Although he allowed “only” three runs and struck out 7 in five frames, he also walked 5 and allowed 6 hits (including one homerun). On several occasions Ollie “improvised” on the mound, playing cowboy and dropping down laredo style for reasons unknown. At least a dozen of his 112 pitches were a good six feet out of the strike zone, and had Brian Schneider scrambling. It was a minor miracle that he threw only one wild pitch and allowed only three runs (and I’m still trying to figure out how he didn’t hit at least two batters). There were several spots where a more disciplined team would have mounted a 3- or 4-run rally.

I long ago stopped wishing Ollie would find his inner Sid Fernandez, who was so much more cocnsistent than Perez could ever hope to be.

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Was it being called out by damn near everyone that prompted this surge? No matter, they’ve played to their potential and should be commended.

Lets hope Jonathan Niese pitches well enough to stay in the rotation and that the remarkable Ken Takahashi continues to make his strong contribution to the bullpen, as it will be good to have another lefty in the pen.

The line-up and depth are beginning to be a strength as players whom come off the bench are seen as regulars by the other club. Usually two of the quartet of Daniel Murphy, Fernando Tatis, Gary Sheffield and Ryan begin the game on the bench. As they are considered to be 3 thru 6 hitters in an everyday lineup and not just pinch hitters opposing managers have less favorable matchups against their bullpen.

I look forward to more games like today’s where the club uses needs to use two pitchers, instead of its customary 3 or 4 out of the pen on games they win.

Brian Stokes has only allowed one unearned run in 11 outings this season. Along with Takahashi, the duo allows the struggling Sean Green and, when he returns, Oliver Perez to get it together.

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I’m afraid so. Recent roster moves with pitchers are fanatasy baseball like- Darren O’Day, Nelson Figueroa and now Casey Fossum. The Mets are treating pitchers like disposable free moves in your Yahoo league. After today’s performance by Oliver Perez, they should have demoted him to the bullpen and named Fossum to start in his place. Intead they put Fossum on the scrap heap for the waiver vultures to feed upon.

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1. The rotation is consistent. If the Club uses the starters they are leaving camp with the majority of the season, it will be similar to the 1986 staff of Doc Gooden, Rick Aguilera, Bobby Ojeda, Ron Darling and Sid Fernandez. For this year’s Mets it means staying healthy, too. But today questions need to be answered about Oliver Perez, John Maine and Mike Pelfrey. It can happen though.

2. The outfield defense will need to hold up at home. If we find that this is happening, it will lilley mean that other things are going well, too.

3. The bullpen lives up to advance billing. Its a potential place of dominance.

4. David Wright, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran need to play as if they are in the prime of their careers.

The first item is the one that gives me pause on opening day and may be the real key to the season with the other three more easy to obtain. If the starting five produce, the Mets can get back to the World Series and indeed win beacuse of the pitching depth that they have.

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The Mets saw exactly what they wanted to in Oliver Perez yesterday and in the mean time learned alot about him.

Perez is a “hand’s on” pitcher in that likley thrives in a controlled, structured environment. After his last start was so universally and publically condemned, Perez responded with the sort of dominate performances the Mets and likely the Pirates always expected from him. Consistency is performance has been the key. The largess of the stage also is factor that affects Perez as demonstrated in his performances at Yankee Stadium.

So what to do now?

Hopefully after this week Johan Santana emerges as a role model for Perez whom will begin to model his work ethic and preperation. If Santana has this kind of influence, Perez won’t want to disappoint him.

Dan Warthen has shown he’s not afraid of being hard on his guys – and in the media, too. I hope this does not become a habit of Warthen as it will backfire in an extremely dangerous way at some point. Still, if Warthen motivates in a manner in balance with staying on his ass, this combination with Santana can be a productive one for Perez.

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And do Jerry Manuel’s comments let the cat out of the bag?

Manuel managed the White Sox when Albert Belle and Frank Thomas were there, so he’s accustomed to dealing with star players who can be difficult to handle. Manuel said that Ramirez’s bat would take care of any perceived problems.

David Wright’s statement of support and Jeff Wilpon’s denial leave it less than certain what the Mets will do, and it could be part of the sort of high stakes poker played by Scott Boras. It’s a sure bet that Boras would love to draw the Mets into a bidding war with the Dodgers for Ramirez while at the same time getting the Mets to resign Oliver Perez.

At any rate, I admire the Wilpons and Minaya from not getting into a bidding blitz. The beginning of spring training is over the near horizon and will seem like its upon us after Sunday’s Super Bowl. It’s easy to see why the Mets can feel they can stand pat with the players they have. Aside from his curious acquisition of multiple left-handed light hitting outfielders, Minaya’s done well. He took care of the last two innings in a manner which exceeded expectations and the pieces are there to refit the bullpen in a new, more confident image.

But virtually nothing was done for the line-up and the bench. Alex Cora is a net equal to Damon Easley and there are way too many lefty-hitting outfielders to choose from. It appears that fo the right side the club is depending on Fernando Tatis to have the same kind of year along with the development of Nick Evans power.

Its not hard to see what the acquisition of Ramirez would mean in the fourth hole batting in front of Wright and Delgado. Let’s face it, Ramirez is the most dangerous right handed hitter to play in the big leagues since, well, maybe never. The size of ballparks has changed in the NL and teams can get out slugged more frequently than in previuos years. No wonder teams carry 13 pitchers.

But maybe its that the Mets do not have the money to compete as they once did before Jack Madoff. With the first morning of pitchers and catchers maybe two weeks away, the cards that the Mets have are playing will be flipped up on the table. If neither Ramirez or Perez or at least a Ben Sheets is not signed, then it will be clear the poker hand they had wasn’t very good.

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…..Minaya is in a must sign situation with Oliver Perez. the Mets clearly low balled Lowe as they may not have wanted him, or may not have wanted to commit to an older player again. And who can blame them with the cash down the toilet work of Moises Alou and Orlando Hernandez. A player should never be considered old coming off a good year, but 4 years would have taken Lowe to around 40 years of age. Maybe thats why the Mets would not go beyond three years for Lowe, but they might with a younger Perez.

For a wide variety of reasons, the Mets cannot be outbid for Perez. If they do, it sends a meassage that the Wilpons are in trouble financially and the Mets are unable to compete as a big market club on its way into a new stadium.

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Yesterday’s signing of Tim Redding will make even more sense if Mets GM Omar Minaya signs another starter. For a contending team, Redding can be considered no more that a back of the rotation asset.

So what’s next? It appears that the Mets have not improved their offer to Derek Lowe, and the loss of John Smoltz may force the Braves into negotiations for Lowe. Or so hopes Scott Boras as he also represents Oliver Perez.

If reports are accurate that Minaya perfers Perez, the acquisition of Lowe by the Braves would force the Mets to not be outbid for Perez.

Word that the Mets won’t be going any further for a starter, however, would not good news for Met fans. It makes the signing of Redding a cost saving move and the only starter they bring in. This could signal that Jack Madoff caused more problems for the Wilpons than they’d care to admit.

True, the Mets spent their money this off season in their bullpen with the acquisition of Francisco Ronriguez and JJ Putz. But alot of money came off the books, too. Its why an innings eater like Lowe makes so much sense.

The Mets need another starter if they are to contend this season.

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in NY Sportsday

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I love not having to wait until the morning to see the box score. If you’re under 35, you have no idea what I’m talking about.

I know Met fans were so happy for Aaron Heilman. Six straight outs. He vultred that win a bit yesterday, but justice was served. If Heilman is going to be ok, it could mean alot for that bullpen. I’ve always liked the kid.

Speaking of kid….how about Dan Murphy? Two more hits tonight with one in the first in front of Wright’s homer. I can’t imagine any player that Minaya brought in could have had the impact that Murphy has had. It reminds of Gregg Jefferries’ 1988 August call-up. Damn, that’s now 20 years ago. What an tired old blow hard I’m becoming.

Here’s hoping Murphy’s Mets days are more memorable than Jefferries. What a great thing for the organization it will be if they can develop a young everyday player in Murphy.

Do the Mets try to sign Oliver Perez afterall? I’d say its changed to yes, but its Scott Boras as his agent. However, the Mets have always had a fairly constructive relationship with Boras. It may be because around baseball, the Mets have always been considered as one of the better paying clubs.

Perez is young, healthy, energetic and seems to thrive on the big stage. New York’s baseball teams have a tendency not to let those kind of pitchers get away. Or they bring them back like an Andy Pettitte or Roger Clemens.

It would be nice going into next season knowing that Perez, John Maine, Mike Pelfrey and Johan Santana will be four starters that open the gates of the new ball park.

So if the team finishes well, it can comfortably resign Perez and Delgado. Dan Murphy can either play left or he can be farmed out this winter to learn to play second base. Add a power bat for the outfield corner. Maybe even Manny Ramirez if the club decides Murphy can play 2nd. This would leave more valuable time to develop Fernando Martinez.

The emergence of Dan Murphy as a viable everyday player has changed everything for the Mets. In just a few days, one young virtually unknown player from AA made the overall Met outlook for this year and beyond much brighter.

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