Yardbarker: Moises Alou

Mets have Concerns to look at!

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:04:11 -0500

The Mets have many concerns going into the last month in a half of the season. They have injuries that could make or break them at many levels. If they do not get these guys healthy it could mean missing the playoffs or getting ousted out of the playoffs quick.

John Maine (Shoulder):This guy pitched OK yesterday, but his velocity is down and eventually could be looking at a stint in on the DL, to preserve him down the road. If he misses time or can't come back it will hurt the Mets. Maine is one of the best pitchers on the Mets and the Mets can not afford to lose him.

Ryan Church (Post Concussion Syndrome):It has been a long time since we seen this guy on the field. He is the second coming of Moises Alou, He is a tease. Just when you think he will come back to play, he has a setback. If this guy can come in and contribute down the stretch we all know he will hit and make a Big impact on the Mets offense.

Billy Wagner (Shoulder/Forearm):We all know what Billy Wagner brings to the table. He is the staple in the Mets bullpen. The mixing and matching that is going on for a save will eventually falter as we seen. If he can't come back soon the Mets will have to go with what they got and let's face it - they look tired and beat up. Even with Luis Ayala how much will he contribute like Wagner did?

Duaner Sanchez (Tired Arm):Has anyone noticed that this guy is throwing Pedro Martinez Speeds. He is only maxing out at 87-89 MPH. He throws his change up like its his best pitch. When you have a fast ball that is not great, your change up looks like a Beach Ball. Teams are capitalizing on him and it is hurting the pen. We can all appreciate what Duaner has done to come back from injury that no other pitcher in Major League History has come back from. But will it bite the Mets in the ass?

Play the blame game: The Mets do not have enough depth, this is due to Minaya's inability to get anything done during the trading deadline. He will have to wait for that one player that clears waivers and that's not going to happen...

Could Burrell Be A Met In 09'

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:17:10 -0500

When free agency officially kicks off this coming winter, the Phillies will have several priorities, and Pat Burrell could be at the top of their list. While the Phils could use upgrades at SP, RP, and C, Pat Burrell will surely be a player they would like to lock down before he hits free agency. If the Phillies fail to sign him, there are an endless amount of suitors who would pursue him, starting in the American League as a designated hitter. But would an AL team be his first suitor? The New York Mets might be first in line. Burrell, who has clubbed 16 HR's off the of the Mets since 2005, would be very attractive to the Mets for a variety of reasons. The first being that they will need a LF at seasons end...

Mets-Marlins Series Preview

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:22:33 -0500

The Mets continue their home stand by taking on the Marlins for a three-game set starting tonight. They beat the last-place Padres two out of three by a whisker (moving up to two games behind the Phils), and a 1-5 road trip preceded that. It's time for them to get on a roll, and get that winning mojo back. They can pass the Marlins with a series win, and after that they face the Pirates and Nationals (and Pirates again). Their bullpen continues to make Mets fans sick to their stomachs. Every time a reliever comes into a game, I want to poke my eyes out with a pointy stick. Any day now I'm going to turn on the TV and see So You Think You Can Pitch Better Than the Mets Bullpen on ABC, hosted by Dustin Diamond. And their offense and base running isn't in a groove either. They're plagued by the inconsistency they suffered from in the first half of the season. Jerry Manuel better start turning on his magic (or maybe the players should just start playing better). The Marlins did the Mets a favor by beating Philadelphia two out of three this week. The Fish have won six out of their last 10 and are a half game ahead of the Mets. They didn't do the Amazin's any favors last week, though, when they whipped their butts down in Florida. They have three quality starters going for them in this series (though their team ERA is 4.48, good for 12th in the NL; the Mets are seventh, with a 4.08 mark), and their offense can crank out home runs (second in the NL, with 155; the Mets are tied for 11th, with 111) at the same rate that ESPN's been churning out Brett Favre reports the last few weeks. In the last week and a half they've taken four out of six against the Phillies and Mets. It looks like the Marlins will be in the race till the end. Here are the pitching matchups: Friday: Ricky Nolasco (11-6, 3.91) vs. Oliver Perez (7-7, 4.12) Saturday: Scott Olsen (6-6, 3.87) vs. Brian Stokes (10-8, 4.41 in AAA) Sunday: Josh Johnson (2-0, 3.34) vs. Mike Pelfrey (10-7, 3.85) Marlins Leaders: Average: Hanley Ramirez – .294; Home Runs: Dan Uggla – 26; RBIs: Uggla – 67; Runs: Ramirez – 88; Stolen Bases: Ramirez – 27 Wins: Nolasco – 11; ERA: Olsen – 3.87; Saves: Kevin Gregg – 24 Mets Leaders: Being Booed at Shea: Aaron Heilman; Pointing at the Sky: Fernando Tatis; Handshakes: Jose Reyes; Injuries: Moises Alou; One-liners: Jerry Manuel; Hair Frosting: Argenis Reyes; Huskiness: Robinson Cancel; Sticking Foot in Mouth: Billy Wagner; Oversleeping: Ramon Castro; Wanting to Kill the Bullpen: Johan Santana

Early Morning Madness: Tied for first place edition

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:02:16 -0500

It's time to put Luis Castillo, Orlando Hernandez, and Moises Alou in an air conditioned bus, send them down the coast, and have them placed into Del Boca Vista Retirement Facility. Maybe the Mets could even buy them a Cadillac, a tip calculator, and one of those fancy pens that can write upside down. And when they get there, each would have a card on the kitchen table of his new condo, signed "Love, Jerry...Manuel."

2/26/2004 - The Bartman Ball gets destroyed

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 06:47:36 -0500

How bad has it been for the Chicago Cubs the past 99 years? They were once so desperate to break their curse that they electrocuted, destroyed, and later ate the Steve Bartman baseball.

THE AFTER PARTY: DOUBLE ISSUE

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:21:22 -0500

Ric Flair Finance goes belly up. (The Savage Science)
Getting Barry a Job. (SimonOnSports)
Madonna/A-Rod Skydome video. (Rotohog)
Is it the end of Cheap Sexson Mondays? (Home Run Derby)
Manny's heartbreaking confession: "Meat makes me angry." (eTrueSports)

Tony Soprano: Huge Yankees fan. (Tirico Suave)
Chicago's Mayor Daley in a White Sox commercial. (Docksquad)
Moises Alou is done. (Rumors and Rants)
How to make the home run derby better. (BMDP)
Re-Casting The Big Brother house through the world of sports. (The Money Shot)

Favre takes Aaron Rodgers's hotel room. (Real Clear Sports)
Brett Favre - Just say no. (Waiting For Next Year)
Brett Favre needs to make up his mind already. (The Play in CA)
Why Matt Jones should be a Dallas Cowboy. (Throwing Into Traffic)
A journey through the NFL with some burning questions - Part 2. (Bad News Bloggers)

A thousand bucks?!?! For a picture with Steve Alford?!?! (TMC)
60% of NBA players go broke. (All Balls)
Can Shaun Livingston return? (Intentional Foul)
Pulling a Livingston. (The World of Isaac)
15 reasons it's good to be a Clippers fan. (Next Round)

Paul Allen's $27 million problem. (Five Tool Tool)
ActLetes - Athletes, endorsements, and the entertainment industry. (Sports Agent Blog)
Drunk soccer ref gets helped off the field at kids game. (NESW Sports)
NCAA Football: Where men are made...or arrested. (TLOCG)
French dogs are dumb animals. (PartMule)

Mets Get A Six Pack......

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 08:29:58 -0500

Mets win six in a row; Billy Wagner tells us why; what now for the Mets, now that Moises Alou is out for the season, and Ryan Church is questionable?

Everyone saw this one coming: Moises Alou has a torn hamstring

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:06:25 -0500

The always-injured Moises Alou was just served another blow. Alou has a torn hamstring, suffered when diving for a ball in minor league play. Well there is your first mistake: diving for a ball in the minors. You're old, chronically injured, and rehabbing another injury, why in the world are you diving for balls? It's the minors, the results really don't matter. All that mattered was you ...

This Is A Surprise: Moises Alou Hurt Again

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:24:03 -0500

In what is becoming more of an expectation rather than a surprise, Moises Alou is hurt again. The 42-year-old outfielder left his rehab game in Double-A Binghamton last night with a cramp in his left hamstring. Alou is trying to return from the DL for the third time this year...

Trade Rumors July 10th

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:35:25 -0500

The Cubs will move Jason Marquis if they have to make any more trades.With Moises Alou coming out of a rehab minor league game with a torn hamstring(most likley miss the rest of the season)the Mets May have to trade for someone like Matt Holiday or former Met Xavier Nady to replace the often injured Alou. Greg Maddux let the Padres know that he would not releive his no trade clause unless it is to a West Coast team. Brian Fuentes will be the next pitcher to go with the Rays be the frontrunners but the Yanks,Mets,Cardinals and Marlins are interested too. There has also been rumors that the Phillies are interested in trading for A.J. Burnett.

Mets Beginning To Meet Expectations, Even Alou

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:40:30 -0500

The Mets seem to be heading into the All Star break on a high note. They're finally beginning to hit expectations. They've won six of their last seven games and have cut the Phillies lead to 1.5 games. They seem to be hitting on all cylinders right now despite their starting second baseman and corner outfielders being on the DL. Yesterday was no exception.despite a rain delay the Mets managed to get a lead, tack on a couple of insurance runs later in the game and give Johan Santana his first victory in his last seven starts. Also meeting expectations yesterday was Moises Alou who left a rehab game in the seventh inning with a cramp in his left hamstring after diving for a ball in the outfield. You've got to love the last paragraph of Jon Blau's report on this on MLB.com: " When Alou played for the Mets this season, he was a force in the batter's box. His average (.347) ranks as the second-highest mark of his career, with his best year coming in 2000, with Houston, when he hit .355 in 126 games." Yes, the batting average he has put up in the 49 at bats he has managed to get for the Mets this year ranks as the second best average of his career. But 4 runs and no HRs are numbers that need improving before you can call it a successful campaign. Oh, and more than 15 healthy games would be nice too.

Early Morning Madness: Moises Alou is old and crippled edition

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:46:11 -0500

I have one thought running through my head after the Mets and Johan Santana won 5-0 last night, and it has nothing to do with anything that happened in that game: Moises Alou got hurt again?!?! This is not a joke.

The Franchise Elite: Chicago Cubs

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:59:36 -0500

The Fantasy Baseball Hall of Fame launches a new series called the Franchise Elite, identifying the best players each club has offered during the Fantasy Era. The Chicago Cubs are first up, led by Sammy Sosa, Ryne Sandberg, and Greg Maddux.

Giving up on the Mets?? Not me, not yet

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:35:06 -0500

Last night's 7-1 drubbing by the Cardinals could be explained by any one of: terrible, awful, disaster, gross, boring, ugly...so on and so forth. I've heard many claims for trades to go down, to start selling the farm and some major leaguers in return for prospects with talent and futures. Not me, not yet. And here's why...

The Mets Are Inconsistent

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:06:57 -0500

Last night's game was an 11-0 shellacking. Where have we seen that before? Oh yeah, against Washington (10-5), Pittsburgh (13-1), Atlanta (11-4), San Francisco (10-2) and so on. These types of games happen, but if you want to be a playoff contender, you can't get blown out that many times. The Mets had won three series in a row?not with any big winning streak but just by methodically winning two out of three. And now they've already lost the series to Seattle. They just don't play well with any kind of consistency. Whenever they seem like they're about to get on a roll they turn around and have games like the last two. Their longest winning streak of the season is only five, and that was back in April. All aspects of the team have been up and down all year. The bullpen was great for a couple of months then turned into a disaster, and lately it's been doing its job again (not counting last night's performance by Claudio Vargas, who was sent back down to the minors after the game). Billy Wagner epitomizes the roller coaster ride of the pen. He had only let in one run all season, then completely fell apart, and now is back to racking up saves. As for the rotation, nobody is having a great year. Johan Santana and John Maine have been good but certainly could be better. Mike Pelfrey's been terrible and then great. Oliver Perez is a disaster. And Pedro Martinez has been injured and inconsistent. The Mets offense is just plain offensive. They don't hit with runners in scoring position (11th in the NL with a .250 average). Their situational hitting isn't good. And they don't hit in the clutch (in the seventh inning and on, they are 12th in the NL with a .235 average). David Wright and Carlos Beltran are both on pace to drive in 100 runs but you couldn't really say they're having great years. Jose Reyes isn't having a bad year but could be better. And at this point they're stuck with Carlos Delgado. Jerry Manuel said after last night's game he may start making changes to the lineup and the rotation. Of course, that's a good thing. But what exactly can he do? If he benches Delgado, who plays first? Damion Easley? Marlon Anderson? Who replaces Perez in the rotation? Tony Armas Jr.? Not a lot of great choices there, but the team really can't keep going with the same old, same old. They changed the manager, and Manuel seems more dynamic and has more ideas than Willie Randolph, but unfortunately, they have the same old players. The Mets have had a lot of injuries to key players?Ryan Church, Moises Alou, Martinez, El Duque?which plays a big role in the inconsistency of the team. But the bottom line is, the players who are in the lineup are not producing. When they play well in brief spurts, they can't ever sustain it. The Mets are two games under .500, can't beat up on the bad teams and don't have a consistent focus. Until they hit, pitch and field at a consistently high level, they're just going to hover around .500. Right now they're the definition of a .500 team?great one game, terrible the next.