Mets Have It Niese And Easy Against The Phillies

Before the season began, the Mets were picked by the general consensus to finish in last place in the NL East.  The main reason for the prediction?  The division was supposed to be so much stronger that the Mets would have no chance in head-to-head competition.  So if that's the case, then why are the Mets cruising with a 6-2 record, especially since all of their games have been against division opponents?

After today's 5-0 victory over the Phillies, the Mets are now 5-0 against Philadelphia and Atlanta, the two teams that finished atop the division in 2011.  The top three pitchers in the rotation (Johan Santana, R.A. Dickey and Jonathon Niese) have combined to post a 1.77 ERA in six starts, collecting more strikeouts (35) than hits allowed (28).  In addition, the bullpen has been superb, with the three new acquisitions (Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch and Ramon Ramirez) combining to allow one earned run in 13⅓ innings.

But the main reason why the Mets are playing so well is because each player is capable of picking up one of his teammates when that teammate doesn't perform.  For example, in today's game, Jason Bay came up to to bat in the fourth inning with the bases loaded and no outs.  He promptly grounded into a double play, scoring a run but leaving the Mets with two outs and a potential big inning squelched.  In the past, the next batter would have been retired and the Mets would be left to wonder "what if".  But not the 2012 Mets.

After Bay's double play, Lucas Duda smacked a two-run homer to give the Mets a 4-0 lead, which gave Niese all the cushion he needed.  The Phillies never really threatened after Duda muscled Vance Worley's pitch out of the ballpark.

The teams that were supposed to compete in the NL East all have flaws.  The Phillies and Braves can't hit.  The Marlins can't field.  The Nationals have fewer flaws than the other teams in the division, hence why they're in first place.  But the Mets are not far behind.  They know they have flaws but they're finding ways to play around them.  Whereas past Mets teams continued to repeat their mistakes, this Mets team is learning from them.

Jason Bay and Ike Davis are not hitting well over the first eight games of the season.  But Ruben Tejada, Daniel Murphy and Josh Thole are.  David Wright is not swinging and missing as much as he has in the past.  The result of his better approach at the plate is a 10-for-17 start with only one strikeout.  And the pitching staff has excelled during the first week and a half of the season.  Even when it experiences hiccups (such as Mike Pelfrey and Dillon Gee's first starts of the season), the bullpen has kept the damage to a minimum.

No one expected the Mets to do anything in the NL East in 2012.  No one except the Mets themselves, that is.  With continued belief in their ability to perform well on the field, plus a dash of good health (which hasn't exactly been the Mets' forté over the past few years), don't be surprised if the Mets shock the league this year.  The Mets might not make the playoffs in 2012, but they won't be pushovers either.

The first eight games have me believing in the team.  Are they making believers of you?

Josh Thole Gives Signs At The Plate And At Home

For one day, let's forget about the Mets' inability to hit with runners in scoring position. Let's not dwell on their failure to capitalize on their emotional extra-inning victory against the Phillies on Sunday night. Let's not even discuss Josh Thole's slow start both at the plate and behind it.

However, we can and will discuss Josh Thole in regards to a set of signs he's giving in his household, signs that are helping a beloved family member cope with an otherwise difficult disability.

Josh Thole, his wife Kathryn and their dog, Picca, showing signs of a loving family. (Photo by NY Mets/Daily News)

According to an article by Nicholas Hirshon in today's Daily News, the Thole family adopted their dog, Picca, two years ago in Syracuse. But shortly thereafter, Kathryn Thole noticed that their Maltese-poodle mix wasn't acknowledging her whenever she'd call for her.

After taking their beloved dog to the veterinarian, it was discovered that Picca was deaf. However, instead of giving her up, the Tholes realized that Picca needed the love and support they were willing to give her. Therefore, Josh decided to pick up some sign language books and taught Picca how to respond to sign commands.

With a few simple hand gestures, Picca has now learned how to sit and stay, making it far easier for the Tholes to communicate with their dog and live a happy and normal life together. Well, normal in mostly everything. As Josh Thole says, Picca has been helpful in a few impromptu running exercises...

"If I was to go up to get the mail or something, my dog would follow me and take off. I couldn't call her. I'd have to chase her."

Studious Metsimus salutes Josh and Kathryn Thole for going the extra mile for their dog, Picca. She may not be able to hear her owners express their love for her, but she doesn't have to. After all, it's all in the signs.

Josh Thole Hopes To Give Mets Stability Behind The Plate

Josh Thole goes into spring training as the odds-on favorite to get the bulk of the playing time at catcher. Even if manager Terry Collins goes to a lefty-righty platoon with Thole and the newly acquired Ronny Paulino, it would be the left-handed hitting Thole getting the lion's share of at-bats. If Thole can handle the Mets' pitching staff and can successfully hit major league pitching on a regular basis, he stands to do something that hasn't been seen in Flushing since the days of Mike Piazza.

The Mets have played musical chairs at a number of positions, most notably at third base (until the arrival of David Wright in 2004) and right field. One position where they've had stability over the past half-century is at catcher.

Since 1962, the Mets have used 142 third basemen and 197 rightfielders (soon to be 198 if Carlos Beltran moves over to right). But they have only penciled in 81 catchers on their lineup cards, despite it being the most grueling position to play on the field.

It was original Met manager Casey Stengel who once famously said that you have to have a catcher, or else you're going to have a lot of passed balls. From 1962-1965 (which coincides with the time Casey was the Mets' skipper), the Mets didn't have a true #1 catcher, using 14 men at the position. Chris Cannizzaro played the most games at the position over the team's first four seasons, but that only added up to 236 games.

It wasn't until 1966, when Jerry Grote was traded to the Mets from the Houston Astros, that the Mets could boast finally having an everyday catcher. And once Grote took over the job, the catcher's position became as stable as any on the Mets.

From 1966-1976, Grote caught 1,176 games, which still represents the most games caught by any player in Mets history. Except for the 1972 season, when he was sidelined by injuries, Grote was the team's #1 catcher. With the emergence of John Stearns, Grote was deemed expendable, and he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 31, 1977.

John Stearns was the Mets' regular catcher during the team's lean years from 1977-1982. In addition, he was also one of the team's best players, providing some pop (tying for the team lead with 12 HR in 1977 and hitting a career-high 15 HR in 1978) and exceptional speed for a catcher (91 stolen bases as a Met, including 25 SB in 1978).

Stearns was the first Mets position player to be selected to four All-Star teams (1977, 1979, 1980, 1982), but his career was cut short by a severe case of elbow tendinitis. Unable to throw, Stearns barely played in 1983 (4 games) and 1984 (8 games), appearing mostly as a pinch-runner.

The main backup catcher for both Grote and Stearns was Ron Hodges. He began his career in 1973 for the "Ya Gotta Believe" Mets, playing in 45 games and walking in his only postseason plate appearance in Game 1 of the World Series. From 1973-1981, Hodges backed up both Grote and Stearns, never appearing in more than 59 games in any season.

Then in 1982, he finally got his chance to be the team's #1 catcher when John Stearns succumbed to his elbow injury. Hodges became the team's everyday catcher at the end of the 1982 season and continued to hold the position in 1983, before going back to being the #2 guy in 1984 behind Mike Fitzgerald.

After Hodges retired, the top man behind the plate for the Mets became one of the most beloved figures in Mets history. Gary Carter was acquired via a trade with the Montreal Expos prior to the 1985 season and immediately became the best offensive catcher in franchise history. In five years as a Met, Carter caught in 566 games, picking up 89 HR and 349 RBI along the way. He became the first Met to drive in 100 or more runs in back-to-back seasons when he accomplished the feat in 1985 (100 RBI) and 1986 (105 RBI).

Along with first baseman Keith Hernandez, Carter was named co-captain of the Mets in 1988, even though he was already on the downside of his Hall of Fame career. Despite this, he was still named to the All-Star team in each of his five seasons in New York.

Once the '90s began, the Mets returned to the pre-Grote system of "let's send this guy out there to see how he does". Most of the time, it was Mackey Sasser who went behind the plate, but his unusual (how shall we say this politely) "throwing disability" prevented him from ever taking over the everyday job. It wasn't until 1992 when a homegrown talent took the position and made it his own.

After a few brief appearances in 1990 (36 games) and 1991 (21 games), Todd Hundley became the Mets' #1 catcher in 1992 at the tender age of 22. He went through the usual growing pains in his first full season as a Met, hitting .209, with 7 HR and 32 RBI. But as he got older, his power made its presence felt. From 1993-1995, Hundley averaged 14 HR and 49 RBI, numbers that would have been higher had the players' strike not wiped out parts of the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Then came 1996, the year Todd Hundley broke out in a major way.

In his fifth full season in the major leagues, Hundley obliterated his previous career highs in home runs and RBI. He became the first player in franchise history to surpass the 40 HR mark in 1996, and his 41 bombs set the all-time major league record for home runs by a catcher (which was surpassed by the Braves' Javy Lopez in 2003). He also recorded 112 RBI, which at the time, was the most by any catcher in Mets' history.

Hundley followed up his record-setting season with another good year, although not quite at his 1996 levels. He became the first Mets catcher to record back-to-back seasons with 30 or more homers in 1997, when he finished with 30 HR and 86 RBI. Unfortunately, that would be his last full season as a Met, as injuries limited Hundley to 53 games in 1998. However, the Mets did have a good backup plan, one that involved a certain trade with the Florida Marlins.

On May 22, 1998, the Mets traded Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall and Geoff Goetz to the Florida Marlins for a catcher who had only been in Florida for one week. He went on to become the best hitting catcher, and perhaps the best hitter, in franchise history. That catcher was Mike Piazza.

Opposing pitchers feared him. Opposing baserunners? Not so much.

Piazza heard some boos early on from the Shea Stadium crowd. After all, he only drove in 20 runs over his first 47 games in New York, far less than the numbers he was accustomed to posting. Then Piazza caught fire, and he took the team with him. Over his final 62 games (57 starts), Piazza hit .362, had an on-base percentage of .434 and a slugging percentage of .670. He hit 19 doubles, 16 HR and drove in 56 runs over that two-month stretch. Amazingly, his power did not come along with a high strikeout total, as Piazza whiffed a mere 26 times over his final 62 games.

Piazza did not lead the Mets to the postseason in 1998, but he was able to carry them into October the following two years, including the franchise's fourth World Series appearance in 2000. In 2001, the Mets were struggling before September 11. After the season resumed on September 17, Piazza put the team on his back and almost led them back to the playoffs. Over the team's final 16 games, Piazza hit .364. He picked up 12 extra-base hits (seven doubles, five homers) and drove in 16 runs.

The 2002 season began a downward turn for Piazza, as he went from out-of-this-world numbers for a catcher to just very good numbers. Although he still had 33 HR and 98 RBI, he failed to hit .300 for the first time since in a full season, finishing the year with a .280 batting average. Piazza rejoined the human race from 2003-2005, averaging 17 HR and 50 RBI, to go with a .265 batting average. Despite his return back to Earth, Piazza still finished his Mets career with 220 HR and 655 RBI, numbers that rank him near the top of the franchise leaderboard.

For 40 seasons (1966-2005), the Mets basically used only six catchers (Grote, Stearns, Hodges, Carter, Hundley, Piazza). However, since Piazza played his last game as a Met in 2005, no Mets catcher has been the #1 guy behind the plate for more than two seasons. It's now up to Josh Thole to bring stability back to a position that was known for it throughout the majority of the team's existence.

Born during the 1986 World Series, the new "kid" hopes to reach the heights the old "Kid" (Gary Carter) reached during that magical World Championship season.

Thole has already proven he can handle a major league pitching staff. In 73 games last season, Thole's catcher's ERA (which calculates the ERA of the Mets' pitchers while Thole is catching them) was 3.58, which was lower than the overall team ERA of 3.73. He has also shown he can get on base. In 255 career plate appearances, Thole's batting average is .286 and his on-base percentage is .357. In fact, Thole's OBP would have led the Mets in 2010 had he registered enough at-bats.

For now, the future for the Mets at the catcher's position lies in the hands of Josh Thole. As long as he plays the way he is capable of playing, the 24-year-old Thole could join the exclusive list of catchers who have enjoyed great success behind the plate for the Mets. A long run at the catcher's position hasn't been seen since 2005. It's time for Thole to bring back stability behind the plate.

Pelfrey and Thole: The Battery That Energizes The Mets

Earlier today, Mike Pelfrey and Josh Thole both appeared on WFAN, with Pelfrey talking to Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton and Thole discussing the Mets with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts. Both Pelfrey and Thole are enthused about the new regime at Citi Field, offering nothing but positive thoughts on the Mets and the direction of the team.

Some highlights of the conversation with the newly re-signed Mike Pelfrey include the following:

• Although he feels bad about what happened to Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya, he feels the Mets did the right thing by hiring Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson.
• Feels the rotation is fine, especially with the recent signings of Chris Capuano and Chris Young
• Brushes away doubts that this year's rotation needs work by mentioning that last year's rotation did better than anyone expected.
• Quite pleased with his new contract (one-year, $3.925 million), which represents a significant raise from his $500,000 salary in 2010.
• Says agent Scott Bora$ was pleased with the Mets initial offer of "between $3.5 and $4 million, but closer to $4 million."
• Embraces his new role as the ace of the staff while Johan Santana recovers from surgery.
• Doesn't think the Jets have a chance against the Steelers.

Photo taken by Studious Metsimus staff. That's right, we bad!

Aside from the last comment about the Jets' chances against the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game, Big Pelf gave Mets fans hope that 2011 will not be a disappointing season. He expects to be on the mound every fifth day, regardless of how he feels, and will not make excuses for poor play. He recognized that he had a poor month in 2010 (from June 30 to August 4, Pelfrey did not win a game and gave up 62 hits in 30 innings, leading to a bloated 9.00 ERA over that five week stretch), but vows to learn from that shaky month to be the pitcher he knows he has to be.

Whereas Pelfrey talked mostly about the pitching staff and his own status on the team, Josh Thole talked about every aspect of the team. He talked about the pitching staff as well, but also discussed his hitting style and the outlook for the Mets' everyday lineup. Among the topics Thole discussed with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts were:

• Expects fire and ambition from Terry Collins.
• Not expecting the starting job to be handed to him.
• Going into spring training with the mindset that he's fighting for a job.
• Likes to hit in the 2-hole, but will hit anywhere TC puts him.
• Won't try to hit home runs, but thinks Citi Field plays perfectly for his type of swing, allowing him to collect more hits.
• Clicked the most with R.A. Dickey, since he caught him often at AAA-Buffalo and always sat with him the day after Dickey's starts to discuss what went wrong and what they can improve upon for the next start.
• Expects Dickey to improve on last year's performance since last year was Dickey's first year as a full-time knuckleballer and has a much faster kunckleball than most other knucklers, giving hitters less time to react.
• Thinks Mets have the bats in the lineup to hit the Phillies' pitching since they have former Silver Sluggers and All-Stars in the lineup.

Photo not taken by Studious Metsimus staff. Guess we not so bad as we claimed.

With the departure of Pedro Feliciano, Mike Pelfrey is now the longest tenured pitcher on the Mets, having been with the team since 2006. With Johan Santana's status for the first half of the season unknown, it will be up to Pelfrey to become the ace of the staff. Other than the aforementioned horrible five-week stretch from late June to early August, Big Pelf pitched like a wily veteran.

Prior to June 30, Pelfrey was 10-2 with a 2.71 ERA. After August 4, Mike was 5-3 with a 2.78 ERA. That's a 15-5 record with a sub-3.00 ERA for 27 starts. Like it or not, the 27-year-old Pelfrey is the leader of the staff. He might still be young, but he's not a kid anymore in baseball terms. It's time for Pelfrey to be consistently good for all 34 of his starts.

As for Josh Thole, he sounds much wiser than his 24 years. He's not taking anything for granted and is willing to learn from the team's veterans. He's cognizant of his role on the team and will not hesitate to talk to his teammates whenever he needs advice.

Until Johan Santana returns, Mike Pelfrey will be the #1 guy in the rotation. For the time being, Josh Thole is the team's #1 catcher. Both players are going to have to bring their "A" game to the table if the Mets are going to improve in the National League East. From what they said today on WFAN, it looks like they're both eagerly anticipating showing New York and the rest of the baseball world that the Mets are going to be a big surprise in 2011.

Why All The Interest In Russell Martin?

It's Day One of the Late Fall Meetings and there have already been a number of moves made. Mark Reynolds was traded from Arizona to Baltimore, taking his Citi Field home run launcher with him. The Adrian Gonzalez trade to Boston (and subsequent contract extension) was finalized. Also, former Met Melvin Mora signed a one-year deal with Arizona.

What have the Mets done? They signed two players to minor league deals.

Although Sandy Alderson has said that the Mets will not make many moves in the offseason, they have developed an interest in Dodger catcher Russell Martin. As tweeted by Buster Olney, the Mets were one of four teams that asked to review Martin's medical information (Red Sox, Yankees and Blue Jays were the others).

Martin would more than likely sign a one-year deal with the team he chooses and the Mets would use him in the event that Josh Thole has difficulty handling the everyday catching duties.

But why Russell Martin? Although he is just now entering his prime (Martin will be 28 in February), his production has slipped considerably since his breakout 2007 season, as seen below:

• 2007: .293, 19 HR, 87 RBI, 87 runs, 21 SB, 32 doubles
• 2008: .280, 13 HR, 69 RBI, 87 runs, 18 SB, 25 doubles
• 2009: .250, 7 HR, 53 RBI, 63 runs, 11 SB, 19 doubles
• 2010: .248, 5 HR, 26 RBI, 45 runs, 6 SB, 13 doubles

From 2007-2009, Martin had over 500 at-bats each season, which decreased to 331 in 2010. Still, players in their mid-to-late 20s don't usually start producing less unless something is wrong with them.

Russell Martin is clearly a shadow of the player he used to be. Yet the Mets are still looking into the possibility of bringing him over to New York.

Is it because the Mets are obsessed with signing or trading for every former Dodger catcher (Mike Piazza in 1998, Paul Lo Duca in 2006)? Is it because they miss Frenchy so much that they feel the need to replace him with a French Canadian?

No, my friends. If we take a deeper look into the stats, we might be able to uncover the reasons as to why Sandy Alderson and the Mets appear to be going head over heels over Russell Martin.

Although Martin's last four seasons have produced a .293, .280, .250 and .248 batting average, his on-base percentages in those years have been .374, .385, .352 and .347. In fact, over his five-year career in the big leagues, Martin's OBP is an above-average .365. The Mets' team OBP in 2010 was .314 and no regular player had an on-base percentage above .354 (David Wright). Josh Thole, who only picked up 202 at-bats, was the only Met with a higher on-base percentage than David Wright, but his .357 OBP was still lower than Martin's career percentage.

So although Russell Martin's offensive production has gone down, he is still finding ways to get on base. As we know, Sandy Alderson and his Merry Men LOOOOOOOOOOVE guys who can get on base, and since Alderson has stated that he's not sure if Thole can be a #1 catcher, a player like Russell Martin would satisfy his need for another catcher and fulfill his dream to acquire every player who knows the meaning of "ball four".

The Russell Martin deal might not happen, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't be a good fit for the Mets. If other teams become hesitant to sign him, you never know. He may just be in Flushing next year.

Gee Whiz! Dillon Gee To Get First Start On Tuesday

If I were a faster typist, this would truly be breaking news. In case you haven't heard it yet, SNY is reporting that Johan Santana will not make his scheduled start on Tuesday night against the Washington Nationals. In his stead will be Dillon Gee, promoted from AAA-Buffalo to make his first major league start.

In SNY's post-game show, Jerry Manuel stated that Johan Santana wants to pitch through his injury in the worst way, but will not be swayed to start his ace, as it is in the best interests of the organization for Santana to skip a start. 'Han the Man will continue to receive treatment and will be re-evaluated before the decision is made whether or not he will make his next scheduled start against Pittsburgh on Monday, September 13.

Manuel also stated that Dillon Gee will make the start for the Mets on Tuesday. In 28 starts for AAA-Buffalo, Gee finished with a 13-8 record, but his ERA was very high (4.96). One of the main reasons for his high ERA was the career-high 23 hone runs he allowed. Prior to the 2010 season, Gee had only allowed 13 HR in 45 starts and three relief appearances. On the bright side, Gee struck out 165 batters in 161.1 innings, while only walking 41 batters.

Dillon Gee has proven that he can throw strikes. He fans over one batter per inning, while maintaining a 4:1 strikeout to walk ratio. Unfortunately, some of his strikes are so good that opposing batters have yanked them out of the park.

In a season filled with successful rookie seasons (Ike Davis, Jonathon Niese) and other young players being given an extended look-see (Ruben Tejada, Josh Thole, Lucas Duda), Dillon Gee will try to become the latest Mets player to make the transition from the minor leagues to the big stage.

The future is now for the Mets. These will be the players who will replace the high-priced stars and overpaid busts in the coming years. For Dillon Gee, he will be getting his first shot to join these young players at the big league level on Tuesday night. Will it be a "Gee Whiz" moment for Dillon or a "Gee, I'm being overmatched" outing against the Nationals? Until then, we'll have to wait and Gee.

Hello And Goodbye (Part 2): Duda Hustle!

When the Mets traded rightfielder Jeff Francoeur to the Texas Rangers for infielder Joaquin Arias earlier this week, it opened up a spot for Lucas Duda to play every day. Wait. Lucas Who-da?

Before this season, Lucas Duda wasn't considered one of the Mets' top prospects. In fact, in this year's Maple Street Press Mets Annual, Duda wasn't even listed as one of the top 25 prospects (for position players). When you look at his performance at AA-Binghamton in 2009, it's easy to see why he was overlooked. Last year, Duda played 110 games at Binghamton and managed a .281 batting average. His 9 HR and 53 RBI was a slight decline from his 2008 numbers at St. Lucie, when he produced 11 HR and 66 RBI. Neither year was spectacular.

However, one thing that few people noticed was his doubles production. It is said that with age, doubles turn into homers, and an increased amount of doubles usually leads to a power surge once a player gains valuable experience.

At Brooklyn in 2007, Duda hit 20 doubles. That number rose to 26 in 2008 at St. Lucie and 29 in 2009 at Binghamton. Then came his 2010 season.

Duda began the 2010 season again at Binghamton, where he started hitting double after double, picking up an amazing 17 doubles (along with 6 HR) in only 45 games. That earned him a promotion to AAA-Buffalo, where the doubles continued, but the homers finally arrived as well. In 70 games at Buffalo, Duda hit 23 more doubles, but also added 17 HR.

Between AA and AAA, Duda hit a combined .304, with 40 doubles, 23 HR and 87 RBI, numbers that are very similar to what David Wright has produced for the Mets in 2010 (.292, 32 doubles, 22 HR, 87 RBI entering today's game against the Cubs).

That earned Duda a promotion to the Mets, where he has played every day since being called up on Wednesday, the day after Jeff Francoeur's spot in the outfield opened up due to his trade to Texas.

What will the future hold for Duda? That remains to be seen. But should he do well, the headlines of the New York tabloids will be splashed with "DUDA HUSTLE" and "DUDA RIGHT THING". If he is seen in public wearing the outfits that the veterans force rookies to wear during their hazing, the headlines might say "DUDA, LOOKS LIKE A LADY" after the Aerosmith song with the similar title.

Speaking of music, his entrance song when he makes his first appearance at Citi Field might end up being "Lucas With The Lid Off" , the 1995 kinda-sorta hit by one-hit wonder Lucas.

One thing is for sure with new Mets outfielder Lucas Duda. He has improved from year to year, going from a non-prospect to a major leaguer virtually overnight. His progress in the minor leagues looks very similar to David Wright's year-to-year progress, especially in the extra-base hit department:

Lucas Duda:
2008: .263 average, 26 doubles, 11 HR, 66 RBI
2009: .281 average, 29 doubles, 9 HR, 53 RBI
2010: .304 average, 40 doubles, 23 HR, 87 RBI

David Wright:
2002: .266 average, 30 doubles, 11 HR, 93 RBI
2003: .270 average, 39 doubles, 15 HR, 75 RBI
2004: .320 average, 52 doubles, 32 HR, 97 RBI (combined between minors and majors)

The homegrown movement has begun for the Mets. With Lucas Duda joining Ike Davis, Josh Thole, Ruben Tejada and Jonathon Niese, the Mets have proven that they had a better farm system than most experts gave them credit for. Before this year, the farm system had only produced Jose Reyes, David Wright and Mike Pelfrey (Angel Pagan came up through the Mets' farm system, but made his major league debut for the Cubs before coming back to the Mets in 2008).

Once the Mets shed themselves of the cancers in the clubhouse (El Perez-idente, Frankie Knuckles) and the bad contracts given to gimpy players (Luis Cast-"E"-llo), their youth movement will shine.

Lucas Duda is just the latest in a string of young players who will do his best to carry this team back to respectability. The future will be bright at Citi Field, so long as "the Duda abides" and takes the rest of the young Mets stars with him.

For Part 1 of "Hello And Goodbye", please click here.

Private Matthews Is Finally Given His Discharge

The Gary Matthews, Jr. Experiment is no more. Earlier today, the Mets decided to designate Private Matthews for assignment. To replace Matthews on the roster, the Mets called up catcher Omir Santos from Double-A Binghamton.

The plea by Mets fans and fellow bloggers to DFA GMJ ASAP didn't happen PDQ, but at least it happened. The outfielder was being booed mercilessly and failed to produce much during his short stay in New York.

In 36 games, mostly as the Mets' DAO (designated automatic out), Private Matthews hit .190 and drove in one more run than the Studious Metsimus staff has this season. For as much as David K. Wright has struck out this year, Private Matthews had a far worse strikeout percentage, whiffing 24 times in 58 at-bats.

Although Omir Santos hit .260 last year for the Mets last year, with seven home runs and 40 RBI, the acquisitions of Thunder and Lightning (Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco) made Santos obsolete. He was sent to Triple-A Buffalo before the beginning of the season to serve as a mentor to catching prospect Josh Thole. The only problem was that Santos didn't hit a lick at Buffalo. His .194 average (7-for-37) and two RBI earned him a first-class ticket to Double-A Binghamton, where he fared even worse, batting .074 (2-for-27).

However, with Blanco hurting, the Mets felt the need to have some insurance behind the plate, necessitating the Santos call-up.

So the Mets discharged Private Matthews and his .190 average from their battalion and promoted Omir-acle Whip and his combined .143 minor league batting average.

All I have to say is that Rod Barajas better stay healthy and hitting. I'm sure the Mets and their fans would rather see their power hitting Batman at the plate than having to settle for his new sidekick.

Mets Sign A Rod; Too Bad It's Barajas

Sorry about the title (and for the photo to the left), Mets fans. The Mets did sign "a Rod" over the weekend, but it happened to be Rod Barajas, who should take over as the #1 catcher for the Mets this season.

After failing to sign other potential #1 catchers, most notably Funky Cold Molina, the Mets were able to sign Barajas to a one-year deal for a very reasonable dollar amount ($1 million, plus $1 million in incentives). This will allow Josh Thole to play another season in the minor leagues in the hopes that he can be major league ready in 2011.

So what are the pros and cons of the Rod Barajas signing? Let's start with the pros.

Since the Texas Rangers signed him as a free agent prior to the 2004 season, Barajas has become a good source for extra-base hits, especially from the catchers' position. He was the #1 catcher for Texas from 2004-2006 and Toronto from 2008-2009 (he had an injury-plagued season for the Phillies in 2007 and only played 48 games for our hated rivals). In the five seasons Barajas was an everyday player, he hit 77 HR (with a career high of 21 HR in 2005), 112 doubles (consistently hitting between 19 and 26 doubles in each of the five seasons) and collected 279 RBI (with a career high of 71 RBI in 2009). An average season for Barajas over those five years meant 22 doubles, 15 HR and 56 RBI. By comparison, the combination of Brian Schneider and Omir Santos hit 25 doubles, 10 HR and collected 64 RBI for the Mets in 2009. The combined total for those two catchers were nearly identical to the numbers produced by Barajas in an average season.

Defensively, Barajas has been consistently good at throwing out would-be base stealers. Over his career, he has nailed 34% of those who have attempted to swipe a base against him. That same percentage was registered by Barajas over each of the past two seasons. Over those same two seasons, which coincide with Brian Schneider's two years in New York, Schneider also threw out 34% of opposing base stealers. Omir Santos nabbed 30% of the would-be base stealers against him in his one big league season.

Now what is there not to like about Barajas? How about a career .238 batting average and a frighteningly low .284 career OBP? The numbers were even worse last year (.226 batting average, .258 OBP). He has never walked more than 26 times in a single season and has only collected 100 hits in a season once (104 hits in 2005). He also tends to pick up his share of errors. In the five seasons Barajas has been a #1 catcher, he has commited 38 errors (an average of nearly eight errors per season). In those same five seasons, Brian Schneider commited half that total (19 errors). Also, Omir Santos only committed three errors in his one season with the Mets.

Before I end this, I do need to point out that Barajas has fared well against the three teams that finished ahead of the Mets in the NL East last year (Phillies, Marlins, Braves). In 187 career at-bats against those three teams, Barajas has hit .316, with 18 doubles, 13 HR and 35 RBI. Considering he will be seeing those teams more than teams in the NL Central and NL West, those numbers cannot be ignored.

So now that you have the pros and cons, what do you think of the signing, my fellow SMFs? Is this an upgrade over whatever combination of catchers the Mets would have employed? Do you think Barajas will end up helping the team more with his bat or with his defense? Will Barajas be the #1 catcher for the entire 2010 season? The floor is yours, Mets fans! Talk amongst yourselves!

Omar Lives By The Rules of The Old Perfesser

First it was Chris Coste. Then it was Henry Blanco. Earlier today, Joe D at Mets Merized Online posted that the Mets might go after Rod Barajas if they can’t get Bengie Molina. SI.com’s Jon Heyman is now saying that the Mets are considering offering Molina a one-year deal worth $6 million, plus an option for a second year. Heyman states that teams in the larger markets aren’t in need of frontline catchers. Therefore, the Mets feel they can sign Molina since the smaller-market teams are probably not willing to spend as much for catchers when there are less expensive catching options available.

What I’d like to know is this. The Mets have been saying that their top priority at the Winter Meetings is to acquire pitching. If this is indeed the case, then why does it appear that they’re signing or attempting to sign every catcher this side of Hobie Landrith? Is Omar Minaya thinking of Casey Stengel’s famous words when they drafted the aforementioned Landrith with their first pick in the 1961 expansion draft?

When asked about the signing of Landrith when there were other players the Mets could have drafted to become the cornerstone of their fledgling franchise, Stengel said the following:

"You gotta have a catcher or you're gonna have a lot of passed balls."

I get that the Mets need a catcher for 2010. Brian Schneider has signed with the Phillies and Omir Santos is not a #1 catcher. But regardless of who the Mets sign to be their top catcher next season, he is not going to be the long-term solution there. It appears as if Josh Thole will be the full-time catcher for the Mets by 2011. The Mets should just settle on one catcher instead of spending all of their Monopoly money on houses for Mediterranean Avenue and Baltic Avenue. If they continue to sign every catcher available, they’re not going to have the resources to put hotels on Park Place and Boardwalk.

Make up your mind, Omar. Do you want to have the fewest passed balls in baseball or do you want to put together the best team so that the fans won’t continue to dress as green seats for games in September? While you were attempting to sign every backstop available, other teams are already signing potential players that would help them, even at catcher. (The Nationals signed Ivan Rodriguez to a two-year deal worth $6 million, according to Yahoo's Tim Brown on his Twitter page.)

I’m usually a patient person, but come on. I’m tired of other teams getting effective players the Mets could have had, while we get scrubs and past-their-prime players. If the Mets come back from the Winter Meetings with their fifth and sixth-string catchers and don’t come back with a top-notch pitcher or their starting leftfielder for 2010, this team might continue to resemble the teams Casey Stengel used to manage. The fans might have bought into it then, but they surely won’t buy into it now.

Maine's Return Not Enough As Mets Drop Game 1

John Maine made his return to the Mets after a three month absence from the team following the world’s longest rehab stint. Although he was limited to a pitch count of 60 pitches, he took the loss when the bullpen failed to keep the Phillies in the park. The efforts (or lack thereof) of Tobi Stoner and Lance Broadway prevented the Mets from pulling off another late-inning comeback, although they did try valiantly to do so. Nevertheless, the comeback was all for naught as Brad Lidge gave up as much of the lead as he could without blowing the save in the 5-4 Phillies victory in game one of Sunday’s day-night doubleheader.

Maine came into the game with a 5-0 career record against the Phillies and only gave up one run and two hits in his three innings of work. However, since the demolition team of Stoner and Broadway gave up four runs on eight hits in their five innings, the late rally by the Mets was not enough, even with Armando Benitez-in-training Brad Lidge pitching the ninth inning.

Perhaps if Lance Broadway hadn’t given up an insurance run to the Phillies in the eighth inning, we’d be talking about another great Mets comeback, but alas, that run ended up being the difference of the game.

Maine did pitch well. Although he still has to work on keeping his pitch count low (he averaged 19 pitches per inning today), he threw strikes (only one walk) and did not appear to feel any discomfort. It’s unfortunate that he had to pick up the loss in today’s game, considering he pitched the best of the three pitchers the Mets trotted out to the mound. Alas, the rules of major league baseball say that he has to get the loss and so he shall.

Other highlights for the Mets included the shocking two-run HR to center field by light-hitting second baseman Anderson Hernandez in the eighth inning, although that ball probably would have been a pop-up in the vicinity of second base at Citi Field. You know how crazy Citizen’s Bank Park plays! Even the Cryin’ Hawaiian himself, Shane Victorino, could not believe Hernandez could hit a ball that far to that part of the ballpark. As the photo to the right suggests, Victorino remained frozen at the top of the fence, perhaps in disbelief, that the ball carried out. Fortunately for him, Mr. Shades was standing behind the wall and helped pry Victorino off the fence.

If Jeff Francoeur continues to hit like this, he might always want to play with an injured thumb. He picked up three more hits for his third three-hit game in the last four days. He now has 10 hits in his last 17 at-bats, raising his batting average to a season-high .275. Since his trade to the Mets, he is hitting .311 (68 for 219).

Last but not least, how can we forget Josh Thole? By going 4 for 4, he continued his hot start in the majors, raising his average to .444. If Brian Schneider was already saying that he’s preparing to be playing elsewhere in 2010, today’s performance by Thole did nothing to make him want to retract his statement. Thole just missed his first major league home run in the ninth inning when he hit a long single off the top of the right field wall.

It won’t take long for the Mets to try to take the finale from the Phillies, as Game 2 of the day-nighter will begin at 8:05 PM. Pedro Martinez will face Tim Redding in the nightcap. As a reminder to you, the game will be televised on ESPN so please do your best to increase WFAN’s ratings. After all, Jerry Manuel already said in the SNY post-game show that Carlos Beltran will be starting the second game. We don’t need to hear Jon Miller call him Bel-TRON throughout the game, do we? The mute button. Best. Invention. Ever.

Useless stat of the day (but I’m telling you anyway): With today’s win in Game 1, the Phillies have now defeated the Mets 11 times this season. All of the wins have been credited to different pitchers (Jack Taschner, Chan Ho Park, Scott Eyre, Rodrigo Lopez, Rip Van Winkle (Jamie Moyer), Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ, Pedro Martinez, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick). We don’t need to see a 12th name tonight…

Useless stat of the day (because one useless stat just isn’t enough): If the Mets lose tonight’s second game, they will be mathematically eliminated from the playoff race, as they would have lost 81 games while the division-leading Phillies would have 82 wins. That is the same amount of wins the wild card-leading Rockies have entering today’s games. On a positive note, the Mets magic number to eliminate the Washington Nationals from fourth-place contention is now down to 7.

Note: Studious Metsimus ripped this recap off from MetsMerizedOnline. Why am I not worried? Because I wrote it for MMO. Therefore, I'm plagiarizing myself. Is there no journalistic integrity left in this world?