Posts Tagged ‘Angel Pagan’

Heading into today’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mets currently sit in third place in the NL East – behind 1st place by a growing gap of 7.5 games. That seems a world away from right before the All-Star break, where the Mets were in striking distance of the Braves, going to Atlanta, only to lose the series 2-1. Still, at the All-Star break, the Mets had to feel good. Carlos Beltran was set to come back. Their pitching was holding up. But, as this long road trip has shown us – the Mets struggle heavily on the road. The Mets offense has been dismal – seemingly getting shut-out or held below three runs in every game. In the last ten games, the Mets are 2-8, highlighted by last nights’ loss in the thirteenth inning – on a walk off home run given up by none other than Mr. Oliver “I’m-too-good-to-go-to-the-minors-even-though-I-have-a-1837489.23 ERA” Perez. The Mets need to change something, and fast. An offense with Jason Bay batting seventh would seem like a pretty good offense, wouldn’t it? Not with Bay struggling to prove his worth. The Mets need to make some sort of move – trade Francouer. Trade Pagan. Heck, trade Beltran if we can improve in return. The Mets faithful are tired of empty promises. Tired of disappointment. Tired of falling apart at the stretch. Hey, right now we’re even falling apart before the stretch! That could give us reason to be a little less heartbroken.

Carlos Beltran will make his return to the Mets right after the All-Star Break, when the Mets begin an 11 game road trip on Thursday. Beltran answered questions at a press conference at Citi Field before today’s game – the interview from mets.com can be read here. With Angel Pagan performing well, the Mets have four quality outfield starters with Beltran’s return, and that means one man will be left out – which Manuel says will be Jeff Francouer.

Manuel said his tentative plan has the lineup reading: Jose Reyes, Pagan, David Wright, Beltran, Ike Davis and Jason Bay, followed by that day’s catcher and second baseman.

That leaves current starting right fielder Jeff Francoeur out of the fold, but Manuel said that he will likely start Francoeur, who has hit .302 against lefties and .256 against righties for his career, against left-handed starters. Above all, Manuel will look to keep Francoeur sharp, even if the team doesn’t draw a lefty for a stretch.

“If we’re in a series and we face four righties, we still have to find time for Francoeur,” Manuel said.

Jason Bay did not start today against the Braves, as he has been struggling mightily the past few games. The Mets will look to finish today’s series finale against the Braves with a win, then look to reverse their road woes with Beltran coming back during their west coast road trip.

The Seattle Mariners, who hold the most anticipated trade deadline acquisition, have been keeping quiet, for the most part, on trading Cliff Lee this season. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick analyzes Seattle’s moves up to this point – and it seems as though they are looking to the past for the right answers on how to approach this years trade deadline. The last two “rental player” trade deadline deals involved former Cleveland star Lee himself, as well as fellow Indian staff member C.C. Sabathia. Lee was traded to the Phillies last season, and Sabathia was traded to Milwaukee two years ago. Seattle is looking to those deals to gauge how much they can get for Cliff Lee this season, and how promising a trade would garner them as far as prospects go.

Lee has been reportedly coveted by many teams, including: Read the rest of this entry »

The Mets are reportedly frontrunners in the Cliff Lee trade derby and he’d be a welcomed addition to help bolster their pitching staff. Seattle seems like they’re almost pushing to trade Lee and the Mets could benefit.

Having Johan Santana (5-4 3.31 ERA), Cliff Lee (6-3 2.39 ERA) and Mike Pelfrey (9-2 2.69 ERA) at the top of the rotation would make the Mets instantly the favorites to win the NL East. R.A. Dickey and Jon Niese would round out the rotation while Hisanori Takahashi would head to the ‘pen. 

According to the Seattle Times:

The Mets have some pretty good young players of their own. Not catchers, mind you, but if the rumors coming out of New York are true, the M’s might have to ship Lee off to the Big Apple.

That’s because the rumors — and they are only rumors, but with some logic — say the Mets might offer top pitching prospect Jenrry Mejia and current major league outfielder Angel Pagan in a Lee swap. Wow, that one would be tough to decline.

The combination of Carlos Beltran returning soon, Citi Field being a pitcher friendly ballpark, and the NL East not having a clear cut favorite, all add up to this being a smart move for the Mets. Beltran’s return allows Pagan to be expendable and adding a top-notched starter to a team that plays well in their pitcher friendly ballpark can only help the Mets in a division that is up for grabs.

New York Mets fans, a bitter and depressed bunch, will not want to acknowledge this, but amidst all the injuries and disappointments, there is one player who had a stellar 2009 year, surprising everyone by finishing second on the team in runs, hits, steals, walks and on-base percentage and third in total bases.

Yet that player is frequently thought of as Public Enemy #1: Luis Castillo.

Unlike past whipping boys (Roger Cedeno, Armando Benitez, Carlos Baerga, Roberto Alomar), Castillo really did turn himself around after a dismal year last year. Sure, he’s still a mediocre defensive player and has little pop in his bat and, of course, general manager Omar Minaya made a huge mistake in signing him to the four-year contract, but…. his .387 OBP was his best since 2005 and third best in his career—before a final swoon in the closing days he was hitting .313 on September 22nd, with an OBP of .401, both marks that put Castillo among the league leaders.

Since the Mets are stuck with him next year they should look at those numbers and think about what Castillo’s re-birth could mean to the 2010 Mets. If they’re smart, they’ll revisit an experiment Jerry Manuel tinkered with in spring training– Castillo, properly deployed, could actually solve a host of the Mets’ myraid problems and give fans hope for next season.

The one way he is worth close to the $8 million is as a lead-off hitter, which not only gives the Mets a true table-setter but it frees them to create a Citi Field lineup—one that would feel like the a vastly more talented version of the 1980s St. Louis Cardinals team that won three NL pennants (including one World Series) in five years, while giving the Mets fits.

With Castillo first, the Mets could drop Jose Reyes to third in the batting order. As a #3 hitter, Reyes could flourish like Hanley Ramirez–if he hits 12 homers, 20 triples and 35 doubles but has only a .350 OBP he is far more effective in that spot, and less likely to get frustrated or to frustrate fans, then he is in the lead-off slot.

With Reyes hitting third, Wright clean-up, Beltran 5th and Francoeur sixth, the Mets have a lineup with moderate power but capable of hitting balls in the big gaps at Citi Field. Angel Pagan, whose knack for triples fits perfectly in this new mindset, could play left and bat second or seventh, sharing both spots with doubles expert Daniel Murphy (who put his best numbers up in the #2 and #7 spots).

Think of it this way–if the lead-off hitter is Reyes, a lot of times he can’t maximize Castillo’s OBP since walks won’t advance Reyes and infield hits or little bloops to the outfield won’t drive home a run. Yet if Castillo leads off and reaches base in any of those fashions, he has the speed to score on a double or triple from Murphy, Pagan or Reyes.

Additionally, this new lineup means the Mets would just need to find a right-hander with power to spell Murphy and Pagan against lefties (like Jonny Gomes of the Reds) instead of a full-fledged star (having screwed up and not signed Adam Dunn last year)—that would be much more affordable in the open market or in terms of talent via a trade.

Thus they could devote more money or trade chips to acquiring a genuine #2 starter (like Jon Lackey), which is far and away the team’s biggest need. Astonishingly, all that can flow from acknowledging Castillo’s one real strength and building from there. If the Mets do it and win then maybe Castillo will even take home the 2010 MVP Award.

Stuart Miller is the author of “The 100 Greatest Days in New York Sports” and “Where Have All Our Giants Gone?”. You can visit is website at 100 Greatest Days in New York Sports.