True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange

Knicks' Youth Need to Prove that Season Wasn't Worthless

2010-03-15T03:01:00.000-04:00

Saturday night the New York Knicks shocked their entire fanbase. Not only did they win a game, but they dominated an entire game, and it was against one of the best teams in the NBA. I can not remember a more convincing win by the Knicks against such a strong team in years. Led by Toney Douglas and Bill Walker the Knicks beat the Dallas Mavericks, in Dallas, 128-94; completing the team's first road victory since February 26th against the Wizards.

Toney Douglas, in his third start of the season and fist since November, had his third 20 point performance of the season, scoring 21 points while shooting a very impressive 8-10 from the field and 4-4 from the 3PT line. Bill Walker came off the bench to score another career high of 23 points on 9-12 shooting, and 5-8 from the 3PT line. Harrington and Chandler also added 20 point performances to contribute to the win.

However, the victory and the seemingly random team effort was not what to take away from the game. Toney Douglas and Bill Walker are playing their way to significant roles onto this team next year. Douglas has become a hustle first point guard who is willing to make the right pass, as well as take the big shot. Douglas did also have 8 assists in the game with no turnovers. On the other hand, Bill Walker has become a sparkplug for the team. The 6'6 forward has shown incredible athleticism with dunk after dunk and has proven he can hold his own from three.

So now the question comes how good can these guys actually become? I feel that neither player will ever be a great starter on a winning team, however, that is not to say that they won't both have significant off the bench roles in their future. Douglas's numbers are very impressive this year, especially considering he has played very sporadic minutes. He is shooting 48.3% from the field, 39.3% from three, and 85.7% from the free throw line. He has made a handful of big plays this season, as well as a few rookie mistakes (most recently his turnover at the end of the Atlanta game that almost cost the Knicks a win).

I feel that Douglas has a higher ceiling than Walker does, however I think that Douglas tops out as someone like a Raymond Felton. Meaning, on a given night he can be great and take over a game, but he lacks the consistent jump shot and quickness to be successful every night. However, Douglas could easily prove me wrong, considering he has shot well all season, and it seems as if his work ethic is a forced to be reckoned with.

Bill Walker is an interesting case. he has had multiple eruptions since he began with the Knicks, but I haven't really seen a real reason why or how he is scoring. He is more of a slasher who scores off of good passes and alley-oops from his teammates. He gets a few dunks per game, and occasionally has a mismatch in the paint where Walker can make a post move and score. "Sky Walker," as Clyde Frazier calls him, has also shown he can shoot the ball, something he claims he has always been capable of doing, but was just never given a chance to.

Personally, it feels like Walker's success is a bit of an aberration and I am not fully sold on him yet. It seems to me like he is becoming a glorified Shannon Brown. In other words, he is a good athlete with an average to decent jump shot, who will occasionally score 20 points off the bench, but will always provide great athleticism and energy. Lets compare Brown's numbers this season with Bill Walker's Knicks numbers:

Shannon Brown in 20 Minutes: 7.9 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 1.4 APG, 44.3%, 32.4 3PT%, .8 SPG
Bill Walker in 25 Minutes: 11.1 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, 62.2%, 44.8 3PT%, .8 SPG

In about 5 more minutes per game a lot of Walker and Brown's numbers are similar. Walker's field goal percentage, for his entire career, has been ridiculously high, but that is more a product of small sample size than of Walker being the best shooter of all time. Outside of his shooting, their PPG are similar, while rebounds, assists, and steals are all virtually the same. Shannon Brown is also well known for his incredible dunks. This is not to downplay Brown's significance, he stepped in and played a huge role for the Lakers when Kobe went down and his been great off of the bench for them this year, but he is no star. Only time will tell if Walker is truly a future NBA starter or if he is another good NBA athlete.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange is back!

2010-03-15T02:18:00.003-04:00

Hello to all of our fans who don't exist anymore! We are back and hopefully better than ever! A quick update on my life for everyone. I am now attending Quinnipiac University as a sophomore, and majoring in broadcast journalism with a minor in Sports Studies. I am ready to be dedicated to this site one more time, discussing the latest Mets and Knicks news! Tell a friend to tell a friend!

Nichols and Jordan Cut By Isiah

2007-10-25T19:28:00.000-04:00

When Isiah Thomas traded for Demetris Nichols on draft night I became excited. As a Syracuse fan I was able to see Nichols' shooting a couple of nights a week, and I knew right away that trading a second rounder for him was an instant steal. Next I watched the 6-8 small forward score 15. 6 points a game in the summer league, while shooting at a 53% clip. There isn't much else for Nichols to do. He played solid defense, scored, and scored at an efficient pace to boot. Then the Knicks signed Allan Houston as a pre-season invitee, and I did not feel confident in Nichol's chances of making the team.

Then, Houston requests to be cut from the Knicks, and suddenly my hopes of Nichols making the team might come true. Rumors came out that Nichols requested to be cut by the Knicks if he wasn't going to be given a fair chance to make the roster. However, those rumors were shot down by the team. Nichols was right to be skeptical of his chances of making the team, as Isiah rarely, if ever, played Nichols. Although, in last night's win against the Sixers Nichols played 9 minutes (a couple of minutes over his average minutes). Nichols scored 10 points in those 9 minutes, including shooting 2-2 behind the arc. After the game I thought maybe Isiah will start playing him more, especially considering how effective he was in only 10 minutes. Then this afternoon the Knicks announced that Nichols, Jared Jordan, and Walker Russel have all been cut from the pre-season roster. The roster is now finalized at 15.

"Jerome James remains," I kept repeating those words to myself when I heard the news. The same Jerome James who has yet to play this pre-season. James is so bad, Isiah can't even bench him, James has benched himself. The 7-1 behemoth has knee tendinitis and he may need surgery that would end his season, although James said he wants to fight through the pain. If not playing is fighting through the pain I don't want to see what the alternative option was. On top of James not playing, when he does play he is very ineffective. James makes 6 million dollars a year, and last season he averaged a stunningly bad 1.9 ppg and 1.6 rpg. James was, in my opinion, the biggest obstacle for Nichols to overcome to make the Knicks, and I didn't feel that it was that large of an obstacle. Obviously, Isiah Thomas chose money over youth, and talent.

James is under contract for three more years (including this year), and if he has yet another lackluster season I pray that Isiah finally comes to his senses and buys James out. I have long been an Isiah supporter. As a coach, and at times as a GM, he shows a lot of potential. The decision to cut Nichols, while keeping Jerome "Big Snacks" James was not one of his brighter decisions.

Mets Offseason: Full Of Moves? Part 3

2007-10-12T14:16:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I discussed what I felt Minaya should do with the Mets starting rotation this off-season. Amongst my suggestions was to offer ex-Cy Young winner, Bartolo Colon, an incentive laden deal, in addition to adding Mike Pelfrey to the rotation. On Wednesday I discussed the bullpen, in which I suggested moving Orlando Hernandez to a set-up role. Today it's the lineups turn to be dissected.
The Mets have numerous potential free agents from their 2007 lineup. Paul LoDuca, Moises Alou, Shawn Green, and Luis Castillo all may be playing on different teams next year. First things first, re-sign Moises Alou and Luis Castillo. Although, do not sign them with the intentions of them playing 140 games next year. Alou is incredibly injury prone, and Castillo has poor knees. Tell Ruben Gotay to play winter ball, and focus on his fielding. Gotay is more than capable of playing 40-50 games at second base next year, while doubling as a utility man whenever David Wright or Jose Reyes need a game off.

After I explain to Gotay that if he improves his defense he will have an important role on the team next year, I focus on the outfield. With Shawn Green gone the Mets will need a right-fielder. I am very comfortable with giving Lastings Milledge the starting nod in right field, but I am not comfortable enough with him that I don't look for security. The security for Milledge could also double as Moises Alou's replacement whenever he needs off/gets hurt. I think that Endy Chavez's success the past two years has been a bit overrated (although he has been great, he hasn't been as great as he has been made out to be), so I think his best role is as a backup outfielder, not as a security blanket. Kenny Lofton is a free agent, although with his success in the postseason thus far I can't see him leaving Cleveland again. Assuming Lofton doesn't hit the market, the perfect fit for the Mets is Jacque Jones. According to reports the Cubs do not want to trade Jones this off-season, but if they become involved with one of the big center-field free agents (Torri Hunter/Andruw Jones) things can change.

Jones is a left-handed power bat (Alou and Milledge are both righty). In 455 at bats this year he hit .283 with 33 doubles and 66 rbi. Jones would be the perfect bat for the Mets bench, being the sole left-handed power bat. If Minaya does fail in acquiring Jones or Lofton this off-season, it would not be the worst thing in the world if the fourth outfielder is Endy Chavez (albeit against my wishes).
With the outfield and second base set I look towards catcher. It appears the Mets may re-sign Paul LoDuca, with Pudge Rodriguez staying with the Tigers. However, I urge the Mets to go younger. Ronny Paulino, from the Pittsburgh Pirates, is a terrific young backstop. The 27 year old had better numbers than LoDuca this year, and has hit over .300 in the past. On top of that he is a terrific defender, being rated by "Baseball America" as the Pirates best defensive catcher in the organization in 2005 and 2006. Paulino is a very similar hitter to LoDuca: a contact hitter who works the count. It is also imperative that the Mets re-sign one of the best back-up catchers in baseball, Ramon Castro. Castro should also be insured that if Paulino (or whomever is catching) struggles that he has the potential to earn more playing time.

Should Minaya follow my blueprint next year's lineup should look like this:

1) Jose Reyes SS
2) Luis Castillo 2B/Ruben Gotay
3) David Wright 3B
4) Carlos Beltran CF
5) Moises Alou LF/Jacque Jones
6) Carlos Delgado 1B
7) Lastings Milledge RF/Jacque Jones
8) Ronny Paulino C

Mets Offseason: Full Of Moves? Part 2

2007-10-11T14:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I discussed what I felt that Omar Minaya should do with the Mets bullpen this off-season. Today it's the starting rotation's turn to be dissected.

In my analysis of the bullpen yesterday I suggested moving Orlando Hernandez to the bullpen in a set-up role, permanently. Making such a move would open a hole in the rotation. Assuming Tom Glavine is going to the Braves this off-season (I always felt Glavine was under-valued by Mets fans) the Mets will have three spots filled in the rotation next year: Pedro Martinez, Oliver Perez, and John Maine. That is three quality starters in the rotation, with two holes to fill. Minaya could choose to go two directions with the rotation. Begin a youth movement and keep the young prospects in the minors to fully develop, or to acquire more experienced veteran pitchers.
If Omar decides to go with a youth movement (less likely, considering Mets fans may crucify him before the season) then Mike Pelfrey will definitely be added to the rotation. Then if Minaya didn't have the utilities to acquire a starter he could choose from Phil Humber, Jason Vargas, and Kevin Mulvey for the fifth starter spot.

Likely Minaya will go with a mixture of a youth movement, as well as look to improve the team through outside sources. Big names such as Dontrelle Willis and even Johan Santana have been linked to the Mets, although my gut tells me a blockbuster involving one of those two starters won't happen this off-season with the Mets. Seeing Willis pitch against the Mets the last day of the season showed me that Willis is a completely different pitcher than he was in 2005, when he won 22 games. His mechanics were out of whack, and his control was all over the place. Keep him away from the Mets. As for Santana. He would cost Jose Reyes and then some. Right now is definitely not the time to deal Reyes, especially considering the Mets may sign Johan Santana next off-season and still have Reyes.

So who is out there? Bartolo Colon is a big name that is likely to hit free agency this off-season. Colon has battled injuries and in-effective pitching the last two seasons, but he has been an elite pitcher in the past. In his last full season (2005) he won the Cy Young, with 21 victories. Colon only pitched half a season in the NL, with Minaya's Expos. He went 10-4 with a 3.31 era in his 17 games started in 2002. Other starting pitchers available include David Wells, Jason Jennings, Livan Hernandez, and Freddy Garcia.

If I was Minaya I would Mike Pelfrey in the fifth slot of the rotation. Pelfrey pitched much better the last month of the season. Save his last start (5.2 ip 7 runs 6 er) he had a 3.67 era in his last 4 starts. Pelfrey could break out next season. As for the other slot in the rotation I would pursue Colon hard with an incentive laden deal. I also think Jason Jennings could have a solid bounce back year next year, despite an injury riddled season this year. One thing is certain. Minaya should focus on creating a rotation that has a lot of depth. With Pedro Martinez's health over a full season being a concern one other freak injury could cripple the rotation. As a result, Minaya should focus heavily on not only acquiring major league starting pitching, he should also look to acquire starters for the AAA team in case of an emergency.

Mets Offseason: Full Of Moves? Part 1

2007-10-10T15:58:00.000-04:00

When the Mets were officially eliminated from playoff contention on September 30th it forced all Mets fans to come to the inevitable realization that our team might not be as good as originally expected. Holes in the bullpen and in the rotation caused this team's ultimate demise, as well as a lack of leadership in the lineup. Therefore, the new york media, as well as a majority of the Mets fans, have been calling for a major shakeup of the entire Mets team. While I think that a major shakeup is a bit of an exaggeration I do feel that Omar Minaya should re-shape the team somewhat.

First, and perhaps most important, is the Mets bullpen. Personally, I feel the Mets bullpen is a bit underrated, but nowhere near as good as it was two years ago. I still trust Billy Wagner as the closer, despite a lackluster second half, Wagner showed enough in the first half that he is still a dominant closer. In fact, if you take out Wagner's August in which he had a 6.23 era in 13 games then Wagner had a 1.80 era the rest of the season, which would have been second amongst NL closers. I also think Aaron Heilman is a terrific set-up man, but not in the eighth inning. Heilman in the seventh inning would be an ideal situation for him and the Mets. I also love Pedro Feliciano in the exact role he is in right now, although he was a bit overused this year. Jorge Sosa was decent in relief this year, although I am not ready to give him a set-up role, although I think Sosa could become a valuable middle-inning reliever. Joe Smith will likely be back with the ML team next year, and if he can re-gain his stuff from the first half of the year he could be another huge boost for the bullpen. However, even with an effective Joe Smith the Mets bullpen still needs some work.

Scott Schoeneweis needs to go. He had an era under 4 for a month only twice this year, which means a third of the time the 34 year old is a well below average reliever. I don't care if his contract is large and the Mets would have to eat it, he hurts the Mets more than he helps them. Guillermo Mota also needs to go. Although Mota still throws hard the quality of his stuff fell faster than the great stock market crash in 1929. Mota never had an era under 4 for a month all season. Aaron Sele, although he did not have a very successful season in terms of results, helped the Mets with a few innings whenever their starter did not pitch deep enough into the game. I would have no problem with Sele staying with the Mets next year, although I would not shed a tear if he was somewhere else come Spring Training next year.

Injured pitchers Juan Padilla, Ambiorix Burgos, and Duaner Sanchez should be given every opportunity to make the team next year out of Spring Training, but I would not want to entrust an important role to either pitcher without knowing how their stuff will respond to their respective injuries. So what do we do with the bullpen? Orlando Hernandez should be moved to the bullpen permanently. El Duque is too old and fragile to pitch 200 innings a year anymore, and I think that his effectiveness out of the pen could be an extremely valuable asset for the Mets next year. I would feel comfortable with El Duque in the eighth inning; I would still acquire another set-up man to assists with the eighth inning, as well as another left handed pitcher to ease the load on Pedro Feliciano. Although the names of potential suitors for the roles I detailed have not become clear yet Omar likely will have a large list of names to choose from.

Should Minaya follow my landscape the Mets bullpen could look like this next year:

Middle Relief 1: Jorge Sosa

Middle Relief 2: Mixture of Ambiorix Burgos, Joe Smith, Duaner Sanchez, and Juan Padilla

Lefty-Reliever 1: Pedro Feliciano

Lefty Reliever 2: Acquired by Minaya via FA or trade

Set-up Man 1: Orlando Hernandez

Set-up Man 2: Acquired by Minaya via FA or trade

Set-up Man 3: Aaron Heilman

Closer: Billy Wagner

That bullpen is much stronger than the Mets current bullpen, and it would only take Minaya a move or two to make the pen one of the strongest in the National League.

Tomorrow: Starting Rotation

Knicks catering to Houston?

2007-10-08T08:54:00.000-04:00

Over the last couple of weeks the Knicks have had two headlines surrounding them. Isiah's messy trial, and a possible Allan Houston return. Houston has reportedly been offered an invite to the Knicks already packed training camp.

Last season Allan Houston (H20) proclaimed that he felt that if he were on the Knicks that they could have been helped by his veteran presence on the team, considering the Knicks only have a handful of veterans.Now that Houston is very close to returning to the Knicks it seems like New York, and their players, are trying everything they can to make Houston seem comfortable.

Last Sunday Isiah waived Dan Dickau (who has since been signed by the Clippers), lowering the Knicks roster size. Right now the roster that is invited to training camp stands at 19, not counting H20. Below is the list of training camp invitees, the Knicks will have to cut 4 of the players before the regular season starts (5 if Houston accepts the invite):
Renaldo Balkman
Wilson Chandler
Mardy Collins
Jamal Crawford
Eddy Curry
Jerome James
Jared Jeffries
Fred Jones
Jared Jordan
David Lee
Stephon Marbury
Randolph Morris
Demetris Nichols
Zach Randolph
Quentin Richardson
Nate Robinson
Malik Rose
Walker Russell
Roderick Wilmont

The Knicks clearly have an abundance of talent, and Isiah may wind up cutting someone who will come back to haunt him (a la Matt Carroll last season). Isiah likely will cut Walker Russel and Roderick Wilmont, as they are probably just there for extra bodies, and to indirectly tryout for other teams. With those two out of the picture the roster is down to 17, leaving 3 more players in the way of Houston. Next Isiah should do what Knicks fans have been asking him to do for the past two years. Buyout Jerome James. The man has absolutely no role on this team. With Zach Randolph here the Knicks have two capable centers, and a younger Randolph Morris to back them up. Now we are at 16 plus Houston.

This is where it gets tough. Isiah picked up Jared Jordan, a personal favorite of mine since his college days at Marist, but it does not appear that Jordan has a role on this team. At 6'2 185 Jordan is restricted to playing pg, and Mardy Collins is likely locked in at backup point guard (Collins is 4 inches taller than Jordan). I was incredibly impressed with Jordan's poise and leadership in college, however it doesn't look like he has a place on this team which is a shame, because I think he will be a player one day. So that eliminates Jordan.

That leaves the roster at 15, which is perfect for an Allan Houston-less team, but should H20 take the Knicks offer there is one more move that needs to be made. The three candidates that could be cut would likely be: Fred Jones, Demetris Nichols, and Jared Jeffries. Personally I would not cut any of these players, and would make a trade where I trade a handful of players for 1 to open roster space. However, it is not that easy and sometimes Isiah has to bite the bullet.

Fred Jones is well-known as a high-flying athletic NBA player. However, at 28 Jones has yet to break out, and has been no more than a role player on the teams he has played for. Although Jones prides himself on his defense and his new found commitment to winning, I don't know if he has a role on this team. Jones plays SG-SF, both spots that are at a great surplus on the Knicks. Renaldo Balkman, Wilson Chandeler, Quentin Richardson, Jared Jeffries, and Demetris Nichols all have just as much flexibility as Jones. As a result of the Knicks depth at his position, it is not likely he will make it into the Knicks rotation this year.

Demetris Nichols appears to be the dark-horse for the last rotation spot. He is in a similar situation to Houston in that the Knicks want him to be on the team because of his deadly jumper, but it has not been made clear if Nichols will be on the team once November hits. I feel that if Houston does indeed come to the Knicks that Nichols may benefit the most from it. Houston could take Nichols under his wing, and explain to him what Nichols needs to do to become successful in the NBA working mainly from a jumpshot. Houston and Nichols have very similar games, and Nichols could benefit greatly from Houston's veteran presence.

As for Jeffries, reports during the off-season said that he was very disappointed with how last season went for him, and he has been a work-a-holic this off-season. In fact, reports have come out saying he is a "completely different player". Even if Jeffries was the same player he was last year I would not cut him, simply because he was clearly uncomfortable last season, but he showed flashes of playing very well at times. In addition, he is a defensive player that the Knicks, quite simply, can't get enough of on their team. Oh, and by the way, Jeffries has offered to give up his number 20 for Allan Houston, a move that could only help the way he is viewed in the locker room.

If the only options are truly to cut one of those three players I feel Jones should be the one that is cut. Unfortunately Jones could have been a help for this team had their been room for him on the court, but sometimes that is just the way the cookie crumbles (sorry about the Bruce Almighty reference).

El Duque Becoming Mets Ace

2007-08-19T23:55:00.000-04:00

The young Mets pitchers have struggled through most of the second half of the season. John Maine's era has sky rocketed from 2.71 to 3.59 thanks to a 6.31 era after the all-streak break. A seven game stretch which includes Maine allowing 8 home runs in 35.2 innings pitched (he allowed 10 home runs in the previous 109.2 innings pitched). Maine's struggles are to be expected, considering that 2007 is his first full season in the major leagues, and most young pitchers struggle when they reach this stage of their career.

Not only Maine has struggled, however. Oliver Perez's era has rose .38 points in the second half, and would be much higher had the five un-earned runs he allowed on July 26th counted as earned runs. Perez is struggling from similar problems that Maine has struggled through. Perez has allowed seven home runs in 41 innings pitched after the all-star break, while he allowed only eleven home runs in his previous 94.2 innings. Perez has not recorded a quality start since July 20th (I am not counting Perez's July 26th start as a quality start because he allowed 5 un-earned runs. Despite the fact that his line was 6 innings 0 earned runs.) and has been allowing hits at an alarming rate.

As mentioned earlier it was almost expected that Perez and Maine, the two youngest pitchers in the rotation, would struggle at some point in the season, however not many expected the staff's oldest pitcher (arguably) to be the team's ace. Orlando Hernandez's 3.09 era leads all Mets starters and his 1.10 WHIP is also the lowest amongst Mets starters. Thus far this season in El Duque's 21 starts he is 8-4 (the best win percentage among starters at 67%). Perhaps most importantly El Duque has been surprisingly consistent this season. El Duque throws a quality start roughly 75% of the time this season, also the best among Mets starters (Glavine is second at 70%). Whats more is Hernandez has a 2.42 era at home with an eye-popping .98 WHIP, and he has an era of 2.16 in his four starts against the division rival Phillies and Braves. No Mets starter has dominated both the Phillies and the Braves quite like El Duque has.

With his seven inning three hit masterpiece today against the Nationals El Duque is slowly becoming the Mets best pitcher. Before the season started and at times towards the end of last year Mets fans were thinking of having a rotation of Pedro-Glavine-Maine-Perez in the playoffs, with El Duque becoming a key cog in the Mets bullpen. Perhaps it's time to reconsider and put Maine or Perez in the pen.

Artest Not The Answer

2007-07-11T11:27:00.001-04:00

Over the last few days there have been rumors swirling around the internet that Ron Artest wants to play in his hometown, for the Knicks. A few days later those same reporters also said that Artest no longer wants to be dealt to the Knicks. Like with most rumors it is unclear which side of the story is true, but one thing is certain: Isiah is interested.

It has come out that Isiah will not part with Balkman or Lee in a deal for Artest, but I feel that Isiah should not even attempt to acquire Artest. Artest is one of the best defensive players in all of basketball, and would provide the Knicks with a much needed defensive swagger, but the other parts of Artest's game do not fit with the Knicks. Artest wanted to leave Indiana for a lot of reasons, but one of the main reasons was because he was not a big part of the Pacers' offense, and Artest wants to score. On the Knicks Artest could range anywhere from the third option all the way to the fifth option. He would definitely be behind Randolph and Curry, and he is not as much of an offensive force as Crawford and Marbury in terms of creating for himself, and hitting an outside shot. Artest is a career 32.2% three point shooter which is worse than Marbury, Crawford, Nate, and Richardson.

Isiah coached Artest in Indiana and he may feel that he can control Artest's awful attitude, but how long does he really believe Artest will like to play third or fourth fiddle to other players? Not to mention the fact that Artest would add yet another ugly past to this franchise, something they cannot afford to keep adding.

Knicks Acquire Randolph From Blazers

2007-06-30T18:11:00.000-04:00

Draft night 2007 promised to make a big and memorable splash on the NBA community. Not only was the draft one of the deepest since 2003, but there were blockbuster trade rumors swirling around seemingly every team. Teams like the Bobcats, the Sonics, the Warriors, and the Celtics all made blockbuster trades. Even the Knicks got involved, trading for one of the best post players in the NBA in Zach Randolph. Randolph averaged 23.6 ppg (a career high) and grabbed 10.1 boards for the lowly Trailblazers during the 2006-2007 campaign.

The Knicks dealt away Steve Francis and Channing Frye for Randolph, Fred Jones, and Dan Dickau. Isiah was very lucky to find a team that would take on Steve Francis' contract. It seemed that Isiah was going to inevitably buyout the rest of Francis' contract, making him a free agent. Instead not only did Isiah trade him he got the 12th best scorer in the NBA last season. Trading Frye hurts a bit because he is talented and showed signs of becoming a good NBA player, but his inconsistency this season soured Knicks fans a bit. Plus Randolph is only two years older than Frye, and far more talented.

Randolph's acquisition is a curious one for the Knicks. I'm not certain this put the Knicks over the edge in terms of where they stand in the Eastern Conference because Randolph does not necessarily solve a team need. In fact Randolph is statistically worse defensively than Eddy Curry. Curry averaged more blocks per game (.5 compared to .2) and only averaged .4 more steals than Curry. Due to Randolph's poor defense he does not solve the Knicks most pressing need, defense and a formidable shot blocker. However, Randolph's rebounding will help Curry much like David Lee did when he played. This way when Lee is not in the game Randolph will still be there to help Curry. In addition, it will be interesting to see how Isiah sets up the Knicks offense with two post players who need the ball to be successful. Marbury and Crawford might have to sacrifice a couple of points off of their season average so that Randolph and Curry can get the touches they need to succeed. Hopefully the paint will not be too crowded with double and triple teams possibly coming on both players.

Although Randolph clearly improved the Knicks it is unclear whether or not he has made the Knicks into a playoff team. Only time will tell. Isiah, the ball is in your court.

Mets Should Sign Milton Bradely

2007-06-22T10:23:00.000-04:00

On Thursday the Oakland A's designated outfielder Milton Bradley for assignment. As you know the A's now have ten days to trade Bradley, or he'll be released after the ten days (he probably won't accept an assignment to AAA). Bradley has always been a talented outfielder, but his hot-headed attitude and injury prone body has held him back from establishing himself in the majors. His best year came with the Dodgers in 2004. He hit .267 with 19 home runs(career high), 67 rbi (career high), 71 BB (career high), and 15 SB in 516 at bats. 2004 was the only year in Bradley's career that he had more than 377 at bats. Bradley, who turned 29 in April has played on 4 teams in his career, and has never stayed on one team for more than three seasons.

With the rash of injuries suffered by the Mets this year, especially in the outfield, the Mets can use all the talent they can get. Shawn Green is struggling and Carlos Beltran seems to be coming out of his slump. It seems like Willie is platooning Ricky Ledee and Carlos Gomez in the outfielder. I like Gomez, but anyone who has seen most of hits knows that nearly half of them have been lucky dribblers. Gomez seems to be over-matched badly against most good pitchers. Yes he has gotten hits off of Mariano Rivera and Johan Santana, but he has still looked very bad against some of the better pitchers in the league.

Unlike Gomez and Ledee Bradley has started for a ML team for a full season. Bradley is also a solid defender in the outfield, with a strong arm. Omar should trade for Bradley and place him in left field until Moises Alou comes back. Bradley just returned from an injury himself (he missed 18 days) so all the Mets would need him to do is stay healthy for about two-three weeks. Once Alou comes back the Mets could play the switch-hitting Bradley in right field against lefties, and give Shawn Green (Bradley's teammate in LA) a day off. For his career Bradley has a career batting average of .260 when batting lefty and .297 when batting right handed. Since Endy Chavez is out for a couple of months the Mets need a good fourth outfielder, and Ricky Ledee is not the answer. Gomez could be, but I think he is better suited to get consistent playing time in AAA.

Beltran, do what's best for the team

2007-06-18T12:46:00.000-04:00

After the Mets lost the weekend series to the Yankees 2-1 Met fans across NY were not asking why El Duque got destroyed by the Yanks, or why Wang was so nasty. Instead they were asking "why is Carlos Beltran playing so poorly?" Beltran has not been the same since his collision with Giants first baseman, Rich Aurilla, and it came out earlier this week that Beltran's quad was still bothering him. With the injured quad Beltran can't create as much power from the left side of the plate, thus effecting his stronger side. Beltran has been awful since April ended. In May and June combined Beltran has hit just .204 with only 14 rbi in 40 games (147 at bats). The poor numbers after a hot start (.356 avg with 23 rbi in April) are strikingly similar to Beltran's disastrous first season in NY, in 2005.

In Beltran's injury plagued 2005 he hit a combined average of .293 after April and May, but once June came he once again was awful. Beltran hit .198 in June 2005. One of the differences from 2005 and 2007 is that in 2005 Beltran wasn't even drawing walks (he had only 23 after June, and only 4 in May and 9 in June), and this year Beltran has 32 walks in total, but only 1 in June. Even free swinger Carlos Gomez has one walk in June. After Beltran's awful June 2005 he went on to hit for respectable averages the rest of the months (.268 being the worst). Beltran did not have two months in which his average was below .250. Beltran is on pace to do so this year, which is disturbing. So now the argument comes, what do the Mets do with Beltran?

If Beltran is indeed hurting too much to be himself should the Mets DL him until he gets better? We've all seen Beltran isn't productive at the plate when he is playing through pain like he clearly is. However, even if Beltran is DL'd who takes his place? Ben Johnson? The same Ben Johnson who hit .185 in his brief time with the Mets a couple of weeks ago? While Johnson is a good athlete, he has never hit at the major league level, and he seemed lost when he was hitting two weeks ago. So then the question you ask yourself is would you rather have Beltran making outs at the top of the lineup or Johnson getting out at the bottom? With Beltran on the team the Mets are a better defensive team, but also Beltran's name value still makes most pitchers nervous. Even if he is struggling opposing pitchers still have to be careful not to make a mistake to Beltran, because he could put it over the fence. You also have to consider that if Beltran continues to struggle like this for another week or two suddenly half of New York is going to start booing him. As we saw in 2005, that doesn't help anyone.

So the question remains what do you do with Beltran? Personally, I DL him. with Johnson on the team the Mets can put Gomez in centerfield, which is a downgrade from Beltran, but Gomez can certainly hold his own out there. Also, and most importantly the Mets can't afford to have the Mets fans booing Beltran consistently again. The fans may already be over the edge, but we'll see tonight when Beltran comes to bat. Hopefully the Mets make the right decision, but I think the ball is in Beltran's court.

Interview: Frank Isola's Take On the Knicks

2007-06-15T17:23:00.000-04:00

I recently had a chance to exchange e-mails with Daily News writer, Frank Isola. sola is entering his 11th season as the Knicks beat writer for the News. He is also a regular analyst on NBA TV and is the co-host of the NBA Radio show "Tip Off" which can be heard daily on Sirius. Isola also writes for his own blog, Knicks Knation.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: When the season ended how different was the mood this season as opposed to last season?

Frank Isola: The team and the organization are upbeat but the Knicks have a long way to go before they can be taken seriously. They won just 33 games in a bad Eastern Conference. I don't know why you would be upbeat considering that the franchise has not won a playoff game since 2001.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: It seems unclear what exactly Isiah is looking to do in the off-season. Sometimes he seems to be hinting a big trade could be in the works, and other times it seems like he doesn't want to touch the roster. What kind of sense have you gotten from Isiah on what he is going to do in the off-season?

Frank Isola:I think Isiah is always looking for the big splashy move, which isn't always a good thing. The Knicks need a power forward and that's where he should be looking. They also have to start thinking about Marbury's eventual replacement.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: Besides the obvious big name rumors (Kobe, Jermaine, etc.) have you heard rumors about any smaller, role, players?

Frank Isola: Ruben Patterson may be a guy that they will look at. But if you look at the Knicks roster it is already filled with role players. They don't have a star which is why they won 33 games.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: Marbury seems to believe the Knicks should draft a shooter, do you agree,and do you feel Isiah agrees?

Frank Isola:I wonder how Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson feel about that. The 23rd pick isn't going to help the Knicks right away so I don't think it matters who they take.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: Which injury during the season do you think broke the Knicks spirit?

Frank Isola:I'm not sure. But if injuries to role players (Crawford and Lee) break a team's spirit then you have major problems. Yao Ming missed 33 games and Houston still won 52. So I'm one of the people who isn't going to give the Knicks excuses for a bad season.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: You see Francis wearing a Knicks uniform next year?
Frank Isola: Not a chance in hell.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: As the team is currently assembled, assuming everyone is healthy next year, do you think Collins has a rotation spot?
Frank Isola: No. He's got a chance to be a good player but offensively he has a long way to go.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange:The Knicks dealt Ariza for Francis last year, and then drafted a similar player in Balkman. Do you think in five years Balkman will be better or worse than Ariza?

Frank Isola:They will be both be athletic wing players who are limited offensively. Ariza is ahead of Balkman right now because Orlando made the playoffs.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: Why do you think Frye slumped this year? Was it partially because of Isiah Thomas

Frank Isola:That's a good question. Channing never look happy. I think he would rather play in the West. Maybe the Knicks had a short leash. Whatever the reason, Channing seemed to lose confidence in his shot.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: With Phil Ford leaving do you think Pat Ewing will be hired as a coach?
Frank Isola:No It's sad because Isiah deserves to be working for the Pistons just as much as Patrick deserves to work for the Knicks.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: Do you think Charles Oakley and John Starks' numbers should be retired?

Frank Isola:Oakley maybe. John no.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: Lastly, it's time to look deep into the future. Judging by how the team played this year, and what you for see in the future do you think championship could be coming to New York within the next 5-10 years?

Frank Isola: You could make a case that every team in the league believes it can win the title within the next 10 years. The Knicks need to find an impact player. Maybe Curry could be that guy. Having LeBron and Wade in the East doesn't help matters.

Interview: St. Lucie Mets Writer

2007-06-07T18:09:00.000-04:00

I recently exchanged e-mails with Eric Pfahler of the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. Eric covers the St. Lucie Mets, and was kind enough to answer a few of my questions of the single A Mets.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: The last few seasons St. Lucie has seen many top prospects, and future major leaguers play games on Tradition Field, however it seems right now that the single A Mets are a bit weak in terms of future talent. Only a handful of names are even recognizable. Deolis Guerra, John Niese, and Ambiorix Concepcion have all been considered and still considered prospects, however (with the exception of Guerra) Niese and Concepcion have been let downs this season. What have you seen from Niese and Concepcion, and do you feel that both still have a chance of making the majors?
Eric Pfahler: The New York Mets' efforts to test players have left a gap in the system -- and that gap is at St. Lucie. Every major league team has a gap or two. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays might have the best system in baseball, yet their Single-A team is under .500. The St. Lucie Mets still have talented players, but they are young for this league. Deolis Guerra is only 18. Almost the entire infield was born after 1985 and those who are older are either college players in their second professional season or fringe players that will have trouble capturing prospect status. Prospects like Fernando Martinez, however, would be playing in this league were they with other clubs. Concepcion needs plate discipline in order to get to the next level.He's had a lot of trouble adjusting to the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. A .282 on-base percentage is not going to get it done. I have trouble gauging Niese because he has the stuff to get through this league, but he needs consistency. His curveball is a great pitch when it's on. He's not striking out as many guys as you'd like to see,but perhaps his problem is that he's trying to strike out too many.Anything can happen as far as these two making the majors. Look at Joey Votto with the Cincinnati Reds. He's a player who fell off for a season and regained prospect status within a year.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: Back to Guerra. At only 18 years old Guerra has been relatively dominant in his brief minor league career. Guerra's scouting reports early have been nothing but positive. Do you feel that Guerra's dominance at such a young age will continue on throughout his minor league career, and into the majors. Or do you feel that Guerra is simply dominating equally young hitters with his advanced stuff.

Eric Pfahler: Guerra has a major-league change-up. It's fantastic. The Mets pulled him out of some starts in order to take it easy on his young arm, but he is well ahead of the curve. I wouldn't be surprised if the team had him spend the next two years in Double-A in order to build up some arm strength. He needs to work on his curveball, which he's doing.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: Outside of the three players I've named thus far are there any hidden gems you see on Mets? Ryan Coultas and Joshua Petersen are both hitting over .325 this year, do you see any future for them?

Eric Pfahler: Coultas plays enough positions and has a good attitude. Petersen also has some versatility. Both of these players need to make sure this is their last season with the St. Lucie Mets. Dan Murphy is a player that has a good arm and can hit the ball well. As far as tools, Sean Henry is above average, but he's stuck behind some pretty good outfielders in the system. Henry has improved his plate discipline throughout the season,but he'll need to make further adjustments to get to the majors

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange: The Mets are currently in fourth place, what has been their biggest problem this year, just one year removed from a championship?

Eric Pfahler: The biggest problems for this team is youth and health. They don't know how to win games at this level yet and two of their best players(Guerra and Nick Evans) have been on the disabled list for considerable time. If Niese can make further adjustments to give the Mets a solid top three and Evans can continue to rake like he has been, then this team should go far. It's impossible to compare this team to last season's squad since few players remain.

Second Day Workouts Scouting Reports

2007-06-06T14:36:00.000-04:00

After their first day of workouts Isiah Thomas invited four more players for Wednesday's workouts. The list, and my scouting reports of the four seniors, are as follows:

Stephane Lasme- F, 6-8, 215, Massachusetts

Lasme plays the power forward position, however his 6-8 frame may be a bit small to play PF consistently in the NBA. Since Lasme is only 6-8 a bigger, stronger defender can easily keep him out of the post. Since Lasme cannot create off of the dribble he can't even attempt to play small forward. However, Lasme makes up for his lack of size in his athleticism and quickness. Lasme can run the floor nearly as well as players a few inches smaller. Lasme has garnered comparisons to former Denver Nugget, Keon Clark. Clark was known as a good role player (11.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg, and 1.50 blocks in 27 minutes), but only played six years in the NBA, and couldn't stay on one team for more than three years. Unlike Clark, Lasme has shown good passing skills, and, unlike Eddy Curry, recognizes double teams. Probably the most important part of Lasme's game is his high character.

Brandon Wallace- F, 6-9, 203, South Carolina

Should Wallace join the Knicks he would be the second USC player that the Knicks would have drafted in as many years. Wallace in many ways compares to Renaldo Balkman, the other USC Knick player. Renaldo Balkman is 6-8, 208lbs and Wallace is 6-9, 203lbs. Balkman averaged 9.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.7spg, 1.3bpg, and a 54% free throw percentage in his junior year of college. Wallace averaged 9.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.3spg, 2.3 bpg, and a 53% free throw percentage in his senior year this year. Those numbers are eerily similar. Since both players are so similar it would be interesting to see if Isiah would draft another player with similar abilities to Balkman. A team with too many of the same players will not succeed, Wallace would join Balkman, Jeffries, and Malik Rose as plus defenders who struggle to score.

Jamar Wilson- G, 6-1, 185, Albany

The 2006 America East player of the year has a terrific all around game. Wilsons' 18.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, and 4.8 apg were amongst the best overall stats in all of college basketball. Wilson was Albany's team captain in his junior and senior year which shows signs of being a team leader, something the Knicks drastically need. Wilson's career 80.8 free throw percentage, and 45.6 field goal percentage show signs of a terrific shooter. In addition, Wilson had a career 37.5 three point percentage. That number will drop in the NBA because the three point line is farther back, but it shows Wilson can hit a long range jump shot. Scouts worry about Wilson's size, and slight frame. At only 185 lbs Wilson will need to bulk up to earn consistent playing time in the NBA.

Dashaun Wood- G, 5-11, 180, Wright State

Wood's tendinitis in his knee makes his play sporadic, and the knee problem at such a young age could make many teams shy away. Wood is another good leader on and off the floor. When he isn't setting his teammates up for open jumpers he is heard encouraging his teammates to play hard and keep their heads up. Reports from Orlando said that in a 5 on 5 game that included, Corey Brewer, Martell Webster, and Kirk Snyder, Wood was easily the best player on the floor. Wood controlled the tempo of the game, and has the unique talent of making players look like they have played with him for years. Wood is a good shooter and has a terrific first step, but his size worry some teams. However, despite his size Wood is not afraid of anyone and plays very tough on defense. Before the Orlando camp Wood was not expected to get drafted however, some scouts believe that Wood will now wind up getting drafted.

It should be noted that the Knicks and the Nets are holding these workouts together, so some of the players not have been invited by the Knicks.

Knicks Set For First Prospect Workouts

2007-06-03T22:50:00.000-04:00

According to the Knicks 4 Life site administrator (a very reliable source) the Knicks will hold their first draft workouts on Tuesday, June 5th. The four players (all seniors) listed are:

Derrick Byars G/F, 6-7, 220, Vanderbilt

Sammy Mejia G, 6-6, 195, DePaul

Demetris Nichols F, 6-8, 216, Syracuse

Curtis Sumpter F, 6-7, 225, Villanova

As per some of my research I have put together a small scouting report on all four players.

Derrick Byars: His 17 ppg, 4.9rpg, and 3.4 apg averaged this year for Vanderbilt show signs of a good all around player. Byars' court vision is strong, and despite his 6-7 frame ran point guard at times for Vanderbilt. Byars is a defensive player who has garnered NBA comparisons of Shane Battier, and 2006-2007 rookie of the year, Brandon Roy. Byars' athleticism, mixed with his ability to score, rebound, pass, and defend makes him an all around player that has been projected to go middle-end of the first round. Most Byars' faults are correctable. He tends to become a chucker at times, and can stand around when the ball isn't in his hands. Both problems can be fixed with good coaching and guidance. However, on a team that already has Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson (notorious chuckers) we have heard they could be fixed more than once.
Sammy Mejia: In most mock drafts I have seen Mejia isn't even shown being drafted. The Knicks don't have a second pick, so it is a bit curious to see Mejia working out for the Knicks, especially in their first draft workouts. Perhaps Isiah is looking to sign Mejia should he go un-drafted. Mejia was painfully skinny throughout his college career but has recently hit the weights and added some weight before the workouts. Mejia is a lanky player with solid court vision, but struggles with his ball-handling. Mejia averaged 14.1ppg, 5.9 rpg, and 2.6apg this season for Depaul (the alma matter of Quentin Richardson).

Demetris Nichols: Syracuse fans are familiar with Nichols. Syracuse's best scorer this year has been projected to go early second round in most mock drafts. At 6-8 Nichols has good size for a SF, although Nichols can play the four. Nichols is a quality defender who also has a good touch from behind the arc. Since Nichols is taller than most threes he rarely gets his shot blocked. Mixed with his already lethal touch Nichols is a good player to run off screens. Rasual Butler comes to mind in terms of a player who can shoot the ball with similar size. Butler was drafted late second round in 2002. As Orange fans know Nichols would sometimes go into half-time with 3 points, and end the game with 20+. It seemed every game Nichols would have a big first or second half, and fade in the other half. Although Nichols is tall he lacks court vision, and surprisingly has no post-up game.

Curtis Sumpter: Sumpter, like Mejia is projected to go un-drafted. Sumpter scored 17.4 ppg, 7.2 rpg, and .9 apg this year for Villanova. At the Orlando workout games Sumpter has looked awful. Sumpter has attempted to play SF, as his 6-7 frame is too small to be a successful PF, and his stat line for Friday's game: 6 pts, 2 rebounds, 5 turnovers. Sumpter has been stopped by good defense, and has been frustrated by referee calls that have gone against him. Sumpter had two ACL injuries in his career, including missing the entire 2005-2006 season. Because he missed the entire season Sumpter was a fifth year senior this year. Despite the injuries reports in early December showed that Sumpter might have actually improved his skills after the injuries. Sumpter showed an improved jump shot, and an even better shot off of the dribble. In fact, in early December some scouts were saying Sumpter could be a first round draft pick. However, Sumpter's poor court vision for a SF and injury prone past are on the top of lists that worries NBA GM's. Isiah wanted a look for himself.

3 of the 4 players Isiah and his staff are looking at on Tuesday are projected to go either in the second round, or not be drafted at all. This could mean one of two teams. Isiah may be looking to shock the world like he did last year with Balkman. Or Isiah may already know that he is going to trade the draft pick and is simply focusing on players he can sign who don't get drafted. Stay tuned.

Early Rumors Show Signs of Wild Off-season

2007-06-03T11:03:00.000-04:00

Jermaine O'Neal, Rashard Lewis, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol, Vince Carter, and even Ron Artest have all been rumored to be coming to the Knicks. Rumors have even said that Kobe and O'Neal have directly gone to management and asked for a trade to the Knicks. The off-season hasn't even started yet! It looks like it won't be a slow off-season for the Knicks and their beat writers. If the Knicks get even one of the players listed above then the Knicks will immediately become a playoff team. Artest is the worst player on that list, and that is saying something.

On that list Rashard Lewis is probably the most likely player to come to the Knicks, and Lewis would most likely come on a sign and trade with the Sonics. Offers of Crawford and Nate for Lewis have circulated the rumor wire. That trade would be perfect for the Knicks for a few reasons. One, Lewis is the consistent second scorer for the Knicks who would also become their main downtown threat (career 38.6% for three). Secondly, losing both Crawford and Nate would open up more playing time for Collins, and with the loss of Nate the team fundamentally becomes much stronger. Although I love Nate, I also hate him just as much. His sporadic play is beyond frustrating, and the excitement he offers does not outweigh the negatives he brings, at least not yet.

Jermaine O'Neal and Kobe are the other two rumors that have not stopped since both players have apparently demanded to be dealt. Stephen Jackson, a close friend of Jermaine O'Neal, told reporters that he think O'Neal wants to go to the Knicks to play for his old Pacer coach, Isiah. Jackson went on to say that O'Neal plus Curry could carry the Knicks to epic proportions. As for Kobe, he would be the hardest player for the Knicks to trade for. The Knicks could offer a package (assuming they still have all their players because of other trades) of Lee, Frye, Francis (to even contracts), and the Knicks 23rd overall selection. The problem with that offer is that the Knicks don't give up the one stud player. Sure David Lee could wind up averaging 18 ppg and 12rpg, but that's only if he develops some post-up moves. Most of his points come from tip ins and dunks, and if he does not develop some post moves then it would be hard for him to average more than 14 points a game.

One thing is for sure. If even one of the players are acquired by the Knicks we will have a lot to look forward to come next season.

Mets: Beat the Braves, too

2007-05-28T11:03:00.000-04:00

The Braves have played great thus far this season, so a 4.5 game Met lead over them is pretty impressive. So far as a Met fan you should be content with how the Mets have played, although we know that the whole team hasn't clicked yet, the longest win streak is only four games. With Mota, Sanchez, Valentin, Alou, and Pedro all expected to return at various points in the season the best days are still in front of the Mets. However, if there is one thing the Mets haven't been able to do is beat the Braves head-to-head.

If the Mets have the lead in the standings then that is the main thing, but thus far this year the Mets have lost three rubber games to the Braves, and hold a record of 3-6 against Atlanta. If the Mets want to once again proclaim their fullout dominance on the NL they'll need to start beating Atlanta. Last year the Mets had a record of .500 or better against 12 of the 14 NL team. The lone losing record? The Pirates. The Pirates success against the Mets was pretty obviously an aberration, but the Mets have to prove that the Braves success is also an aberration. The Mets can't afford to let the Braves have a mental effect on them, not only for this year but for years to come. The Mets don't see Atlanta again until August. By then both teams figure to have very different rosters, whether it be because of trades or injuries. Hopefully the Mets can turn the table, and build their own mental advantage over the Mets.

Mets Demote One Prospect For Another

2007-05-13T12:22:00.000-04:00

In yesterday's loss to the Brewers Mike Pelfrey was victim to poor pitching, and poor defense. In the fourth inning Pelfrey did not get to first base quick enough on a groundball hit to second base. The out would have been the second of the inning. Later in the inning on a pop fly to shallow left field the Mets failed to correctly execute the pickle quickly enough, and a shallow sack fly turned into a two run out. Had Pelfrey gotten to first base earlier in the inning the sacrifice fly would have been the third out, keeping the score at 2-0 after four innings, as opposed to 4-0. Pelfrey finished the day allowed four earned runs over five innings, while allowing eight hits. Pelfrey has been hit pretty hard this season, and as a result his next start will be with New Orleans. On Sunday the Mets announced that Pelfrey would be demoted back to AAA. The Zephyr getting the promotion? Top prospect Carlos Gomez.

With Pelfrey's poor pitching, and left fielder Moises Alou's aching legs, the Mets called on Carlos Gomez to play outfield. Gomez, ranked as the 60th best prospect overall by Baseball America before the season, will be playing right field and batting eighth in his first game on Sunday. Gomez is known as a very toolsy player. His lightning quick speed has caused controversy as to which Met player is faster, Gomez or Reyes. Last season Gomez stole 41 bases in only 50 attempts at AA, and thus far this season at AAA Gomez has 17 steals in 21 attempts. Gomez's rocket arm impressed even Endy Chavez, who has quite the strong arm of his own. The 21 year old has hit .286 thus far at AAA this season with a .363 on base percentage.

Sunday afternoon's game features an outfield of Endy Chavez, Carlos Beltran, and Carlos Gomez from left to right, one of the rangiest outfields you will see at a major league game.

Rumor: Jermaine O'Neal Requests Trade to NY

2007-05-07T19:10:00.000-04:00

Rumors have been running rampant that O'Neal requested a trade to the Knicks. According to the Chicago Tribune O'Neal told the Pacers that he would like to play for the Knicks, and close friend, and former coach, Isiah Thomas. O'Neal, originally drafted by the Trailblazers, struggled mightily for playing time his first four years out of high school, until he went to the Pacers. As soon as O'Neal went to Indiana, in 2000-2001, he immediately began to flourish. Since then O'Neal has gone on to average 19.5 ppg, 9.8 rpg, and most importantly 2.4 bpg.

The Tribune speculated as to possible deals for O'Neal. Sam Smith, the author of the article, suggested Steve Francis, Channing Frye, Jared Jeffries, and the Knicks first rounder this year (which is actually the Bulls pick) for O'Neal and a contract. This scenario would be a dream situation for Knicks fans. Get rid of Francis and Jeffries' contracts, trade Frye while he still has value (although I still think he can turn out to be a solid player), and Randolph Morris will be considered our first round pick this year. Isiah could then fill the other roster spots with various free agent pick ups.

Newsday's Ken Berger has another trade scenario. Berger thinks that if the Knicks offered Malik Rose, Channing Frye, Jared Jeffries, their 23rd overall selection, and Jamal Crawford would get O'Neal. This scenario the Knicks give up much more talent, but I would still seriously consider the deal. Assuming Isiah can grab a few good role players from free agency the Knicks could be a very good team next year. Here's to hoping the rumors are true.

Mets Sign Ex-Padre Brian Lawrence

2007-05-06T22:51:00.000-04:00

Brian Lawrence hasn't pitched in the big leagues since 2005 due to injury. The six foot right hander, with the exception of his last year in the big leagues, has been mildly successful with the Padres. From 2001-2004 Lawrence compiled a record of 41-46 with a 3.91 era while pitching for a Padre team that averaged 74 victories a year during that same span. Lawrence had proven he was a serious major league pitcher, until 2005 came. In 2005 Lawrence went a dreadful 7-15 with a 4.83 era.
That off-season Lawrence was dealt for Vinny Castilla of the Nationals. Lawrence followed up his bad luck with a torn labrum and rotator cuff that didn't even allow him to pitch in 2006. However, before the season Baseball Prospectus saw a potential decline in Lawrence's ability to get outs. Said BP:

His decline accelerated in 2005, as Lawrence was torched like a Parisian sedan by hitters all over the league. He's always been a trapeze artist, relying on form, control, and mechanics, and his effectiveness has depended on his ability to spot his slider to perfection. meanwhile, his peripherals continue to decay. He'll benefit from Washington's defense and soggy, boggy RFK, but those effects will only serve to disguise a pitcher on his way out.

Well, at least we know a little bit more about Lawrence. Obviously he is a control pitcher who doesn't have the greatest of stuff, although judging by his numbers before 2005 he can be successful. Lawrence, like most control pitchers, does not strike out a lot of batters and he will rely on the Mets solid defense to help him out of some jams. Lawrence has had a problem retiring left handed batters during his career. Over his career lefties have hit .299 against Lawrence, as opposed to the .245 that righties hit. If Lawrence doesn't eventually get promoted to start a game for the Mets he may turn out to be useful in the bullpen as a longman, or as a situational righty should Joe Smith not be available that night. Lawrence also has a tremendous career era at Shea Stadium. His .81 era and .90 WHIP in three starts at Shea is more than impressive. His three starts included a complete game shutout that Lawrence threw three years ago.
Lawrence is at least healthy to pitch again, although he hasn't been too successful thus far in the minors. He was invited to Rockies major league camp, which he posted a 4.50 era in 14 innings. Lawrence struck out nine and walked three during spring training, which is an encouraging sign that he still has control of his pitches. Lawrence did not make the team out of spring training, and started the season pitching for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (AAA). Lawrence was roughed up, badly. In his three starts his era was a sky-scraping 8.69. Ironically Lawrence does have one complete game this year. His numbers that game? 7 ip, (I assume it was cut short) 12 hits, and 10 earned runs. In Lawrence's last appearance on April 15th he allowed six runs over six innings, leading to his release by the Rockies. Lawrence allowed three home runs in his three starts, and allowed AAA hitters to hit .376 off of him. Looks like BP was right.

Mets surprisingly option Burgos

2007-05-05T17:58:00.000-04:00

Jorge Sosa will make his first start this season. Sosa pitched in AAA in April and was extremely dominant. In his five starts Sosa went 4-0 with a 1.13 era and an incredible 29:4 (7.25:1) strikeout to walk rate in 32 innings. Sosa's control has been one of his biggest problems during his career with the Devil Rays and Braves. Last season with the Braves he went 3-11 with a 5.42 era and a 75:40 (1.9:1) strikeout to walk ratio, significantly worse than what he has done at AAA thus far. Hopefully he can keep his control in check and let his very good stuff dominate the Arizona hitters.

With Sosa getting the call from AAA the Mets are forced to make a roster change for tonight's game against the Diamondbacks. Lino Urdaneta, a 27 year old rookie, was promoted earlier in the week for Chan Ho Park, seemingly in case the Mets needed an extra arm. Most anticipated Urdaneta to be demoted once Jorge Sosa's turn in the rotation came again. However, in a surprising twist the Mets demoted Ambiorix Burgos, a 23 year old fireballer, who had a 4.11 era in his 15.1 innings this year. Although 4.11 is not good, it certainly doesn't deserve a demotion when the replacement is a 27 year old rookie. Not to mention the fact that Urdaneta has a career era of infinite. That's right, in his only career appearance in the majors Urdaneta did not record an out and allowed six runs. What's more is that Urdaneta had a poor 5.84 era in AAA this year in 12.1 innings.

Personally I am very puzzled by the move. Burgos had a lower major league era than Urdaneta had at AAA, by far. Plus, Burgos actually has a promising future if he can get a handle on his secondary pitches and his control. Urdaneta, on the other hand, pitched in only 11 games all of last season in the minors mixed between the GCL and AA. Hopefully I am wrong with what Urdaneta can offer the Mets, but I'd be very surprised if he could add anything Burgos couldn't.

Despite Rough Season Knicks Have Smooth Future

2007-04-20T23:57:00.000-04:00

The Knicks ended the season on a 4-15 skid that ultimately kept them out of the lowly Eastern Conference playoffs. At one point towards the end of the year the Knicks had firmly planted themselves in the playoff race, taking a one game lead over the eighth spot. However, suddenly the resilient Knicks were not so resilient anymore as New York dropped from eighth place all the way to 12th place. Their record was tied with the young and talented Bobcats, and was behind the 76ers who all but gave up on their season when they dealt away Allen Iverson only to find themselves playing some of the best basketball in the Eastern Conference in the second half. The Knicks finished an incredible seven games behind the Orlando Magic. I say incredible simply because of how far the Knicks fell, and the teams they finished behind. However, instead of diving into what the Knicks should have done to close out the season (after all they would have had to go 11-8 to make the playoffs in those same 19 games) lets look at what the Knicks did do and what we can look forward to in the future.

In many facets of the game the Knicks had a much much much more successful year than they did in '05-'06, but obviously that is not the greatest of accomplishments. Below is a combination of the positives that came from the '06-'07 campaign.
Stephon Marbury's play:
Anybody who watched the Knicks play consistently this year knows that Marbury has become a better all around player than he has ever been in his career. Despite having virtually the same season in terms of numbers that he had under Larry Brown (16.3 ppg under Brown and 16.4 ppg under Isiah) Marbury was a defensive stopper for the Knicks. One play that sticks out in my mind came against the Bobcats in the David Lee tip-in game. Marbury stole the ball from the Bobcats and then called a timeout with 0.1 seconds remaining, which led to Lee's tip in. Not only was Marbury a much better defensive player but in the second half of the season he began to discover how to score without being the focal point of the offense. Pretty much the entire season the Knicks plan had been to get the ball to Curry. The first half of the season Marbury averaged only 14.1 ppg, while in the second half (only 22 games because of injuries) Marbury averaged 21.7 ppg including a 37.9% from downtown.

Eddy Curry's improved offense (defense?):
At the end of the '05-'06 season Eddy Curry did not progress at all for the Knicks, and Knicks fans were beginning to call the Curry trade one of the worst in history. With the Bulls seemingly getting two top ten picks for a center who can't score or play defense. Well, this year Curry at least showed he can score. Curry finished 3.4 ppg higher than his career high in points (16.1) at 19.5 a game, and his offense quickly made Knicks fans think of better times. Nearly making the All-star team Curry carried the Knicks on more than a few occasions this season. Although at times it was an adventure for the Knicks to get Curry the ball whenever they did the majority of the time Curry would put it in. A blessing in disguise for Curry may have come when Crawford went down for the season. Crawford would give Curry 2-3 alley-oops a game which would get his game going, and increase his point totals. With Crawford out, the Knicks other guards were not the best at making lob passes, and Curry struggled. Without the extra 4-6 points Curry received from Crawford the Knicks had to come up with new ways for Curry to get his points. Something they did successfully, and now if Crawford returns for the Knicks next season Curry will be even more deadly. Curry scored 21.2 ppg in April next year you can add 2-4 ppg on lob passes alone. Oh, and did you see that nice little jump shot Curry had going the last few games of the year, if that develops over the summer, which it should, the Knicks could have one of the elite scoring big men in the East. Albeit all of this offense comes with Curry's lack of defensive prowess, but he is getting better defensively. After all he did have a career high in rebounds this year by a full rebound a game.

David Lee's Rebounding:
"Crawford the jumper, he misses, but David Lee is there for the tip-in!" How many times did we hear that in the first half this year? David Lee was there for the Knicks the entire first half of the year, and when he went down the Knicks struggled to rebound the basketball as well as they did when he was in the lineup, for obvious reasons. Lee is one of the best rebounders in all of the NBA, averaging 10.4 boards a game in just under 30 minutes. Lee has become one of the most beloved Knicks, and every time he does another thing well he becomes that much more liked. After winning the Rookie-Sophomore game MVP the Knicks have a lot to look forward to in David Lee, even if he can't make a jump shot.

Renaldo Balkman:
For the second straight year Isiah Thomas plucked good players out of the draft. When Balkman was drafted he was immediately met with boos because the New York fans expected the Knicks to select future Net, Marcus Williams. However, as Balkman later said in an interview "they just didn't know". We know now. After struggling to find playing time the first half of the year Balkman was given an opportunity with all of the Knicks injuries in the second half. Balkman finished the year fifth in RP48 (rebounds per 48 minutes) for all rookies with 13.3 boards. In addition Balkman was sixth amongst rookies with .84 steals a game and fourth in SP48 (steals per 48 minutes). In addition, Balkman was seventh amongst rookies with .6 blocks a game and with 2 blocks per 48 minutes. When comparing Balkman's rookie stats to another fan favorite, David Lee, it is easy to see how much better Balkman can get by next year alone. Balkman averaged 4.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, .6 apg, and shot at a 56.7% while David Lee averaged 5.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, .6 apg, and 57.7% in his rookie year. Plus Balkman adds the steals and blocks that Lee does not offer. No matter how impressive Balkman's stats are, and they are quite impressive for a rookie with his playing time, Balkman's impact goes beyond stats. As one of the better defenders on the team Balkman can stop opponents, and bring a swagger to the Knicks. I have added a video of when the Knicks played the Cleveland Cavs and Balkman was guarding LeBron James. James has obviously cemented himself as one of the top five players in the NBA, and because of his status in the league he has the fear factor over some players, specifically rookies. Not Renaldo Balkman.

Mardy Collins' Surprising ability to score:
Balkman's rookie partner in crime was lights out the last few weeks of the season. In fact, Collins was so good that Clyde Frazier saw a little bit of himself in Mardy, and he wants to spend time with Collins during the summer to help him strengthen his game. Mardy's overall stats are deceiving because before the all-star break Collins averaged only 4 minutes a game, which brings down his averages. The only month where Collins consistently showed his talents was the last month, where he started all nine games. In those nine games Collins averaged 14.8 ppg, 5.8 apg, 6.7 rpg, and 2.0 spg. If Collins averaged those numbers for a full season the Knicks would have a rookie of the year winner on their hands. Obviously it is much harder to average what Collins did for a whole year than it is for a month, but it shows you the ceiling Collins has. If Collins can develop a semi-decent jump shot over the summer the Knicks may have gotten their second straight steal at the end of the first round. Maybe Isiah knew what he was doing after all.

Don't Give Up On The Knicks, Yet

2007-04-03T21:01:00.000-04:00

With nine games remaining the Knicks are 2.5 games out of the eighth seed and 3.0 games back of the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. The odds are against the Knicks, but do not give up on the season yet. Of the nine games remaining four of them are against poor teams the Bucks, the Bobcats, the 76ers, and the Timberwolves. The Knicks have displayed a lac of focus against the teams in the lower class of the NBA, such as the Sonics and the Blazers. All four of the games I just mentioned are absolute must wins, and should they lose any fo those games the season may very well be over.

When looking at the Magic's schedule (only have eight games remaining) they also have four "gimme" games, against the Bucks, 76ers, Celtics, and Grizzlies. Therefore, this makes the "gimme" games for the Knicks that much more important, because if the Magic slip up just once the Knicks must be there to jump. The Nets, on the other hand only have one "gimme" game, against the Hawks. The Nets schedule is obviously much more demanding and the last week and a half of the season becomes that much more important when the Nets play the Knicks twice. This is yet another reason not to give up on the season. The Knicks need to cut the Nets lead over them to 2.0 games, and suddenly if they can beat the Nets twice, they played two close games already against them this year, they are tied for the playoffs, assuming the Pacers don't outplay the Knicks, not likely to happen.

The Pacers lead the Knicks by only .5 game and although they have the easiest schedule of all five teams the Pacers have not played consistently good basketball since January. I have talked about the "gimme" games for each team, but what about the other games? Well, for the Knicks and Nets I already mentioned the two games they play each other, and for the Knicks all that leaves is Toronto, Chicago, and Detroit. The Knicks beat Detroit earlier this year in triple overtime, but don't count on it to happen again, expect a loss that day. But the Raptors, a team without Bargnani and Garbajosa, can be very vulnerable against the Knicks, considering the Knicks usually lose to 3pt shooting, and those two players are two of the Raptors best. Plus, the Raptors have already clinched their division, which means their starters will not be playing normal minutes, and will not be as motivated as normal. The Bulls have also already clinched the division, but they will likely be playing for seedings. The Knicks also beat the Bulls 103-92 in late December. The Knicks will need to win at least one of those games, preferably two.

NJ still plays Indiana once which will only help the Knicks, because at least one team they are trailing will lose that game, which will allow them to catch up, or strengthen a lead when those two match up. The Nets also play Chicago twice, Washington twice, and the LeBron's once. If the Nets go 4-5 and I'd consider their last nine games a success, but I wouldn't be on it. The Magic play Detroit, Toronto, Miami, and Washington. Their last two games of the year are against Washington and Miami, respectively. The Knicks hold the tie breaker over the Magic so in effect the Knicks only need to play tie the Magic to make it over them into the playoffs.

The Knicks need to start rooting for the Wizards, the Cavs, and the Heat to do some dirty work for them in order for them to have a chance. But judging by how sporadic the Nets, Magic, and Pacers have played this year I'm betting we can count on them.

Pelfrey Named Fifth Starter

2007-03-25T22:25:00.000-04:00

Entering Spring Training the Mets had a plethora of options for the fifth starter job. Alay Soler was released, Phil Humber and Jason Vargas were optioned to AAA, and Chan Ho Park and Aaron Sele were demoted to the bullpen. That leaves the Mets best pitching prospect, Mike Pelfrey.

Pelfrey was terrific this spring pitching to a 2.84 era over 19 innings. On top of that Pelfrey gave up only one home run. If you project out how many home runs the 6'7" right hander will give up over 200 innings if he keeps the same ip:hr ratio you get eleven. The Yankees best pitch, Chien Ming Wang, a groundball expert allowed 12 home runs in 2006. Also, the NL Cy Young Winner, Brandon Webb, allowed 15 home runs. In fact, if Pelfrey allowed eleven home runs last year over 200 innings he would have led all of baseball in least home runs allowed. Obviously it is impossible to suggest Pelfrey will allow only eleven home runs this year, or to even sugges that he will be as good as Brandon Webb or Wang. Nevertheless, it certainly is a good sign to see Pelfrey's name involved with some of the better pitchers in the game. Pelfrey is truly a groundball machine. Even on Sunday when he allowed four runs over five innings against the Astros the majority of the six hits Pelfrey allowed were groundballs that found holes.

No matter how easy it is to get caught up in how good Pelfrey may be this year, you also must realize that he is 23 and a rookie. He may also be a victim of having Spring Training stats that hide how good someone actually is. Last year Brian Bannister won the fifth spot in the Mets rotation. In fact, Bannister's ST in 2006 is similar to Pelfrey's this year. Bannister also pitched 19 innings, three of the games he started and two of them were in relief, much like Pelfrey. Bannister had an unbelievable .95 era in his 19 innings displaying immaculate control during those innings. Bannister preceded to enter the 2006 MLB season and barely be able to throw strikes. Despite pitching like Hudini Bannister was very lucky in his time in the majors before his hamstring injury pretty much ended his season. Bannister was dealt in the offseason for reliever Ambiorix Burgos.

In 2005 the Mets had a pitcher with an even better spring training who fizzled out in the majors. Matt Ginter pitched 14 straight scoreless innings for the Mets. Ginter went on to get dealt at the end of spring training and pitch only 14 games in 2005 with the Tigers. Ginter had a dreadful 6.17 era in those 14 games. Ginter hasn't pitched in the majors since 2005, and he has since latched on with the Pirates and has not even been able to appear in a spring training game with the lowly Pirates.

Again, just because Pelfrey had a great spring does not mean he will be great in the regular season, despite his potential. The same can be said about Joe Smith, although his sidearming ability should keep him in the majors at least for this season, due to nobody knowing how good he is. Keep an eye on Pelfrey and don't be surprised if he is great, but also don't be surprised if he struggles in the majors this year.

Francis Challenged to Lead the Knicks

2007-03-18T00:17:00.000-04:00

Wednesday night against the Raptors Steve Francis and Eddy Curry got into a shouting match on the court, because Curry felt that Francis was not getting him the ball enough. Curry finished the game with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Last season that line would have been just another night at the office (in 05-06 Curry averaged 13.6 ppg and 6.0 rpg), but the new Curry took exception to not getting the ball enough. On Thursday, the day after the Raptors game, Isiah Thomas had an intense practice, a rarity for an NBA team this late in the season. However, Isiah was trying to prove a point: "get the ball to Eddy!" One game later Curry returned to form scoring 18 points and grabbing 6 rebounds on 14 shots (compared to his 9 shots the game before). Now Isiah has another challenge for a Knick.

Early in his career Steve Francis was called everything from a ball-hog to a cry baby, and now Isiah wants Francis to be called something else. A leader. Isiah Thomas challenged Steve Francis to become more of a leader within the Knicks team. According to the New York Times Isiah Thomas said of Francis:

“In terms of being a leader, I want more out of him.” Thomas added that he
wanted Francis “to be a more vocal part of the group, not just a part of the
team; I don’t want him to take a back seat to anyone.”

It is unclear if Isiah simply wanted Francis to step up and lead the Knicks, or if he was simply saying that Francis was not doing a good enough job of being a leader. My guess is a mixture of both, and time will only tell how Francis responds. To Francis this may mean that he has to put the Knicks on his back on a nightly basis, like Marbury did for a 6-7 game stretch two weeks ago. Or this may show Francis that he should try and be more of a distributor on the floor, and lead the Knicks with his voice and, when needed, his play. The Knicks play the Raptors on Sunday in a mattinee game, a game that is a must win for the Knicks. The Raptors are a better team, but at home the Knicks can beat the Raptors, who are a poor road team. Should the Knicks lose they would fall 1.5 games behind the 7th seed Indiana, and a full game behind New Jersey. Plus there are two games against the Mavs leering right around the corner. The spotlight is on the Knicks to do well.

Below is a highlight video of Steve Francis ups and downs of his career before he became a Knick. I felt it was appropriate because the video has highlights from newspaper articles that diss Steve Francis and show some of his faults. Some faults highlighted are the opposite of what you want from a team leader, but the player the Knicks have is an older, and hopefully, wiser player.

Isiah Gets Extension For Possibly Extending Knicks' Season

2007-03-12T22:25:00.000-04:00

17-46. Last season through 63 games the Knicks were 17-46. This season the Knicks are 29-34 through 63 games, and own the eighth seed in the playoffs by .5 games over New Jersey, and they are only .5 games behind the falling Pacers. Isiah Thomas has led the Knicks from a talented laughing stock to a talented mediocore team. Without question when looking at the talent on the Knicks roster they still are underacheiving. However, Thomas has certainly gotten the Knicks team closer to their potential. Not only has Isiah made the team play better as a whole, but he has given the Knicks a future.

Stephon Marbury's numbers may be worse this year, but his impact has been felt much more. Marbury's defense has risen from not seen at times to a very good defender. In addition, Marbury has taken on a larger leadership role with the Knicks, and, for the most part, over the past two weeks has carried the Knicks.

Isiah Thomas, like he has done with other big men in the past such as Jermaine O'Neal and Brad Miller has molded Eddy Curry into the player the Knicks envisioned when they mortgaged their future in trading for him. E-City, as he has become known, has risen from a poor first season, and start to his career. He is averaging career highs in ppg, rpg, apg, spg, free-throws attempted per game, FG attempted per game, and mpg. Curry's 19.3 ppg is second amongst centers in the entire NBA, and first in the Eastern Conference. Obviously he needs to greatly improve his rebounding, and improve his defense even more. However, most people do not realize that Curry is averaging at least .9 more rebounds this season than he has at any other point in his career, so there is improvement. Also, Curry is still very turnover prone averaging 3.4 a game. Curry is tied for sixth in the NBA in turnovers per game, and second to only Dwight Howard, another young big man.

Thomas has also established David Lee as a major threat in the league. Alongside Lee is Renaldo Balkman, whom I have grown quite fond of, and both players should be here to help Isiah build a nucleus for years to come. Then you have Steve Francis, who even if he doesn't play another game all year has already been more productive then last season. Francis has been in and out of the Knicks lineup all year because of a nagging knee injury Francis does not have numbers that shock you, especially when compared to his career, but he is giving every bit of energy he has left in his knee for the Knicks' postseason run. Francis and Marbury both have questionable knees which lead to off nights, but when both are playing at their best it is easy to see the Knicks becoming a very good team.

Last but not least you have Quentin Richardson. It is not clear whether Q's rebirth has occurred because he simply had a terrible year last year in general or because of Isiah Thomas. Last year he broke up with his fiance, Brandy, before the season started, and then mid-way through the year his brother is shot and killed. On top of that it was his first year in New York, which is always tough, and the Knicks were terrible so New York was not the nicest place to play. So perhaps Isiah does not have a lot to claim in terms of Q's play this year, but nevertheless Q has established himself as one the Knicks best defenders and three point shooters. In addition, he grabs 7.3 rebounds a game out of the SG spot in the lineup, which is more than Eddy Curry, and only .2 behind future hall-of-famer Shaquille O'Neal. Richardson's body consistently takes a beating because of his style of play and because of an aching back, but whenever he is on the court he is the Knicks emotional leader, and sometimes, their best player.

Even Crawford has improved this season, but enough is enough. The Knicks clearly have shown evident progress this year, and a lot of the congratulations should be for Isiah Thomas and the rest of the coaching staff. I'll enjoy watching Isiah on the bench for the Knicks few years.

Crawford's Injury Shuts Him Down For At Least Rest of Season

2007-02-27T22:18:00.000-05:00

Today I came home from work to find out that the Knicks shooting guard, and second best scorer, is out for the year with ankle surgery. When I heard the news I wasn't sure how to react. Obviously I felt bad for Crawford, but immediately after my thoughts went straight to how this would affect the team. In my opinion I can see one of two things happen. The Knicks will get worse for obvious reasons, or we will be better, and noticeably so better. Allow me to explain.

With Crawford out Isiah announced that Quentin Richardson will move to the two guard with Jared Jeffries once again starting at SF. Right away this improves the team defense dramatically. Crawford is a below average defender, and has even lost the person he was defending at key moments (most notably against Utah). Richardson is one of the Knicks better defenders, and Jeffries is in the NBA for his defense. With Marbury normally playing solid defense at point guard, and Q plays good defense on most nights, whether it is against a SG or a SF. Also, the Knicks will always have a plus defender at SF. Jeffries is obviously starting, and the only true SF to back him up is Balkman. In my opinion Balkman is the Knicks best defender in terms of steals of and shot blocks, and Balkman's minutes should definitely increase.

Also, even though the Knicks offense runs through Eddy Curry, curiously Crawford is averaging nearly three more shots per game than Curry is. That means that the Knicks have 15 extra shots to play around with and spread out. This means that all of the scorers on the team should see a rise in their numbers. Curry most certainly will get even more touches, Steph as well. With Q at the shooting guard I could see Isiah featuring him in the post a couple of possessions a game. Most SF can't guard Q's post up game, much-less SG. Obviously not everything is positive with Jamal out, there are also a handful of negatives.

The main loss is Crawford's scoring. Crawford was second on the Knicks with 17.9 points per game. But, in his 36 games as a starter Crawford averaged 20.8 points and 4.9 assists. In addition the Knicks are 18-18 with Crawford in the starting lineup, and 8-14 without him. An underrated facet that the Knicks lose is Crawford's camaraderie with Eddy Curry. Crawford usually has 1-3 "chemistry" passes to Curry each game, such as an alley-oop or an instinctive cut pass. An obvious loss is the Knicks team depth. The Knicks had six guards entering this season (Marbury, Nate, Collins, Q, Crawford, Francis) and they are now left with four, with two of them being question marks on what they will bring to the table. Last but not least, Crawford's ability to be clutch and take over games offensively is gone. However, judging by Marbury taking over the fourth quarter last night Steph certainly has the ability to take over quarters and lead the Knicks to a victory. The question is if he can do it on a consistent basis like Crawford did.

Nate and Collins will obviously be seeing more time with Crawford out and I'm not sure whether these are positives or negatives. Robinson has played sporadically throughout his career. Nate will be part of the second unit which may be the perfect place for him. I don't think Nate can contribute consistently in the starting due to his lack of defense and streaky shooting. The 22 year old is a spark plug, and spark plugs usually fit the best in the second unit. Nate does have a keen ability of blowing by defenders and flying at the hoop, and I can see him averaging around 12 points a game the rest of the way. Collins, on the other hand, is a huge question mark. The rookie has only had three games this year where he has played double digits in minutes. When he has played he has shown flashes of being a good pass first point guard. With the exception of an 11 point performance against the Clippers Collins' shot has been dreadful this year, even air-balling a few jump shots. In fact, if you take away the Clippers game in which he shot 4-9 and 3-6 behind the arc Collins' field goal percentage for the year is 31%. Collins is known as a defensive player, however, so perhaps Balkman and Collins could make some things happen whenever they are both in the game.

With all of that said the Knicks are known for their offense and lack of consistent defense, if the Knicks do in fact improve defensively will they score enough points to win games? Stay tuned, they play the Celtics Wednesday night, a game they must win. Keep an eye on how Isiah uses the bench, and how the team responds to playing without Crawford. If Lee returns look for a big game out of him.

Knicks Must Capitalize On Soft Schedule

2007-02-20T15:33:00.000-05:00

At the start of the season the Knicks' brutal schedule caused a lot of controversy. They played five of their first seven games on the road, and after a 2-5 start the Knicks were immediately put in a hole to start the 06-07 campaign. However, the Knicks start the all-star break embarking on a nine game stretch in which they play nine teams with a record of .500 or worse. Five of the nine games are also at MSG, where the Knicks have a .500 record themselves, despite starting 1-6. Their first opponent is the Orlando Magic, a team the Knicks completely dominated earlier this season. The Magic may be a different team then the Knicks first saw, because Grant Hill and ex-Knick Trevor Ariza, may be returning from their injuries. In addition, Jameer Nelson went into the all-star break suffering from flu-like symptoms, but I saw him with Dwight Howard during the Dunk Contest. Even if Ariza and Hill return from their respective injuries the Knicks should still pick up the victory. The Magic lost 12 of their last 17 games entering the All-Star break, and the Knicks are coming off of a blowout loss on the road, so they should be hungry to get a home victory.

After the Magic the Knicks head out to Philadelphia tomorrow night to play the lowly Sixers. Then Friday night the Knicks play the Milwaukee Bucks who may have Michael Redd and Charlie Villanueva returning for them within the next few days. The Knicks blewout the Bucks earlier this season, and then lost a few weeks later at Milwaukee on a Mo Williams circus shot with a few seconds remaining.

After the Bucks game the Knicks head to NJ who may be without Jason Kidd. The hot rumor right now is Jason Kidd to the Lakers. Then next Monday the Knicks play the Heat, the toughest team in the next nine games. The Heat look primed for a second half run, so the Knicks will need to play very good basketball to be D-Wade's Heat. Following the Heat game the Knicks head to Boston next Wednesday. Then the Knicks will play the Warriors at home, Atlanta on the road the next night, and then finally Seattle at home three days later. Assuming Jason Kidd is dealt the only game that should give the Knicks trouble in that stretch other than the Heat is the Warriors. However, the game is at home and the Knicks should play with a purpose, and try to blow out the Warriors.

The Knicks must play well the finally 29 games of the season, but especially these first nine games. The Knicks need to go at worst 6-3 these next games, and set a tone for the rest of the season, and hopefully the playoffs. The Knicks are not in the playoffs if the season ended today, and it appears that the Nets GM wants to get rid of Kidd or Carter before their value is gone. hat leaves the Knicks, Magic, and Heat playing for the final two spots in the east. Assuming the Heat earn the final spot the Knicks will have to outplay their opponent tonight if they wish to make the playoffs.

D Lee Wins MVP

2007-02-17T00:40:00.000-05:00

Friday night fan favorite David Lee won the MVP for the Sophomore-Rookie Challenge. Lee did the same thing he does every night for the Knicks: rebound, dunk the ball, energize his teammates. Lee went an astonishing 14-14 from the field, as well as 2-2 from the charity stripe en route to a 30 point outing. Lee also had four assists, and another day in the office with 11 rebounds. Lee outdid Chris Paul for the MVP, although in my opinion Paul deserved it. Paul had an incredible game, dishing the ball 17 times. He also scored 16 points, and stole an incredible 9 balls. He nearly had a triple double and one of the categories wasn't rebounding. Nevertheless, Lee played a terrific game, and I couldn't be happier that he won the award.

Tomorrow night Nate Robinson looks to defend his slam dunk crown against big men Tyrus Thomas and Dwight Howard, as well as high flyer Gerald Green.

Isiah: Keep Francis

2007-02-14T10:19:00.000-05:00

Since Steve Francis' return against the Jazz Francis has looked better than ever. The former all-star is averaging 10.5 points, 2 assists, and 4 rebounds in his two games against Utah and LA. Those numbers don't exactly blow you away, but lets take a closer look at what those stats mean to the Knicks.

Besides Stephon Marbury the Knicks do not have another player who can consistently run the point. Nate Robinson is listed as a point guard, but doesn't pass the ball enough to be an effective one for a long stint. Not only was Marbury the only point guard on the Knicks when Francis was out, but he has a lingering knee injury that seemingly hinders his game every other night. So when Francis returned from his knee injury it was a blessing in disguise. Francis has been ineffective at best during his time with the Knicks since last season's trade deadline. However, it recently came out that Francis' knee injury has effected him for most of his time in a Knicks uniform. So the 20+ games he missed couldn't have helped him more.

Now that Francis is back and so far it appears that his knee is healthier than it has been thus far with the Knicks. Francis has been getting into the paint with ease, and has shot 50% from the field. Oh, and did I mention he is coming off of the bench. Although a return from Francis to the Franchise would be wishful thinking it is certainly possible that Francis can re-establish himself in the league. Even if Francis continues to put up the numbers off of the bench that he has done the past two games he will be very valuable.

He would instantly give Marbury a bit of a cushion in case he needs to miss a game here or there. Plus, he would be what Crawford was earlier in the season, instant offense. Like a bad commercial for instant coffee, I can picture it now: "Running out of time? Need offense? We have your solution! From the makers of instant coffee and the chia pet comes instant offense. All you need is Steve Francis." OK, maybe not, but it was worth a try. Not only is Francis solid offensively, but he is one of the better rebounders for a point guard in the league. In his prime Francis averaged 7.0 rebounds a game, and has averaged 5.7 boards a game over his career. Francis makes the Knicks best quality even better.

Although the 29 year old (turns 30 on Feb. 21st) turns the ball over a lot, already a Knicks weakness, he also steals a couple of those lost balls back. Over his career Francis has averaged 1.5 steals a game, and even with a balky knee he has managed to steal 1.0 balls a game, which is tied for the team lead. In addition, Francis has a quality that isn't shown in stats. Francis has shown he can be a leader for a team. Earlier in the season Francis spoke with Nate Robinson about trying to pull off a dunk in which he bounced the ball on the floor first. Also, Francis has joined Nate, Balkman, Lee, and a few others in leaping off of the bench whenever a Knicks player does something impressive.

I understand Francis has only played two games and praising him as the Knicks offensive savior off the bench is definitely premature, but when I notice potential for something I enjoy sharing it. Francis certainly has the potential to be a threat for the Knicks, and so far New York has played very well against two very good West Coast teams with Francis.

Stat Craze for next Opponent:

The Knicks play the Golden State Warriors tonight, and the Warriors run and gun offense could tire out the Knicks who will be finishing a three game road trip before the all-star break. The Warriors will be without a personal favorite of mine, Baron Davis. Davis was averaging around 21 points and 9 assists a game before undergoing knee surgery on Monday. The Warriors have also been playing without Jason Richardson for most of the year. However, Golden State still has a few players who can light the Knicks up in Stephen Jackson, Monta Ellis, and Al Harrington. They also have their own version of David Lee in Andris Biedrins. Despite averaging the fourth most points a game in the NBA the Warriors rate in the middle of the league in FG% and 3PT%. They are also the third worst free throw shooting team. However, the Warriors also deal off the fifth most assists, while throwing away the sixth most balls a game. The Warriors are one of the worst defensive teams in the league, ironically they lead the entire NBA in blocks and steals a game. Most of the stats have been when Baron Davis has played, but when the off-injured point guard hasn't played the Warriors are 4-6. Expect a very high scoring game, and I envision a very close game.

Chan Ho Park Signed By Mets

2007-02-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

Omar Minaya continued his search for a diamond in the rough on Friday when he signed veteran pitcher Chan Ho Park. Park a one point won 18 games with the LA Dodgers during a stretch where Park have five of six seasons with the Dodgers where he recorded an era well under four. However, that Chan Ho Park has drastically changed from the one the Mets signed. After he left the Dodgers 2001 Park never pitched well again. He averaged a 5.86 era with a 1.63 WHIP since 2001. Not the best numbers, especially considering two of his years were pitched at Petco Park, one of the best pitchers parks in baseball. In fact, in only 136.2 innings pitched this year Park allowed an outrageous 20 home runs. In addition, 12 of the 20 home runs were in Petco, so don't expect Shea to help him too much. On the bright side Park did have a very good K:B ratio of 2.1:1. Park has always had erratic control, so perhaps Peterson can tinker with Park and have him return to his old form with the Dodgers. Or perhaps reuniting with Paul LoDuca will do the trick. With all of the poor numbers you ca throw out about Park he still signed for a very low amount of money, and could have quite the large upside if he can pitch anywhere close to his Dodger form. Although, I don't see much chance of that happening.

Balkman Should Learn From Wallace

2007-02-01T17:12:00.000-05:00

A weak jump shot, a great rebounder, a lock-down defender, a mis-director of shots, a thief, a terrific leaper, likabillity, and the abillity to drive to the basket with no fear. What else do rookie Renaldo Balkman and 24 year old Gerald Wallace have in common? If you must know, both were born in July and grew up in home towns that start with the letter S. It's easy to see that Balkman's potential rivals that of Gerald Wallace.

Before I continue I am not suggesting that Balkman is as good as Wallace at this point, I am mearly suggesting that Balkman has the talent to become a Wallace type player.

Now that I have that out of the way allow me to continue with my point. In Gerald Wallace's first three seasons in the league with the talent filled Kings he struggled to find minutes. After playing only one year at Alabama Wallace averaged only 10:10 minutes a game while scoring 3.3 ppg, 2.1 rpg, .5 apg, .4 steals, .1 blocks, and a 49.5% from the free-throw line. Those numbers sound familiar? They should, because Balkman is having a very similar season, even better. In Balkman's 13:11 minutes a game he scores more points (3.6 ppg), grabs more rebounds (3.4 rpg), dishes the ball more (.7 apg), steals more balls (.7 a game), blocks more shots (.7 a game), and shoots a bit better from the free throw line (52.2%) then Wallace averaged in his first three seasons. Why compare Wallace's three season's to Balkman's one? There are two reasons. One, it was his only three seasons that he has played under 30 minutes. Two, since Wallace left Alabama after one year and Balkman left after his junior season the players are roughly the same age in the comparisons.

If you didn't see enough of Wallace dropping 42 on the Knicks last night then allow me to take a look at Wallace now. In 2005-2006 Wallace was a true fantasy stud. Wallace finished in the top ten in blocks a game (2.1) and was one of two (Josh Smith) SG/SF in the top ten. He also led all of basketball in steals a game at 2.5. In addition, Wallace had career highs in points (15.3 ppg), rebounds (7.5 rpg), and 53.8% from the floor, although most of his field goal attempts are on drives. This season Wallace hasn't been quite as effective, blocking only .8 shots a game (would lead the Knicks, however) and stealing less balls at 1.8 (would also lead the Knicks).

So lets go back to Renaldo Balkman this year. Since this is Balkman's rookie year we do not have any extended numbers to look at like we do with Wallace, so lets project. Obviously the following numbers would be altered if he played enough minutes, but for now this is the only way to compare at the moment. Wallace plays 33 minutes a game, so I'll project at the same amount of minutes a game. While shooting 43.1% from the field Balkman would be scoring 9.1 ppg, 9 rpg, stealing 1.8 balls, blocking 1.8 shots, and dishing the ball 1.8 times a game. Recognize those last three stats? They happen to all be the same or better than Wallace's numbers at the moment. Impressive, huh?

If Balkman compares like that to Wallace in his sixth year in the league than how does he compare to Wallace in his first three seasons? Well, if you project Wallace's three seasons to 33 minutes a game he was averaging 10.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.3 steals, and blocking only .3 shots a game. Despite Wallace's better scoring abillity Balkman is ahead in every other category shown.

Keep an eye on Balkman he could become the next great defender in the NBA.

Moment Number One: Endy's Catch Endures Him to Fans Forever

2007-01-24T12:16:00.000-05:00

Allow me to set the stage. Game seven of the NLCS, Shea Stadium, 1-1 game in the sixth inning. The Mets sent out inconsistent 24 year old Oliver Perez to start the game, and it's remarkable that he has held the Cardinals to only one run over the first 5.1 innings of the most important game of his life.

Willie Randolph just visited the mound to talk to the young, firey right-hander. With Jim Edmonds on first base and one out Willie wanted to make sure that Perez could get out of the inning, and keep the Mets' hopes for a World Series alive. After Perez resoundingly said that he still has something left in the tank Willie walked back to the dugout, and Scott Rolen walked to the plate. Rolen, a perennial all-star every season, had hit .222 in the NLCS and had been struggling from a few lingering injuries. One pitch later my head was in my lap, as Scott Rolen ripped an inside fastball to deep left-field. I could tell it was a home run as soon as it left the bat. Or was it?

Endy Chavez, a Mets hero off the bench all season, leaped with all his might over the left field fence and remarkably made the catch. As soon as he caught the ball and preceded to double up a shocked Jim Edmonds Shea Stadium was as loud as it will ever be. In what was one of the most important catches in the history of baseball (had the Mets won it would have been more important) Endy Chavez cemented himself in nearly every playoff highlight film for the next 20 years. Unfortunately the Mets lost on a Yadier Molina home run to left field where he hit over Chavez's head as if to say "catch this".

Moment Number Two: Knicks Brawl Sparks Season

2007-01-24T00:53:00.000-05:00

Down by 23 points with a few minutes left to go against the Denver Nuggets JR Smith was in the midst of a breakaway that likely would have ended in a dunk. However, instead rookie Mardy Collins committed a hard foul to Smith, Collins' second in as many days. Quickly Smith bounced off the floor and went to face to face with Collins, and an ugly game switched to an ugly brawl in a blink of an eye. Suddenly Nate Robinson, who had recently planted himself in the Knicks rotation --playing 25.2 minutes over his last three game--, violently pushed Smith away from his first year teammate. The rest is history.

The brawl, one of the most embarrassing moments at MSG in recent memory, made nation wide news. The quiet jokes from NBA fans at the Knicks quickly grew to an all-night special of laughs, featuring Nate Robinson and Mardy Collins. Robinson, most known for his flamboyant nature and amazing jumping ability was called a moron and a hypocrite on more than a few occasions. 10 games prior to the brawl Nate attempted a break-away dunk against the Cavaliers where he bounced the ball off the floor, and then preceded to travel. After the Nuggets game Nate proclaimed that the Nuggets were running up the score, and were show boating by doing reverse dunks. In fairness, Nate's attempt came in a close game, where the Knicks did not have a lead, so Nate was doing it more for the crowd reaction, as opposed to running up the score. Meanwhile, Mardy Collins was unfairly labeled a thug. To this day whenever I hear Mardy called a thug I become upset at the ignorance of the person. Anyone who has talked to Collins has said that he is a nice, good-hearted, gentleman--the exact opposite of a thug.

When it was all said and done and four Knicks players and eight total players were suspended the Knicks team suddenly began to play well. In the 17 games since the brawl the Knicks have gone an inconsistent 9-8. Since then Stephon Marbury has drastically turned his season around, while Robinson is finding it difficult to play even in garbage time (with the exception of the Miami Heat game, where he basically had to play).

Moment Number Three: LoDuca tags two Dodgers

2007-01-23T16:46:00.002-05:00

The hype heading into the Mets' postseason were through the roof, and once game one rolled around on October fourth there weren't many Mets fans not glued to ESPN. The day before the series opener Orlando Hernandez suffered an injury that forced him to miss the rest of the postseason, and with a worried fan base John Maine took the ball for game one of the NLDS. Maine had been one of the Mets most consistent starters in 2006, despite being a rookie in NY. However, the playoffs are a different monster from the regular season.

So in the top of the second inning after veterans Jeff Kent and JD Drew singled to start the inning you couldn't help but worry. Suddenly Russel Martin bounced a ball off of the right field wall to struggling outfielder Shawn Green. However, instead of staying at third base and playing the inning safe the Dodgers sent Jeff Kent home, and the runner behind him, JD Drew. When Green made the relay throw to Valentin at second base Valentin smelled an out, and he gunned out Jeff Kent. After LoDuca tagged out Kent, JD Drew followed one second later with a dive into home plate, and LoDuca gladly tagged him out as well.

What looked to be a dreadful inning with a potential no out and bases loaded situation quickly turned into two outs with a runner on second. Two innings later Carlos Delgado and Cliff Floyd hit home runs to give the Mets the lead. In my opinion had Kent and Drew not been thrown out at home and either the bases were loaded, or both runners scored the Mets would not have won the first game of the series 6-5. Therefore, the incredible double play may have catapulted the Mets to the series sweep, and to an eventual game seven of the NLCS.

Moment Number Four: Wright's Walkoff Wins First Game Against Yankees

2007-01-14T22:26:00.000-05:00

Every year the Mets and Yankees subway series are one of the most anticipated games of the season. In 2006 the first three games were played at Shea Stadium, and the banged up Mets rotation was forced to send out journeyman Geremi Gonzalez, against future hall-of-famer Randy Johnson. Gonzalez preceded to give up six runs over three innings including four before the Mets saw their first pitch. However, as they did all season the Mets battled back to score six runs during Johnson's five inning stint. All five runs came from home runs, a three run bomb by Beltran, and a two run opposite field home run by Nady. After the Yankees scored in the fourth inning and the Mets scored in the fifth inning the game remained tied at 6-6 until the bottom of the ninth.

Every Met fan hates Mariano Rivera (but should respect him) and when he came into the game in the bottom of the ninth the game appeared to be headed to extra innings. However, as much as every Mets fan hates Mariano Rivera they love David Wright just as much, if not more. Those two figures collided with two outs and runners on first and second. Wright took a cutter that drifted over the plate and smacked it over Johnny Damon's head.

As the Mets fans taunted their Yankee fan brethren we all knew that this victory would be cemented in our memories for a long while, because of who did it and who it was done to. The Yankees.

Moment Number Five: Mets Win Division After Long Draught

2007-01-14T00:48:00.000-05:00

September 15th the Mets headed to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to play the Pirates in a three game series. The Pirates, the fourth worst team (based on record) in baseball, had already been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, and all the Mets needed was a Philadelphia loss or a victory to officially advance to the postseason. As fate would have it the Phillies won all three games that weekend over their opponents, the Houston Astros. The Mets preceded to lose three straight games to three young lefty starters (the Mets nemesis all second half) leaving the magic number at one for the Mets next game. At Shea.

Shea Stadium was rocking on September 18th. In a game that was a microcosm of the entire season the Mets pulled out a victory over the Florida Marlins. With unlikely heroes Steve Trachsel and Jose Valentin getting standing ovations and curtain calls, respectively, in the same game the Mets could officially put a fork in the Braves, and the rest of the NL East.

Following the 4-0 victory the Mets seemingly partied all night, except for Pedro of course. The long awaited victory and celebration was a culmination of all of the hard losses, blood, sweat, tears, and poor roster moves for the Mets organization compiled into one big party. The Mets fans spent their night drinking, partying, and trash talking to every Braves and Yankee fan they knew. It certainly was a terrific night to be a Mets fan.

Moment Number Six: Triple OT Victory Over Suns Leads Knicks to Six Game Win Streak

2007-01-08T22:54:00.000-05:00

2006 started off on the right foot for the Knicks, winning the first six games of the new year. In a game that tallied over 273 points the Knicks had four players who scored at least 23 points (Lee, Curry, Marbury, Crawford), and two players (Lee and Curry) with 15 rebounds. Incredibly the Knicks had no player foul out of the game, while the Suns, who eventually lost in the Western Conference Finals, had four. Once the thrilling triple overtime game ended (140-133) the Knicks season seemed to be looking up.

Considering the Knicks won only 23 games all last season, the six game win streak accounted for 26% of the victories. In what effectivley became known as "the streak" the Knicks blew out the Washington Wizards and the Cleveland Caviliers during the streak, both teams made the playoffs. In addition, the Knicks won an overtime thriller against future Western Conference Champions, the Mavericks. The Knicks were catipulted by the spectacular play by their perennial stars, Marbury, Curry, and Crawford.

Marbury averaged 23.3 ppg and 9.3 assists. While Curry gave us a glimpse of this season, averaging 17.2 ppg and 7.8 rebounds. Marbury's partner in crime, Crawford, was not able to play all six games due to injury, however in his four games he averaged MVP type numbers, with 25.8 ppg, 7.5 rebounds, 4 assists, and shot a terrific 49% from the field.

Inevitably the Knicks won only 10 games after the streak ended against the Raptors, however those six games showed us what the team was capable of doing when playing it's best, something we have seen much more this season. We have already had a few more memorable streaks this season. Hopefully they'll be a few more.

Moment Number Seven: 16 Inning Game Ends After Beltran's Blast

2007-01-02T21:24:00.000-05:00

In what turned out to be his first of two walkoffs during the 2006 season Carlos Beltran ended an exciting 16 inning game on May 23rd. In a game that included 15 walks, 28 strikeouts, 17 runs, 14 pitchers, 5 home runs, 27 hits, and 23 men left on base the Mets left with a depleted bullpen, but a W in the win column.

After Steve Trachsel allowed six runs over five innings (glad he's gone, huh?) the Mets managed to stitch together 11 more innings of two run baseball, with the only two runs allowed coming in the seventh inning, both by Aaron Heilman. Trachsel's counterpart, recently traded Gavin Floyd, pitched five innings of five run baseball, before Ryan Franklin (the Phillies were using a closer by committee at the time due to an injured Tom Gordon) gave up three runs in the eighth which led to eventual extra innings. The story of the game was Ryan Madson's effort out of the bullpen. Madson, in what turned out to be his second best game of the season, pitched six shutout innings before allowing a walkoff home-run in his seventh inning of work to Carlos Beltran in the bottom of the sixteenth inning.

However, for Met fans nobody cared about Madson's extraordinary effort out of the bullpen, all they cared about was Carlos Beltran, and the new Mets that they would get to know and love over the next few months. Certainly this game at the end of May was a foreshadow to how the Mets would bounce back through adversity all season long, until the last pitch was thrown. As Gary Cohen said during Beltran's blast "and we're going home!" and the Mets were determined all season to make sure their opponents would be saying the same thing come playoff time.

Moment Number Eight: Beltran's Walkoff Caps Great Comeback

2007-01-02T19:08:00.000-05:00

When the Cardinals came to Shea at the end of August there was buzz that the series could be a potential NLCS preview, little did we know that it actually was. The Mets had previously lost two out of three games to the Cardinals in mid-May, and the Mets were searching for revenge against the eventual champs. A game that included Carlos Delgado's 400th home run (grand slam), a six run comeback, and a showcase of the future second and fourth place MVP finishers. Albert Pujols schooled John Maine, destroying two pitches for home runs, one a grand slam, the other a three run home run. Pujols accounted for all seven runs of the Cardinals, putting him over the 100 rbi mark for the sixth time in his six seasons. Despite the fact that Pujols finished above Beltran in the MVP race, and had the overall better night the Mets centerfielder was one better on August 22nd.

Entering the bottom of the ninth former Met Jason Isringhausen entered the game to close out what the Cardinals thought would be a series opening victory. Isringhausen, a former Met part of Generation-K, was dealt years ago, only to burn the Mets and become one of the better closers in baseball. However, 2006 signified the beginning of a new Mets franchise, and what Beltran did clearly showed the Mets were no longer going to make mistakes. After LoDuca hit a single to lead off the ninth Carlos Beltran stepped to the plate. Beltran, who was crucified by Mets fans a season before, only to respond in 2006 by having one of the greatest season the Mets have ever seen, had yet to have a crowning moment as a Met. That would soon change. As Beltran rocked his bat back and forth in a 6-7 game Gary Cohen, the Mets SNY broadcaster, set the scene, and concluded by saying "one swing can win it for New York." Cohen could not of been more right, literally one pitch later Beltran told a Jason Isringhausen fastball to about-face, sending the ball into the Mets bullpen.

With Beltran skipping up the first base line pointing to the fans we all knew that Beltran has arrived. Beltran's 102nd and 103rd rbi's were his two most important of the season, because Beltran has become a Met, and has displayed his sixth tool. Beltran portrayed his ability as a "five tool talent" all season, but on August 22nd, as was so often all season, Beltran showed a very rare tool. Beltran was clutch.

Of course, the Cardinals would have the ultimate revenge, striking Beltran out in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and two outs in game seven of the NLCS. Sorry, had to stick that in there.

Moment Number Nine: Larry Brown Fired, Isiah Hired

2007-01-01T15:16:00.000-05:00

After becoming the Knicks coach in July of 2005 Larry Brown was fired at the end of a dismal 2005-2006 season. Someone who was once the Knicks savior was suddenly being blamed for all 59 loses, and nearly all of the Knicks problems. Brown, who was hired to a massive contract spanning five seasons. However, Madison Square Garden President James Dolan and General Manager Isiah Thomas had become fed up with how Larry Brown aired the team's dirty laundry throughout the media. As a result of the turmoil in New York between Brown and his players, as well as the dreadful season he had just lived through Brown was fired by the Knicks.

However, with four years left on his contract there would certainly be controversy over how much Brown should be paid. After a long hearing between Isiah, Brown, and commissioner David Stern it was determind Brown would not make the full amount he was due on his contract. Reportedly Brown breeched part of his contract when he aired the Knicks' dirty laundry to the New York media.

Once Brown was out Isiah Thomas took over as the head coach, putting him in place of the team he constructed. So far through 33 games this season Isiah Thomas has put together one more W than Brown did through 33 games the year before. However, there are four differences between this season and last.

The wins the Knicks have put together are solid victories, that follow a game plan. As opposed to last season when wins came because the Knicks quite frankly, got lucky.

The Knicks have had to deal with a brawl that suspended four players, while already dealing with two injuries. Isiah has been able to not only work through the brawl but be a better team because of it.

Seemingly every player is happy with their roles on the team, and nobody has complained, yet.

The Knicks have played significantly more games through January 1st than the 2005-2006 Knicks played, therefore the Knicks will have stronger legs as the season wears on.

Not only have the Knicks played better, but Eddy Curry has shown signifcant improvement, David Lee has cemented himself as one the best rebounders in the league, and Stephon Marbury has recently returned to his old form. Things are certainly looking up, but the Knicks still have not shown "signifcant improvement" in their record, so hopefully what is paradise in the clubhouse becomes paradise on the court.

Moment Number Ten: Balkman drafted over Williams

2007-01-01T13:45:00.000-05:00

Entering the 2006 draft the Knicks fans were abuzz as to which player Isiah Thomas was going to add to his already impressive draft day resume. Isiah's main, and some would argue only, skill as a general manager is selecting top notch draft talent. In 2005 Thomas selected Nate Robinson, Channing Frye, and David Lee all in the first round. Since then all three players have made their own personal mark on the league. Channing Frye by averaging 12.3 points per game and 5.8 rebounds and finishing on the all NBA Rookie Team. Nate Robinson won a controversial, yet exciting, Slam Dunk Competition, edging division rival Andre Iguodola. Robinson also escalated the very recent brawl at Madison Square Garden that promted all seven suspensions. David Lee, meanwhile has emerged as the Knicks most consistent player, and one of the best rebounders in all of basketball. So entering the 2006 draft it was a large question mark as to what Isiah will do to help the Knicks bleak looking future.

"With the 20th selection of the 2006 draft the New York Knicks select Renaldo Balkman from South Carolina." I still remember David Sterns saying the words to a packed house of suddenly dissapointed Knicks fans. Isiah optioned to select Balkman over UConn's Marcus Williams (currently averaging 6.6 points and 2.9 assists a game backing up Jason Kidd) and athletic guard Rajon Rondo from Kentucky. Balkman, who was originally projected as a second round talent could have been selected with the 30th overall selection, and the Knicks still would have been able to select Williams or Rondo, both of whom wound up in the hands of division rivals.

Isiah's excuse? The Suns were apparently very high on Balkman, and he would not have been available at the 30th overall pick. Thomas proclaimed Balkman was a mixture in playing style of Ron Artest and Dennis Rodman. Since the controversial selection Balkman has somewhat silenced the critics, averaging nearly four points and four rebounds in his fifteen minutes a game. Balkman has shown signs of become a terrific shot blocker in the league, averaging close to one block a game, an impressive mark for a SF who doesn't even play a third of a game. In addition, Balkman has shown a keen abillity to bring the ball up the court, and has displayed a solid passing abillity for a man his size. It appears Balkman would have been a terrific steal with the 30th overall selection, but with the 20th selection with some other talents available Balkman will probably remain a mistake.

True Fans Hits One Year Birthday

2007-01-01T13:32:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, January 2nd, will be True Fans' one year anniversary. In honor of this accomplishment I will be counting down the top 10 moments from 2006 for the Mets and the Knicks.

Knicks Head West With Chance to Inch Closer to Raptors

2006-12-28T23:56:00.000-05:00

The Past:
It's been quite awhile since the Knicks have had a five game stretch like the one the Knicks just lived through. The Knicks were up against the Utah Jazz, the third best team in the West, with only eight players, following the infamous brawl. Much like I said in my article, the Knicks pulled together for a heart-filled overtime victory against the Jazz. Next the Bobcats came to town. The Cats were without two of their better players, point guard Brevin Knight and forward Sean May, but nevertheless the Knicks were equally short-handed and after a miraculous David Lee tip-in the Knicks won their second straight game. Next came the surging Bulls. The Bulls had won five straight games and 12 of their last 13 heading to the Garden, which is why the Knicks's eleven point victory was that much sweeter. The Knicks then hit a brick wall against the 76ers who were energized because it was newly acquired point guard Andre Miller's first game as a 76er. On top of that the Knicks were more than winded playing their fourth straight game with 8-9 players, and the 76er game was the second of a back-to-back. So, as Walt Clyde Frazier said we should just "86" that game, and not worry about the negatives and look onward. Onward came another surging team, the Detroit Pistons. Then again, the Pistons are always surging. Anyways, the Pistons had won five straight games, and seven of eight. However, these new Knicks found the Knack against the Pistons, and would not quit. Showing hard work and hustle that would of made the 90's teams proud. After an incredible triple overtime game the Knicks came out victorious, and had their confidence as high as the sky. Now that the Knicks have solved their home trouble (winning seven of their last ten games at "the mecca") they will go back to the road for five games, which was the only place the team could buy a win the first month of the year.

Upcoming games:

The Suns, Clippers, and Kings highlight the next five games, along with Portland and the Sonics. I will preview the next three games right now, and the final two games following the completion of the first three games. This is because I don't want to leave my readers without new posts for nearly 10 days, and news changes and some information may be wrong by the time the fourth and fifth games come. Lets start with the Suns.

The Suns look to be an elite team this season, recently ending a franchise best 15 game winning streak, and with the best offense this league has seen in awhile the Suns are always a threat to win. But since the Suns are such a threat with their run and gun offense they also threaten themselves during back-to-back stretches. The Suns record during the second of back-to-back games is a mediocre 3-3, and they also score a handful of points less than they normally do. As you might of guessed by now, the Suns played Thursday night against the Mavericks. A shockingly similar game the Pistons played against the Nets the night before the Knicks played Detroit. The Suns lost by two to the Mavs in the final seconds, and left heart-broken. Leaving the perfect chance for the Knicks to strike. However, the loss can backfire and anger the Suns, and force them to take out their anger on the Knickerbockers.

Next up the Knicks will play the struggling Clippers. A Clippers team that has been rumored to be moving GF (no not girlfriend) Corey Maggette to the Kings (a team the Knicks will later play) for Ron Artest, which can't be good for team chemistry. To boot veteran point guard Sam Cassell is declining and will most likely miss the game, as Shaun Livingston continues to prosper in Cassell's place. The Clippers, a marvelous story last season, outplaying the Lakers, have been lackluster this season. With a record of 12-16 and in last place the Clippers are searching for answers. The Clippers score only 95.5 points a game (18th in the league), compared to the Knicks' 100.1 points a game bodes well for the Knicks. The Knicks allow about two points higher than they average, while the Clippers allow three more points. 11 of the Clippers 16 losses this season have come when the opposing team scores over 100 points. Of the 12 games all season when their opponent scores over 100 points the Clippers have won only once. Showing that the Clippers need to play defense and can't afford to get into a shooting contest. Proving to me that the Knicks need to run and gun and tire out the Clippers early, and run up the score. The Knicks are very good at high scoring games, considering on average both teams in their games score over 100 points. One thing working against the Knicks is the Clippers struggles have mainly come on the road, as shown by their dreadful 2-10 record. However, the have played well at home to the tune of a 10-6 record.

Thirdly the Kings will be facing the Knicks for the first time this season with the "new" leather ball. In what promises to be a sloppy game the Knicks will play the Kings who are lead by Kevin Martin. Martin leads the team in points, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three point percentage. Martin's 21.7 points per game makes him one of the better young players in the league, however the Kings seem to depend on him a bit too much. When Martin scores 15 points or less in a game they are 2-5 (counting one game where he did not play), compared to their 10-9 record when Martin does play. The Knicks will need to focus on stopping the 23 year old. However the Kings have other options with point guard Mike Bibby and flamehead Ron Artest. Bibby is averaging 16.5 points a game and 6.0 assists, and whenever Bibby scores 20+ points the team is an impressive 6-2. As I mentioned earlier Artest is reportedly unhappy in Sacramento, and Corey Maggette may be there by the time the Knicks arrive, but right now Artest is still on the Kings, which makes them a much more complete team. Artest's lock down defense will shut down whoever the Knicks have at small forward, which may make it a good idea to start Jared Jeffries, even if Quentin Richardson is healthy. The Kings have lost nine of their last thirteen games, and are struggling to find the identity that pushed them into the playoffs and into a surprisingly competitive series with the Spurs from last season.

What will the Knicks need to do:

As for the next three games the Knicks will need to win at least one game, which is easily in the realm of possibility. However, it is more than possible to win 2-3 games and head Seattle and Portland with high heads. Nevertheless, the Knicks will need to survive the harder three games with their heads held high, and still within reach of the Raptors. As for the Raptors during the three game stretch the Raptors will play only twice, against the Bulls at home on Friday and against the lowly Grizzlies on Saturday in Memphis. However, the Grizzlies are now a better team with Pau Gasol, and usually when a coach is fired a team gains a small spark and plays better for their new coach for a few games until reality sets in. One can only hope.

Marbury's buzzer beater should lift the Knicks

2006-12-19T21:46:00.000-05:00

Recap:
As the world knows by now, there was a brawl at the Knicks-Nuggets game on Saturday night, leaving the Knicks with four suspended players. Combined with an injured Steve Francis and Quentin Richardson, the Knicks were left with only eight players available for Monday night's game against the team with the second best record in the NBA, the Utah Jazz. 41 minutes of terrific defense (it wasn't too good in the first quarter) and Stephon Marbury domination later the Knicks are victorious. Stephon Marbury and Jamal Crawford were the only two true guards available for the game, although Renaldo Balkman played a little guard, but only when Crawford or Marbury were sitting. Combined the two guards played 88 minutes in the 53 minute game. Crawford struggled mightily from the field in the game, but Marbury had his second straight terrific game. With season highs in rebounds (five) and in free throws made (nine) to go along with his 29 points, and eight assists. However, Marbury had the two biggest points of the game, a layup with time expiring, after running full court after a jumper that gave the Jazz a one point lead with 3.0 seconds remaining. Marbury's buzzer beater was the first true buzzer beater in his career, and capped off a terrific night for him. Marbury has been vilified by the fans this season, and this was his second straight game where he heard cheers.

Outlook:
The Knicks haven't beaten a team all season that figures to make some noise in the playoffs, with the exception of Cavaliers, who didn't have Larry Hughes, the team's best defender and third scoring option, at the time. The Jazz were 5-2 in the month of December before the loss, and the Knicks showed themselves that they can compete with the better teams in the league. In fact, the Utah Jazz were a remarkable 16-2 whenever Carlos Boozer recorded a double-double, and he had 23 points and 10 rebounds in the victory. The team's inspiring victory, despite the injuries and suspensions should raise the spirits of the Knicks, and the run that we have all been waiting for may be coming.

Upcoming games:
With the Charrlote Bobcats coming in on Wednesday, and a good but beatable team in Chicago coming in on Friday the Knicks have a chance to do some damage. The Bobcats are going to be without sophomore Sean May, who was averaging 17 points and 7 boards in only 25 minutes for the month of December. In addition, super-assist man, Brevin Knight, will miss his second straight game. Knight was averaging nearly a double-double in December with 9.0 assists and 10.0 points a game. The Bobcats are 1-5 without Knight this season. The Bobcats averaged 18.2 assists per game (counting a game where Knight left after ten minutes) in Knight's five missed games this year, while averaging 21.6 assists with him in the lineup. With Knight and May out expect the Knicks to come out strong, and playing hard right away. The Bobcats are 2-8 on the road.

Meanwhile, the Bulls have been on a tear ever since their home and home series against the Knicks. Including that series the Bulls are 11-1, with a game against the Lakers pending tonight. However, only three of those wins came at home, and the Knicks will be home against the Bulls. Chris Duhon has been battling a thigh injury and he missed one game, but he is playing against the Lakers tonight. Meanwhile, P.J. Brown has been complaining about his time in Chicago. Also, Brown has suffered from plantar fascia, the same injury that plagued Jerome James earlier this season, and Jalen Rose last season. The Bulls have many threats at the guard position so it is hard to prepare for their team, because if one guard has an off night the other two may light up your team for 30-40 points. The Knicks will need to compete with the Bulls good shooting and enthusiastic play in order to pull out a victory.

Reaction to Brawl

2006-12-17T22:52:00.000-05:00

By now everyone has heard about the Knicks and Nuggets brawl during Saturday night's blowout loss. Down by 19 points with a little over a minute remaining Mardy Collins committed his second flagrant foul is as many days, and after some shoving and pushing JR Smith and Nate Robinson fell into the first row swinging wildly at each other. After those two were separated and all peace seemed to be restored Carmelo Anthony cheap shotted Mardy Collins, causing Jared Jeffries to chase after Anthony like a madman. Reminiscent of Joe McEwing and Mike Piazza during the infamous basebrawl between the Mets and Dodgers in a spring training game in 2003.

Now that Anthony's cheap shot has been shown nation wide, it's time to settle down, and think how this affects the Knicks. Despite the fact that all ten players on the floor were ejected it is very doubftul that all ten players will be suspended. Nate Robinson, Mardy Collins, Carmelo Anthony, and JR Smith will all definitley get suspensions. Jeffries may receive a suspension, although Jeffries was merely protecting his teammate after the sucker punch, and I would be against a suspension for Jeffries.

Jeffries' suspension will probably be the smallest suspension of the five players. Collins will probably get the next smallest suspension considering he didn't do much after the flagrant foul, and Smith was the one who escalated the problem. I could see Jeffries getting 1-3 games, with Collins getting 5-8 games (not that his presence on the team will be missed much). Nate Robinson and JR Smith will most likely get mildly long suspensions of around 10 games or so, which will hurt the Nuggets more than the Knicks, seeing as Smith is the Nuggets second best scorer and best three point shooter. Meanwhile, the league is most likely to come down hardest on Carmelo Anthony. Despite his public apology Anthony is a top three player in the league, and the league will should use him as an example to all stars that they are not above the game. I can see Anthony receiving anywhere from 15-20 games, which could kill Denver's season.

The Knicks, on the other hand, should rally around this brawl. Jared Jeffries showed the true value of teamwork, putting himself in harms way, three folds. One, he was running to Denver's bench to attack Anthony, and if he didn't get knocked over likely would of been up against the entire Nuggets team. Two, he will receive a fine for the brawl, as will a lot of players. Three, he'll un-rightfully get suspended by the league, which will cost him games and minutes after he just came back from his injury. Teamwork is the way to success, and this brawl could also spark an "us against the world" motto for the team. A motto that fits perfectly for players who had little growing up, most notably Stephon Marbury, and coach Isiah Thomas.

This brawl has Pistons-Pacers all over it. In the aftermath of the crazy 2004 brawl the two teams took two opposite paths to be where they are today. The Pistons went on to play in the championships against the Spurs, and make it to the Eastern Conference finals last season. On the other hand, the Pacers have been on a consistent downfall since the 2004 brawl. Despite making the playoffs even after all of the suspensions the Pacers lost in the second round of the playoffs. Ending Reggie Miller's career. With Miller gone Pacers entered 2005-2006 looking for revenge against the league with an apparently changed Ron Artest. However, it turned out to be the same Artest who, a few games into the season, requested some time off from the team to work on promoting his album. The Pacers would later trade Artest for Peja Stojakovic, Stojakovic left in the off-season for free agency. The Pacers were eliminated in the first round, after finishing exactly at .500 for the NBA regular season. Enter this season the Pacers will likely finish around the .500 mark for the third straight season, a remarkable collapse considering this team won 61 games the season prior to the brawl.

As clearly shown above the Nuggets and the Knicks have one of two paths to take. One of victory or one of decline. Considering the Nuggets will most likely receive the worst of the suspensions, and tarnish their top two player's images I would think the Nuggets will be in for the worst future, in terms of where they are now, and the direction the team was heading before the brawl. The Knicks can't get much worse and they have no choice but to rally around this event, and it is up to Isiah to save his job and use this unfortunate circumstance as a positive.

Mets non-tender Victor Zambrano

2006-12-12T22:15:00.000-05:00

The Victor Zambrano era has officially come to an end. Exactly 864 days and 8 hours (approx. depending on when you read this) later the Mets have rid themselves of Victor Zambrano. Zambrano was the last and main mistake made by former-Met and current Baltimore Oriole GM, Jim Duquette. On July 31st, 2004 the Mets dealt one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, in Scott Kazmir for 29 year old Victor Zambrano, a former minor league catcher whose career era at the time was 4.47 and he owned a 35-27 career record. Considering he played for the lowly D-Rays 35-27 was pretty darn good. Once Zambrano arrived it was leaked that Rick Peterson claimed that Zambrano had a mechanical issue which was causing his control problems, and that Peterson could fix him in "ten minutes". The same infamous quote that is now used whenever Zambrano's name is mentioned in a conversation.

Three starts into his Mets career Zambrano is finished for the rest of the 2004 season. So a pitcher who was supposed to complete the Mets rotation, and help the Mets make it to the playoffs barely pitched for them. It later came out that Duquette was told about Zambrano's balky shoulder. That same season a 20 year old Scott Kazmir made his major league debut, and pitched in nearly three times as many games for the D-Rays as Zambrano did for the Mets.

Then 2005 came around and Victor Zambrano and Scott Kazmir were both in their team's rotations to start the season. By the end of the year Zambrano had lost his starting job (he finished the year with a 4.17 era which isn't terrible, but he was maddening to watch and the Mets had other options), and Scott Kazmir had out-pitched Zambrano to the tune of a 3.77 era in 186 innings pitched and 174 strikeouts.

Then came 2006. Victor Zambrano was dreadful throughout. His 6.75 season era is painful to type, much less watch. What's worse was Zambrano walked eleven batters all sason, and struck out only 15, a terrible ratio. Zambrano finished with only five games appeared in all season after running off of the field in his fifth start after throwing a nasty pitch to strike out Andruw Jones. Then Scott Kazmir took over the league. Not only did Kazmir become the all-time k's leader in Devil Rays history (pretty said, huh?), but he pitched to a 3.24 era with 163 strikeouts in 144.2 innings pitched. The era and the strikeout totals would have led the Mets pitching staff by far. Kazmir solidified himself as a future in major league baseball, while Zambrano solidified himself as a fixture of jokes from Mets fans.

The Mets dealt Kazmir citing that they didn't believe his body would hold up over the years, and so far they have been right. Despite having a terrific season Kazmir was on the DL twice and made only 24 starts. So, so far, the Mets were right to deal Kazmir, just not for the pieces they received.

Now that the Zambrano era is officially over Scott Kazmir's name will only be mentioned when the prospect of dealing top notch minor leaguers, like Lastings Milledge, comes to fruition.

Knicks Notes

2006-12-10T22:47:00.000-05:00

On Saturday night Eddy Curry had the biggest and best game of his career, shooting 71% from the floor, and scoring 36 points. Curry left the game in the final seconds to the chants "Eddy, Eddy, Eddy," and, as someone who was at the game, and chanting along with the crowd, Curry has officially gotten on the Knicks' fan's good side. However, Stephon Marbury, one of the most hated (and loved) Knicks left the game early with an apparent arm injury.

Sitting in the stands I noticed Marbury's injury before the coaching staff even did, and I did not know if it was an injury worth mentioning or not. Until Mardy Collins entered the game in the fourth quarter to give Nate Robinson a breather, so the Isiah Thomas could talk to him. With Jamal Crawford, Nate, and Quentin Richardson all in the game Mardy Collins was the only other guard on the bench, which showed me Marbury's injury was serious enough for him to be inactive for the rest of the game. This all coming on Marbury's best night passing the ball (9 assists and 1 turnover in 23 minutes), despite Marbury's 2 points, and 2 missed free-throws on 2 attempts.

Later that night it became apparent that Marbury had a right arm contusion, and he was only day-to-day. No matter how many Knicks fans want to see Marbury dumped for a sack of potatoes the Knicks need him to play like he is capable of for them to go anywhere this season. Even though the Knicks wound up winning the game against the Bucks, Marbury is still one of their most talented players, and he has played better of late. As for the injury he suffered the North Jersey Media reports that Marbury will most likely play against the Boston Celtics on Monday.

Jared Jeffries is also expected to make his season debut against the fourth place Celtics, who beat the first place Nets on Saturday, fueled off of Al Jefferson's 29 points, and Paul Pierce's buzzer beater. Wally Szczerbiak, who has averaged 18 points against the Knicks in Knicks-Celtics games this year, is listed as doubftul.

Jeffries to play tonight?

2006-12-09T11:20:00.000-05:00

According to the New York Post Jared Jeffries may make his season debut tonight against the Bucks. If Jeffries does not return against the Bucks, he will most likely play against the Celtics on Monday. Once the 24 year old returns David Lee may move to the bench, where Isiah Thomas says that he can return as a candidate for the "sixth man of the year". However, with Steve Francis' recent injury I wonder if Crawford will be playing shooting guard if Isiah will make the inevitable move of Quentin Richardson at shooting guard, and Jeffries at small forward.

Jeffries, who was hurt in a pre-season game taking an offensive foul, will be the Knicks best defender. Jeffries' defensive versatillity makes him a very imporant factor for the Knicks.

Eddy Curry has ditched the braids, at least for a few days he has. At yesterday's practice the 24 year old center sported an afro, much to the chagrine of Curry's teammates. Curry quickly earned the nickname "Buckwheat" (shown left), and Isiah Thomas joked that if Curry wasn't playing so well they may have to make a rule against his hair. It's good to see that the Knicks are still loose and having fun in practice, despite their recent struggles.

Jeffries problem may fix itself

2006-12-07T22:55:00.000-05:00

There has been a lot of buzz recently surrounding what Isiah Thomas might do with the Knicks' starting lineup once Jared Jeffries and Channing Frye return from their injuries. However, as is so often in sports, Isiah's problem may have solved themselves. David Lee, who has had his moments in the starting role, will return to the bench once Jeffries returns in a game or two. That change was expected, however, then the question became what happens when Channing Frye returns.

Isiah Thomas answered that question a few days back, kind of. Isiah hinted that Quentin Richardson, one of the Knicks worst players under Larry Brown, will take over at shooting guard, with Jeffries at the small forward, and Frye at the power forward. But which high priced point-guard will ride the pine? Steve Francis and Stephon Marbury have near identical numbers for the season. Although, over the last five games Marbury is starting to play better than he did at the start of the season. Marbury is averaging 14.6 points, 5 assists, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.0 turnovers a game, while Francis is averaging only eight points, 2.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.8 turnovers per game.

Marbury was seemingly beginning to pull away from Francis, who was benched for one game this season, and the latest news may seal the deal for Marbury's starting role. Francis was quoted today as saying that he has tendinitis in his right knee, which has affected his play. He claims it was afecting him over the past "4-5 months", and that nothing showed up on the x-rays other than very hot spots. Francis says the act that he hasn't dunked all season has shown the impact the injury has had on him thus far. Therefore, I wonder if Francis' tendinitis will put him on the bench to put less strain on his knee. Francis says he doesn't believe it needs surgery, before knocking on wood, but that in Wednesday's loss to the Wizards he claimed he "could barely move". Sounds a little more serious than tendinitis, and I wonder if he does recover will we see the old Franchise again?

Knicks Start Pivitol Three Game Road Trip in Chicago

2006-11-27T23:13:00.000-05:00

The Knicks have very clearly had problems at home this season, but their next three games will be on the road. Their 4-4 record on the road is most impressive, which is why the Knicks must capitalize on every potential road victory possible. At least until they figure out how to win at home. All three road games are against perennial playoff teams (despite the Bulls struggles they are still a perennial playoff team) and the latter two games will be against two of the three teams with winning records in the eastern conference. The Knicks are currently one game out of first place in the Atlantic Division behind the New Jersey Nets. They are also only one game behind eighth seed Boston, although six other teams are within one game of the Celtics. Therefore, as a rough November comes to a close, the Knicks most find a way to win two of the next three games. No matter how difficult it sounds against the better teams in the league it is a must, before they begin to lose confidence. With injuries to Quentin Richardson and Channing Frye the short bench must find a way to overcome adversity and pull through for a couple of victories until they begin to get healthy again.

As for the Bulls, Ben Wallace appears to be butting heads with Coach Scott Skiles. You may have noticed in Saturday's game that Wallace started and then proceeded to be pulled two minutes into the game by Coach Skiles. The reason: Wallace was wearing a headband, which violates team policy. Yes, you read that right. Coach Skiles pulled his best defender, albeit he has underacheived so far, out of the game to prove a point. Later in the game Wallace sustained two minor injuries: a finger sprain and a wrist contusion. Wallace met with GM John Paxson for the second straight day on Monday, in an attempt to end Wallace's insubordination. Wallace's problems with Skiles can only be good news for the Knicks, and Eddy Curry. Although, by the way back-up center Malik Allen played on Saturday (15 points in 25 minutes) this may be bad news.

Tommorow's game is at 8:30 est on MSG.

Injuries to Frye and Richardson Deplete Knicks Roster

2006-11-27T22:46:00.000-05:00

The Knicks roster was already two men short of the normal 15 size NBA rosters. Utillity forward, Jared Jeffries, has been out all season after wrist surgery, and Isiah Thomas elected not to sign or keep a 15th player for the roster after training camp broke. Therefore, when Channing Frye's sprained ankle and Quentin Richardson's strained hamstring came in the same quarter in Saturday's loss to the Bulls the Knicks were immediately outmanned on the bench. The Knicks preceded to have their daily dramatic comeback, only to fall just short.

Channing Frye will be out until around 2007, and Quentin Richardson is day to day with his strained hamstring. In fact, some question if Richardson will be able to play against the Bulls, in his home town. However, if Richardson does play he would definitley not be 100%. Nevertheless, his injury seems far less worse than Frye's.

Frye believes that this injury will help increase his knowledge for the "intellectual part of the game". Frye was seemingly gaining more confidence as the games went on, and I assume what he meant by the "intellectual part of the game" is to keep his confidence up, and to even raise it above what it currently is. This is Frye's third injury in his short two year career, all of which are freak accidents. The first came towards the end of the 2005-2006 season when Nate Robinson pushed a defender into Frye's knee, straining his left knee ligament.

With the injuries David Lee will move into the starting lineup, although Richardson's small forward spot is still questionable. Because Richardson may or may not play there has been no announcement as to whom will start at small forward. Presumably Jamal Crawford or Renaldo Balkman would get the call to start.

The Mets make second deal in six days...Sign Outfielder

2006-11-21T15:32:00.000-05:00

Monday was a big day for the Mets organization. Three new faces are with the Mets, including their new starting leftfielder.

The long awaited Moises Alou signing officially happened, and the Mets added yet another veteran to their team. Alou, the left fielder who "Bartman" stole the fall ball from, has hit under .280 only twice during his 16 year career, and his bashed home over 100 rbi five times in his career, most recently in 2004--his last complete injury free season. Alou has also smacked 319 home runs in his career, including at least 20 eight times, most recently in 2006 when he hit 22 in only 95 games. This past season with the Giants Alou had minor trouble with his back, and an ankle sprain categorized by Alou as a "freak accident." As aforementioned Alou only played 95 games and hit 22 home runs, but he also hit home 74 base runners and hit .301. To put Alou's season in perspective--had Alou stayed on pace with the numbers he collected in his 95 games for a full season he would have had 122 rbi and 36 home runs. Clearly Alou, who does not wear batting glaves and urinates on his hands before every game to keep the bat in his hands, can still hit, and will most likely be a force behind David Wright in the Mets lineup. However, perhaps the most important statistic for Alou is his career .330 average against left handed pitchers. Anyone who followed the Mets knows that the Mets could not hit a left handed pitcher from July 31st and on, with the exception of the occasional game. In fact, the lowly Pirates swept the Mets with three straight left handed starters.

Last off-season the Mets made two trades acquiring two players with the Marlins: all-star catcher, Paul LoDuca, and perennial hall-of-famer, Carlos Delgado. Omar Minaya once again wheeled and dealed with the Fish, dealing flamethrowing minor leaguers Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom for lefthanders Jason Vargas and Adam Bostick. Jason Vargas was a big part of the 2005 Marlins, and their run at the playoffs, starting 13 games and appearing in 17. Vargas went 5-5 with a 4.03 era and he held his opponents to a solid .249 batting average. Vargas has the talent to be a good starting pitcher in the majors, however this season he was dreadful. In his 12 appearences (5 starts) he amassed a woeful 7.33 era, and struck out only 25 batters while walking 30 in 43.0 innings pitched. In 2005 Vargas walked 31 batters in 73.2 innings, which is evidence to me that Vargas' problem last season was mechanical, Rick Peterson's specialty. Vargas figures to be involved in the race for whatever rotation spots are open come spring training, competing with Brain Bannister, Phil Humber, and Mike Pelfrey.

Adam Bostick , a 24 year old lefthander, has yet to pass AA. In Bostick's 22 AA starts this season he had a 3.52 era with an 8-7 record. Bostick struck out 109 hitters, and walked 67 batters in 115 innings. Bostick has always been able to miss a lot of bats, in fact, in A in 2004 Bostick struck out an incredible 163 batters in only 114 innings. Bostick also does not allow a lot of home runs, allowing only seven bombs this season. As an outsider looking in Bostick seems to be a player who struggles with his command, but has terrific stuff and will always strike out a lot of hitters. Bostick may see some time in the Mets bullpen near mid-season if he can get his control down, but only time will tell how good he really is.

Knicks dominate Heat, All smiles in New York

2006-11-18T11:07:00.000-05:00

If you asked anybody who follows the Knicks if they would take a 4-6 record in the first ten games with this schedule, most fans would take it in a heartbeat. Now that the Knicks have destroyed the defending Shaq-less Heat and the playoff bound Washington Wizards on back to back games the Knicks are all smiles.

The 100-76 victory against the Heat on Friday night was the prototypical game that Isiah Thomas was talking about all pre-season and off-season. The Knicks had 21 assists, and no player had more than six assists (Quentin Richardson). The Knicks also had eight players with at least eight points, and five players in double figures, but none with more than 19 (Jamal Crawford). The defense was there too. The Heat scored 27 points in the second quarter, but in the third and fourth quarter's combined the Heat scored 27 points.

The Knicks had 16 total turnovers in the game, but seven of the turnovers came in the fourth quarter, which featured mainly players like Mardy Collins, Jerome James (in his first real minutes of the season), and Malik Rose. Speaking of Jerome James, he was terrific in his 14 minutes, scoring nine points with one block and three rebounds. If James can play like he did on Friday on most nights the Knicks will have quite the 1-2 punch with James and Curry.

The Knicks will head home to play tonight against the Celtics. The fans will most definitley be behind the Knicks, and I expect another impressive win. Game time is 7:30.

What we have learned...Knicks

2006-11-16T22:58:00.000-05:00

Coming off of a dominant all around victory against the Wizards the Knicks will head on the road for two straight games. The first game is against the Heat, and the Knicks will probably be looking at a feast or famine game in Miami. Shaquille O'Neal is hurting for the Heat, but he says he plans to play against the Knicks, because his team needs a leader. This means one of two things. One Shaq will be totally ineffective, despite a succesful practice today, or he will completely dominate and be the leader that he is. Of course, even if Shaq is ineffective the heat also have Alonzo Mourning who torched the Knicks last year with the right hand, swatting 9 shots. The Knciks have competed against the elite teams so far this season, and Miami is definitley not an elite team yet, there entire rotation hasn't played full games together and they may still be trying to get into a groove.

What else have we learned over the past few days?

Jerome James, who looked so good in training camp, coming to play in shape, will finally begin to practice again next week. Kelvin Cato hasn't had much of an impact this season, and I fully expect James to play more than Cato is playing now. Also, James is a very good shot blocker, and if he remains in shape he could join David Lee, Renaldo Balkman, and Nate Robinson off of the bench as the "spark plugs". Did I really just say that about Jerome James? Guess I did.
Although it doesn't directly effect the Knicks, Chris Webber has asked out of Philadelphia which can only be good news for the Knicks. Obviously Webber is not happy which only hurts the 76ers right now, and because of Webber's bad legs, and huge contract the 76ers will most definitley not get talent back to what Webber is capable of doing. Overall, good news for the Knicks.
Stephon Marbury said before the game against the Wizards that he was being too timid and was not being aggressive, that he was still earning his role in the offense. Although he wasn't terrific against the Wizards (16 points, 4 assists, 0 turnovers) he showed signs of improvement, and he was also much more aggresive. The Knicks will need Marbury to play better if they want to win, and so far he is showing signs of getting there. The Miami game will be a true test with D Wade potentially guarding him, and with either Shaq or Alonzo Mourning in the middle Marbury will not have an easy night driving, but that doesn't mean he can't be succesful.

What we have learned...Mets

2006-11-16T22:18:00.000-05:00

Since we've last spoken a variety of events have happened for the Mets organization. Below is a list of each event, and my take/description of the event.

The Mets have re-signed El Duque and Jose Valentin- I love the re-signing of El Duque, for obvious reasons. El Duque was terrific with us last year, going 9-7 and if you take away his eleven run shalacking by the Phillies his era plummets from 4.09 to 3.37, which is almost ace-like material. Although, I'm definitley not calling El Duque our ace, but he certainly has shown he can still get the job done. He'll be here for at least two more seasons, and hopefully he'll have two more rings to put on his fingers. As for "the stache" re-signing, I am stilla bit iffy. He didn't get the job done this season coming off the bench, and I don't have much faith in him starting at second base for a full season. He was dreadful in the playoffs, and I hope Omar picks up another second base bat. With all of that said I still like his presence in the clubhouse, and I suppose if he is used as a super-utillity man he could be useful.
The Mets have signed Damion Easley to a contract worth $800,000 for one year. Easley was once a formidable hitter with the Tigers, hitting about 20+ home runs a year, and even hitting home 100 base runners in 1998. Easley has played every position except for CF, LF, and C. There isn't much else to say here other than goodbye Chris Woodward, and hello Damion Easley.
The Mets picked up Jason Standridge from the Cinncinatti Reds. He is not too good from my understanding, but he is still only 28. He walked 14 batters this year and struck out 18, while pitching to a 4.81 era in 18.2 innings for the Reds. Standridge will not be more than a Spring Training invitee.
The Mets dealt Heath Bell and Royce Ring to the Padres for Ben Johnson and Jon Adkins. I sent an e-mail out to my Padres source, so I'll reserve judgement until i hear back from him.

Knicks Fall to 2-5, Rose Tired of Losing

2006-11-12T12:06:00.000-05:00

Last night the Knicks lost by eight to the elite Spurs, in San Antonio. Staying within double-digits of a potential world champion sounds nice, but the Knicks could of won the game, and the same problems that have affected them all season continued to hurt them in the loss. The Knicks were outscored 21-32 in the first quarter, turned the ball over 15 times, played terrible defense for the majority of the game, and only had 11 assists. If you count the quarters after the first then the Knicks outscored the Spurs by three, which shows that the Knicks at least have the potential to become a good team, they just need to figure out the first 12 minutes.

Malik Rose played in his fourth consecutive game where he had significant minutes, and he is tired of losing. This is good to see, you want the players to get upset when they lose so that they try to lose as little as possibly. Obviously they try to win every game, but if thy get down and depressed as it sounds Rose is it could change the attitude that much more. Hopefully this attitude rubs off on some of the other players, even though the coach has continually said that he is content with a 1-2 road trip against elite teams, and I can't be upset with that record but I am not happy. And neither should the Knicks be.

Matzuzaka bidding ends today, although announcement comes in six days

2006-11-08T13:57:00.000-05:00

Coveted Japanese starter, Daisuke Matzusaka (still working on perfecting the spelling), has reportedly been bid on by at least five teams in the Mets, Cubs, Rangers, D-Backs, Red Sox and Yankees. Matzusaka's team, the Seibu Lions, will review all of the bids from the clubs that submit offers and by Tuesday the 14th they will announce who is the winning bidder. Once the winning bidder is announced the winning organization will have the only rights to negotiate a contract with Scott Boras. However, if the winning bidder cannot negotiate a deal then their money will be returned and Matzusaka wil return to the Lions and will be posted again in the 2007 offseason.

Personally I don't understand why a team like the Devil Rays or Royals don't just bid an upsurd amount and then choose not to negotiate so the powerhouses in their respective league do not become stronger. Maybe I'm missing something.

The off-season is only a few days old and already there are tons of rumors swirling. Here's a brief list of what I have heard so far:

The New York Times reported that the Mets wil try to nab Dontrelle Willis or Daisuke Matzusaka. However, if the Mets fail they will try for lefty Barry Zito or try to trade for ace pitcher Jake Peavy, who has recently become available.
The Mets have reportedly been in contact with Mark Mulder's agent, and Adam Kennedy's agent.
Lastly, the Cubs, Marlins, and Devil Rays all reportedly are interested in Aaron Heilman to use in a starting role. The Mets have reportedly been interested in Edwin jackson because Peterson claims he can fix his mechanical problems. Jackson was once a stud prospect, but is still only 23. Sounds like a mixture of Oliver Perez and Victor Zambrano please.

Beltran's Highlight Reel Helps Reel in First Gold Glove

2006-11-04T12:06:00.000-05:00

Carlos Beltran had a career year this season, and he also had a career first on the defensive end. Beltran reeled in his first gold glove of his career yesterday, and it was the first gold glove for the Mets organization since Rey Ordonez won it at shortstop in 1999.

Beltran's impressive season continues, even after baseball has stopped being played.

Other gold glove winners were:
P-Greg Maddux (record tying 16th gold glove)
C-Brad Ausmus
1B-Albert Pujols
2B-Orlando Hudson
3B-Scott Rolen
SS-Omar Vizquel
OF-Andruw Jones
OF-Mike Cameron

Knicks fall to 1-1 in loss to Atlanta

2006-11-04T11:30:00.000-05:00

Knicks:
Coming off of an impressive triple overtime road victory against a young Grizzlies team the Knicks had to be feeling good about themselves entering last night's game against the lackluster Hawks. However, in the NBA it is difficult to win two straight road games, and the Knicks failed to accomplish such a feat last night.

As was the problem all of last season, the Knicks turned the ball over way too many times. The Knicks turned the ball over 17 times and allowed 18 fast break points, compared to the Hawks 13 turnovers and holding the Knicks to 10 fast break points turnovers was obviously a key factor in the Knicks defeat.

As for the important individual stats, a handful of Knicks had nice nights. Eddy Curry was once again impressive offensivley, scoring 20 points. However, Curry nabbed only two rebounds, compared to the 14 he grabbed against the Grizzlies. Curry also played 39 minutes, his second straight game of at least 39 minutes. Quentin Richardson also continued to play outstanding basketball. He scored 19 points on 6-12 shooting, he also snatched six boards. Steve Francis played a terrific all around game as well. Francis only had nine points, but he also had nine assists and six rebounds, and only two turnovers, a large improvement from the five turnovers he had in game one in about the same amount of minutes. Stephon Marbury was solid, but not great in the loss. He only scored 9 points on 2-9 shooting, but he dished out five assists, and he only turned the ball over once. David Lee was once again outstanding on the boards. He nabbed eight boards and scored nine points on 6-8 of shooting, mostly in the paint. The last Knick who was solid in the loss was Nate Robinson. Robinson scored 15 total points, howevber all of them came in the fourth quarter. However, Robinson was also hit up with a technical for complaining, and had four total personal fouls in only 22 minutes.

Although there were a lot of good looking games, there was also a lot of red flags. Channign Frye played dreadfully for the second straight game. Frye looked uncoordianted, dropping more than a few passes, he also turned the ball over four times, and shot 2-11 and scored only four points. Dating back to the pre-season Frye has not had a game where you could say he was anything but bad. Another flag is Jamal Crawford. Crawford played 27 minutes and scored only five points on 1-8 shooting. He also had no assists and only two rebounds. When Crawford is going bad he trys to shoot his way out of it, and that means that if he doesn't turn it around soon there may start to be problems if he is the only one not following the team concept. Keep an eye on Crawford to see if he continues to shoot his way out of his funk.

Report Card:
Offense: C
Defense: C-
Overall: D+

Mota gets caught using 'roids...Jeffries officially has surgery

2006-11-01T16:25:00.000-05:00

Mets:
Since the new drug ban in baseball took place the major league Mets hadn't been effected, for the most part. A few names had fluttered around that had been caught, such as Felix Heredia, Yusaku Iriki, but not much else, until today. Today Newsday revealed that Mota has been using steroids, and he will be suspended for the first 50 games of the 2007 season.

I wonder what Minaya is thinking about this, and if he should still sign the 33 year old. Before this Mota was an obvious re-sign, but it appears that it was more than just moving his footing closer to first base that made Mota pitch better. It certainly appears that Mota needed the illegal substance to pitch as succesful as he did. So that begs the question, can he be succesful off of the "juice"? I would still sign him, but I would also go for another set-up man and start Mota off in middle relif. This also could turn out to almost benefit the 2007 Mets, despite the bad publicity. If Minaya does decide to sign Mota, and he happens to still be pitching fine, then Minaya will have gotten Mota for a signicantly cheaper price.

Knicks:
As I mentioned yesterday Jeffries was rumored to be going under the knife and would be out for another 6-8 weeks. It was made official today, and Jeffries will be out for an extra two months. As mentioned yesterday, this just puts more pressure on Quentin Richardson, and the bench to play better. This team did not respond well to pressure last year, but hopefully a new year means a new response.

Knicks opener tommorow, Delgado has second off-season surgery

2006-10-31T23:11:00.000-05:00

Knicks:
21 hours away. The Knicks will open the season tommorow at the Pau Gasol-less Memphis Grizzlies. It appears that Quentin Richardson will be the starting small forward for the Knicks. Also, I have heard some rumors from various sources, including WFAN that Jared Jeffries may be having wrist surgery which could keep him out potentially another 6-8 weeks, which may turn Richardson into a key component for the Knicks success this season. In addition, if Richardson plays well in his role he may wind up locking down a starting job all season.
Mets:
Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado went under the knife for the second time this off-season. The first time it was for carpal tunnel syndrom, and most recently the surgery was to repair Delgado's tennis elbow. You may remember that over the past two spring trainings (once with the Marlins) Delgado has missed a couple of games because of tendonitis in his elbow, hopefully this stops the brief spring training lay offs.

Other surgeries that Mets players have had over the past couple of weeks are:
Pedro Martinez- Rotator Cuff Surgery
Chris Woodward- Torn Labrum
Paul LoDuca- Ligament Tear in Thumb

Knicks Buy Out Jalen Rose

2006-10-30T13:47:00.000-05:00

According to the NY Times the Knicks have bought out the contract of shooting guard/small forward Jalen Rose. Rose finished the pre-season with no points and only two shots taken for about 10 minutes a game. Clearly Rose was not part of the future rotation for the Knicks, and Isiah decided to buy out the 33 year old's contract, in order to open up a potential roster space for the Knicks, and prevent Rose from becoming a distraction on the bench.

The Knicks roster now stands at 14, and it is not clear who will fill the 15th slot. Might I suggest a return of Qyntel Woods? He wasn't signed by any team for the pre-season, and I thought he showed some promise while playing sparingly last season with the Knicks. On the other hand, Woods is not a power forward or center, which is the Knicks biggest need at this point. Maybe Isiah has something else up his sleeve, like a potential trade.

With Rose's exit Quentin Richardson has become the odds on favorite for the nod at the small forward position for Wednesday night's opener against the Grizzlies. Richardson struggled mightily for most of last season, and he has been terrific this far in the pre-season, mixing hustle plays with solid shooting (although not from behind the arc), rebounding, and good defense. Richardson could turn out to be one of the Knicks un-sung heroes.

Knicks show fire against Nets

2006-10-29T09:23:00.000-05:00

As this year's pre-season concluded the Knicks did not end with a win, but they may of shown a message to the division rival Nets. They won't back down. In the first half Eddy Curry plowed over his defender and dunked the ball. However, not only did he dunk the ball with emphasis but with his defender lying on the ground he appeared to be talkng a little trash. Maybe Curry is starting to listen to his coaches, something he seemed incapable of doing last season. Curry also had an impressive stat line for the night. Scoring 19 points on nine boards, and he even threw in four assists.

However, Curry was also one of three Knicks who fouled out. Richardson and Curry both played over 30 minutes before fouling out, but Channing Frye inexcusably fouled out after 11 minutes of work. Although, he did score 10 points while he was in the game, but Frye has now fouled out of three of the six pre-season games, and he is averaging only one more rebound than foul per-game. Not good.

The Knicks also threw in a couple of other plays that showed fire throughout the game. Such as Stephon Marbury talking smack to Vince Carter, while Carter was on the bench and Marbury was behind the three point line wide open. However, no event showed more pizazz then the pushing match between Mikki Moore and Steve Francis. Francis "swooped to the hoop" for an apparant tear drop but Moore met him in the air for a relativley forceful collision. However, Francis took exception and he got up from the floor, dusted himself off, and pushed Moore back. It seems like Isiah wants to institute some of what he did with the Pistons in the late 1980's. Isiah's Pistons were then notorious for starting brawls (after all, they did have Dennis Rodman) and they even upset some opponents. Isiah seemed to be pushing the Knicks to do the same against the Nets, and Isiah even admitted to the media he was almost telling his players to fight back. Saying

We're coming from a long way's down in this league. You've got to scratch and you've got to fight and you've got to claw, and when you play against the better teams in this league -- and they're one of them -- the better teams don't like when the teams at the bottom give them a hard time.
In fact, at the end of the game Lawrence Frank gave Isiah the cold shoulder when Isiah went to shake his hand.
I like it. I like it a lot. I have a feeling eventually it may be taken too far, and a suspension or two will be handed out, but it would be worth it to strike some fear into opponents. Think about it, would you want to play defense on Ron Artest, a player who can snap any minute? If the Knicks can play like they did on Friday, with the intensity not neccesarilly the results, we should be looking at a drastically improved team, and record.

Mr. Nice Guy

2006-10-26T19:24:00.000-04:00

According to multiple (and I mean multiple) reports Isiah Thomas believes he has figured out how to fix Eddy Curry. "Push back." Isiah Thomas believes that if Curry can become a dominant and even a fearful presence in the post that defenders may be a bit fearful to try and stop Curry from scoring eight feet away, which is already a relativley tough feat, so long the 23 year old isn't called for an offensive foul.

You have to agree with Thomas' thinking here. If Curry can become someone that intimidates and strikes fear in defenders maybe he will one day live up to the title of "Baby Shaq." I can hear the chants at MSG now "Push back Baby Shaq *clap clap clap clap clap* push back Baby Shaq *clap clap clap clap clap*." On second though, maybe not.

By the way, I did make that picture, but admittedly my abillity to use paint is not very good. It was a try though.

With Jerome James on the shelf Knicks sign back-up center

2006-10-25T23:10:00.000-04:00

Kelvin Cato is the next player to play for Isiah Thomas. The Knicks today announced the signing of the former first-round draft pick. Cato has played for Portland, Houston, Orlando and Detroit throughout his ten year career, and has earned a reputation as a player who does not try, and tends to get out of shape. Which is the exact opposite of what the Knicks need. However, Cato is still a solid signing considering there is no back-up center right now other than Channing Frye, who is more of a power forward. The 32 year old averages nearly six points and six boards for his career in only 20 minutes ago. Relativley solid numbers off of the bench. Although the Knicks have a policy to not release the terms of any free agent signings, Cato's deal is most likley around the veteran's minnimum. However, with Isiah at the helm you never know, Cato may be around for years to come.

Jerome James reported to camp in shape, and ready to play. However, much like the 04-05 season James became injured. Plantar fasciitis has prohibited James from playing in any pre-season games, and his return, to my knowledge, is unknown. James is more talented than Cato, and younger, and a better shot-blocker, and has a higher paying contract (hopefully). As a result, if James does return and is ready for the NBA Cato will probably move down a slot on the depth chart, and James will return to his back-up role of last season.

The Knicks not only signed Cato but they waived the four free agents they signed before Cato. Elton Brown and Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Milone Clark and center Paul Miller were all waived, and all four didn't stand much of a shot of making the roster, with the exception of center Paul Miller, however the signing of Cato negates his chances.

To conclude an eventful Knicks day for news, Isiah Thomas excercised the third year on the contracts of Nate Robinson, David Lee, and Channing Frye. Not much can be said here accept for good job Isiah.

True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange With Exciting News

2006-10-25T23:02:00.000-04:00

As you probably have noticed, I have not made a post in nearly a month, and there are a multitude of reasons why. First, a friend of mine is making a new design for this site, so I have spent some time working on that with him. However, it is moving very slowly so I hope to have the new deisgn up shortly. Also, I have been under what I call "severe writer's block". I was not able to come up with any fresh ideas for articles, and I even wrote an article for SheaBaseball, and lets just sayit wasn't one of my better works. However, yesterday I wrote a piece on Tom Glavine which should be up by the very latest tommorow. I think that the Glavine piece may of fixed my disease, and I am ready for the hot stove, and the beginning of the season. You are probably saying "what?!? The beginning of the season is months away!" This is the exciting news. The title "True Fans Bleed Blue and Orange" also applys to another New York Team. The woeful Knicks, of course. The Knicks also don the blue and orange jerseys and after the prodding from some friends I decided to turn this site into a bi-sport blog. I'll keep you updated on the new design and hopefully we can get the Knicks season, and the Mets hot stove rolling on the right foot.

Phil Humber, Pelfrey, Milledge amongst top prospects promoted

2006-09-03T01:39:00.000-04:00

With rosters expanding to 40 Willie Randolph announced today that the team will be adding eight players to their major league roster. Not all of the players will join the team right away since the AAA season is not ofically over until Monday, but the call-ups were announced anyway. Most of the call-ups were obvious, with one exception. Here is a run down of the eight players and their possible rolls for the major league team:
Kelly Stinett C- The 36 year old lifetime backup hit .228 earlier this year for the Yankees, and will be the third string catcher for the Mets until Castro returns, if he does. Right now Mike DiFelice is the second string catcher, but he has not received much playing time, as LoDuca has played in eleven straight games, but will probably get the day off on Sunday.
Ricky Ledee OF- Ledee, another former Yankee, was dreadful in his brief time with the Mets. The 33 year old went 1-15 with five strikeouts and no extra base hits. Ledee will be an extra left handed bat off of the bench, but will probably not get too many starts. Chavez, Tucker, and Milledge are all ahead of him on the depth chart right now.
Lastings Milledge OF- Milledge was re-called for a few reasons. To get some more major league experience as Willie most likely begins to rest some of his outfielders more and more as the season winds down, and also to learn a few lessons from "big brother" Floyd. In a double header today with the Norfolk Tides Milledge went a combined 3-5 with a walk.
Mike Pelfrey RHP- Pelfrey may or may not get a start here and there to rest Trachsel, or a pitcher who falls victim to soreness. Pelfrey will mostly be pitching out of the bullpen mainly for major league experience, but barring a handful of injuries Pelfrey will not make the postseason roster.
Brian Bannister RHP- Bannister pitched today in AAA and allowed one earned run over seven innings. Bannister appears to be back to full strength again, and will be pitching out of the bullpen for the Mets.
Heath Bell RHP- Heath will resume his roll as the bullpen candyman, and he will also resume his role as the mop-up man. If the Mets have a starter go 3-4 innings Bell will most likely get the call, with Darren Oliver pitching the sixth and seventh inning more often.
Royce Ring LHP- Ring was promoted like some of the other prospects, to get major league experience, but he was also promoted because he is left handed. Ring has dominated in AAA, but has struggled mightily with his control in the majors. A possible cause for this is that maybe he has a lot of jitters pitching in the majors, and jitters will only go away with experience, and that is why he is back up in New York.
Phil Humber RHP- The lone surprise call-up. Humber is still recovering from Thommy John surgery, and he has yet to even compete in a full season. Humber has already been anounced as playing in the Arizona Fall League, and the Mets may want to get him a few outings here and there to keep his arm strength up for the AFL. I would not expect Humber to get a start, unless Willie moves to a six man rotation and wants to see what he hasin Humber for a potential chance in the rotation next season.

Mets deal Victor Diaz to Texas for Catcher

2006-08-30T18:44:00.000-04:00

Mike Nickeas is the newest Met, although I don't know if we will ever see him wear a New York Mets uniform. Nickeas plays catcher which is the weakest position in the Mets system, but Nickeas isn't much of a hitter. In fact, Nickeas did not even start on his AA team. What's more is that the man he backed up, Kevin Richardson, struck out 93 times so far this season in only 293 at bats, so that shows you how good a hitter Nickeas is. Nickeas' best abillity is his plate discipline. This season Nickeas has a batting average of .266 in 177 at bats split between A and AA. However, despite the mediocore average Nickeas has a very impressive .386 OBP which is .120 points higher than his batting average. Despite the higher OBP a .362 slugging percentage makes Nickeas available, and makes him the newest Met for a one time top prospect.

Victor Diaz, once compared to Manny Ramirez, has clearly lost his confidence this season, and it was clear he was going to be traded eventually. Diaz's .224 average in AAA was not even the most troubling statistic. More troubling then the average was the disgusting .276 on base percentage, and the equally disgusting .330 slugging percentage. After Diaz hit .300 in AAA last season with a .353 on base percentage and an excellent .541 slugging percentage he completely fell off, and is now considered a non-prospect to most.

With all that said, I would still rather have Diaz over Nickeas since Diaz has shown he can hit, something that cannot be said about Nickeas. This could wind up being a steal for the Rangers, but most likely not.

In other news Baseball America released its AFL preview. Playing for the Mesa Solar Sox are Mets top prospects Phil Humber and Fernando Martinez. BA says that martinez well start to learn the corner outfield positions in the AFL for his inevitable call up. As for Humber BA says

When healthy, Humber shows two quality pitches: a 91-94 fastball and a curveball with true 12-to-6 break. Humber's command has always been ahead of his control, which is one of the main reasons he's headed west. Another is to further refine his changeup, which is below average now and needs work.

The day in...

2006-08-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

The day in news:
Oliver Perez will officially get another start, thankfully. Perez was very impressive in the first four innings of his start against the Phillies, although he imploded in the fifth, allowing five runs. Perez pitched on seven days rest, and will be going on the normal amount of rest in his next start. One possible problem in Perez's outing was the consistent decrease in velocity every inning. In the first Perez was reaching 94 mph on the gun, and by the fifth he was down to 90, and I don't believe he broke 91 once in the fifth. Just something to keep an eye on.

The day in the minors:
AAA: Lastings Milledge had two singles, as Jacob Cruz had the only rbi for the Tides. Milledge's average has been in a constant downfall since originally being demoted from the majors, and now has an average of .274 after tonight's 2-4 game. Blake McGinley started for the Tides and went only two innings, allowing just one hit, and striking out three batters. Jose Lima pitched six strong innings in relief, allowing three runs on six hits and no walks. Lima took the loss and dropped to 6-8.

AA: The B-Mets were flat-out embarrased on Monday night. Not only did Binghamton get shutout, and allow ten runs, but they were one hit. What's more is that they were one-hit by a 26 year old, and when you are 26 and in AA you don't have much of a future, unless your someone like Alay Soler. Carlos Gomez had the only hit in three trips to the plate. Bryan Edwards allowed three run over 4.1 innings, and Rich Rundles followed by allowing seven runs over three innings, although only four were earned.

A: In game one of a double-header Jose Sanchez struggled mightily on the mound. The right-hander threw five innings, and allowed six runs. Fernando Martinez went 1-4 and stole his first St. lucie base. Mike Carp drove in his 84th run of the year in the 6-2 defeat. Jonathon Niese was recently promoted from Hagerstown to Port St. Lucie, and in his first start Niese was solid. Niese checks in on Gotham Baseball's top ten prospects as the third best arm in the Mets system pitched five innings in his debut. Niese walked three, and struck out five, while allowing three runs, only one earned, in the loss. In the seven inning game Fernando Martinez went 0-4, and the Mets were two hit. Tony Piazza hit a home run in the 4-1 loss.

The day in the majors:
8,000 fans showed up at Shea today, but that didn't stop the Mets from gving the Phillies a beatdown. Jose Reyes went 2-5, and is inching closer and closer to the .300 mark, and he also scored two more runs getting him closer and closer to the team's record for runs scored in a season. Paul LoDuca and Carlos Delgado also had two hits each, and both drove in two and scored once. David Wright had a foul ball turned rbi single in the third inning and finished the day with two rbi and a possible slump busted. John Maine was once again brilliant. In his 6.1 innings pitched he allowed only two runs on a Pat Burrel home run, and a total of only seven base runners. Roberto Hernandez got two outs of the bullpen in the seventh, and after Mota pitched another impressive inning, despite a Ryan Howard home run, Wagner shut the door in the ninth, striking out three straight batters. Overall, a feel good day for the Mets, who had nothing to frown about after the game.

My two latest articles for Shea Baseball

2006-08-27T00:16:00.000-04:00

I forgot to link you to an article I wrote a couple of weeks ago for Shea Baseball. I diagnose the original Kris Benson trade when the Mets acquired him on July 31st 2004 from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Also, I wrote an article on the acquisition of Guillermo Mota, and how much I loved the move. I wrote the article on Monday, so it may seem a bit outdated. Will Musto, the owner of Shea Baseball, has been very busy so it took him a bit to get the article up. Let me know what you guys think.

Second round pick on display in Binghamton

2006-08-25T01:38:00.000-04:00

Kevin Mulvey made his AA debut on Thursday night, and despite not putting up terrific numbers he was not terrible. The most likely nervous 21 year old pitched only three innings and allowed only two hits. However, Mulvey did walk two batters, and a llow a total of two runs. Mulvey also struck out four batters and allowed a home run. To read more about Mulvey check out the interview I did with Mulvey's college coach, Joe Godri.

Also of note in the game was Michael Abreu recording two hits in three at bats including a home run.

On the major leage level the Mets made a multitude of moves.
-With the addition of Shawn Green a fellow left-handed bat, Ricky Ledee, was designated for assignment.
-Next, the Mets announced that El Duque would be scratched from his next start due to soreness, which means my man, Oliver Perez, will probably get the call.
-Also, Ramon Castro was played on the 60 day disabled list, taking him off of the team's roster.
-With Castro out at least until the post-season the Mets signed ex-Yankee Kelly Stinnett who will most likely play third string to LoDuca and DiFelice down the stretch once rosters expand to 40.
-Brian Bannister will start tommorow against Randy Wolf and the Phillies.
-With Bannitser being promoted back to the majors Lastings Milledge was demoted for a week. We will see Milledge up again when the rosters expand, in the meantime expect Endy Chavez to get the bulk of playing time in leftfield.

The day in...

2006-08-20T00:38:00.000-04:00

The day in transactions:
Dave Williams was officially promoted from AAA to MLB, and Mr. Demotion, Heath Bell, was demoted to Norfolk. Williams started tonight's game in the majors, but the man I wanted to pitch tonight was lights out in Virginia.

The day in the minors:
In AAA Oliver Perez once again showed that he still has something left. The 24 year old pitched an absolute gem. After the first six innings Perez had not even allowed a hit, although he did allow a leadoff single in the seventh inning. Perez finished with seven shutout, one hit, innings. Seven innings that included 11 punch-outs, two walks, one hit batsman, and a 59-35 strike to ball ratio. Perez, Lavigne, and Heath Bell combined on a one hitter and 14 total strikeouts. Jacob Cruz had the lone run batted in in the 1-0 victory, while Anderson Hernandez scored the only run after stealing second base.

In AA Willie Collazo was also at top form. In his seven innings Collazo allowed four hits and one run en route to his seventh win of the season. Chase Lambin and Wilson Batista each hit home runs in the 7-1 win.

In High A the St. Lucie Mets were held to just three hits over seven innings. Corey Coles hit a home run for the Mets only run of the game, his first this season. Rich Rundles, a former St. Louis minor leaguer, pitched seven innings and allowed three runs, although only one was earned. Despite the low runs allowed total Rundles allowed 12 hits and walked three.

The day in the majors:
After an eventful, emotional, and inagural night at Shea Dave Williams had an impressive debut. Before leaving with an injury Williams pitched 5.2 three run innings. Two of the runs allowed scored on a three run home run given up by Roberto Hernandez. Williams ended the day with 99 pitches, and an impressive total of 68 strikes. Williams reportedly had cramps in both legs, which does not sound too serious but we should discover more in the coming days. Heilman and Wagner pitched three scoreless innings combined to close out the 7-4 win. A big part of how the Mets scored was based around prospect Lastings Milledge. As one of the few Milledge supporters, consistently, I was happy to finally see him come through. He finished 3-3 with a home run, a bases loaded rbi single, and his first hit came to break up Francis' no hitter in the fifth. Milledge reached base four times in total, since he was hit by a pitch in the third inning. Beltran had a sacrifice fly for his 100th rbi of the season, the first Met to meet that ilustrious plateau. Delgado also went 2-4 in the win. In the Mets sixth run sixth inning the Rockies played terrible defense inclduing two errors and a passed ball. What's more is that the Mets were wearing their 1986 jerseys, and if you remember, which you should, the Mets rally in the ninth inning of game six was very similar. The Mets scored the tying run on a passed ball, and the winning run on the notorious Bill Buckner error. The situation and game impact is, quite obviously, different, but it is very weird how these situations happened on the night the 1986 team was honored, and when the Mets wore those exact jerseys.

The day in...

2006-08-18T00:55:00.000-04:00

The day in news:
It appears that the start on Saturday will go to one of Dave Williams or Oliver Perez. Brian Bannister and Mike Pelfrey have been called non-options by Willie Randolph, and Oliver Perez's turn to pitch would, coincidentally, come on Saturday. Williams threw a quality start when he last pitched, on Sunday. Therefore, Williams normal day would be tommorow to start, as a result the Saturday starter should be announced before tommorow night's game against Colorado.

Jose Valentin left today's 7-2 victory over the Phillies early with a strained hamstring. Willie Randolph basically said the injury was nothing to be worried about, and they'll re-evaulate tommorow. Randolph said it was not a DL situation, but should it un-expectedly become one one of Ruben Gotay, Anderson Hernandez, or Edgardo Alfonzo would most likely get the call.

The day in the minors:
It was quite an eventful day throughout the Mets minor league system. Every minor league team one, except for AAA Norfolk, where the 47-78 Tides took on the Louisville Bats. With Jose Lima on the mound, and officially eliminated from pitching on Saturday *whipes brow*, The Tides knew they needed to score runs. Despite the fact that Lima was not terrible, a seven inning four run outing, the Tides mustered only one run against former Minnesota Twin, Joe Mays. The Tides were held to five hits, while Ruben Gotay went 0-4 and Edgardo Alfonzo and Anderson Hernandez each went 1-4.

In AA Jorge Padilla knocked in three runs, and hit a home run in 7-5 victory over Bowie. Padilla went 2-4 on the day, and raised his average to .299 on the season. Carlos Gomez had a two out rbi, his only hit in four at bats, and kept his average above the .270 mark, at .280. Mike Devaney, the B-Mets starter, lasted only 1.2 innings, and allowed two runs on two hits. Devaney walked as many batters as he retird, five. After Eddie Camacho gave up three runs four Mets reliever shutout the Baysox for 5.2 innings. Ivan Maldonado pitched 2.2 innings, while the winning pitcher Ryan Cullen, Matt Lindstrom, and Henry Owens each pitched a scoreless inning, respectivley.

In High A St. Lucie Fernando Martinez record two hits, including a double, a night after he hit his third St. Lucie home run. Martinez also threw out a baserunner trying to stretch a single into a double. Corey Coles was a home run away from the cycle, as he recorded a single, double, and triple to go along with an rbi, while raising his batting average to a very impressive .347. Chuck Smith pitched five one run innings in his third win of the season, and Travis Hope pitched four one hit shutout innings for the extended save.

In Low A Hagerstown, the Mets other teenage prospect, Deolis Guerra, showed why he is considered part of the Mets future, at age 17. Guerra threw a mini no-no, going five innings of no hit ball, before being pulled because of six walks. Guerra also struck out six batters, and lowered his era to 2.20 and increased his record to 6-7. Brandon Nall pitched three one hit innings, Kevin Tomasiewicz pitched a shutout inning in the ninth to close the door on a 5-0 win.

The day in the majors:
After getting embarassed by the Phillies for three straight days the two Carlos', Beltran and Delgado, awoke, as did the Mets. Jose Reyes went 2-4 with an rbi single, and a stolen base, while Carlos Beltran had four hits in five at bats, including a home run. No Met has reached the century mark in any of the two main categories this season (runs/rbi), and Beltran is most likely the first to reach 100, he is now at 99 rbi. Carlos Delgado went 3-4 with four rbi, including a home run and a triple. Delgado needed a double to complete the cycle. However, David Wright is starting to raise concern, going 0-4 again today with three strikeouts. John Maine was once again solid on the mound, and he continues to impress after every start. Maine's six inning two run outing earned Maine his third win of the season, and it seems like he is inching closer to being in the playoff rotation, which may mean no Trachsel. I can't help but smile. Speaking of Trachsel, he is starting tommorow against the Rockies.

Coach: Mets May Have Gotten First-Round Talent in Mulvey

2006-08-11T01:15:00.000-04:00

Here is my article I wrote about a month and a half ago for NY Baseball Central. Here is the link, but I'll save you the trouble of clicking, and re-post the article here:

Left without a first-round pick, after the signing of Billy Wagner, the Mets ironically found themselves going back to the Philadelphia area for their first pick of this year’s draft, second rounder Kevin Mulvey of Villanova University.

Mulvey, a 6-1, right-handed pitcher, who was taken with the 62nd pick of the draft, was the first of a bushel of pitchers the Mets picked on draft day. But after speaking to his college coach, Joe Godri, despite not being a first-round pick, there’s a lot for Mets’ fans to be excited about. Yes, he’s talented, but he is a excellent person, too, his college coach said.

“His quality of person is impeccable” Godri said of the Parlin, N.J. Native who grew up rooting for both the Mets and the Yankees. “He always plays for the name on the front of his jersey, and never ever for the name on the back. He is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and is very coachable.”

Nice and coachable only goes so far, though.

Mulvey has a 92-94 mph fastball, with a plus slider that he is not afraid to throw in any count, according to Godri. In fact, Mulvey has better control of his slider than he does of his fastball. Godri said he believes that Mulvey is a power pitcher, with good off speed stuff, a deadly combination.

Not only does Mulvey have good stuff, said Godri, but he has a lightening-quick arm, a smooth delivery, and he has a “tremendous presence [on the mound].” The 21 year old has very good control, too good in fact. Godri said he thinks that Mulvey needs to mix up more balls to go along with his strikes, because he can become too hittable at times, and should become effectively wild more often.

But he’s far from a pushover, Godri explains.

Mulvey “will knock you down if he needs to” Godri said when asked if Mulvey would be willing to protect his hitters. When runners are on base Mulvey has a slide step, described by Godri as “nice,” despite a normally slow delivery. He is a “plus fielder” and “there aren’t many things that Kevin can’t do on a baseball field.” He is a pitcher who can even overpower his opposing hitters. Pitcher is the key word. When asked if Mulvey was a pitcher as opposed to a thrower Godri responded with a resounding “absolutely.”

Godri said he was a little bit surprised that Mulvey dropped to the 62nd pick, because the Indians, Yankees, Cardinals, Phillies, and obviously the Mets all liked Mulvey, he said. Godri said he believes that Brian Slocum, a Cleveland Indians farmhand, and Mulvey are similar pitchers based on talent. Godri would not say which one is a better pitcher, but Slocum has played in the majors and he currently has a 3.82 era through 30.2 innings in the bullpen and the rotation at AAA Buffalo.

Right now Mulvey needs to fill out in his body a bit more, Godri said, and become more “man strong.” Also, his former coach said Mulvey needs to learn how to pitch a complete season in the minor leagues, because a 56 game college schedule with 15-16 starts is different from the 30-35 starts a year that the major leagues demands.

All in all, Godri, currently busy as the assistant Head Coach for the USA National team, seems pretty confident that the Mets got a steal with the 62nd overall pick. To hear his coach speak, it seems Mulvey, who remains unsigned, has all of the tools to become a dependable pitcher in the Major Leagues when it is all said and done. A plus fielder, a great personality, a slider that he can throw in any count, and a New York fan is the makings of the next great star in the Mets minor league system.

The day in...

2006-08-11T00:37:00.000-04:00

The day in news:
Top pitching prospect, Mike Pelfrey, has gone on the disabled list for the first time in his career today. Pelfrey has a strained right lat muscle, a similar injury that Kaz Ishii had with the Mets last season, and should be out for up to a month, and should return just in time for September call-ups.

Yesterday the Mets signed 62nd overall draft pick, Kevin Mulvey, who is likely to have a few starts in Port St. Lucie, and then jump to AA Binghamton. I interviewed Mulvey's coach awhile back for NY Baseball Central, and I'll re-post the article here in a few.

The day in the minors:
In AAA Brian Bannister, and his 12.60 era took the mound. 4.1 innings later Bannister is out of the game after allowing four runs, three earned, on seven hits. However, despite the overall dissapointing effort Bannister only walked one batter and struck out five, both encouragin signs. In the loss six Tides went 1-4 including Ruben Gotay and Anderson Hernandez.

In AA the Mets and Yankees had a battle of New York minor league affiliates. With Phil Humber on the mound the Mets had a good chance of winning against the Thunder, however after the B-Mets offense scored only two runs Humber ended with a loss. The 23 year old pitched seven strong innings, allowing four runs, although only three were earned. Humber also allowed only six hits, and walked only one batter, while striking out seven. This start was Humber's first succesful start in two chances in AA this season. Ambiorix Concepcion went 2-4 with an rbi, a double, and a run scored in the 6-2 defeat.

In High A Jesus Flores hit two home runs in four trips to the plate en route to a 6-2 victory. The home runs were Flores 15th and 16th on the season, as Flores showed why he is the best catching prospect in the Mets system (exculding Tony Pena's son). Chuck Smith, who has pitched in AAA, AA, and A this season, struck out eight batters over six two run innings.

The day in the majors:
The Mets completed their first home sweep of the season, and they did so by using an outfielder that had no player playing their everyday position. Michael Tucker, who played left out (pun intended) in yesterday's game, actually played left outfield today, with Ricky Ledee manning right. Endy Chavez played centerfield, and Mike DiFelice did the catching. Despite all of the irregulars playing the Mets were able to score seven runs, backing a very strong outing behind Orlando Hernandez. El Duque went seven innings, allowing just five baserunners and three runs. Hernandez improved to 8-8 on the season with the win. Jose Reyes and Jose Valentin each had two rbi, while Chavez, Wright, and Tucker had one a piece.

The day in...

2006-08-09T00:46:00.000-04:00

The day in news:
The Mets claimed Ricky Ledee off of waivers from the Dodgers. Originally drafted by the Yankees, Ledee is a career .246 hitter who is now with his seventh team in his eight year career. Ledee is the lefty bat off of the bench that Minaya was looking for. The 32 year old makes 1.5 million a season.

As a result of Ledee being claimed the Mets released Eli Marrero who struck out in his last Met at bat today.

The day in the minors:
In AAA Dave Williams, a former Pirate acquired by the Mets earlier this season, pitched six sinnings of one run ball, although the one run allowed was un-earned. Williams allowed three hits, no walks, and struck out six. Williams' era in AAA is now 3.52 on the season. Yusaku Iriki pitched two innings in relief, allowing two earned runs, and taking the loss. Anderson Hernandez also went 2-5 in the loss with a double.

In AA Willie Collazo allowed an astounding 14 hits over six innings, while allowing six runs in his sixth loss of the season. Carlos Gomez went 0-4 with two strikeouts in the game. Michel Abreu hit a home run, and raised his average to an impressive .343. Abreu, 31, is not much of a prospect because of his age, and he is not likely to see the bigs this season.

The St. Lucie Mets played a double header today, and Fernando Martinez shined in both games. In game one the teenager went 2-3 with a double, as Rich Rundles pitched six two run innings (one earned) in the seven inning game victory. In game two Fernando Martinez hit a home run and tripled in four at bats, completing the two game cycle. Blake Eager pitched a complete game, seven innings, of three hit shutout baseball.

The day in the majors:
I was lucky enough to be at one of the most emotional games of the season, and the cheers for Piazza were un-real. During the video tribute I actually got chills when they showed the 9/11 home run. As for the game, Trachsel had good results, but he pitched behind all game. I actually yawned twice in the third inning, which is quite an impressive feat at such a high intense game. The bullpen, despite using five relievers, did a very good job shutting out the Padres for 3.1 innings. Carlos Beltran and David Wright had very good games, each recording three hits. A good win, for sure, and the Mets can take the series tommorow with Pedro on the mound.

The day in...

2006-08-08T01:04:00.000-04:00

The day in news:
The Paul Lo Duca scandal has finally been released. Allegedely Lo Duca commited adultery and his wife is filing for divorce. Lo Duca and his wife, Sonia, will be on Joe Beningo's morning show tommorow to either set the record straight, or address the issue. Either way, the NY Post should be ashamed for not only acting like it is news that a baseball player committed adultery, but the fact that is was on their front page! I would also like to direct your attention to a quote from Jose Canseco's book "Juiced". Said Canseco

Here's something you probably don't know about Roger Clemens: He's one of the very few baseball players I know who never cheated on his wife.

Fact is committing adultery seems to be a rite of passage in a way with baseball players. I undertsand Lo Duca not wanting to talk with the media anymore, but like I said, the Post should be ashamed.

The day around baseball:
Livan Hernandez was finally dealt to the Diamondbacks for two prospects. Nice find for the DBacks who have a bad bullpen and need innings out of their rotation.

The day in the minors:
With AAA and AA having the night off, and High A's game resulting in a rain out, Hagerstown was the only minor league team with signicant prospects (if you can call them that) playing. Jeramy Simmons pitched five innings, and allowed just as many runs in his second loss of the season. As for the hitters, Jonel Pacheco hit a home run and scored two runs along with two rbi.

The day in the majors:
The Mets had the day off, but I am going to Piazza's return tommorow, and I couldn't be more syked. Hopefully the Mets win, Piazza and Cameron have big games, and we get to boo the hell out of Hoffman.

The day in...

2006-08-07T00:13:00.000-04:00

The day in news:
The New York Mets announced that David Wright has been signed to a six year contract extension with an option for a seventh year. The deal is worth a reported $55 million, and is the second extension, along with Jose Reyes, that the Mets have signed this week. David Wright is hitting .308 with 83 rbi so far this season.

The day in rumors:
Newsday is reporting that the Mets may be interested in signing Ruben Sierra to a contract for when rosters expand to 40 in September. Sierra was released earlier this season by the Twins, and Newsday says of a possible comeback:

Currently, Sierra's comeback is on hold as he tends to his ailing mother, but the two sides plan to talk if Sierra decides to return to action this season. Before his mother's health problems, Sierra and the Mets discussed a program in which Sierra would spend a few days in Port St. Lucie, then a couple of weeks with Triple-A Norfolk before joining the big-league club Sept. 1. Even if Sierra joins the organization at the minor-league level by Aug. 31, he will be eligible (as an injury replacement) for the team's postseason roster.

The day in the minors:
In AAA Mike Pelfrey made his first start for the Tides. Over his five innings of work Pelfrey allowed two runs on only three hits, while walking two. Pelfrey did allow a home run to Jason Cooper which shows Pelfrey was not on top of his game, because Pelfrey does not normally allow home runs. In fact, in his four starts in the majors the 22 year old allowed only one home run. Pelfrey threw only 90 pitches, and earned the victory.
In AA the B-Mets played 13 innings against the Connecticut Defenders, and despite four rbi from Carlos Gomez Binghamton lost. Henry Owens blew a 5-7 lead in the ninth inning, and Kevin Rios took the loss in the thirteenth inning when pitcher Oscar Montero had a single to score Travis Ishikawa. Also of note in the game is Andy Wilson returned from the disabled list and went 1-3 with a home run, and Anderson Garcia, just demoted from AAA, pitched two scoreless extra inning frames.
In St. Lucie Fernando Martinez homered and went 1-5 as the Mets won 4-1. Martinez has gone 1-4, 1-4, and 1-5 in all three of his games so far in St. Lucie. Starter Salvador Aguilar pitched six shutout innings for his seventh victory of the season.
In low A Hagerstown Deolis Guerra was on the mound and he was nothing short of spectacular in his 5.2 innings. The teenager struck out 11 batters, while allowing only a single run to cross the plate. Guerra also walked two and allowed five hits, en route to a no decision that lowered his era to 2.39. Also of note is Ryan Coultas who went 4-4 with two doubles in his first game after being demoted from St. Lucie where he hit to a dreadful .146 batting average in 144 at bats.

The day in the majors:
John Maine pitched six beautiful innings en route to his second victory of the season. Over his six shutout innings Maine allowed just three hits and three walks, while striking out four batters. Maine's scoreless innings streak has now reached an impressive, 23. Surpassing Jae Seo's 20.1 inning scoreless streak last season for the New York Mets. Ironically, Maine's situation this season was similar to Jae Seo's last season. Royce Ring made his season debut out of the bullpen. Despite striking out two over 1.1 innings Ring allowed three hits, including a home run to Mike Lieberthal. Paul Lo Duca went 3-4, but as of right now it remains to be seen why he will no longer speak with the media. Jose Reyes hit his second career grand slam, and is now 10 rbi away from breaking the Mets club record for shortstop rbi's, of 60.

Reviewing Omar's Deadline Catches

2006-08-03T00:47:00.000-04:00

Check out my most recent Shea Baseball article, and let me know what you though of it. I have some nice quotes from brain O'Neill of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazzette on the player's the Mets got from the Pirates on Monday.

Bannister throws seven inning gem in rehab start

2006-08-01T02:25:00.000-04:00

In Brian Bannister's second rehab start he knew he had to prove that he can still pitch well, coming off of an outing in which he allowed four runs over five innings. Despite the fact that two of those runs were un-earned Bannister wanted to place his name on Mets team brass and Mets fans' radars, and after tonight's start he certainly did that.

Spanning seven innings the 25 year old allowed no runs, while surrendering four hits no walks and striking out eight. Bannister also earned his first win in St. Lucie this season, and after pitching 12 innings in High A he may be staring down a promotion to AA or AAA shortly.

I'll take the Maine Road

2006-07-31T20:56:00.000-04:00

Check out my most recent column from a few days ago on the state of the Mets' rotation over at Shea Baseball. Please note that I wrote the column before El Duque's masterpiece.

Also, the Mets acquired Bert and Oliver Perez for Xavier Nady today. I am working on an article on that for either my blog, or one of the other various sites I write for. I'll let you know when it is out.

AA pitcher throws perfect game

2006-07-24T01:35:00.000-04:00

The Major League Mets franchise which does have a no-hitter or a perfect game in it's 44 year history had it's second no-hitter in the minors in as many years. Last year Gaby Hernandez, now with the Marlins, threw a perfect game in A and this year it was Miguel Pinango who did the job. Although, it was only a seven inning second game of a double-header Pinango did not allow a hit or a baserunner through all seven innings, and finished with his fifth win in twelve decisions and a 3.83 Binghamton era.

Pinango, signed as an undrafted free agent by the New York Mets in 1999, was originally projected to be a quality starter or reliever although he has seemingly fallen out of prospect status in the Mets system, since he has not been overly impressive, despite a few terrific outings. The 23 year old won 13 games in Capital City in 2003.

Carlos Gomez profile

2006-07-22T19:27:00.000-04:00

I wrote my first article over at SheaBaseball where I profile Carlos Gomez's recent hot streak in AA Binghamton with some nice quotes about the 20 year old from scouts. Check it out and let me know what you think if you get the time.

Minor news for Mets 2006 draft pick

2006-07-20T21:13:00.000-04:00

Today Timothy Haines was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. Haines, a 2006 27th-round pick, was pitching for Short Season Single-A Brooklyn and had a 3.09 ERA in 10 relief appearances. Let's just hope he didn't inject anybody else. Haines is the second Met suspended this year for performance enhancing drugs, AAA pitcher Yusaku Iriki was the other.

Big day for two of Mets best prospects

2006-07-20T01:19:00.000-04:00

The same day the Mets add a new 23 year old second base prospect to their system two of their top five prospects in their system (not including Pelfrey) pitch gems.

First the Mets fifth best prospect according to Baseball America, Jonathon Niese, pitched a complete game shutout for the Hagerstown Suns. In the nine innings the 19 year old allowed only three hits, and he walked only two while striking out nine batters. Niese improved to 9-6 on the season with a 3.51 era, and he may be staring down a promotion to St. Lucie shortly.

Secondly, Mets first round pick in the 2004 draft Philip Humber continued his succesful, so far, comeback from Thommy John Surgery. In High A St. Lucie Humber pitched five shutout innings, allowing only four hits. Humber also recorded nine of his fifteen outs via strikeout. Humber's record improved to 2-1 with a 3.12 era, and he may also be a start or so away from a promotion. To read some encouraging quotes on Humber check out Baseball Prospectus.

Keppinger plays, imminent deals on backburner?

2006-07-19T00:52:00.000-04:00

Jeff Keppinger hadn't played the last two games leaving spectulation that he might be on the move to either Kansas City or Pittsburgh. However, in tonight's Norfolk game against Indianapolis Keppinger did in fact play, and he scored two runs and recorded two hits as well. Keppinger, who was reportedly informed that he was involved in a deal with Pittsburgh, may be staying the Mets afterall or maybe a possible team after Keppinger wanted to see him play couple more times before they pull the trigger on a possible deal. Right now the most likely deal is to Kansas City, but it appears that the Mets tried to expand the deal which may or may not of ended talks. Anyways, a trade for a reliever and maybe a prospect or two seems to be in the works, so stay tuned.

By the way, in the aforementioned AAA game Milledge went 2-4 with a triple, and Anderson Hernandez went 3-5 with two runs scored.

Keppinger may still be on move

2006-07-18T10:50:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I reported along with a few other rumor sites that Keppinger may be involved in a deal with Xavier Nady to Pittsburgh for Oliver Perez and/or Roberto Hernandez. However, today I stumbled upon another source with Keppinger's name involved. The Kansas City Star is reporting that the Mets and Royals "appear close" in a possible trade off of second baseman: Ruben Gotay for Jeff Keppinger. The 24 year old Gotay hit .270 in 152 at bats in 2004, although he struggled in 2005 hitting .227 in 282 at bats. In AAA this season Gotay is hitting .264 with nine home runs and 46 rbi. The Puerto Rican born Gotay played for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic and he hit a home run to go along with his .368 average in 19 at bats. A cause for concern about Gotay is his strikeout to walk ratio is nearly 3:1 at 67:26. Nevertheless, it appears definite that Keppinger will be dealt.

Brian Bannister throws simulated game

2006-07-18T01:08:00.000-04:00

On Monday Brian Bannister threw a simulated game, tossing 79 pitches from the mound. Bannister may make a rehab start in Port St. Lucie on Thursday, or he may throw a second simulated game. The Mets hope to have the 25 year old back in the rotation for the dog days of August. The question is, however, will the spot still be open?

MLBTradeRumors: Keppinger to Pirates

2006-07-17T22:24:00.000-04:00

MLBTradeRumors is reporting that Jeff Keppinger is on his way out to Pittsburgh. The deal definitley includes Jeff Keppinger, and the players that have been mentioned from Pittsburgh are Oliver Perez and Roberto Hernandez. I am hearing the deal is Jeff Keppinger and Xavier Nady for Oliver Perez and Roberto Hernandez, although the deal may wind up being only one of the players. Hernandez did not pitch tonight in a close game, and Keppinger has sat out the last two Norfolk games and he is not hurt. This may mean that Milledge is our starting rightfielder, or maybe even Victor Diaz gets promoted to showcase him to raise his value. Stay tuned.

What should the Mets do come deadline time?

2006-07-17T18:46:00.000-04:00

Rumors are swirling around the Mets about possible trades that may occur, but are any of the players right for the Mets? Pitchers like Freddy Garcia, Javier Vazquez, Rodrigo Lopez, Kris Benson, Livan Hernandez and of course Barry Zito and hitters like Alfonso Soriano, Julio Lugo, and Bobby Abreu have all been rumored to come to the Mets. However, from the names on that list does it make sense to pay the cost to get them, and will they improve the Mets enough to even warrant a deal? Well, lets find out.

Freddy Garcia- I watched parts of the Yankee game yesterday mainly because Garcia was pitching, and frankly I was not impressed. His two best pitches are his fastball and his hard slider, but his fastball has lost significant velocity this season. Normally known to be able to get his fastball up around the mid 90's, but most of the season it has been hovering around 90-92 or so, which would partially explain the higher era and home run total. Garcia has always allowed a lot of home runs (26 last year and 22 this year) which will be helped a bit by pitching at Shea, and in the National League, but it still is an alarming number that puts him in on pace to give up about 40 home runs. Garcia is a work horse which may be the reason for the decling velocity, but he is still on pace for his sixh straight 200 inning season. Garcia was offered to the Mets for Sanchez and Pelfrey which means the White Sox are asking for way to much for him. Personally I would not give up either guys (Pelfrey can't be traded anyway) for Garcia in a one for one deal, but I would deal Heilman. If the deal is Heilman for Garcia or something not including a top prospect or Sanchez then Garcia may be right.
Javier Vazquez- My answer to this is much easier. Vazquez basically said he did not want to leave Chicago, so in that case I don't want him on the Mets.
Rodrigo Lopez- The talented Lopez has had been very inconnsistent with his seasons, one good season one bad, however he is on pace for two straight dreadful years. Leo Mazzone has seemingly made Lopez worse, which is not a feat many can say, except maybe Jason Schmidt but even he was a youngster and not totally developed when with the Braves. Lopez, like Garcia, allows a lot of home runs, which will be aided by Shea. The 29 year old allows a ton of hits, which leads to a career WHIP of 1.40. However, Lopez's value is very low and I would definitley consider trading for him if the Mets have to give a low level prospect. Buster Olney thinks a B or C prospect could net him, and that Lopez may be a Met as early as Friday. Lets also remember who te Baltimore GM is and maybe he'll take Zambrano off of our hands.
Kris Benson- Lopez's teammate, and former Met Kris Benson may be coming back to the Mets. We all know the Benson story, and personally I would welcome him back but under the terms that his wife is not allowed to speak with the media or Benson's contract will be penalized a small amount. In the unlikelyhood that that happens I would not like to see Benson a Met again.
Livan Hernandez- The ultimate workforce is Livan Hernandez. He has been dreaful this year, pitching to an outlandish 1.65 WHIP. However, many believe that his struggles have been because of his right knee which is still recovering from surgery. Baseball Prospectus said pre-season that Livan's knee should be good by Spring Training, which means that if it is healed by now it may never be. Livan's strikeout rates have also declined tremendously from 2004 to 2005 he struck out 39 less batters, and he is on pace to strikeout about 20 less batters than he did in 2005. Livan's knee has plagued him for most of his career, and if his knee ever does heal completely he will probably be throwing harder and better then ever before, but who knows if his knee will ever heal completely. However, with all of that said Jim Bowden reportedly asked for Lastings Milledge for Livan, Omar hopefully hung up. Since starters on the market are spare at best it will be hard to get him, so hopefully Omar stays away from overpaying.
Barry Zito- Lastings Milledge? Even though Milledge struggled in his 80 something at bats in the majors he is still a top notch prospect that I would not deal for Zito. Could Heilman and some prospects net him? Almost definitley not. The A's are not confident in Rich Harden staying healthy since he has been on the DL twice this year, and Zito is the only veteran presence in the team's rotation save Loaiza. I don't see Zito being traded and I don't see him as a Met until the offseason, if then.
Bobby Abreu and Alfonso Soriano- It's the same case for both of them. Why do we need them? Our offense is the best in the NL, and trading for Abreu or Soriano will only boost our rivals and our payroll. Trading for Abreu or Soriano will also bench a player that does not deserve to be benched which could disrupt the bubbly Mets clubhouse. Therefore, I don't think Abreu or Soriano are necessary.
Julio Lugo- Julio Lugo would be a nice pickup, no doubt, but like Abreu and Soriano he is not necessary. Lugo is hitting .310 with 16 steals in 63 games thus far in 2006, and his defense is steady but he will not be cheap. Aaron Heilman's name has been mentioned, but is it really worth giving up a key set-up man if you are not getting a starter back in return? I don't think it is, especially with the way Valentin is hitting and playing defensivley. If the Mets had no clear cut second baseman right now I would possibly consider Lugo, but even then the Mets' linup would still be amongst the best, so I don't see a need for Lugo.

Mets sign former Met great

2006-07-15T17:49:00.000-04:00

Edgardo Alfonzo was on the Mets NL Pennant winning 2000 team, and he is now back with the team. After starting last year for the Giants, getting traded to the Angels in the offseason, getting released by the Angels and signed by the Blue Jays mid-season, he was finally released by the Jays and now back with his former team. The 32 year old is clearly declining, but Minaya is hoping that returning to NY could possibly rekindle the fire in Edgardo. Alfonzo will start in AAA Norfolk, and assuming a player goes down that Alfonzo is probably the firs utillity man promoted. Personally, I am puzzled buy this signing since Jeff Keppinger is a better hitter, and knows just as many positions. Nevertheless, Alfonzo is now the only Me remaining from the 2000 team.

Mets' first half awards and second half predictions

2006-07-14T10:30:00.000-04:00

In a few hours the second half for the Mets will officially begin against Greg Maddux and the Chicago Cubs. Steve Trachsel will be opposing Maddux, and Trachsel's six game winning streak will be on the line. However, Trachsel has not been the Mets best pitcher this year, not by a long shot, so who is?
Cy Young-
Tom Glavine is the clear choice. He leads the team in wins by a long margin, and his era is only second best to Pedro Martinez. However, Glavine has been a steady force in the rotation, and it has been rare if at all that the future hall-of-fame left hander has pitched consecutive poor games. Glavine is even in the running for National League Cy Young, but right now Brandon Webb is probably the leader. Nonetheless, I think Glavine would trade an NL pennant for a Cy Young any day of the week.
MVP-
As I mentioned in my outfielder's report card I have a feeling that Beltran will have an even better second half, and he will win the National League MVP, but I'm handing out my mid-season MVP awards. David Wright and Jose Reyes are the only two options that make any sense, and my pick is David Wright. Reyes gets on base and creates run scoring opportunities without any assistance, but in order to score most of the time somebody needs to him him home, and most of the time if it isn't Beltran or Delgado it is Wright. The "symbiotic relationship" as the Mets' thirdbaseman called it has catapulted Wright into stardum, and Reyes not far behind.
Rolaids Relief Man-
Duaner Sanchez has been consistent all season long, and he has been the leader of the Mets set-up crew, and will likely remain there for as long as he is under contract with the Mets. Heilman and Wagner have been inconsistent, and Bradford and Feliciano have not pitched enough innings in tight games to warrant being rated over Sanchez. Sanchez is a good teamate (beaning Cabrera last saturday) and a warrior (pitching a few days after pinching a nerve in his neck) to boot.
Biggest bust
It is hard to pick the biggest first half bust, because the obivious choice (Kazuo Matsui) is no longer on the Mets, and there aren't many other players beforming poorly consistently. However, there is one man who has heard the boos from the Shea faithful, and that man is Billy Wagner. Despite a good era and strikeout rate Wagner has blown four saves, already more than he blew all of last year. With an enormous contract for a closer, and four more years after this one left Wagner better stop blowing saves if he wants that elustrious 400th save.
Biggest surprise-
There have been many pleasent surprises for the Mets this year. Such as Darren Oliver's long man success, Endy Chavez's terrific play off of the bench, and Jose Reyes' vastly improved eye. However, there is only one clear cut winner, and that is another Jose, Jose Valentin. The 36 year old former hit or miss player is not only hitting for average and power but he is playing very good defense at second base. Not only is he playing well but he is being paid under a million for the season and is a veteran presence on the bench. Plus, Valentin's success has filled the hole at second base, meaning the Mets don't have to trade for a second baseman, which in turn means the Mets have more trading chips to explore in other areas of the team.
My top five second half crazy predictions:
5) Carlos Beltran will win MVP
4) Orlando Hernandez will win more games then Steve Trachsel in total (in other words, he'll win more games not just in the second half)
3) The Cardinals will be considered the better team going into the playoffs.
2) The August series with the Padres will be the most emotional series of the year, with cheers for Piazza and Cameron, and massive boos for Hoffman.
1) Tom Glavine will get up to win number 298 this season.

Mets First Half Report Card: Relievers

2006-07-13T13:26:00.000-04:00

Me and every other Met fan is starting to get antsy for the second half of the season, but can you blame us? Nearly every analyist on the market believes that the Mets are kings compared to the rest of the National League, and hopefully the Mets players don't let it get to their head. One of the most important keys to a teams success is their bullpen, and the Mets have quite the strong and deep bullpen.
Duaner Sanchez A-
Not losing for the first half of the season is impressive in it's own right for someone who pitches as much as Sanchez does. Although, what is more impressive is not allowing a run your first 15 innings pitched. Sanchez, 5-0, has been the main set-up man for the Mets with a 2.45 era, and if Wagner goes down or has to leave the team for some reason I would feel just as confident in Duaner Sanchez to secure the W. The only reasons Duaner is not an A is because he is not a closer, so it is hard for me to give a reliever a rating better than someone like Carlos Beltran.
Billy Wagner- B
He has not been as good as advertised, but he has been good despite the for blown saves. He is still on pace for nearl 100 strikeouts, and his era is good. The problem with Wagner isn't what he did, it is what the idea of a good closer is in people's minds. In my mind when Wagner signed I invisioned 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts every night, which obviously has not happened often. Now, he has blown four saves which is the reason for the B rating, but in a lot of his innings he has been good, and he is definitley better than Looper.
Aaron Heilman- B-
If it wasn't for a few nights where Heilman imploded his era would not be as high as it is (4.35). He has been solid this year, although he has hit a rough stretch as of late. However, Heilman has more blown saves then Wagner with five, and he isn't even a closer. Nevertheless I have confidence with Heilman on the mound, and the Mets would not be as good without him.
Pedro Feliciano B -
The other Pedro on the team is pretty good. His dropped arm angle has vastly improved his results, and he is a key core to the Mets bullpen success. Bradford and Feliciano have been a dominant duo against lefties and righties and I would not expect the success to stop any time soon. As long as Feliciano keeps his comments about Willie to himself his grade at the end of the year will be a B+, along with an era below three.
Chad Bradford B -
Like I mentioned with Feliciano, Bradford and Feliciano have been dominant out of the bullpen against left handers and right handers. Bradford, 32, has a 3.48 era this year, and he has been dominant against right handed batters, holding them to a .230 average. With Bradford, Feliciano, Sanchez, Heilman, and Wagner the Mets have a very deep and succesful bullpen. Hopefully the glue sticking this pen together will hold up for the rest of the season.
Darren Oliver B+-
Talk about a secret weapon. Darren Oliver has been the Mets' longman, and then some. His 2.15 era is better than any other pitcher on the Mets staff, and he has pitched more innings then all of them. Oliver's longman success have even had some fans calling for him to become the teams fifth starter over John Maine and Mike Pelfrey. I would not go as far to put im in the rotation yet, I would still rather see Maine and Pelfrey log some major league innings, but if both prospects fail this year in the majors, and Omar can't find another starter I will be the first one on Oliver's bandwagon.
Heath Bell-C+
Bell was the Mets' mini longman, and he pitched in meaningless games or in games when even the longman was too tired to go long. Ok, that's enough use of the word long. Anyway, Bell has been solid, and his velocity has seemingly increased to up around 97 mph. Anyway, with the Mets depth and the way Owens has pitched in his three innings so far I would expect Bell to be the odd man out.
Henry Owens incomplete-
The verdict is still out on Owens, but his 97 mph fastball has been succesful so far. His control has been worse in the majors then in the minors but he probably still has some butterflies to let loose, so his control should settle down. We also saw a nasty but inconnsistent slider in spring training, but he has yet to throw it for a strike yet. Nevertheless, Owens has looked good with his deceptive delivery and fastball, hopefully it will last.
Bartolome Fortunato F-
Three innings pitched, nine earned runs.

Mets First Half Report Card: Starting pitchers

2006-07-12T20:23:00.000-04:00

Now that we know that Trevor Hoffman does not like the Mets' chances of making the World Series it is time to move on to my report card for the Mets' starting pitchers. Once again, if you missed my grading system click here.
Tom Glavine- A
The consistent and leader of the Mets' staff, Tom Glavine has certainly shown Mets fans this year that he is worth considering for the 2007, despite his age. At a league leading 11 wins, with an era at 3.45 Glavine has a new found confidence, as do the Mets front office. Glavine's contract was adjusted a month or so back, so that there is an extra year added on, and the money is deferred between this year and next. However, it is hard to get too high on Glavine, because of the past three years Glavine has had one good half and one terrible half to his seasons. However, if Glavine's second half is as good as his first the Mets may be looking at their first 20 game winner since the glory days.
Pedro Martinez- B+
The only thing keeping Pedro from having an A is the injury, and the lack of wins. Yes, wins does depend a lot on your run support, but some of the blame does get directed towards Pedro. Pedro was 2-3 in June, and every loss is not the offenses fault. However, despite the injury and struggling in June Pedro has been very good and if it wasn't for the low amount of wins it may be him in contention for a Cy Young.
Steve Trachsel- B-
His era is nothing to look at, but his six game win streak is great, and he has pitched well lately. It seems like Trachsel and El Duque are in a battle for the number three starter, simply because El Duque has a better era (with the Mets). However, Trachsel does have three of four solid outings, and the main reason his era is high is because he has a lot of quality starts (six innings, three runs is a 4.5 era) and does not log a lot of innings. Nevertheless, 8 wins in the third or fourth slot in the rotation is nice, and I finally feal confident with Trachsel on the mound.
Orlando Hernandez- B (with Mets)
El Duque has pitched eight games with the Mets, and he has pitched well in five of the games, and dreadful in the others. No doubt El Duque is inconsistent, but right now he is up (last 14 innings he has allowed two runs) and Mets fans should be confident with The Duke on the mound. His 4.14 era with the Mets is solid for a number three, but can be improved. I would look for much of the same from El Duque in the second half.
Alay Soler- C-
The only thing saving Soler from a D is that he actually pitched well a few times. However, when facing good lineups the supposed "big game pitcher" struggled mightily. In fact, in his last two starts before being demoted he allowed 16 runs, in only seven innings. Soler had a brief three game succesful stretch in June, but an apparent calf injury hindered his performance. His grade is so low because of his implosion against the Mets and Yanks, and because he hid his injury from the Mets, hurting the Mets more.
Brian Bannister- C+
No doubt Bannister pitched solid in April, but his walk rate was way too high, and his injury has left the Mets looking for a fifth starter all season. We will definitley see Bannister later in the year, whether it be if Maine and Pelfrey struggle, or if it is in Septemeber after call-ups, but expect Bannister to be with the Mets again this year.
Victor Zambrano- F
Remember him? Victor Zambrano was absolutely un-watchable in the beginning of the year, and the upsetting thing about his injury is that he came off of a good outing, and he had not allowed a hit to the first four batters he faced. Also, he hid his injury to the Mets, and threw a nasty slider to strikeout Andruw Jones before running off of the mound. The visably upset, and tearful Zambrano is out for the season, and his Mets career is probably over. I feel for Zambrano, I really do. He was thrust into a bad situation to begin with, and now he will be forever known as the guy who was traded for Kazmir.
Jose Lima- F-
9.87 ERA in five starts. Nuff' said.
John Maine and Mike Pelfrey- Incomplete
I expect to see both of these guys again this season, hopefully more of Pelfrey than Maine. Right now I have confidence in both of these guys when they are on the mound, but this is a very premature statement. Pelfrey has only made one start, and Maine three. Maine has pitched relativley well in his outings, despite his maskful era. Pelfrey has yet to show us his true talent, but he was solidly impressive in his debut, despite the runs he was given.

Mets First Half Report Card: Outfielders

2006-07-11T13:17:00.000-04:00

It's the day of the all-star game, and it's time for me to complete part two of four of my report card: outfielders. We have had more than a few outfielders this year, and I'll rate everyone including one player who I am surprised is playing poorly. If you missed my infielder's report card and my grading system, then go here.

Cliff Floyd- C+
We all know that Floyd is simply having a down year, especially when compared with last year's first half. This year his .249 average is .28 points lower than last year's all-star break, and his seven home runs is an alarming 15 lower than they were at the break point in 2005. However, the declined home run total and average is mostly because of a terrible April, an April that was the exact reverse of 2005's April. In April 2005 Floyd hit .366 with 6 home runs and 21 rbi, compared to his April this year or .195 average with two home runs and 11 rbi. Floyd is coming out of his slump, however and if it wasn't for a severly sprained ankle Floyd may be around .270 with 3-5 more home runs.
Lastings Milledge- B-
He certinaly showed us all of his tools. Throwing out two runners, by far and hitting three home runs. However, his .233 average in 86 at bats is not something to get excited about, and his 23 strikeouts is a major concern, and something Milledge needs to work on. His lightning quick bat should able him to strike out less, think Gary Sheffield. He also only walked four times, when compared to 30+ times he walked in AAA. It is clear that his AAA were mainly young pitchers not wanting to face the Tides' best hitter. When projecting out Lastings Milledge's numbers over a full season he would have a little bit more than 20 home runs, with about 70 rbi and 10 steals. Those numbers are eerily similar to Nick Swisher's rookie season last year.
Carlos Beltran- A-
His average is better, his power is better, his speed is better, his health is better, his run production is much better, his smile is utilized more and more, and the result is an MVP candidate. What can you say about the difference between 2005 Beltran and 2006 Beltran, other than he is a three hitter. Everybody wanted Beltran to hit second in the offseason, everyone except Willie. Willie, once again, proved the critique's wrong, and Betrlan now has the most home runs in his career before the all-star break. Last year Omar Minaya said that Beltran was a second half player, and Beltran did have a better second half than first half last year, but not by much. However, I expect Beltran to have a dominant second half, which is why I have picked him to win the NL MVP.
Xavier Nady- B
Nady has certainly been better than advertised, but he is incredibly streaky. In April Nady hit .311 (good), in May he hit .211 (bad), in June he hit .267 (mediocore), and so far in July he is hitting .250, but he has been hitting well as of late, recording eight hits in the last six games. Nady's defense has been OK, but his arm has been above average. Overall, this 27 year old (no he is not 25, Keith Hernandez)has been a pleasent surprise.
Endy Chavez- B+
I would give Chavez an A, but he is a bench player so it is hard to compare his season to a Beltran, Wright, or Reyes. Nevertheless, Chavez has been an absolute force coming off of the bench this season. Hitting .283 with six steals, and playing absolutely fantastic defense. In fact, Chavez leads the NL in outfield assists, which is quite a feat when you don't play everyday. Chavez provides me with confidence that our bench is the best in baseball, and I would have no problem with him playing everyday if an outfielder went down.
Eli Marrero- C
It is hard to give Marrero an actual grade, since he barely plays, but he has been nice off of the bench for the Mets. He has hit two home runs, and stolen two bases, despite hitting .240. A grade of C is fine in my book for Marrero, whose main claim to fame is getting Matsui out of town. Speaking of Matsui, check out Jayson Stark's midseason awards article at espn.com. Stark says the following about Matsui

According to Lee Sinins' Complete Baseball Encyclopedia, a team of nine Kaz Matsuis would be scoring 2.25 runs per game this year. Which happens to be a full run less per game than a team full of Livan Hernandezes.

Now, that's funny.
Victor Diaz- D
Did anyone not expect to see Diaz at all the first half of the season? I sure didn't. Diaz is barely over .250 at AAA Norfolk, and has seemingly fell off of the depth chart for the Mets. Nevertheless, I would not expect seeing Diaz in a Mets unfirom again. I can see him getting traded for another prospect, or packaged with some other prospects to get a starter.

Mets First Half Report Card: Infielders

2006-07-10T19:18:00.000-04:00

We are at the all-star break, and that means it's time for the Mets players to evaluate how their first half of the season went, and if they are earning their paycheck or not. My grade system works as follows:
A- This player has not only exceeded our expectations, but he has proven that without him in the lineup or rotation the Mets would not be nearly as good.
B- He has been a good player all around, but on a given day the Mets can win without him.
C- Doing his job, but is not standing out or making his name known to the fans,
D or F- This player should be released or he will have to have a great second half just to stop the booing.

Paul Lo Duca- B+
LoDuca has been an important fixture in the Mets' lineup, but his short amount of rbi's earns him a grade just under an A. His .302 average is impressive for a catcher, and his .342 OBP is above average, but the Mets have shown more than a few times that they could win without LoDuca starting. However, when taking into account his abillity to call a game and his defense (despite his arm) has been very good. LoDuca has definitley become a fan favorite.
Ramon Castro- C+
Castro has done a good job as the backup catcher this year, but not nearly as good as he did last year. He has played good defense, especially with his terrific arm behind the plate. Castro is getting solid amounts of playing time, and he should get more in August and September when the Mets rest LoDuca more because of the toll catching takes on your body, so expect Castro to have a big second half.
Carlos Delgado- B-
Delgado's first month and a half is the main reason his numbers look so good, but he has been "tredding water" as Keith Hernandez says. His .252 average is a far cry from his .301 average last year, and Cliff Floyd is only 2 points behind in batting and Floyd hit under .200 for the first few weeks. I expect Delgado to have a big second half as well, starting the first game back in Chicago.
Julio Franco- C+
Franco has been a great pinch hitter for the Mets this year, and his spot starts have come a lot more often then we expected but Franco's offensive production masks his actual clubhouse presence. Franco has had a big part in the Mets season, from calming down Jose Guillen to telling Carlos Beltran to take a curtain call Franco is more a coach then a player. One problem I have with Franco this year is that he hits only .229 against lefties, and most of his spot starts come against left handers.
Jose Valentin- B+
Talk about a pleasent surprise. Valentin has risen from the depths of 0-15 to start the season to hitting .275 with 9 HR and 36 RBI, while playing a position he had never played consistently before. Valentin has had more than a few big games for the Mets, most recently this past Saturday, recording seven rbi. Valentin still strikes out a lot but he is only getting paid $900,000 so you won't get the perfect player.
Chris Woodward-C
Woody hasn't done much this year, especially after being the Mets most important bench player last year. His .232 average is due to a low amount of playing time, because Endy Chavez and Eli Marrero are the bench players for the outfield, and David Wright and Jose Reyes never take days off. Unless Valentin struggles the second half I wouldn't expect much from Woodward.
Jose Reyes-A-
The first A of the day goes to Reyes, who has been absolutey unstoppable the past month and a half. His .302 average and .357 OBP is vastly improved from 2005, and his defense and base running has even improved. His 39 steals and 12 triples are both tops in the majors, and his 41 rbi is on pace to break the Mets all time rbi record for shortstops. When Reyes hits the Mets win, unless of course Valenitn knocks in seven runs.
David Wright-A
It's hard to fight the urge to give Wright an A+, but he is slumping a bit recently even though he hit a game winning three run home run on Sunday. His average has dropped about 20 points to .316. However that average is 10th in the NL, his 74 rbi is fourth, his tremendous .961 OPS is eighth, and his 20 home runs is tenth in the NL. Wright is probably the runners up MVP to Pujols right now but as for NY thirdbaseman Wright is runner up to no one.

The Mets second rounder could be as good as a first

2006-07-01T08:26:00.000-04:00

I wrote this article for nybaseballcentral.com about the Mets' second round pick, Kevin Mulvey. I had the privelage to interview Mulvey's head coach at Villanova, Joe Godri, about Kevin. There are few good quotes in the article on Mulvey's personality, his mechanics, his stuff, and even his personality. I hope you enjoy the article, as it is my first of hopefully many articles for NYBaseballCentral. Enjoy!

Pelfrey unsuccesful in AA start

2006-06-26T14:48:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess the talk about Pelfrey possibly going to the Mets major league bullpen can be quieted down, at least for the next five days it can. Today Pelfrey pitched five innings, and he allowed four runs on five hits and two walks. Pelfrey also struck out four in the loss. The Mets top pitching prospect was outmatched by Kip Bouknight who threw seven shutout innings on only four hits. One bright spot in the game was Henry Owens, who in his one inning of work struck out the side in order.