It's Time for Sandy Alderson to Be Held Accountable

Betting on futures can be a dangerous game. Futures can be used either to hedge or to speculate on the change in price of tan asset. For example, a producer of wheat could use futures to lock in a certain price and hedge their bets on risk. On the other hand, anybody could speculate on the price movement of wheat by going long or short using futures.

I'm not going to pretend I understand all the intricacies of futures trading, but I feel I have a reasonable grasp on the futures exchange that Sandy Alderson is trying to sell us. He's saying 2014 and beyond is where the Mets will compete.

Here's the thing about Alderson's futures plan. It can't be disproven in the present. In fact Alderson has had several years to prove his mettle, but we continue to be sold that 2014 is the year. Could he be right? Sure, but what if he's not? What if his master plan ends up falling apart? Then we've been left with continued years of being awful only to not get any better.

So then Alderson gets fired. Who cares? The Mets and their fans are the ones that will suffer. The moves Alderson has made has been about freeing up money and acquiring young talent. So far not much has been done to improve the team.

All of the assets Alderson has attained currently reside in our minor league system. Matt Harvey is the lone exception. Wheeler could be great. So far the Dickey trade for D'Arnaud & Buck looks genius, but none of Alderson's moves have translated into wins. Isn't that what really matters?

The two biggest flaws with the Mets over the last 3 years have been its bullpen and outfield. Nothing has been done to rectify that. Cowgill was being touted in spring training and now we're longing for Cowgill given that we have to endure Brown & Lagares & Byrd at the plate. Anyone with eyesight can see the Mets bullpen is atrocious. Sure you can say they're overworked, but honestly there are no room for excuses when you continually blow leads and opportunities year after year after year.

But don't worry Mets fans. Next year is 2014. It will all magically turnaround. How? I don't know. But there's a master plan right? Has to be.

But what if there's not. Instead of slowly filling holes the Mets still have gaping chasms that need to be addressed before they can compete in what is becoming the ridiculously talented NL East. From the bullpen to the entire outfield to the now absence of a reliable bat first base, the Mets are in need of more than just a few moves.

So while the Mets season quickly fades away even before summer arrives, someone should start holding Sandy Alderson accountable. Before you know it he'll be named the new commissioner of baseball and the Mets will be left trying to piece together this master plan of his.

There Will Be No False Hope this Mets Season

The issue for Mets fans the past few years has been the tease of hope amidst the reality of low expectations. A fast start last year turned into a painful collapse after the All Star Game and the questions of woulda/coulda/shoulda abounded within Mets fandom.

There will be none of that this year.

This April is proving to be a sign of things to come. The Mets have zero balance in their game. They get great pitching from their bullpen, and then the Mets go 0 for 16 with runners in scoring position. The Mets average 6+ runs per game, but their pitching gives up over 6 runs regularly.

Duda gets hot, but Ike is abysmal. Harvey is awesome, but Gee can't find the strike zone. Buck surprises everyone with an MVP-esque April, but the team is 4 games under .500 and falling.

Welcome to your 2013 Mets or better known as the lame duck Mets. Like a president who has lost reelection, Terry Collins finds himself mired in purgatory until the lauded 2014 season can begin with its promises of hope and success. If this were any other year, Collins would be gone by May. But the Mets won't make that move, which would be the right one along with dismissing Dan Warthen, because they are waiting to fully clean house in the off season with the hope of ramping up for a run in 2014.

Not to mention the fact that they're hosting the All Star Game in July and probably want no drama circling the team ahead of that media whirlwind.

So here's what Mets fans have to realize: the Mets are mailing in 2013. The players aren't, but the organization is. Try and sugar coat it if you like. No one will ever admit to this, but that's the truth.

This is a lame duck year. Kinda reminds me of the scenario in the movie Major League. It's not fun for the fans. It's not going to be fun for the players. But that's the reality.

It's gonna be a long season so find joy where you can in every Harvey start.

I Know I'm a Broken Record But Mets Pitchers Are Acting Like Mental Misfits

In the past week I've already lauded the mental toughness of Matt Harvey and ridiculed Dan Warthen's ability to fortify the psyche of his pitchers, but here I am again talking about the total lack of any semblance of mental strength in the Mets pitching staff.

Yesterday's double dip in Colorado was all the proof you needed. Dillon Gee started off the day showing no idea how to get his pitches across. You could tell it was one of those days where he didn't have his stuff and who could blame him with the temperature looming around the freezing mark and snow having just been blown off the field.

But here's where you can blame Gee: he failed to realize he didn't have his stuff and proceeded to throw pitches as if he did. Gee didn't just give up runs. He gave up bombs. There are two guys in the entire Rockies lineup that you don't want to pitch to, Tulo & Gonzalez. Just don't pitch to them! But Gee proceeded to throw meatballs to CarGo and he paid the price.

Gee wasn't THINKING. He was completely unable to identify his situation and find a way to work through it. Gee is on his way to having a Steve Trachsel type of year. He'll lose 10 games in the first half of the year before finally getting his act together in the second half to win a couple games in a row and make you think he's still a reasonable asset.

Game number one was nothing compared to game number two. A 6 run lead should be enough to win, but in the second game the mental misfits extended from not just pitchers but also to fielders. Baxter misplayed a ball that led to two runs. Lyons couldn't pickup the easiest of balls played to him which opened the door to a big inning. Parnell couldn't hold a runner on. Tejada pulled a Chuck Knoblauch and can't seem to throw the ball to first base.

The blame will go to Tejada who could have closed the door on the Rockies had he not thrown that ball away which led to the game being tied up. But before that even happened the Mets BLOWpen did the team no favors. Josh Edgin couldn't throw a strike. Hawkins likes to be hit hard. Lyons has evidently never fielded a ball before. And the list could go on.

I'm telling you that physical talent wise this team has enough assets to make things interesting. I'm not foolish to think they're a title contender but if you look at Murphy, Buck, Wright and the potential of Davis you have enough assets to be a competitor. Marry that with Harvey every fifth day and a solid season from Niese and you're easily a .500 team.

It's the mental side of things that will be the Mets downfall. Stupid mistakes that make you lose games to teams you should easily beat.

It's become a part of the Mets culture. Look at how many different names have been in the Mets bullpen in the last 5 years, but yet the product is still relatively the same. Sure you can blame part of that on talent acquisition but when you see no growth or change regardless of personnel, you have to start wondering if it's the leaders who aren't guiding the ship in the right direction.

Mental toughness. I'm telling you that's what makes or breaks this Mets team.

I Still Think Dan Warthen Needs to Go

Look at the Mets pitching under Dan Warthen. Go ahead and sift through the stats, the records and the personnel. Talent wise the Mets pitching isn't great. Starting pitching has been better than relief pitching which has to do with the starters having a bit better personnel than the bullpen.

But if you forget about the names on the back of the uniforms and just look at the innings breakdown of the majority of Mets losses the last few seasons, you'll find a glaring commonality. They mostly contain one majorly bad inning.

Last night was just another round of this sick cycle carousel that has plagued Mets pitching. It doesn't matter if it was Dickey, Santana, Gee, or Hefner out there. They've all fell victim to "the big inning."

Psychologically "the big inning" is a heart breaker for any team. In the first inning when you're down more runs than innings left in the game, whether you want to admit it or not you feel like the game is lost. Go ahead and sort through all the Mets losses last year. The majority of them contained at least one inning in which 3+ runs were given up.

So why am I blaming Dan Warthen? I know he doens't throw the pitches but he's the one who's tasked with getting his pitchers game ready. He's the one who has to know the psyche of each starter and where are the signs that trouble is about to break loose. He's the one who needs to make sure mentally each arm in his staff is able to get out of trouble.

When hitters don't hit, the hitting coach goes. When teams don't win, the manager is fired. When pitchers consistently find themselves giving up 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 runs in a single inning, I'd say the pitching coach needs to be questioned.

Mental toughness is lacking in seemingly every pitcher not named Matt Harvey. From where I sit Dan Warthen has done very little to change the culture of the Mets pitchers and give them the tutoring they desperately need to avoid "the big inning."

Matt Harvey and the Killer Instinct

Over the last decade, the Mets have had their chances at becoming a winning ball club. They had talent. They had pitching. They even had opportunities. But the thing that was missing most was the mental fortitude to get the job done.

Blowpens and bad hitting aside, there was an aura surrounding this team that they didn't have what it takes mentally to get the job done. Is this a measurable metric? No, but its evidence is everywhere. The Mets have started several seasons in really great fashion, but only to falter late. Early leads in games have given way to blown saves and an inability to hit late in games.

Hits and RBI with 2 outs and runners in scoring position used to be something the Mets thrived on in '06, but has since faded. Is the ability to hit, throw and field different in the first three innings of a game than the last? No, but mentally it is. That's why you see career 90% free throw shooters brick back to back foul shots in the final minute. It's why Tony Romo puts up ridiculous fantasy football numbers, but can't win a playoff game.

It's a lack of a killer instinct. But that trait that has been missing for some time is pretty evident in Matt Harvey.

His moxy, his presence and even his words in interviews prove he mentally has what it takes to face whatever barrier appear in his way and overcome it. His sampling is still small, but when he gets into jams he doesn't implode. He fights through it. He'll give up runs, but he won't give up a ton.

Think about RA Dickey the last few years. Tremendous pitcher and an incredible year last year, but we all know when he didn't have his knuckleball going, he was going to give up not 2 or 3 runs but more like 6 or 7.

Matt Harvey may have a bad day in his future, but I don't think it will be like that. To be cliche he has the heart of a champion. You can see it on the mound and it's why Mets fans are so enamored with him.

We've seen pitchers who can throw as hard as he does and who've had the early success he has. But we've never been as excited about Parnell or Gee or any other young pitcher with talents similar to Harvey.

It's his killer instinct that we can sense will eventually lead us to some much needed wins.

Closing the Book on Johan Santana

Johan Santana is injured...again. It's a recurring storyline that Mets fans have lived through for several years. This time, it's the final chapter in the Santana story with the Mets. With his contract expiring this year, there's zero to no chance we will ever see him pitch in a Mets uniform.

It's a horrible injury and Santana will have a long road back which is an awful thing for a fierce competitor like Santana. But here's why it's a good thing for the Mets.

It officially closes the book on the past.

Johan Santana has been the subject of "what ifs" for the last three years. What could have been or should have been with him as an ace never culminated the way Mets fans would have hoped. It's no fault of Santana's. He was without question the ultimate "gamer" in a big spot. He won pretty much every game that he absolutely had to. His body let him down, but Santana did not let Mets fans down.

We need to stop the second guessing of whether Santana should have thrown so many pitches in his no-hitter. No Mets fan would trade that for anything this past season. Why? Because that was the highlight of the Mets season. The Mets were not going to win anything whether Santana pitched a full season or not. What he gave us last June 1 was one of the most memorable moments in Mets lore. Santana has no regrets about it. Neither should we.

And that's where the story should end. That should be our lasting memory of this dominant force.

Now that Santana is no longer an option, Mets fans can't hold onto a fading thought that "maybe we could be better if Santana was healthy." He's officially gone. It's time for us to move on.

The team's future now rests in the hands, and arms, of youth. Harvey, Niese, Gee and Wheeler are what we need to look to. David Wright and Ike Davis are now the shoulders that must carry the weight of this team.

Santana's injury is a horrible thing, but the fact that he is no longer an option for the Mets makes our move towards the future hope and success of this club all that more clear.

Johan Santana is the ultimate competitor. He's a fighter and I expect he'll pitch again. I wish him the best, but I'm happy to close the book and look forward to what's next.

Why the Retirement of Mariano Rivera Should Make the Mets Reflect on the Error of Their Ways

Every time I turned on the radio this weekend they were talking about Mariano Rivera retiring. WFAN, ESPN, and even WCBS couldn't shut up about Rivera retiring. He still has a whole season to play, we've got college basketball going on, spring training, the WBC and we're talking about a guy who's going to retire in 6 months.

Yes, we are. Why? Because he's been the most impactful player in baseball in my lifetime.

An overstatement? Perhaps, but I think it's true. The Yankees would not have won as many championships as they have over the last 20 years without Mariano Rivera. He has been the lock down, reliable closer for nearly two decades. Sure he has blown a game or two and some of them at the most inopportune moment, but his body of work is that of miracles.

He's a first ballot hall of famer and one of the greatest baseball players of all time. This should make the Mets reflect on what they've been doing for the last decade.

The current Mets outfield is awful. Sure, they need a right-handed power bat to help out Wright and Davis. But the biggest need the Mets have had for the better part of my lifetimes is...their bullpen.

Look back at the Mets stats over the last 8 years and you'll see that their bullpen has been their biggest demise. If you Google "BLOWpen" you'll instantly get a couple hundred articles about the Mets. The '07 and '08 seasons should have been playoff runs if it were not for the atrocity of the Mets bullpen. Season after season the question of "who will be the closer?" continues to rear its ugly head including this upcoming one.

The Mets should look at what Mariano Rivera has done and realize that no matter how good a lineup they have or how solid the starting pitching can be, the bullpen can ultimately decide the fate of a team in today's day and age.

And that's the area the Mets have not explored seriously. They've made small moves here and there, but a team serious about winning has to have a reliable bullpen.

Today, baseball is a 6 inning game for starters. Those last three innings are for the bullpen to handle and we know first hand how quickly things can implode.

We will probably never see another pitcher like Rivera. He's one of a kind so I'm not suggesting the Mets need to go get another guy like Mariano because he doesn't exist. What they do need is to stop this bullpen experimentation with Frank Frank, Parnell and (insert other name here).

Bullpens can win championships. Mariano Rivera is living proof.