Kuzul

The New York Mets have just received news that their star closer, Francisco Rodriguez, has been charged with assault. The incident occurred after last night’s ballgame at Citi Field between K-Rod and his father-in-law.

Reports say that the Mets closer refused to speak with the media and got into a scuffle with his father-in-law about family issues. When asked what was wrong by the media, Francisco Rodriguez responded with an obscenity to mind their own business. 

Francisco Rodriguez’s violent lash out led to injuries to his father-in-law.

Jonathan Niese’s girlfriend and Jose Reyes’ kids were present in the room when the madness erupted.

This is definitely something that people shouldn’t witness at the ballpark.  

Kevin Burkhart and Chris Carlin of SNY have been directly following the story as both men were in the locker room at the time of the incident. 

ESPN later reported that K-Rod was being charged with third degree assault. Major League Baseball’s Mets decided to suspend their closer for two games without pay. 

There is one man on the face of the planet that definitely saw this coming. That was relief pitcher Brian Bruney, formerly of the New York Yankees. 

If you can recall, Bruney and Francisco Rodriguez got into an altercation a few years prior in the Mets/Yankees Subway Series. Bruney criticized Rodriguez’s obnoxious celebrations and praised Luis Castillo’s dropped ball play that happened when K-Rod was on the mound. 

Rodriguez seems to like to tell people to shut up.

As he did recently with the media, he did the same with Bruney. He told the Daily News that Bruney should “keep his mouth shut and do his job, not worry about somebody else,” during the brief one-on-one showdown. 

This isn’t the first time that K-Rod has been in a confrontation as he faced off with his bullpen coach earlier this year and with former New York Mets executive Tony Bernazard.

Surely, everyone can come to the conclusion that K-Rod is a hot-headed baseball player. 

It will be interesting to see how much more discipline the New York Mets or Manager Jerry Manuel hand to Rodriguez. 

Somewhere in the world, Brian Bruney is smiling saying “I told you so!”

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Forget the countless injuries to Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes.

Or the fact that Bobby Bonilla, who last played with the team in 2000, is reportedly on the payroll.

Those are just minor problems compared to what the New York Mets truly face.

On the field, things appear grim.

Despite Major League Baseball’s fifth-highest payroll, the Mets look to be missing out on the playoffs for the fourth straight season.

For two consecutive years (2007-2008), the Florida Marlins eliminated New York from fall ball down the stretch. 

Florida, with one of the lowest payrolls on a yearly basis, finished second in the NL East last year despite $110 million less to spend. 

In 2007, the Mets suffered one of the worst all-time collapses, leading the National League East by seven games with 17 days left, only to lose out to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Over-the-mill veterans like Carlos Delgado and Pedro Martinez signed with the team, but got it no closer to October. 

Beltran, a franchise-caliber player to many teams, surprised the organization by getting knee surgery in mid-January.

That sure spells trust.

Off the field, the Mets haven’t been model citizens.

General Manager Omar Minaya was questioned around the league in 2008 for his handling of the firing of manager Willie Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson, and first-base coach Tom Nieto.

Minaya waited for the trio to arrive back at a Los Angeles hotel following a 9-6 victory over the Angels. 

Vice President of Player Development Tony Bernazard stuck around for too long despite news that he challenged Double-A players to fight him.

He also supposedly got into quarrels with closer Francisco Rodriguez and others. Ruffling feathers, not developing missing farm talent, became his forte.

And now the players find themselves in trouble.

Just this week, ace Johan Santana had a civil lawsuit filed against him in Lee County, Fla. involving a charge of rape. The woman also says that she became pregnant as a result of the attack, but had a miscarriage.

Meanwhile, closer Francisco Rodriguez was arraigned in a courthouse in Queens County, N.Y. because of third-degree assault against his father-in-law.

On Wednesday night, Rodriguez reportedly struck inside the family lounge at Citi Field.

At this rate, it’s an easy call for fans to root even harder for New York’s other team, which is in first place and gets called the Evil Empire.

Heck, maybe all this time Lady Gaga knew something everyone else didn’t: 

The New York Mets need immediate help as they continue down the wrong path.

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The year was 1993. Bill Clinton took office and the Buffalo Bills lost their third straight Super Bowl. The World Trade Center was bombed, and two days later a fifty-one day standoff began in Waco, Texas between Federal law enforcement and a religious cult. On top of all of that, the New York Mets were about to have one of the worst seasons any baseball team or its fans ever experienced.

The team lost a pathetic 103 games in 1993, coming in dead last in the National League East (then comprised of seven teams), thirty-eight games behind the East Champion Philadelphia Phillies. But the incredibly poor play on the field simply set the tone for the derailing of the entire organization by several disastrous off the field incidents.

In April, outfielder Vince Coleman, who would play a pivotal role in the sinking of the franchise, accidentally injured pitcher Dwight Gooden’s arm while carelessly swinging a golf club in the Mets clubhouse before a game. Gooden, the one time ace and one of only three remaining players still with the club from the 1986 World Championship team, would go on to lose 15 games and be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, which published a story about him titled “From Phenom to Phantom.” Gooden would be suspended from baseball the following year for testing positive for cocaine.

Coleman made headlines again in July when he tossed a lit firecracker into a crowd of fans waiting for autographs at Dodger Stadium, injuring three children, including a two year old. Coleman was arrested and the Mets suspended him for the remainder of the season and traded him to Kansas City that winter.

That same month, pitcher Bret Saberhagen admitted to spraying bleach on a group of reporters and was forced to apologize and donate a day’s pay to charity.

As if July 1993 wasn’t bad enough for the Mets and their pitching staff, pitcher Anthony Young set a Major League record on July 24 for consecutive losses in games in which he had the decision, with an unbelievable twenty-seven straight.

In keeping with the Vince Coleman-inspired firecracker theme, Saberhagen threw a lit firecracker under a table full of reporters in the clubhouse, which he explained was a “joke.”

Then there was Bobby Bonilla. The Mets outfielder threatened writer Bob Klapisch, who wrote the book “The Worst Team Money Could Buy: The Collapse of the New York Mets” (ironically, the book is based on the 1992 version of the team) telling him he would “show him (Klapisch) the Bronx.” One has to wonder if Klapisch wished he would have waited a year to write the book. The 1993 team certainly would have given him extensive new material.

What does this have to do with the 2010 version of the team? Well, we all know that the 2010 Mets are self-destructing on the field, and it appears that they are following the ’93 club’s blueprint for off the field antics as well.

Ace pitcher Johan Santana was accused of sexually assaulting a Florida woman on a golf course in October 2009, and reportedly offered her $1 million in “hush money” after the mysteriously delayed police report was made public by TMZ in June. The unidentified woman also alleged that Santana impregnated her during the encounter and is suing him for sexual battery, sexual assault, and false imprisonment. The Lee County Sheriff declined to press charges against Santana.

Reliever Francisco “KRod” Rodriguez was arrested on August 11 on charges of assaulting his father-in-law outside the family room of the Mets clubhouse at Citi Field. The Mets suspended the closer for two games, adding that he will not be “on the roster, with the team, or be paid” during the suspension before referring the media to the NYPD because it was a “police matter now.”

The 2010 Mets will not lose 103 games, and there has so far been no throwing of explosives or dousing reporters with chemicals. But the path to oblivion that this version of the team seems to be heading down is eerily similar to the 1993 squad. You have to wonder what’s next for this bunch of misfits and malcontents.

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Last night’s Mets game may have ended at around 10:00 p.m., but the action and drama was far from over.

Numerous reports indicate that, around 11:00 p.m., Mets closer Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez struck his father-in-law, whom later needed to be transported from Citi Field to a hospital via ambulance.

According to SNY’s Kevin Burkhardt, the trouble began when Rodriguez refused to speak to the media and stormed off into a room that was closed to the press.

Moments later, Burkhardt reports that Citi Field security, followed by members of the NYPD, went into that same room and later escorted Rodriguez to the police precinct at Citi Field.

After an hour or so, SNY’s Chris Carlin later confirmed on air that Rodriguez will be charged with assault in the third degree, which carries a class-A misdemeanor in the state of New York, according to Newsday’s Ken Davidoff.

From a baseball standpoint, this incident is a huge black eye on the organization regardless of the outcome of this situation. As Bobby Ojeda pointed out, if K-Rod is indeed found guilty of the assault charge, it is possible that the Mets could potentially void his contract.

Obviously, much of this is speculation and it will likely be a day or two before everyone gets a clearer picture of what went down. One thing is for sure, though: It will be very interesting when Rodriguez’s fellow teammates begin to arrive at Citi Field later this morning for the 12:10 p.m. matinee game.

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Coming into a MLB game in the ninth inning, listening to your favorite rock or rap song surely will get you a bit nervous/pumped up/downright scared.

In my case, that song happens to be “Wonderwall” by Oasis. Yes, it may seem like a sissy song to walk out to, but read the lyrics , especially the refrain, and you will understand.

For MLB closers like Heath Bell, the nervousness/adrenaline/fear are what he thrives on. The pressure is what makes him good. At 6’3″ and a husky 250 pounds, Bell looks like the butcher at your local deli who didn’t give enough meat to his dog. He is a fun guy, and regularly uses his Wii Fit board to stay in shape. Off a baseball field, Bell doesn’t seem like an imposing man.

But once he steps onto the mound at Petco Park in the ninth inning to the tune of “Blow Me Away” by Breaking Benjamin, he is quite imposing.

Bell’s high-90s fastball sure helps.

Heat is a common denominator with closers. All closers throw upwards of 90 mph, and most throw over 95. But the gift all closers have is pure stuff.

Mariano Rivera might not throw 95 mph anymore, but his cutter is downright filthy, and even though he throws it nearly every pitch, it still is nasty enough to break hitters’ bats and paint corners.

Chad Qualls, the former closer for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and now a late-inning relief pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, throws a heavy sinker at 92 mph. The vertical break on his sinker is nasty, and not many sinkerballers can throw that hard. His slider is also hard, coming in at 86 mph and breaking heavily away from right-handed hitters.

But this year, Qualls hasn’t kept the ball down, leading to his sinkers sinking to mid-thigh height and becoming easily hittable, hence Qualls’s 8.01 ERA this season.

Jonathan Broxton, the closer for the Los Angeles Dodgers, is a freak. With an intimidating frame of 6’4″ and 295 pounds, Broxton brings it into triple digits regularly. His sinker is like Qualls’s, only Broxton’s is around five mph faster. He isn’t afraid of any hitter, and that may be his greatest asset.

Well, I wouldn’t be afraid of anybody if I was 6’4″, 295, would you?

Francisco Rodriguez, “K-Rod,” the closer for the New York Mets, is another in the long list of closers who have dominating stuff. K-Rod regularly cranks his fastball into the upper 90s, with corner-to-corner tailing movement on his heater. His curveball nearly hits 80 mph and is a devastating strikeout pitch. His emotions sometimes get the best of him, but K-Rod is fun to watch.

Ah, my favorite closer, Brian Wilson. Wilson, even though he isn’t as physically imposing as Broxton or Bell, is one of the best in the business. Wilson throws 99 mph regularly, and the scary part is that he paints corners with his heater. His cutter hovers around 90 mph, which makes my Pirates look that much worse, because almost all of their starting rotation’s fastballs are slower than Wilson’s cutter.

So closers all pretty much have one thing in common: A special gift. That gift may be great velocity, great movement, great control, or great craftiness, but all closers have a special gift.

(They all pretty much have a good fist pump too!)

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I am so sick of hearing about how much Francisco Rodriguez sucks.

It seems all Mets fans can do these days is dish out the blame.

First, it was Jerry Manuel, then Oliver Perez, then Jeff Francoeur. Jason Bay’s power has gone, Rod Barajas’ swing has forsaken him, and Luis Castillo has no purpose on a Major League roster.

David Wright took a beating from his supposed supporters earlier in the year, and if people aren’t criticizing Omar Minaya for how he handled Jenrry Mejia they are complaining about a lack of pitching, a lack of hitting, or both.

Now it’s K-Rod’s turn.

There has been very little praise this year for a team that is still right in the thick of both divisional and wild card hunts. In case you forgot, it’s only July.

Rodriguez has had 68 save opportunities since he arrived in New York. He has converted 56 of these chances, or 82 percent.

It’s reasonable, if not spectacular.

But keep in mind there have been 1,893 saves and 913 blown saves in the league since the start of the ’09 season…just a 67 percent success rate.

Say what you want about Rodriguez, but he is well above average.

Of the saves he has blown in 2010, three were when he entered a one-run game and two were when he entered a two-run game. Of those one-run games, Rodriguez inherited a runner on second base.

K-Rod hasn’t blown a save when he entered the start of an inning with a three-run lead—unlike Ryan Madson against the Braves, LaTroy Hawkins against the Cubs, Ryan Perry against the Mariners, or Kevin Gregg against the Rays.

Nobody cares about the five-out save Rodriguez recorded against the Cubs in April when he came into the game with the bases loaded and one out, or the game in mid-May against the Yankees with the bases loaded and Jeter at the plate.

How about the other elite closers in the league?

Remember when Mariano Rivera came into a two-run game against the Twins in relief of Joba Chamberlain with the bases loaded, only to walk in a run and then serve up a grand slam homer? Or how about the Independence Day game against the Blue Jays when he gave up three hits and couldn’t hold down the lead?

How about Heath Bell, the man tied for the saves lead this season? He blew three saves in five weeks earlier this year, and he hasn’t even converted three-quarters of the games when he’s came into a one-run game in the ninth.

Francisco Cordero has been an absolute train wreck, blowing three one-run leads, a pair of two-run leads, and a three-run lead.  Jonathan Papelbon has surrendered twice as many home runs as Rodriguez in eight fewer innings. Even Andrew Bailey, the closer of the future, has blown three saves this year, twice unable to work out of another pitchers’ jam. And three times he has came into a tied game in 2010 only to walk away with the loss.

So yes, Rodriguez has blown five saves, but the 12 guys who have more saves than him in 2010 have blown, on average, 3.3 saves this year too. In addition, Rodriguez has a better ERA than seven of the men ahead of him, and he has more wins than three of the other five.

Rodriguez hasn’t been perfect this year, but he has been one of the most worked closers in the league— taking on more innings of work than any other front-line stopper in the game. The issue isn’t surrounding his struggles, but rather a failure to live up to the hype of 62 saves and a 2.24 ERA he sported in Los Angeles in 2008.

Still, he was an All-Star last season and he finished the most games out of anyone in the Major Leagues. By almost any account, he has been better this year: his ERA is a full run lower, his home runs ratios are down by one-third, and he is striking out more batters while walking less.

In fact, with the exception of a few more hits, his peripheral numbers are almost on a par with his four-year averages from his time with the Angles—when he saved a combined 194 games and led the league in saves three out of four years.

Closers aren’t perfect. None of them are. But fans demand perfection from a specialist player who has a very limited job description and has to play—by the nature of his work—in the most clutch situations.

Rodriguez is still an above-average pitcher who still has the makeup to be elite. Unfortunately, fans don’t have the patience they need to appreciate what he can bring to the club. Under the spotlight of New York, being above average, more often than not, simply is not enough for some people.

Support your ball club, rally around your team, and show some passion. In case you hadn’t read the memo, whining and criticizing is not interchangeable with support.

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It has been said that the definition of stupid is doing the same wrong thing over and over again, and expecting a different outcome.

As cruel as it might sound, I believe the industry of major league baseball is stuck in a method of managing of pulling your starters before they are cruising. Continuing to use the same failed pitching mistakes continues to only lead a team into more and more losses, and wasted efforts of the starting pitcher. 

I believe New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel is a stupid person, and one of the worst culprits of this pitching change phenomenon.

He obviously does not read my Bleacher Report articles .

What else would there be to explain why he continues to pull the best pitcher in baseball, Johan Santana, out games in which he is pitching great? Can you honestly believe that was the correct move today against the San Francisco Giants?

Especially when your team needs a victory in the worst way to avoid being swept in the first four games on this important road trip?

How about the Sunday game before the All-Star break against the Atlanta Braves ? Does Manuel himself honestly believe pulling Santana AFTER SEVEN SHUTOUT INNINGS of a game against the leader of the NL East was the correct move?

Well, Santana did already throw 107 pitches in that game. OMG! Call the papers!

And the Mets were only ahead 2-0 in that Braves game. Why would you remove your best pitcher in that game to put the ball in the hands of Bobby Parnell?

Granted, the Mets did win both games, but Manuel has to realize (especially after Frankie Rodriguez blew another save today) that Santana, no matter how many pitches he has thrown, is the best option for him at the end of the game.

Check out the photo accompanying this article. It is the on-field hand slapping between Manuel and Santana after Johan was allowed to finish his own game.

It might never happen again.  

Manuel already managed the Mets into many losses this season by pulling Santana early, and even pulling R.A. Dickey in this game when the Mets had Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals beaten.

Parnell and K-Rod gave up four runs in two innings in the eighth and ninth, but I doubt that Dickey would have allowed any more runs to the that Nats lineup. In watching the recorded game later on, they looked flustered trying to hit Dickey’s hard knuckle ball.

But Dickey threw 115 pitches already. What are we doing Jerry, trying to save the 35-year-old journeyman’s arm?

I remember driving home that day from umpiring a double header and listening to the game on the radio. I smiled when I heard that Dickey was being removed from the game. That gave the Nationals a chance.

But let’s get back to the Mets’ most effective, and highest paid, starting pitcher.

I don’t care how many pitches he has thrown into the later innings. If the game is tight and Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, or Albert Pujols was coming up, I WANT MY BEST PITCHER TO FACE THEM in that situation.

I already got on Manuel’s crosstown manager, Joe Girardi, last week regarding his pitch count limit shenanigans.

And it is not just Manuel and Girardi, but MLB in general. This entire notion that a middling relief pitcher, who isn’t good enough to be a starting pitcher and is not good enough to close games, is better than one of your starting pitchers when a game is tight is ridiculous. You can see this trend as middle relievers continue to get more and more win/loss decisions.

In 2008, Manuel pulled Santana early in four games which the Mets either held the lead or was tied but eventually lost , including two heartbreakers to the Philadelphia Phillies on July 4 and July 22 .

I heard on today’s radio broadcast that Santana had eight leads that season in which the Mets bullpen could not hold the lead.

How about Santana holding the lead?

Not until I wrote a piece two years ago did much talk center on letting Santana go longer in games because he is the team’s best pitcher, not Pedro Feliciano, not Fernando Nieve, not Elmer Dessens, not even the newly-anointed eighth inning guy Bobby Parnell or K-Rod are better than Johan Santana in these spots.
 
If you are talking pitch counts, and that Santana needs to be preserved for an August/September stretch run, there won’t be a late stretch run if Manuel continues to micro-manage the Johan Santana-pitched Mets games.

During those two Phillies games in July 2008, Santana had thrown 95 and 105 pitches, respectively, before he was pulled with a lead. As a reminder, the Mets lost the National League East by three games last season to those same Phillies, but were out of the National League Wild Card by a single game.

Leaving Santana in those four games when he was pulled would have likely returned three victories for the Mets.

If I am Manuel, I don’t care if Santana is at 95, 105, 115, or 135 pitches on a specific night. If Santana is still dealing and getting guys out, he is the man to be in the game. Not the aforementioned middle relievers.   

And do not pinch hit for him late either when there is no one on base or two outs in an inning. Having Santana on the mound is more important than gambling on getting a late insurance run.

Despite some successes this season, the Mets rotation is far from elite. The Mets need to win every game that Santana pitches, and that means letting your ace pitch very deep into games, if not a complete game every time out.

Then you can use the bullpen to try and bail out Mike Pelfrey, Jonathan Niese, and new rotation member R.A. Dickey—because you know Manuel, for a variety of reasons, is not going to be allowed those guys to go the distance.

Manuel needs to stop becoming more stupid—because if you have ever heard the comedian Ron White , “You can fix almost anything, but you can’t fix stupid .”

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The New York Mets thought they had all of their late inning troubles behind them on December 8th , 2008. That’s when they signed Francisco Rodriguez to a three year deal.

Rodriguez, known throughout the league as K-Rod, joined the team after a record- setting season with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

During the ’08 season, he amassed 62 saves and became the highly sought after free agent of that off season. The Mets , who had struggled with the late game facet of their bullpen, immediately and aggressively pursued him. After joining them, he has had an interesting season and a half as the Mets closer.

He accumulated 35 saves with a 3-6 record and a 3.71 ERA last season.

Not the most impressive of lines.

He was on a badly injured team, so with this in consideration, the fans decided to give him another chance. This season, he already has four blown saves in 24 chances. The rest of his line is not too bad though. He holds a 2.57 ERA with 20 saves.

He is on pace to beat his marks from last season for sure, but he is also on pace for 10 blown saves. As we reach the halfway point of his tenure here in the closer role, what was supposed to be a sure thing is becoming more of an uncertainty. When he comes in to pitch, fans get an uneasy feeling in their gut or a sharp pain in their chest.

A closer is supposed to automatic, but he has been anything but that. If he comes close to the pace of 10 blown saves, the Mets will most likely miss the playoffs. Those 10 games are the difference between contending for the division or losing out for the wild card. The Mets need to address this issue now, before he blows too many games and costs them a chance at a playoff season.

He has seemingly lost some zip on his fastball these days. Some speculate it may be due to injury or to lack of motivation, but regardless the reason, he is not the same pitcher he was.

The stats are still on pace for his averages, but something is missing. He walks too many batters at inopportune times and gives up far too many hits in key moments.

It’s almost as if the fire isn’t there, and he tries too hard to compensate for it. When that happens, he misses in the strike zone and gets burned for it.

The team has recognized that they need to address the bullpen. They have signed veteran reliever Brian Bruney to a minor league deal with the hope that he will help the club soon.

This was not the best of moves, considering he has had a feud of words with K-Rod and an ERA of 7.64. This is high, even in today’s baseball standards. It is so high in fact that he was released by the Washington Nationals earlier this season.

This is not a great choice for chemistry or performance thus far for the Mets . The problem though, is if they get a good bullpen option to set up K-Rod in the 8th ,can they trust K-Rod in the 9th ? Especially in big games?

This seems to be on the mind of the fans in general. If the team is to get to the post season, they must have confidence in their closer, and their closer must have confidence in himself in the key moments. So far, that confidence has seemingly been shaky on both sides, but it has particularly been called in question within the fan base.

This same fan base, who had heralded him with adoration only 18 months ago, now cringes when he comes in to pitch. That is a sure sign that there is little confidence in this element of the team from its’ fans. I mention fans because they are usually a good way to gauge a player’s performance overall in a season.

If a certain player excels, they will adore him. If he struggles, they will despise him. If that player is shaky or streaky, so are the fans toward him. Thus far, this season, the fan response has been generally mixed for the most part. That is a prime example of the overall performance from K-Rod this season.

He has been good and bad, just as the loyalties of the fans toward him have been. His streakiness must not go unnoticed, however. The fans are giving them signs to go by. They are telling the Mets that he has issues, and there is a reason to question him. The team needs to address his issues and be honest about recognizing that he has an issue. Otherwise, it will be an even longer next 18 months.

To see more of my work visit my blog @ http://nyfaninsjersey.blogspot.com

or visit my newest creation, a Mets online newspaper @ www.metsgazette.com

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With the Mets starting rotation in a groove right now, all eyes are becoming trained on what could be a more pressing issue. The bullpen has gradually begun to cost the Mets games. The issue has flown under the radar because of the propensity of fans to attack the pitching of Johan Santana and to focus too much on acquiring a big time starter like Cliff Lee; a move that might not even be possible.

The fact of the matter is the Mets would clearly benefit from adding an arm like Lee to the rotation, but for the Mets to be a capable contender down the stretch this year, they absolutely must add a reliable arm to the bullpen. Inking Brian Bruney to a minor league deal barely covers any holes that the big league bullpen presents.

One might call it hitting the panic switch too quickly, but Francisco Rodriguez has recently been one of the Mets biggest enemies. It goes beyond his numbers. K-Rod’s ERA looks good at 2.63, but of late, every time he takes the mound, he seems to be allowing hits or letting multiple batters on base because of erratic control.

He is giving up hits much more often than he ever has and is causing heart attacks amongst Mets fans. His four blown saves during the the first half of the year are putting him on pace for more than he has ever recorded in a season.

Behind K-Rod, the Mets bullpen isn’t entirely deep. The Mets are getting plenty of help from Pedro Feliciano, and Bobby Parnell has settled in surprisingly nicely. Fernando Nieve is beginning to get it together, but between him and Ryota Igarashi, the Mets could do much better. They need a true setup man.

A possible remedy to this budding issue would be for the Mets to focus their trading endeavors on a hard-throwing arm for the bullpen, rather than the rotation. The Mets rotation has been hitting their spots lately, and it has been a bullpen that lacks depth that has struggled to push the Mets to victory on a more regular basis.

The Mets could follow this kind of plan to address their pitching staff. They could likely trade first base prospect Nick Evans straight up for Kevin Millwood of the Baltimore Orioles. In Millwood, the Mets receive an experienced veteran arm that has a positive track record pitching in the NL East.

Millwood’s numbers are ugly with the O’s right now, but he has expressed interest in pitching for the Mets. Being back on a contender could bring out the extra effort from Millwood.

With Millwood filling out the back of the rotation, the Mets would have the luxury of moving Hisanori Takahashi back into the bullpen, a place where he had originally been effective. He adds depth to the pen and gives the Mets a second left-handed option. Takahashi will be able to eat innings as well.

The chips would then be in place for them to put together a package consisting of names like Fernando Martinez or Wilmer Flores, alongside another prospect or two. The Mets could use a prospect package to attempt to trade for relievers on the block like Heath Bell or Kerry Wood.

Matt Thornton or Octavio Dotel could even be on the Mets radar. At the very least, the relief pitcher market should be tested to see who is actually out there.

The Mets starting rotation has looked very good for the most part. A Cliff Lee-type pitcher would power it up more, but the Mets would be left with a similarly weak bullpen who’s ability to finish things off would remain in question.

Adding a formidable relief arm would not only drastically improve the Mets bullpen, but it would provide them a backup plan in case K-Rod continues these unforeseen struggles. The Mets front office should seriously consider trading for a relief pitcher as much, if not more than they are considering a deal for a starter.

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Catcher

1. Yadier Molina (Cardinals) 494,517

2. Carlos Ruiz (Phillies) 416,585

3. Ivan Rodriguez (Nationals) 403,874

Mets Candidate: Rod Barajas

It is absurd that Barajas is not even in the top 5 in the voting for catchers. Barajas is batting .268 (9th among NL catchers) with a .544 slugging percentage (2nd), 11 home runs (1st), 30 RBIs (1st), and 22 runs scored (4th). Clearly Rod has done more than enough to be near the top of the voting. The leader, Yadier Molina, has a .259 (12th) batting average, a .343 slugging percentage (15th),  two home runs (t-11th), and 28 RBIs (2nd). Barajas is outperforming Molina in every single one of these categories. As of now, Barajas is on pace for a career year, and he is more than deserving of an All-Star Game appearance.

1st Base

1. Albert Pujols (Cardinals) 1,006,149

2. Ryan Howard (Phillies) 532,729

3. Prince Fielder (Brewers) 315,936

Mets Candidate: Ike Davis

While Ike is putting together a nice season so far, there is no way that he could compete with for an All-Star spot at 1st base. Albert Pujols, even with his struggles, has been dominant this year. He is batting .318 with 12 home runs, 39 RBIs, and a .566 slugging percentage. Ike Davis may not reach the All-Star Game for many years because of all the talent that the National League has at first base.

2nd Base

1. Chase Utley (Phillies) 1,103,430

2. Rickie Weeks (Brewers) 261,591

3. Martin Prado (Braves) 260,349

Mets Candidate: …

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