No Matter What Happens The Rest Of This Season, The Mets Have To Rethink And Revamp Their Entire Bullpen

• Braves 7-Mets 6:

The past two seasons have highlighted the hit or miss nature of building a bullpen. Even

with Billy Wagner in 2007, the Mets bullpen was just as terrible in September as it's been in 2008 without Wagner. The strategy of bringing in veterans and continuing forward with what amounts to the same cast of characters with one or two changes isn't going to cut it; no matter what they try to do, the bullpen in 2009 can't be any worse than what they've trotted out there in the past two years.
Spending a load of money or relievers rarely works. There are closers who are worth the money and the risk. The Yankees had to keep Mariano Rivera even though he demanded an extra year that the Yankees were reluctant to give; whether or not it works out with Rivera, if there's any player who's earned a severance package for past production, it's Rivera. The Phillies took a chance on Brad Lidge and (even though in retrospect, they didn't give up anything to get him), he's been the difference between them and the rest of the NL East and is a viable Cy Young Award and MVP candidate.
As for the other "name" free agent relievers that signed contracts far above their value,

some like Francisco Cordero have provided what was expected, but that hasn't resulted in his team, the Reds, contending in the short term. As the Reds mature, that signing may be seen as having been astute; it also helps that Cordero is a good influence on the Reds young pitchers. The veteran journeymen like David Riske and Ron Mahay were negligible signings based on the bottom line. Mahay's been very good, but that hasn't helped the Royals all that much; Riske was average at best and then got hurt.
Looking at the top teams in the big leagues this season and the best ones have developed their own relief pitchers (the Angels, Dodgers, Cubs and Red Sox); and made smart, under-the-radar acquisitions (the Rays and Phillies). Teams like the Marlins just sign a bunch of guys who've been released or traded away for very little and give them a chance to pitch; they also let their younger pitchers have a shot. Teams have tried to build bullpens by signing recognizable names and it hasn't worked.
What I would do if I were the Mets would be to find a veteran closer to hold the fort in case of an emergency----names like Todd Jones or Brian Fuentes as potential stopgaps if they continue forward with Luis Ayala, John Maine or one of the young pitchers like Robert Parnell and they fail. Then I

would trade Scott Schoeneweis. Schoeneweis has been adequate for much of his time with the Mets despite the boobirds he routinely hears, but he's going to be in the last year of a three-year contract and they could get something for him. Aaron Heilman either has to be packaged as part of a trade or given a chance to start because this bullpen thing isn't working; the guy looks like he's on the verge of a nervous breakdown every time he goes out there and it's clear that he's at the point where he hates being in the bullpen. Perhaps a team like the Nationals, who have a large array of hard throwing and useful relievers and need starters would be interested in a swap along the lines of Heilman for Saul Rivera and Jesus Colome.
Another maneuver I would consider would be contacting the Tigers, a team in need of bodies in the bullpen, and see if they'd be interested in dealing the risky and injury-prone Joel

Zumaya (once he's given a clean bill of health). The Tigers would probably be happy to get someone like Heilman and/or Schoeneweis for a pitcher whose status is in question. Zumaya's a big risk with his injury history and flakiness, but with the way the Mets bullpen has been a wasteland, they can move forward as is or they can try something different. Scanning the waiver wire and dealing those that have been the main weak points over the past two seasons is a good place to start. They can't be any worse next year than they've been the past two Septembers.

• Phillies 5-Marlins 2:

I was watching Charlie Manuel as he walked out onto the field in today's game and it came to me. You know who he looks like? Former wrestler Dirty Dick Murdoch. Take a look:

One Realm In Which The Phillies Will ALWAYS Win And The Brewers Will ALWAYS Lose

• A gut check separates the Phillies from the Brewers:

The main difference between the Phillies and the Braves is that the Phillies, for all their

mouth-flapping and obvious flaws, are never going to quit; they're never going to let a small bit of adversity stand in the way of fighting to win. It was what led them past the Mets in 2007 and provided the catalyst to steamroll the Brewers this weekend and into a likely playoff spot.
The tone of the series was set on Thursday when Ben Sheets allowed five runs and nine hits in six innings and the Phillies won the game 6-3. It was as if the Brewers, knowing that they didn't have C.C. Sabathia pitching in any of the four games and already having lost with their secondary ace pitching, simply accepted the fact that they were overmatched and went through the motions knowing they were not only going to lose the series, but that the foundation of 2008 was crumbling beneath their feet. This is the fault of the manager Ned Yost and, by proxy, the front office for keeping Yost after last season and during this season.
For all of his strategic mishaps, overuse of his relievers and ill-timed ejections, Charlie

Manuel's players have never quit on him; if the Phillies take a punch, they always hit back. The Brewers on the other hand have a glass jaw; they're fine when Sabathia and Sheets are making hitters look like little leaguers; when their potent offense is piling up huge run totals or they're rolling along like a sure lock for the playoffs, but when they face any adversity, they collapse; this, like the public in-fighting and lack of hustle when things look bleak, stops directly at the manager's front desk.
The onus for this could be placed on the clubhouse leaders for the Brewers. They do have some players who are respected and well-liked by their peers like Mike Cameron, Sabathia and Jason Kendall, but if star players like Prince Fielder (who sulks and throws tantrums when things aren't going his way) are jogging out ground balls instead of trying to prevent

double plays, what are the rest of the players supposed to think? What can Cameron, Sabathia or Kendall do with Fielder other than to try and get him to take an active role as a leader and set an example by running hard to first base? There's only so much a player can do to get his teammates to behave appropriately; Derek Jeter is respected throughout the league and revered in his clubhouse, but the lack of hustle by both Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera has proven that there's only so much even Hall of Fame players can do. This is the responsibility of the manager.
Charlie Manuel has publicly benched his MVP shortstop Jimmy Rollins because of such transgressions and the rest of the team supported him without fail. What would happen if Yost said that he was benching Fielder for two games because of his attitude and lackadaisical behavior? Would they stand behind him, or would the dissension permeate the clubhouse and make the obviously poisonous teamwide attitude even worse than it is?
My guess is that Yost is being openly mocked by certain players as he tightens his already stifling grip on his team and they know that despite the fact that they're still in position to make the playoffs that they won't. They know that things are coming apart at the

seams in the clubhouse and on the field and their window is closing rapidly because they're going to lose both Sheets and Sabathia to free agency. What makes things worse is that the front office is quite probably ruing the fact that they kept Yost when they could've fired him at anytime dating back to last season, but didn't. They have to live with the decision knowing that they're unlikely to have this opportunity----a weak National League, two dominating starting pitchers and a run scoring lineup----again for quite awhile, if ever. The pieces were in place for a run at a World Series, but that's disappearing into the abyss of Yost's rage and inability to control his team. The elapsed time between Brewers playoff appearances is repeatedly mentioned in the press at 25 years; it's about to be 26 and the front office needs only to look into the mirror to understand why.

• The Barry Zito article by Pat Jordan in the NY Times sports magazine Play:
  

For anyone who hasn't seen the story, here's a link----Article----it makes Barry Zito look like a real jerk

Overuse Of Lidge May Cost The Phillies

• Marlins 10-Phillies 8:

I know what Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was doing when he used Brad Lidge to pitch

the ninth inning last night trailing by two runs to the Marlins, but in the long run with seventeen games left and four games of ultra-importance to the Phillies playoff chances against the reeling Brewers this weekend, wouldn't it have been better to be more prudent with Lidge's workload and give him a night off in what was likely a hopeless cause?
The case to be made for using Lidge is easy. The Marlins bullpen has not been good lately and they're using a patchwork closing corps; the Phillies had Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell scheduled to bat in the bottom of the ninth and with that, they're two swings from tying the game; and Lidge isn't going to beg out of a game unless he's in agony and physically unable to perform, but what were the odds of another comeback in the bottom of the ninth trailing by two?
I also understand that J.C. Romero and Chad Durbin have been ruthlessly overworked this

season, so it was better to use the durable Lidge, but the strategy could have been manipulated better to perhaps double switch and get another inning out of Ryan Madson rather than to use Lidge when they didn't need to. He only threw seventeen pitches, but we're talking about cumulative use as the season moves along and, as brilliant as Lidge has been, the last thing the Phillies are going to need as the season winds down is to have Lidge reach back for that little bit extra and find he has nothing left to give. Even with that, the division race between the Mets and Phillies may end up as meaningless because...

• Reds 5-Brewers 4; the Brewers are collapsing:

If this season is proving anything, how great or bad a manager is at his job, a manager's importance is only realized when the season comes down to a game or two and it's talent and

performance that dictates the end result. Jim Leyland and Bobby Cox are both having forgettable seasons and Joe Maddon, whose quirky style was met with quizzical looks as his team was winning 61 and 66 games in his first two seasons, is now being feted as "innovative" and "progressive" in his treatment of his Rays now that they're heading towards the playoffs. That being said, there are two examples of how a manager's demeanor can permeate his clubhouse and result in those extra three or four wins at the end of a season that can mean the difference between playing in the playoffs or watching the playoffs on TV.
Joe Torre's calmness and resume throughout any firestorm has allowed the Dodgers to maintain their cool throughout any adversity, injury, controversy and whatever else has happened; Ned Yost's Brewers are stumbling again with talent that other teams look at, shake their heads and wonder what's going on in Milwaukee.
Even though Yost isn't really to blame for the Brewers two losses to the Reds because of any strategic gaffes, there's something about the Brewers that makes them fold whenever they're pushed. A mental toughness is lacking and no amount of power in their lineup or aces in their rotation are going to be able to account for that and keep them in contention. A team with playoff aspirations like the Brewers cannot be losing two straight games to a Reds team (that isn't as bad as they've been portrayed) but is still going with a lot of young players and is playing out the season.
I like Doug Melvin as a GM, but he signed a guy in Jeff Suppan for a lot of money when

Suppan is at his best as a back of the rotation starter who comes up big in post-season games; Suppan was awful last night. Melvin also could have fired Yost earlier in the season and replaced him with the veteran baseball man Ted Simmons; the Brewers bad start would have shielded Melving from any criticism for the move and as the Mets are proving now, sometimes just making the change in the manager's office gets everything in line. (Speaking of which, I don't care what politically correct comments he makes to the contrary, Carlos Delgado must've despised Willie Randolph.)
The four games this weekend against the Phillies are going to determine whether or not the Brewers make the playoffs and it has to be noted that C.C. Sabathia isn't scheduled to pitch in any of them. After Ben Sheets pitches the opener on Thursday, the Brewers are sending Manny Parra, Dave Bush and Suppan to pitch to that Phillies lineup; it might get ugly on and off the field for the Brewers this weekend with a lot of questions about why, since they so aggressively acquired Sabathia to go for everything now, they didn't take a long hard look at their manager and make a cold-blooded and calculating decision to bring in someone who was able to navigate the ship through the storm. They're going to be sorry if and when they sink. They're well on the way.

• Blue Jays 3-White Sox 1; Blue Jays 8-White Sox 2:

I have zero intention of buying into this Blue Jays hot streak as a portent of a leap into contention next season. If you look at their finishes in 2006 and 2007, they had similar hot

streaks (not 10-straight wins hot, but hot enough) and ended with respectable records to put forth the illusion that they're finally "turning the corner" under GM J.P. Ricciardi and I ain't buying it.
Each time, the hot streak has conveniently happened as the team had no chance of making the playoffs; each time they've looked like a team on the rise and able to overcome the infighting and injuries that happen to them every single year, but they again fall to the mediocre team they've been since Ricciardi took over. Add in that they're going to lose A.J. Burnett to free agency (that may not be all that bad a thing because I'm very wary of

injury-prone pitchers who have their career year at age 31 just as they're primed to make a big haul of cash on the open market); that every year there's some embarrassing, alibi-laden controversy (or two; or three; or five) between Ricciardi and a player (from his team and others) a reporter or whoever else, that makes them look like their operating a circus instead of a baseball team; and that they're in a division with the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays and you'll see the exact same thing happen a year from now as is happening now. It's like Groundhog Day except the ownership never seems to catch on, much to their detriment.

• A message from my Sith alter-ego:

I sense a mocking tone in the power of Darth Escribus, Lord of the Sith as on the front

page of the blogsite an ad for the new Star Wars game is popping up. Such an attitude is a horrible mistake. When my apprentice Darth Moneke arrives, she will...take care of you...

Santana Comes Up Big With A Lot Of Help From Delgado

• Mets 6-Phillies 3:

This was why the Mets needed Johan Santana; this was why they paid the amount of

money they paid to get Santana to agree to come to the Mets; and this is why no matter what happens the rest of the way, there won't be a collapse like there was in 2007.
The entire game could've blown up in the first inning, but because Santana's Santana and the truly great pitchers have that ability to reach back for that little extra bit of greatness to get themselves out of trouble, he wriggled his way through the first inning. (The old-timers used to call it "pitching in a pinch".) Any of the greats----Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson----it was always said that if you're gonna get them, get them early in the game because once they get into a groove and get their mechanics and focus down, you can pretty much forget about it and that

was how it was with Santana last night; after the Mets got him a lead, there was even more reason for the Phillies to be start hacking because he was going to start challenging them and, most likely, beating them with pure stuff.
A couple of other interesting notes on this game: Why did Charlie Manuel get so bent out of shape in the first inning? Why was Cole Hamels allowed to hit for himself leading off the fifth when he'd already thrown 90 pitches and clearly wasn't at his best? And Jerry Manuel showed a gambler's mentality in the eighth inning when he used Brian Stokes to pitch to Pat Burrell over Joe Smith.
As soon as Charlie Manuel walked out to discuss that catcher's interference on Chris Coste in the first inning, I could see he was going to get himself ejected; but why? The most telling thing about the call was that Coste himself didn't even utter a peep in protest, so that should've been good enough for Charlie Manuel to come out, ask what happened and go back to the dugout. David Wright immediately started going to first base and pointing after his bat

hit Coste's glove; umpire Jerry Meals sent Wright to first because he heard the bat hitting leather and Coste didn't say anything; why all the histrionics and combativeness in the first inning? It made him look like he was panicking over a call that wasn't going to cost the Phillies the game one way or the other.
With the score 4-2 in the top of the fifth; Hamels having thrown 90 pitches and clearly not being on his "A" game and leading off the inning; and Carlos Delgado locked in at the plate, batting second in the bottom of the fifth and crushing everything Hamels threw at him, why not send a pinch hitter up to try and start a rally? They pulled Hamels after the fifth anyway; why let the pitcher, even though he's a pretty good hitter (for a pitcher), bat? This isn't second guessing even though Delgado's second homer...hold on a second...yes,

okay. It juuuuust nooowwww....yeah...it just landed in Whippany, New Jersey.
Jerry Manuel showed that he's willing to take chances because when he pulled Pedro Feliciano after striking out Ryan Howard, I was expecting to see Joe Smith come trotting in from the bullpen to face Pat Burrell, but instead the increasingly dependable Brian Stokes was called in; Stokes threw one pitch and shattered Burrell's bat in getting him to ground to shortstop. Stokes throws extremely hard, but that took guts to go with him in that situation. I probably would've gone with the sidearming Smith.

• The upcoming Phillies-Brewers series is now the matchup to watch:

While the Phillies are still harboring thoughts of overtaking the Mets (after last season, how could they not?), they're probably not as self-assured about their chances as they're implying in

public. With that, I'm sure they're going to try and put a dent in the Wild Card lead held by the Brewers when the teams play four games this weekend.
Just like last year, the Brewers are staggering toward the finish line and taking on the personality of their tightly wound manager Ned Yost. One would think that with all of his experience as a coach under Bobby Cox during much of the Braves streak of division titles, Yost would be able to compartmentalize his feelings and focus on what's right in front of him. Instead, after C.C. Sabathia's disputed no-hitter/one-hitter, the person who was most affronted by the call was Yost himself and he let it distract him from the playoff chase his team is currently on. If the Phillies are within striking distance of the Brewers starting on Friday, I'd be concerned that Yost's propensity to explode will permeate the Brewers clubhouse and they'll turn into this year's version of the Mets and have the Phillies batter them out of the playoffs.
This is when a manager earns his stripes and if Yost's reactions both last year and this year are any indication, if his team makes the playoffs, it will be in spite of him and not because

of him. For all of his faults, Charlie Manuel has control of his clubhouse, the players like him and never let the gravity of the situation affect them adversely; can the same be said for Yost?

• Dodgers 5-Diamondbacks 3:

The Diamondbacks are in a lot of trouble.

Pavano's Weak Stuff And Other Stories

• Yankees 8-Rays 4; Pavano's stuff just ain't there:

Carl Pavano has shown some guts in coming back to try and help the Yankees in some

way over the last month and redeem the previous 3 3/4 years with the team that can only be described as disastrous and embarrassing on and off the field; that being said, his stuff just isn't there at all. His fastball is puttering in at a high of 88 and is coming in anywhere under that; his sinker isn't sinking, instead it's taking a slight lateral movement at the hitting zone; his changeup is good enough, but with a fastball that's not all that fast, the changeup loses it's effectiveness; his slider isn't doing much of anything at all. He looks like he's getting hitters out because they're either stunned that his stuff is so weak or they're too anxious and unaccustomed to a big leaguer throwing such substandard junk.
It's strange because a pitcher who comes back from Tommy John surgery tends to throw

harder than he did before, but that hasn't happened with Pavano. The only things I can surmise are that he's still building arm strength or there's something not right with him and he doesn't want to say. If this is what he's got to work with now, he's going to have trouble securing anything more next season other than a Mark Prior-type contract in which the team that signs him is going to bring Pavano to camp to see if he can give them anything. If he thinks a month of starts is going to guarantee him anything more than a short-term contract laden with incentives, he's in for a big surprise, but in looking at how he's pitching, it shouldn't be any surprise at all.

• Astros 4-Cubs 0; can the Astros pull this off?

The Astros can forget about the NL Central because eleven games is too much to make up over the final 22 games, but they're only 6 1/2 games out of the Wild Card lead and their

schedule is notoriously weak over the final month. Other than three more games with the Cubs starting September 12th, they play: the Rockies, Pirates, Reds, Marlins and Braves. The teams ahead of the Astros in the Wild Card standings, the Brewers, Cardinals and Phillies have a much tougher road.
The Brewers have ten games remaining with the Cubs and Phillies; the Phillies have those games with the Brewers, plus three with the Mets; and the Cardinals have ten with the Diamondbacks and Cubs. After all the ridicule the blazing hot Astros endured little more than a month ago for "needlessly" trading for veteran help, it's legitimately possible that they could still be alive for a playoff spot going into the last weekend with the Braves and no one other than the Astros thought that would be possible.

• Nationals 9-Phillies 7; Charlie Manuel's reliever-abuse is showing:

The wear on the tires of the Phillies entire bullpen is starting show. J.C. Romero is pitching in almost every game (much as he did last year) and looks exhausted even if he doesn't make

himself unavailable to pitch; Chad Durbin has been brilliant this season, but as he's forged that new career as a reliever, the fact that he's been a career-long starter and has never pitched in more than 36 games in a season is diminishing his performance. The other members of the Phillies bullpen----Clay Condrey, Scott Eyre, Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge----are going to feel the affects on and off the field before too long if they aren't already. (I'd be willing to be heavily that they are.)
Eyre came over from the Cubs and, after being a lefty specialist used for one or two batters at a time for the last several years, has found himself pitching multiple innings to lefties and righties; he's pitched well, but how long before the wear and tear of this sudden change causes an injury, ineffectiveness or both? Manuel can argue that it's being done out of necessity, but he still hasn't shown any

restraint in the use of his relievers from the time the season started until now and with the Phillies three games behind the Mets, they're not going to be able to give any of those pitchers any rest.
Just like last season in which the Phillies bullpen heroically and selflessly sacrificed their bodies for the good of the cause of their comeback, the pitchers aren't going to complain and say they're unable to pitch when the team needs them; but because the Phillies authored such a miraculous comeback over the Mets in 2007, it's forgotten how they flamed out in the playoffs and were swept away by the Rockies before they even

knew what happened.
Part of the reason for that was because the comeback attempt was so intense on a night-by-night basis that the playoffs was almost a letdown after they finally caught and passed the Mets; the adrenaline that was carrying them petered out; the same thing is happening now and it's because of the way Charlie Manuel handles his bullpen that the Phillies are staggering toward the finish with 22 games left. They're running on fumes with no rest stop in sight and they're in big trouble because those pitchers can only reach back so far until there's nothing left to give, and what should frighten Phillies fans is that they may have reached that point.

Uncle Charlie's Bizarre Strategic Decision

• Mets 6-Phillies 3:

Charlie Manuel's main attribute as a manager is that his players like him, like playing for

him and, for the most part, play hard for him 24/7. They know that he's in their corners as evidenced by his frequent ejections and, even when he does strange and unexplainable things (think of the theme from The X-Files), they do as they're asked and don't question him publicly. Even though Manuel abuses his relievers, and overmanages in times of stress, the bottom line is that the team wins for him rather than in spite of him. The manager of the Phillies before Manuel, Larry Bowa, was a strategic ace who the players hated----and it showed in their results. Even when they had playoff level talent, they were never able to make it over that hump for Bowa; the argument could be made that if they had a manager for whom they wanted to go above and beyond the call of duty, if for no other reason than to save his job, they might have wound up with a better record in one of those years. Even with

that, Manuel's most diehard supporter in and out of the Phillies clubhouse has to wonder what's going through his head when he does some of the things he does.
In tonight's game against the Mets, the Phillies entered the eighth inning with a 3-2 lead. Having been overused up to this point in the season and due to last night's 13-inning affair, J.C. Romero and Chad Durbin were apparently only available in an emergency; because of that, Manuel had to use former lefty specialist Scott Eyre for two innings and veteran journeyman Rudy Seanez as his eighth inning man. Seanez retired Luis Castillo and David Wright before allowing Carlos Delgado's second homer

of the night to tie the game. After Carlos Beltran's infield single, Manuel removed Seanez and inserted closer Brad Lidge with the game now tied.
Disregarding that Lidge gave up the hits that scored three runs for the Mets, why was Lidge even warming up in the beginning of the eighth if Manuel wasn't going to use him while he still had a lead? In what has been a brilliant comeback season for him after two subpar years with the Astros, Lidge has not been used for more than a one inning save once this year----not once; yet Manuel not only had him warming up in the eighth inning, but only used him after the save opportunity was gone! It made no sense on so many different levels that it's going to be hard for the reporters to get viable answers from Manuel as to what he was thinking because there's too much to have to explain away.
First of all, if Manuel says that Clay Condrey, Durbin and Romero weren't available; that he

didn't want to use the rookie Andrew Carpenter in that situation; that Seanez was his best and most reliable option and didn't want to use Lidge for more than one inning in a relatively meaningless game in late August, then fine; that would be a legitimate explanation; but he had Lidge warming up anyway! He ended up using Lidge in the eighth inning anyway! If the guy was warming up, what was he warming up for if he wasn't going to be used to save the game? Once the call was made to warm Lidge up, then why wasn't he brought into the game to pitch to Carlos Delgado, who has crushed Seanez in his career? Then he brought Lidge in as there's one runner on base in a tie game, has him intentionally walk Ryan Church after the runner, Beltran, steals second and sees Lidge give up a game-losing double to a rookie in Daniel Murphy. It literally made no sense whatsoever.
Add in that this game was, in the cosmic scheme of things, meaningless. It's late August and if the Phillies had held on and won, they'd have had a lead of 1 1/2 games; it's clear by now that this season the National League East is going to come down to a similar war of attrition as it did last season with the managerial gaffes and who abuses their pitching staff more being the deciding factors. The difference last year was that Charlie Manuel and former Mets manager Willie Randolph traded inept maneuvers throughout the entire month; it just turned out that Manuel was luckier and got better and guttier performances from his players; now the Mets have a manager in Jerry Manuel who has an idea of what he's doing and if it comes

down to which Manuel is a better strategist, then the Mets are going to win.
I have no problem with a manager doing something that appears odd if it's done for a reason. It doesn't even have to be a good reason or one I agree with; a reason with some basis in logic is enough. Had Manuel stayed with Seanez and not had Lidge throwing it would've been one thing, but he ended up using his closer regardless and he lost the game. It was another example of Charlie Manuel's way of running things biting him on the behind and what made it worse is that it was a completely unexplainable decision not just because it didn't work, but because it was stupid.