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:

Watch The Headlines For A Brewers Blowup

• Phillies 7-Brewers 3 (Game 1); Phillies 5-Brewers 0 (4th Inning, Game 2):

2008 will be nothing like 2007 for either the Mets or the Phillies because no matter how many games the Mets bullpen gacks up; or whether or not the Phillies are able to catch up to

the Mets, both are going to make the playoffs because the Brewers are not going to be able to navigate their way out of this tailspin.
The loss column is the most imperative number to keep track of because a game yet to be played can still be a win; a loss cannot be made up. I said before the weekend that if both the Mets and Phillies took care of business, they'd be in playoff position by Monday----Blog 9/12. If the score of the second game holds, the Phillies will be two games behind the Mets in the loss column, and tied with the

Brewers in the loss column; and the Mets will be two games ahead of the Brewers in the loss column.
If the second game stays as it is now, I would keep my eyes open for tomorrow's headlines for some kind of Brewers explosion between players; or between a player and the manager; or something. With the way they're always infighting and are essentially leaderless in the manager's office, it's not going to take much (if anything) to set something off and then they're really going to collapse on and off the field and it's going to get real ugly, real fast in Milwaukee.

• Braves 7-Mets 4:

It's better for the Mets to get out on the road and head to a locale where they've had success this year against a terrible team in Washington against the Nationals. The Mets fans are

within their rights to boo the gasoline-can wielding suspects coming out of the bullpen, but after the way Luis Ayala has been nothing short of a godsend since arriving, booing him today for one hiccup was out of line. If the series against the Nationals warrants it, I'd expect Al Reyes to get some work to see if he's able to help out as the season winds down. The two losses to the Braves were partially due to bullpen failure, but also partially due to the inability to add tack-on runs. With an extra run here and there when the opportunity presented itself, there wouldn't have been a need to worry about who was going to pitch in the late innings.

• Broncos 39-Chargers 38; a move that took BALLS beyond belief:

If a manager or coach does something that I can only look upon with awe and say, "I wouldn't have had the nerve to pull something like that," I admire it. In the

closing moments of the Broncos-Chargers game, the Broncos scored to make the score 38-37 with only the extra point standing between a likely trip to overtime for the Broncos and Chargers. Instead, Broncos coach Mike Shanahan (whom I've considered to be overrated as a coach/GM) had the audacity to try for the two-point conversion and get the win...and they made it. I don't know many coaches----from Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells, Don Shula, Jimmy Johnson or anyone else you could name----who'd pull something like that. Even though it worked, I don't know if it was logically the correct thing to do, but I have to tip my hat to Shanahan because I wouldn't have done it and it worked.

Trade Me, Will Ya?!?

• Reds 3-Diamondbacks 2:

You can pretty much stick a fork in the Diamondbacks playoff hopes now. 4 1/2 games out

with fifteen games to go doesn't bode well for a team that pulled out all reasonable stops to try and win this season and is going to fall far short. I know there are those that are going to continually reference the Phillies and Rockies comebacks last season, but those situations were so far different than what's going on now that there's no point in even mentioning them.
The 2007 Phillies had three games remaining with the Mets and were surging even when they were in a worse position of seven games out; and with that, there was a fog of impending doom surrounding the Mets from June of last year all the way through to the last game of the season, so it wasn't a surprise that they got caught and passed.
As for what happened with the Rockies last season, that's something that I doubt we'll see again in the next thirty years. For a team that was so far out of contention to win almost every game they played for a month was a freak occurrence that isn't going to happen again for a looooong time, if ever.
The Dodgers have gotten their house in order while the Diamondbacks are switching closers in desperation to try and save their season and playing a brand of baseball that is conducive to losing like they're waiting for it to happen. Call it the Torre-magic or whatever you want, it's real and it's happening right before our eyes. When bizarre decisions are made and players who were just officially traded come back to haunt their former teams when they're not even in their normal roles, you know things are going to end badly.
Would someone please tell me the point of manager Bob Melvin naming Chad Qualls the closer, but then using Tony Pena to close a game that the Diamondbacks had to win because Qualls had worked in four of the previous six games? It's like saying, "he's the closer, but he needs the night off; so he'll start as the closer tomorrow." And this is no criticism of Pena because he has wicked stuff and the potential to dominate because he throws some pitches that are literally unhittable, but he is not the designated closer of the moment and he did blow the game.
How sweet must it have been for Micah Owings, days after what was unofficial but known

(that Owings was the player to be named later in the Adam Dunn deal), became official that he not only beat his former team in the Diamondbacks, but beat them with his bat because he's unable to pitch for the rest of the season. Here's an interesting question about Owings: in five years, will he be a pitcher or will he be an outfielder/first baseman? I happen to think that Owings could be a consistent 12-15 game winner, but he could also be a 20-homer guy with his bat. Teams are reluctant to have a player/pitcher doing both jobs, but Owings is a prime candidate to do it. Perhaps if he were in the American League, where he could DH on the days he wasn't pitching, it would be more palatable, but the guy is not just a good hitting or a good hitter, he's a good, clutch hitter and a decision has to be made to not just to play it safe and look good in public and make him a hitter or pitcher and stay there without deviation, but to take advantage of his unique skills.

• Braves 3-Mets 2 (Game One); Mets 5-Braves 0 (Game Two):

In a story of two rookies in important games, the Mets decried farm system was bolstered by the brilliant, high-pressure perforance of Jonathon Niese almost a year after another rookie

thrust into the spotlight, Philip Humber, failed miserably in another game the Mets had to win. Interestingly, both wore uniform number 49.
With so many fans still watching the Mets with heads tilted, breath short and lips pursed wondering if there's going to be a repeat of last season's suffocation and keeping a surreptitious eye on the Wild Card standings, the first game of yesterday's doubleheader didn't assuage anyone's feelings of dread. Johan Santana battled his way through 7+ innings clinging to a 2-0 lead and trying to navigate his way through eight innings only to see a series of seeing eye hits doom the Mets bullpen to another blown game. The Braves, in the midst of a dreadful season of rebuilding, would like nothing more than to play a large role in keeping the Mets out of the playoffs again; and after the disheartening loss in the first game, coupled with the Phillies continued brutalizing of the spiraling Brewers and that Niese was pitching the second game made the situation appear even more bleak. That was until Niese used a sneaky-fast high fastball, wicked slow curve and solid changeup to handcuff the Braves and pitch eight shutout innings. Most importantly, he threw strikes, challenged the hitters and overcame the nervousness that sabotaged his first start in

Milwaukee.
Fans were probably remembering Humber last season on September 26th, forced into a start that the Mets needed to get the five solid innings they were hoping for from Niese last night, and that the former first round pick allowed five runs in four innings as the Mets blew leads of 5-0 and 6-2 to the Nationals. If Niese kept the game close, everyone would've breathed a sigh of relief; instead he was brilliant and just as last week, a doubleheader spared the Mets from having to answer repeated questions about whether they were going to blow another playoff spot.

• Precisely why is Luis Ayala not a long-term solution as closer?

The armchair experts keep saying that the Mets are going to have to find a closer next season because Luis Ayala is not the long-term answer. May I ask why? How many teams have found a guy who didn't have the "stuff" or mental makeup to be a closer, installed him in

the role and found a hidden gem? Ayala's appearances have been far cleaner than Billy Wagner's ever were in his three years with the team; Ayala throws strikes, trusts his fielders; hasn't let the pressure of the situation bother him; and he's got great stuff. What's the problem with using him to close?
Look at the last five teams that have won the World Series. The 2007 Red Sox had a truly dominating closer in Jonathan Papelbon; the 2006 Cardinals had a converted starter with three career saves in Adam Wainwright; the 2005 White Sox had a guy with a bad reputation who'd been released and

didn't become the closer until September in Bobby Jenks; the 2004 Red Sox won with a junkballer in Keith Foulke; and the 2003 Marlins won with a journeyman in Ugeth Urbina.
With all the talk about Mariano Rivera's greatness and importance in the Yankees World Series titles, four of the past five teams won the World Series with a closer who wouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as Rivera. The job isn't one in which teams have to spend the money that the likes of Francisco Rodriguez is going to demand this winter. I would be perfectly comfortable with Ayala, Al Reyes or Todd Jones as a stopgap and trying to convert the likes of John Maine into the job if necessary and spend the money to bolster the starting rotation because it's a lot of money at the roulette wheel spending money on a closer for a historically iffy result.

• Brian Cashman's return may not be as assured as everyone thinks:

It seems to be automatically assumed that Yankees GM Brian Cashman is going to re-up and remain with the Yankees after the season, but with each passing day and the Yankees

soon to be eliminated from playoff contention, along with the ambiguity, silence and repeated statements to the tune of "we'll deal with it after the season" make the odds around 50-50 (in my mind) that Cashman returns. With the East Coast jobs that will and might be available in Philadelphia and Washington is another possibility as a landing spot and that's the Seattle Mariners.
Given his choice, I'd guess that Cashman would prefer to stay with the Yankees first and foremost----and this is imperative----as long as he's allowed to run the team the way he wants. With the new statements of Hank Steinbrenner implying an "advisory board" would be utilized----ESPN Story----making it a question of whether or not that's going to happen, Cashman seems to be deliberating of what to do and reconciling the possibility of leaving the Yankees in his mind and preparing for it. The longer this vacillation goes on, the less likely it is that he'll return.
If he leaves, I'm sure Cashman would prefer to stay on the East Coast, but it also has to be remembered how conscious Cashman is to his legacy and reputation. The Phillies GM Pat Gillick has gutted their farm system trying to win right now and they're in for a rough couple of years if they don't spend a lot of money to fill their holes. The Nationals are a massive project in which it would take about three years before they're even a .500 team; and I doubt that Cashman is going to willingly want to deal with Elijah Dukes and the other juvenile delinquents that permeate the Nationals roster. That leaves the Mariners.
The Mariners are the best bet to improve next year to perhaps a win total in the mid-80s.

Their pitching staff, with Felix Hernandez; impending free agent, Les Miserables Erik Bedard who's going to have an A.J. Burnett-type season; Carlos Silva; and Brandon Morrow is enough to assure a drastic improvement and if they make a smart player move or two to improve their offense and bring in a smart manager like Bobby Valentine, how is that going to make Cashman look if he turns around a team that is set to lose close to 100 games from one season to the next?
If Cashman does leave, where does that put Joe Girardi? If there were a big name GM available to replace Cashman, I'd say that the Steinbrenners, as part of the interview and hiring process, would tell the new GM, "you do what you need to do" with Girardi and he might be replaced with someone to the new GM's choosing. Since there's no big name available, it's likely that Damon Oppenheimer would replace Cashman and keep

Girardi, but that being said, it's very possible that Girardi could be fired (especially if the Yankees end up in fourth place) and end another job after one season of work with questions about his suitability to be a manager despite his impressive interview skills, obvious intelligence and likability. I don't see this as remote a likelihood as everyone else and if Cashman's out, there may be an entirely new regime in the Yankees new stadium by 2009.

Mussina A Hall Of Famer With Or Without A 20-Win Season

• Yankees 7-Rays 2:

There's a movement afoot to declare Mike Mussina's candidacy for the Hall of Fame as

assured if and only if he reaches 20 wins this season; but what if he wins 19? Is his candidacy then going to be somehow compromised if he doesn't have that gaudy stat of a 20-win season on his resume?
The argument against Mussina as a Hall of Famer was always weak to begin with. A pitcher who, as of right now, has 267 wins and is a staggering 116 games over .500; has 23 career shutouts in an era where such a stat is a rarity; a career ERA of 3.69 during the steroids era and pitching the first ten years of his career in the bandbox of Camden Yards; will have 3000 strikeouts before he retires; has been durable; and after this season will have been voted in the top six of the Cy Young Award balloting nine times, what does a 20th win have to do with anything?
The same context that Goose Gossage accurately and astutely uses to compare what it

was he and his closing brethren did in the 70s and 80s and what guys like Dennis Eckersley and Mariano Rivera have done applies to starting pitchers as well. Gossage says there's no way to accurately compare the closers like himself, Rollie Fingers and Bruce Sutter to what the one-inning closers like Eckersley and Rivera because the job and the edicts were totally different. Back then closers were brought into the game as early as the sixth inning; there was no "one-inning and out" stuff. Today there's an uproar if Rivera has to record five outs; how would he have functioned in 1978? This isn't to diminish the greatness of Rivera, but the game is totally different from what it was back then for relievers and it's the same for starters.
In the 70s and 80s, 36 or 37 starts for a top pitcher were the norm; how many more wins would those four or five extra opportunities have given Mussina? The bullpens were used much differently back then as well. With most teams carrying thirteen pitchers nowadays, it's easy to forget the days where there were nine or ten pitchers on a staff and the starters had to pitch into the seventh inning no matter the situation. The specialists for the sixth, seventh and eighth innings that are prevalent nowadays didn't exist back then. It's logical to say that a pitcher who starts 32 games and wins 17-19 would likely have won at least 21-23 if he were given five more starts and allowed to stay in the game until the eighth inning. By that logic, Mussina, having won at least 17 games eight times would be a no-doubt Hall of Famer.
The argument that Mussina is a "stat-compiler" who was more of a workhorse than a great

pitcher is disputed by the numbers, but it's also disputed by observation of the pitchers themselves. If the Hall of Fame is a haven for pure greatness on the field and in by the numbers; if a pitcher's hardware----Cy Young Awards, MVPs, World Series championships, etc.----is the mitigating factor, then a lot of pitchers would have to be ejected from the place. Don Sutton was, by the accounts of hitters like Keith Hernandez, a great pitcher whose determination, competitiveness and creativity made him one of the toughest assignments in baseball in the 70s and 80s; is Sutton, who won 20 games once, but 17 or more six times and was a top-five Cy Young finisher in a league with Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton as his contemporaries, a great pitcher? If not, then there's an argument for Mussina to be excluded; but if Sutton's in then Mussina belongs as well with or without a 20-win season on his stat sheet. If put into context, Mussina is every bit the pitcher that Sutton or Don Drysdale were and because of that, there shouldn't even be a debate. Mike Mussina is a Hall of Famer.

• Atlanta 16-Miami 14:
  

Morten Andersen kicked a 37-yard field goal to win the game for the Falcons. (I never get tired of this lame joke when there's a baseball game with a football score.)

• Mets 6-Brewers 5:

For those that are scoffing at the idea that the Mets are going to move forward with Luis Ayala as their closer for the rest of the season (or as long as he's effective and Billy Wagner is out, whichever comes first), they should look at the record of the aforementioned Eckersley, who was faced with the prospect of becoming a closer (which he did reluctantly); trying to continue as a mediocre starter somewhere other than with the Athletics; or having to retire. Ayala has

two attributes to close that have nothing to do with his stuff (even though his stuff is quite good): he throws strikes and he's not bothered mentally by the prospect of closing.
The job description seems so simple; just pitch the ninth inning with a lead of three runs or less and get three outs; but the failures of the other pitchers the Mets have tried to use in the absence of Wagner have proven that there's something different about getting those three outs without self-immolating. Aaron Heilman, Duaner Sanchez, Pedro Feliciano and Scott Schoeneweis have all fallen somewhere between shaky and terrible at doing the job while Ayala showed up from the netherworld of the Washington Nationals and has compiled four saves in five chances; most have been relatively clean as well. As for the process of throwing strikes, I'd rather have Ayala go out there, throw the ball over the plate and get hit

around to blow the game than to see Heilman do what he did on Saturday and give up the winning run without allowing a hit by walking everyone.
Yes, it's a mental thing; and yes, a major league pitcher should be able to throw strikes, but the ninth inning is a different animal in every aspect of the game and, for right now, Ayala is doing the job. Teams have gotten by with closers whose guts and mentality was better than their stuff and there's no reason that the Mets can't do the same thing; and Ayala's stuff, as said before, is actually quite good.

• Astros 9-Cubs 7; the Cubs are in big trouble without Carlos Zambrano:

Carlos Zambrano left the game after five innings with arm pain----ESPN Story----and if he's out for any substantial amount of time or is compromised in any way if he does come back this year, the Cubs are in big trouble. Add in that the expected problems with the injury-prone

Rich Harden are possibly occurring since he's having his start skipped for "precautionary reasons" (whatever that means), and the Cubs have to be very concerned for the playoffs.
If the season ended today, the Cubs would be playing the Diamondbacks in the first round and, even though they're both struggling lately, I'd rather have Brandon Webb and Dan Haren starting for me than Ryan Dempster and Ted Lilly. With Zambrano heading to the doctor and Harden always on the precipice of a long stint on the disabled list, the Cubs have to be worried heading into the final month with or without their big lead; big bats; and deep, hard-throwing bullpen.
While I'm on the subject of this game, credit has to go to the Astros for fighting back the way they have since the end of July when everyone (and I mean everyone) was calling Drayton McLane a fool for trading for veterans rather than cleaning house. They're still unlikely to climb back into playoff position, but the numbers that said they were completely out of

contention and it was stupid to even bother trying to fight back are being proven to be what they are----an aspect of running an organization to be taken into account with other circumstances.
While the numbers say that a good mid-season acquisition only accounts for a win or three in the grand scheme of the season, no one takes into account what it does for the existing players in a clubhouse. If the season looks lost, players may inadvertently or not take their foot off the gas pedal and coast to the end of the season; if the ownership still believes in the club and is making trades to try and get better, that can serve as a wake-up call to the existing players to give that extra effort and not give up. That and the sudden health of Roy Oswalt have contributed to the Astros comeback more than any of the veteran journeymen----Randy Wolf and LaTroy Hawkins----have.