Mets Announce Layoffs

No word on whether or not Mr. Met's a part of the 10 percent. 

According to the NY Post, the Mets announced that they will be laying off 10 percent of their workforce.

Of the 180 non-baseball player employees in the organization, 15 have been laid off.

The news just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?

Reyes Won't Take Hometown Discount To Stay With Mets

As of 12:01 this morning, Jose Reyes entered the free agent market.

According to Mike Puma of the NY Post, Reyes will not accept a hometown discount to remain with the Mets.

A person close to Reyes told The Post there is almost no chance the shortstop will accept a hometown discount to remain with the Mets. A second person, who regularly spends time with Reyes, indicated the fact the Mets probably aren’t on the cusp of playoff contention may kill the team’s chances of re-signing Reyes.

Well that doesn't sound like good news for the Mets, seeing as how they probably won't present Reyes with the best offer.

Let the Jose sweepstakes begin!

Don't Expect Mets To Make A Big Offer In Jose Sweepstakes

According to the Daily News, the Mets don't plan on offering Jose Reyes a six or seven year contract, and they might not even give him a five year deal.

I see no problem with this. Long term contracts tend to not always work out, so why tie yourself down to a player, especially a player who has had leg issues in the past.

The writer of this story, Andy Martino, threw in this little gem:

It appears unlikely that the Mets will make the highest offer — and while it would seem difficult for the team to compete in the National League East next year without him, Alderson conceded nothing.

Really? Because the Mets were just dominating the NL East with Reyes, right?

I didn't think so.

I still have no clue as to how this is all going to work out. The only thing I can guarantee is that the Mets will not be handing Reyes the best offer.

As I've stated before, if Reyes is sincere in his claim that he wants to be a Met, the two parties will find a way to make it work. Only time will tell.

Mets Pitchers Were Lazy? Don't Blame Warthen

Pitching coach Dan Warthen was quoted in the Wall Street Journal, saying that the Mets pitching staff became lazy in 2011.

"We got into being a little bit mentally lazy and overly secure," Warthen said. "I think that caused a lot of the homers this year. I really do." The new dimensions, Warthen added, "will help us focus and concentrate and not be so ready to go out there and throw a fastball away and hope they hit it to center field."

I know many fans can't stand the fact that Warthen is still the pitching coach. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter who the pitching coach is. If you have a group of pitchers who lack talent, guess what, you're going to give up home runs.

Sure, Warthen can spend his time motivating his pitchers, but let's be realistic. This is not Little League, high school, or college ball. At this level, players should not need to be constantly checked on to see if they are motivated to still play. If they do, they don't belong on the field to begin with.

Knowing that you can get the boot from the rotation, or the big league team all together, should be enough motivation for a Major League ball player.

Personally, if I had noticed any of my players becoming lazy, they would have found themselves a seat on the bench. If the Mets were to do that, however, they would have had nobody to fill those spots. The talent is just not there.

This all brings me to a previous post from months back, where I asked: When do the fans stop blaming everyone else, and start holding players accountable?

Mets Make It Easier To Hit Home Runs With Wall Changes

The Mets are making changes to Citi Field.

According to a press release, the Mets are:

"Moving in portions of the outfield wall at Citi Field as much as 12 feet and lowering the height of the home run line to 8 feet throughout the outfield. The outfield wall will become blue in 2012 concurrent with the Mets 50^thAnniversary season. The home run line and distance markers will remain orange.

The Mets will erect a new wall in leftfield starting between the New Era and Caesars signs and angled to the Citi sign in left-centerfield (see attached renderings).  The new wall will be closer to home plate by approximately 4 feet in leftfield and up to approximately 12 feet in deep left-centerfield.

A new wall will start in right-centerfield and extend toward the bullpen, and be as much as approximately 11 feet closer to home plate.  The fence in front of the Mo’s Zone/Modell’s Clubhouse will move in approximately 10 feet.  The distances from home plate to centerfield and the foul poles in leftfield and rightfield will remain the same."

Let's be realistic, these wall changes will probably make it easier for the other teams playing in Citi Field hit home runs, not the Mets.

Fans are finally seeing their team's colors displayed for all to see, and the walls are finally being moved in.

I don't want to hear or see a single fan complain the first time an opposing team benefits from any of these changes.

You wanted 'em, and now you got 'em.

Scouting Out The New York Mets Competition Moving Forward: PhiladelphiaPhillies

This was the year for the Phillies.

Adding Cliff Lee to a team that had won six straight division titles, made three straight NLCS appearances and won a World Series title in 2008 had to be unstoppable right?

Wrong.

The Phillies rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt was heralded as the greatest rotation ever assembled. They were being compared to the Braves of the 90’s, the Orioles of the early 70’s, even the Mets of the mid 80’s (that was a stretch). To stick to the point, to say they were hyped, would be an understatement.