MIke Jacobs is a waste of space

When Daniel Murphy went down with his knee injury, Mike Jacobs was assured of a starter's spot, and even batted fourth. But what did Jacobs deserve to get that spot? Chris Carter had a much better spring, and even had the praise of Jerry Manuel, being called "an animal". But Omar Minaya was impressed by Jacobs' past history of hitting homers, if this quote means anything:

"If you see the teams in the World Series, they’ve got power," Mets General Manager Omar Minaya said. "You’ve got to be able to break the game open. It’s not only home runs, it’s slugging. I think the right word is slug. You’ve got to get the extra bases."

The problem is that Jacobs really doesn't do anything, except hit an occasional homer. Last year he had a .305 wOBA, 25 points below league average, and 45 points below his positional average, and 8 points behind his position replacement level (.313). He had a .282 BABIP, right along his career average, and his xBABIP was .303, so he wasn't extremely unlucky. Instead, he just had a bad season. He then followed that up batting .194 in the Spring. Chris Carter had a far superior spring, and had a .360 wOBA last year, and a .376 wOBA the year before, both in AAA. He can actually play a decent right or left field contrary to popular belief, and despite being pretty bad at first, he's better than Jacobs. In the end, Jacobs shouldn't even be on the team, let alone batting fourth, and if he is on the team, what is he doing batting fourth? Your 3rd best hitter should bat fourth, than third, than fifth. Jacobs should hit 7th or 8th, in front of Cora, but behind Francoeur.
In the end this is a subject that I'm nitpicking on, but its just another example of bad mismanagement by Jerry and Omar, and also shows that Omar only has knowledge of players he once had.

Carlos Beltran surgery, Mets FO messes up

As you have probably heard, Carlos Beltran had surgery on his right knee, and should be out for 12 weeks before he can start baseball related activity. That means he is probably back around June 1. But what is more worrying is the complete idiocity shown by the Mets front office, yet again. In a development that rivals the Adam Rubin fiasco in terms of stupidity, the team say they wanted Beltran to have a third opinion to have the surgery. Of course, they determined this while he was having surgery. Beltran originally wanted to have surgery during the season, but the Mets didn't want him to, which can only be described as a blunder. He ended up playing in 19 meaningless games last year, and will know miss 2 months of an actual meaningful season (as it looks right now), when he could've had surgery earlier.
Beltran's agent, Scott Boras said that Beltran's personal doctor, Dt Steadman talked with the Mets team doctor, Dr Altcheck, who agreed Beltran should have surgery after pain in his knee was not going away. According to Boras, Dr Steadman was told that Dr Altcheck would tell the Mets.
The major blunder by the Mets was to make this feud public. It shows the Mets to be incompetent, again, and also insensitive. It also shows that the medical staff issues of last year have not gone away. Interestingly enough, it was John Ricco, the assistant GM who handled the Press conference. This can be read as the Mets hoping that the bad PR situation did not get any worse with Omar Minaya handling the press conference; they can remember the Adam Rubin fiasco as well.
Hopefully, Beltran gets well soon. It now looks like Angel Pagan will be the center fielder for 2 months. But while Beltran's loss is huge, it will be overshadowed by the Mets PR blunder. Seriously, what is Jay Horowitz up to?

Chat about John Lackey and Jason Bay

I spoke with Spencer (of this blog) about the Red Sox signing John Lackey (who wasn't interested in the Mets) and I added the obligatory Jason Bay question
Aidan:
John Lackey is described by the Mainstream Media to be a "Bulldog"
However, he has started 24 and 27 games the last 2 years and has suffered elbow and shoulder injuries. His deal was delayed because of a pre existing shoulder injury. How confident are you that the 5/$82.5 Million deal will turn out to be a good one?

Spencer:

The past couple years he has been less than healthy, and thats a risk we're taking. but he pitched at least 200 innings from 2003-2007 and has post-season experience (a 3.12 ERA). He looked fine at the end of last year and, along with Josh Beckett and Jon Lester, he can make up the best 1-2-3 punch in baseball.

Aidan:

Josh Beckett is a free agent at the end of the season. Will the Red Sox be able to resign him to a deal, where he could arguably get the same type of money as Lackey or even more? And if not, is that why they brought in John Lackey?

Spencer:

We brought in Lackey to supplement our staff now, and obviously we are going to try to negotiate with Beckett during this year. He has been our rock since 2007 and we're definitely going to want him for longer. BUT if his price is absurdly high, we would just let the Yankees get him. And we would still have Lester, Lackey, and Buccholz (not to mention dice-k)

Aidan:

Now, I have to ask the obvious Jason Bay question. Mike Cameron signed with the Red Sox on Wednesday, so it looks like Bay's time with the Sox is over. If he signs with the Mets (and we're front runners) do you think he will fit in, and is he better than Holliday?

Spencer:

Bay is a slightly better defender (.988 vs .980, 15 Assists vs 7 last year (Aidan: UZR liked Holliday a lot more than Bay)), but Holliday is a slightly better hitter, if not slugger (.318 career BA vs .280). Bay can hit for more power and he walks more as well. i think the Mets have decent speed with Reyes, Wright, and Beltran (Holliday runs more than Bay) so I think that Bay would fit in more. but really, don't you think you guys have enough stars to underachieve already?(Aidan: The idiots in the FO and management are the reasons we underachieve)

Poor Mets

I feel genuinely bad for them. I really do. All those damn injuries...
Carlos Beltran
Alex Cora
Carlos Delgado
John Maine
Fernando Martinez
Ramon Martinez
Jon Niese
Fernando Nieve
J.J. Putz
Jose Reyes
Johan Santana
David Wright
Bold equals Pivotal

Out of all of these guys, the only ones who have a chance to return this season are Beltran, Maine, both Martinezes, Nieve, Putz, and possibly Wright. I hope they feel better next season.
Edit, Aidan G. : Just learned from WFAN that Putz is shut down for the year. I don't think Maine is coming back, and I seriously hope Beltran and Wright don't come back.

Billy Wagner traded to Sox

He's been traded to the Red Sox will decline his $8 million option, but they will offer arbitration, meaning they will get a draft pick. The Mets will get 2 players to be named later, which according to Bart Hubbuch are 2 AA players. We here at MetsMD wish him the best of luck with the Red Sox, and thanks for all the memories, Billy. (The good ones, not the 4 run blown save against the Yanks in '06, or the 2 inning failed saves against the Phils in '07. Or the '06 playoffs)