Mets Clinched NLE (14 years of Brave domination are gone)...But will the Mets go far?

[Sean Mota]

After 14 years of Atlanta Brave domination, the NY Mets have seen the light of day. The big question is: is there anyone better than the NY Mets in the NL? Will their pitching be enough? Can Pedro be Pedro? Can Glavine give you a good performance? Who will pitch games 3 & 4? The good questions of playoff baseball. Do they have enough to win it all? Analysis please... Thanks.

P.S. here are the 2006 pre-season ESPN Predictions http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview06/news/story?page=06expertpicks

DailyNews
Shea hey! The wait is over<NOLAYER>
</NOLAYER>So it took a few extra days. So what? The Mets have waited years for this. It's been 18 since they last won the division. Eleven since the Braves' rule in the East began. Forever since the Yankees took over this town. But last night, the wait finally ended.
FULL STORY

 

[pdxsam]

Trachsel last night showed he's still got something in the tank. I think he's the lynchpin in the rotation. Whatever he brings will be the swing point.

Pedro will be Pedro in the playoffs.. he always is. No matter how he's ever pitched in the regular season he's been lights out in the playoffs. Glavine again is a question mark. His last start was vastly better than the others since his return to the rotation. He's another pitcher who gets it about playoff games.

#4 will have to be El Duque. He's got something to prove to both the Yankees and the D'backs. If the Mets make it to the WS and there's no reason to think they can't, they'll more than likely hit the Yankees. El Duque would LOVE to beat the Yankees in a WS game. This year should be his shot.

On offense Wright needs to get back to the Wright of before the all star game. (Damn Home Run Derby). They should put in the contracts of these guys No Home Run Derby. Beltran is in a mini slump but walking like a fiend. Delgado will step it up and make the walks count. I hope Shawn Green can find his stick in the next two weeks otherwise that's a lost slot that Endy Chavez should be in .

One last note MANY MANY thanks to whoever was in the DISH Network Ops Center last night for letting the SNY feed on EI run till the celebration was done. So many times this year they've axed the feed seconds after the last out was made. It was so great for this long distance Mets lifer to be able to see the entire celebration .

Just wanted to pass that out to the Dish folks. We bitch them out a lot about screwups , and justified. I wanted to make sure to post my compliments on this one.

 

[Mr Tony]

It hasnt been 14 years. Remember Montreal had the best record in baseball in 94 before Bud f**ked up and they went on strike

Long live the Expos

 

[pdxsam]

But that season is the who shot JR season it was just a dream it never really happened.

 

[Jimbo]

Possibly the Dodgers, but thats about it ....

 

[dantheman77]

why is this a sticky????? will u have one for dodgers, cardinals, ect???

 

[Sean Mota]

yes... I will stick the next team that clinches and will let go of this one. I want to see how many care about their teams clinching before the playoffs.

 

[Sean Mota]

Pedro the big Question for the Mets

Don't expect Pedro at 100%
Pedro Martinez threw a bullpen session on Monday in preparation for his start tomorrow night and said he felt no ill effects from his start Friday in Pittsburgh. However for the first time, he sounded like he isn't sure what to expect from himself in the postseason.
FULL STORY

 

[pdxsam]

Good point... his confidence is definitely shaken by the leg. It comes back with testing the leg in real game situations. The game Friday night didn't do anything to help that. I'm eager to see his next start. This should tell a lot.

 

[dantheman77]

yes... I will stick the next team that clinches and will let go of this one. I want to see how many care about their teams clinching before the playoffs.

ok great. we in the midwest are insecure . mets do look like the class of the NL. but then the cardinals were the class of MLB the past two years ( 04 - 05) and have no rings to show for it! so you never know (profound statment)

 

[uhlesses]

14 pennants and just 1 world series championship. Those two stats will be hard to top.

 

[dantheman77]

14 pennants and just 1 world series championship. Those two stats will be hard to top.

sorry, what team are you talking about??

 

[Sean Mota]

more problems for Mets?

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>Willie backtracks, says Pedro
may not be ready for Game 1
</TD></TR><TR><TD>BY ROGER RUBIN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
</TD></TR><TR><TD><!-- Component: NYDailyNews : component/story/picture.comp --><!-- Component: NYDailyNews : component/story/picture.comp -->Willie Randolph did nothing to quiet concerns about Pedro Martinez yesterday before the Mets' final home game of the regular season. He actually might have added gasoline to the already-roaring alarmist fires.
The manager was discussing Tom Glavine, the losing pitcher in the 7-3 defeat to the Nationals last night at Shea, and what the spacing would be between his next two starts when he introduced the possibility that Martinez might not start the team's first postseason game. "(Martinez) might need more time and get pushed back I said to you guys initially he might go in Game 1 ... but that's always subject to change," Randolph said in a radical departure from his early proclamations that Martinez would throw the first pitch of the Mets' first postseason game since 2000. "So what I am saying to you is that depending on how he comes out of his start (tomorrow), who knows? He might need to be pushed back a little.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/455875p-383630c.html
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[pdxsam]

I'm thinking the rotation will look like this:

Glavine
Trachsel
Martinez
Hernandez

That will keep everyone on normal rest.


Sadly I'm beginning to think this isn't going to be the year. The pitching just isn't holding up.

 

[Sean Mota]

I think the rotation is going to look like this if Pedro can't go in game 1

Duque
Glavine
Trachsel
Pedro

which maybe ok for a weak NL...

 

[pdxsam]

That lineup could make it through the NL so the Mets could hit the WS.

Unless someone bumps off the Yankees early, I don't know if the Mets staff can shut down that lineup. They've been running on all cylinders the entire month.

The plus for the Mets in the WS would be if Mussina is still bothered by getting hit in the hand. Johnson's back is really touchy and bothering him a lot so he's a big question mark.

 

[Sean Mota]

Pedro gets rocked again and admits he is not "Ready" for playoffs.

 

[Sean Mota]

Pedro out of the playoffs... See you next spring.... Starting rotation for Mets looks blink.... (see above).

 

[pdxsam]

Fortunately, no one else seems to want to step up in the NL so they *might* be able to make it to the series. If they go up against the Yankees it'll be 2000 all over again.

 

[bidger`]

Starting rotation for Mets looks blink....

Blink? Do you mean bleak?

They've carried through the bulk of the season without him and it didn't stop them from clinching the NL East. I'd prefer to have Pedro for the short series in the Playoffs, but you play with what you're dealt.