Mets 2015 Season

Right now he should use Clippard in the 7th and Reed in the 8th.That gives the Mets more time to score if Clippard fails.Familia is a very good reliever, but not Mariano type.If he was, we would be 3-1 as we were leading in both games he blew.

You're right, Dunz. KC is hungry and they have the experience.These kids Gordon, Moustakis and Hosmer all came up together and are good consistent hitters.They put together base hits and score.Next year. WE'LL be hungry if we get back in the WS!!!

Big weakness for us they are exploiting is Granderson's weak arm.They consistently go from first to third.

Yes, it is a lot of fun being in the WS and will be good for our young pitchers and our next young great hitter Conforto.How about those two HR's he hit?! The future left fielder in place!!!

Since 2011, just prior to each World Series, I have made a prediction over which of the two teams would win it.  Well, with this one, I am now 5-0.  Just so you know there is a big difference between a prediction and a WISH-diction.  For any sports fan, the WISH-diction is for the team that he or she roots for to win the championship, in my case the New York Mets.  However, for a prediction, the goal is to be correct.  Here are the three reasons I picked the Kansas City Royals to beat the New York Mets just prior to the series.

1) Home field advantage: The current DH/no-DH rule was first put into play in 1986 where whether or not there was a DH depended on the ballpark the game was played in (i.e. in 1986, Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 at Shea Stadium (an NL park) had no DH while Games 3, 4, and 5 at Fenway Park (an AL park) had a DH).  Entering this series, the team that had home field advantage in the WS with this format was 22-6.  With this series win, it is now 23-6, so it wins 79% of the time.

2) Long Layoff: Entering the series, since the LCS went to a best of 7, there had been 7 times where a team had an LCS sweep.  Six of those seven teams lost the WS.  I mean think about it.  With the extra time off, they have a tendency to lose focus while the other team still has its focus (examples include the 2006 Tigers, the 2007 Rockies, and 2012 Tigers all swept their opponents in the LCS and clinched their WS berth long before it's eventual WS opponent did (the 2006 Cardinals, the 2007 Red Sox, and the 2012 Giants).

3) Fastball Hitting:  Shortly after the Royals defeated the Blue Jays in Game 6 of the ALCS, I found out that the Royals are one of, if not the best teams against fastball pitchers.  Well, Harvey, deGrom, Syndergaard, and Matz are all power pitchers.  Except for in Game 3, the Royals offense struggled against the opposing starter, but in the later innings they figured him out (Game 1 in the 6th against Harvey, Game 2 in the 5th against deGrom, Game 4 in the 5th/6th against Matz, and Game 5 in the 9th against Harvey.)  And in Game 3, they scored 3 runs off Syndergaard early, but the opposing pitcher Ventura got lit up and the Mets were able to blow the game open.

Now there were two other elements to the Royals that we saw throughout the series:

1) Speed on the base paths:  It is very clear the the Royals showed a lot of hustle when running the bases, whether is was getting infield hits, stealing the base, or taking the extra base.  All year long, I have been telling people that the Mets do not have any legitimate fast base runners.  I know Granderson and Lagares were kind of fast, but not fast enough.  I mean in 2006, they had a player by the name of Jose Reyes who had 64 stolen bases that year and during his good years, he was always a thorn on the side of the opposing pitcher.  But it took until the World Series for the lack of fast base runners to rear its head.

2) Great Bullpen:  We all saw last year how great the bullpen was for the Royals, especially in the late innings in close games.  There were issues with the bullpen during the regular season which appeared to be a concern for the team.  However, come postseason time, they were able to sort it out, and during the series, it was pretty much lights out with players such as Hochevar, Madson, and Davis.  The Mets, on the other hand, had their closer Familia get 3 blown saves during the series.  Game 1, he throws one bad pitch to Alex Gordon which he gives of for a home run, but with the one run lead in that situation, you can't afford to make mistakes like that.  And while the ones in Games 4 and 5 involved him coming in with the tying run on second (with the Game 4 blown save coming on the Murphy error and the Game 5 blown save coming on aggressive base running), the writing is on the wall. 

The Royals, without question, deserved their championship, and congratulations to them.  However, as a person who has been cheering on the Mets since I started attending ballgames at the old Shea Stadium as a kid, this one will be hard to swallow.  Throughout the season, there was so much fight to this Mets team and this year has had its moments.  But now it's time for the Mets GM Sandy Alderson and Mets owner Jeff Wilpon to make some decisions.   Did they enjoy the high attendance at Citi Field over the last few months?  How badly do they want to maintain it?  Do you want to win the WS next year?  Since the Mets still have some financial troubles, they have to think about these questions.  I would love for the Mets to acquire a basestealer such as Dee Gordon or Billy Hamilton but that is wishful thinking.  Regardless, the front office needs to look at the 2015 Royals and ask how badly it would like to put a team like that onto the field. 

Finally, as a Mets fan, it will not only be a tough offseason, but it will also be a tough Opening Day as the first Mets game in 2016 will be against the Royals in Kansas City, where they will see the team raise the championship banner.  Talk about rubbing the salt into the wounds. 

Congrats to the Royals. They were the better team in this series. The Mets had the lead in 3 games after 8 innings but lost it all 3 games. What a shame. The hitting this series was dreadful except for Granderson. He was the only one hitting. Bad defense and bad pitching from the pen killed this team, also not hitting the ball at all. I can't believe how well the Royals were hitting with 2 strikes. They don't strike out at all. The young guns pitched really well. There will be a lot of moves comes this offseason. I am confident that this team will be back in the playoffs soon. They have a great pitching staff. I am really proud of them this season . No one expected them to even win the division. Congrats once again Royals and Lets go Mets.

Great post Snow88 and you have to tip your hat to the Royals.I read three or four years ago when they put together the young hitters Hosmer,Moustakis and Gordon that they would be reckoned with.Love their style of small ball play.Yost figured out our weaknesses, Granderson's arm which caused more first to third plays and d'Arnaud's crappy throwing arm.They ran the bases like Champs.They exploited our weak defense, bonehead Murphy and marginal Duda, by constantly putting the ball in play.Collins was right letting Harvey start the ninth as he deserved it, but should have yanked him right after the walk.Then again, the way KC beat the crap out of Familia, it may not have mattered.Bases loaded , no outs and the top hitters up....all they do is sac fly a run.Pis poor!

Cespedes should go.His hitting stunk, he made two errors fielding and a bonehead base running play.He only hit 250 the last 28 games.Lagares is just as good.Use the money to pick up a good young CONSISTENT 300,125 RBI 30HR kid.Murphy should be traded.An AL team would use him as a DH and his trade value will be pretty good.Wright really looked bad in the WS.We are stuck with him.

Math23x7 wrote:Since 2011, just prior to each World Series, I have made a prediction over which of the two teams would win it.  Well, with this one, I am now 5-0.  Just so you know there is a big difference between a prediction and a WISH-diction.  For any sports fan, the WISH-diction is for the team that he or she roots for to win the championship, in my case the New York Mets.  However, for a prediction, the goal is to be correct.  Here are the three reasons I picked the Kansas City Royals to beat the New York Mets just prior to the series.

1) Home field advantage: The current DH/no-DH rule was first put into play in 1986 where whether or not there was a DH depended on the ballpark the game was played in (i.e. in 1986, Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 at Shea Stadium (an NL park) had no DH while Games 3, 4, and 5 at Fenway Park (an AL park) had a DH).  Entering this series, the team that had home field advantage in the WS with this format was 22-6.  With this series win, it is now 23-6, so it wins 79% of the time.

2) Long Layoff: Entering the series, since the LCS went to a best of 7, there had been 7 times where a team had an LCS sweep.  Six of those seven teams lost the WS.  I mean think about it.  With the extra time off, they have a tendency to lose focus while the other team still has its focus (examples include the 2006 Tigers, the 2007 Rockies, and 2012 Tigers all swept their opponents in the LCS and clinched their WS berth long before it's eventual WS opponent did (the 2006 Cardinals, the 2007 Red Sox, and the 2012 Giants).

3) Fastball Hitting:  Shortly after the Royals defeated the Blue Jays in Game 6 of the ALCS, I found out that the Royals are one of, if not the best teams against fastball pitchers.  Well, Harvey, deGrom, Syndergaard, and Matz are all power pitchers.  Except for in Game 3, the Royals offense struggled against the opposing starter, but in the later innings they figured him out (Game 1 in the 6th against Harvey, Game 2 in the 5th against deGrom, Game 4 in the 5th/6th against Matz, and Game 5 in the 9th against Harvey.)  And in Game 3, they scored 3 runs off Syndergaard early, but the opposing pitcher Ventura got lit up and the Mets were able to blow the game open.

Now there were two other elements to the Royals that we saw throughout the series:

1) Speed on the base paths:  It is very clear the the Royals showed a lot of hustle when running the bases, whether is was getting infield hits, stealing the base, or taking the extra base.  All year long, I have been telling people that the Mets do not have any legitimate fast base runners.  I know Granderson and Lagares were kind of fast, but not fast enough.  I mean in 2006, they had a player by the name of Jose Reyes who had 64 stolen bases that year and during his good years, he was always a thorn on the side of the opposing pitcher.  But it took until the World Series for the lack of fast base runners to rear its head.

2) Great Bullpen:  We all saw last year how great the bullpen was for the Royals, especially in the late innings in close games.  There were issues with the bullpen during the regular season which appeared to be a concern for the team.  However, come postseason time, they were able to sort it out, and during the series, it was pretty much lights out with players such as Hochevar, Madson, and Davis.  The Mets, on the other hand, had their closer Familia get 3 blown saves during the series.  Game 1, he throws one bad pitch to Alex Gordon which he gives of for a home run, but with the one run lead in that situation, you can't afford to make mistakes like that.  And while the ones in Games 4 and 5 involved him coming in with the tying run on second (with the Game 4 blown save coming on the Murphy error and the Game 5 blown save coming on aggressive base running), the writing is on the wall. 

The Royals, without question, deserved their championship, and congratulations to them.  However, as a person who has been cheering on the Mets since I started attending ballgames at the old Shea Stadium as a kid, this one will be hard to swallow.  Throughout the season, there was so much fight to this Mets team and this year has had its moments.  But now it's time for the Mets GM Sandy Alderson and Mets owner Jeff Wilpon to make some decisions.   Did they enjoy the high attendance at Citi Field over the last few months?  How badly do they want to maintain it?  Do you want to win the WS next year?  Since the Mets still have some financial troubles, they have to think about these questions.  I would love for the Mets to acquire a basestealer such as Dee Gordon or Billy Hamilton but that is wishful thinking.  Regardless, the front office needs to look at the 2015 Royals and ask how badly it would like to put a team like that onto the field. 

Finally, as a Mets fan, it will not only be a tough offseason, but it will also be a tough Opening Day as the first Mets game in 2016 will be against the Royals in Kansas City, where they will see the team raise the championship banner.  Talk about rubbing the salt into the wounds. 

Excellent Math!!!!! Yep, that long layoff really screwed us up.I love the scrappy, small ball speedy type of play KC uses.We gave that up when they traded Jose, our best base stealer.Keith Hernandez mentioned once during the season he would rather have a team that puts together runs like KC instaed of our relying on the home run.You live by the HR and die by it.The KC bullpen saw to that.You just have to tip your hat to the Royals hitting coach.Wish we had him!

Didn't know we open at KC.As Julius Caesar said..."Et Tu, Brute!!!"

I was worried about that all along.Would rather have them dead tired but sharp.It really screwed up Murphy.

Anyway, great stat for placing a bet next year,LOL!

http://nypost.com/2015/11/02/why-a-royals-scouting-report-was-start-of-the-mets-demise/

Here is how KC found a way to exploit the lousy throwing arms of Duda and d"Arnuad.Duda could have nailed Hosmer with a good throw, there was time. Collins and his coaches better put them to work overtime in spring training sharpening their throwing skills, especially d"Arnaud.I'd rather have a catcher who can nail guys out like a Molina and bat a little less.

Vegas had the Mets winning the World Series. They are a big jinx.

They have the Dodgers winning the WS next year lol

Free agents

Uribe
Colon
Johnson
Clippard
O Flaherty
Murphy
Cespedes
Blevins
Parnell

I'd keep Colon and Blevins.The rest can go especially Parnell.

Guess Vegas bought into the Mets pitchers wrapping this up.They did not see the poor defense and Familia blowing three games.

2 year deal for Collins

Vegas has 8:1 odds for the Dodgers to win the WS, Mets 10:1 and Royals 18:1.

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/113094/mets-open-minded-on-return-of-bartolo-colon-for-primarily-relief-role


Sign big sexy

Great video. What a great season it was. Proud of my Mets =)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13A6j93PxuA

Too Soon??

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sroc4 wrote: Too Soon??

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Hilarious! Bill Buckner gets his revenge after nearly 30 years.

He's a much better third baseman but Wright has that spot locked up for now.Wright declining rapidly, however, and they should be looking for a young third baseman.

Murphy will be gone he has good trade value and they were never going to sign him anyway.He'd be a great DH in the AL.Hopefully we get a good young kid hitter.

Don't think he'll take that, it's only one year.He wants three years.

docstox12 wrote:

sroc4 wrote: Too Soon??

" />

Hilarious! Bill Buckner gets his revenge after nearly 30 years.

He's a much better third baseman but Wright has that spot locked up for now.Wright declining rapidly, however, and they should be looking for a young third baseman.

Murphy will be gone he has good trade value and they were never going to sign him anyway.He'd be a great DH in the AL.Hopefully we get a good young kid hitter.

No trade value Doc, that ship has sailed. If he signs with another team the Mets get the last pick in the first round of the draft, that's it.

Don't know about that, CP, he did go on that six home run tear and got us in the WS.We'll see if other teams agree with what I say when that pick comes in.Anyhoo, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Murphy did not help himself with that crappy hitting and bonehead errors!

Today is the day to see if Murphy accepts the offer by the Mets.

Snow88 wrote:Today is the day to see if Murphy accepts the offer by the Mets.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/murphy-rejects-mets-offer-will-test-free-agent-market-1447453057?ru=yahoo?mod=yahoo_itp

Danny made the smart move.He can lock up four years at 10 mil a year. Always liked him and his superhuman efforts in the playoffs got us to the WS.Best move would be to AL where he can DH and stay off the filed,LOL.

Some good offseason news for us.Nats Jordan Zimmerman who always gave us trouble traded to the Tigers.

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2015/12/04/mets-general-manager-sandy-alderson-diagnosed-with-cancer/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

Just goes to show you how fickle and strange life is.He got an award for dealing the Mets into the WS and now this.

Shame he'll miss the winter meetings.We now may miss a good trade opportunity.

Get well soon, Sandy.

Thank you, aging wreck Zobrist for not wanting to be on the Mets.Turning 35,LOL! Good luck, Cubs.

I like this Walker trade for Niese.Walker much better defense than Murphy, 16 HR's and 70 RBI with 280 average.Only 30 years old.Niese was always good but not spectacular.

Just read they signed Asdrubal Cabrera for two years as an infield plug in.He has some pop as well.