An 11 run disgrace thusfar

The Mets did have a lead when this inning started.  Then the Rockies scored 11 runs.  The Mets made 4 errors.  And there's still only 1 out.  Now the Mets are losing 13-6.

It's innings like this that really make me wonder why my Dad made me a Mets fan.

Ike Got Pulled

And to illustrate my point - Ike Davis just got pulled for a pinch hitter against the lefty.  Justin Turner is hitting for him.

Injuries Are Piling Up - and Ike Needs to Stop Whining

The injury bug hit the Mets again.  Bay's out.  Pelfrey is out.  It's looking like Valley Fever is effecting Ike.

And Ike really needs to stop complaining when he strikes out or doesn't like pitches.  He's been doing this for awhile now.  When he doesn't like a call, he shows up the umps.  You know all the umps know it.  He's not going to get calls in his favor.  It happened last night.  It means he'll have chase bad pitches and you're seeing the end result.

Or it could be the Fever.

Either way, when you strike out - shut up and head  back to the dugout.

Nieuwenhuis 10th in Hitting!

Kirk Nieuwenhuis is 10th in the majors in batting.  He's hitting .371. There is no way Torres can get his job back at this point when he comes off the DL.  He's still a few weeks off - but you can't send this kid to the minors.

Keep Nieuwenhuis as the Starting Center Fielder!

Mayday!  Mayday!  Terry Collins has said that Andres Torres will have the starting center field job once he comes back from the DL.

Why?

He's coming off a terrible season.  As I said before, he's clearly just a stopgap player.  Just a transitional player there to keep the spot warm while the future develops on the farm.  

The future is presently hitting .375 in the bigs with a .444 on base percentage.

Small sample size....yes.  But the kid is not overmatched.

Play the kid.  Bye, Torres.  Nothing personal.  I just don't anything invested in you.  It's just business.

Time to Go to a 26 Man Roster

When the Mets won the World Series in 1986 - MLB rosters were down to 24 players.

It was also a different time.  Starting pitchers went deeper into games.  Relievers went longer, too.

A team could get away with 14 position players and 10 pitchers.

But that didn't last for long.  It was soon back to 25 players.

Since then, the role of the bullpen has changed.  Pitchers didn't go as deep into games.  There were the lefty one out guys.  Teams regularly hold 12 pitchers.  This leaves 13 position players.  Less than in 1986.  This leads to thinner benches.  It's led to guys who are purely pinch hitting specialists (like Rusty Staub) becoming a rarity.  There simply isn't a roster spot available for it.  If you're on the bench and can't play the field in more than one position, there's no use for you.  If you're not going to be a full time DH in the American League, there's no use for you.

With a 26 man roster - Vlad Guerrero would have been signed.  Hideki Matsui would have been signed. (Some may argue with that, but if there's an extra position player spot - why not take a flier?)

So here's my proposal.  Expand the rosters to 26 players.  Have the purpose be for extra bench depth.  And to make it "fair", designate a specific roster spot as the "26th Man" - which will be a player at the minimum league wage.  It will keep the owners happy by not jacking up payrolls more.  It will make the players union happy by adding another 30 full time MLB jobs (not to mention racking up service times to additional players).   A team could either add a veteran specialist looking to play for another year that isn't getting signed elsewhere, or they could give a young, versatile player an opportunity that wouldn't have otherwise had a chance to prove themselves and at the same time free up a spot for a veteran specialist.

Let's go to 26 men.

Torres Who? Nieuwenhuis Belongs

Small sample size, sure - but Nieuwenhuis is looking like he belongs in the bigs.  Torres may have lost his job before he ever got a grip on it.  If you're building the team for the future - why play the obvious stopgap player that's there while you're waiting for the future (Nieuwenhuis) to get ready for the show?

I'm Liking Tejada

No one will ever replace Reyes - but through the first week+ of the season, Tejada is looking good.  He's playing loose and better than anyone could have expected.  And he's only 22.  Still a kid.

Jason Bay Bops One

What do you know?  How'd that happen?  I thought Tejada would jack one out first.

Back to the Same Old Mets

Two losses in a row.... 4-2.

Since I'm a Mets fan - the sky is falling.

Easter at Citifield

I went to the ballpark today, compliments of their free Twitter tickets.  The announced crowd was somewhere in the neighborhood of 27,000 - it looked less.  That figure probably included the number of people who got free tickets "just in case" they'd go and weren't sure if they'd show.

It was still cool to go.

Hat Days Around the Majors

It's that time again..

Early Hat Days announced around MLB.  Teams often announce additional promos once the season gets underway.

Orioles - July 15th, July 27th (floppy hat)
Yankees - May 19th, June 25th, July 13th, Aug 4th
Blue Jays - Aug 12th
Braves - June 11th
Mets - May 25th, June 2nd (visor), June 3rd, June 22nd, June 23rd, June 24th
Phillies - May 14th, June 3rd, Sept 7th (knit hat)
Nationals - April 12th, May 19th, Aug 17th
White Sox - April 14th (knit hat), Sept 7th
Tigers - July 2nd (floppy hat), July 4th
Royals - June 2nd, Sept 15th
Twins - May 12th, July 15th, Sept 14th
Cubs - April 9th (winter hat), June 12th, July 14th, Aug 14th, Aug 24th,
Reds - Aug 18th
Astros - April 10th, May 5th, June 20th,
Brewers - July 26th
Pirates - June 23rd,
Cardinals - April 28th, May 26th
Angels - April 21st, July 24th,
A's - July 4th, July 8th,
Rangers - May 12th,
Diamondbacks - July 21st
Rockies - June 8th
Dodgers - July 3rd, August 5th,
Padres - April 21st,
Giants - April 27th (knit hat), June 10th,

The Mets Killed the Secondary Market for Tomorrow

If you're looking to sell tickets to tomorrow's Met game on the secondary market - the Mets's screwed you.

Great for Mets fans.  They're giving away free tickets.  All you have to do is get one from a twitter link.

So why would you buy a discounted ticket on the secondary market when you can get one for the deepest discount of all?

David Wright's Ribs

I didn't think much of it when it was first announced that David Wright was going to miss the intrasquad games last week with rib soreness.  It's early spring.  A star will be kept out of the game if he didn't get a good night's sleep.

Then David missed a few more games.  Okay.....

Now he's going back to New York and is going to miss the next week...

Do we have a problem, Houston?

And didn't we hear something similar with Ike last year?

Then again, we are talking about the Mets and their medical staff.

Mets Dynamic Pricing is Stupid

The Mets are going to shoot themselves in the foot with this dynamic pricing.  Isn't the idea to GET people to the ballgames?  Prices will fluctuate depending on market conditions, including the weather.  Which means that they're going to gouge you if it's a nice summer weekend - aka the perfect day to get to the ballpark.  if the weather sucks, ticket prices will drop.  

You'll have fans that will pay in advance for a weekend game in the summer that will end up paying more now because they want to lock in that game and not try to "time" the market  Then they'll get really pissed off if the weather is so-so, but not bad enough to call the game.  That ticket they paid $40 for in advance (like the price you'll have to pay for now at banner day in the promenade reserved) you may be able to get for $12 in the promenade outfield (because you can get a full season ticket in that section for that amount) and just move to a different section.   

This is not the time to alienate the fan base.  Note to the Wilpons - you're not the Yankees.  This is coming across like you're trying to squeeze every nickel you can get.  Don't make buying tickets to your favorite team a hassle where you feel resentment that you're getting cheated.  They'll stop coming.  It's been happening the last few years at Citi.  Let's not forget the past ghost towns at Shea.  The airlines use dynamic pricing, but that's also a mode of transportation to GET from point A to point B when your only other option is to get there slower. 

The Yankees keep their ticket prices steady.  Unless it's one of their discount ticket nights (which frankly, they offer at lower prices than the Mets do for their "value" games), you're paying the same for games against the Sox as you will against the Mariners.  So what happens?  The fans will buy tickets to two or three games instead of just that one you're gouging them for.  They'll buy Yankees hats.  Their kids will grow up Yankees fans and where will your fan base go then?  We've already lost a generation of young Mets fans in this what will be the 17th Full Year of the Jeter Era.  

Set the ticket prices.  Price them fairly.  Take the guessing game out of it.  Stop treating the ticket market like the stock market (leave that to the secondary market).  Stop pissing off the fan base - because that's what you're doing.  

I've Discovered Jack Vale

Along with about a million other people, give or take.

Yeah, yeah... I'm a middle aged guy.  But fart jokes still rock.

Check him out on youtube.

Manny to the A's?

It looks like it's getting close - Manny may be signing with the A's for just over the MLB minimum.

How's that for Manny being Manny?

The New Mets Packs

I said it on here yesterday - the Mets just put on their site that new 6-packs go on sale tomorrow morning at 10am.

Mets Will be Offering 6-Packs

They haven't announced it on Mets.com yet, but the Mets will be offering 6 pack ticket plans.  The plans will consist of 1 Marquee game and 5 other games of your choice.

The price range will depend on what games you pick.  If you pick value games, it will cost less.  If you want to go on weekends, it's going to cost you more.

You already know my feelings on that.  The Mets need to do their pricing that is more on par with the Yankees.

The Problem with Mets Pricing - Perception is Reality

There's something that is majorly broken with the Mets pricing structure for tickets.  It's called the Yankees.

Yes, Yankee Stadium has a greater seating capacity than Citifield - but when it comes to the public, perception is reality.   If you were to get a 16 day weekend plan (consisting of 13 weekend dates + 3 other non-weekend dates), ticket prices start at $320/seat plus fees.  That's $20/ticket.  Advance purchase prices for tickets are $22.  Game day tickets (if there are any left) start at $23 for non-obstructed view seats ($15 for obstructed view).

Let's compare that to the Mets, who have different price structures for their games.  Yeah, yeah - they're doing the "dynamic pricing" where ticket prices either go up or down depending on demand (which tells you something right there).  Starting game day prices range anywhere from $12 to $36, depending on the "category" - Marquee, Premium, Classic & Value.

So on the surface, you have some games that are less than what the Yankees would charge, some that are more.

But let's look at this further...

When are the highest in-demand games?  The weekend.

How much do the Yankees charge for low end, non-obstructed view tickets on the weekends? $20-23.  That includes the Red Sox, the Mets, Opening Day, and Old Timer's Day.  Those are the Marquee games.   How much are the Mets charging for their Marquee games?  $36.  All the other weekend games are either Premium or Classic games.  That's $28/ticket for a Saturday or Sunday game except for the April and the first series in May when it's $20/ticket.

In other words, it's cheaper to see the Yankees (which frankly is the better product) than it is to see the Mets if you want to take your kids on the weekend.

Okay, Okay... so they Mets have those $12 value game tickets.   When are they?  Mid-week before schools get out and after schools are back in.  That's less than the Yankees, right?  Uh.... the Yankees also have ticket specials for games (they haven't announced those dates yet) for $5 for some mid-week games.  So yet again, the Yankees give you the better value for the better product.

And if you want to get a weekend ticket plan to the Mets?  It's going to cost you more than a weekend plan for the Yankees.

In other words, you have the Yankees, who have put a winning tradition on the field for nearly 20 straight seasons, lets you see their product live for a better value (which will in turn solidify your fan base for future revenues) than the Mets do.  The Mets are struggling on the field, struggling on the balance sheet, and struggling to get fans into the ballpark.

With the product on the field, the Yankees could afford to do a pricing structure the way the Mets do, but they don't.  The Mets can't afford but to do a pricing structure the way the Yankees do, but they don't.

If I weren't already a Mets fan, I'd be more apt to take my kid to a Yankee game.