link - Frustration looks like this: Jeff Francoeur sat at his Citi Field locker on Friday, unable to explain how nervousness sideswipes his hitting. He cannot pinpoint the exact source. He cannot pinpoint an exact remedy. No member of the Mets can. “I get so anxious,” Francoeur said. “I don’t know. Part of me thinks I need to go on medicine. I do.”
link - Rehabbing an elbow is always a difficult balance, but in most situations, doctors will tell you that it's always better to try a nd rehab through something before having the surgery. A surgery, even something predictable like Tommy John, has a defined period of loss, currently between 10 and 12 months. Using the example of Twins reliever Pat Neshek, the lost time in rehab might look like a loss—Neshek even told BP's Dan Wade that it "was the worst thing I could do" because of perception and the machismo of the locker room—but if Neshek had been able to come back inside the 2008 or 2009 seasons, it would have been a big gain. You can use the same equation I gave you in regards to why the Mets didn't put Jose Reyes on the DL, though the numbers get a lot bigger and the risks are hardly as well known. For situations like Neshek's and the hundreds of others—no, that's not an exaggeration—that face elbow surgery at all levels each year, the "right decision" is a moving target. Is it just to get the player back in the quickest amount of time? That does play into it, but does that mean "rehab might get him back in three months or might extend him out if surgery is needed"?
link - Manuel described the cutter as almost slider-like in its break by the time Niese was pulled in the fifth. It was an early indicator that Sunday wouldn’t be one of his better starts – a trend that may be on the rise. Before the All Star break, Niese was 6-3 with a 3.61 ERA, giving up nine home runs in 89 innings. In 22 innings pitched since, he’s 1-2 with a 4.43 ERA with five homers allowed.
link - The Astros wanted Jon Niese for Roy Oswalt. The Mariners wanted Ike Davis for Cliff. The Astros wanted Josh Thole for Brett Myers. The Pirates wanted Kirk Nieuwenhuis for Scott. The Cubs wanted Thole for Ted Lilly. The Pirates wanted Double-A LHP Robert Carson for Octavio Dotel. Really? None of these appeal to you? None???? Another media hit. A further fractured fan base. A bad taste in the mouths of players and agents. Would you want to come to a team that has so much dysfunction within its management and a bad rep through the league? If you say yes right now, I question your sanity. Playing in Flushing is not a status symbol nowadays and it’s more fun to come to this team if we were being competitive, not only in the NL East, but also in our own city. We’re New York’s other team. Like Ricky Bobby said, “If you’re not first, you’re last.” In that instance and in the city of NY, it’s an accurate depiction. Practically every promise Mets management made was not kept so we’re also-rans for the 3rd year.
link - Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo will make $18 million between them both this season and next season. That is nothing less than a fiasco. The Beltran argument is a bit of a reach; he will only be 34 next season and there was no reason to believe he would have a career-threatening knee injury with two years remaining on the contract. I have been saying all season that Beltran wouldn't play in 2010. I was wrong about that - he definitely came back earlier than expected. I will say that he is clearly not playing at full strength and nothing less than a full offseason of rest will change that. I still think the days of Carlos Beltran as an elite baseball player have come to an end.
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