213 Miles From Shea

There are whispers about realigning the divisions in baseball, or just blowing them up. There are two motivating factors behind the MLB doing this. First is they are trying to add that fifth playoff spot for each league. Right now that is messy because it would have to be a second Wild Card team. The problems still arises with the second team where the second team could have a vastly better record than one of the division record.

The plan would then be to either realign the divisions show they are more competitive or just remove them completely. The main advantage of removing the divisions is that the problem of stacked divisions will be fixed for all of time. As you probably know, strong teams fluctuate over long periods of time. A stacked division this generation is not the same the next, so a simple realignment would not do the trick. The disadvantage of this is they want to make the leagues even if there are no divisions, probably by moving the Astros into the American League so they could be rivals with the Rangers. The problem here is now each league would have 15 teams. So either two teams, one in each league, always are off, or they will need to play interleague games all the time. The switch off doesn't work because teams would have to take turns not playing on the weekend, which has the best attendance rates.

The people that will make the uproar about daily interleague play would be the same people that would make an uproar about blowing up divisions in the first place. According to 105.7 in Baltimore, they say the chance of any of this happening is about 50%.

Just for fun, Ken Rosenthal suggested a new alignment:

AL Atlantic:

– Blue Jays

– Yankees

– Mets

– Orioles

– Nationals

AL Greater Lakes

– Twins

– Tigers

– Indians

– Pirates

– Teds

AL Pacific

– Mariners

– Giants

– Athletics

– Dodgers

– Angels

NL East

– Red Sox

– Phillies

– Braves

– Rays

– Marlins

NL Midwest

– Brewers

– Cubs

– White Sox

– Cardinals

– Royals

NL Southwest

– Rockies

– Diamondbacks

– Padres

– Rangers

– Astros

You can read his reasoning here and his proposal is as he says, radical. He does back it up with a thought process so I feel bad dismissing it with the following statement but the problem with the current alignment will occur with his as well. Some teams will rise to the top, there will be some divisions that for long periods of time that will be stronger than the others, and at the end of the day we still have the 15 vs 15 problem.

At the root of all of this is this question:

Are the leaders of the MLB ready to make it more like the NBA and NHL?

The title may be an exaggeration, but the Lehigh Valley IronPigs had a fairly good promotion over the weekend where they celebrated the Social Media World, which when you think about it really is infecting everything. Yesterday I was in Baltimore for an Orioles game and on the train ride in, we realized that the MTA (Maryland Transportation blah blah blah) has a facebook and a twitter. Why? I don't know! But they do.

So the IronPigs gave a salute out to twitter over the weekend as they donned these uniforms. What doesn't come out in the picture is how bright these jerseys were. They were the same color as Twitter (they look more like facebook here) and the white lettering was really white.

A nice touch was on the back, their names were all #Pigout, and with the front saying @IronPigs, they were celebrating the two symbols in the English language that Social Media has given a new meaning to.

Earlier today I wrote about the Brewers uniforms for Hispanic heritage night, what I didn't realize was three other teams wore special uniforms yesterday as well.

First off, if you go to the Brewers article, you will see that the Brewers Jersey was gold this year. As noted in the article, this was the 6th season that the Brewers have become the Cerveceros for a night, but it was the first time the Jersey was gold, so nice touch.

The Cardinals joined in on the action last night as they became the Cardenales to join in on the fun, which you can see here. Tip of my hat to the Cardinals for not becoming the Los Cardinals, which as I noted earlier, I feel is a backward complement in Hispanic Heritage nights.

The other jerseys came from the Padres vs Nationals game, which was a beautiful throwback game. The Padres came out in a sharp looking black and white jersey that was assisted by how crappy their uniforms normally look. The Nationals wore a bold Senators design where the front of the jersey was blank and the sides/numbers looked awesome.

Last night the Brewers showed off their Cerveceros Jerseys.

For the Brewers this has been a tradition going on for its sixth season, and it is a pretty nice one. Back when it started, the uniforms looked like this and last night for 2011 they looked like this.

Overall, it comes off a lot better than the “Los Mets” nights because it is easier and more appealing to take an English word and translate it into Spanish, rather than throwing the word “Los” in front to show Hispanic Heritage (because if don't write “The Mets” on jerseys, why should we write, “Los Mets”).

I have always been a fan of heritage days and nights, and when I see things like what the Brewers did last night, I begin to miss the Mets of the early and mid 2000's where they would have a heritage week and it wasn't just about what they morph the uniform into but a celebration of different cultures at Shea Stadium.

Oh and the icing on the cake? The Brewers will be doing the same thing for their German heritage night when the Brewers will become the Bierbrauers. Pictures to come once it happens.

The Mets and the Pirates play an afternoon game today as the Mets try to come back from their disappointing 3-2 loss yesterday and play like they did on Friday. The Mets will look on Chris Capuano to continue the streak of good starting pitching while the offense will look to tee off on Kevin Correia.

Capuano is 4-6 on the season with a 4.86 ERA. His last start against the Brewers was quite nice as he logged 6 innings allowing only one earned run. His start before that was not as nice as he allowed 5 ER over 6 innings of work against the Pirates, so hopefully he won't do that again today in Pittsburgh. The Bucs have the following numbers on Chris:

Cedeno 3-20, 2B, 3B

Diaz 6-13

Tabata 2-7, HR

Walker 2-7, 2B

Jones 1-6, 2B

Kevin Correia is 8-4 on the season and has a 3.64 ERA. In his last two starts he has allowed 6 ER in 11 innings of work which results in a 4.91 ERA. One of those starts was against the Mets where he allowed 2 ER over 6 innings. The Mets have posted the following numbers against Kevin:

Reyes 3-13, 3B

Beltran 4-9

Pagan 3-6

Murphy 3-9

Paulino 3-4

Let's Go Mets!

The Mets and Pirates play game two tonight as the Mets look to make it three in a row and look to get back at .500 tonight. Last night was a typical night for the Mets offense when they are on as they slapped a bunch of hits, moved runners over, and put runs on the board. As much as I would love to see this team knock some out of the park, the team right now is playing to its strengths with small ball with all of the heavier hitters out of the lineup. The offense looks to keep going tonight against James McDonald, and R.A. Dickey looks to give the Mets a strong performance like Gee was able to do last night.

Dickey is 3-6 on the season with a 4.04 ERA. In his last four starts he has pitched 24.1 innings (remember one start was only 2.2 innings, which is skewing the data) where he allowed only 5 ER thus posting an ERA of 1.85. His last start was one of the best of the season as he went 8.0 innings allowing only 1 ER and the start before that he posted 7.2 innings against the Pirates allowing only 3 ER. The Bucs have the following numbers on Robert Allen:

Overbay 1-10

McCutchen 2-6

Jones 2-7

Tabata 1-5, 2B

Cedeno 1-6

The Mets batters will get another look at James McDonald tonight who is 3-4 with a 4.97 ERA. He was quite good the last time he faced the Mets holding the Amazins to one run over 6 innings of work as the Pirates went on to win 5-1. James will be looking to bounce back from his last start where he allowed 3 ER in 4 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers on him:

Beltran 1-9

Pagan 4-9, 2 2B

Reyes 2-6, 2B

Bay 1-3

Murphy 2-3

Let's Go Mets!

The Mets and the Pirates start a four game series tonight in Pittsburgh as the Mets look to continue what they started in Milwaukee and bring it down to Pittsburgh. The Mets are coming off of a series win that could have easily been a sweep where the team is playing with a lot of grit and a lot of fight right now. Tonight, the rookie wonder Gee will get a start as he goes up against a success story this year in Charlie Morton.

Dillon Gee is 6-0 this season with a 3.33 ERA. His last start was brilliant as he tossed 7 scoreless frames against the Braves and his start before that was also good and it was against the Pirates as he pitched 7 innings allowing 3 earned runs. While his starts on the whole are not all lights out, his starts have been competitive, the Mets have had a chance to win with him on the mound. The Bucs have the following numbers against Dillon:

Cedeno 2-6

Jones 2-6

McCutchen 0-6

Tabata 1-6, 2B

The Mets will get to see Morton again. So far this season he is having an incredible bounce back year with his 2.52 ERA (compared to 7.57 from a year ago). In his last start he picked up the win in Philly with a 6 inning, 2 ER performance. Against the Mets he was a hard luck loser last time out as he allowed 3 runs, only one earned in 6 innings of work. However don't feel too bad because the Mets tagged him for 11 hits during those 6 innings. The Amazin's have the following numbers on Morton:

Pagan 5-6

Tejada 3-3

Thole 1-5

Beltran 1-3

Murphy 2-4

Let's Go Mets!

When I first saw Jon Harper's article in today's Daily News, I wasn't really sure what to think, but now reflecting on it, in a certain situation, I may agree with him. The gist of Harper's article is that a move that could save both the Mets and the Yankees is the Mets trading K-Rod to the Yankees. The Yankees will get their set-up man, something they need since Jobba is out, thus not activating K-Rod's money clause and the Mets will get rid of the 17.5 million vesting option, thus giving the organization no excuse for signing Reyes.

Here's the problem though, K-Rod has been the only stable point in the Mets pen this season. The Mets are only two games under .500 and it seems like if something breaks in our direction, we could go on a streak, thus we would need a closer to help try to make the playoffs. Trading K-Rod right now would essentially be throwing in the towel for the playoffs. If we trade him, then we might as well trade Beltran as well.

The second problem stems from the first problem, K-Rod has been quite good this season, and maybe he could be this good next season. He isn't worth 17.5 million, but a solid closer is something that is hard to part with. I am in the camp that believes with Castillo and Perez's contracts coming off of the books, this year, that the Mets should have enough money to extend Reyes (think about it, he is getting paid 11 million already this season, it isn't like he is going from a 2 million to 15 million pay increase, he is probably, realistically, looking at a 4 to 6 million dollar increase). This season 6 million is being paid to Castillo, I think that is a reasonable to transfer most of that to Reyes for next season. Trading K-Rod would also mean the Mets would have to go find a closer for next season, unless the Mets try to move someone internally to that position, and I don't think anyone is ready yet.

The only situation I agree with him, is if it becomes completely obvious that the Mets have no chance, at all, of making the playoffs. Going into this weekend, I say it is difficult to have that feeling.

So K-Rod to the Yankees would solve the money problems for the Mets, but would be throwing in the towel for this season, and could damage us next season. I think because it is uncertain right now if the Mets could make a run this season, I'm having a difficult time committing to the idea of trading or keeping K-Rod. I think we should have this conversation again a month from now, and see where we stand.

The Mets will try to put last night's disappointment behind them with a series victory today against the Brewers as Jon Niese gets the start against Yovani Gallardo. In case you didn't know, last night, down 2-1, the Mets bats put together a strong rally to put the boys from Queens up 6-2. However, the pen immediately gave the game back and the Mets ended up losing 7-6.

On the season Niese is 4-5 with a 3.75 ERA. In his last four starts he has pitched 26.0 innings with a 1.38 ERA. He has been really fantastic this season developing into a solid station in the Mets rotation. Last season he made one start against the Brew Crew and it was forgettable as he tossed 2.2 innings allowing 6 ER. The Brewers have the following numbers on Jon:

Morgan 4-8

Weeks 4-5, 2B, HR

Braun 1-3

Fielder 1-4

The Brewers will call on Gallardo tonight who is 8-2 (League Leader In Wins) with a 3.72 ERA. In his last 5 starts he has pitched 33.0 innings with a 1.64 ERA. So both pitchers today are on a hot streak going into the game tonight. Last season he was 1-0 in two starts and 12.1 innings of work against the Mets with an ERA of 5.11. The Mets have the following numbers on Yovani:

Reyes 5-10, 2 2B, 3B

Pagan 1-7

Beltran 1-3

Bay 1-8

Let's Go Mets!

The Mets play game two tonight against the Brewers. Last night the Mets beat the Brew Crew by the score of 2-1 as Capuano gave the Mets an excellent start and Beato, Izzy and Krod all gave an inning of re-insuring relief. A win tonight will make it 4 straight for the Amazin's as they continue their journey back to the .500 line. In tonight's game Pelfrey will get the start as he goes up against Randy Wolf.

Pelfrey is 3-4 this season with a 5.56 ERA. His last start was forgettable as he allowed 7 ER in the first 3 innings of work against the Pirates, before the Mets scored 9 unanswered runs and eventually took that game. He would finish that game with 2 additional scoreless innings and he looks to channel Pelf the Ace tonight in Milwaukee.Last season he made one start against the Brewers where he pitched 7.1 innings and allowed only 3 ER on his way to a no decision. The Brewers have the following numbers on Big Pelf:

Morgan 3-17

Nieves 3-14

Fielder 2-7, 2B

Hart 1-7, HR

Kotsay 0-6

Braun 1-3

The Mets batters will get a go at Randy Wolf tonight who is 4-4 on the season with a 3.69 ERA. He has been better than his season numbers in his last four starts where he has logged 24.2 innings with a 2.92 ERA. Last season against the Mets in two starts he pitched 12.0 innings allowed 4 ER (or a 3.00 ERA) where he received a no decision in each. The Mets have the following numbers on Wolf:

Reyes 11-39, 2B, 2 HR

Beltran 11-34, 4 2B, 3 HR

Hairston 4-13, 2 2B, HR

Bay 5-10, 3 2B, HR

Pagan 4-8, 2B

Let's Go Mets!