Headed to Citi Field in a few hours for the Minnesota-New York game. Thought I'd shed some light on the two teams, the match-up and the new Mets stadium.
Without further ado...
There were rumors this week that the Mets and Mariners had mutual interest in a deal involving Cliff Lee. The Mets however were reportedly reluctant to pull the trigger on a trade if it included big league talent like Jon Niese, Ike Davis or Angel Pagan. Wait, what?
Jon Niese is a good young pitcher but he also couldn't make it through five innings against Detroit Tuesday night after being staked to a 10-0 lead.
Ike Davis is a fan favorite in the Big Apple, already inspiring a "We like Ike" Dwight D. Eisenhower-esque campaign after just a few months in the show. The hefty lefty was the Metropolitans first-round choice in 2008, drafted 18th overall out of Arizona State. He could be a middle of the line-up masher for the next 10-15 years, and is having a fine rookie season to date.
Angel Pagan is a light-hitting outfielder, with some speed. He's hitting at a .304 clip currently but has just four home runs and is very expendable.
But since when did the Mets decide to be the Yankees? Not the free-wheeling spenders but the "we want to build from within and not continue to mortgage our future types?" Oh wait, maybe a decade-and-a-half worth of huge deals that yielded little results can cause a shift in philosophy but the Mets still have money and we are still talking about Cliff Lee.
While the Mets have been playing very good ball of late, winning seemingly every time ace Johan Santana doesn't pitch, putting Lee and Santana at the top of a rotation would be exactly the formidable one-two punch that fellow NL clubs like St. Louis (Carpenter and Wainwright), San Francisco (Lincecum and Cain) and rival Philadelphia (Halladay and the aforementioned Cliff Lee) have or should have tried to keep intact.
In case you needed reminding, since apparently Mets executives do, here are Lee's numbers from last postseason with the Phillies: 5 starts, 40.1 IP, 4-0, 27 H, 6 BB, 33 K's and a 1.56 ERA.
Now there is a guy I want on the mound come October and if the Mets are serious about contending and making noise in a pitching-packed NL postseason then they should, too.
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Speaking of Santana, he got roughed up by his former mates yesterday (five earned in six innings, of a 6-0 loss), and even without his services the Twins just keep on chugging.
While the monster contract doled out to catcher Joe Mauer shows that even Minnesota is capable of opening up its wallets a bit the Twinkies are still a model of efficient, calculated success.
At 41-33, they own a game and a half lead over the red-hot White Sox (winners of 11 in a row) and the Detroit Tigers. Both teams spend more money than the Twins do ($108 million and $122 million respectively) but Minny's 2010 payroll is just under $98 million allowing them to keep some of their home grown talent in house and to be competitive consistently.
Beautiful new Target Field only increases the chances of that happening. The Twin Cities new jewel, a downtown, outdoor stadium, has been filled at 99 percent capacity so far in its inaugural season and with a good team in a fantastic place for summer it should be a good ride for the Twins again this year.
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I got my first taste of Citi Field Wednesday evening when the Tigers were in town to take on the Amazing's. It feels absolutely huge, but the spacious concourses, and fabulous concessions made it a great experience. Every one of these new ball parks is a sight to behold and this one is no slouch.
I've heard about big it was and after watching so many games at Long Beach's Blair Field and following the Giants at AT&T Park it was hard for me to imagine a diamond that played much bigger than those two but Citi really is a cavernous place.
High walls and really deep alleys make it a pitcher's haven and even with Wright and Bay expected to produce a lot of power it seems like the Mets are building around pitching and winning close, low-scoring games.
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It's only late June but both teams are locked in close division races. I mentioned the three-team battle ensuing in the AL Central but the Mets are 42-32. That puts them 1.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves and two games clear of the two-time defending NL champion Phillies.
Needless to say in a long season, every game is still important. The Twins needed 163 games to edge out the Tigers last October after their disastrous finish and with an historic collapse of their own in the not so distant past the Mets need to keep grinding each day.
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I'll have much more from the game, so stay tuned at twitter.com/philomis for more Twins-Mets info. There will also be plenty of World Cup tidbits and Giants-Red Sox stuff as Lester and Lincecum duel it out by the bay.
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