Posts tagged JohanSantana at FanHouse

With the Olympics in full swing, one might think that this new swell in patriotic pride would carry over into next spring's World Baseball Classic and make the event even better than its inagural version in 2006. But patriotism alone isn't going to sway Johan Santana back to the WBC. Better food, however, might.

Echoing complaints made by the Tigers' Carlos Guillen and other Venezuelan big-league stars, Santana said how the players were handled two years ago was "really, really bad." That included no hotel rooms, no tickets to games and even a postgame meal of Burger King takeout.

"If they're not going to do anything right, then there are a lot of us who aren't going to go," Santana said.

"They need to be more serious about it and take care of their players. If that changes, I would definitely consider playing. But this is very serious. If I'm going to do my best, then I expect the other people involved to do the same. If not, then I'll just sit home and get ready for the season."

I know we think that ballplayers are spoiled. But Burger King? Sounds like a post game meal for a little league team? Did they get ice cream too? No wonder Santana's upset. Can they at least get Wendy's next year? I hear their burgers are fresher.

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

After blowing another lead in the ninth inning against the Pirates Monday, the Mets appeared to be at their breaking point when they arrived in Washington for a three-game series with the Nationals. Things were so bad manager Jerry Manuel talked about using starting pitchers Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez and John Maine in the ninth during his pre-game meeting with reporters.

Fast forward nine innings and reliever Pedro Feliciano, the savior of the moment after a pitching a perfect ninth to nail down a 4-3 win, was joking with reporters about how "scary" the save situation was for him.

Such is life in a desperate pennant race in the middle of August with three teams battling for just one spot in the postseason. "Sometimes you're flush and sometimes you're bust," as Ray Liotta's character from the movie Blow would say.

Chances are the New York media will paint this win as a watershed moment for the Mets, a moment spurred by the motivational tactics of Manuel and a closed-door bullpen meeting led by veterans Scott Schoeneweis and Duaner Sanchez.

Baseball is America's pastime, but had our forefathers enjoyed the modern conveniences of clocks, ball pumps, or haste, this pastime may well have been basketball or football. Instead, they had wood, leather, and a rudderless disposition. Baseball is Boring is a series of live blogs for folks who need irony and self-awareness to get through a game.

It's been a while, but this seemed like a perfect time to bring back Baseball is Boring. We've got a 50% chance that Johan Santana is going to throw a perfect game tonight against the quasi-fetal Nationals. A National League East battle for the ages! That and I can watch the game on TV so I don't have to squint at my tiny MLB.tv BS. BS.tv.

Hey, is Dmitri Young the first guy to go to the DL for being too fat? Looks like we have our first poll.


THE ESSENTIALS
The Mets (62-56) start Johan Santana (9-7, 2.85 ERA).
The Nationals (44-75) start Odalis Perez (5-8, 4.10 ERA).

ANALYSIS
The Nats are going to get their dinks kicked because they suck.

PREDICTION
Mets over Nationals 1 Perfect Game - 0 Perfect Games

QUICK NOTE ABOUT THIS LIVE BLOG
From here forth, my banal and worthless commentary can be read in the box below. It updates much like a one-way instant messenger conversation does, which means you do not need to keep refreshing the page. Feel free to comment in the box at the bottom -- if your sentiment is funny or poorly-informed enough, I may just post it in the blog. Enjoy!

Say what you want about the National League West. The Diamondbacks and Dodgers might only need 84 wins to capture the division crown, but at least both teams are trying to get better. The NL East appears to be a stronger overall than its counterpart in the West, but there's a whole lot more desperation and angst to go around on the Atlantic seaboard.

In Queens, there is plenty of reason to panic over the shape of the Mets' bullpen, which blew another lead in the ninth inning in a loss to the Pirates Monday afternoon. Whether it has to do with having a certain mentality or not, it's clear that Billy Wagner is the only New York reliever who is reliable in the ninth inning, and he's going to be out for a few weeks.

Wagner and the bullpen is a microcosm for the problem the Mets seem to keep stumbling on -- they have no depth on their roster. (It's worth noting, too, that GM Omar Minaya did nothing to fix that problem at the trade deadline.) A season-ending injury to Wagner, Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran or Johan Santana would devastate New York in a way unlike a similar injury to one of Philadelphia or Florida's stars.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Before the season started, the Detroit Tigers were the popular pick amongst baseball fans and experts alike as the eventual World Series champion. After adding Miguel Cabrera to a potent lineup that already included hitters like Magglio Ordonez, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Guillen, Curtis Granderson, and Ivan Rodriguez, there was talk that the Tigers would score 1,000 runs this season.

Who knew they'd need to? Though most people were aware that the Detroit bullpen would be a problem area, I don't think anybody thought they would be as bad as they have been in 2008. So now here we sit on August 7th, and the Tigers find themselves in a tailspin.

After building up some momentum in recent weeks to get back into the AL Central race, the Tigers have now lost six in a row to fall three games under .500. They're also on the verge of being swept by the division leading Chicago White Sox and falling 9.5 games out of first place, which could effectively end any hope they have of playing this October.

So will the Tigers pull the plug on their season tonight, or are they going to rise up and start mauling people again? Find out after the jump.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Dear Joe Blanton,

Hello there and welcome to your new home, the city of Philadelphia. It's a wonderful place to live, and I can't tell you how excited we are to have you as the newest member of the Philadelphia Phillies. I hope you enjoyed your flight to New York with your new teammates and got to know them pretty well, they'll be looking to you for support tonight.

Now, I don't want to put any added pressure on you, as I'm sure pitching on a new team is stressful enough, but tonight's game is rather important. You see, Joe, tonight we're playing our division rivals the New York Mets. They don't like us much. Something about us making up seven games in the standings last September and winning the division.

Seems the Mets are out for revenge this year, because in the last few weeks they've gobbled up all the space that was seperating us from them in the division, and now we're tied for first place with them. If we lose tonight, we'll be in second place.

We don't want this to happen, obviously, or else we wouldn't have traded for you! So go out there tonight and win us a ball game, would you? If you don't, I wouldn't bother coming back to Philadelphia with the team. The fans here are quite passionate, and they will kill you. Seriously.

No pressure!

Have a good night,
Pat Gillick

With the trade deadline right around the corner, our MLB editor brings you the top five rumors every day until July 31.

- The Mets have no idea what to expect from Ryan Church the rest of the way and the Fernando Tatis-Endy Chavez combination in left field probably isn't going to cut, so everyone, including manager Jerry Manuel, is expecting the team to add an outfielder before the trade deadline. Just don't expect that outfielder to be of the Adam Dunn or Matt Holliday variety -- they just don't have the chips. New York has one of the shallowest farm systems in baseball as a consequence of the Johan Santana trade, particularly in the coveted major-league ready category.

That leaves the Mets looking at players like Xavier Nady, Raul Ibanez and Casey Blake, which really is fine. They need an upgrade on what they currently have in left field and some insurance for their injured right fielder to win the NL East, not a star player.

- The Cubs have already added starter Rich Harden and reliever Chad Gaudin, but they're still looking for pitching. A high-ranking team official took in A.J. Burnett's last start for the Blue Jays. A looming DL trip for closer Kerry Wood could change the team's focus, though. Wood's injury is not believed to be serious, but the team's bullpen was heavily taxed over the first half, and now they're down their best arm. Suddenly Damaso Marte, Brian Fuentes and Huston Street have to be looking pretty good to GM Jim Hendry.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

So in the last 48 hours the Milwaukee Brewers have added CC Sabathia to their rotation, and the Chicago Cubs picked up Rich Harden to add to theirs. All the Phillies have managed to do in during that span was lose two games in the standings.

The Phillies have now lost four in a row, and unfortunately for them their losing streak directly coincides with a four-game win streak by the New York Mets. Now both the Mets and Marlins sit only a game and a half behind the Phillies. So the pressure is on the Phillies to add an arm of their own to the rotation.

If you look around the National League right now, things aren't set up too well for Philadelphia. The Brewers now have Ben Sheets and Sabathia. The Cubs have Harden, Carlos Zambrano, and Ryan Dempster. In Arizona the Diamondbacks feature Brandon Webb and Dan Haren at the top of their rotation, while in Los Angeles the Dodgers have a NL-best 3.70 ERA.

The Phillies have Cole Hamels and, um, Jamie Moyer? While the Phillies have the fifth best team ERA in the National League, Hamels is the only member of their rotation who has an ERA under 4.00. Their offense may be pretty dangerous, but once the playoffs start (if the Phillies get there) it's pitchers who dominate, and the Phillies just don't have enough of them.

So when will the Phillies make their move in the NL Arms Race?

Spot Jobs gambles by picking five spot starters for the week and five usual starters to avoid. The success rate is usually around 50%, but the risk level is always through the roof. Obviously, though, you always start Brandon Webb (when healthy) and sit Dave Bush.

Five Up
Carlos Zambrano, Cubs, @STL -- Yeah, so he's an obvious name. I just wanted to take the opportunity to make sure you get him active for this upcoming scoring period, because he's going to be off the DL in time to make a Friday start against the rival Cardinals. He'll be fired up and raring to go.

Eddie Bonine, Tigers, @Minny -- The Tigers aren't losing the way many thought they wouldn't lose. Ride the unknowns in deeper AL-Only leagues while they're hot!

Ricky Nolasco, Marlins, vs. Nats -- Last ten starts? 7-1, 3.06, and 52/18 K/BB ... and that includes one stinker (12 hits and seven earned runs against the Braves on June 5th). Plus, he's facing the Nats offense. Big-time must-start here.

Garrett Olson, O's, vs. Royals -- Getting the Royals at home is never a bad thing, unless you play in the NL. Olson doesn't.

Johnny Cueto, Reds, vs. Nats -- I hate to pick on the Nats, but when someone has the stuff Cueto does and gets to face a futile offense, you gotta get him in there.

Johan Santana's lost four straight decisions and the Mets have dropped his last five starts overall, something less than the team was hoping to get when they handed him $137.5 million in the offseason. This isn't a Barry Zito situation, though. The Mets have piled up a grand total of 10 runs in those five games which means Santana's 3.01 ERA isn't enough to get the team the wins they so desperately need.

Santana was a bit frustrated after yesterday's 3-2 loss to the Yankees.

"All I can say is I'm doing my job...I was trying, man...I know exactly what it takes for me to do my job, and that's what I've been doing. I've been trying to help, and I think the numbers out there, unfortunately, things haven't worked out the way people wanted. Team-wise, it's just not there."

Nothing's as simple as it seems, however. As much as Santana is right about the need for some run support, he was hardly blameless in yesterday's loss. Two walks leading off the fourth led to the first two Yankee runs and a balk helped Alex Rodriguez get in scoring position for the third tally. That's representative of most of the recent losses, momentary lapses in otherwise fine performances which turn into losses.