Giancarlo Stanton Is Not Available

You'll have to excuse me while I have an "I told you so" moment.  All season Mets fans and some bloggers alike gushed over the notion that the Mets would acquire one of Giancarlo Stanton or Carlos Gonzalez this weekend.  A few weeks back Rockies owner, Dick Monfort, stated the Rockies were inclined to hold on to the young Gonzalez and now it was Marlins' general manager, Dan Jennings, that said Stanton was not on the market.

Moving Gonzalez makes much more sense than moving Stanton.  Both are amongst the brightest young outfielders in baseball, but Gonzalez already has an expensive contract.  Stanton who will be eligible for arbitration this winter, remains under team control relatively cheap for the next three seasons.  Simply put, there will be plenty of opportunities to trade Stanton if things go south, but now isn't the time.

One thing I will say is that unless the Marlins drastically turn things around in South Beach, Stanton will eventually be traded.  He is really really good and was the odd man left in when the Marlins traded what was essentially everyone last winter.  He wasn't happy then, and I would assume won't be happy long term in Miami.  When the time comes he'll be seeking a new, very expensive contract the Marlins will move him.  However that time isn't now and Mets fans will be left to pick of the pieces of their shattered pipe dreams.

d'Arnaud's Walks Off A Somewhat Depressing Win

Photo Courtesy of @Lets86It

If you were one of the 25,165 who were unfortunate enough to have paid for a ticket to today's Mets/Marlins game we feel sorry for you.  If you were one of the.. maybe half of that actually in attendance than you deserve a strong adult beverage.

First things first, the Mets and Marlins have played a twenty-three extra frames this season.  That's more than two and a half games worth of extra baseball, mostly due in part to each teams inability to push runs across the plate.  Secondly, if you were in attendance you sat at Citi Field for a full three hours and thirty five minutes before a single run was scored.  Lucky for you, that run ended the game.

I suppose the only caveat is that if you were in attendance you did have the opportunity to witness Travis d'Arnaud's first walk-off hit.  Bear in mind, it was his first run batted (and 10th hit) in since August 27th so lets not celebrate too much.  The team's "catcher of the future" has batted a mere .169 since being promoted.  He has not had an extra-base hit in the month of September.

To many depressing details to overshadow an otherwise successful day..I suppose

What You'll Miss While You're Watching Football

With their pursuit of a .500 season behind them, the question now becomes just how bad will the Mets be?  Will they earn one of the coveted ten protected picks that will allow Sandy Alderson to go after any available free agent without penalty?  Will they secure their fifth consecutive fourth place finish?

Sitting at 66 wins on the season with 14 games to go, the Mets current boast the eighth worst record in baseball, leaving them in line for that aforementioned protected pick.

Today the Mets will send fifth starter and overall team leader in wins, Dillon Gee (11-10) to the mound against the Marlins' Tom Koehler (3-10).  A win today would be the team's first series victory since taking two of three from the Washington Nationals between 8/30 and 9/1.

One thing of interest for me will be the attendance for today's game.  Regardless of what the paid attendance numbers have been of late, I don't think the Mets have surpassed more than 10,000 fans in the stands on this homestand.  Last night's game was easily the worst, and with football on this afternoon I'm not sure I would expect much better today.

Enjoy the game today, whichever sport you decide to tune into.  As always, make sure you have a beer for us too!

Photo Courtesy of @Lets86It

Game Two Crowd Shot!!

Aaaand here's a look at how few people turned out for game two of the Mets vs. Marlins doubleheader tonight...

I wish we could blame this on the zombies in the stands last night, but it's simply the result of another lost season and a 3-0 shutout loss to the Marlins in game one.

Oh.. And this happened..