The Mets finally bounced out of the funk and best the Astros 9-1. Terry Collins got tossed the second batter of the game. Chris Capuano pitched seven strong innings and David Wright broke out of his slump. Jason Bay finally returned after missing most of the first month of the season with a rib cage strain.

Here are Bob Trainor’s postgame sounds:

David Wright

Chris Capuano

Jason Bay

Posted under Bob Trainor, David Wright, Game Chris, Jason Bay, Losing Streak, Mets, Mp3 Audio, Nbsp, New York Mets, Sounds, Top Story, Trainor

Bob Trainor of Trainor Communications was in the Met Clubhouse for the club’s 6-2 defeat to the Washington Nationals. R.A. Dickey wasn’t himself after suffering from a broken nail and the club couldn’t get the tying run home despite having numerous chances to do so. In the eighth, Washington opened up the game by scoring three runs.

The Reactions Are Below.

David Wright

Carlos Beltran

Jose Reyes

Josh Thole

Washington’s Tyler Clippard

R.A. Dickey

For More Info contact Bob at TrainorComm@gmail.com.

Posted under Beltron, Bob Trainor, Broken Nail, Carlos Beltran, Citi, Clubhouse, Contact Bob, David Wright, Game, Jose Reyes, Josh Thole, Met, Mets, Mp3 Audio, New York Mets, Top Story, Trainor, Washington Nationals, Washington Post

The unsealed Madoff lawsuit against Sterling Equities shed some interesting light on the condition of the New York Mets.

The suit alleges the Wilpons ignored warnings from a number of financial experts that Madoff was a fraud. The rhetoric came from a number of different sources, including the hedge fund of Sterling Stamos and the wire house Merrill Lynch.

Yet, the Wilpons continued to invest with the Ponzi schemer, either because they didn’t care or they couldn’t stop, as their companies relied upon the Madoff returns to operate.

No matter what the reason, it has come clear the Wilpons need to take a step back from the New York Mets until this lawsuit is settled.

And if they will not do it by their own free will, then Commissioner Bud Selig must invoke the best interest of baseball clause to remove the Wilpon family from the day to day operation until this lawsuit is settled.

With the Wilpons in charge, the story will continue to be front page news on every paper in the New York area damaging the Mets and the game itself, and dominate the talk around Citi Field, where the players should not have the distraction of discussing their bosses’ matters.

We saw it this week after they Wilpons announced their intention of selling a minority stake in the club. Every day there were stories leaking about the Wilpons dealing with Madoff and the amount of debt the team carries. These will not go away and every move general manager Sandy Alderson makes will be scrutinized. ‘Did they make this trade to help the Mets or in order to pay the clawback due to the Madoff suit?’ will be the question asked by every reporter, blogger, and fan when the team makes a move.

Will Jose Reyes get sold off? Will David Wright? Forbes.com today reported the Mets need to cut a $30 million profit this year just to pay off the debt interest on Citi Field.

By many accounts, the club is over $1 billion in debt, not including SNY – which also holds debt – and many of the Wilpon credit lines have dried up. That’s why they are forced to put a portion of the club up for bid, rather a less public sale of one of their other assets.

The Wilpons maintain their innocence here and feel they are being “victimized” by Madoff victims’ trustee Irving Picard, and of course they are innocent until proven guilty. Yet, that doesn’t mean they should be allowed to conduct business as usual in Queens.

Commissioner Selig needs to step in, allow the Wilpons and Saul Katz to step aside, and put the club under MLB conservatorship with Alderson taking the role as president – a position he held with the San Diego Padres – with Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi running the baseball operation.

With Alderson at the helm, getting every major move blessed by Selig, the paying public will be satisfied with the knowledge that every trade or signing will be motivated by improving the club, rather than financial issues. Although the Wilpons will still own the club, with them out of sight will move the story off the front and back pages for now. MLB will set the team’s budget and the management team can be free to improve this sorrowed franchise.

This will also allow the Wilpons to worry about the future of their families, rather than trivial matters like how much they should charge for a burger at the Shake Shack.

Once the Wilpons are cleared of the allegations or lawsuit is settled, baseball does its due diligence on the Picard Lawsuit, and minority owners are in place, then the Wilpons will be free to come back to run the club.

Or if the courts or MLB’s investigation find that the Wilpons had “unclean hands” in the Madoff matter, baseball can force a sale of the club.

And if the Wilpon finances get too out of control and a full sale if voluntary, there can be a smooth transition with MLB running the club.

It has been done before. Last season, MLB put the Texas Rangers into conservatorship while the club was up at auction. The result was a World Series appearance.

And when George Steinbrenner was suspended for a few seasons back in the early 1990s, Gene Michael was able to build the franchise in to a dynasty.

Maybe the Wilpons will follow Steinbrenner’s lead and change the way they do business during their time away. And maybe the Alderson managerial team will be able to build the Mets from within without interference from Jeffrey Wilpon.

Yet, those will be just byproducts of the situation. More importantly, the Wilpons need to concentrate on the lawsuit at hand, clearing their name, and leave the running of their beloved franchise to MLB for the time being.

Posted under Best Interest, Blogger, Clawback, Commissioner Bud Selig, David Wright, Debt Interest, Financial Experts, Front Page News, Hedge Fund, Joe Mcdonald, Jose Reyes, Merrill Lynch, Mlb, New York Mets, Sandy Alderson, Schemer, Sny, Sterling Equities, Sterling Stamos, Top Story, Wire House

Don’t get your hopes up for Cliff Lee, Met fans. It’s not going to happen. Nor will the Mets have a free spending off-season, like they did under Omar Minaya.

Rather look for some smart bargain basement moves where new general manager Sandy Alderson will utilize some of his statistical analysis to fill the holes on the roster.

“Will we be in the market this year aggressively? Unlikely,” Alderson said.

Added COO Jeff Wilpon, “We have to have some more conversation with him, but I assume we’re close to the maximum. And I don’t think he would recommend, and hasn’t recommended, going above that right now.”

Alderson’s biggest signings may come in the front office. No matter who the field manager will be, if the new GM can be reunited Paul DePodesta to run the statistical analysis department and J.P. Ricciardi to helm the player personnel area – two executives reportedly on his list – then the Mets may be on their way to contending in 2011.

Not a fan of using his prospects for chips, Alderson is willing to explore trading any and all veterans – including Jose Reyes and David Wright – if the price is right.

“I think we’re going to be busy, but that’s first and maybe ultimately only to assess the market,” Alderson said. “We don’t really know what’s out there. We need to be actively engaged in finding out what’s available to us, who has interest in some of our players, and just assess things as we develop more information. But right now it would be hard to say how active we’re going to be in actual transactions. But we’re going to be out there fishing.”

High on-base percentage players will be a key for Alderson. The use of stats will be a new concept in Queens, something Minaya would never consider, relying more on the scouts.

He will also try to shed the dead weight in on the roster. Of course, he’s not going to outright say he will release Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo, you can bet their days are numbered. Fred and Jeff Wilpon even said they would have released them last season, if Minaya broached the subject, but never did.

“And, by the way, there may other ‘hits’ that he comes up with — not only the obvious ones,” Fred Wilpon said.

Then there’s the manager, who will be hired in the next 30 days. Both Wilpons said the subject of a high paid manager never came up in conversations, so that should take Joe Torre and Bobby Valentine off the list, but Alderson said he likes a high spirited manager, which keeps Wally Backman in the running.

“I also think it’s important for a manager to be somewhat analytical, but at the same time occasionally and sometimes often intuitive,” Alderson said. “We’re looking for somebody that is right for our situation. What is our situation? You start with the fact that it’s New York City. …

“We’re looking for somebody that fits intellectual requirements, but also intuitive and emotional ones. That manager may have experience, may not have experience at the major league level. We’re very open-minded about it at this point. But I do want to emphasize that whoever is selected is going to be the manager and making those decisions and needs to have a certain level of independence in order to accomplish what he needs to accomplish.”

No matter what happens in the ensuing months though, one thing’s for certain: Things have changed in Queens already.

Posted under Bargain Basement, Base Percentage, Chips, Culture, David Wright, Fishing, Gm, Hasn, Helm, Holes, Jeff Wilpon, Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, New York Mets, Oliver Perez, Prospects, Ricciardi, Sandy Alderson, Statistical Analysis, Top Story

Don’t get your hopes up for Cliff Lee, Met fans. It’s not going to happen. Nor will the Mets have a free spending off-season, like they did under Omar Minaya.

Rather look for some smart bargain basement moves where new general manager Sandy Alderson will utilize some of his statistical analysis to fill the holes on the roster.

“Will we be in the market this year aggressively? Unlikely,” Alderson said.

Added COO Jeff Wilpon, “We have to have some more conversation with him, but I assume we’re close to the maximum. And I don’t think he would recommend, and hasn’t recommended, going above that right now.”

Alderson’s biggest signings may come in the front office. No matter who the field manager will be, if the new GM can be reunited Paul DePodesta to run the statistical analysis department and J.P. Ricciardi to helm the player personnel area – two executives reportedly on his list – then the Mets may be on their way to contending in 2011.

Not a fan of using his prospects for chips, Alderson is willing to explore trading any and all veterans – including Jose Reyes and David Wright – if the price is right.

“I think we’re going to be busy, but that’s first and maybe ultimately only to assess the market,” Alderson said. “We don’t really know what’s out there. We need to be actively engaged in finding out what’s available to us, who has interest in some of our players, and just assess things as we develop more information. But right now it would be hard to say how active we’re going to be in actual transactions. But we’re going to be out there fishing.”

High on-base percentage players will be a key for Alderson. The use of stats will be a new concept in Queens, something Minaya would never consider, relying more on the scouts.

He will also try to shed the dead weight in on the roster. Of course, he’s not going to outright say he will release Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo, you can bet their days are numbered. Fred and Jeff Wilpon even said they would have released them last season, if Minaya broached the subject, but never did.

“And, by the way, there may other ‘hits’ that he comes up with — not only the obvious ones,” Fred Wilpon said.

Then there’s the manager, who will be hired in the next 30 days. Both Wilpons said the subject of a high paid manager never came up in conversations, so that should take Joe Torre and Bobby Valentine off the list, but Alderson said he likes a high spirited manager, which keeps Wally Backman in the running.

“I also think it’s important for a manager to be somewhat analytical, but at the same time occasionally and sometimes often intuitive,” Alderson said. “We’re looking for somebody that is right for our situation. What is our situation? You start with the fact that it’s New York City. …

“We’re looking for somebody that fits intellectual requirements, but also intuitive and emotional ones. That manager may have experience, may not have experience at the major league level. We’re very open-minded about it at this point. But I do want to emphasize that whoever is selected is going to be the manager and making those decisions and needs to have a certain level of independence in order to accomplish what he needs to accomplish.”

No matter what happens in the ensuing months though, one thing’s for certain: Things have changed in Queens already.

Posted under Bargain Basement, Base Percentage, Chips, Culture, David Wright, Fishing, Gm, Hasn, Helm, Holes, Jeff Wilpon, Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, New York Mets, Oliver Perez, Paul Depodesta, Prospects, Ricciardi, Sandy Alderson, Smart Bargain, Statistical Analysis, Top Story

Bob Trainor of Trainor Communications was at Citi Field yesterday as the Mets lost the last game of the season. They finished 79-83.

Jerry Manuel

David Wright

For More Info contact Bob at TrainorComm@gmail.com.

Posted under Contact Bob, David Wright, Jerry Manuel, Last Game, Lost, Mets, Mp3 Audio, New York Mets, Top Story, Trainor

Bob Trainor of Trainor Communications was at Citi Field yesterday as the Mets pounded the Nationals.

Jerry Manuel

David Wright

RA Dickey

Jim Riggleman

For More Info contact Bob at TrainorComm@gmail.com.

Posted under Contact Bob, David Wright, Game, Jim Riggleman, Mets, Mp3 Audio, Nationals, New York Mets, Ra Dickey, Trainor

Bob Trainor of Trainor Communications offers these soundbites from the Astros 4-1 win over the Mets at Citi Field.

Johan Santana

Brett Myers

David Wright

For More Info contact Bob at TrainorComm@gmail.com.

Posted under Astros, Brett Meyers, Citi, Contact Bob, David Wright, Game Mp3, Houston Post, Johan Santana, Mets, Mp3 Audio, New York Mets, Soundbites, Top Story, Trainor

New York – Last week at Chase Field in Phoenix Arizona the Diamondbacks handed the New York Mets a three-game sweep. That continued, in what would be a dismal 2-9 west coast trip for New York that had them looking for redemption at Citi Field Friday evening,

However, Mike Pelfrey continued to have his first inning struggles and Arizona picked up where they left off last week taking the opening game of a three- game weekend set 9-6. Another loss for the Mets that left them at 52-51, 7-1/2 games behind first pace Atlanta and in a fourth place tie with Florida in the NL East.

It is starting to get dismal at Citi Field.  And the Mets also have to wonder what has happened to Pelfrey who surrendered three runs in the first inning. The Mets would get even in their half of the first on the first of two home runs from David Wright. It was a three- run blast off winning pitcher Ian Kennedy (6-8).

As for Pelfrey (10-5) who failed to get the decision, the Mets have to hope their right hander can return to form if they have any chance of making the postseason. And once again the Diamondbacks had his number, 0-5 in his last seven starts against them. In his last start at Arizona on July 19^th he threw 51 pitches in the first inning and was removed after getting four outs in the shortest outing of his career.

“Everybody else in the rotation has been throwing the ball great and I’ve kind of taken a step back from early in the year,” said Pelfrey. In his last six starts, he’s worked 25.1 innings, allowing 54 hits, 28 runs, 27 earned with 14 walks and 13 strikeouts.

“I definitely plan on getting this thing turned around and back on track so we can plan on winning some games,” he said.  Mets manager Jerry Manuel said adjustments will have to be made. There is the high pitch count, “still confident we have a young pitcher and don’t think it’s demoralizing,” said Manuel about his starter.

Wright drove in five runs and with his second home run in the third off Kennedy, 17^th of the year with two on, gave the Mets a 5-4 lead. After retiring seven straight D-backs with one out in the sixth, Kennedy reached first on an error from shortstop Jose Reyes.

“A routine ground ball, I have to make that play,” said Reyes who extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the first. Pelfrey after throwing 118 pitches had a chance to win. Enter Raul Valdes (2-3) who failed to retire the four batters he faced. The home run to center off the bat of Kelly Johnson gave Arizona a 6-5 lead.

Two more singles and on the 14th pitch thrown by Valdes, Miguel Montero hit a home run off the second deck in right field, a five-run Diamondbacks inning that helped his team snap a seven-game losing streak. “I’m swinging  at better pitches, I think,” said Montero about his fourth home run.

As to why the Diamondbacks have the Mets number, he said, “I honestly don’t know; it’s just baseball I guess.”  Montero has hit two home runs and driven in six in his last two games. Thursday evening he connected against the Phillies and has now hit a home run in consecutive games for the second time this year.

Manuel said it was the right situation for Valdes who warmed up in the pen four times before coming in. “It was a good match up in that situation,” said Manuel about the home run ball thrown to Johnson.

But the Mets still have two more games with the Diamondbacks and have to figure out how to take this series against the second worst team in the National League. If not the road trip next week against Atlanta and the surging Philadelphia Phillies could determine their season.

“Anytime one or two of their hitters gets hot they can give us trouble,” explained Manuel about his team troubles with Arizona.

Notes:  Before the game outfielder Jason Bay was laced on the 15-day disabled list from the minor concussion he sustained crashing into the outfield wall out in Los Angeles last Friday evening. The Mets recalled outfielder Jesus Felicano from Triple- A Buffalo.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

Posted under Chase Field, Citi, David Wright, Diamondbacks, Friday Evening, Game Sweep, Game Weekend, High Pitch, Home Runs, Mets New York, Mike Pelfrey, New York Mets, Nl East, Number 0, Phoenix Arizona, Pitches, Place Tie, Right Hander, Top Story, West Coast Trip, Young Pitcher

Bob Trainor of Trainor Communications offers these soundbites from yesterday’s 3-0 Met shutout of the Atlanta Braves

Johan Santana gave another solid performance going seven and giving up no runs as the Mets closed out the first half on a positive note.

We have full audio coverage below.

Angel Pagan

Jeff Francoeur

David Wright

Jose Reyes

Derek Lowe

Bobby Cox

For More Info contact Bob at TrainorComm@gmail.com.

Posted under Angel, Atlanta Braves, Audio Coverage, Bobby Cox, Contact Bob, David Wright, Derek Lowe, Hhttp, Jeff Francoeur, Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, Mets, Mp3 Audio, New York Mets, Pagan, Soundbites, Top Story, Trainor