Another week’s worth of fantasy baseball triumphs and heartbreaks are now receding in the rearview mirror of the UmpBumpmobile. A look at how we did, who we loved, and who we cursed with shaking fists:

Coley: Last week, prompted in part by Paul’s post on Jose Reyes, I finally bit the bullet and pulled the trigger on a big trade, sending Reyes to Swamp Dragons for Yunel Escobar and Carl Crawford. Of course, Escobar promptly went out and nearly tore his knee in half and then Reyes jacked two homers yesterday, his first day as an ex-Crunkball All-Star. But you know what? I’m not regretting it. Yunel is going to be fine, it seems. And let’s be real: Reyes is not going to morph into a power hitter overnight. Hot: Carlos Pena, Benjie Molina. Not: Oliver Perez, Brett Myers.

Alejandro: I’m not sure how long this surge will last, but my Center Field Stud keeps on climbing up the charts. Whereas my pitching was the fulcrum of my success two weeks ago, last week it was my offense that flexed its biceps. Magglio Ordóñez (about that first week, yea, let’s fuggedabouit) had a whopping 24 bases, contributing to a grand total 144 bases for the Stud. Carlos Lee also hit double digits in RBIs, pushing 12 runs across the plate. Aaron Rowand is showing signs of life, posting a respectable .423 OBP, hitting 2 home runs, collecting 14 bases, 3 runs, and 9 RBIs. Dan Uggla, Chipper Jones, Jermaine Dye, Hunter Pence, all had solid weeks. Too bad I can’t say the same about a few that I’ll name in the “not” category, below. My pitching was meh, earning me 5 wins, 2 saves, and 45 Ks (enough to win those three categories, but allowing a 4.00 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. I did manage to eke ahead in the ever-elusive K/BB category, with a 2.81 rate. I do have to point out one Mark Hendrickson, who I almost dropped, this week earned 2 wins and punched out 12 dudes in the process (his ERA isn’t hotness, but I’ll take those 12 Ks). Once again, another solid week from CFS and a 9-3 victory. I now sit 11 games out of first place, and only 1.5 from overtaking Sarah’s Somerville Green Sox. Hot: Carlos Lee, Magglio Ordóñez, Aaron Rowand, Dan Uggla, Chipper Jones, Mark Hendrickson (ugh, how unpredictable), B.J. Ryan. Not: Hanley Ramirez, Alex Gordon, Fred Lewis, Emil Brown, A.J. Pierzynski, Vicente Padilla.

Paul: It’s a crazy mixed up world. It’s a Doggy Dogg World. The Dogg’s World. Truer words were never spoken by man. And this can be the only possible explanation as to why ElDuquesInjuryReport finally lost last week to Kirk’s Montefusco’s Revenge. My squad began the week strong, but as I checked the score on Wednesday, it was a total role reversal. Corey “The Guy In Shades” Hart and Ryan Howard simply eclipsed whatever little offense my team was able to muster. And Matt Holliday hit the DL, seemingly out of nowhere. Fantastico. To make matters worse, I sat Justin Duchscherer on Saturday thinking that I should avoid the Red Sox offense if possible. I’ve had better ideas, it turned out. And trust me. I’ve had some terrible ideas in the past. (Full disclosure - I forgot that yesterday was a holiday. I am sans computer back at home and can only use internet at work. Did not update my lineup. Missed Kazmir’s performance last night. For two teams. But I digress). I’m still in first place, however, with a 3.5 game lead over Scott and his Utley’s Firm Quads. Hot: Adam Dunn, Shane Victorino, C.C. Sabathia, Scott Kazmir. Not: Pretty much everyone else. Especially Kevin Youkilis, Edwin Encanacion, Kosuke Fukudome, Jhonny Peralta.

Sarah: By now it’s safe to say that the Somerville Green Sox have one of the hottest offenses in the UmpBump league. They tear up the charts every single week and they do it with only one can’t-drop player, Ryan Braun. Braun didn’t have even a single home run last week, yet my team finished the week with 15 round trippers, getting multiple dingers from Ian Kinsler, Xavier Nady, Carlos Guillen, Stephen Drew, and Rickie Weeks. Jacoby Ellsbury continues to be a stolen base and on-base machine, and Troy Glaus has finally decided to join the party. That’s how you end up with 146 total bases at the end of the week, the best mark in the league. But the question for my young squad has always been pitching. On paper, the guys I drafted looked good. But reality has been a different story—until now. I got a 1-run complete game from FA pickup Dana Eveland at the beginning of the week to set the tone. I got two quality starts from back-in-black Justin Verlander and a decent outing from Andy Pettitte. And I saved myself by presciently choosing to bench the ailing Roy Oswalt, who proceeded to get rocked by the Phillies. I even won the saves category (truly phenomenal, given that my closers consist of lost-in-the-woods Eric Gagne and just-temping Manny Acosta). I ended the week with an 11-1 thrashing of Pirates in 08!, losing only the strikeouts category, and moved back up to third place in the league. Hot: Eveland, Verlander, Kinsler, Nady. Not: Oswalt and Eric Gagne, currently chilling on my bench, but sure to be dropped soon.

Standings, with games behind:

1. Paul (ElDuquesInjuryReport) (0)
2. Scott (Utley’s Firm Quads) (3.5)
3. Sarah (Somerville Green Sox) (10.5)
4. Alejandro (Center Field Stud) (11)
5. Doug (Swamp Dragons) (11.5)
6. Bryan (Pirates in 08!) (15.5)
7. Kirk (Montefusco’s Revenge) (16.5)
8. Larry(croutchyoldman) (20.5)
9. Ania (Box89RowKKSeat14) (23.5)
10. Sooze (freebase my balls) (24.5)
11. Coley (Crunkball All Stars) (29)
12. Caitlin (caitlin grace) (32)

Exactly one year ago today, New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes seemed unstoppable. At the time, Reyes was a 24-year old who appeared ready to break out and announce his presence with authority. He had won NL Player of the Month Award in April with an incredible .356/.442/.596 line to go along with 17 stolen bases. But perhaps the most encouraging stat Reyes accumulated that month was the 16 free trips to first base.

As a point of comparison, back in 2005, Reyes walked 27 times. All year. In 161 games. The following season, things looked to be on the up-and-up, as he nearly doubled those numbers with 53. And in April of 2007, I believed that he was tapping into a potential that even I had not imagined him capable of.

And so it was, that as of May 23, 2007, I thought that my Mets had the best shortstop in Major League Baseball - and he was only 24 years old.

But it hasn’t worked out that way. Since that day, his line has been a far less impressive .268/.338/.407. Journalists, bloggers, sports radio, pretty much anyone with a voice, pen, keyboard or even a talking wheelchair put much of the blame on Reyes for the team’s failure to clinch a playoff spot in September. It’s absolutely true that Jose had a terrible month to close the 2007 season. The man batted .205. His OBP was .279. His god-given talent was no where to be found at a time when everyone was looking for someone to blame.

At the beginning of the 2008 season, it was believed that one of the keys to the Mets success was to get Reyes back on track. But right now, I’m just wondering - what does that mean? 

Does “back on track” mean where he was at the onset of last year? Should we expect him to have an OPS-Plus of 166 like he did in April ‘07? Because if that’s the guy we’re all expecting to see to lift these Mets from their latest funk, then we’re just being downright unfair. Me included.

As Tim Marchman (my favorite Mets beat-writer) writes, “Don’t Blame Reyes For Mets’ Woes“. When looked objectively, thus far in ‘08, Jose has been an asset to the club. His current OPS-Plus stands at a better-than-average 107, which, once you factor in his defense (both in terms of ability at shortstop and the fact that, well, he’s a shortstop who can hit) and age, is actually quite good. In fact, Mr. National League MVP Jimmy Rollins won the award last year with a 118 OPS-Plus, which is inarguably better, but not as better as you may think based on their respective fanbase’s current perceptions.

So who is “to blame” for the Mets’ struggles? Well, a lot of things.

1. We’re still in Mid-May. There’s a lot of baseball that is played in one year. We’re still at a small portion of that one year. Smaller the sample size, the more anomalies stick out.
2. Strength of Schedule. Here’s a part of that “sample size” thing. The 2008 Phillies have thus far played 49 games. 28 of which were played against the Giants(6), Padres(3), Nationals(6), Pirates(3), Astros(4), Rockies(2) and Reds(4), who are generally considered to be the worst teams in the NL. The Mets have played 45 games. Only 14 of them against the aforementioned menagerie of underachievers. Now this is cherry-picking to the highest-degree, but the Mets haven’t exactly had it easy so far.
3. No Power. So I don’t let this team off that easily, consider this. Collectively, the Mets are slugging .390. That’s “good enough” for 13th place out the 16 NL teams. In 2007, the Mets slugged .432 (8th Place), which is not great by any means, but acceptable once you consider Park Factor. For these Mets, it hasn’t been a lack of “clutch hitting” as some have suggested. They just aren’t hitting period. If they can’t hit in any other situation, how can you expect them to hit in “clutch” situations?
4. Pitching. This is the area that concerns me most. It’s one thing to cite the lack of power in a Mets team that plays in a pitcher’s park. But if that holds true, then how do we describe the pitching as anything more than “not good”? Their ERA at the moment is a rather respectable 4.09. But what that doesn’t show is the fact that as a team, they’ve allowed (including unearned) 211 runs. That’s 4.7 runs per game. It’s a big difference.
5. Injuries. This is kind of a double-edged sword. Yes, the Mets have been without Pedro Martinez, Orlando Hernandez, and Moises Alou for most of the year. But can we really say that this was a surprise? Sure, even I, a bit of a pessimist, didn’t expect it to be this bad, but that’s kind of splitting hairs. If we were relying on these guys to lead this team, then brothers and sisters, it was a flawed strategy from the start.

Now before everyone gets the wrong idea, let me just state that I am nowhere near giving up on this team. It’s May. I’ve noticed some Mets fans already setting themselves on fire. It’s really embarrassing. Please stop it.

But despite the date on the calendar, there are things here that are worth mentioning. As expected, the Luis Castillo signing was a pretty bad move. That Pedro signing hasn’t worked out all that well either. And let’s be glad that Carlos Delgado’s contract is up at the end of the year. I’m not one of the people who are calling for Willie Randolph’s head on a platter, but his bullpen management is questionable at best. And I don’t know whose idea it was - Willie’s or GM Omar Minaya’s - to have a bench consisting of Damion Easley, Marlon Anderson, Endy Chavez, Angel Pagan, and Fernando Tatis, but there’s not one name there that I would like to see on my roster - especially to back up a starting nine that you know is going to get hurt badly and often.

I still expect these Mets to win the NL East. I just may need to drink a few more beers to get through the year than I had initially planned.

The Week 4 results are in for UmpBump’s head-to-head league. Who’s up, who’s down, who’s in, who’s out.

Sarah: After inflicting a veritable ass-kicking on Alejandro for most of the week, I (again!) suffered a terrible Sunday and had to content myself with a tie. Poop. Now I’ve dropped down to sixth in our 12-person league, my worst showing so far. You know what really grates? If I’d just taken a gamble and played Kyle Lohse yesterday, I would have won. But I benched him, because I was already winning nearly all the pitching categories and I thought he would only screw it up. Of course, Lohse pitched a beaut, but none of it counted for the Somerville Green Sox. Disgusting. Hot: Jacoby Ellsbury, Russell Martin, David Murphy, Yovani Gallardo, Kyle Freakin’ Lohse. Not: Andy Pettitte, Johnny Cueto, Carlos Guillen, Vernon Wells.

Coley: Well, things can’t get much worse. I got handed an 11-1 beatdown this week. And it hurt. A lot. The problem is clearly my offense, which is getting routinely smacked around, especially in RBI and HR. I’m going to have to pull the trigger on a trade, maybe swap some speed for some power, if possible. You know who isn’t helping? Jose Reyes. He was terrible this week. And, frankly, he’s been bad all year. So, is it time to trade him? Or do I ride it out? And for how long? My pitching staff (Aaron Harang, Dice-K, Brett Myers, Jered Weaver and Oliver Perez) wasn’t great this week, either. But I’m not worried about my pitching. That’s a loaded staff. Hot: Brandon Phillips, Josh Hamilton. Not: Jose Reyes, Carlos Pena, Chone Figgins, Brett Myers.

Paul: Cliff. Lee. That is all. (Actually, if I left it at that, Sarah would kill me.) Anyhow, on the heels of yet another improbably brilliant outing by the Cleveland lefty, ElDuquesInjuryReport now stands atop the standings in out humble league. But even more welcome were the two outings by Cleveland’s other lefty, C.C. Sabathia, who appears to have put his terrible start to the year behind him. Offensively, Edwin Encarnacion had a pretty big week (6 runs, 2 HRs, 19TBs and .379 OBP), as did Brian Roberts (6 runs, 2 HRs, 2 SBs, 17 TBs and .407 OBP). The next victim in my Winnebago tour of carnage is Bryan (Pirates in ‘08!). Sir, you are about to enter a world of pain. Hot: C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Jhonny Peralta (Indians galore!), Brian Roberts, Edwin Encarnacion. Not: Kevin Youkilis, David Wright, Scott Baker.

Alejandro: After surging last week, my team found itself in the woodshed being taken to school by Green’s Somerville’s Green Sox. For any of you who know a little bit about soccer or hockey, you know a come-from behind tie brings about a good feeling of accomplishment. I have to point out Francisco Liriano, on whom I took a big gamble, along with like 90%+ of Yahoo! fantasy players, lost big time. Needless to say, I dropped him, frankly because I don’t expect to get any results out of him, whereas I could by taking a smaller gamble on someone like the Cardinals’ Todd Wellemeyer, 2-0 , 3.77 era, 31 k , 10bb, 1.13 whip. Hot: Chipper Jones, Hunter Pence, Magglio Ordóñez, Tim Lincecum (stud), Billy Wagner, Josh Becket (13k’s!). Not: Kevin Milwood, Gavin Floyd (don’t give up on him yet!), Francisco Liriano (dropped).

David Ortiz (.070, 1 HR, 3 RBI) “I’m just trying to figure things out for a minute so I can go back to being Big Papi again. You see this in baseball, where a guy will have a hard time, go home, chill out and come back with a fresh mind. It happens to everybody. I always do what Terry tells me to do. I’m an employee.”

Jason Giambi (.107, 2 HR, 4 RBI) “If I’ve been frustrated by anything, it’s that I feel so good and I’m hitting the ball hard and I had nothing to show for it.”

C.C. Sabathia (0-2, 11.57 ERA) “Of course people are going to say that — what else could be the reason?” he said. “It can’t just be that I’m pitching bad. It’s got to be something bigger; why not that? I don’t really care how it looks or seems. I can’t control what people think. I’m just trying to get it right and win baseball games.” — on whether his struggles are caused by contract-year pressure.

Jose Reyes (.225, 0 HR, 6 RBI) “I’m gonna get there. I want to finish my career here.”

Prince Fielder (.222 AVG, 0 HR, 6 RBI) “This game is all mental, anyway. It’s never physical” (so don’t even think about blaming this on my weight or my new vegetarian diet, asshole).

Miguel Cabrera (.175 AVG, 1 HR, 2 RBI) “It’s bad. I’m playing bad. … I feel bad. I feel like everybody’s behind me, laughing.”

Kenny Rogers (0-3, 6.75 ERA) “I’m supposed to be consistent and I was very uncomfortable out there and inconsistent.”

Andruw “The Tubbo” Jones (.100 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI) “Do I have to be sad all the time? My mom is still living, my dad is still living, and my mom thinks I’m fine and that’s what matters.”

As I’ve written on this site before, I am actually pretty positive on Alex Rodriguez, feeling that the pros of having the best offfensive player in the world outweigh the cons of having to call a douchebag your teammate. So reading Nick’s fun post about how the Mets are the most likely destination for A-Rod should make me all warm and fuzzy inside, shouldn’t it? Because on paper, I agree with him. There obviously aren’t many teams who can take on his contract so the Mets are already on a very short list of potential suitors. Add to that the unlikelihood that the Yankees would risk losing face after stating point blank that they will not bid on him in the open market, and the negative press that the Red Sox would receive if they were to show fan-favorite Mike Lowell the door after winning the World Series MVP, the list dwindles even more.

So why would it be a bad idea if the Mets went after Alex Rodriguez, knowing full well that they have a leg-up on signing him?

Well, where would they put him defensively? And what would this mean to a team that’s supposedly built around their two young stars - third-baseman David Wright and shortstop Jose Reyes? Let’s break it down:

Defense:

2007 was not a good defensive year for Alex Rodriguez. His fielding percentage (.965) wasn’t terrible, but his Revised Zone Rating (RZR) puts him at the bottom third at the hot corner. He can get away with these numbers if he remains a third baseman for a couple more years, but I’m already bracing myself to laugh at any columnist who thinks that A-Rod can play shortstop anymore. In my view, SS is the toughest position to play defensively aside from centerfield. With the abundance of right-handed hitters in MLB, this position requires the ability to cover far too much ground far too often for a guy like A-Rod. Yes, once upon a time, he was among the better defensive shortstops. But this was four full seasons and what looks like 50lbs ago (yes, I’m exaggerating probably).  Moreover, if you look at his Revised Zone Ratings for the past four years, those numbers have been going south annually. I simply cannot see Alex Rodriguez as a shortstop anymore. So the idea of moving the superior defensive skills of Jose Reyes to 2nd base (remember, the Mets tried this before when Kaz Mastui came to the States and failed miserably) seems simply out of the question.

PR

Even for me as a Met fan, I think that the PR-push that both David Wright and Jose Reyes received was a bit much, so I can only imagine how the rest of the country felt. But the fact remains - these two young players are supposed to be the faces of the franchise. The Mets have a collection of veterans who aren’t as easy to market due to their quiet demeanors (see Beltran, Carlos; Delgado, Carlos; and Alou, Moises) and thus are banking on Wright and Reyes to fill those roles. So what would this mean if A-Rod were to join them in Queens?

Back in spring training, Wright volunteered to move to 2nd base if A-Rod were Flushing-bound. And he received a good amount of criticism for this, prompting one team veteran to say “”(Wright’s) the guy we need to be the leader here, not A-Rod.”

Touche. And I agree. The Mets offense does not need Alex Rodriguez, and the Mets front office does not need to concentrate on scoring more runs. What they do need to think about is how to replace Tom Glavine and add to their bullpen despite a free agency pool that lacks any reliable arms. They also will probably need to find trade partners to obtain a catcher and a second-baseman. Wasting their time listening to Scott Boras is no way to get any of this done.