I was surprised to see Jerry Manuel take Carlos Delgado out in the eighth inning of Sunday's game for defensive purposes. I'd have to look at his UZR, but I don't think Delgado is as bad as a defensive first baseman as his reputation suggests. Although his range is limited, Delgado seems to do a very good job scooping balls in the dirt. Regardless, using a defensive replacement for Delgado wasn't a bad move, if for no other reason than it showed Manuel was more concerned about winning a game than he was about Delgado's feelings. The previous manager seemed to have an issue with that.
That said, using Fernando Tatis is a defensive replacement WAS a bad move, because Fernando Tatis is not a skilled defensive first baseman. He's not really a first baseman at all - Tatis has made only nine appearances there in his major league career and has never played there in the minor leagues. So what the hell was Manuel thinking when he gave this quote to Newsday?
"I think, as a manager, that Tatis is a tremendous first baseman and I don't think it would be fair to the team if I didn't do that [use him as a defensive substitute]," Manuel said.
Say what? Does Manuel really think Tatis can field first base the way Keith Hernandez did, just because he wears the same number Mex wore? Unless he is some sort of fielding savant, Fernando Tatis is a barely competent first baseman who probably is not a defensive upgrade from Carlos Delgado, as incredible as that may sound. Andy Phillips was on the bench and certainly would've made more sense than Tatis in that situation, but for some reason the Mets think he's a left fielder now.
Fernando Tatis at first. Andy Phillips in left field. Marlon Anderson on a major league roster. Hilariouser and hilariouser.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Grow Up Jose
I am getting sick and tired of Jose Reyes.
I no longer question his skill or his potential - for the first few years of his career I was convinced that I was dealing with the reincarnation of Juan Samuel. Now I think he's going to be similar to Jimmy Rollins offensively, with better OBP and more stolen bases but fewer home runs. He is one of the cornerstones of this team, who is signed to an exceedingly rare club-friendly deal, and the entire Mets' attack is more effective with him at the top of the lineup.
But if he doesn't get his head out of the clouds, Jose Reyes is going to continue harming this team's chances to win games at worst possible times.
Reyes was picked off second base at a critical point in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Yankees. With two on, two out and David Wright at the plate, there was simply no reason to stray too far from the base. Wright has been murdering the ball lately and Reyes could've easily scored on a single hit to any of the Yankees' candy-armed outfielders. But there he was, taking a huge lead and inexplicably breaking toward third as Andy Pettitte raised his leg. Pettitte clumsily twirled and fired to second instead of throwing the pitch, and Robinson Cano was there to slap the tag on Reyes's head to end the most serious threat of the game.
I remember hoping after the play that Cano's tag was hard enough to finally knock some sense into Reyes. Incredibly, it was the second time this season that Reyes was picked off second base in a game the Mets eventually lost. It's a play that signifies an embarassing lack of awareness on the basepaths and simply should never happen to a thinking ballplayer.
Fast forward to yesterday, when Reyes threw a temper tantrum as he came off the field after the last out of the seventh inning. He had made a throwing error on a slow roller to short the batter before and obviously wasn't able to put it behind him as Jose Molina skied to Ryan Church to end the inning. Reports differ, but to some it appeared that Reyes threw his glove down even before the ball settled in Church's mitt.
It was a bush-league move for so many reasons, not the least of which is that the third out may not have actually been made before the tamtrum began. Imagine if Church lost the ball at the last minute and it deflected off his glove. The Mets would've had the most important defender on the field at the moment walking away from the play with his glove on the ground. It was completely inexcusable and Jerry Manuel should've sat Reyes down for the rest of the game the second he walked into the dugout.
Jose Reyes is 25 years old, which means he is too old for this nonsense. Temper tantrums and getting picked off second base twice a season is more appropriate for a shortstop playing in Brooklyn, not in Queens. When is Reyes finally going to add professionalism to his array of skill sets?
I no longer question his skill or his potential - for the first few years of his career I was convinced that I was dealing with the reincarnation of Juan Samuel. Now I think he's going to be similar to Jimmy Rollins offensively, with better OBP and more stolen bases but fewer home runs. He is one of the cornerstones of this team, who is signed to an exceedingly rare club-friendly deal, and the entire Mets' attack is more effective with him at the top of the lineup.
But if he doesn't get his head out of the clouds, Jose Reyes is going to continue harming this team's chances to win games at worst possible times.
Reyes was picked off second base at a critical point in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Yankees. With two on, two out and David Wright at the plate, there was simply no reason to stray too far from the base. Wright has been murdering the ball lately and Reyes could've easily scored on a single hit to any of the Yankees' candy-armed outfielders. But there he was, taking a huge lead and inexplicably breaking toward third as Andy Pettitte raised his leg. Pettitte clumsily twirled and fired to second instead of throwing the pitch, and Robinson Cano was there to slap the tag on Reyes's head to end the most serious threat of the game.
I remember hoping after the play that Cano's tag was hard enough to finally knock some sense into Reyes. Incredibly, it was the second time this season that Reyes was picked off second base in a game the Mets eventually lost. It's a play that signifies an embarassing lack of awareness on the basepaths and simply should never happen to a thinking ballplayer.
Fast forward to yesterday, when Reyes threw a temper tantrum as he came off the field after the last out of the seventh inning. He had made a throwing error on a slow roller to short the batter before and obviously wasn't able to put it behind him as Jose Molina skied to Ryan Church to end the inning. Reports differ, but to some it appeared that Reyes threw his glove down even before the ball settled in Church's mitt.
It was a bush-league move for so many reasons, not the least of which is that the third out may not have actually been made before the tamtrum began. Imagine if Church lost the ball at the last minute and it deflected off his glove. The Mets would've had the most important defender on the field at the moment walking away from the play with his glove on the ground. It was completely inexcusable and Jerry Manuel should've sat Reyes down for the rest of the game the second he walked into the dugout.
Jose Reyes is 25 years old, which means he is too old for this nonsense. Temper tantrums and getting picked off second base twice a season is more appropriate for a shortstop playing in Brooklyn, not in Queens. When is Reyes finally going to add professionalism to his array of skill sets?
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Finally Showing Up At Shea
So I finally made it to my first Mets game of the season last night. Yes, I know, how could a noted blogger like myself fail to get to a game before now? Too much time in my my mother's basement wearing pocket protectors and inventing new stats, that's why.
I really don't know how things got so far away from me this year; perhaps its lingering emotion from last season's collapse. I usually make it to at least one game during the opening homestand, sort of as a celebration of the new baseball season, and then settle into a pattern where I go to games whenever tickets end up in my hands. This year, it just hasn't happened.
I met Joe around 7:15 pm in the parking lot, near the Diamond Club entrance. We sat on the hood of his car and waited patiently for Adam and Billy to show up. The area around Shea Stadium was appropriately crowded for a Mets-Yankees game, with all the spectacle of rival fans attempting to out-do each other in the competition to see who can act like the biggest fool.
Sightings:
* Kei Igawa. While we were waiting for the other guys, a black town car pulled up about 25 feet from us and stopped right in the middle of a turning lane, blocking all the traffic behind it. The driver jumped out, opened the trunk and started pulling Yankees bags out. Two Asian men got out of the back seat, one with Igawa's distinctive lips. Really, you can spot those things from 25 feet away. Igawa was pointed in the general direction of the Diamond Club entrance and left to his own devices.
* Mike Bloomberg. He's short, he's an elitist and his laissez-faire policies toward over-development are ruining my borough. He was also wearing a Nelson Doubleday style purple sweater draped over his shoulders, so he looked absolutely ridiculous.
Adam and Billy finally showed up and we walked to our seats just in time for the first pitch. The four of us bought a Friday night seven-pack in the offseason and this was the first game we actually made it to. The seats are surprisingly good - Section 24 in the upper deck - even though we spent the first two innings in Section 26 because Joe still needs a map to find his way around the place.
The game, of course, was terrible. I hate to say this, but Pedro is shot. There was a fifth inning at-bat against Derek Jeter where it all locked into place for me. Jeter kept fouling off pitches and it became crystal clear that Pedro just didn't have an out pitch anymore. When you can no longer put away a professional hitter, you're finished as an elite starter. Jeter eventually walked and the game got away from there. I was surprised Jerry Manuel even let him start the sixth inning. Rotator cuff injuries are career-killers.
We left in the seventh inning, once it became a contest between how many runs the Yankees were going to score and how many fights we were going to see. Joe insisted on going over to the Pine Restaurant in the Holiday Inn across the street from the stadium. He heard that some "fellow employees" were going to be there and we were hoping to get a free t-shirt. That never materialized, but I did run into one of my fiance's co-workers and one of my sister's best friends. I didn't get a chance to see my friend Bart, who left a message on my cell while I was already in the bar.
I really don't know how things got so far away from me this year; perhaps its lingering emotion from last season's collapse. I usually make it to at least one game during the opening homestand, sort of as a celebration of the new baseball season, and then settle into a pattern where I go to games whenever tickets end up in my hands. This year, it just hasn't happened.
I met Joe around 7:15 pm in the parking lot, near the Diamond Club entrance. We sat on the hood of his car and waited patiently for Adam and Billy to show up. The area around Shea Stadium was appropriately crowded for a Mets-Yankees game, with all the spectacle of rival fans attempting to out-do each other in the competition to see who can act like the biggest fool.
Sightings:
* Kei Igawa. While we were waiting for the other guys, a black town car pulled up about 25 feet from us and stopped right in the middle of a turning lane, blocking all the traffic behind it. The driver jumped out, opened the trunk and started pulling Yankees bags out. Two Asian men got out of the back seat, one with Igawa's distinctive lips. Really, you can spot those things from 25 feet away. Igawa was pointed in the general direction of the Diamond Club entrance and left to his own devices.
* Mike Bloomberg. He's short, he's an elitist and his laissez-faire policies toward over-development are ruining my borough. He was also wearing a Nelson Doubleday style purple sweater draped over his shoulders, so he looked absolutely ridiculous.
Adam and Billy finally showed up and we walked to our seats just in time for the first pitch. The four of us bought a Friday night seven-pack in the offseason and this was the first game we actually made it to. The seats are surprisingly good - Section 24 in the upper deck - even though we spent the first two innings in Section 26 because Joe still needs a map to find his way around the place.
The game, of course, was terrible. I hate to say this, but Pedro is shot. There was a fifth inning at-bat against Derek Jeter where it all locked into place for me. Jeter kept fouling off pitches and it became crystal clear that Pedro just didn't have an out pitch anymore. When you can no longer put away a professional hitter, you're finished as an elite starter. Jeter eventually walked and the game got away from there. I was surprised Jerry Manuel even let him start the sixth inning. Rotator cuff injuries are career-killers.
We left in the seventh inning, once it became a contest between how many runs the Yankees were going to score and how many fights we were going to see. Joe insisted on going over to the Pine Restaurant in the Holiday Inn across the street from the stadium. He heard that some "fellow employees" were going to be there and we were hoping to get a free t-shirt. That never materialized, but I did run into one of my fiance's co-workers and one of my sister's best friends. I didn't get a chance to see my friend Bart, who left a message on my cell while I was already in the bar.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Roster Move: Mets Claim Phillips Off Waivers
Andy Phillips? Really? Well, the "Omar only loves Latins" contingent will have a hard time spinning this one, that's for sure.
I'm not sure what Andy Phillips brings to the roster of a team that aspires to win baseball games. He does bat from the right side of the plate and (until this season) was primarily a first baseman, so he theoretically could be used a platoon partner for Carlos Delgado. This would be a good thing if Andy Phillips could hit left-handed major league pitching, but he has shown a remarkable inability to do so throughout his career. He apparently also plays third base and second base in a pinch, which I suppose is a useful tool to have, but I don't think Phillips is any better than Damion Easley or Fernando Tatis. I'd rather have Stein, Lupus, Ogilvie and the Aguilar brothers on my bench than the cast of characters the Mets are employing in reserve.
So I'm not sure why Andy Phillips is here, but Robinson Cancel was sent down to make room for him. He never should've been with the big club in the first place, so I guess that's a good thing. Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoeneweis
Joe Smith
Carlos Muniz
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
Andy Phillips
OUTFIELDERS
Carlos Beltran
Endy Chavez
Trot Nixon
Marlon Anderson
Moises Alou - DL
Ryan Church - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
I'm not sure what Andy Phillips brings to the roster of a team that aspires to win baseball games. He does bat from the right side of the plate and (until this season) was primarily a first baseman, so he theoretically could be used a platoon partner for Carlos Delgado. This would be a good thing if Andy Phillips could hit left-handed major league pitching, but he has shown a remarkable inability to do so throughout his career. He apparently also plays third base and second base in a pinch, which I suppose is a useful tool to have, but I don't think Phillips is any better than Damion Easley or Fernando Tatis. I'd rather have Stein, Lupus, Ogilvie and the Aguilar brothers on my bench than the cast of characters the Mets are employing in reserve.
So I'm not sure why Andy Phillips is here, but Robinson Cancel was sent down to make room for him. He never should've been with the big club in the first place, so I guess that's a good thing. Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoeneweis
Joe Smith
Carlos Muniz
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
Andy Phillips
OUTFIELDERS
Carlos Beltran
Endy Chavez
Trot Nixon
Marlon Anderson
Moises Alou - DL
Ryan Church - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Things Aren't Always As They Seem (Flushing University)
There are a lot of reasons why teams play bad baseball, not just a lack of heart and desire. So before you accuse the Mets of lacking hustle, remember that there may be other factors at play - factors that you will never know about for sure. Read more here ...
Roster Move: Vargas DFA, Muniz Recalled
Some deck-chair shuffling in the bullpen, which seems to be a prelude to another move. Carlos Muniz is back again, at least for the next few days; this guy must be racking up the frequent flyer miles between New Orleans and New York. This is a little surprising, though, because Vargas has been pretty effective as a swing man before last night's performance. One bad outing generally doesn't earn a release, so perhaps the Mets are confident that he's going to get through waivers anyway.
I wouldn't worry too much about not having a long man in the pen - how often does a Met reliever give them a three-inning appearance? I wouldn't be surprised to see Aaron Heilman filling that nominal role for the time being, but I don't think it's the first step in his conversion back to starting pitcher. He'll just be the guy asked to go 2.1 or 2.2 innings on occasion when a starter gets bombed out.
As for the next step, I agree with Mack that there must be a subsequent move in the waiting. Because of the off-day tomorrow, the Yankee series can still be staffed by pitchers on regular rest - Pedro Martinez and Mike Pelfrey Friday, Johan Santana Saturday and Ollie Perez on Sunday. (That is, if Walsh doesn't have him shipped to Siberia first.)
John Maine would be in line to start on Monday against the Cardinals in St. Louis, but then Tuesday night's game becomes the issue. Manuel would have to send Pedro or Pelfrey out there on short rest (unlikely) or someone else will need to be brought in to make the start.
My first guess would be Tony Armas, but I think the Mets would have to expose him to waivers to send him back down. Since there's no reason to believe that anyone in the rotation is getting traded, demoted or released, the Mets may not want to risk losing Armas to a spot start. If that is the case, it could mean the one-night return of Nelson Figueroa, who has been pitching well with New Orleans since returning to the Zephyrs last month.
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoeneweis
Joe Smith
Carlos Muniz
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
Robinson Cancel
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
OUTFIELDERS
Carlos Beltran
Endy Chavez
Trot Nixon
Marlon Anderson
Moises Alou - DL
Ryan Church - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
I wouldn't worry too much about not having a long man in the pen - how often does a Met reliever give them a three-inning appearance? I wouldn't be surprised to see Aaron Heilman filling that nominal role for the time being, but I don't think it's the first step in his conversion back to starting pitcher. He'll just be the guy asked to go 2.1 or 2.2 innings on occasion when a starter gets bombed out.
As for the next step, I agree with Mack that there must be a subsequent move in the waiting. Because of the off-day tomorrow, the Yankee series can still be staffed by pitchers on regular rest - Pedro Martinez and Mike Pelfrey Friday, Johan Santana Saturday and Ollie Perez on Sunday. (That is, if Walsh doesn't have him shipped to Siberia first.)
John Maine would be in line to start on Monday against the Cardinals in St. Louis, but then Tuesday night's game becomes the issue. Manuel would have to send Pedro or Pelfrey out there on short rest (unlikely) or someone else will need to be brought in to make the start.
My first guess would be Tony Armas, but I think the Mets would have to expose him to waivers to send him back down. Since there's no reason to believe that anyone in the rotation is getting traded, demoted or released, the Mets may not want to risk losing Armas to a spot start. If that is the case, it could mean the one-night return of Nelson Figueroa, who has been pitching well with New Orleans since returning to the Zephyrs last month.
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoeneweis
Joe Smith
Carlos Muniz
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
Robinson Cancel
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
OUTFIELDERS
Carlos Beltran
Endy Chavez
Trot Nixon
Marlon Anderson
Moises Alou - DL
Ryan Church - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Bush League
11-0 Mariners, bottom of the ninth, 2-2 count on Fernando Tatis. What do I hear?
The most inappropriate charge horn in the National League.
Unbelievable.
The most inappropriate charge horn in the National League.
Unbelievable.
Monday, June 23, 2008
King Felix Takes Johan Deep; Mex Mashes Stunning
I just watched Felix Hernandez hit a grand slam off Johan Santana. Sometimes, words fail even me.
After the requisite amount of shock from the announcers poured forth, someone mentioned it was the first home run hit by an American League pitcher since Steve Dunning hit one out in 1971. (That's "Stunning" Steve Dunning to anyone who has ever read the wonderful Seasons in Hell by Mike Shropshire.)
Keith Hernandez quickly chimed in about taking Dunning deep one time in old Jarry Park early in his career. The inning ended before Mex could expound upon this moment in history further, but the beauty of the Internet is that you can get the particulars of this momentous occasion with or without additional commentary from Hernandez.
Let's get in the time machine and set it for September 6, 1976. The Cardinals and the Expos square off in a late season battle of NL East also-rans in front of 6,500 Montreal die-hards. Dunning is nursing a 1-0 lead into the sixth, and gets the light-hitting Don Kessinger to bounce into a 1-6-3 groundout. (Hey, I just go by what Baseball Reference says. With no one on base, I can't imagine why the shortstop was involved. Maybe the ball bounced off Stunning's glove?)
Enter the young Hernandez, completing his first season starting at first for the Cardinals. The resulting blast tied the score in a game the Expos ultimately won in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was the last start of Dunning's career; he pitched out of the Montreal bullpen for the rest of the month and made six relief appearances for Oakland before calling it a career in 1977.
Did Keith Hernandez's solo home run in Montreal effectively end Steve Dunning's career? I wish Gary Cohen had thought to ask this after the commerical break ...
EDIT:
R: "Manuel, you better cut out that cheap crap."
M: "Cheap crap? We're playing clean, hard baseball."
R: "You call spiking a 22-year-old boy..."
M: Spiking? The umpire called it safe! My team plays by the book!"
R: "All right, pus-head ... "
M: "You got any crying to do - cry to the umpire! Get back to your dugout! Maybe your team could use your help ... but I doubt it! ... All right, Carlos! You guys play by the book!"
After the requisite amount of shock from the announcers poured forth, someone mentioned it was the first home run hit by an American League pitcher since Steve Dunning hit one out in 1971. (That's "Stunning" Steve Dunning to anyone who has ever read the wonderful Seasons in Hell by Mike Shropshire.)
Keith Hernandez quickly chimed in about taking Dunning deep one time in old Jarry Park early in his career. The inning ended before Mex could expound upon this moment in history further, but the beauty of the Internet is that you can get the particulars of this momentous occasion with or without additional commentary from Hernandez.
Let's get in the time machine and set it for September 6, 1976. The Cardinals and the Expos square off in a late season battle of NL East also-rans in front of 6,500 Montreal die-hards. Dunning is nursing a 1-0 lead into the sixth, and gets the light-hitting Don Kessinger to bounce into a 1-6-3 groundout. (Hey, I just go by what Baseball Reference says. With no one on base, I can't imagine why the shortstop was involved. Maybe the ball bounced off Stunning's glove?)
Enter the young Hernandez, completing his first season starting at first for the Cardinals. The resulting blast tied the score in a game the Expos ultimately won in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was the last start of Dunning's career; he pitched out of the Montreal bullpen for the rest of the month and made six relief appearances for Oakland before calling it a career in 1977.
Did Keith Hernandez's solo home run in Montreal effectively end Steve Dunning's career? I wish Gary Cohen had thought to ask this after the commerical break ...
EDIT:
R: "Manuel, you better cut out that cheap crap."
M: "Cheap crap? We're playing clean, hard baseball."
R: "You call spiking a 22-year-old boy..."
M: Spiking? The umpire called it safe! My team plays by the book!"
R: "All right, pus-head ... "
M: "You got any crying to do - cry to the umpire! Get back to your dugout! Maybe your team could use your help ... but I doubt it! ... All right, Carlos! You guys play by the book!"
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Live Blog CANCELLED
Sorry, I'm going to the bar with Joe to watch the game instead. Oh, relax, you weren't dedicating your Sunday afternoon to following this! I'll try it during the week, maybe one of the games before the Yankees series.
MSM Musings: Reliever Roles
One of Jerry Manuel's "campaign promises" when he took over as manager last week was to define bullpen roles, so that the seven relievers in the Mets' bullpen could have a reasonable expectation of the situations they would be called upon to pitch. The preview for today's season finale against the Rockies (which we are live-blogging at 3 pm!) includes quotes from Manuel about the roles he has begun to carve out for his relievers.
From the article: Interim manager Jerry Manuel said Saturday that he's in the process of defining roles for all his pitchers, and that they won't stray far from those posts. (Billy) Wagner is the closer. (Duaner) Sanchez is the setup man. (Joe) Smith and (Pedro) Feliciano are the right-handed and left-handed specialists, respectively.
"I would rather those guys stay as short as possible," Manuel said.
Oh man, is he serious? Did Jerry Manuel also miss the memo that Scott Schoeneweis can only function as a lefty specialist and still gets tattooed against right-handers? Yes, I know his superficially pretty numbers this season (a 2.40 ERA and a 1.033 WHIP) are a distraction, but as usual there is a obvious difference in his effectiveness between lefties (.135/.220/.192) and righties (.280/.373/.480). The more righties Schoeneweis faces, the less effective he is going to be.
Meanwhile Feliciano, after a terrible start to the season, has pitched very well since mid-May. He has a .270 ERA and a 1.138 WHIP in his last 20 appearances, and batters are hitting just .193 against Feliciano in that time frame. Their season lines are very similar against righties (.281/.369/.439 for Feliciano), but historically Pedro has been far more effective against opposite-handed batters that Schoeneweis. He should be getting longer outings and more at-bats against righties, because he is far more likely to get them out that Schoeneweis is.
Jerry, your bullpen hierarchy should look something like this:
Closer: Billy Wagner
Righty Set-Up Man: Duaner Sanchez
Lefty Set-Up Man: Pedro Feliciano
Righty Specialist: Joe Smith
Lefty Specialist: Scott Schoeneweis
Mop-Up Man: Aaron Heilman
Long Reliever: Claudio Vargas
Personally, I'm not a big fan of overly defining individual bullpen roles anyway. I'm of the belief that the best relievers should get the most work and the most appearances on high leverage situations, regardless of their role. Of course, I'm also one of those heretics that doesn't believe in the current concept of the closer, so I know that I'm never going to find a modern-day manager who shares my viewpoints.
I always thought one of the few things that Willie Randolph did well was refusing to define bullpen roles. Randolph simply went with the guy he thought was the most likely to get the outs he needed. The problem was that Randolph had a terrible feel for who was the most likely to actually get the out and often went against the percentages when choosing a reliever. (Think Schoeneweis against a righty or Jorge Sosa against a lefty.) More often than not, this led to disastrous results.
From the article: Interim manager Jerry Manuel said Saturday that he's in the process of defining roles for all his pitchers, and that they won't stray far from those posts. (Billy) Wagner is the closer. (Duaner) Sanchez is the setup man. (Joe) Smith and (Pedro) Feliciano are the right-handed and left-handed specialists, respectively.
"I would rather those guys stay as short as possible," Manuel said.
Oh man, is he serious? Did Jerry Manuel also miss the memo that Scott Schoeneweis can only function as a lefty specialist and still gets tattooed against right-handers? Yes, I know his superficially pretty numbers this season (a 2.40 ERA and a 1.033 WHIP) are a distraction, but as usual there is a obvious difference in his effectiveness between lefties (.135/.220/.192) and righties (.280/.373/.480). The more righties Schoeneweis faces, the less effective he is going to be.
Meanwhile Feliciano, after a terrible start to the season, has pitched very well since mid-May. He has a .270 ERA and a 1.138 WHIP in his last 20 appearances, and batters are hitting just .193 against Feliciano in that time frame. Their season lines are very similar against righties (.281/.369/.439 for Feliciano), but historically Pedro has been far more effective against opposite-handed batters that Schoeneweis. He should be getting longer outings and more at-bats against righties, because he is far more likely to get them out that Schoeneweis is.
Jerry, your bullpen hierarchy should look something like this:
Closer: Billy Wagner
Righty Set-Up Man: Duaner Sanchez
Lefty Set-Up Man: Pedro Feliciano
Righty Specialist: Joe Smith
Lefty Specialist: Scott Schoeneweis
Mop-Up Man: Aaron Heilman
Long Reliever: Claudio Vargas
Personally, I'm not a big fan of overly defining individual bullpen roles anyway. I'm of the belief that the best relievers should get the most work and the most appearances on high leverage situations, regardless of their role. Of course, I'm also one of those heretics that doesn't believe in the current concept of the closer, so I know that I'm never going to find a modern-day manager who shares my viewpoints.
I always thought one of the few things that Willie Randolph did well was refusing to define bullpen roles. Randolph simply went with the guy he thought was the most likely to get the outs he needed. The problem was that Randolph had a terrible feel for who was the most likely to actually get the out and often went against the percentages when choosing a reliever. (Think Schoeneweis against a righty or Jorge Sosa against a lefty.) More often than not, this led to disastrous results.
Live Blog!
Check in tomorrow at 3 pm, when I begin my first live blog of the season during the finale of the Mets-Rockies series. I've been wanting to try it since the beginning of the season, but everything is lining up perfectly tomorrow. Let's see how it goes!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
MSM Musings: Stolen Base Efficiency
For my money, the New York Sun has the best baseball coverage of any New York daily. No disrespect to my friend Jim, but as a whole the Sun's baseball writers are an innovative lot with great ideas, whose daily efforts are more insightful and more useful to baseball fans than the predictable offerings you get from the print columnists in the established dailies.
You would never see a piece like Caleb Peiffer's excellent offering about stolen bases in one of these papers, because the old-school mentality of sports writing and reporting is too deeply ingrained in the editors there. (It should be noted that Peiffer is not a regular writer for the Sun, but a contributor from Baseball Prospectus.) Pieffer's column today, however, is far more illuminating about a topic that's always good for a discussion among baseball fans - the efficacy of the stolen base and the effect that speed has on the game.
For my money, the stolen base is one of the most exciting plays in baseball. When a good base stealer gets on, everyone sits up and takes notice. The pitcher alters his natural motion to pitch out of the stretch and to decrease the time it takes for the ball to leave his hands and land in the catcher's mitt. The catcher has to consider calling more fastballs and fewer breaking balls to give himself a better chance if the runner takes off. The first baseman moves out of position to hold the runner on. The middle infielders exchange signs about who will cover second if the runner decides to try his luck. What other play in baseball changes the roles of five out of the nine players on the field?
Speed has such an underrated effect on the game, mainly because it is not easy to conclusively prove the effect it has. You can measure stolen base efficiency, and plug it into a run expectancy matrix to see if the attempts had a positive or negative effect on the overall number of potential runs scored. Doing so has led to the conclusion that stolen base attempts need to be successful 75 percent of the time to have a positive effect on run scoring. Since most base stealers are rarely so successful over the course of the season, a new school of thought has emerged that stolen bases are not only overrated, but they are also generally harmful to a team's chances of winning.
Disruption, however, is very hard to quantify. If a fast runner causes a pitcher to alter his motion and his pitch selection when facing the next batter, does that have a positive effect on the offensive team's chances to score? With one fielder always out of position and a second ready to be at a moment's notice, do more groundballs find their way into the outfield with a fast runner on first? What about the pitcher's overall mental state? If the pitcher has a lapse in concentration because he's focusing too much on the runner, couldn't that lead to more runs?
The act of stealing a base can be quantified and objectively determined to be positive or negative on the team's chances of scoring. If Jose Reyes ends up swiping 80 bases this year, he can only be caught 26 times before his successful attempts are outweighed by the unsuccessful ones. However, there is no way to determine how the threat of Jose Reyes stealing a base affects the Mets' chances of scoring. I am willing to guess that the threat alone makes a positive impact, which is where the true value of speed lies.
That does not mean, of course, that fast baserunners should simply threaten to steal a base but never actually attempt to do so. Peiffer's column notes that teams in general have become much more efficient when attempting to steal, a compelling sign that sabermetric thought is having a positive effect on the game and strategic planning.
An efficient base stealer, then, may be one of the most dangerous weapons in the game, even if his stolen base totals do not immediately reflect that.
EDIT: One more thought: I've been playing Strat-o-Matic baseball for many years, and Strat actually quantifies the effect that a fast baserunner has on the game.
In the league I'm in now, we play a hybrid of advanced and super advanced rules. Say the aforementioned Reyes singles to lead off the game. The manager of the team in the field has to decide if he's holding Reyes on first, taking Jose's running rating, the pitcher's hold and the catcher's throwing arm into effect. This creates a series of probabilities. The first two are Reyes's chances of stealing second base if he "gets a good lead" or if he does not.
The more interesting probability, as it relates to this post, is the batter's chances of getting a hit. In our league, the probability of the batter getting a hit with a runner held on base increases about 3 percent. Put another way, a .250 hitter becomes a .280 hitter and a .300 hitter becomes a .330 hitter. It's easier to believe in the power of disruption when I play a game that quantifies it for me.
You would never see a piece like Caleb Peiffer's excellent offering about stolen bases in one of these papers, because the old-school mentality of sports writing and reporting is too deeply ingrained in the editors there. (It should be noted that Peiffer is not a regular writer for the Sun, but a contributor from Baseball Prospectus.) Pieffer's column today, however, is far more illuminating about a topic that's always good for a discussion among baseball fans - the efficacy of the stolen base and the effect that speed has on the game.
For my money, the stolen base is one of the most exciting plays in baseball. When a good base stealer gets on, everyone sits up and takes notice. The pitcher alters his natural motion to pitch out of the stretch and to decrease the time it takes for the ball to leave his hands and land in the catcher's mitt. The catcher has to consider calling more fastballs and fewer breaking balls to give himself a better chance if the runner takes off. The first baseman moves out of position to hold the runner on. The middle infielders exchange signs about who will cover second if the runner decides to try his luck. What other play in baseball changes the roles of five out of the nine players on the field?
Speed has such an underrated effect on the game, mainly because it is not easy to conclusively prove the effect it has. You can measure stolen base efficiency, and plug it into a run expectancy matrix to see if the attempts had a positive or negative effect on the overall number of potential runs scored. Doing so has led to the conclusion that stolen base attempts need to be successful 75 percent of the time to have a positive effect on run scoring. Since most base stealers are rarely so successful over the course of the season, a new school of thought has emerged that stolen bases are not only overrated, but they are also generally harmful to a team's chances of winning.
Disruption, however, is very hard to quantify. If a fast runner causes a pitcher to alter his motion and his pitch selection when facing the next batter, does that have a positive effect on the offensive team's chances to score? With one fielder always out of position and a second ready to be at a moment's notice, do more groundballs find their way into the outfield with a fast runner on first? What about the pitcher's overall mental state? If the pitcher has a lapse in concentration because he's focusing too much on the runner, couldn't that lead to more runs?
The act of stealing a base can be quantified and objectively determined to be positive or negative on the team's chances of scoring. If Jose Reyes ends up swiping 80 bases this year, he can only be caught 26 times before his successful attempts are outweighed by the unsuccessful ones. However, there is no way to determine how the threat of Jose Reyes stealing a base affects the Mets' chances of scoring. I am willing to guess that the threat alone makes a positive impact, which is where the true value of speed lies.
That does not mean, of course, that fast baserunners should simply threaten to steal a base but never actually attempt to do so. Peiffer's column notes that teams in general have become much more efficient when attempting to steal, a compelling sign that sabermetric thought is having a positive effect on the game and strategic planning.
An efficient base stealer, then, may be one of the most dangerous weapons in the game, even if his stolen base totals do not immediately reflect that.
EDIT: One more thought: I've been playing Strat-o-Matic baseball for many years, and Strat actually quantifies the effect that a fast baserunner has on the game.
In the league I'm in now, we play a hybrid of advanced and super advanced rules. Say the aforementioned Reyes singles to lead off the game. The manager of the team in the field has to decide if he's holding Reyes on first, taking Jose's running rating, the pitcher's hold and the catcher's throwing arm into effect. This creates a series of probabilities. The first two are Reyes's chances of stealing second base if he "gets a good lead" or if he does not.
The more interesting probability, as it relates to this post, is the batter's chances of getting a hit. In our league, the probability of the batter getting a hit with a runner held on base increases about 3 percent. Put another way, a .250 hitter becomes a .280 hitter and a .300 hitter becomes a .330 hitter. It's easier to believe in the power of disruption when I play a game that quantifies it for me.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Another Day, Another Disgrace (Flushing University)
It can be rough when your favorite baseball team becomes the laughingstock of the league - especially when it has to do with factors other than wins and losses. But you've been down this road before. You're a Mets fan. Read more here ...
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Omar Minaya is a Liar
Omar Minaya: Please do not insult my intelligence any further. You claim that the decision to fire Willie Randolph was yours and yours alone, and it was made after you slept on it on Sunday night. You then claim you had to fire Willie immediately after Monday's game, so that he wouldn't hear of that decision from anyone else but you.
No thinking person believes you. You are lying on behalf of your bosses, a time-honored tradition that nevertheless is insulting to the people assembled at that press conference (who are much closer to knowing the truth than anyone else) and to the entire Mets fanbase (which has to pick and choose which version of the truth to believe).
Omar, if it was really your decision and yours alone, you could've made it at any time. You wouldn't have had to tell anyone else, because you claim to have full autonomy. The possibility that Randolph would've heard the bad news from anyone other than you would've been solely contingent on your ability not to tell anyone else.
No thinking person believes you. You are lying on behalf of your bosses, a time-honored tradition that nevertheless is insulting to the people assembled at that press conference (who are much closer to knowing the truth than anyone else) and to the entire Mets fanbase (which has to pick and choose which version of the truth to believe).
Omar, if it was really your decision and yours alone, you could've made it at any time. You wouldn't have had to tell anyone else, because you claim to have full autonomy. The possibility that Randolph would've heard the bad news from anyone other than you would've been solely contingent on your ability not to tell anyone else.
Like School on Sunday
Only the Mets could ruin what should've been a wonderfully happy day by acting like gutless cowards.
Why make Willie Randolph, Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto leave New York for a West Coast swing only to fire them one day into the trip - after a win, no less? The Mets had to have known they were going to fire the trio after Sunday's doubleheader; why make the three men travel nearly 3,000 miles just to give them a pink slip? This couldn't have been done while Randolph, Peterson and Nieto were in New York with their families? Why fire Peterson (who wasn't even a Randolph hire) and Nieto at all? I'm sure all these questions will be asking during the 5pm press conference, and I'm equally sure that the Mets won't have a good answer for them.
I've been waiting for this day for 3 1/2 years, and now I'm actually more sympathetic to the shoddy treatment Randolph and his coaches were subjected to then I am relieved by his dismissal. It's disturbing and it's classless and it's one more reason to reconsider my allegiance to this team. More analysis later today; for now I'm just going to stew on how disappointed I am in Fred Wilpon and Omar Minaya.
Why make Willie Randolph, Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto leave New York for a West Coast swing only to fire them one day into the trip - after a win, no less? The Mets had to have known they were going to fire the trio after Sunday's doubleheader; why make the three men travel nearly 3,000 miles just to give them a pink slip? This couldn't have been done while Randolph, Peterson and Nieto were in New York with their families? Why fire Peterson (who wasn't even a Randolph hire) and Nieto at all? I'm sure all these questions will be asking during the 5pm press conference, and I'm equally sure that the Mets won't have a good answer for them.
I've been waiting for this day for 3 1/2 years, and now I'm actually more sympathetic to the shoddy treatment Randolph and his coaches were subjected to then I am relieved by his dismissal. It's disturbing and it's classless and it's one more reason to reconsider my allegiance to this team. More analysis later today; for now I'm just going to stew on how disappointed I am in Fred Wilpon and Omar Minaya.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Becky Hammon
On a regular day, I couldn't give a good goddamn about the WNBA, but this story made me laugh out loud tonight. Becky Hammon plays for a team called the San Antonio Silver Stars (I'm pretty sure WNBA teams are sister teams of the NBA teams they share a city with) and is one of the better players in the league. Alas, she didn't make the cut for the 2008 USA Olympic women's basketball team and since she's 31 (like me!), this was apparently her last best chance to play in the Olympics.
Faced with this sobering reality, Becky Hammon did what any good red-blooded American gal would do - she pledged her allegiance to Mother Russia.
Oh, relax, it's not as bad as all that. Hammon plays for a Russian pro team during the WNBA off-season and was able to get dual citizenship to make traveling back and forth between the USA easier. Since she didn't make the USA team, Hammon wisely took advantage of her newfound status as a Russian citizen and decided to suit up for their national team.
Now as a baseball fan, this makes perfect sense to me. I've watched plenty of MLB players suit up for other nations during the World Baseball Classic and I would've been perfectly fine with Alex Rodriguez playing for the Dominican Republic if he so desired. It certainly didn't bother me when Mike Piazza played for Italy, using the same kind of loophole that Hammon is using to join the Russian team. Hell, half the Italian team was born in the United States, and nobody seemed to blink.
Apparently, women's basketball is a far more xenophobic sport. U.S. coach Anne Donovan put on the flag pin and, in interviews on CNN and ESPN, insinuated that Hammon was somehow a "traitor" for having the temerity to take advantage of an opportunity her "adopted" nation afforded her.
"If you play in this country, live in this country, and you grow up in the heartland and you put on a Russian uniform, you are not a patriotic person in my mind," Donovan said on ESPN.
Well, good for you, Anne. You're quite the little barstool patriot. But try to get a grip - this is women's basketball, 20 years after the Cold War ended. It's not a referendum on how much you or Becky Hammon loves this country. In a world where listeners call conservative talk radio shows and call each other "great Americans" because they share each and every one of the host's viewpoints, I guess I shouldn't be surprised by such narrow and mindless definitions of patriotism.
Faced with this sobering reality, Becky Hammon did what any good red-blooded American gal would do - she pledged her allegiance to Mother Russia.
Oh, relax, it's not as bad as all that. Hammon plays for a Russian pro team during the WNBA off-season and was able to get dual citizenship to make traveling back and forth between the USA easier. Since she didn't make the USA team, Hammon wisely took advantage of her newfound status as a Russian citizen and decided to suit up for their national team.
Now as a baseball fan, this makes perfect sense to me. I've watched plenty of MLB players suit up for other nations during the World Baseball Classic and I would've been perfectly fine with Alex Rodriguez playing for the Dominican Republic if he so desired. It certainly didn't bother me when Mike Piazza played for Italy, using the same kind of loophole that Hammon is using to join the Russian team. Hell, half the Italian team was born in the United States, and nobody seemed to blink.
Apparently, women's basketball is a far more xenophobic sport. U.S. coach Anne Donovan put on the flag pin and, in interviews on CNN and ESPN, insinuated that Hammon was somehow a "traitor" for having the temerity to take advantage of an opportunity her "adopted" nation afforded her.
"If you play in this country, live in this country, and you grow up in the heartland and you put on a Russian uniform, you are not a patriotic person in my mind," Donovan said on ESPN.
Well, good for you, Anne. You're quite the little barstool patriot. But try to get a grip - this is women's basketball, 20 years after the Cold War ended. It's not a referendum on how much you or Becky Hammon loves this country. In a world where listeners call conservative talk radio shows and call each other "great Americans" because they share each and every one of the host's viewpoints, I guess I shouldn't be surprised by such narrow and mindless definitions of patriotism.
MSM Musings: Clueless!
Richard Justice lays the hammer to the Mets in the Sporting News online today. By day he's a Houston Astros beat writer, but by night he apparently beats on franchises that seem to lack direction, especially from ownership.
Although the column jumps back and forth between his points and struggles to achieve any continuity, Justice takes a number of shots at Fred Wilpon for letting this sad drama drag on. From the article: "The Mets have become a joke, and that joke begins with the people who are evaluating Willie Randolph. When the Mets beat the Rangers on Friday, Randolph's job was spared for at least a day. No manager should be evaluated in this day-to-day, move-to-move way. But it's clear to anyone in the free world that the Mets already have their minds set on firing Willie Randolph. To allow him to continue to work under impossible circumstances is both cruel and dumb. But that's the Mets. This organization has a history of infighting, and the leadership of the franchise is too weak to stop it. Everything that's wrong with the Mets begins with the boss, Fred Wilpon. He should have -- and could have -- taken care of the in-house tension a long time ago."
Hard to argue with that. One day the Mets are firing Randolph, the next day they aren't. Then they're firing coaches instead, then it's Randolph and the coaches, then it's different coaches. The latest buzz is that it's pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto facing the ax. It doesn't make a ton of sense for either man to be fired - Peterson was here before Randolph and has done good work with the Mets' pitching staff, while Nieto is a first-base coach who has little to no influence on the team. If the Mets were going to fire anybody, it should be Sandy Alomar, Jr., who has had an abysmal year as the third base coach.
Justice's support for Randolph is too strong; anyone who doesn't think Willie is a poor game manager is either lying to you or not paying attention. He also gets himself into a huff about the suggestion that Keith Hernandez should be the next Mets' manager, as if it's not a well-known fact that Mex has no intention of leaving the broadcast booth for a job that demanding. But Justice knows one thing - the problems with this organization do not end with the manager. The problems go all the way to the top.
Although the column jumps back and forth between his points and struggles to achieve any continuity, Justice takes a number of shots at Fred Wilpon for letting this sad drama drag on. From the article: "The Mets have become a joke, and that joke begins with the people who are evaluating Willie Randolph. When the Mets beat the Rangers on Friday, Randolph's job was spared for at least a day. No manager should be evaluated in this day-to-day, move-to-move way. But it's clear to anyone in the free world that the Mets already have their minds set on firing Willie Randolph. To allow him to continue to work under impossible circumstances is both cruel and dumb. But that's the Mets. This organization has a history of infighting, and the leadership of the franchise is too weak to stop it. Everything that's wrong with the Mets begins with the boss, Fred Wilpon. He should have -- and could have -- taken care of the in-house tension a long time ago."
Hard to argue with that. One day the Mets are firing Randolph, the next day they aren't. Then they're firing coaches instead, then it's Randolph and the coaches, then it's different coaches. The latest buzz is that it's pitching coach Rick Peterson and first base coach Tom Nieto facing the ax. It doesn't make a ton of sense for either man to be fired - Peterson was here before Randolph and has done good work with the Mets' pitching staff, while Nieto is a first-base coach who has little to no influence on the team. If the Mets were going to fire anybody, it should be Sandy Alomar, Jr., who has had an abysmal year as the third base coach.
Justice's support for Randolph is too strong; anyone who doesn't think Willie is a poor game manager is either lying to you or not paying attention. He also gets himself into a huff about the suggestion that Keith Hernandez should be the next Mets' manager, as if it's not a well-known fact that Mex has no intention of leaving the broadcast booth for a job that demanding. But Justice knows one thing - the problems with this organization do not end with the manager. The problems go all the way to the top.
Brian Fuentes?
The New York Mets are 33-35. The players on the major league roster are injured, under-performing or both. The minor league system is a mess, and nowhere is that more obvious than at Triple-A New Orleans, which boasts an embarrasingly unhelpful roster.
The manager is teetering on the brink of losing his job. The general manager has been hearing plenty of calls for his own head lately and be about to fire the manager and a few coaches as a way to appease the lions. The owner sits and fiddles while Mets Nation burns, content to dream dreams about a team that moved 50 years ago and play nice with the commissioner's office so that his shrine to that long-dead team can host an All-Star Game some day. The owner's son sits around the office Daddy gave him and takes up space, waiting for the next inopportune moment to meddle in the Mets' on-field affairs.
Yes, it is a sad state of affairs for this franchise, and the short success cycle that began in 2005 appears to be rapidly drawing to a close. Why, then, are there discussions about the Mets obtaining a 32-year-old lefthanded reliever who will hit the free agent market at the end of the year?
Don't get me wrong - I love Brian Fuentes, and he's one of the very few relievers in baseball I would actually commit a two- or three-year contract to in the off-season. He is a late bloomer that has survived and thrived pitching in Colorado for years, and would make a terrific set-up man or closer for just about any team in baseball.
So I can appreciate the Mets' interest in Fuentes, but I can't imagine how or why they plan to acquire him, as both the New York Daily News and Denver Post have reported in the last week. If the Rockies are dumping Fuentes with an eye for the future, I can't imagine what would be left in the Mets' farm system that would be of interest. The Mets probably aren't willing to put together a challenge trade for Fuentes, but even if there's a match on the major league roster, I'm struggling to see who that would be. The Rockies turned down an Aaron Heilman for Fuentes offer last winter, according to the Denver newspaper, so it's not like that's going to happen. (Just beating you to the punch, Tim!)
Perhaps the bigger question would be why, with the team struggling to reach .500 and already relying on far too many guys on the wrong side of 30, would the Mets be looking to pick up Fuentes in his walk year? Do they really think that a left-handed set-up man is the final piece to the playoff puzzle? Does Omar Minaya really think he has the prospects to acquire someone like Fuentes?
I'm sure if the Mets offered Fernando Martinez or Jon Niese, the Rockies would make the deal and run laughing all the way to home. Of course, the fan base would officially revolt and I would immediately start writing about the Dodgers. Otherwise, this barren farm system doesn't have anything Colorado would want for a top reliever like Fuentes, so from this perspective it seems to be an exercise in star-gazing for the Mets to be looking at acquiring his services.
The manager is teetering on the brink of losing his job. The general manager has been hearing plenty of calls for his own head lately and be about to fire the manager and a few coaches as a way to appease the lions. The owner sits and fiddles while Mets Nation burns, content to dream dreams about a team that moved 50 years ago and play nice with the commissioner's office so that his shrine to that long-dead team can host an All-Star Game some day. The owner's son sits around the office Daddy gave him and takes up space, waiting for the next inopportune moment to meddle in the Mets' on-field affairs.
Yes, it is a sad state of affairs for this franchise, and the short success cycle that began in 2005 appears to be rapidly drawing to a close. Why, then, are there discussions about the Mets obtaining a 32-year-old lefthanded reliever who will hit the free agent market at the end of the year?
Don't get me wrong - I love Brian Fuentes, and he's one of the very few relievers in baseball I would actually commit a two- or three-year contract to in the off-season. He is a late bloomer that has survived and thrived pitching in Colorado for years, and would make a terrific set-up man or closer for just about any team in baseball.
So I can appreciate the Mets' interest in Fuentes, but I can't imagine how or why they plan to acquire him, as both the New York Daily News and Denver Post have reported in the last week. If the Rockies are dumping Fuentes with an eye for the future, I can't imagine what would be left in the Mets' farm system that would be of interest. The Mets probably aren't willing to put together a challenge trade for Fuentes, but even if there's a match on the major league roster, I'm struggling to see who that would be. The Rockies turned down an Aaron Heilman for Fuentes offer last winter, according to the Denver newspaper, so it's not like that's going to happen. (Just beating you to the punch, Tim!)
Perhaps the bigger question would be why, with the team struggling to reach .500 and already relying on far too many guys on the wrong side of 30, would the Mets be looking to pick up Fuentes in his walk year? Do they really think that a left-handed set-up man is the final piece to the playoff puzzle? Does Omar Minaya really think he has the prospects to acquire someone like Fuentes?
I'm sure if the Mets offered Fernando Martinez or Jon Niese, the Rockies would make the deal and run laughing all the way to home. Of course, the fan base would officially revolt and I would immediately start writing about the Dodgers. Otherwise, this barren farm system doesn't have anything Colorado would want for a top reliever like Fuentes, so from this perspective it seems to be an exercise in star-gazing for the Mets to be looking at acquiring his services.
Fist Bump: John Peterson
Fist Bumps go out to people who link me to an article they write or to a post they make on their blog. This is not a terrorist hand signal, but a thank-you for their recognition, which invariably opens up my work to the eyes of more readers.
Sitemeter is a great thing, because it lets me know how many people a day are looking at the site and where they are coming from, both geographically and from website referrals. All of a sudden this morning, I noticed that Mets Geek was giving me a ton of referrals, which is strange because I haven't written for the site and I am not listed on their blogroll.
Enter my man John, who is already listed on my blogroll for his work at Blastings! Thrilledge. He contributed a nice piece to Mets Geek this week and I am getting a lot of hits from it. Looks like I better write something original today, or all these new visitors are going to wonder why I haven't added any insight since Saturday!
Anyway, thanks for the bump, JP, and you know I'm with you about Val Pascucci!!
Sitemeter is a great thing, because it lets me know how many people a day are looking at the site and where they are coming from, both geographically and from website referrals. All of a sudden this morning, I noticed that Mets Geek was giving me a ton of referrals, which is strange because I haven't written for the site and I am not listed on their blogroll.
Enter my man John, who is already listed on my blogroll for his work at Blastings! Thrilledge. He contributed a nice piece to Mets Geek this week and I am getting a lot of hits from it. Looks like I better write something original today, or all these new visitors are going to wonder why I haven't added any insight since Saturday!
Anyway, thanks for the bump, JP, and you know I'm with you about Val Pascucci!!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Roster Move: Mets Acquire Trot Nixon
I picked up Trot Nixon a few years ago, the last time he was worth having on a major league team. I paid a substantially higher price to acquire his services, though; the Mets are only parting with cash or a PBTNL. For what it's worth, he was tearing it up and Tucson and Nixon is only 34, so I think he's worth a 15-game trial to see what's left in his bat. He also has the reputation of being a good guy to have in the clubhouse, so hopefully Nixon will bring some balls to a tepid Mets dugout.
I'll update the roster when it's confirmed who Nixon will be replacing, but the New York Post thinks it'll be Chris Aguila. I will simply suggest that if the only right-handed outfielder on the Mets roster is sent to New Orleans to make room for Nixon, while the third catcher is allowed to remain on the bench, it will be final proof that Omar Minaya is throwing darts at the wall to construct this roster.
EDIT: Goddammit.
I've seen it postulated that this move frees up Ramon Castro to DH in California next week, but is that really worth designating Aguila for assignment? Until Aguila clears waivers (assuming that no one claims him), the Mets have no right-handed hitting natural outfielders at the major league level. It's a sorry sad state of affairs when you honestly don't believe your team can afford to lose Chris Aguila.
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Joe Smith
Claudio Vargas
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
Robinson Cancel
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
OUTFIELDERS
Carlos Beltran
Endy Chavez
Trot Nixon
Marlon Anderson
Moises Alou - DL
Ryan Church - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
I'll update the roster when it's confirmed who Nixon will be replacing, but the New York Post thinks it'll be Chris Aguila. I will simply suggest that if the only right-handed outfielder on the Mets roster is sent to New Orleans to make room for Nixon, while the third catcher is allowed to remain on the bench, it will be final proof that Omar Minaya is throwing darts at the wall to construct this roster.
EDIT: Goddammit.
I've seen it postulated that this move frees up Ramon Castro to DH in California next week, but is that really worth designating Aguila for assignment? Until Aguila clears waivers (assuming that no one claims him), the Mets have no right-handed hitting natural outfielders at the major league level. It's a sorry sad state of affairs when you honestly don't believe your team can afford to lose Chris Aguila.
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Joe Smith
Claudio Vargas
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
Robinson Cancel
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
OUTFIELDERS
Carlos Beltran
Endy Chavez
Trot Nixon
Marlon Anderson
Moises Alou - DL
Ryan Church - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
Friday, June 13, 2008
First Guessing: 6/13/08
The Rangers are starting a young lefthander named Scott Feldman tonight. Marlon Anderson is playing left field and batting sixth for the Mets. Brian Schneider is catching and batting seventh. Both are lefthanded batters. Chris Aguila (who tore up Triple-A lefties before being recalled this week) and Ramon Castro (who is a better hitter than Schneider in every conceivable way) are sitting on the bench. They are both right-handed hitters.
Where do I begin? Let's start with each of the four players' numbers against left-handed pitchers this season:
Anderson: .000/.000/.000 (only one plate appearance against a lefty this season!)
Schneider: .224/.269/.224 in 49 at-bats
Aguila: .353/.413/.632 in 68 at-bats (with New Orleans)
Castro: .357/.471/.429 in 14 at-bats
Anderson is the second of four straight left-handed batters in the lineup - generally a bad idea against left-handed starters - even though he has an overall batting line of .153/.180/.237 this season. Oh, and he's a second baseman by trade, even if the Mets seem to delight in running him out there in left field. Schneider is the third of the four straight lefties in the lineup, even though he's currently in a 10 for 61 slump.
I have no reason to believe that Randolph checked the splits on Feldman before making out the lineup card tonight, because that's the only way that anyone could make even the slightest logical argument in favor of starting Anderson and Schneider. Feldman seems to have a problem walking left-handed batters this season, so perhaps this was part of Willie's plan to get Anderson and Schneider on base in front of noted run producer Endy Chavez.
Otherwise, tonight's lineup is the latest in a long line of asinine moves that's going to get Willie Randolph fired very soon.
Where do I begin? Let's start with each of the four players' numbers against left-handed pitchers this season:
Anderson: .000/.000/.000 (only one plate appearance against a lefty this season!)
Schneider: .224/.269/.224 in 49 at-bats
Aguila: .353/.413/.632 in 68 at-bats (with New Orleans)
Castro: .357/.471/.429 in 14 at-bats
Anderson is the second of four straight left-handed batters in the lineup - generally a bad idea against left-handed starters - even though he has an overall batting line of .153/.180/.237 this season. Oh, and he's a second baseman by trade, even if the Mets seem to delight in running him out there in left field. Schneider is the third of the four straight lefties in the lineup, even though he's currently in a 10 for 61 slump.
I have no reason to believe that Randolph checked the splits on Feldman before making out the lineup card tonight, because that's the only way that anyone could make even the slightest logical argument in favor of starting Anderson and Schneider. Feldman seems to have a problem walking left-handed batters this season, so perhaps this was part of Willie's plan to get Anderson and Schneider on base in front of noted run producer Endy Chavez.
Otherwise, tonight's lineup is the latest in a long line of asinine moves that's going to get Willie Randolph fired very soon.
Roster Move: Alou Placed on 15-Day DL, Again
Sigh. I actually feel bad for Moises Alou. This is certainly not a Carl Pavano situation; Alou desperately wants to play baseball, but his body is telling him that it's time to call it quits. It's amazing that the man can hit as well as he does with a physical frame that simply no longer works properly.
Robinson Cancel will take Alou's roster spot. Jesus Christ, this guy again? Why the hell are the Mets adding a third catcher instead of an outfielder? Does anyone in this organization have the faintest idea how to put together a 25-man roster? Who does Val Pascucci have to b!*w to get a promotion!?
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Joe Smith
Claudio Vargas
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
Robinson Cancel
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
OUTFIELDERS
Carlos Beltran
Endy Chavez
Chris Aguila
Marlon Anderson
Moises Alou - DL
Ryan Church - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
Robinson Cancel will take Alou's roster spot. Jesus Christ, this guy again? Why the hell are the Mets adding a third catcher instead of an outfielder? Does anyone in this organization have the faintest idea how to put together a 25-man roster? Who does Val Pascucci have to b!*w to get a promotion!?
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Joe Smith
Claudio Vargas
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
Robinson Cancel
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
OUTFIELDERS
Carlos Beltran
Endy Chavez
Chris Aguila
Marlon Anderson
Moises Alou - DL
Ryan Church - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
Right Decision, Wrong Reason
The party might be starting this weekend, and if so it could be even more raucous (pronounced raw-shiss) then the one when Dallas Green finally got the ax.
Ken Rosenthal is reporting that our man Willie is back on thin ice again and might be getting the pink slip as early as this weekend. Omar Minaya put this team together and belongs on the same train out of town that Willie will eventually be getting on, but Randolph's mismanagement of this team since Day 1 has been an unending source of my frustration.
That said, Rosenthal's claims that Randolph's machinations on Wednesday night with Mike Pelfrey and Billy Wagner may be the final straw certainly strike me as rather odd. Willie made one mistake, and that was not giving Pelfrey more rope in the ninth inning before going to the closer. Rosenthal - and presumably his sources for this article - apparently see things differently.
From the article: "The Mets had taken a 3-0 lead into the ninth, but the Diamondbacks tied the score on a three-run homer by Mark Reynolds off closer Billy Wagner on a 3-2 count with two outs.
For Randolph, that was the fateful inning.
First, he allowed second-year right-hander Mike Pelfrey to start the ninth after Pelfrey had thrown 110 pitches."
And what the hell was wrong with that decision? Pelfrey had just pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and needed only eight pitches to do so. Willie did EXACTLY what a manager should do in that situation. He went up to Pelfrey and asked him, fully prepared to bring on Wagner if he didn't like the answer or if he didn't like the way the answer was given. Pelfrey gave the right answer, in the right way, and Randolph showed more faith in his pitcher than in an unproven, anachronistic way of calculating pitcher fatigue.
There are plenty of starting pitchers today who let the manager know when they've reached the end of the line, mainly because there's no longer a sense of bravado about a pitcher's expectation to complete what he begins. For better or worse, the seven-inning/100-pitch outing has become the standard, and no one is expected to exceed it. Mike Pelfrey convinced Willie Randolph that he wasn't afraid of the big, bad ninth inning, and to his credit Randolph gave him the opportunity to rise to the challenge.
More from Rosenthal: "Then, after a leadoff single by Stephen Drew, Randolph summoned Wagner, even though statistics suggest that Wagner is far better starting an inning than when summoned in the middle.
Since the start of 2007, Wagner has entered games 84 times at the start of an inning, but only seven times in the middle.
He is 44-for-50 in save opportunities when starting an inning, according to STATS, Inc. His ERA in those situations is 2.05 ERA, and he has allowed six homers in 88 innings.
When entering in the middle of an inning, Wagner is 3-for-6 in save chances. His ERA is 7.11, and he has allowed three homers in 6 1/3 innings.
Those statistics do not excuse Wagner for allowing the three-run homer by Reynolds. But Randolph's choice of Wagner in the middle of an inning — combined with his decision to start Pelfrey in the ninth — left him open to second-guessing."
Wow. Surely Rosenthal understands the concept of sample size issues, so I'm not going to insult his intelligence by explaining why making assumptions based on 6.3 innings of work is absolutely ridiculous. I will instead assume that this is simply a situation where Rosenthal was reaching for an explanation for what happened on Wednesday night and reached a little bit too far.
I will say this, though: if this small sample size is actually indicative of how to "properly" deploy Billy Wagner, then Minaya should deploy Wagner to some other outpost in Major League Baseball and be done with him. We've already heard that he can't enter a game in the eighth inning to get one or two critical outs and pitch the ninth inning as well. We've also heard that Wagner can't pitch with a lead of more than three runs. Now he can't enter a game mid-inning and pitch effectively?
So then am I to understand that Billy Wagner can only be effective when he enters a game at the beginning of the ninth inning with a lead of three or fewer runs? If that's the case, the man is not a closer - at least not by my definition of the word. He is more accurately a relief specialist, and those aren't as hard to find as people think.
I was against making Willie Randolph the manager even before he got this job, but even I won't trash him when he doesn't actually make a mistake. Long story short, the only criticism Randolph deserves for his handling of the pitching staff on Wednesday night is for getting knock-kneed when Pelfrey gave up a soft single to lead off the ninth inning. Pelfrey deserved at least one more batter, maybe two, before the manager called on Wagner.
Ken Rosenthal is reporting that our man Willie is back on thin ice again and might be getting the pink slip as early as this weekend. Omar Minaya put this team together and belongs on the same train out of town that Willie will eventually be getting on, but Randolph's mismanagement of this team since Day 1 has been an unending source of my frustration.
That said, Rosenthal's claims that Randolph's machinations on Wednesday night with Mike Pelfrey and Billy Wagner may be the final straw certainly strike me as rather odd. Willie made one mistake, and that was not giving Pelfrey more rope in the ninth inning before going to the closer. Rosenthal - and presumably his sources for this article - apparently see things differently.
From the article: "The Mets had taken a 3-0 lead into the ninth, but the Diamondbacks tied the score on a three-run homer by Mark Reynolds off closer Billy Wagner on a 3-2 count with two outs.
For Randolph, that was the fateful inning.
First, he allowed second-year right-hander Mike Pelfrey to start the ninth after Pelfrey had thrown 110 pitches."
And what the hell was wrong with that decision? Pelfrey had just pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and needed only eight pitches to do so. Willie did EXACTLY what a manager should do in that situation. He went up to Pelfrey and asked him, fully prepared to bring on Wagner if he didn't like the answer or if he didn't like the way the answer was given. Pelfrey gave the right answer, in the right way, and Randolph showed more faith in his pitcher than in an unproven, anachronistic way of calculating pitcher fatigue.
There are plenty of starting pitchers today who let the manager know when they've reached the end of the line, mainly because there's no longer a sense of bravado about a pitcher's expectation to complete what he begins. For better or worse, the seven-inning/100-pitch outing has become the standard, and no one is expected to exceed it. Mike Pelfrey convinced Willie Randolph that he wasn't afraid of the big, bad ninth inning, and to his credit Randolph gave him the opportunity to rise to the challenge.
More from Rosenthal: "Then, after a leadoff single by Stephen Drew, Randolph summoned Wagner, even though statistics suggest that Wagner is far better starting an inning than when summoned in the middle.
Since the start of 2007, Wagner has entered games 84 times at the start of an inning, but only seven times in the middle.
He is 44-for-50 in save opportunities when starting an inning, according to STATS, Inc. His ERA in those situations is 2.05 ERA, and he has allowed six homers in 88 innings.
When entering in the middle of an inning, Wagner is 3-for-6 in save chances. His ERA is 7.11, and he has allowed three homers in 6 1/3 innings.
Those statistics do not excuse Wagner for allowing the three-run homer by Reynolds. But Randolph's choice of Wagner in the middle of an inning — combined with his decision to start Pelfrey in the ninth — left him open to second-guessing."
Wow. Surely Rosenthal understands the concept of sample size issues, so I'm not going to insult his intelligence by explaining why making assumptions based on 6.3 innings of work is absolutely ridiculous. I will instead assume that this is simply a situation where Rosenthal was reaching for an explanation for what happened on Wednesday night and reached a little bit too far.
I will say this, though: if this small sample size is actually indicative of how to "properly" deploy Billy Wagner, then Minaya should deploy Wagner to some other outpost in Major League Baseball and be done with him. We've already heard that he can't enter a game in the eighth inning to get one or two critical outs and pitch the ninth inning as well. We've also heard that Wagner can't pitch with a lead of more than three runs. Now he can't enter a game mid-inning and pitch effectively?
So then am I to understand that Billy Wagner can only be effective when he enters a game at the beginning of the ninth inning with a lead of three or fewer runs? If that's the case, the man is not a closer - at least not by my definition of the word. He is more accurately a relief specialist, and those aren't as hard to find as people think.
I was against making Willie Randolph the manager even before he got this job, but even I won't trash him when he doesn't actually make a mistake. Long story short, the only criticism Randolph deserves for his handling of the pitching staff on Wednesday night is for getting knock-kneed when Pelfrey gave up a soft single to lead off the ninth inning. Pelfrey deserved at least one more batter, maybe two, before the manager called on Wagner.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
A Little More on Fred Wilpon
I don't want to get into the habit of doing this, but one of the reasons I decided to begin writing a blog was because of the long and passionate discussions I would have with other people about baseball. All writers have a healthy dose of narcissism flowing through their veins, and as I would make my points on e-mail threads, message boards or in local bars, I would wonder what people would think of my opinions if I gave them greater exposure.
I'm only getting about 20 to 30 hits a day at this site, but I love that my opinions are now heard by people outside my immediate circle of friends. I love that people sometimes disagree with me and can express a strong and reasoned viewpoint for why they do. I hammered Fred Wilpon at Flushing University this week, which inspired some chatter on the message boards. It gave me a chance to flesh out my arguments against the man a little more.
Fred Wilpon acts as though he's allergic to controversy and goes to enormous lengths to shield himself and the organization from it. I'm of the opinion that Wilpon actually cares more about image than he does about winning.
That's why the Mets don't generally go for "red-asses" or players who bring a flamboyant style to their game. Those who do are told to tone it down (Jose Reyes) or simply traded away (Lastings Milledge). That's why Buck Showalter or Wally Backman would never be hired to replace Randolph - Buck's opinions are too strong and Wally's "past" is too controversial. That's why Wilpon makes sure to stick to slot recommendations instead of signing the best available talent in the amateur draft - he doesn't want his team to make waves with the commissioner's office.
The Mets don't necessarily choose the best people for the job, and this goes for both the paying field and the front office. They go to the type of people that Wilpon is comfortable with. His son is the second-highest ranking person in the organization. That's just classic nepotism, and incredibly it is almost forgivable because I'm not sure what the hell else Jeff would do with his life if Daddy didn't sign the checks. The GM is a nice guy who has been in the organization for years and keeps his nose clean. He usually brings in the type of players that Wilpon likes - quiet, unassuming players who won't end up on Page 6 or get themselves suspended for chewing out an umpire. The manager is a quiet guy who shows little emotion, who was lucky to ever get a major league job in the first place considering the run of rejections he was having. A perfect fit for the Wilpons - Randolph is not someone who's going to challenge them or insist on a certain type of player that might make Fred uncomfortable.
Even the amount of money spent on the payroll is about maintaining image. Fred doesn't want to be seen as cheap, so he opens up the checkbook enough to sign splashy names while still ensuring healthy profits. I'm not foolish enough to say an owner should go into debt to finance a winner, but I'm willing to bet that if the Mets weren't rolling in cash right now the payroll would be low enough to still guarantee a minimum profit.
This is a long-winded way of saying that I expect more from Fred Wilpon. I expect him to bring in the best and most qualified people for every important job in the organization - from the COO down to the fifth outfielder. I expect him to do so without regard for his personal tastes in personalities and to be driven by one goal - winning. I don't believe Fred Wilpon has any intention of ever doing that.
I'm only getting about 20 to 30 hits a day at this site, but I love that my opinions are now heard by people outside my immediate circle of friends. I love that people sometimes disagree with me and can express a strong and reasoned viewpoint for why they do. I hammered Fred Wilpon at Flushing University this week, which inspired some chatter on the message boards. It gave me a chance to flesh out my arguments against the man a little more.
Fred Wilpon acts as though he's allergic to controversy and goes to enormous lengths to shield himself and the organization from it. I'm of the opinion that Wilpon actually cares more about image than he does about winning.
That's why the Mets don't generally go for "red-asses" or players who bring a flamboyant style to their game. Those who do are told to tone it down (Jose Reyes) or simply traded away (Lastings Milledge). That's why Buck Showalter or Wally Backman would never be hired to replace Randolph - Buck's opinions are too strong and Wally's "past" is too controversial. That's why Wilpon makes sure to stick to slot recommendations instead of signing the best available talent in the amateur draft - he doesn't want his team to make waves with the commissioner's office.
The Mets don't necessarily choose the best people for the job, and this goes for both the paying field and the front office. They go to the type of people that Wilpon is comfortable with. His son is the second-highest ranking person in the organization. That's just classic nepotism, and incredibly it is almost forgivable because I'm not sure what the hell else Jeff would do with his life if Daddy didn't sign the checks. The GM is a nice guy who has been in the organization for years and keeps his nose clean. He usually brings in the type of players that Wilpon likes - quiet, unassuming players who won't end up on Page 6 or get themselves suspended for chewing out an umpire. The manager is a quiet guy who shows little emotion, who was lucky to ever get a major league job in the first place considering the run of rejections he was having. A perfect fit for the Wilpons - Randolph is not someone who's going to challenge them or insist on a certain type of player that might make Fred uncomfortable.
Even the amount of money spent on the payroll is about maintaining image. Fred doesn't want to be seen as cheap, so he opens up the checkbook enough to sign splashy names while still ensuring healthy profits. I'm not foolish enough to say an owner should go into debt to finance a winner, but I'm willing to bet that if the Mets weren't rolling in cash right now the payroll would be low enough to still guarantee a minimum profit.
This is a long-winded way of saying that I expect more from Fred Wilpon. I expect him to bring in the best and most qualified people for every important job in the organization - from the COO down to the fifth outfielder. I expect him to do so without regard for his personal tastes in personalities and to be driven by one goal - winning. I don't believe Fred Wilpon has any intention of ever doing that.
Link Review: Mets Fever and "They Named Names"
A tip of the hat to Mets Fever, which I have been meaning to write a Link Review for but haven't yet gotten around to. Ed Ryan is a frequent contributor to the Flushing University message boards and I have recently been enjoying his blog. There are frequent updates and solid analysis, with a lot of extra content and links to other important sites and information. Go there now.
Anyway, Ed brought up a point about Jay Gibbons, the former Orioles outfielder/first baseman who was named in the Mitchell Report for alleged steroid use. Gibbons was released by the Orioles during Spring Training and still can't find work with any other major league team. He went so far as to write an open letter to every franchise, pleading for a minor league opportunity and promising to donate all minor league salary to charity if he is given an opportunity to play. No one took him up on the offer and now Gibbons, according to the ESPN article, might end up in an independent league.
Two thoughts: it would be shameful if MLB has "blacklisted" players who appeared on the Mitchell Report and is actively preventing clubs from signing players like Gibbons. MLB has been run in a shameful manner since Bud Selig became the commissioner, so it's entirely possible that there is an active campaign against these players in place. Secondly, how can the Mets - a team that's had a crying need for corner outfield depth all season - possibly ignore Gibbons' entreaty and instead sign players like Abraham Nunez to minor league deals?
Anyway, Ed brought up a point about Jay Gibbons, the former Orioles outfielder/first baseman who was named in the Mitchell Report for alleged steroid use. Gibbons was released by the Orioles during Spring Training and still can't find work with any other major league team. He went so far as to write an open letter to every franchise, pleading for a minor league opportunity and promising to donate all minor league salary to charity if he is given an opportunity to play. No one took him up on the offer and now Gibbons, according to the ESPN article, might end up in an independent league.
Two thoughts: it would be shameful if MLB has "blacklisted" players who appeared on the Mitchell Report and is actively preventing clubs from signing players like Gibbons. MLB has been run in a shameful manner since Bud Selig became the commissioner, so it's entirely possible that there is an active campaign against these players in place. Secondly, how can the Mets - a team that's had a crying need for corner outfield depth all season - possibly ignore Gibbons' entreaty and instead sign players like Abraham Nunez to minor league deals?
Point the Finger at Freddy (Flushing University)
Willie Randolph is sitting on the hot seat, and Omar Minaya may not be far behind. So when will Fred Wilpon be asked to take responsibility for the mess he has created? Read more here ...
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
First Guessing: 6/11/08
“Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.” – John Stuart Mill
Willie Randolph had some tough choices to make last night. After Mike Pelfrey completed his seventh inning of work and had crossed the mythical 100-pitch barrier, he could’ve gone to a set-up man to pitch the eighth inning. That would be the conservative decision, a decision influenced by what someone else curiously decided a few years ago was the “proper” approach to take with starting pitchers.
His eyes, though, had to see something different. They had to see how strong Pelfrey still looked and how confidently he was pitching. His heart had to feel something different, too. In a season where so much has gone wrong for the Mets, how could any partisan rooter not desperately want to see a complete game shutout from the young Pelfrey? Even
Faced with two courses of action – taking the conservative route or taking the bold route – Willie Randolph decided to take the bold route for a change. It generally hasn’t been in
(Side note: Schilling made 35 starts that season and only failed to broach the 100-pitch mark three times. Schilling threw at least 120 pitches in more than half of his starts. Does the Pitch Count Posse have any explanation for how Schilling has been able to make nearly 250 more major league starts since he was so ‘abused” during the 1998 season?)
Pelfrey started the ninth, the first time in his major league career that he had earned the right to pitch in the final regulation frame. Stephen Drew lofted a soft single over the head of Luis Castillo to lead off the inning. It was only the fifth hit Pelfrey had allowed all game and was not struck in a way that suggested the big right-hander had reached the end of his rope.
The manager stood on the top step of the dugout and pondered his options. Does he give Pelfrey the chance to finish what he started, or does he finally succumb to the conservative choice and go to the closer? Did Willie Randolph, a veteran of 18 major league baseball seasons, close his eyes, take a deep breath and remember a time when a starter would’ve screamed his manager off the mound for having the temerity to try to take the ball out of his hands at that point in the game?
It was there that Willie Randolph’s spirit finally gave out. In a ballgame where he showed great courage and great foresight by shrugging off the conservative course of action on two separate occasions, the third time was where he lost his nerve.
It was the wrong move even before Wagner served up a game-tying home run to Mark Reynolds. It was the wrong move even after Carlos Beltran drove a pitch deep into the Shea night that landed beneath the giant scoreboard in right-center field and gave the Mets their first win in nearly a week.
It was the wrong move because at the most critical juncture of the game, in the most critical juncture of a season threatening to spiral out of control, Willie Randolph lost sight of what got his team to that point – the right arm of Mike Pelfrey. It was Pelfrey’s right to decide the final outcome of this game; not Randolph, not Wagner, not anyone else but him.
Ace starters are not born – they are made. They are forged in the fire of the final innings, with the game on the line and with the starter given nowhere to look but inside himself. Mike Pelfrey deserved the chance to begin his journey toward becoming an ace starter tonight. Willie Randolph took that away from him when he took the ball out of his hands and gave it to another man.
Roster Move: Nunez DFA'd, Aguila Recalled
One day, when a historian is researching the 2008 Mets, he or she will look at a certain six-day period in June and wonder to themselves, "why in the hell was Abraham Nunez on the major league roster?" They will never, ever find the answer to that question.
Nunez is gone, although I imagine he'll resurface in New Orleans in a week or to. Chris Aguila gets the recall, and while I am under no illusions that he will be the catalyst that sparks this team's turnaround, Aguila has been raking for the Zephyrs this season. He is also an outfielder by trade and not by happenstance, one of only four active players on the Mets' roster who can actually make such a claim.
Aguila's best-case scenario is to stick with the big club as a fifth outfielder and perhaps to become the right-handed part of a platoon when the incumbent right fielder returns from injury. Now all the Mets have to do is release Marlon Anderson and give Val Pascucci a handful of starts in right while Ryan Church is out of commission. Well, that and go 62-37 to close out the regular season.
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Joe Smith
Claudio Vargas
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
OUTFIELDERS
Moises Alou
Carlos Beltran
Endy Chavez
Chris Aguila
Marlon Anderson
Ryan Church - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
Nunez is gone, although I imagine he'll resurface in New Orleans in a week or to. Chris Aguila gets the recall, and while I am under no illusions that he will be the catalyst that sparks this team's turnaround, Aguila has been raking for the Zephyrs this season. He is also an outfielder by trade and not by happenstance, one of only four active players on the Mets' roster who can actually make such a claim.
Aguila's best-case scenario is to stick with the big club as a fifth outfielder and perhaps to become the right-handed part of a platoon when the incumbent right fielder returns from injury. Now all the Mets have to do is release Marlon Anderson and give Val Pascucci a handful of starts in right while Ryan Church is out of commission. Well, that and go 62-37 to close out the regular season.
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Joe Smith
Claudio Vargas
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
OUTFIELDERS
Moises Alou
Carlos Beltran
Endy Chavez
Chris Aguila
Marlon Anderson
Ryan Church - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
On Luis Castillo
Lots of chatter over at the Flushing University message boards today (my column will be up late tonight or tomorrow morning). I weighed in on Luis Castillo there:
"Luis Castillo's contract is bad not because of the annual dollar value, but because of the length. Two years with a club option is the most the Mets should've offered. Four guaranteed years was a disaster.
Mets fans who wanted to give Ruben Gotay an opportunity to start (and I was one of them) had to know that it was never a realistic option. No one - not the owner, not the general manager, not the manager and not the mainstream media - would've been comfortable if the Mets started 2008 without an "established" second baseman. The Mets are a franchise always desperate to win right away and therefore are generally unwilling to trust any position to an untested player unless it is the absolute last option. It is a silly and short-sighted way to run an organization, but the Mets generally do a lot of silly and short-sighted things.
If Castillo were batting eighth in the lineup - where he would be more of an asset than a liability - no one would be worrying about the offense he provides. The fact that he hits #2 is the problem. I mean, if you really want to get crazy, a lineup with Castillo leading off and Reyes batting second would actually make more sense, because Jose has a far better chance to drive in Luis than the other way around."
"Luis Castillo's contract is bad not because of the annual dollar value, but because of the length. Two years with a club option is the most the Mets should've offered. Four guaranteed years was a disaster.
Mets fans who wanted to give Ruben Gotay an opportunity to start (and I was one of them) had to know that it was never a realistic option. No one - not the owner, not the general manager, not the manager and not the mainstream media - would've been comfortable if the Mets started 2008 without an "established" second baseman. The Mets are a franchise always desperate to win right away and therefore are generally unwilling to trust any position to an untested player unless it is the absolute last option. It is a silly and short-sighted way to run an organization, but the Mets generally do a lot of silly and short-sighted things.
If Castillo were batting eighth in the lineup - where he would be more of an asset than a liability - no one would be worrying about the offense he provides. The fact that he hits #2 is the problem. I mean, if you really want to get crazy, a lineup with Castillo leading off and Reyes batting second would actually make more sense, because Jose has a far better chance to drive in Luis than the other way around."
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
God Save the Mets
Make no mistake – this franchise is in trouble well beyond 2008.
The optimists point to young homegrown superstars like David Wright and Jose Reyes, as well as established talents like Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran, and convince themselves that these core players will be strong enough to lead this team to years of success.
The pessimists note that the Mets have just one other everyday position player (Ryan Church) and one other starting pitcher (John Maine) that could reasonably be considered in their prime. The bullpen relies on a 36-year-old closer who freely admits that he’s seen better days and a set-up man who just came back from an 18-month absence after a devastating shoulder injury. The farm system is nearly devoid of premium talent and hasn’t yielded a productive player for the Mets since Wright made his Mets debut in 2004.
One can almost hear Johnny Rotten tauntingly snarling, “No futureeeeee …”
Roster Move: Church Finally Put on 15-Day DL
"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow." - Mark Twain
It comes three weeks too late, but another sorry chapter in Mets history has finally come to an end. Let Church rest until the All-Star Break; if he doesn't have any symptoms for several weeks by then, maybe the team can re-activate him in mid-July. Still no word on who's taking Church's place on the roster - it could be Moises Alou or Marlon Anderson. Knowing the Mets, they'll end up activating Jose Valentin.
EDIT: It's Alou AND Anderson. Raul Casanova goes back to New Orleans, Anderson goes back to being the team's primary pinch hitter and the Mets add another black hole to their 25-man roster.
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Joe Smith
Claudio Vargas
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
Abraham Nunez
OUTFIELDERS
Moises Alou
Carlos Beltran
Endy Chavez
Marlon Anderson
Ryan Church - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
It comes three weeks too late, but another sorry chapter in Mets history has finally come to an end. Let Church rest until the All-Star Break; if he doesn't have any symptoms for several weeks by then, maybe the team can re-activate him in mid-July. Still no word on who's taking Church's place on the roster - it could be Moises Alou or Marlon Anderson. Knowing the Mets, they'll end up activating Jose Valentin.
EDIT: It's Alou AND Anderson. Raul Casanova goes back to New Orleans, Anderson goes back to being the team's primary pinch hitter and the Mets add another black hole to their 25-man roster.
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Joe Smith
Claudio Vargas
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
Abraham Nunez
OUTFIELDERS
Moises Alou
Carlos Beltran
Endy Chavez
Marlon Anderson
Ryan Church - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
Monday, June 9, 2008
MSM Musings: Roster Construction
This is a little on the lazy side, but if I link articles that someone else wrote and add a paragraph or two, it's like I created an entire post. More content = more readers!
SNY's Ted Berg hits the nail on the head today. The Nunez decision is so inexplicably stupid that it's the first time I've ever given more than a passing thought to the "Omar only likes Latinos" theory. I still think it's baloney, but what logical explanation exists for putting Abraham Nunez on a major league roster with only three healthy outfielders?
The whole organization needs an overhaul. The manager is overly conservative and does everything by the book, while still struggling to understand basic baseball strategy. The general manager's biggest skills seems to be giving richer contracts to players than anyone else will and always asking for a pitcher when he makes a trade. The ownership won't take risks of any kind - no managers who think outside the box, no general managers who know how to get good players without overpaying for them, no players who might make waves or play the game with too much heart, lest they turn into the second coming of the wild mid-80s Mets.
EDIT: Was it Berg's scathing expose that cost Nunez his job a few days later? Or was it T-Bone's inability to detect sarcasm?
SNY's Ted Berg hits the nail on the head today. The Nunez decision is so inexplicably stupid that it's the first time I've ever given more than a passing thought to the "Omar only likes Latinos" theory. I still think it's baloney, but what logical explanation exists for putting Abraham Nunez on a major league roster with only three healthy outfielders?
The whole organization needs an overhaul. The manager is overly conservative and does everything by the book, while still struggling to understand basic baseball strategy. The general manager's biggest skills seems to be giving richer contracts to players than anyone else will and always asking for a pitcher when he makes a trade. The ownership won't take risks of any kind - no managers who think outside the box, no general managers who know how to get good players without overpaying for them, no players who might make waves or play the game with too much heart, lest they turn into the second coming of the wild mid-80s Mets.
EDIT: Was it Berg's scathing expose that cost Nunez his job a few days later? Or was it T-Bone's inability to detect sarcasm?
Look Out Kid, It's Something Ya Did
A hilarious message to Willie Randolph, taken from MetsGrrl's site, about his bullpen management over the weekend. Of course, it was made before Wagner served up a home run ball to Tony Clark that landed somewhere outside Tijuana, but it doesn't make the message any less true!
Sinful
Ryan Church ran into the knee of Yunel Escobar as the Atlanta Braves shortstop leapt over him to complete a game-ending double play on May 2o. Church briefly lost consciousness and slid face first along the infield dirt past second base. He suffered a concussion, his second of the season, and had to be helped off the field afterwards.
The Mets did not put him on the disabled list.
He has been intermittently suffering from spells of dizziness and fatigue ever since then, nearly three weeks after the collision. He's been out of the lineup since Friday night, the symptoms refusing to abate for more than a few days at a time. Church is flying back to New York to be examined again, now that his symptoms are apparently beginning to get worse.
The Mets still have not put him on the disabled list.
"We can only go by how he feels," New York manager Willie Randolph was quoted saying over the weekend. "We considered the DL but decided to wait. No one knows a lot about it."
Now I'm used to Willie being clueless when it comes to the game of baseball, but a simple trip to Web MD should've taught him all he needs to know about Church's medical situation. From the article: "It is not always easy to know if someone has a concussion. Not everyone who has a concussion passes out. A person who might have a concussion should immediately stop any kind of activity or sport (emphasis mine). Becoming active again before the brain returns to normal functioning increases the person's risk of having a more serious brain injury ... Occasionally a person who has a more serious concussion develops new symptoms over time and feels worse than he or she did before the injury. This is called post-concussive syndrome."
It is a goddamn travesty that Ryan Church wasn't put on the disabled list immediately after his head ricocheted off the knee of an adult male attempting to leap over him. It is a testament to the incompetence of this team's medical staff for not insisting such precautions take place and an indictment of the entire front office for not realizing a man's longterm health is more important than two weeks of baseball games in May.
In a lost season that has been marred by the spotty play of injury-prone veterans and overpriced mediocrities, the handling of Ryan Church after his injury has been the single stupidest thing the Mets have done all season. This is worse than Randolph's incomeptent managerial machinations, last week's lily-livered draft strategy and Omar Minaya's roster construction shenanigans combined.
Tim got on my case this weekend for not updating as much lately. But it's hard to sit down every day and write something about an organization that makes me sick to my stomach from just about every conceivable angle. Wins and losses are no longer the issue for me; I am disturbed and disappointed by nearly every single aspect of the way this organization is run.
The Mets did not put him on the disabled list.
He has been intermittently suffering from spells of dizziness and fatigue ever since then, nearly three weeks after the collision. He's been out of the lineup since Friday night, the symptoms refusing to abate for more than a few days at a time. Church is flying back to New York to be examined again, now that his symptoms are apparently beginning to get worse.
The Mets still have not put him on the disabled list.
"We can only go by how he feels," New York manager Willie Randolph was quoted saying over the weekend. "We considered the DL but decided to wait. No one knows a lot about it."
Now I'm used to Willie being clueless when it comes to the game of baseball, but a simple trip to Web MD should've taught him all he needs to know about Church's medical situation. From the article: "It is not always easy to know if someone has a concussion. Not everyone who has a concussion passes out. A person who might have a concussion should immediately stop any kind of activity or sport (emphasis mine). Becoming active again before the brain returns to normal functioning increases the person's risk of having a more serious brain injury ... Occasionally a person who has a more serious concussion develops new symptoms over time and feels worse than he or she did before the injury. This is called post-concussive syndrome."
It is a goddamn travesty that Ryan Church wasn't put on the disabled list immediately after his head ricocheted off the knee of an adult male attempting to leap over him. It is a testament to the incompetence of this team's medical staff for not insisting such precautions take place and an indictment of the entire front office for not realizing a man's longterm health is more important than two weeks of baseball games in May.
In a lost season that has been marred by the spotty play of injury-prone veterans and overpriced mediocrities, the handling of Ryan Church after his injury has been the single stupidest thing the Mets have done all season. This is worse than Randolph's incomeptent managerial machinations, last week's lily-livered draft strategy and Omar Minaya's roster construction shenanigans combined.
Tim got on my case this weekend for not updating as much lately. But it's hard to sit down every day and write something about an organization that makes me sick to my stomach from just about every conceivable angle. Wins and losses are no longer the issue for me; I am disturbed and disappointed by nearly every single aspect of the way this organization is run.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
First Guessing: 6/7/08
If you don't use your best pitcher in extra innings because you're saving him to close the game if you get the lead, you may never get a chance to use him.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Roster Move: Pedro Returns; Evans Demoted
Jason Giambi's mustache looks ridiculous, but he's hitting like he's 10 years younger lately.
Pedro Martinez is never going to pitch like he did 10 years ago, but no one realistically expects him to do that. He only needs to be a solid #3 starter (yes, even I've demoted Oliver Perez to the #4 spot in the rotation at this point) and I think that's well within the realm of possibility. Pedro's first start earlier this week yielded 109 pitches and he says his arm feels fine; we'll see if that's the case in his next start.
Pedro's return means Claudio Vargas moves to the bullpen and Carlos Muniz goes back to New Orleans. If Vargas flourishes in the long man's role and the Mets are still playing .500 baseball on July 30, don't be surprised if they deal away a reliever or two and give Muniz a chance to prove himself for the rest of the season.
But what the hell am I supposed to write about this? Nick Evans may have a future in this organization, but he was overmatched at the MLB level right now. Abraham Nunez has been overmatched at the MLB level for every second he's spent in the big leagues. He was overmatched in New Orleans too, with a .133 batting average in 45-at bats. Whose ass does Val Pascucci have to kiss to get a shot at the big leagues again?
(Oh, and Robinson Cancel is temporarily up in place of Raul Casanova, who is on bereavement leave. Neither of them belong on the roster.)
After spending the first month of the season complaining that the Mets had too many outfielders and only one backup infielder, they are now apparently carrying seven infielders, three catchers and three natural outfielders. Decisions like these make me continue to question Omar Minaya's ability as a general manager. Memo to Omar: baseball teams that insist on 12-man pitching staffs should carry two catchers, six infielders and five outfielders among their position players. Is that so hard?
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Joe Smith
Claudio Vargas
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
Raul Casanova (Robinson Cancel)
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
Abraham Nunez
OUTFIELDERS
Carlos Beltran
Ryan Church
Endy Chavez
Moises Alou - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
Marlon Anderson - DL
Pedro Martinez is never going to pitch like he did 10 years ago, but no one realistically expects him to do that. He only needs to be a solid #3 starter (yes, even I've demoted Oliver Perez to the #4 spot in the rotation at this point) and I think that's well within the realm of possibility. Pedro's first start earlier this week yielded 109 pitches and he says his arm feels fine; we'll see if that's the case in his next start.
Pedro's return means Claudio Vargas moves to the bullpen and Carlos Muniz goes back to New Orleans. If Vargas flourishes in the long man's role and the Mets are still playing .500 baseball on July 30, don't be surprised if they deal away a reliever or two and give Muniz a chance to prove himself for the rest of the season.
But what the hell am I supposed to write about this? Nick Evans may have a future in this organization, but he was overmatched at the MLB level right now. Abraham Nunez has been overmatched at the MLB level for every second he's spent in the big leagues. He was overmatched in New Orleans too, with a .133 batting average in 45-at bats. Whose ass does Val Pascucci have to kiss to get a shot at the big leagues again?
(Oh, and Robinson Cancel is temporarily up in place of Raul Casanova, who is on bereavement leave. Neither of them belong on the roster.)
After spending the first month of the season complaining that the Mets had too many outfielders and only one backup infielder, they are now apparently carrying seven infielders, three catchers and three natural outfielders. Decisions like these make me continue to question Omar Minaya's ability as a general manager. Memo to Omar: baseball teams that insist on 12-man pitching staffs should carry two catchers, six infielders and five outfielders among their position players. Is that so hard?
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Pedro Martinez
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Joe Smith
Claudio Vargas
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
Raul Casanova (Robinson Cancel)
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
Abraham Nunez
OUTFIELDERS
Carlos Beltran
Ryan Church
Endy Chavez
Moises Alou - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
Marlon Anderson - DL
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Compensation Round A
Pick #33 - Bradley Holt, UNC Wilmington
MLB Ticker - Nothing. If they don't even have a scouting report on the guy, that's generally not a good sign.
According to this article, Keith Law actually projected the Mets would select Holt in this slot. Again, I don't know if that's actually a good sign. The article claims he lacks secondary stuff right now, an ominous sign for someone who is fashioned as a starting pitcher. Sounds like the Mets took another flier on a quick-fix bullpen option.
MLB Ticker - Nothing. If they don't even have a scouting report on the guy, that's generally not a good sign.
According to this article, Keith Law actually projected the Mets would select Holt in this slot. Again, I don't know if that's actually a good sign. The article claims he lacks secondary stuff right now, an ominous sign for someone who is fashioned as a starting pitcher. Sounds like the Mets took another flier on a quick-fix bullpen option.
First Round Picks
Pick #18: Ike Davis, Arizona State
Keith Law, ESPN - "The Mets said they wanted to focus on college bats with their first two picks, and Davis was probably the best hitter left on the board. His pitch recognition is good, and he has a clean swing once he gets it started. He has 30-plus homer power in the big leagues if everything clicks. He's also a good defender with a plus arm at first base. "
MLB Ticker - "On radars since high school, the son of ex big leaguer Ron Davis has a sweet left handed swing that sould generate more power in the future. Not speedy, but a solid baserunner and would be fine as a corner outfielder or first baseman at the big league level."
Pick #22, Reese Haynes, South Carolina
Keith Law, ESPN - "This is a great pick for the Mets. He makes all the plays at shortstop because he reads the ball off the bat so well. At the plate he has excellent pitch recognition and hand-eye coordination. If he has to move to second base because of the presence of Jose Reyes at shortstop, he has more than enough bat. Havens has a great approach and instincts, and he should move quickly through the Mets' system."
MLB Ticker - "A legitimate prospect in high school, teams were scared off because of a strong commitment to South Carolina. He's improved steadily in his three years there and has evolved into a good all-around hitter with outstanding plate discpline. He may need to move to third down the road because of his lack of range, but his smarts in the field may at least give him the opportunity to play his way off of short as a pro. At either spot, he's sure to go off the board pretty quickly."
I thought the Mets might select Christian Freidich from Eastern Kentucky, a lefty starter who dropped all the way to the Colorado Rockies at #25. Unless they are projecting Haynes as the eventual replacement for Luis Castillo, I think Friedrich might have been the better pick. I don't know if bonus demands played a role, but if so I will be mighty disappointed. The suppelemental pick is coming shortly.
EDIT: Goddammit.
Gerrit Cole, Orange Lutheran HS
Keith Law, ESPN - "This is a great pick; he fell to the Yankees for financial reasons. Cole has the best arm among the prep pitchers in the draft. He has a loose, quick arm. He has the best fastball of the high school pitchers; it tops out 97 mph. He needs more consistency on the breaking ball. And he needs to just throw his changeup instead of guiding it. He's a high-ceiling arm that could be a No. 1 starter. If that doesn't work, he could be a dominant reliever."
I am going to choose to assume that the Mets simply had no interest in pitching early on and therefore passed on Cole because of that and not because of bonus recommendation concerns. And yes, I am following Mack's advice and not getting too excited over any one player. Most of these guys will never reach the lofty heights predicted for them on Draft Day. But if the Mets are still playing nice in the sandbox and refusing to draft bonus babies, it's a terrible indictment on the entire organization.
Keith Law, ESPN - "The Mets said they wanted to focus on college bats with their first two picks, and Davis was probably the best hitter left on the board. His pitch recognition is good, and he has a clean swing once he gets it started. He has 30-plus homer power in the big leagues if everything clicks. He's also a good defender with a plus arm at first base. "
MLB Ticker - "On radars since high school, the son of ex big leaguer Ron Davis has a sweet left handed swing that sould generate more power in the future. Not speedy, but a solid baserunner and would be fine as a corner outfielder or first baseman at the big league level."
Pick #22, Reese Haynes, South Carolina
Keith Law, ESPN - "This is a great pick for the Mets. He makes all the plays at shortstop because he reads the ball off the bat so well. At the plate he has excellent pitch recognition and hand-eye coordination. If he has to move to second base because of the presence of Jose Reyes at shortstop, he has more than enough bat. Havens has a great approach and instincts, and he should move quickly through the Mets' system."
MLB Ticker - "A legitimate prospect in high school, teams were scared off because of a strong commitment to South Carolina. He's improved steadily in his three years there and has evolved into a good all-around hitter with outstanding plate discpline. He may need to move to third down the road because of his lack of range, but his smarts in the field may at least give him the opportunity to play his way off of short as a pro. At either spot, he's sure to go off the board pretty quickly."
I thought the Mets might select Christian Freidich from Eastern Kentucky, a lefty starter who dropped all the way to the Colorado Rockies at #25. Unless they are projecting Haynes as the eventual replacement for Luis Castillo, I think Friedrich might have been the better pick. I don't know if bonus demands played a role, but if so I will be mighty disappointed. The suppelemental pick is coming shortly.
EDIT: Goddammit.
Gerrit Cole, Orange Lutheran HS
Keith Law, ESPN - "This is a great pick; he fell to the Yankees for financial reasons. Cole has the best arm among the prep pitchers in the draft. He has a loose, quick arm. He has the best fastball of the high school pitchers; it tops out 97 mph. He needs more consistency on the breaking ball. And he needs to just throw his changeup instead of guiding it. He's a high-ceiling arm that could be a No. 1 starter. If that doesn't work, he could be a dominant reliever."
I am going to choose to assume that the Mets simply had no interest in pitching early on and therefore passed on Cole because of that and not because of bonus recommendation concerns. And yes, I am following Mack's advice and not getting too excited over any one player. Most of these guys will never reach the lofty heights predicted for them on Draft Day. But if the Mets are still playing nice in the sandbox and refusing to draft bonus babies, it's a terrible indictment on the entire organization.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The Misuse of Relievers
Aaron Heilman has already faced 141 batters this season. Only one other Mets reliever has faced more than 100 - Jorge Sosa, who faced 107 batters before being released last month. Sosa hasn't thrown a pitch for the Mets since May 12, yet he has still faced more batters than Billy Wagner (95) this season. I cannot think of a more startling indictment of Willie Randolph's bullpen management then that.
Of course, it's not all Willie's fault. He's a conventional, by the book manager who is either unwilling or unable to think outside the box. Closers are supposed to be the best relievers in the bullpen, but there's not one closer in the league who is routinely given the lion's share of his team's relief work. They are instead shoehorned into a rigid usage pattern that actively inhibits their team's chances to maximize opportunities to win games by using their best relievers in high leverage situations. Willie is just following along with the rest of the crowd. What's worse, Wagner has bought into the lie hook, line and sinker.
Rollie Fingers led the Oakland A's in relief batters faced during their three straight World Series campaigns from 1972 to 1974 and led his team in that category five other times in his career. Dan Quisenberry led the Kansas City Royals in relief batters faced in four straight seasons (1982 to 1985). Bruce Sutter did it three times for the St. Louis Cardinals, from 1981 to 1983. Each won a World Series with their team; Sutter in 1982 and Quiz three years later.
This is how it was done before Tony LaRussa turned Dennis Eckersley into a one-inning specialist in the late 1980s. Other managers inexplicably followed suit, never realizing that LaRussa was in fact handcuffing himself by only using his best reliever in highly specialized situations. The Cult of the Save has flourished in the last 20 years - all at the expense of intelligent reliever usage.
So far this season, only two teams in baseball have allowed their closer to face more batters than any other reliever - the Houston Astros (Jose Valverde) and the Oakland A's (Huston Street). Of course, each are barely holding off middle relievers to retain the team lead in batters faced in relief and will undoubtedly be surpassed by one or more relievers by the end of the year. Besides, the Astros are managed by a guy who thinks home runs are rally-killers and the A's are skippered by a guy whose primary job qualification might be his best friend, so I'm not ready to annoint Cecil Cooper or Bob Geren managerial geniuses just yet.
Contrast that with the Pitsburgh Pirates, where manager John Russell has allowed nondescript middle reliever Franquelis Osoria to face nearly twice as many batters (183 to 102) as his fine young closer Matt Capps. How on earth does using Osoria, who could charitably be called the fourth best reliever in the Pirates' bullpen, so much more than Capps make any type of sense?
It doesn't. Reliever usage in today's game is completely out of whack. Who will be the first major league manger to realize LaRussa's two decades old mistake for what it was and restore sanity to the distribution of reliever workload?
Of course, it's not all Willie's fault. He's a conventional, by the book manager who is either unwilling or unable to think outside the box. Closers are supposed to be the best relievers in the bullpen, but there's not one closer in the league who is routinely given the lion's share of his team's relief work. They are instead shoehorned into a rigid usage pattern that actively inhibits their team's chances to maximize opportunities to win games by using their best relievers in high leverage situations. Willie is just following along with the rest of the crowd. What's worse, Wagner has bought into the lie hook, line and sinker.
Rollie Fingers led the Oakland A's in relief batters faced during their three straight World Series campaigns from 1972 to 1974 and led his team in that category five other times in his career. Dan Quisenberry led the Kansas City Royals in relief batters faced in four straight seasons (1982 to 1985). Bruce Sutter did it three times for the St. Louis Cardinals, from 1981 to 1983. Each won a World Series with their team; Sutter in 1982 and Quiz three years later.
This is how it was done before Tony LaRussa turned Dennis Eckersley into a one-inning specialist in the late 1980s. Other managers inexplicably followed suit, never realizing that LaRussa was in fact handcuffing himself by only using his best reliever in highly specialized situations. The Cult of the Save has flourished in the last 20 years - all at the expense of intelligent reliever usage.
So far this season, only two teams in baseball have allowed their closer to face more batters than any other reliever - the Houston Astros (Jose Valverde) and the Oakland A's (Huston Street). Of course, each are barely holding off middle relievers to retain the team lead in batters faced in relief and will undoubtedly be surpassed by one or more relievers by the end of the year. Besides, the Astros are managed by a guy who thinks home runs are rally-killers and the A's are skippered by a guy whose primary job qualification might be his best friend, so I'm not ready to annoint Cecil Cooper or Bob Geren managerial geniuses just yet.
Contrast that with the Pitsburgh Pirates, where manager John Russell has allowed nondescript middle reliever Franquelis Osoria to face nearly twice as many batters (183 to 102) as his fine young closer Matt Capps. How on earth does using Osoria, who could charitably be called the fourth best reliever in the Pirates' bullpen, so much more than Capps make any type of sense?
It doesn't. Reliever usage in today's game is completely out of whack. Who will be the first major league manger to realize LaRussa's two decades old mistake for what it was and restore sanity to the distribution of reliever workload?
Just Get the Best Players You Can Get (Flushing University)
As the 2008 First Year Player Draft approaches, the Mets have the unique opportunity to quickly increase the profile and quality of the minor league system. But to do so, they will have to go beyond the restrictive slot recommendations for amateur bonuses suggested by the commissioner's office. Read more here ...
Monday, June 2, 2008
First Guessing: 6/2/08
Claudio Vargas is saving the bullpen tonight. He's thrown just 40 pitches in 3.2 innings and hasn't been scored upon. Randolph has to let him go at least five innings, maybe more, and have him save the bullpen as much as humanly possible. Vargas is obviously losing his spot when Pedro returns tomorrow (woo hoo!), so there's no reason not to give him five or six or even seven relief innings. When I wake up in the morning, I'll see if Willie did right by the bullpen.
EDIT: In the time it took me to write one paragraph and copy the link, Vargas picked up a strikeout and two flyouts. And ... that's it. He throws 4.2 innings of relief and just 47 pitches, but Willie has Nick Evans pinch hitting to lead off the top of the sixth. That leaves at least three more innings for the bullpen to cover. Well, it's a debatable move, but not an awful one. I guess you figure that if you're only down four runs and you have four more chances to try and score, you should take one more shot to put runs on the board.
Evans struck out, an entirely unsurprising development. It will become a bad move if Willie doesn't a) double-switch here and b) let Muniz throw multiple innings when he comes on in relief. I'll have a second edit in the morning when I see how this plays out.
DOUBLE EDIT: Well, Muniz was a disaster - eight baserunners in 1.2 innings. I guess Willie could've left him out there the rest of the way, but it might've turned a 10-2 game into a 15-2 game. The move didn't work out, but I'm not entirely sure that Randolph is somehow to blame.
EDIT: In the time it took me to write one paragraph and copy the link, Vargas picked up a strikeout and two flyouts. And ... that's it. He throws 4.2 innings of relief and just 47 pitches, but Willie has Nick Evans pinch hitting to lead off the top of the sixth. That leaves at least three more innings for the bullpen to cover. Well, it's a debatable move, but not an awful one. I guess you figure that if you're only down four runs and you have four more chances to try and score, you should take one more shot to put runs on the board.
Evans struck out, an entirely unsurprising development. It will become a bad move if Willie doesn't a) double-switch here and b) let Muniz throw multiple innings when he comes on in relief. I'll have a second edit in the morning when I see how this plays out.
DOUBLE EDIT: Well, Muniz was a disaster - eight baserunners in 1.2 innings. I guess Willie could've left him out there the rest of the way, but it might've turned a 10-2 game into a 15-2 game. The move didn't work out, but I'm not entirely sure that Randolph is somehow to blame.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Roster Move: Wise Placed on 15-Day DL
I know I'm very late on this, but I haven't written anything since Tuesday because I've been lazy. Everyday updates are very hard to maintain.
I'm on record since the beginnning of this blog that I thought Matt Wise was a cagey pick-up for the Mets. I have to admit I'm disappointed in how it all worked out. Wise was having a great season last year before accidentally hitting a batter in the face in July; it seemed like his problems after that point might be more psychological that physical. It's obviously physical now; this rotator cuff issue might be threatening the rest of his season. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, of course, and the price tag was hardly prohibitive.
Carlos Muniz is 27 years old and, other than a 2005 season split between three levels of the low minors, has been relatively successful at every stop. I don't think he's going to be a star, but he has clearly earned the opportunity to compete for a bullpen job and so far, he seems to be making the most of it (5 1/3 scoreless innings so far). Unfortunately for him, I have a feeling that this time next week I'll be writing about Muniz's return to New Orleans to make room for Pedro Martinez.
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Claudio Vargas
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
Pedro Martinez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Carlos Muniz
Joe Smith
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
Raul Casanova
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
OUTFIELDERS
Carlos Beltran
Ryan Church
Nick Evans
Endy Chavez
Moises Alou - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
Marlon Anderson - DL
I'm on record since the beginnning of this blog that I thought Matt Wise was a cagey pick-up for the Mets. I have to admit I'm disappointed in how it all worked out. Wise was having a great season last year before accidentally hitting a batter in the face in July; it seemed like his problems after that point might be more psychological that physical. It's obviously physical now; this rotator cuff issue might be threatening the rest of his season. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, of course, and the price tag was hardly prohibitive.
Carlos Muniz is 27 years old and, other than a 2005 season split between three levels of the low minors, has been relatively successful at every stop. I don't think he's going to be a star, but he has clearly earned the opportunity to compete for a bullpen job and so far, he seems to be making the most of it (5 1/3 scoreless innings so far). Unfortunately for him, I have a feeling that this time next week I'll be writing about Muniz's return to New Orleans to make room for Pedro Martinez.
Let's take a look at the active roster now:
STARTING PITCHERS
Johan Santana
John Maine
Oliver Perez
Mike Pelfrey
Claudio Vargas
Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez - DL
Pedro Martinez - DL
RELIEF PITCHERS
Billy Wagner (closer)
Duaner Sanchez
Pedro Feliciano
Aaron Heilman
Scott Schoenweis
Carlos Muniz
Joe Smith
Matt Wise - DL
CATCHERS
Brian Schneider
Ramon Castro
Raul Casanova
INFIELDERS
Carlos Delgado
Luis Castillo
David Wright
Jose Reyes
Damion Easley
Fernando Tatis
OUTFIELDERS
Carlos Beltran
Ryan Church
Nick Evans
Endy Chavez
Moises Alou - DL
Angel Pagan - DL
Marlon Anderson - DL
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