Either it's going to be one of the very best days of my life, or one of the worst. The enormity of the disparity between the two outcomes is dizzying. In fact, I feel like I might be sick.
We've been over this before, but this instance is so egregious that I feel compelled to comment once again, and this time with the proper panache.
All season I've been complaining that the opinion on Metsblog.com, the most widely read baseball blog in the universe, has been irresponsible in the manner in which it pushes the opinion of its writers on its audience. Metsblog is no longer a mom-and-pop operation run by a nobody fan - it is now sponsored by SNY, gets time on the cable television network, and is enormously influential. As such, the writers have a journalistic responsibility to take care with regard to what they write. However, they continually fail to do so.
All year they have re-reported vague rumors, linked to even more extremist blogs spewing vile complaints, and pushed their opinion on their readers. Another example comes this morning.
In "Opinion: The Future of the Mets," Michael Baron goes on an extended rant about the team. I'll let him speak mostly for himself, with my comments interspersed throughout.
I think it was easy to anticipate that wins were going to be scarcer when their key players went down early, but there is absolutely no excuse for the general lack of execution offensively and defensively, the poor base running, and the poor decision making and to me, that is a failure on management’s part to mentally and physically prepare players for the game. Even this group of Mets should have been better in the end and I feel that is a general failure at the heart of the organization from a philosophical level, and that is why I feel that a leadership change is necessary.
Okay. So when the injuries struck, we were excused from being the 95-win juggernaut that everyone expected... but THIS level of play is considered unacceptable? Listen -- I'm not happy with the Mets level of play this season. It's been bad. But the Mets ARE BAD.
Let's face the facts. The majority of the mental mistakes and errors that can be pointed to this season have been committed by guys like Daniel Murphy (who stinks, and was asked to play out of position twice this season), Luis Castillo (who is lazy and prone to those kinds of mistakes anyway), Angel Pagan (who never was supposed to be starting, but DESPITE the mistakes has hit .304 and done a fantastic job) and a few others. What does this blogger seriously expect from these guys?
The leap he takes next - that it was "a failure on management's part to mentally and physically prepare players for the game" - is complete nonsense. Where does that come from? First of all, if this guy (or any others) have some kind of inside information which would indicate that Jerry Manuel has not done a good job preparing his guys to play, then they should TELL US. Otherwise, this is completely made up.
It is the end of a long, ugly, losing season... and this is a universal human response. You pay lip service to the fact that we didn't expect them to win a lot -- but that doesn't stop the fan from wanting his pound of flesh. Someone has to pay. Some phantom must be CREATED so that it can be BLAMED for the failure. Otherwise, without a scapegoat, this fan can't be optimistic about the next season. Unless there is inside information, this is nonsense.
The players like Jerry Manuel. And this is irresponsible blogging. Thousands of people will read this post, and have read dozens of posts just like it, and they don't all have the patience to read them critically. They believe these posts -- or even if they don't, they become organizational talking points.
Second of all, and this is a much easier point to make -- does this guy watch ANY baseball other than the Mets? Teams make tons of mistakes all over baseball. Josh Thole got thrown out at home the other night and it was an ugly play -- but if you pay attention, outfielders all over the league have dozens of outfield assists, and they don't just come against the Mets.
The average MLB team made 95 fielding errors this season. They made scores of other mistakes which don't show up as actual errors. The Mets, with all the injures made only 97 errors. All this hand wringing about preparedness is simply bullcrap.
The difference between today’s 90+ loss team and the 90+ loss team in 2004 to me is that there was still some sort of road map to success in place with David Wright and Jose Reyes developing
This is simply made up. The Mets hit the LOTTERY with Wright and Reyes - two generational talents coming up through the system at the same time. It wasn't an organizational philosophy which created them. The 2001 team missed the playoffs, and Phillips tried to patch things up in 2002 by overhauling the roster. It didn't work. Game over. There was no sea change in Mets organizational thinking. There was no road map. WE SUCKED FOR A COUPLE YEARS AND GOT HIGH DRAFT PICKS. That is baseball.
The team was really close to winning in 2006 and that playoff series against the Cardinals was brutally disappointing, but instead of continuing on the trail that was set by Omar after the 2004 season with “the new Mets”, he deviated and started to plug holes with the wrong players rather than continue to develop and refine the core and today, the Mets lack a road map or a vision in my mind which is evident with the problems with player development, team success in the minor leagues, and the clear lack of depth at the Major League level or coming to the Major League level. *** I think that the organization in general, with the players they have acquired in the last couple of winters, have become their own Monday Morning Quarterback’s again and they only seem to address needs that were weak the prior season, losing sight of everything else.
This is something that Metsblog has been harping on literally for MONTHS -- that Omar plugs holes and fixes yesterday's problems. The above statement is absolute garbage as well. I have no choice but to break it down.
2004-2005 Offseason: The 04 Mets were a disaster. The 2004 disaster was really a combination of things --- the end of the Piazza/Leiter Era, injuries to Piazza and Cliff Floyd, and the acquisition of Richard Hidalgo failing to pay dividends. It was a bad year. They won 71 games. They fired Art Howe and Jim Duquette and brought on Omar Minaya. Omar hired Willie Randolph, and began to reform the team in his own image.
What did Omar do? He signed Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran. Beltran, one of the best players in the game, signed to a (relatively) under market contract. The rebuilding began.
2005-2006 Offseason: The Mets did decently well in 2005, and then made a shrewd trade for Delgado and signed Billy Wagner. They addressed their need for a slugger and for a closer. No paradigm shift here. The results of these acquisitions, as we know, led to a legendary playoff run.
2006-2007 Offseason: After our tough loss to the Cardinals, the Mets basically stood pat. This, if you ask me, might be our faultiest offseason. In baseball, as in business, you are either growing or you are probably dying.
2007-2008 Offseason: After "the Collapse" and the departure of Tom Glavine, it was acknowledged that the Mets primary need was to get pitching. Omar did us one better than that and went out and got the best in the business in Johan Santana. This was his second masterpiece (after the acquisition of Beltran). That need fulfilled, with a team who missed the playoffs by one game, they entered the 2008 season with promise.
2008-2009 Offseason: A second mini-collapse was enough to send the entire city into a complete frenzy. The injury to Billy Wagner was devastating, so Omar had to use his limited resources to fix the Mets faulty bullpen. We acquired Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz, and looked to have the best bullpen in baseball. The only remaining weakness - the starting rotation - didn't seem to have a simple answer.
So here we are. Sure, you can accuse Minaya of fighting the last war if you want to, but I like what he has been doing. Each offseason, there has been one most-glaring area of weakness... and with LIMITED RESOURCES, you have to do the best you can at addressing them. I'm really not sure what these haters would have rather that Minaya done.
The big big offseason acquisition which was pushed by the people at Metsblog was the acquisition of Derek Lowe. Let's face facts: Derek Lowe was better than Oliver Perez this year. But would it have made a difference? Would we have won 30 more games? Hell no. In addition, the acquisition of Derek Lowe cost another year in commitment and MANY million more dollars per year. And for what it's worth, Derek Lowe is showing his age big time -- he is 36 and posted a downright ghastly 4.67 ERA and 1.51 WHIP this season. Congratulations to Atlanta on that contract.
Omar does what he has to do. You look at your teams strengths and weaknesses. You analyze the market. You see what adds the MOST wins to your team. You see what you can buy, in terms of money or players, which provides the greatest return on investment. This offseason we were able to sign the best closer available and flip Aaron Heilman for a worthy gamble in J.J. Putz. There was nothing else to do.
The Mets were Sports Illustrated's preseason pick to win the World Series. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/03/30/scouting.reports/index.html?eref=T1.
Things went wrong. I thought we needed more starting pitching. But the allegation that Omar is somehow stuck in yesterday is ridiculous. Baseball, and baseball teams, and organizations in general are constantly changing. You constantly fight different challenges. I have no idea what these critics would have preferred -- perhaps instead of getting two closers to fix a faulty bullpen, they would have preferred that he somehow magically acquire a backup all-star shortstop, first baseman, centerfielder, and ace.
I am not saying that bringing in Johan Santana and Francisco Rodriguez were bad moves – in fact I think they were the best moves Minaya could have made to address the needs they fulfill. But he failed to recognize other problems year over year and did not look at his team as a whole
REALLY HE DID? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?
I believe that ownership needs to acknowledge the failure and remember past failures at the organizational level and begin a complete rebuild as a result. They must begin to examine their tactics in talent evaluation, and more specifically looking at talent and developing talent in a way for their players to be successful at Citi Field.
Okay -- I want a magical bountiful farm system which produces oodles of talent too. But this has NOTHING to do with Jerry Manuel (who this blog post begins out asking for the firing of). This has nothing to do with playing Monday Morning Quarterback. If the organization needs to do something differently with its farm system and player development, that has nothing to do with the year-to-year acquisitional philosophy that Omar has been taking. It makes no sense to besmirch the organization as a whole.
This blog post, as was the one before it which he links to, is a shameful, frustrated, end-of-season whine fest... except in this case, it's going to be read by thousands of similarly frustrated fans. It's irresponsible. It's also just wrong.
--- postscript: All things considered, the Mets farm system has been pretty fruitful over the last few years. In addition to stars like Wright and Reyes, it has produced...
Major league regulars already/role players: Mike Pelfrey, Lastings Milledge (hit .293/.336/.400 with Pittsburgh), Daniel Murphy, Brian Bannister, Heath Bell, Matt Lindstrom, Jesus Flores, Mike Carp, Joe Smith, Jon Niese
Players good enough to trade for established stars: Mike Jacobs and Yusmeiro Petit (for Delgado), Phil Humber, Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey, Deolis Guerra (for Santana)
Useful and young with some upside: Josh Thole, Ike Davis, Brad Holt, Fernando Martinez, Nick Evans, Dillon Gee, Tobi Stoner
Big time but speculative prospects: Wilmer Flores, Jenry Mejia, Jefry Marte,
Sure. I wish our team was stacked with homegrown stars. But I also wish I had a toilet seat made out of solid gold. Sometimes its not in the cards baby. Let's keep our widely-read journalism out of the sky-is-falling department from now on, okay?
The Mets were mathematically eliminated tonight. So, here are some Mets issues which I have gone out on a limb to make predictions/projections/claims about. Time to review.
#1 Pitching Staff
"The REAL problem is pitching, pitching, pitching ... we've got one legit starter, a rookie who exceeded his innings max by 50 last year, and a guy who has never thrown 200 innings coming off a season where he needed to shut it down. We need to resign Perez just to tread water ... If the Mets go into the season with Niese as the #5 starter, we're missing the playoffs, and I'll make a bet on that." December 20, 2008
Okay, so we missed the playoffs for a lot of reasons. But the failure of the Mets pitching staff this year, ultimately, was super predictable. It was Santana + hope. Pelfrey, as I predicted, took a step back this year. Maine was injured most of the year. Perez took an enormous step back with injuries. Even if we hadn't lost Beltran, Delgado, and Reyes, I am certain we'd be on the outside looking in on the playoffs,
#2 Pedro
"PEDRO MARTINEZ IS STILL A FREE AGENT. I wanted him back. It made perfect sense. We could have gotten Pedro back for nothing but money, without losing draft picks, and slotted him at the back of the rotation. Then, when the inevitable injuries come, we're looking to Livan to slot in a guy #6 instead of... say... Fernando Nieve.
And if Livan Hernandez can get guys out with an 83 MPH fastball, why can't Pedro do it at 88? Or 90? Why is Pedro Martinez the only pitcher in the universe where we are concerned only with his velocity, and not his ability to get batters out? Sure, he wasn't great last year --- but he was only throwing 91 in 2005 when he had a legitimate claim at NL Cy Young contention.
We should have signed Pedro this offseason, and we should sign him now. The Mets throw around money like its nothing at people like Alex Cora, and Tim Redding, and Scott Schoeneweis. We have glaring holes in the rotation, and we are in the thick of the race. This team is going to make a ton of money this season. Sign Pedro. Sign him. He wanted to be here, and he wants to win." June 20, 2009
I wish I had written more on this topic and earlier. As we now know, signing Pedro wouldnt have helped us win the East. But in the offseason, we should have. Last year he was ineffective, but in such a small sample of starts, it is impossible to say how good he could have been. The one thing which was true for certain was that his velocity was okay. Here's Pedro's average fastball velocity for selected years:
2003 - 90.5 2005 - 88.0 2007 - 86.2 2008 - 87.7
In 2003, he was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. In 2005, as a Met, his 88 mph fastball was enough for him to lead the league in WHIP and be in Cy Young contention. In 2007 he struggled and was hurt. But as the cold hard facts show, in 2008 his velocity was back to his post-peak-but-still-effective speed. This year? His average fastball has been 88.7 Pedro finally had surgery and his shoulder was right. Of course, velocity will dip over time... but he's cunning, and he's got amazing secondary pitches, and he knows how to save his bullets for when he needs them.
The Mets gave up on a guy who wanted to come back and repay the Mets for his unfortunate injury. He's a fighter, and a upstanding human being, and he's honorable, and he's good. They were foolish. And tonight, he shut them out for eight innings. Good for you, Pedro.
#3 Adam Dunn
"I'd also like the Mets to get Adam Dunn. I would love it. With Burrell signing at a pittance, and a ton of outfielders available, I think this is our chance. It looks like a no brainer to me, despite his lefthandedness. Sign Dunn and then move him to 1B next year when Delgado moves on." January 26, 2009
"The Nats signed Dunn when everyone in the world was turning their nose up at him - his defense sucks, he strikes out too much, WAH WAH WAH. And where are we now? The man has a 947 OPS. The man's got 18 HR and 48 RBI. The man's got a .406 OBP. His ranks among the Mets if he were a Met? OPS (1st). OBP (3rd - Wright/Beltran). HR (1st). RBI (1st)." June 20, 2009
Yep. His OPS has only gone up since then. Dunn is hitting 281/409/565 right now for an OPS of 974. He's having his finest season ever. He's making only $8 million dollars this season. Foolish, foolish Mets. Smart Brian.
#4 Omir Santos
"His career minor league batting line is .258/.304/.348. The guy can't hit. At all. He CAN NOT HIT. The guy has 4 home runs TOTAL since 2007. He hits one this week and the morons start to think he's a better option than Castro. In his time with the Mets, Ramon Castro has posted a 770 OPS. That is a damned good number.
Barring injury or something like that, there is no universe in which Santos is "potentially better" than Castro." May 1, 2009
"Fact is, Omir Santos is a career minor leaguer with a line of .258/.304/.348. Ramon Castro has been putting up better numbers than that in the major leagues for years." May 24, 2009
Omir Santos is now batting 259/295/384. If it looks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, it is a duck. And Omir Santos has always sucked. And he always will suck. He's 28 years old. It's over. Ramon Castro barely plays for the White Sox, and is hitting .194 right now thanks to some horrible luck, and he's STILL hitting better than Santos with an OPS over 700.
#5: Daniel Murphy
"Even though he hit .313 last year, it's hard to project him hitting better than .280, even being optimistic, but I think he'll be a useful player at worst. I think that he'll be better than any hitter our system has produced since Wright... excepting Milledge. I'd be very surprised if Murphy turned out to be a better hitter than Lastings." November 26, 2008
"Now I don't know whether Murphy is ready or not -- I am not ready to anoint him the next big thing right away -- but I could be convinced that he's worth a shot. To temper the enthusiasm a little, he posted an 870 OPS in the majors... but also an 870 OPS in AA." October 20, 2008
Pretty bad year. Wasn't ready for the show. Doesn't hit enough to play first. May someday hit for a decent average with a little power. Will never be the star so many predicted. CORRECT.
#6 Duaner Sanchez
"Duaner Sanchez was never good... and he'll probably stink this year too." February 17, 2009
11 innings, 9.00 ERA... injured or something. CORRECT
#7 Oliver Perez
"I think Oliver Perez is a very, very safe bet to - at the very least - maintain the performance he has had so far as Met. I think most people agree with that assessment -- Oliver can post an ERA around 4.3 or 4.5, just like the last two years and the computer projections say ... My initial instinct after hearing about the deal was that I thought the Mets overpaid slightly. That impression hasn't changed. But I do NOT think its a disaster, I do not think it was stupid.
I think the Mets needed a starter in the worst way, and I would rather have Oliver Perez than Randy Wolf or someone off the scrap heap. He probably won't earn the full amount of his contract but he is unlikely to flame out entirely and there is a slight chance, let's say 10%, that he can grow into himself and become an ace."
Well, this was wrong. He got hurt. That's basically the whole story. Lost season for Ollie.
Conclusion? Right way more than wrong.
Edit - September 17
#8 - Josh Thole
"I just want to put it out there right now. Josh Thole could be a stud.
He could be up with the Mets THIS SEASON. He's hitting .352/.447/.451 with AA Binghamton as a 22 year old. He's had more walks than strikeouts the last three seasons.
I know this is a long shot, but based on what I've seen come up and through the Mets system the last couple years, I think I am starting to get a feel for players who perform well at certain levels. AA Binghamton is a hard place to hit. He's young. He seems to have fantastic plate discipline. He's improved up through every level.
The last guy I saw who was able to move up and dominate the low levels with that kind of plate discipline was David Wright. Of course, Wright hit for a lot more power and was younger, but Wright is a once-every-ten-years talent. Keep your eye on Thole." May 7, 2009
Ummmmmmmm YES. Here's a little snip from Metsblog: Josh Thole, who hit second yesterday, was 2 for 4 with two RBI, and is batting .423 in 26 at bats since being promoted to the Mets.
Yeah. He's good. He'll never hit 30 homers but he's a good looking little hitter and might be able to put together a .300 season or two in the near future. And nobody knew about him except me.
On minorleagueball.com, Thole was not in the top 20. He was an honorable mention. He was not in Metsgeek.com's top 15. He was also not on baseballamerica's top 10. Win.
Oh no- here comes that sun again. And (that) means another day without you my friend. And it hurts me to look into the mirror at myself. And it hurts even more to have to be with somebody else.
And it's so hard to do and so easy to say. But sometimes - sometimes, you just have to walk away - walk away.
With so many people to love in my life, why do I worry about one? But you put the happy in my ness, you put the good times into my fun.
And it's so hard to do and so easy to say. But sometimes - sometimes, you just have to walk away - walk away and head for the door.
We've tried the goodbye so many days. We walk in the same direction so that we could never stray. They say if you love somebody than you have got to set them free, but I would rather be locked to you than live in this pain and misery. They say time will make all this go away, but it's time that has taken my tomorrows and turned them into yesterdays. And once again that rising sun is droppin' on down And once again, you my friend, are nowhere to be found.
And it's so hard to do and so easy to say. But sometimes, sometimes you just have to walk away, walk away and head for the door. You just walk away - walk away - walk away. You just walk away, walk on, turn and head for the door.
Okay, I don't know why this is so hard for people to understand.
The Mets are 8th in the NL in runs scored. That's not good. I think we know that's not good.
But more importantly, they are 7th in the league in ERA. That's worse. And more importantly, they are closer to being 10th in the league in ERA than they are to being 6th.
We play in the second best pitcher's park in the league. It's only a half of season of data, but it's likely that CitiField is the first or second best park for pitchers in the National League, and potentially in all of baseball.
If we're 8th in runs for, and 7th in runs against, we have a bigger problem with pitching. That, plus the fact that we are doing so well in runs, steals, and on-base percentage while missing Delgado, Reyes, and Beltran, tells me that our needs are not on the offensive side.
Yeah, it's frustrating to watch the team flounder around like it did today. It's frustrating to watch them score 3 runs in a weekend in Philadelphia. But the people who are claiming that we need a bat more than anything are not paying attention.
…it does feel like things are about to spiral out of control, especially with a weekend series in Philadelphia looming on the horizon… the thing is, nobody knows when the supposed cavalry will return… and, when they do return, who knows how they'll perform…
…this is the big concern… has the clock hit midnight for this team[?] last night, Fernando Nieve returned to earth… who's next, Gary Sheffield, Nick Evans… i mean, the team's leadoff hitter, Argenis Reyes, entered last night's game batting .143… eventually, i fear the .143s, the nieves, the sheffields, etc., are going to catch up with this team, leaving a wide gap filled with losses between today and when the supposed cavalry returns, and that gap may finally be upon us…
Matt Cerrone, in a Wednesday post to Metsblog:
Frankly, I will never understand why some fans are so eager to give up so early in the season... I'm not saying the Mets are going to go 60–20 in the second half… It's just, I find it more fun believing the team's worst days are behind them, especially when there is more than half a season to be played.
I know that "I told you so" posts are really annoying, so this is your chance to escape without reading it.
..
Still here? Ok. Just two things because they make me crazy.
#1
The Mets have used NINE different starting pitchers so far this season. In addition to Santana (13), Pelfrey (12), Maine (11), and Perez (5), the following guys have filled in for us: Livan Hernandez (13), Tim Redding (6), Jonathan Niese (2), Fernando Nieve (2), Nelson Figueroa (1).
To this point, I think we have been EXTREMELY FORTUNATE that those pitchers have been so good. All told, those 24 starts have not been horrific. But still, 24 of our 65 starts have come from players who had no business being near a major league rotation at the start of the season.
Niese is a good prospect, but he is only that - a prospect. Tim Redding has stunk it up to the tune of a 6.27 ERA. Nobody expected anything from Fernando Nieve and I don't think we should. Nelson Figueroa is a nice little player but probably shouldn't be a major league starter.
So, why so upset? PEDRO MARTINEZ IS STILL A FREE AGENT. I wanted him back. It made perfect sense. We could have gotten Pedro back for nothing but money, without losing draft picks, and slotted him at the back of the rotation. Then, when the inevitable injuries come, we're looking to Livan to slot in a guy #6 instead of... say... Fernando Nieve. And if Livan Hernandez can get guys out with an 83 MPH fastball, why can't Pedro do it at 88? Or 90? Why is Pedro Martinez the only pitcher in the universe where we are concerned only with his velocity, and not his ability to get batters out? Sure, he wasn't great last year --- but he was only throwing 91 in 2005 when he had a legitimate claim at NL Cy Young contention.
Ted Berg recently wrote an article about Pedro for SNY, so I'll let him do a little of the talking here:
"Unlike a power bat, Martinez would only cost money, and probably not a ton of it.... Even in Pedro's 20 starts last season, pitching through injury and everything else, he was better than Tim Redding has been in 2009.
Could the Mets find someone better than Pedro was for those 20 starts last season? Probably, but he'll probably cost more, too. And it's not like starting-pitching depth is a problem that's going away... [H]is people claim he's hitting 93-94 miles per hour on the gun, and the Rays and Cubs -- two teams with more viable starters than the Mets -- are reportedly interested.
Redding, unlike Pedro Martinez, has absolutely no chance of ever pitching like Pedro Martinez. He has that in common with Livan Hernandez, Fernando Nieve and the overwhelming majority of humanity. It's impossible to expect Martinez to stay healthy for any prolonged period of time, but the upside is too big to ignore and the cost -- a couple of million dollars for a team with a $150 million payroll -- is too small."
We should have signed Pedro this offseason, and we should sign him now. The Mets throw around money like its nothing at people like Alex Cora, and Tim Redding, and Scott Schoeneweis. We have glaring holes in the rotation, and we are in the thick of the race. This team is going to make a ton of money this season. Sign Pedro. Sign him. He wanted to be here, and he wants to win.
#2
Brian Mangan, January 26, 2009: "I'd also like the Mets to get Adam Dunn. I would love it. With Burrell signing at a pittance, and a ton of outfielders available, I think this is our chance. It looks like a no brainer to me, despite his lefthandedness. Sign Dunn and then move him to 1B next year when Delgado moves on. I really think this is a no brainer."
Metsblog, June 19, 2009 "According to Buster Olney, in a post to his blog for ESPN.com, the Mets can add roughly $5 million to their payroll.
…the answer is dunn… i tried to deny it, but, it’s starting to become pretty clear…
…he solves their biggest problem, which is power and instant offense… and the thing is, he’s guaranteed to do so… i mean, that’s what he does… he hits monster home runs… dunn solves the problem…
… sure he k’s, but the team as whole moves the line enough that they can live with it… plus, when he isn’t striking out or hitting a 500–foot home run, he’s walking…
...it’s hard to deny what he’d bring to the lineup in terms of pop and weight and added stability…
However, yesterday, also on ESPN.com, Jayson Stark said the Nationals are asking for an ‘astronomical price,’ for Dunn.
…frankly, i get zero sense the Nationals even plan to trade dunn, which is probably why the price is so high… i mean, he gives them some credibility, he’s entertaining because of his mammoth home runs, and he’ll earn $10 million next season…"
Yeah. Uh. We should have signed Adam Dunn in the offseason. Everyone was panicking about the recession. Sluggers like Dunn were signing at 70 cents on the dollar. Even if you didn't want to keep him, it was worth it to sign him just because it's worth it to buy an asset for less than its worth and sell it later when the value adjusts.
Look what we did. The Nats signed Dunn when everyone in the world was turning their nose up at him - his defense sucks, he strikes out too much, WAH WAH WAH. And where are we now? The man has a 947 OPS. The man's got 18 HR and 48 RBI. The man's got a .406 OBP. His ranks among the Mets if he were a Met?
OPS (1st). OBP (3rd - Wright/Beltran). HR (1st). RBI (1st). I know that Citifield suppresses homers, but the guy can rake. And now? The Nationals are asking for an ASTRONOMICAL PRICE FOR HIM. Now, we've got to trade for him AND PAY THE SALARY HE WAS GIVEN ON THE OPEN MARKET. It makes me want to rip my hair out. The Nationals want Parnell AND a prospect for Dunn. They won't get it -- but the fact they are asking for it shows its not that outlandish.
Who is in our lineup every day instead of Dunn? Church, Tatis, Murphy. All good players. Nice little players who I like. But let me tell you this -- if we didn't luck out and get Sheffield and have him hit to the tune of an 876 OPS we would be dead in the water right now.
The Mets should have signed him when they had the chance. Delgado getting injured wasn't exactly an unforeseeable occurrence, and he's going to be gone next year anyway. With Wright at a .439 OBP and Beltran at .424, if we added Dunn to our league leading team OBP, no pitcher would EVER get through the sixth inning with us. A lineup (when healthy) of Reyes, Castillo, Wright, Dunn, Beltran, Delgado, Sheffield, Catcher would be sickeningly good.
Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com believes the Rangers have discussed trading for Nationals 1B Nick Johnson.
Johnson is batting .305 with 16 extra base hits, 30 RBI and a .417 OBP in 60 games for the Nationals this season.
…from what i recall, the Nationals have been and will continue to seek pitching… last i heard, a few weeks ago, they were talking about a pitcher likeBobby Parnell, which is laughable… i bet, as it gets closer to the deadline, that price will come down, although it doesn't help the Mets that there is possibly another suitor…
OH REALLY, IS IT LAUGHABLE?
A first baseman with a .417 obp(!!!!!!) for a middle reliever?
A middle reliever with a 1.67 whip this season?
One who has given up 32 hits in 25 innings? And has 11 walks to 21 strikeouts?
This is a guy with a career 4.46 minor league ERA. It's not like he's a big time prospect.
Listen, its not that I don't think that Parnell could become a good pitcher. Or that he's not a good pitcher now. Parnell is a USEFUL middle reliever (not set up man, not closer) on a contending team. I think Parnell is useful now, and could become good. Not great.
But the idea that a trade of Johnson for Parnell is LAUGHABLE is, frankly, idiotic. Completely idiotic.
Johnson is a GREAT hitter and would be an ENORMOUS upgrade for the Mets. In a trade for a guy who should be pitching the 7th inning? I do that in a heartbeat. But I guess that's why I'm not a GM. Because if I was, we'd still have Heath Bell and Kazmir.
Just to follow up on an earlier post. Here is a copy and paste from Metsblog.com. The first part is the news item, the italicized part is his "opinion":
In the Daily News, Adam Rubin writes, “Brian Schneider could return to the Mets from the DL within a week.”
… a few weeks ago, the talk was that santos would get sent down when schneider returns… now, i see no way the Mets can let this happen… castro has to go, unless the Mets again plan to carry three catchers… however, given all the injuries, and playing short handed, how is that justified… sorry, ramon…
Sorry, what?? For the record, here are their lines from this season:
Omir Santos: .270/.306/.444, 63 ab, 2 hr, 15 rbi Ramon Castro: .253/.340/.425, 75 ab, 3 hr, 13 rbi (he homered and doubled today, so I'm guessing on the obp and slg).
Where does this guy get off saying the stuff he says? Even if we were looking ONLY at this year and ONLY at a tiny sample size of about 70 at bats, Santos has NOT been better than Castro. But we're not. Anyone with any brain would look at their entire bodies of work.
Fact is, Omir Santos is a career minor leaguer with a line of .258/.304/.348. Ramon Castro has been putting up better numbers than that in the major leagues for years. Last year, struggling with injuries, Castro hit .245/.312/.441 for the Mets. The year before, he exploded for a .285/.331/.556 line for the Mets, hitting huge home runs down the stretch.
I don't love Castro. He's a decent player. But the idea that Omir Santos should be on the roster ahead of him is silly. The idea that Matt Cerrone declares from on high that "Castro has to go" is absolutely infuriating. What a clown. If anyone has to go, it's Cerrone.
I just want to put it out there right now. Josh Thole could be a stud.
He could be up with the Mets THIS SEASON. He's hitting .352/.447/.451 with AA Binghamton as a 22 year old. He's had more walks than strikeouts the last three seasons.
I know this is a long shot, but based on what I've seen come up and through the Mets system the last couple years, I think I am starting to get a feel for players who perform well at certain levels. AA Binghamton is a hard place to hit. He's young. He seems to have fantastic plate discipline. He's improved up through every level.
The last guy I saw who was able to move up and dominate the low levels with that kind of plate discipline was David Wright. Of course, Wright hit for a lot more power and was younger, but Wright is a once-every-ten-years talent. Keep your eye on Thole.
Matt Cerrone, after reporting a legitimate news article on his site Metsblog.com, then proceeded to add the following opinion:
"…i still believe santos is sent to triple-a regardless of how he does, or how castro behaves… unfortunately, it's not like the Mets to cut a player like castro, in favor of a younger, potentially-better player, like santos… at least not yet…of course, this is all meaningless right now, if schneider is unable to return any time soon…"
This is the kind of crap that makes me crazy. I used to love Metsblog. Love it. It used to be a fan, who did a wonderful job putting together news, who clearly has a passion for the team.
Now? Not so much. Now it's his job, and he clearly doesn't like it. He also clearly doesn't like the team. And as a bonus, he clearly knows nothing about player evaluation.
This isn't saying that he isn't entitled to his own opinion. That's' the great thing about blogs and the internet - you can get information out there, you can express your opinion - its a free open forum through which information can flow and people can learn. It's great.
But it's not great in this context. Cerrone is no longer a blogger having fun - he's been endorsed by SNY. His site is one of a handful of most-trafficked sports blogs on the internet. The power that this guy wields is *incredible*. And with great power comes great responsibility. He has accepted the power - the money, the endorsement, the full-time gig - but has refused, time and time again, to act responsibly.
You want to know why the Mets fan base is whiny and emotional? You need to look no further than his "opinion" posts from the last couple of days. Mets win four of five, he's elated. Mets lose two out of the next three, he's inconsolable. He's the more neutoric than any Mets fan I have ever met, and yet, he is now the mouthpiece of the organization on the internet. I hear people parroting the stuff that Cerrone says all the time, almost line for line. It is irresponsible given the context he is now in. Three years ago, it was fine.
That said, this above post pisses me off. In one fell swoop he disparages the organization and makes a completely RIDICULOUS comment comparing Castro and Santos. You wonder why people are turning against the Mets? Because Cerrone talks like some whiny tool who is in a sports bar talking to his buddies but instead his opinion is blasted all over the internet and given the credibility of the organization's endorsement.
And for what its worth, there is no chance Omir Santos is anywhere even close to the player Ramon Castro is. Castro is an INCREDIBLE second catcher, and if it weren't for his fragility, he'd be a starter. Maybe he's got a conditioning problem or something, but the indisputable fact is that the Mets are better with Castro behind the dish than with Schneider or Santos. Why?
"These numbers are so stunning it suggests that the unfortunate Schneider was somehow tipping off pitches:
SANCHEZ caught by CASTRO 65 ABs, allows 0 HRs and OPP SLUG%=292 SCHNEIDER 108 ABs, allows 6 HRs and OPP SLUG%=454
HEILMAN caught by CASTRO 50 ABs , allows 0 HRs and OPP SLUG%=340 SCHNEIDER 195 ABs, allows 9 HRs and OPP SLUG%=456
FELICIANO caught by CASTRO 36 ABs, allows 0 HRs and OPP SLUG%=306 SCHNEIDER 134 ABs, allows 6 HRs and OPP SLUG%=455
WAGNER caught by CASTRO 49 ABs, allows 0 HRs and OPP SLUG%=204 SCHNEIDER 99 ABs, allows 3 HRs and OPP SLUG%=313
SANTANA caught by CASTRO 333 ABs, allows 6 HRs and OPP SLUG%=297 SCHNEIDER 524 ABs, allows 15 HRs and OP SLUG%=401
PEDRO M caught by CASTRO 138 ABs, allows 2 HRs and OPP SLUG%=377 SCHNEIDER 185 ABs, allows 15 HRs and OPP SLUG%=600!!!!!
Same phenomena holds with John Maine, Claudio Vargas and Nelson Figueroa. Fascinating, isn't it?"
Of course, that doesn't help the comparison to Santos, who I know nothing about defensively. But its a good data point to suggest that Castro is a good defensive catcher (this aside from what we already know by watching him).
#2: Castro is a better hitter than Santos, and it isn't even close.
Sorry, Cerrone. If you fact-checked for even ten seconds, you would know this. Here is Omir Santos' age, level, and OPS for the last two years.
2007 - 26 years old - AAA: 613 OPS 2008 - 27 years old - AAA: 651 OPS
His career minor league batting line is .258/.304/.348. The guy can't hit. At all. He CAN NOT HIT. The guy has 4 home runs TOTAL since 2007. He hits one this week and the morons start to think he's a better option than Castro. In his time with the Mets, Ramon Castro has posted a 770 OPS. That is a damned good number.
Barring injury or something like that, there is no universe in which Santos is "potentially better" than Castro. You'd be just as well off arguing that Gary Cohen should be our catcher. Come on, dude. Don't make the Mets fans resent the organization because YOU are ill-informed.
Has something within me fundamentally changed? Have I moved on? Am I different? Or do I just want to be and am going through the motions?
Does it even matter?
If you THINK you're different, aren't you? What reality is there in this world other than our perceptions?
If someone thinks they are in love, aren't they? If someone thinks that the sky is blue, isn't it? Maybe it's a different color to everybody else but in their own world, isn't it actually blue?
Those are the questions I find myself asking tonight. I fluctuate between extremes - angry, sad, defiant, forgiving, proud, humble. Is one real and one not real? Am I actually one and fighting to be another? And if I fight, is it a battle I can win? If I want to be past it but continue to cycle back, am I past it? Past it half the time? Or is the decision to be past it conclusive?
Am I different now, or do I just want to be? Does it matter if it is true? Your own subjective reality is your reality. So maybe we never change, and just our attitudes do.
I can't sleep again, so of course I find myself reading Neruda. I'm sure that will help. Anyway, this is my favorite so far. Maybe one of these days I will pick up one of those book things I have heard so much about and check it out for real.
B
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
Write, for example, 'The night is starry and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.'
The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines. I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
Through nights like this one I held her in my arms. I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.
She loved me, sometimes I loved her too. How could one not have loved her great still eyes.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines. To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.
To hear the immense night, still more immense without her. And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.
What does it matter that my love could not keep her. The night is starry and she is not with me.
This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance. My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.
My sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer. My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.
The same night whitening the same trees. We, of that time, are no longer the same.
I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her. My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.
Another's. She will be another's. As she was before my kisses. Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes.
I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her. Love is so short, forgetting is so long.
Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.
Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer and these the last verses that I write for her.
At least not love in the way that I have always imagined it. Not unconditional love. Not 1 Corinthians love(1). I don't think people can love like that. They can't. It's not in human nature. We never would have survived this long if love like that existed.
Even parents who love their children - it isn't love. It's genetics. We love our offspring because they contain our genetic code. We love when it is convenient.
Infatuation exists. Like exists. The strongest feeling that I think people can feel could be considered love, but it's not real love.
I used to think that love could fix anything. That there was no force in the world stronger than true love. That love could be selfless. That all you need is love. I bought into all that crap. Every cheesy song, every bullshit movie. But they are wrong.
The only reason we talk about it this much is because we WISH love existed. We want to BE loved. We want others love for us to be unconditional. We want to feel the security that comes with love. But when it comes down to it, people only care about themselves. That manifests in a variety of ways, but it's true.
Love doesn't conquer all. If it existed, it would. But just take a look around. You tell me if you think that love is real. Tell me if there has been anything in history to prove that love is real. People do things for a lot of reasons. They do a lot of things that look like love. But nobody, no person, no human being is good enough to love like that.
It's impossible. Love is bullshit. All of our relationships exist for our convenience and can be severed at any time. No one is indispensable. Thinking otherwise will only set you up for disaster.
This doesn't mean that life sucks. We could all end up very happy. We can have our relationships of like. Ones based on mutual dependence, or fucking, or convenience. We might be able to live every day from now until the end content within that framework. I think I'll do that.
But love does not exist. Not like it should. In the end, people only look out for themselves.
(1) Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Andrew Damato raves: "The feeling I got while looking at the home page was like jumping off a cliff or bungee jumping or biting into a york peppermint patty. You know that feeling, bliss.
