Musings
During Jeurys Familia‘s time answering questions on the Mets Twitter account, the dumbest baseball argument was resurrected:
A sandwich is a sandwich, a hot dog is a hot dog! #AskFamilia https://t.co/rht7efanCs
— New York Mets (@Mets) February 9, 2016
Sigh.
I guess it’s a sign that the Mets are in such good shape for the upcoming season that we’re back to arguing about whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich.
Alright, let’s start with the basics. It should be fair to say that most people do not believe they are ordering a sandwich when they are ordering a hot dog at a game. However, there’s no reason why that should be dispositive. For example, most people, the State of New Jersey, and the Supreme Court believe a tomato to be a vegetable. It’s not. A tomato is a fruit. No matter how you argue it, it’s a fruit.
Now, I bring this up because there are many arguments on the tomato. The arguments are similar. It’s a gut feeling, or wanting to tax an item, that is the driving force. If you want to rely upon tax codes and the Supreme Court, I refer you to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance who clearly defines a hot dog in a bun as a sandwich.
Personally, I wouldn’t want to rely on that. Tax codes and the like aren’t written to be correct. Rather, they are written to exact as much revenue as possible. So let’s try another route.
The dictionary definition of a sandwich is two or more slices of bread, or a split roll, with a filling. So yes, under the dictionary definition, a hot dog on a roll is a sandwich. It’s a position food experts seem to share:
— Alton Brown (@altonbrown) February 4, 2016
I’ve heard all the contrary opinions. When you order a sandwich, you’re not expecting a hot dog. Maybe, but when I order peanut butter and jelly, I’m expecting that to be on bread.
When you go to a game and order a hot dog, you expect to get a hot dog on a bun. True, but when your spouse tells you to get hot dogs from the grocery store, do you bring them home already cooked and in buns, or do you purchase them separately?
Look, it’s not a sandwich, it’s just a hot dog. To me this is an argument that just seeks to prove its underlying point. It’s like saying Lucas Duda isn’t a good first baseman because of one throw while ignoring his 57 homers in two years.
So overall, whether we like it or not, a hot dog on a bun is a sandwich. Now, can we please move onto more important topics like who will pitch the sixth inning for the Mets this year?
Families and friends will gather around the TV tonight to watch the Super Bowl tonight. Some gather for the game. Some gather for the commercials. With some Mets already at Spring Training, I’m sure they’ll get together to watch the game.
One person we know who will not be there is Juan Uribe. No, not because he’s a free agent. He’s not watching because he really hates football. He only wants to watch baseball. If he was there tonight, he’d probably tell David Wright to turn on the baseball game. Unfortunately for Uribe, there’s no baseball games being televised during the Super Bowl tomorrow. No, not even on the MLB Network.
So who knows? Maybe Uribe breaks down and watches the Super Bowl tonight. If it’ll help him to know that Cam Newton loves baseball or that his former teammate Todd Helton was a former teammate of Peyton Manning at Tennessee.
In any event, after tonight, it’s all about baseball just like Juan Uribe wants it to be.
My favorite Mets jerseys are the ’86 Mets jerseys. I love the orange and blue racing stripes along the sides of the jerseys. Now that the Mets are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the ’86 World Series title, the jersey is coming back:
Mets will wear '86 uniforms multiple times throughout the season as an alternate — not just during weekend honoring 30th anniversary.
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinMedia) February 3, 2016
At first, I was ecstatic. I never thought the Mets should’ve gotten rid of those jerseys. I love seeing them out on the field. It reminds me of a time when the Mets were great. It reminds me of when the Mets once owned New York. Those days are long past. The Mets have moved on from that time.
First, it was the black jerseys. They had a good run through the 90’s. Then it was a transitional period where we saw less of the black, more of the snow white jerseys, and variations of the pinstriped jerseys.
Now, the Mets have settled on a new group of uniforms. It’s a mixture between the simpler old-style uniforms and the nice alternate blue uniforms.
These are new uniforms for a new generation of Mets baseball. While I agree the Mets should be wearing the ’86 jerseys to celebrate the last Mets World Series championship team, I do not agree they should be worn throughout the season. Instead, I’d like to see the Mets update the patch the Mets wore on the ’86 jerseys.
Recreate this patch with the years 1986 and 2016 for the 30th anniversary. Put these on the new Mets uniforms. The uniforms that belong to the ’16 Mets. Let these Mets wear their own uniforms.
Hopefully, they will be the same uniforms another Mets team will wear 30 years from now.
Last year, the Mets were carried by their pitching. It helped them sustain an anemic offense until the Mets got healthy and made trades. It helped carry them to the World Series. It’s the promise for the future.
That future first comes into question around 2019. That is the year that Matt Harvey becomes a free agent. Zack Wheeler could become a free agent the same year or the subsequent year. Two years later Jacob deGrom becomes a free agent. After that, the Mets will have to address the free agent case of Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz. Naturally, this prompts the discussion of who the Mets should extend and when they should do it.
When these discussions take place, I find everyone to be extremely short-sided. Yes, it’s important to make a decision on the Mets starters, especially on Harvey, deGrom, and Syndergaard. However, I find that these discussions ignore Jeurys Familia. Like Harvey, Familia will be a free agent in 2019.
Familia was an exceedingly important part of the 2015 Mets. He was the stabilizing force at the back-end of a beleaguered bullpen. During 2015, Familia had the fifth most appearances. Of players who were strictly relievers, he had the third most innings pitched. He lead the league in games finished. He tied the Mets single season record for saves.
The advanced statistics also loved Familia’s 2015 season. He had an ERA+ of 200, which is astounding. It was the best amongst Mets pitchers. In fact, it’s a tick below Mariano Rivera‘s career 205 mark, which is the best in major league history. Familia’s FIP was 2.74, which, unsurprisingly, rates him as an excellent pitcher. Mariano’s career mark was 2.76. In essence, Familia’s 2015 was Riveraesque.
Keep in mind, Collins initially deployed Familia like Rivera. When it came time to close out the NLDS, Familia pitched two shutout innings. In the whole postseason, Familia had 12 appearances, and of those 12 appearances, he pitched more than one inning five times. He pitched 14.2 innings in those 12 appearances. Yes, he blew three saves in the World Series, but he only allowed one earned run the entire postseason. In reality, the blown saves were not on Familia but the Mets team as a whole.
Its important to lock-up some starting pitchers. If Harvey, deGrom, or Syndergaard leave, the Mets have other starters to keep having a strong rotation. If Familia were to leave, the Mets do not appear to have another reliever to take Familia’s spot. This makes extending Familia absolutely imperative.
So when it comes down to which Mets pitcher I would extend first, my answer is Jeurys Familia.
Editor’s Note: this article also appeared on metsmerizedonline.com
This is a whole new generation. When I was growing up, we had candy cigarettes (gone) and Big League Chew (still around). While playing baseball, we used to have the candy cigarettes so we could smoke like Keith Hernandez, or we would shove a ton of Big League Chew in our mouths to look like Lenny Dykstra. Dykstra was such a legendary chewer that he was said to have stained the AstroTurf at the old Vet.
As kids, we used this stuff because we thought it was cool to look like ballplayers. Did we try to real stuff? Well, not as kids. It’s s good thing too because it would’ve been like that scene in The Sandlot:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CAxuXNxsNMk
Personally, I never really had any interest. Part of the reason was my parents. Another part was I was a catcher. I’ve seen catchers who have used chewing tobacco, but to me that was a pain. I tried seeds, which is similar in principle, but it annoyed me. So I went without any of it for most of my baseball life.
Then I got older, got big, and was moved out from behind the plate. Part of “rookie” hazing was getting them to throw in a dip and watch the hilarity ensue. It wasn’t pleasant.
In any event, I found myself playing that dreaded DH position more and more, which means you spend a lot of time on the bench. Many of those guys throw one in, so you usually do as well. You practice that finger motion with your index finger so you can pack it better and tighter. One day, it all becomes second nature.
When I was in college, it was great. There were a couple of nights, it helped me get through the all-nighters. Also, there were some bars in the area where if you didn’t throw one in, you were out of place. Honestly, I wasn’t so much addicted to it as I loved doing it.
A good friend of mine and me used to love dipping while watching baseball games. We would not only watch the games, but we would also keep an eye out for who was dipping. You would see the finger going in the dugout. The circle shape in the player’s uniform pants. That ever so slight bump in the bottom lip. If you ever saw it in the top lip, you knew that guy was having real problems. Looking at the Mets now, I can tell you who does and who doesn’t dip. I can do that for any team if I watch them long enough.
Eventually, I quit. It really is a nasty habit. More importantly, it’s dangerous. We saw Tony Gwynn die too young because of it. We saw Curt Schilling battle cancer. As much as I enjoyed it, it really wasn’t worth it.
The strange part is I never would’ve started had it not been part of baseball’s culture. No sport is as associated with smokeless tobacco than baseball. I thought about all of this when I saw Tim Rohan’s New York Times article about New York City looking to ban smokeless tobacco from being used in places like Citi Field and Yankee Stadium.
There’s a lively debate to be had here about whether this law is a good idea or not. It’s a debate that should occur. However, at the end of the day, I’m more concerned for that two year old of mine that loves baseball. I realize that NYC can put every law in place they want, but it won’t matter. It doesn’t matter because the problem is baseball.
The city bans smoking, but we hear about Yoenis Cespedes smoking between innings. We see players using smokeless tobacco all over the field. As we see with Cespedes, a player will find a work-around. You should hear how they work around smokeless tobacco bans and stigmas in other sports. Overall, players will always find a way to do it.
If that’s the case, it’ll always be associated with baseball, and that’s not a good thing. Baseball needs to help find a reasonable solution to this because what they have so far isn’t working. They need to figure it out because one day that Big League Chew becomes Skoal or Red Man. That needs to stop before another generation of players starts using it.
I don’t want to see another Tony Gwynn.
At the press conference today re-introducing Yoenis Cespedes, the issue of what Alejandro De Aza‘s role will be. Naturally, he’s expected to be on the bench ready, willing, and able to play all three outfield positions. Perhaps, that is jumping the gun a bit:
https://twitter.com/jareddiamond/status/694964819003359232
This really just confirms what every Mets fan thought when De Aza came aboard. De Aza signed with the Mets to share centerfield duties with Juan Lagares. The move was made because the Mets never thought they were going to be able to sign Cespedes. Yet, somehow, Cespedes returned to the Mets leaving behind Lagares and De Aza platooning on the bench.
Now, we are not privy to what, if any, promises were made to De Aza. We do know at the time De Aza was signed, the Mets were fairly steadfast they were not re-signing Cespedes. With that said, it’s fair to say, De Aza came to the Mets to be at worst their fourth outfielder. At a minimum, it appeared he was going to have a legitimate shot to get the bulk of the at bats in centerfield. Now, he’s the team’s fifth outfielder. I’m sure he’s not happy with being pushed down the depth chart without even playing one game, especially when he could’ve signed anywhere.
Now, De Aza can’t be traded until June 15th unless he consents to a deal, which he very well might. While every player wants to win, every player also wants to play. Right now, De Aza’s at bats will be few and far between as he’s the left-handed option off the bench, and the corner outfielders hit left-handed as well. He could be buried on the bench for a while. It’s not exactly an exciting proposition for a 31 year old utility outfielder.
So yes, we understand why De Aza would want to be traded, but why would the Mets want to trade him? With the Brandon Nimmo injury and the Darrell Ceciliani trade, De Aza is it when it comes to organizational centerfield depth. Well, there are a few good reasons.
First, De Aza may not be happy on the bench for long stretches, especially after he thought he could be a starter with the Mets. Having a disgruntled player is never good for your clubhouse. While Terry Collins was quite adept at handling the clubhouse last year, it doesn’t mean you should introduce a potential problem from the start. No, I’m not suggesting De Aza is a bad guy. Rather, I’m saying any player not getting sufficient playing time is an issue that will eventually come to a head.
Another reason you trade De Aza now is this might be the time when he has his most value. As teams look to fill out their rosters as Spring Training and/or the regular season approaches, De Aza may become a more attractive option. The Mets aren’t likely to get much in return, but whatever they do get is most likely to be better than what they get around the trade deadline.
Whether or not the Mets trade De Aza, we should be able to agree on one thing. De Aza is here because the Mets never expected Cespedes to be here. Now the Mets need to find playing time for FIVE major league caliber outfielders. This really is a nice problem to have after the problems we saw with the Mets last year.
Sometimes, it’s great when the plan doesn’t come together.
When is a story not a story? I found myself asking that question when I read Deadspin‘s account on the current state of the Wilpon’s real estate business.
For the relatively uninformed Fred Wilpon made his money in the New York City real estate market. He is seen as a shrewd investor and a respected member of the industry. Say what you will about Fred Wilpon and his running of the Mets, but up until this article, his real estate acumen has not come into question.
Normally, I think Deadspin’s article would have been very important and enlightening. As we’ve seen from Howard Megdal’s reporting, the Mets other business interests have affected their ability/willingness to put the most competitive Mets team on the field as possible. However, with the Yoenis Cespedes signing, and the payroll hovering around $140 million, I’m not sure the Mets payroll is a story anymore, at least not with respect to the 2016 season.
While we can quibble with any particular move, it’s hard to attack the Mets for this roster as a whole. They have arguably the best pitching staff in baseball. Of the eight everyday position players, five are former All Stars while the other three could reasonably be All Stars within the next year or so. The bullpen has many pitchers who can handle both righties and lefties well, and it is headlined by a dominant closer.
So yes, the Deadspin report is very newsworthy. However, at least with respect to the 2016 season it’s not really a baseball story. It’s not a reason for any snarky comments. The Mets have spent the money, and they have a complete roster to make another run towards winning the World Series.
In my life, I’ve actually purchased very few Mets players jerseys. The first was Mike Piazza. After that it was David Wright and then Matt Harvey. I’ve received others as gifts (some requested), but those are at that I’ve purchased.
The one player jersey I always wanted was Daniel Murphy. I never purchased it. It seems that each and every year Murphy was a Met, he was rumored to be out the door. For various reasons a trade never materialized. I didn’t want to buy the jersey only for him to be traded the next day. Well, a funny thing happened. Murphy lasted seven years. He had a signature postseason game. He had the greatest postseason run for any Mets hitter ever. None of that should surprise us because Murphy was always incredibly clutch.
The time to purchase his jersey has passed because he’s gone. Sure, I could purchase one hoping I’ll see him again one day to get that autograph. I could wear it for the day he comes back to Citi Field. The thing is it wouldn’t make sense. Thinking about it, the Wright jersey, albeit outdated, is still good 11 years later. I could purchase another like a Yoenis Cespedes‘ jersey. However, he presents the same problems:
Cespedes is signed, but will he be around long enough to buy his jersey? KP has a flat in NYC for what? Hahn & Humpty next on @ESPNNY98_7FM
— Alan Hahn (@alanhahn) January 28, 2016
So right now, I have two Mets jerseys that’ll serve well for the 2016 season. The aforementioned Harvey jersey and the Lucas Duda jersey my son got me. If I’m going to purchase another, I’ll make sure it’s a player who will likely be around for more than one year.
Hopefully, that player will be with the Mets for at least seven years.
Am I the only one that finds it incredibly fitting that Yoenis Cespedes is being introduced during a rainy day? Remember, it might’ve been a rainy day that brought him here in the first place.
Roughly half a year ago, there was some hope in the Mets season. The team had just acquired Tyler Clippard, Kelly Johnson, and Juan Uribe. Michael Conforto was up with the team and producing well ahead of schedule. Travis d’Arnaud was soon to return. While Mets fans had seen some bad baseball for far too long, things were seemingly getting much better. Then disaster struck.
There was the inexplicable drama surrounding the failed Carlos Gomez trade. Wilmer Flores was left standing on the field crying. Then we discover the trade didn’t happen. The Mets say Gomez failed a physical. The Brewers said the Mets wanted money in the deal. With all that hovering, the Mets took the field for a rainy day game. They had a 7-1 lead going into the seventh, and a 7-5 lead heading into the ninth. The Padres had two outs and Jeurys Familia had an 0-2 count on Derek Norris.
The heavens opened causing the umps to call a rain delay for a game that could’ve ended with one more pitch. The delay nearly lasted an hour. When they game resumed Familia allowed a single to Norris, another single to Matt Kemp, and then a three run homer to one-time trade target Justin Upton. After another rain delay of around two and a half hours, the game resumed seeing the Mets go down meekly 1-2-3 in the ninth. Whatever good feelings and momentum in the season was there, it was seemingly washed away. The fans were angry.
The rains eventually cleared. There would be a new day both literally and metaphorically when the Mets pulled the trigger on the trade for Yoenis Cespedes. Sure the Mets win the NL East without him, but man, the 2015 season had a different feel to it when he came on board. It was a fun run, and now he’s back. We’re ready for another ride.
But first, he’s going to be re-introduced to the fans on a rainy day. Seeing how it was a rainy day that brought him here, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Welcome back Cespedes.
I still remember the first Mets prospect I followed though the minors. It was Jae Weong Seo, or Jae Seo as he liked to be called.
Unlike recent big leaguers from South Korea, Seo signed a free agent deal right out of high school before he played in the Korean Leagues. He was a big time prospect with a big time repertoire. They thought so highly of him, they gave him $1 million right out of high school. He was a well regarded prospect. He was good he was tabbed to start the 2001 Future’s Game. While he had some injury issues, few questioned if he was going to be a big leaguer.
Seo made his debut in a relief appearance on July 21, 2002. He pitched a the next year he would join the rotation where he would have two disappointing seasons. Then in 2005, Seo appeared to turn his career around at the age of 27.
I thought the seminal moment of his career was going to be the night Rick Peterson challenged Jae Seo to pitch better, to throw harder. Seo seemed to take it to heart. In 2005, Seo went 8-2 with a 2.59 ERA and a 1.107 WHIP in 14 starts. He seemed ticketed for a spot in the rotation on a young and emerging Mets team. Omar Minaya had other ideas. He traded Seo at his peak value for Duaner Sanchez and Steve Schmoll.
Sanchez was a huge part of the Mets bullpen in 2006 until his ill-fated cab ride. Seo, on the other hand, never reached the heights he reached in 2005. He was out of the league two years later, and he returned to his native South Korea. He got to be a part of a championship team with the 2009 Kia Tigers. He set a record with 44 consecutive scoreless innings in 2012. Now, he’s retiring. Apparently, he’s so well-regarded that the team wants him to remain on as a pitching coach.
So no, Seo might not have had the career we all envisioned he might. However, he did have a good career. He won a title. He set records. He earned the respect of his peers along the way. In the end, that’s a great career. One that anyone would admire.
Congratulations on a good career Jae Weong Seo.