Musings
I’d like to think of myself as a smart and logical person. However, I’m no different than anyone else. Sometimes however, two separate and distinct events become so intertwined that you begin to believe there’s a cause and effect relationship.
That’s the Mets Santa Claus Curse. We’re lead to believe that something bad will happen to the Met player who plays Santa at the Holiday Christmas Party. Thanks to Jared Diamond, we have the list:
https://twitter.com/jareddiamond/status/676775981588287488
This year it was Steven Matz. The same Matz who had two injuries last season. He’s had Tommy John surgery already in his young career. It’s like the Mets are tempting fate here. The Mets chances hinge on their young rotation. How could the Mets risk their chances by having Matz play Santa?
Part of me thinks this curse idea is silly. Another part of me is nervous. However, both sides of me agree Steven Matz shouldn’t have been playing Santa Claus.
The main reason is you could literally get anyone to play Santa. I see it with my son. Santa is a rockstar. A kid doesn’t care if Santa is played by Matz or Eric Campbell. They just care that it’s Santa. However, they missed an opportunity to meet Matz. It’s a shame because Matz has quickly become one of the more popular Mets in a very short time.
I would’ve liked to see a less popular player or one of the Mets front office staff play Santa. This way a kid could’ve met both Santa and Matz. And, oh yeah, there’s that whole other reason why Matz shouldn’t have been Santa too.
Hopefully, the Mets will let Matz introduce himself to the kids next year. Hopefully, Matz will be able to introduce himself to the entire National League next year. Hopefully, he will be as dominant as we all believe he can be.
That would be the best Christmas gift of all.
Yesterday was an extraordinary day. Putting your political leanings aside, two Cuban-American U.S. Senators, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, took the stage to participate in the GOP Primary Debate. To get to this point, their ancestors had to flee an oppressive Communist government to find a better life for themselves and future generations. Sens. Cruz & Rubio are the embodiment of those hopes and dreams.
Yesterday also marked the day that Cuban born baseball players had the opportunity to return home and see their families for the first time in years. Jose Abreu, Brayan Pena, Alexei Ramirez, and Yasiel Puig got that opportunity because they returned to Cuba as part of MLB’s trip to promote the game. The Cubsn defectors left to seek a better life leaving behind parents, siblings, spouses, and yes, even children. Abreu has been away from his son for two and a half years.
Essentially, Abreu left when his son was a little older than my son is now. I have trouble leaving him in the morning when I go to work. I can’t imagine leaving him knowing that I was most likely leaving him forever. I can’t imagine a situation so dire that I could actually entertain the idea let alone follow through with it.
More so, I can’t imagine how MLB didn’t bring along all current and former Cubsn born players. I don’t know how many of them were given the opportunity. I don’t know how many declined. I think of the former Mets who did not go or get a chance to go. Yoenis Cespedes still has a son in Cuba, but he is staying in the U.S. Whatever the reason, he might’ve missed the last chance he’ll ever get to see his son again. That thought is just incredibly depressing.
MLB is making this trip in part to determine the future of Cuban baseball, and what, if any, role MLB will have in said future. MLB makes this trip while Jose Fernandez seeks the opportunity to play in the U.S. after defecting from Cuba. He defected after being banned from playing for a year because they knew he wanted to defect. It’s an odd situation to say the least.
We also don’t know what opportunities Cuban baseball players will have in the future. We don’t know if these defectors like Cespedes will be able to return to see their families. We don’t know if players like Cespedes missed the chance of a lifetime. On a lesser note, we don’t know if these players will be permitted to play for Cuba in the WBC.
While MLB should be commended for creating this opportunity for the Cuban born players, it should be noted there’s more to do. They need to negotiate a posting system like there is with the Japanese Leagues. This may prevent the harrowing tales we hear from players after their defection. They should be setting up a way for their current a former players the right to see their families. Every year, MLB sends a contingent of players to Japan to play in an exhibition series.
You may not think MLB has that power. I respectfully disagree. This is the league that had a home and home between the Cuban National team and the Baltimore Orioles. This was before President Obama made any steps to formalize relations. Imagine what MLB could do now. It’s their duty and responsibility to help their players and their families.
In any event, I’m happy these families were reunited. I’m hopeful for better treatment of Cuban players and their families. Something has got to change. MLB could choose to be on the forefront of this change, or they could sit around and wait for someone else to do it.
With that said, I’m going to come home tonight and tuck my son into bed tonight. No government can stop me from doing that. We live in a place where I don’t have to make that choice. We live in a country where the children of immigrants could possibly one day become the President.
For players like Jose Abreu, he only got December 14, 2015 to do that. We still don’t know if that’s the last time he ever sees his son. Here’s hoping MLB steps up and helps change that.
I remember when my wife and I were doing the baby registry, I began having a bit of nostalgia. Apparently, things like the Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles were popular again. He-Man? Not so much. One show that apparently disappeared from our collective consciousness is Inspector Gadget. I guess Matthew Broderick ruined it for everyone.
In any event for those too young, too old, or somewhere else when I was growing up, Inspector Gadget was a cyborg. Not a Terminator mind you. He was more of a Ray type of cyborg in that he still maintained his human form. Now, he was a cyborg police officer not nearly as effective as Robocop. No, Inspector Gadget was quite the opposite.
Inspector Gadget could summon a helicopter from his head by saying, “Go, go, gadget helicopter.” When the helicopter would actually appear, he’d usually fly into the side of a building or something. Yet, he always got the job done. The reason is his niece, Penny, and her dog, Brain, would solve the crime, and Inspector Gadget’s faults would be covered up. It didn’t matter. Good guys win, bad guys lose. All is right in the world.
I feel that way now about Wilmer Flores. He’s a nice guy with some talent who was able to be the shortstop on an NL Pennant winning team. Suffice it to say, the Mets didn’t win because he excelled at shortstop. In fact, he had to be removed from the position. Seeing how he’s not a SS, or maybe even an everyday player, the Mets obtained two switch hitting middle infielders, who are better from the left side of the plate.
In essence, Flores is now a utility player. He’s not particularly good (or bad) at either middle infield position. With David Wright‘s back, he’ll need to play some third. With Michael Cuddyer’s retirement, he may also need to learn to play first and outfield. Basically, he may have to cover every position except pitcher, catcher, and center.
Essentially, Terry Collins will start a game with, “Go, go, Wilmer shortstop.” The Mets then hope the team manages his missteps and can win the game. During a game, Terry can select, “Go, go, Wilmer pinch hit” and we’ll hope for a big basehit. Overall, we’re hoping Flores doesn’t stand in the way while at the same time hoping he’ll succeed because deep down, we all love Wilmer Flores. Again, he really is the New Murphy.
Ultimately though, I like to think of him as Inspector Gadget. He’s the love able guy that brings out the best in everyone. He’s the guy that is all over the place while everyone else works to help defeat the bad guys. It mostly worked in 2015. I’m curious to see how it’ll work in 2016.
Go, go, New York Mets.
Going into last year, the Mets were well noted for their organizational pitching depth. It wasn’t just the pitchers that were in the majors, but it was also the pitchers on the way. The thought process was the Mets could select the pitchers to keep to help the rotation and trade the others for a bat.
Well, the Mets are going into the 2016 season, and their depth isn’t the same as this regime seems comfortable jettisoning this team’s pitching depth. A large part of the reason was the unwillingness and/or inability to spend in the offseason last year. Here is the list of pitchers gone from the Mets organization:
- Greg Peavey
- Randy Fontanez
- Cory Mazzoni
- Brad Wieck
- Casey Meisner
- John Gant
- Robert Whalen
- Michael Fulmer
- Luis Cessa
- Matt Koch
- Miller Diaz
- Dawrin Frias
- Jack Leathersich
- Jon Niese
- Matthew Bowman
This list doesn’t include Logan Verrett, who was selected in last year Rule 5 draft and returned. It also doesn’t include Tyler Clippard, Bartolo Colon, Eric O’Flaherty, Bobby Parnell, and Alex Torres because, at least in theory, they all could return to the Mets next year. In any event, that’s a lot of pitchers gone and/or potentially gone from the 2014 Winter Meetings and the 2015 Winter Meetings.
After losing all these pitchers, the Mets only have two . . . TWO . . . players on their 2016 major league roster resulting from these moves: Addison Reed and Neil Walker. Also, the Mets still need a fifth starter and possibly bullpen help. You would think after losing 15 pitchers in a year, you’d be in a better position.
Now, the important caveat here is not all of these pitchers are of the same caliber. For example, Peavey and Fontanez were selected in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft. Also, I did defend the trade that brought in Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson. On the flip side, I did not like the trades which brought in Clippard and Yoenis Cespedes.
I’m not in the crowd that justifies these deals due to the Mets winning the pennant. You win the World Series, you’re untouchable because you did what was necessary. However, the Mets lost all that pitching and still fell short. Think of it another way. Do you think the Tigers would’ve traded winning the AL East for John Smoltz‘ career?
With all that said, the Mets still deserve some credit here. Even though they lost all that pitching, they still have good pitching prospects like Robert Gsellman. I just wish they spent more money last offseason and kept some of those pitchers to give them more options to make deals this winter or this upcoming summer.
Keep in mind that sooner or later losing all this pitching will eventually catch up with them. I’m not looking forward to the day that happens.
Sometimes things are coincidences. You are at the wrong place at the wrong time by happenstance even if no one will believe it. Other times you’re Sandy Alderson, and you actively pursue steroid guys.
Sandy Alderson was the GM of the late 80’s Oakland A’s teams that had been seen as the ground zero for the proliferation of steroid usage (fair or not). For his part, Alderson denied having knowledge of the steroids use. Interestingly enough, his manager, Tony La Russa was well aware. Now, Alderson has not played stupid by acknowledging he suspected some but not all players. He also expressed regret for not taking a bigger stand against PED usage.
For me personally, these words ring hollow. No, I’m not calling him a liar. That’s unfair, and I don’t know him well enough to do that. However, what I will say is that for a GM looking to take a bigger stand against PEDs, he certainly likes adding those player. Here are the know PED users signed by Sandy Alderson during his tenure as the Mets GM:
Is this list appalling? Well, it depends on your point-of-view. Keep in mind this list doesn’t include farm hands that may have been suspended, not does it include the Jenrry Mejia was was suspended TWICE last year for PEDs and was tendered a contract. Overall, Alderson is averaging about one steroid signing a year.
There are two thoughts I have. The first is his ultimate responsibility is to put the best team he can assemble on the field. At times, this may include PED players. The second thought I have is for a guy who supposedly wanted to take a larger role against PED usage, he certainly isn’t helping by signing those players.
I do find it harder to root for the PED guys. It’s part of the reason I’m in the minority when it comes to all this Bartolo Colon love. Ideally, the Mets wouldn’t sign these guys even though I acknowledge players like Byrd have greatly benefitted the Mets.
Apparently, Sandy Alderson doesn’t feel the same way I do.
There’s a moment that will forever live in Mets infamy:
(Seriously, how is there no video of this moment available?)
After all the garbage with Roger Clemens and Mike Piazza, the Mets finally had a chance to get revenge. Clemens came to Shea and finally had to stand in the batter’s box to answer for all his sins. Then Shawn Estes, who wasn’t a Met when everything happened, just missed. Missed!
There were discussions on whether it was fair to put Estes in that spot. I always disregarded them. Estes was Piazza’s teammate. You stand up for your teammates. The Mets will have that opportunity again with that coward re-signing with the Dodgers. After the World Series, the hope is it’s Noah Syndergaard standing 60’6″ away from Chase Utley.
After Utley’s dirty slide, the Mets have an opportunity to exact revenge. It will be all the more important if Ruben Tejada remains on the team. Assuming the rotation is the same set-up as in the World Series, the Mets re-set the rotation after the first two games of the season, and the Mets having a full five man rotation from that point forward the job will fall to Steven Matz. If the Mets don’t reset the rotation, the job will fall to Jacob deGrom.
In some ways, the task will be easier for whoever the pitcher is because they were on the team when it happened. On the other hand, the situation is more difficult because the pitcher will have to do it in Los Angeles.
Whomever it is, they need to actually plunk Utley. For the psyche of the team and the fan base, that pitcher can’t miss.
I haven’t posted in a while because of: (1) Thanksgiving; (2) my son’s birthday; and (3) the offseason has been slower than molasses.
In the past few days, I’ve watched a lot of sports. I saw the Rangers absolutely blow a game against the Bruins by allowing two late goals. I then saw them follow that up with an embarrassing 3-0 shutout loss to the lowly Flyers. Notre Dame had a heartbreaking last second loss to Stanford on a lady second field goal. The Giants no-showed for three quarters and then choked the game away on the Redskins last possession. I just watched the Knicks give a game away to the Rockets with a pivotal non-call on a Dwight Howard mauling, sorry screen.
All tough, brutal losses. However, none of them bother me as much as any one Mets loss. I’ll still go to bed obsessing over the World Series over any of the other aforementioned losses. This offseason I’ve learned something I’ve already known to be true. I’m more of a Mets fan than a fan of anything else. I’m not even surprised at this development or the disparity in my feelings between the Mets and the other NY teams.
In any event, the only sentiment I can share tonight is “Lets Go Mets!”
For the life of me, I still don’t know how Willie Randolph never got another chance to manage.
His career record is 302-253, a .544 winning percentage. Over 162 games, that’s an 88-74 record. He did a great job handling Mike Piazza‘s last year as a Met. Never did he embarass him. He helped David Wright and Jose Reyes go from prospects to All Stars. He brought the team to the cusp of a World Series.
Then Carlos Beltran struck out. Seemingly, the entire pitching staff was injured leading to a historic September collapse. The Mets struggled out of the gate in 2008. All the while, his bench coach, Jerry Manuel, was undermining him in an attempt to get his job. As a result, the Mets unfairly fired a pretty good manager. They embarrassed him in the process by firing him the day after a win. It was also the first game into a long West Coast trip.
We know what happens next. The Mers collapsed again showing maybe it wasn’t Willie’s fault. The Mets kept Manuel on who just became a caricature for post-game press conferences. The Mets slowly slipped into irrelevancy. Willie never got another managerial job. Well that was until now.
He’s now the manager of Team USA in the WBSC Premier 12 Tournament. This tournament is being used as a replacement for baseball being taken out of the Olympics. The roster is made up of players who are not yet on their team’s 40 man roster. After yesterday’s win, Willie Randolph has USA in the championship game. He’s on the verge of winning a championship. He’s showing he know how to manage.
With minority hiring at a low in MLB, Willie should get another chance. He’s been a winner everywhere. He’s no less deserving of a second chance than Terry Collins was, and Collins was almost Manager of the Year. Imagine what Willie could do with another chance.
It’s time Willie Randolph gets another chance to manage.
When discussing the 2016 Mets, I see many people referring to their Big 4. Now, I knew there was a Big 3, who were referred to as stud muffins by Tom Seaver. My question is who is the fourth member of this proverbial Big 4.
Let’s start with the obvious. It’s not Jon Niese. He’s the definition of an average pitcher. Also, even if he’s the fourth best pitcher, I’m assuming it’s not Jeurys Familia. I doubt a closer would be thrown in with a Big 4 starting pitching group.
No, the fourth member would be either Steven Matz or Zack Wheeler. I like both Matz and Wheeler, but they haven’t earned this distinction yet.
In his career, Wheeler is 18-16 with a 3.50 ERA, 1.339 WHIP, and an 8.5 K/9. His ERA+ is 100, which means he’s just an average pitcher. That should be no surprise given his other statistics. While this is nothing to sneeze at, it does not merit putting him in the same conversation as Harvey, Thor, and deGrom. This is before taking his return from Tommy John into account. Wheeler is a tremendous talent, but he’s not a part of a Big 4 yet.
The more obvious choice for the Big 4 is Matz because he was in the postseason rotation. The only thing I can say about Matz right now is we had no idea what he is. He was incredible in his first two starts before being shut down with a lat injury. He was average when he came back only to hurt his back sleeping on the sofa. When he returned he was only good through five innings in the postseason.
This isn’t a knock on him. He sat for long stretches which would challenge anyone’s effectiveness. The overall point is we don’t know what he is yet. He could very well reach the level of the stud muffins. He could also be nothing more than an average pitcher.
Long story, short, there’s no Big 4. There could be one. There could be a Big 5. There’s a number of possibilities. However, right now it’s just a Big 3.
After one uneven season and a poor throw in the World Series, Mets fans seem ready to move on from Lucas Duda. Some see it as an avenue to keep the very popular Daniel Murphy. Others just don’t seem to like him.
While I tend to think this is overplayed, I wanted to do a Player A and Player B comparison. I used the last two years because those are the years Duda has been an everyday first baseman. Player A and Player B are both first baseman. They are both the same age. Both players are left-handed hitters.
Player A
2014 – .196/.300/.404, OPS+ 96, WAR 1.8
2015 – .262/.361/.562, OPS+ 146, WAR 5.2
Player B
2014 – .253/.349/.481, OPS+ 137, WAR 3.6
2015 – .255/.352/.486, OPS+ 132, WAR 3.0
Which player would you rather have? It’s certainly debatable.
Well, Player A is Chris Davis, who is expected to receive a free agent contract in the area of 5 years $100 million or $20 million per season.
As you guessed, Player B is Lucas Duda, who cannot be a free agent until 2018. Lucas Duda is projected to receive $6.8 million in arbitration. Even if you picked Player A above, would you have paid him $13.2 million more a year? Of course not, regardless of the Mets financial situation.
I already know the following arguments:
- I’m omitting Davis’ 2013 season; and
- Davis has hit more homeruns over the last two years.
That’s fine. I am. However, Davis gets to play half his games in Camden Yards over Citi Field. Last year, Davis hit .285/.376/.650 at home and .241/.348/.482 on the road. Davis’ road numbers look awfully similar to Duda’s .255/.352/.486 from last year. This just shows that Lucas Duda is a very good baseball player. Mets fans should appreciate him. He’s got enormous value.
Move Duda to Camden Yards and maybe he’s the guy getting a $100 million contract.