Baseball can be cruel. For proof of that you need look no further than Johan Santana.
If two or three things reasonably happened, he’s a Hall of Famer instead of his teetering around the 5% thereby forever falling off the ballot.
The biggest issue is his shoulder injury that ended his career.
In 2012, it seemed like he was back. Through 11 starts, he was 3-2 with a 2.38 ERA, 1.029 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, and a no-hitter under his belt.
After that no-hitter, his effectiveness waned, and his shoulder issues reemerged. Although he’s tried to comeback, it hasn’t happened.
Now, he’s on the Hall of Fame ballot with the hopes that people will look at him as his generation’s Sandy Koufax.
For the uninitiated, Koufax was elected into the Hall of Fame largely because voters completely disregarded the first seven years if his career and instead focused on the five brilliant years to end his career.
During that five year stretch, Koufax’s average season was 22-7, 1.95 ERA, 0.926 WHIP, and a 9.4 K/9. He’d win three Cy Youngs with a 167 ERA+ and 2.00 FIP. To put it succinctly, he was great.
So great, that he amassed 46.6 of his 53.2 WAR. Again, the first seven years of his career weren’t great.
Like Koufax, Santana got off to a slow start to his career. This was partially due to his being a 21 year old Rule 5 pick who went straight from Single-A to the majors.
It took two years for Santana to figure things out and five before he would find his dominant form. Like Koufax, when he found it, he was probably the best pitcher in the game.
In his own five year stretch (2004 – 2008), Santana’s average season was 17-8, 2.82 ERA, 1.022 WHIP, and a 9.3 K/9. He’d win two Cy Young Awards while amassing a 157 ERA+ and a 3.21 FIP.
Santana would amass 35.4 out of his 51.4 career WAR during that stretch.
Now, Santana did accumulate more career WAR, but his period of domination did fall well short of Koufax.
It’s noteworthy that Koufax and Santana fell short of typical Hall of Fame standards.
As published on Baseball Reference, the average Hall of Fame pitcher amassed a 73.9 WAR, 50.3 WAR7, and a 62.1 JAWS. Again, Koufax and Santana fall short of this:
- Koufax 49.0/46.1/47.5
- Santana 51.4/44.8/48.1
Looking at these numbers, Koufax and Santana are close, really close. Still, there are two major distinctions between the two.
The first has already been discussed at length with Koufax’s five year peak being better than Santana’s.
The next is the postseason. In Koufax’s postseason career, he won two World Series MVP Awards. Overall, he made seven starts and one relief appearance going 4-3 with a 0.95 ERA, 0.825 WHIP, and a 9.6 K/9.
Conversely, Santana struggled in his 11 postseason appearances (five starts). Overall, he was 1-3 with a 3.97 ERA, 1.324 WHIP, and an 8.5 K/9.
No, Santana should’ve be punished for relatively poor postseasons. However, when your numbers fall short, you need something else, like great postseasons, to put you over the top.
Is that what put Koufax in? Partially.
Koufax always had narrative working for him. He didn’t start Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it conflicted with Yom Kippur. Koufax would still pitch three games in that series going 2-1 with a 0.38 ERA winning Game 7 with a complete game three hit shutout. He did that on just two days rest.
Koufax was also brilliant in 1966, winning a Cy Young in his final season. He’d go out on top with voters remembering him at his best.
Santana left us broken. In his final five starts, he was 0-5 with a 15.63 ERA. He’s spent the past few years trying to get back into baseball. Overall, we remember him broken and a shadow of what he was.
In the end, Santana was great, and if things broke right, he’d be a Hall of Famer. Sadly, it didn’t happen, and with his peak not being what Koufax’s was, it’s difficult to argue he truly belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Each and every year, we all set forth New Year’s Resolutions, and they all fail miserably. In fact, according to Business Insider, 80% of resolutions fail by February.
There are a multitude of reasons why, but for the most part, they fail because we all know we are biting off more than we can chew in making these resolutions. It’s difficult to take a bad habit or something wrong and put all that pressure on ourselves and change it overnight.
So instead of making the same resolutions you use each year and watch them fail, we should all look to make an easier resolution. That resolution should be to take a photo of your children each and every day.
Look, we are always on our phones and those phones have cameras on them. Why not take an opportunity and just take a picture of your child?
On a personal front, I have taken at least one photo of my son everyday since he was born. He’s now four. As Christmas comes along, I go on Snapfish, and I create a photo calendar of just pictures of him. Each and every day is literally a snapshot of my son from that particular day.
It’s not all set pictures. I wait for moments. Working hard trying to write – Take a picture. Reading a book – Take a picture. Soccer or ice skating – Take a picture. Cute expression watching TV or sleeping – Take a picture.
Point is there is something our kids do each and every day that is more than worthy of capturing for posterity’s sake.
Personally, I get the joy of scrolling through a year’s worth of pictures. I get to see how he’s grown, and how much he has changed over the past year. With that, I’m able to create a gift for my family that everyone loves.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely doing it from your phone. If so, just take a quick picture of your kid. Make it a habit. Save the photos. Load it to Snapfish. Enjoy it forever.
In the end, you’ll have a New Year’s Resolution well worth keeping, and one that is fairly easy to keep.
Should old Mets be forgot,
And no more free agents signed!
Should free agents be forgot,
And only Anthony Swarzak signed!
For no one’s signed next year
For no one signed,
We’ll take a new free agent Met
Get someone signed!
While looking for things to do with my son this New Year’s Eve, I came across a concept I was previously unfamiliar – Noon Year’s Eve.
The concept is a fairly simple one – instead of counting down to 12 at midnight, you countdown to 12 at noon. By doing this, you permit you and your family to celebrate New Year’s Eve with your children.
This does alleviate come problems. First and foremost, depending on your child’s age, you no longer need to keep them up or wake them up from their sleep to get them to celebrate. Second, if you are not inclined to keep them up or wake them up, it allows you to celebrate with them. Third, it will allow you a little peace of mind celebrating on your own while your child rests comfortably.
If you contact your local zoos, museums, or towns, they are likely to have a number of events set up for the family to celebrate.
In the event they don’t, or you don’t want to go out on what may be a cold day, you could always set something up at your home.
If you subscribe to Netflix, they will have a number of themed New Year’s Eve countdowns that can set up and watch with your child. If you are so inclined, have a little New Year’s Eve party with your children’s friends. It would be fun to have some cupcakes and sparking apple or grape juice.
Overall, Noon Years Eve is a great concept for parents with small children. It allows you to include them in the celebration. It gives you the opportunity to have a family celebration. It also affords you to have a guilt free adult celebration.
Happy Noon Years!
The Mets 2017 season was a complete and utter disaster with nearly everyone being injuries, regressing, or both. Still, despite those struggles, there were some players who actually had a better year. Can you name those few? Good luck!
Michael Conforto Jay Bruce Juan Lagares Travis d’Arnaud Lucas Duda Brandon Nimmo Kevin Plawecki Jacob deGrom Jerry Blevins Josh Smoker Sean Gilmartin Rafael Montero
For me, I’m a Mets, Giants, Rangers, and Knicks fans. As you can tell, 2017 was not the best of years for me.
Mets
The season unofficially ended when Noah Syndergaard refused to get an MRI. Along with Thor, we saw Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, and Zack Wheeler go on extended disabled list stints. It came to a point where Rafael Montero was a feasible rotation option. By the way, that speaks more about the rotation than Montero.
On the offensive side, we saw Jay Bruce, Lucas Duda, and Curtis Granderson go for pennies on the dollar. Yoenis Cespedes and Neil Walker missed a ton of time, which meant Walker joined the aforementioned players and Addison Reed in fetching a group of minor league right-handed relievers that didn’t bowl anyone over.
Worst of all, Michael Conforto suffered a season ending and possibly career altering shoulder injury. He suffered that injury on a swing and a miss. If that isn’t the perfect euphemism for the Mets season, I don’t know what is.
But don’t worry. The Mets are cutting payroll, so we wont have to face the Mets failing to meet expectations again.
Giants
The year started with the wide receiving core not showing up after they all made sure to attend a boat party. The end result was the Giants missing a big opportunity to make a deep postseason run.
Expectations were high after that with the Giants being labeled Super Bowl contenders. As it turns out, you can’t be that without an offensive line and an over-matched head coach. The season slowly became a 2-13 embarasment that saw McAdoo sit Eli so he could find out if Geno Smith was his starter for next season, and the Giants to fire McAdoo for mishandling that and everything else.
To make matters worse, Eli Apple has gone from being a guy who was supposed to take the next leap to being benched to being called a cancer to announcing to reporters he had to go to the bathroom. Much like the Apple, the Giants season went from promising and quickly down the drain.
Rangers
The Rangers were lucky and got to face the Atlantic side of the draw for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Rangers beat the Canadiens, and then they blew a golden opportunity against the Ottawa Senators.
Due to salary cup constraints, the Rangers then traded away Stepan and Raanta for what was perceived to be an underwhelming return. The team overdrafted Anderson, and they got lucky with Chytil. They were also able to nab a promising young defenseman in Antony DeAngelo.
Well, Vingeault has once again done his best Terry Collins impersonation by benching the younger players, not letting them play, and giving the veterans enough rope to hang the entire Rangers season. The Rangers are currently in playoff contention, but they would likely be in better position if their head coach showed a modicum of interest in developing younger players.
Knicks
Well, last season was a disaster leading to the team trading Melo for much less than they ever thought he could fetch in a trade. Still, the return has been palatable because Enes Kanter is a leader who gives the Knicks toughness. This would all be better except for the fact that KP still has issues staying on the floor, the Hardaway signing ate up a ton of cap space, and a favorable early schedule will likely lead to the Knicks falling apart in January.
So yeah, hopefully, 2018 will go much better because how could it not with Mickey Callaway and a new Giants head coach in place. Hopefully, the Rangers will as well. There’s also the hope Seton Hall rebounds from a March exit last year on an egregious intentional fall call. Hopefully, their making a deep run will be the start of a great 2018.
If the Mets continue to refuse to spend, maybe it will be the sole highlight of the year.
Mi
There is a former World Series MVP who has hit more than 500 home runs in his career and has not been implicated, whether by test or suspicion, in any PED scandal. Over 20 seasons, the outfielder was a .293/.387/.521 hitter with 2,655 hits, 496 doubles, 508 homers, and 1,654 RBI.
It would seem a player of this caliber would be a first ballot Hall of Famer, and yet somehow that player has yet to receive a single Hall of Fame vote.
That player is Hideki Matsui.
Now, the aforementioned stats were a combination of the stats Matsui accumulated in his time in Japan and the United States. Admittedly, his stats in the US are not Hall of Fame caliber. In his 10 MLB seasons, Matsui was a good, but not quite great player.
Matsui would retire as a .280/.360.462 hitter with 175 homers and 760 RBI. That’s an MLB career that Matsui should be proud of, but it’s not a Hall of Fame one.
However, that wasn’t his full career. From 1993 – 2002, Matsui would become the premiere power hitter of the Japanese Leagues. He would play 10 seasons for the Yomiuri Giants until he finally reached free agency. Unlike Japanese stars like Ichiro Suzuki or Shohei Ohtani, Matsui was not posted. Rather, he would spend the bulk of his career in Japan.
There are a number of reasons for this least of which NPB rules and a gentleman’s agreement between MLB and the NPB.
As detailed in a 2012 New York Times article, once a Japanese player is drafted by an NPB club, the team has from late October until the end of March to sign a draft pick. There is nothing preventing an MLB team from interceding and signing a player, but due to an unwritten agreement between both leagues, MLB teams do not interfere. If a player goes unsigned, an MLB team can then sign that player without a posting fee. However, and this is important, those players are always signed. As a result, unless posted, a player will spend the first half and most likely the prime of their careers in Japan.
It is really a system set up to benefit both NPB and MLB teams. It allows the NPB to stay more relevant as a league, and it allows MLB teams to take on less risk when signing a player from Japan. However, when you have generational talents like Matsui, they suffer.
No one knows if Matsui would have been a Hall of Fame player if he spent his entire career in the United States. What we do know is if you combine his stats, he most definitely had a Hall of Fame career. However, that will not result in his enshrinement in Cooperstown.
This is not too dissimilar from players who have defected from Cuba. Pitchers like El Duque may have been capable of being Hall of Famers if they were able to spend their entire careers in the US. However, for reasons outside their control, they were kept from competing at the highest level, and therefore robbed of their chance of going to Cooperstown.
Now, there is a precedent for non-MLB players to get inducted into Cooperstown. As we know, the Baseball Hall of Fame has tried to right many of the wrongs of segregation by honoring and inducting Negro League legends like Cool Papa Bell and Josh Gibson. Players like Satchel Paige, who was not good enough for induction into the Hall of Fame on the strength of his MLB career, were inducted on the strength of their Negro League careers.
We can argue whether it is fair to compare segregation to the cruel Cuban dictatorship or the exclusionary policies of the NPB, which are aided and abetted by MLB. What we do know is like the Negro Leaguers, Cuban and Japanese players have not been given an opportunity to play in the US through no fault of their own, and as a result, they are not going to get their shot at Cooperstown. That is, unless, they are freaks like Ichiro.
When Ichiro is inducted in the Hall of Fame, he will be the first Japanese player elected. Tony Perez remains the only Cuban born player inducted.
By the looks of it, no one will be joining them anytime in the near future, and the major reason for that is their countries will not permit them to compete at the highest level, at least not during their prime. There may not be an easy solution to this, but in the end, it seems that someone like Hideki Matsui, who has had a great professional baseball career, would deserve some consideration for Cooperstown.
He hasn’t, and he won’t. That’s a problem.
On August 16, 2017, we got to see Travis d’Arnaud bounce back-and-forth between second and third base. Twenty-three times in total.
The reason for the switching was because Terry Collins wanted to have Asdrubal Cabrera play on the pull side of the Yankee batters. d’Arnaud was in the field in the first place because (surprise, surprise), the Mets were playing short. With Jose Reyes and Wilmer Flores unable to play the infield, d’Arnaud had to play there. On the evening, d’Arnaud would have just one ball hit in his direction. d’Arnaud would cleanly field that ninth inning pop up off the bat of Todd Frazier forever giving him the highest fielding percentage for a Mets second baseman.
Fast forward a few months, and the Mets are in the same exact situation they were just months ago. The team needs to fill in spots at second and third, and really, Cabrera is the only player they have capable on handling those positions everyday.
But it’s more than that. The Mets are currently not satisfied with Dominic Smith at first base, and they want competition for him. At a minimum, they’d like a platoon partner for him there as Smith has historically struggled with left-handed pitching.
Historically, this is where you would point to Flores being a solution for second, third, and/or first. However, Flores has also shown himself not in position to be that player. He cannot handle third base defensively. The Mets won’t let him handle second. And the overriding problem is he’s still a platoon bat even with him making strides against right-handed pitching.
Looking back at that August night, it may be worth toying with the idea of bringing d’Arnaud out from behind the plate to learn either second or third base – preferably third.
First and foremost, the roster composition would allow such a move. At the end of last season, Kevin Plawecki showed he may finally be ready to push for a starting catching job in the majors. Also, the Mets signed Jose Lobaton to a minor league deal. In his career, Lobaton has showed himself to be a more than capable backup catcher.
That tandem not only allows the Mets to handle the inevitable d’Arnaud injury, but it also allows the team to move d’Arnaud.
Presumably, third base would allow d’Arnaud to stay healthy. As we have long seen, d’Arnaud has been an injury prone player. By moving him to another position, you may be able to keep his bat in the lineup.
His bat is where things get a bit dicey. If d’Arnaud is the player he was in 2016 or 2017, you don’t want that bat in the lineup. It may be possible at catcher, but it’s not at third.
However, in 2015, he was a 126 OPS+ and 130 wRC+ hitter. That will play at any position. Keep in mind, when he was drafted, and when he was twice moved for Cy Young Award winners (Roy Halladay and R.A. Dickey) this is what he was expected to be as a hitter.
Getting d’Arnaud’s bat into the lineup everyday and giving Plawecki a shot to be the everyday catcher may go a long way towards helping the 2018 Mets get the most out of the talent on their roster.
Now, this understandably seems ridiculous, and you know what? It is. It is absolutely ridiculous we need to even contemplate d’Arnaud switching positions because of the failures of this team.
Ian Kinsler and Zack Cozart both chose to become Angels. Rumors persist the Indians are not looking to move Jason Kipnis, at least not to the Mets. Josh Harrison was linked to the Yankees, not the Mets, in trade rumors. The team has a limited budget, so we can probably forget Frazier, Mike Moustakas, or even a Howie Kendrick.
The Mets don’t have the money, and they don’t have the prospects to get things done. With that in mind, you might as well contemplate moving d’Arnaud to the infield because . . . well . . . the Mets don’t really have any better options.