With the passing of Yogi Berra, i figured i should ask a Berra-Mets trivia question. With Berra ending his playing career with the Mets, and with Berra managing the Mets to the 1973 pennant, i thought the quiz should see if you can name the former Mets players who managed for them. Good luck!
Unlike the MVP Award, there seems to be no guidelines for any of the other awards. Manager of the Year included. Typically, I have found this has been treated more as best record award more than a true analysis as to who performed the best.
The Manager of the Year is tricky because other than win-loss record, there really isn’t a statistic upon which you can rely. Sure, you can look at the difference between the record and the Pythagorean Record to see if a team has overachieved or underachieved. You can look at the utilization of shifts and defensive runs saved. I’m sure there’s a million other stats I’m not even mentioning right now.
There’s also the Dusty Baker issue. There are a number of problems people have with him as a manager. Mostly, people have problems with him as a tactician. However, what’s overlooked is how he got a lot out his teams like he did with the Giants. However, that same style didn’t work with the Cubs. Ultimately, what we learn here is that certain managers are better with different players and teams.
Overall, this is a subjective award. You’re really trying to judge who did the best job with the team he had. Personally, I think you can give this award to the same guy every year because baseball people tend to agree on who the best managers are. Unless, they have an uncharacteristic bad year or someone has a great year, you should vote for the best manager.
Overall, I think this one will be my most difficult vote in any particular year.
Coming into this season, the Mets did not build a very strong team. Sure, there was the good young pitching and David Wright, but there was a shallow bench and no everyday SS on the roster.
The Mets were trying to put a round peg in a square hole with Wilmer Flores at SS. The reason was because the Mets gift wrapped the position for Ruben Tejada in 2012 when Jose Reyes wasn’t re-signed. Tejada faultered as he would again in 2013 and 2014. Tejada faultering meant the Mets had to hand the job over to someone else, which was usually our Magic Number 3 Omar Quintanilla:
Quintanilla’s first fill-in role in 2012 was his Carter best year with him hitting .257/.350/.371 in 29 games before he was traded to the Orioles. In the second act in 2013, he would wear the number 3 for the 74-88 Mets. This time around he would only hit .222/.306/.283 in 95 games, arguably the worst year in his career. Quintanilla would change numbers again in 2013, but he wouldn’t have any better luck in what would be his last year in the majors.
Quintanilla reminds me that no team should hand anything to a player. They should have to earn it. As case in point, after having to fight to get a job, Tejada is having the best year of his career with a strong September where he’s hitting .405/.476/.568.
This is all a result of the Mets having a strong roster where players have to earn their playing time. We’ve seen with past Mets teams this lack of competition leads to complacency and poor play. You then have to overplay people like Quintanilla, who give it their all, but are unfortunately limited players.
So let’s tip our caps to Magic Number 3 Imar Quintanilla for reminding us that it’s a good roster with good internal competition that drives a team forward.
The most important part of today’s game was Steven Matz‘s start because you want to determine if he should start in the NLDS.
Tonight, there was some good and some bad. Matz struck out a career high eight batters and looked strong early. However, he couldn’t hold onto a 3-1 lead. He only lasted 5.2 innings. He left the game with the game tied at 3-3.
Offensively, it seems the Mets bats woke up. It could’ve been just clearing their heads. It could’ve been seeing the Nationals losing as they took the field. It could’ve been the difference between Citi Field and The Great American Ballpark. Whatever it was, the Mets put six runs on the board.
Most impressively, the team responded to losing the lead by scoring three in the seventh. It started with Curtis Granderson scoring on a Daniel Murphy triple. This was followed by a Yoenis Cespedes RBI single, and a Lucas Duda RBI double, off a lefty to boot.
Itwas an impressive night for Murphy, Cespedes, and Duda. Murphy went 3-5, with a double, a triple, two runs scored, and the game winning RBI. Cespedes was 2-4 with a run and two RBI. Duda was 2-3 with 2 doubles, a walk, and two RBI.
The bullpen was solid with Erik Goeddel getting the win. Terry Collins smartly used Addison Reed in the seventh with the top of the Reds lineup due up. Hansel Robles allowed a homerun (more on that later). Jeurys Familia rebounded from last night to record his 42nd save preserving the Mets 6-4 win.
Getting back to Robles, there was an incident prior to the Jay Bruce homerun. During the at bat, Robles of course tried to quick pitch him since the bases were empty. The home plate umpire appeared to yell at him prompting Collins to come out of the dugout. Of course, Angel Hernandez tried to intervene from first base even though the home plate umpire and crew chief was there.
After everything, Robles allows the home run. With Robles’ quick pitch tendencies, this issue will arise again in the playoffs. If Robles wants to continue to quick pitch, he’s going to need to respond better.
On the bright side, this is going to be an issue because the Mets are going to go to the playoffs.
While not truly part of the series, I couldn’t hesitate to inform you the Mets Maguc Number is . . .
Since my son was born, my mother, who is a big Giants fan, has made sure her grandson has always had a jersey for game day:
Today? I honestly forgot the Giants were playing today. It’s a big game too against the Redskins. Instead, today he’s dressed like this:
He’s adorable, but he’s not ready for football. That’s fine. He’s going to want to watch baseball and so am I. Trust me, I’ll utilize the PIP to follow both games, but the Mets will be on the big screen. After the Mets game is over, I’m sure the Giants will still be on, and I’ll change the channel. Unfortunately, by that time my little buddy will be fast asleep:
But what do you expect? I’m trying to raise a Mets fan after all. Lets Go Mets!
Right now, there are 14 Mets players who look to have a strong claim to a playoff spot with two players on the cusp of cracking into that group. Of these 16 players, only seven players have postseason experience. Here’s how they’ve fared:
- Juan Uribe (44 games) .204/.241/.338, 5 HR, 24 RBI
- David Wright (10 games) .216/.310/.378, 1 HR, 6 RBI
- Kelly Johnson (8 games) .143/.250/.429, 0 HR, 0 RBI
- Yoenis Cespedes (10 games) .340/.395/.525, 1 HR, 6 RBI
- Michael Cuddyer (22 games) .338/.372/.473, 2 HR, 8 RBI
- Curtis Granderson (36 games) .229/.333/.458, 6 HR, 17 RBI
- Eric Young, Jr. (2 games) .000/.000/.000
Now, these are short sample sizes, but outside of Cespedes, they’re not promising. Outside of Cespedes, the only player that has had success consistently in the playoffs is Cuddyer, who is a part time player.
If these stats hold true, and I’m not sure we can expect that, this means one of two things: (1) Cespedes will have to carry the Mets offensively; and/or (2) the Mets will need players, who haven’t been to the playoffs before, to perform.
The Royals last year showed you didn’t need postseason experience. They took out Jon Lester, who’s a terrific postseason pitcher. They swept an experienced Angels team in the ALDS. They then beat an Orioles team in the ALCS who had recently been in the playoffs.
The Royals mainly lost the World Series because they were beaten by a great manager in Bruce Bochy and an all-time postseason pitcher in Madison Bumgarner. As always, it comes down to pitching, and right now, the Mets have that in spades. As long as they get enough offense and Terry Collins doesn’t implode, the Mets can have a run just like the Royals did.
It appears like this October will feature low scoring, tight games. I think the Mets will be ready for it. Lets Go Mets!
It appears the Mets have soured on Juan Lagares. Last year, he was a Gold Glove winner, who showed some promise with the bat hitting .281/.321/.382. Using WAR, he was a top 25 player in the majors last year (12th in the NL).
This year has been much different. Lagares hasn’t been the same offensively or defensively. His UZR has slipped from 18.6 (excellent) to 2.1 (average). His arm was terrific last year, but with his injured elbow, he doesn’t seem to have the same zip on the ball. With his defense compromised, you can’t justify his declining offense. This year he has regressed to .259/.289/.362.
This is probably why the Mets tried to send him to the Brewers in the failed Carlos Gomez trade. This is the reason the Mets are playing Yoenis Cespedes out of position. It may be the reason he was the only Mets outfielder who didn’t get in the game yesterday.
In any event, he’s been reduced to a platoon player and a late inning defensive replacement. His arrow is trending down while Eric Young, Jr.‘s is trending up. He’s been a terrific pinch runner that can come in handy in the playoffs. We also shouldn’t forget he’s a Collins’ favorite.
Ultimately, what may save Lagares in the NLDS is the fact that the Dodgers starting rotation features three lefties. Collins refuses to play Michael Conforto leaving Collins to pick between Michael Cuddyer and Lagares. Cuddyer has only played in seven complete games since returning from the DL. This means the Mets need Lagares in the NLDS.
This means the Mets need Lagares to get back on track offensively and defensively.
Both Terry Collins and David Wright have each been involved in multiple September collapses. With that said, I found it interesting that they both disagree with whether or not the Mets are playing tight. With that in mind I thought it would be helpful to look at what’s going on after Collins’ tough game last night:
Maybe the Mets will now keep their composure down the stretch now.