28
2011
Spring Update: Beltran To Make Spring Debut, Give Collins Props, Izzy’s Making Some Noise
An article by Hojo's Mojo
While the rest of the bullpen was largely ineffective today, Jason Isringhausen was perfect in his inning of work. He continues to enhance his chances of making it onto the big league roster. Terry Collins said, “If he’s healthy and he can throw with the velocity we know he can have and the breaking ball and his experience, I think he’s got to be certainly one of the frontrunners right now.” It would be a nice story to see Izzy pull it off, and if he does, Jason Bay has already promised him his old No. 44 uniform number.
Terry Collins talked to reporters after the Mets 9-3 loss to the Nationals today, and said he was extremely impressed with the professional way that Carlos Beltran and Angel Pagan conducted themselves regarding the centerfield switch. He also added that Beltran will make his Grapefruit League debut this weekend as the designated hitter. In Collin’s first big test as a manager, he scored an A+ in my opinion.
Daniel Murphy started at third base today and made a couple of slick plays in the field while fielding his position smoothly. He charged toward the plate and made a couple of dazzling barehanded grabs and strong throws to first base. I still haven’t seen him play second base yet, but if he was anything like he was at third base, I can see this really working out for him. Murph was also solid at the plate pasting a double in the gap and scoring a run.
David Lennon nails it with this take on Oliver Perez. “During the final moments of Oliver Perez’s fourth-inning meltdown Sunday, the Champion Stadium loudspeakers blared “The Twilight Zone” theme. In reality, Perez was standing on the mound, but his head always seems to be in some alternate universe that defies explanation. One minute, Perez is striking out Dan Uggla with a 73-mph slider. The next, he’s walking three straight batters, the last with the bases loaded on a full-count pitch to David Ross. Perez is thoroughly unpredictable, and for that reason, it will be very difficult for the Mets to trust him in any role – starter, long reliever or specialist.”
Speaking of Ollie, does the New York media give Brian Cashman a free pass on A.J. Burnett? Perez was signed for three years and $36 million, but Burnett hauled in a five year deal for $82.5 million. They have both been big-time busts, but we keep hearing more about Ollie than you do Burnett.
The Mets officially announced their Minor League managers and coaching staffs Monday, naming former players Tim Teufel and Wally Backman as the managers of Triple-A Buffalo and Double-A Binghamton, respectively. For the entire Mets organizational managing and coaching staffs, check out ESPN New York.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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Burnett had a good first year, in a year balls were flying out of Yankee Stadium. The Yankees also won the World Series that year. Perez hasn’t had any good years here since signing that contract and the team hasn’t had a winning season either let alone a World Championship.
You do make a very good point about the salary though 5/82 vs 3/36 is quite a big difference but at least Burnett has done something to earn part of his deal, Ollie wouldn’t even vacate his roster spot to go down and work on his game while allowing someone to come up here who could do something.
Big difference.
Not to mention, Burnett has also made 33 starts in both of his seasons as a Yankee…as opposed to Ollie who has started 14 games and 7 games in his 2 seasons since signing the big contract. Don’t forget, had the Mets added a 4th year to their offer to Derek Lowe, he could have made the 67 starts he made for the Braves for the Mets instead.
Yeah, but that Lowe deal was real bad, too. Not quite as bad, but the best case was to tell both guys to talk a long walk off a short plank.
I thought Lowe was a very good choice by Atlanta. I’m surprised he hasn’t pitched better. 200 IP, low Walks, HR’s 60% GB’s Every year, what’s not to like? Surprised it hasn’t gone better for him.
I’m not. Lowe was 37 wqhen he signed a deal for $15 mil per till he was 41. It hasn’t gone better for Lowe because he’s not that good of a pitcher. He was solid in his younger days, and that was at his best. As bad as Perez is, think about being on the hook for another full year and almost twice the salary. It’s hard to think that Omar made the better of the two choices, but it’s true.
You were right on that X but he’s not the kind of pitcher that breaks down, had a great 2008 w/LA. I thought he was going to be a lot better than he turned out to be. Of course when your always limited to whoever happens to be a free agent every year the choices aren’t always that great.
As Joe Mcilvaine once said “free agency is a short term solution to a long term problem.”
Braves took a few chances trying to recover from the loss of their pitching staff. Kawakami. But they did start developing some new guys. Teheran, Minor, Delgado, Kimbrel, Vizcaino and they just told Kawakami to stay in Japan during ST rather than clog up another roster spot. Add them to Venters, Beachy, Moylan, O’Flaherty and Hanson.
Wren won’t need free agency to address starting pitching or the pen for quite a while in fact his entire 12 man staff will cost about 1/2 of k-Rod’s option.
That much is true. Kimbrel and Venters will be as good a 8th-9th inning as Mo and Soriano.
Your right. This is what were up against. The Phillies will collapse under their payroll and age in a couple of years but the Braves are well positioned for another decade of dominance.
Everyone talks about our prospects as if no one else has any, but they do, and they have so many more then we do. They develop them with care and patience and plan for them to fit in at their pace. And it’s not just the pitching either. Freeman and Heyward on the right side, Schaffer in CF, Prado and McCann for a couple of more years. I wonder what there ideas are for SS, and 3B.
It might not even take a couple of years for the Phillies to collapse. Utley already has tendonitis and if one of the SPs gpes down, what are they gonna do? They have a suspect bullpen and are suspect defensively. Howard’s in a steep decline aleady and Ibanez is one ankle twist away from Moises Alou. But the Braves may very will win the next 14 division titles.
Scary isn’t it X. I’ll tell you one thing, there is nothing like having your farm producing one pitcher and one position player every year.
That’s true, and thus far that’s my biggest praise for Alderson. One of the first things he did was increase the scouting department. I sincerely hope he and Omar can come to some sort of agreement on Omar’s position in that department. Maybe head up the IFA scouting department? Omar can spot talent from 500 yards on a foggy day, but he has the business accumen of an eggplant.
You win a series and all is forgotten.
Do you think SF cares about that Zito contract anymore ?
And the Zito deal was five times as bad as Ollie’s.
Twice as bad Francis. But he very easily could have been on our roster too, remember? The difference though is the draft. Any team could overcome a bad free agent signing as long as the guys they draft and develop allow them to play someone else instead. We have to live with the mistake because all our 1st 2nd and 3rd round pitchers bust.
Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, Bumgarner, Wilson, Posey and this year Brandon Belt from the 2009 draft (9th round) We haven’t had guys like that come up from the minors since the late 60′s.
Sabean has made some free agent mistakes for sure, Fonzie, Rowand and I’m sure he would be the first to tell you prospects aren’t a sure thing but then again neither are free agents.
You really have reached a new low (or in your mind a new high) Now you even blast the Mets for a deal they DIDN’T MAKE.. whatever your problem is you are omne very demented met hater agee. Next post maybe you can blast the Mets for not signing Aaron Rowand as well. Go any lower agee and youwill be looking up to the ants.
BULLETIN: New pot hole found in Flushing. It was Omar’s fault of course…..
Harry, the Zito misfiring was a seismic blessing in disguise. We almost paid through the nose for Barry Wonderful. We thought at the time that $75 million would do it as a starter offer. But the Giants thought they had to go to $126 million. Barry and his dad somehow equated the Giants financial stupidity with their respect for Barry Wonderful as a person. Poppycock.
The escalator clause in Zito’s contract means they now have to pay him 11:$18.5M, 12:$19M, 13:$20M, 14:$18M club option ($7M buyout). Such a bargain! Hollywood must have moved north to Frisco. The Giants even put Cy Young award language in the contract: $0.5M for winning once, $0.75M for 2nd time, $1M each for 3 or more.
The difference between Burnett and Perez is that Burnett has had success in the past. He also pitched great in a huge, pivotal game 2 in the 2009 World Series. If the Yanks lose that game and go down 0-2, the whole series is different. Sure, he pulled an Ollie in game 5, but the Yanks were already ahead 3-1 in the series, so it was easier to handle.
That being said, seeing what we’ve seen from the Yankee front office in the past and even very recently with Soriano, it’s very hard to pin down who actually gave the go-ahead for that contract. But if you follow any Yankee blogs, you’ll see that the organization isn’t getting a pass from the fanbase, regardless of who’s idea it was.
I don’t see what the big deal is about the Soriano deal.
If Mariano goes down, they don’t lose a step. Worst case, they have a sick setup guy, and they prevent other contenders ( Anaheim for one ) from filling a closer need.
As for the money, they budget out wasting 20MM a year, so this is still a bargain.
Francis, I was referring to the fact that Cashman was resolutely against the signing and the Steinbrenners and Levine went behind his back (or over his head if you listen to their story). The point I was making is that there are too many cooks in that kitchen and you can’t be sure if the Burnett deal was Cashman’s idea or not.