12
2011
Thoughts On Roster As We Move Closer To Opening Day
An article by 
It’s hard to believe that as of this writing, a new baseball season will begin and 30 teams will be tied for first place again… or last depending on your point of view – in 20 days.
Yesterday, the Mets made their first round of cuts and although I never expected Fernando Martinez or Ruben Tejada to survive the final cut, I didn’t expect them to be the first ones to be shown the door.
The outfield situation was supposed to be as clear as day, once Carlos Beltran volunteered to move to right field. But his inability to play in another game after just three at-bats as a designated hitter certainly clouded everything once again. It makes me wonder if this is really the Mets being super cautious as they say, or if the reality of the situation is much different. I can almost buy their story had he been playing in the field for nine innings, but he wasn’t.
This brings us to Lucas Duda. I wrote on a few occasions already about my discontent over the signings of both Willie Harris and Scott Hairston. Long before Duda became the darling of the Mets blogosphere, I advocated keeping him on the Mets bench because he would easily amass 300 at-bats with an outfield that included a very iffy Carlos Beltran, Angel Pagan who avoided the DL for only the first time in his career last season, and Jason Bay who could definitely use a day off against the league’s toughest right handed pitchers.
On the day we signed Hairston and Harris I wrote on January 19,
So Lucas Duda now seems to be the odd man out and has been assured that he will be starting the season in Buffalo? We’ve heard stuff like this before last year at this time with Ike Davis, and we all know how that turned out.
I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Harris and Hairston end up like Gary Matthews Jr. and Mike Jacobs did last season. Apparently, Duda is going to be playing a lot of first base up in Buffalo for the Bisons, but I would caution him to keep his outfielders glove close by because I’m betting he’ll be back with the Mets by early May and that he’ll end up getting 250 or more at-bats this season and impress everyone. Call it a hunch…
Another thing has become painfully apparent to all who are keeping a close eye on this second base battle.
With Ruben Tejada now sadly out of the picture, they all suck defensively.
It’s not a matter of which one is the better defensive player, but rather choosing the one who sucks the least.
Bad decision if you ask me, because in a park that they repeatedly remind us was built for pitching, speed and defense, neither Daniel Murphy, Brad Emaus or Luis Castillo bring anything to the table. So if you’re going to pick one, then choose the one who has already proven he can swing a major league bat – Daniel Murphy.
Still, I remain optimistic about our chances this season. The youthfulness we have in players like Ike Davis, Josh Thole, Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell keep me very motivated and excited about how good these players can actually be.
Throw in a cast of all stars in David Wright, Jose Reyes, Francisco Rodriguez, the resurgence of Jason Bay and hopefully Carlos Beltran, and all around talents like R.A. Dickey, Mike Pelfrey and Angel Pagan, and you see the Mets already had a solid base to build on even before Sandy Alderson signed one of his many reclamation projects.
If a couple of those projects pan out, things are looking very good for the Metropolitans.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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I have grave doubts that we will see very much of Beltran at Citi this year. The guys knees are ruined. So I say plug big Duda into RF everyday and let’s move on. I’m much more worried from what I’ve seen of Bay so far this spring, the guy looks like crap at the plate. You’d think after last year’s fiasco he would have something to show us this year, but so far it’s just a continuation of his first half last year. One more thing, I hate to bum anyone else out but, I honestly think Castillo is outplaying the shlt out of those other cast of characters in the 2nd base giveaway. Luis actually looks pretty good, he’s running very well, and if he has a .400 OBP, I don’t mind him batting behind Reyes giving him opportunities to steal. He does have limited range in the field now, but as Joe pointed out the other candidates suck, so what difference would that make?
I agree w/ Pete on Luis Castillo. I have one of those who couldn’t wait for him to be shown the door but now I think he is proving me wrong. Ok, yeah, he’s the absolute definition of a “slap” hitter, slapping the bat at pitches he can hit. But, he makes contact, consistent contact, AND he still has excellent plate discipline to draw walks and get on base. We all suffered through his horrendous 2010 season, but he was hurt the entire year and just the year before he hit .302 w/ a .387 OBP & 20 SB. Now he looks healthy again. At the very least it’s possible that Castillo could prove that he’s healthy enough and still has the ability to play everyday allowing the Mets to shop him and possibly trade him before opening day if they’re happier w/ Murphy/Emaus @ 2B. Unlike Oliver Perez, Castillo still looks to have some value as a Major League player whether it’s the Mets, or someone else.
Luis is running — straight line stuff and around the bases — very well right now. Let’s hope it keeps up.
As much as people don’t like him the 2B job is going to have to go to Luis Castillo. I think the front office made a mistake by sending Tejada to the other side of camp so quickly. Don’t know why it was that quick, it wasn’t like he wasn’t hitting a lick, he was.
But back to 2B, the Mets are gonna need DEFENSE at 2B regardless of the front office beliefs. Our pitching is gonna need as much D as possible and another thing to keep in mind is to stop switching up on Reyes so much. I think Reyes/Tejada was the most dynamic and quick DP duo we had. Now it will have to be Castillo but at least Reyes is familiar working with Castillo.
If the front office continues to fool around with this position they’re going to give up more runs via defensive gaffs than runs gained by supplementing it with a bad glove. We all saw what happened to the Marlins the other say, bad defense completely demoralizes a team.
I guess that’s one more thing we can blame the previous regime on……..not having a viable option at second base. No one on the team appears to be able to play the position as well as Castillo, which is sad. It would be nice if the Mets played in a fantasy world where Tejada can play just so the Mets can be strong up the middle, but the simple fact is the guy hasn’t shows the ability to hit sand if he fell off a camel.
Seeing as how the real-world Mets are always a good defensive and pitching team, and near last in runs scored, it’s the best option the team has to gear second base towards offense since no one has grabbed the position yet from the other candidates.
And what happens if Reyes is traded or doesn’t resign at the end of the year and there’s no SS to replace him in the system? Now the Mets have weakened both up the middle positions in the infield just so Tejada can play now. That’s the old way of thinking. Let the kid simmer in AAA, learn SS, learn how to hit, let Sandy address 2B in the draft or next off-season when he has some money to play with.
He already knows how to play SS and doesn’t have to be sent down to learn it, even Bobby Ojeda or Ron Darling said that, forget which one.
I am talking REAL WORLD Mets and not fantasy. Real World is Tejada is our BEST GLOVE there, even better than Castillo. REAL WORLD is the front office has a philosophy and wants offense there but we have no offensive people that can play the position. In the REAL WORLD Tejada was hitting over .300 and it was a bad decision to cut him so early. Bad decision and the WRONG decision.
I think Sandy’s idea of baseball players are big clunkheads who hit HRs and walk, does he even ever consider athletic type players? If Sandy was here in the late 90s Rey Ordonez would NEVER have been a Met. You need whatever is best for your unit to win to make the team, not a “type” of player.
Hello Luis Castillo, the Mets opening day 2B 2011.
and you also have to stop switching up on Jose Reyes. Let him get acclamated to one guy and leave it at that. Reyes/Tejada is a dynamic and FAST DP combo but it looks like that’s not gonna be the case right now so let it be Castillo. At lease Reyes and Castillo have some type of chemistry up the middle.
you MUST have the D up the middle because like we saw with Florida the other day bad D will completely demoralize a team. And our pitchers are not that good we need Defense.
oh..and the Murphy experiment is DEAD. He’s been atrocious on the field today not only making an error to allow a run but not even getting in the right position for a cut off! Getting in Wright’s way allowing another run. How can you not position yourself correctly for a cut off????? You play baseball your entire life, you don’t have to know how to field a position but just by watching you should know what every position should be doing in a defensive situation.
I was a CFer but if I had to catch in an emergency i may not be a good one but I would know exactly what to do just by years of watching.
Wayne Hagen also said on the air that Daniel Murphy cannot be the Mets starting 2B. That experiment is now DEAD imo.
There is really no valid excuse for a Major league player not to know where the 2nd basemen should be at all times. Every single player at every other position has to deal with the 2nd basemen at different times. No matter where you play, you know instinctively where he’s supposed to be.
I didn’t see the play but I would assume if he got in Wrights way he was the 2nd cut on a double to LF with a man on 1B with Ike trailing the hitter to 2B. This just highlights the difficulties in learning on the job but if my guess is correct then Wright has to verbally position him and not take it for granted he knows where he should be.
Bad defense is very demorilizing to your team and especially frustrating to the pitcher who usually responds by trying to overthrow or nibble. Neither one of these usually help the situation.
Real World baseball suggests the team address deficiencies. So when a team, any team, pitches well, catches the ball well and can’t hit, what do you address? Another can’t hit glove man just because that’s conventional wisdom? That’s fantasy world.
And your .300 is an asinine statement. He struggled to hit his weight last season.
c’mon man use your head and read what I said..he was hitting .300 this spring. I KNOW he did not hit .300 last year. Use your head.
Just because you had not much offense at 2B last year doesn’t mean the same people with more experience won’t do better this year. You STILL have to have defense at 2B, it’s as simple as that, regardless of circumstances. And besides you have no other choices to play this year other than Castillo or Tejada. The rest are a joke and won’t be starting. That’s the real world.
.300 this spring? So sample sizes be damned, 16 ABs is plenty to determine. Yeah, I saw one of those “hits.” When the right fielder for the Cards fell down, and Tejada got a “hit.” So if the RF catches the ball like the routine play it was, Tejada’s now actually hitting .250. Tremendous. Not only that, Tejada proceeded to run the Mets right out of the inning the very next batter on a fundamental play he totally ruined. So we can go back and forth about which mistake from which players means anything, but the simple fact is this:
Good pitching, good fielding, terrible offense means you add a bat. Unfortunately, it’s at a defenseive position, but that what Omar left behind, so that’s where the Mets stand. It would be terrific if the hole was in left field. The Duda can come up and play everyday and the world would rejoice.
i have a feeling if he was hitting .172 the sample size wouldn’t suddenly be an issue with you. BTW he was hitting .313, so let’s take away that hit – .300?
Tejada hit .185 vs. RHP last year. Anything he does in ST can’t wipe away the fact that he has work to do. Now if, and it’s a huge if, Beltran, Bay, Thole/Paulino are stretching the line up we could accommodate a light hitting second basemen and get away with it but if the combination of those three guys is offensively less than average for RF, LF and catcher (a distinct possibility) we cannot. Not only that but we need Tejada to get his stick up to par and he would be much better served (as would we) to work on it in Buffalo rather than hitting .200 up here and wasting another year.
If he is hitting in Buffalo he can come up here and take over after he has 100 good AB’s under his belt.
Per your comment, taking the hit away leaves Ruben at 16AB, 4 hits. In any math on Planet Earth, that’s .250. Giving the kid that hit, it becomes .313.
Five hits, 5 TB. If we have Duda and Ike on first or second base, they ain’t gonna score. Too slow.
Daniel Murphy, the only guy competing for 2B who can hit, has two more hits today (so far). He has a double and a single.
Murph’s batting .313, 32AB, 10 hits. he leads the team with five doubles.
Tejada is a good kid, but the MMO hype by one or two enthusiasts is a butterfly in the wind. If he hits more, he’ll be back. Let’s not forget that reports from Spring Training say Hu is the best fieldinf guy in the middle infield.
Im shocked at you Bayonne? Didn’t you know that sample size only matters when it adds thrust to their argument or deflates your argument? Dude come on! You know how these stat crunchers operate!
SMH amazing.
Seriously? .300? Is that how you work batting average? No wonder you think it’s so important. You just guess at what you think it should be. For someone who bangs his head against the wall extolling the virtues of this stat, you don’t even know how it works. You just can’t seem to get even an ounce of credibility behind you, can you. Why would anyone ever take anything you say seriously?
What do you expect? He’s perfectly satisfied having the worst RFer and second basemen in the Majors instead of drafting, signing and developing at least average one’s.
whoo oh yeah, just forgetting the amount of ABs he had and Des correcting me and rightly so.
Are you nuts? You think because i made a mistake like that i don’t know how to figure out batting average? Are you for real?
Maybe the next game he goes 4 for 4 and raises his average to whatever – .400 i dunno 8 for 20 or something, not gonna bother with specifics because you get my point…i hope. OR..next game he goes 0 for 4 and is batting .200 or so.
Now X and agee you 2 guys are coming across like clowns to take a mistake like that and run with.
Complete CLOWNS.
xtreem what i find interesting is that Tejada had a solid S.T. last year based on what his mlb stats show and yet he struggled when called up last yr so as usual S.T is not really a good indicator as to if a kid is ready or not.
I guess sample size doesnt matter in this case? I never know with you guys. So we shouldnt be hopefull about Duda because stats dont mean nothing? So why wasnt he demoted? Afterall Alderson did say he needed to start season in Buffalo sight unseen?
S.T. in general is not something that should be relied on in making a decision.
What the Mets do with Duda does not mean I agree with them bringing him up if they do indeed decide that.
I have maintained that I have not seen enough to think he should be called up as a everyday RF. If the Mets feel otherwise I respect that decision and will wait to see if they are right or not.
Like with them deciding Tejada to go to AAA another decision that had they made him the starting 2b instead I would respect that decision and would wait to see if they are right or not.
No, sample size matters a lot. That;s the point of sample size. Tejada had a real good spring last year, and what did that get him. GMJ had a great spring and won the job. How’d that work out for him. 16 ABs is negligible in just about all scenarios.
The most incredible thing to me about 2B is that despite spending 50 Million dollars at this position over the last 7 years we have actually gotten the worst offensive production from this position of every single other team in the Majors and pretty damn close to the worst defense as well, and yet even having made those bad decisions, spent all that money and received all that poor play, we STILL don’t have a credible 2 way performer at this position.
Granted there’s only so much anyone can do stepping into this situation and I certainly wouldn’t have been in favor of yet again borrowing against future teams but still….A third basemen, a rule 5, a punchless 35 year old with no range and and 2 waiver wire acquisitions…..
Let’s face it, 2B is the new 3B in this organization.
Havens, Tejada, Valdespin and Satin all have their positive attributes but none of them seem to be either well rounded or able to stay on the field.
We need to step up the quantity and especially the quality of competition in the minors or we’re never going to have all positions firing at the same time.
Have you lost your flippin’ mind? You are blaming Omar for this? I just moments ago said in the chat room this:
The Mets had ONLY ONE position player battle. ONLY ONE. And yet they completely botched it. Epic Fail!
It’s kind of strange also that nobody in the front office even went to the Dominican Republic to see Murphy play first hand rather than relying on fuzzy blurbs from beat writers for all their scouting info.
So they had only one out of seven positions to solve, and instead they just demoted their best defensive option in Ruben Tejada, and kept the three second basemen who have the least defensive skills.
Terrible job by these know it alls, I guess what it proves is that even Alderson felt Castillo was worth the contract Omar gave him, being that’s the direction he is going.
Now WE KNOW why Castillo was allowed to come to camp.
And by the way, Emaus has been a slug in the filed and can’t hit a lick at the plate either. Send him to where the air is thin like Colorado or Las Vegas.
Moneyball my ass!
Actually the real shame of the whole thing is that the Mets never had a position battle for any position under Minaya. Everyone was just given their position because there was no depth, no back up, no competition, no one to push anyone, no other options.
It didn’t matter if it was a 40 year old OFer who couldn’t even stay on the field when he was in his 20′s or rookie infielder taking over LF, or a 32 year old second basemen who had off season surgery on both knees or a Schneider hitting under .200 or Church in RF or Ollie and Maine being counted on yet again or GMJ being expected to hold down CF until Beltran was back.
Yeah all those positional battles didn’t occur because we were so solid at all those positions. Well at least we were when it really mattered. In January.
Come to think of it if Omar had provided some competition for this team maybe they wouldn’t have gone in the tank when it really mattered or after we were out of it.
“they just demoted their best defensive option in Ruben Tejada” Did it ever occur to you that they did this cause long term it was in his and the Mets best interest?
Try looking at with big picture in mind and maybe you will see why possibly he was sent demoted.
Juat because you say it, doesn’t make it so. Are you speaking for the new front office now in addition to all of your other talents?
If you disagree fine, but please dont presume to tell what their thought process is as if you somehow have inside information into their plans – long term or short term.
The only fact is that they demoted their best defensive second baseman. That is what said. Stick to the facts and your comments wont look as laughable to me.
You spend too much time trying to dispute facts rather than adding some additional substance to the debate.
maniac r u saying they demoted Tejada not in his or their best interest?
Cmon dude I mean u think i may be speakin for the FO?
Wow…
Met Maniac says:
March 12, 2011 at 4:34 pm
“Stick to the facts and your comments wont look as laughable to me. ”
Let me see like the facts you have been sharing?
“It’s kind of strange also that nobody in the front office even went to the Dominican Republic to see Murphy play first hand rather than relying on fuzzy blurbs from beat writers for all their scouting info. ”
So you know for a fact that they relied on the blurbs from the paper? OK sure
“guess what it proves is that even Alderson felt Castillo was worth the contract Omar gave him, being that’s the direction he is going.”
So Alderson and you had lunch and he told you Castillo was worth his contract? OK sure again.
Facts right i get it don’t look at what i do just listen to what i say is that how you like it Maniac?
Cmon dude the idea that you think me saying the Mets did a move cause it was in their and Tejada’s best interest as something so unfathomable compared to the doosies you love to say is something that you may wish to reexamine.
The more you deflect, the more you reflect your arrogance. You picked a fight on my saying Tejada was the best defense 2B in camp. Dont go scurrying for cover. Man up and grow a pair and tell me why that statement you first highlighted is wrong. I’m very disapointed in your ability to pick a fight and then go running for cover.
“You picked a fight on my saying Tejada was the best defense 2B in camp.”
LoL nothing could be further from the truth.
Unlike you that don’t like commenting in here i am here all the time whenever you want to have a exchange that isnt reduced to childish insults.
Again the only one that thinks they are fighting is you I am having a conversation on some of the points you made. I don’t wish to fight with you nor did I think at any time my disagreement was the start of some fight.
Sorry but if you are looking for a fight I am not your guy I rise above such childish things. If you want to fight I am sure there are others you can engage that will give you a fight but i am not that person.
would you stop with your false shock? Must every other word be “wow” or “SMH” with you? Whenever you get your ass pounded just say you surrender and save your useless grunts and exclamations for the john.
You took objection to my saying they demoted their best defensive second baseman!!!!
It tells me you disagree. And that also tells me you have no clue!
Umm let me see if i recall correctly you said,
“So they had only one out of seven positions to solve, and instead they just demoted their best defensive option in Ruben Tejada, and kept the three second basemen who have the least defensive skills.
Terrible job by these know it alls,”
To which I interpreted as taking a prospect out of consideration as the 2b to start the season as something you disagreed with. To which I replied,
“Did it ever occur to you that they did this cause long term it was in his and the Mets best interest?”
Thereby explaining that maybe it is not a terrible move but a good move in the long run by the Mets.
Which you interpreted as if I had an insider tip or something when you said,
“Juat because you say it, doesn’t make it so. Are you speaking for the new front office now in addition to all of your other talents?”
I then asked you,
“maniac r u saying they demoted Tejada not in his or their best interest?
Cmon dude I mean u think i may be speakin for the FO?
Wow…”
To which you still have yet to reply and I ended with a “wow” due to how off you was when interpreting what i said cause I expected you to know better.
To which you again misread cause you said
“Whenever you get your ass pounded just say you surrender and save your useless grunts and exclamations for the john.”
I really did not think I needed to go out of my way to help you understand what was being said but if it helps you stop misinterpreting things I am ok with it.
To wrap up I disagree with what you call a terrible job and my replies were focused on that statement.
I hope that helps you.
I read that Alderson WAS in the DR and saw Murphy when he played in Santo Domingo. Murphy also had his winter league season end unexpectedly and to say they only relied on what reporters had to say is just laughably transparent on your part. In fact your constant griping about the new FO is laughably transparent as well.
The Mets have two former employees that RUN teams down in the DR. They have one of their former top prospects uncle (Francisco Pena and Tony Pena)playing for and managing the team Murphy played on and their current bench coach managing a team he played against every single week.
The games are also available over the internet.
You have no objectivity at all. Omar with an unlimited budget and 6 years delivered one post season berth. Alderson forced to run on fumes sucks because he hasn’t won a World Series yet despite not having even played a single game.
Omar is a God, Sandy’s the anti-Christ. We get it.
Your problem is that you are so willing to be a shill for someone who has yet to have a winning season for the Mets. The way you put Alderson on a pedestal shows that you are the unobjective one. You continuously knock Minaya and yet you have no idea if Alderson will be worse. Look in the mirror and ask yourself mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the foolish of them all. It’s you t agee.
I’m no shill for Alderson. I won’t even cut him the slack I cut Minaya cause I am sick and F****n tired of running out a bush league team every year. Guys that can’t play D, guys that hit or guys that can’t do either. Guys that are always hurt, guys that can’t even touch 3B, guys that can’t hit their weight, guys that should have been out of MLB a couple years ago, Guys that never even should have made it to MLB, 44 Million dollar closers who can’t even be on the mound in game 7 and can’t get one ‘effen save in September, guys that undermine the manager, guys that are clearly unprepared to play in MLB, guys that are angry they didn’t get to “finish” a blowout so they give an old man a hydeing, guys that are more concerned with their card games, guys that take the money but none of the responsibility.
You were as vocal as anyone about getting rid of Minaya and now your treating him like a demi-God. But your right about one thing. I don’t have any idea if Alserson will do better, as well or worse than Minaya. I am willing to give him a fair chance though, not as much as I gave Minaya but a fair enough chance. Are you?
Minaya had his share of challenges when he got here but everyone gave him some time. Too much in my opinion but your not willing to give Alderson ANY time, ANY slack even though Minaya’s challenges pale in comparison to Alderson’s.
Minaya had the whole 2003 team cleared from the roster and payroll. He had no one in their walk year. He had two young future All Stars to build around and all the cash in the world to work with.
Only a hypocrite shill like you won’t admit it.
“Have you lost your flippin’ mind? You are blaming Omar for this? I just moments ago said in the chat room this:”
Well, there is that whole “no viable options in the system” argument
“The Mets had ONLY ONE position player battle. ONLY ONE. And yet they completely botched it. Epic Fail! ”
What should they have done? Try and outbid San Diego for Orlando Hudson? Who else was available?
“It’s kind of strange also that nobody in the front office even went to the Dominican Republic to see Murphy play first hand rather than relying on fuzzy blurbs from beat writers for all their scouting info.”
Terry Collins went to DR to watch Murphy. There were also several scouts there. This wasn’t a secret. Not to mention consulting with the managerial staff of his team.
“So they had only one out of seven positions to solve, and instead they just demoted their best defensive option in Ruben Tejada, and kept the three second basemen who have the least defensive skills.”
Because Tejada can’t hit at the big league level.
“Terrible job by these know it alls, I guess what it proves is that even Alderson felt Castillo was worth the contract Omar gave him, being that’s the direction he is going.”
What direction? What if Castillo is in the next round of cuts?
What direction? What if Castillo is in the next round of cuts?
You want to bet on it?
I’m not saying one way or the other. I’d rather Murphy there, but I’m not going to say “My favorite WILL BE the second baseman on opening day” like some people, one of whom has already been proven wrong.
My point is you are so certain, yet you have absolutely no insight to this what so ever that the rest of us don’t have. And you even feel the need to degrade those of us who would dare disagree with your uninformed opinion.
I’m not saying I have any insight. I’m saying Castillo wont get cut and if you disagree would you want to bet on it? It’s my opinion, I dont speak for Alderson like so many others do.
Let me guess. Are the ppl that you say think they speak for Alderson also ppl you disagree with?
I think it’s safe to say no one here speaks for the FO so now we can move on from these notions that some ppl speak for Alderson.
I don’t agree with you but you don’t see me saying you are speaking for someone else?
Well we do have a viable option at 2B he just isn’t quite ready yet (Havens)
They will muddle along with a 2B by committee (probably led by castillo who I have always believed would get the starting job either as the majority starter or at least one half of a platoon) until the trading deadline comes around cause thats where all the real decisions about this team will be made.
Once the trading deadline hits we will either be in a race and stand pat with only some minor moves or possible trade for pitching or we will have that fire sale and Havens will come up with possibly Duda or Evans replacing Beltran (if he gets traded) and we will start on seasoning those kids until the offseason where there will be a lot of money off the books to buy some Vets to help them.
And if they do buy my guess it will be mostly pitching.
Sounds good to me. Sounds like the right thing to do given the circumstances.
It’s all Omar’s fault that Ike Davis, Bobby Parnell, Dillon Gee, Jenrry Mejia, Josh Thole, Lucas Duda and Jon Niese are here. I cant believe he screwed us like that. Poor Sandy now has to field a team with all these crappy young players. Thankfully he went out and got Boof and Dr. Hu and Mick-E-Maus, otherwise we would be up sh1ts creek.
really maniac?
Cmon u really think Boof and Dr. Hu and Mick-E-Maus are Alderson’s long term answers?
Cmon dude I respect your opinion too much to believe you think that.
Alderson is not going to swap out an entire minor league sytem in his 1st 5 months its impossible and i know u kno that. So of course he will evaluate and develop the players he inherited the same as all GM’s do in the same situation.
why you feel the need 2 say “Poor Sandy now has to field a team with all these crappy young players.” is beyond me. I expect more insightful comments from you not this stuff.
I sense a bit of Sarcasm from him MNJ don’t you?
Brilliant. Comparing what one guy with no money did in one off season to what another guy who spent a billion dollars did in 7 years.
You think other teams don’t have recent graduates of the farm system? Jason Heyward, Mike Stanton, Dominick Brown, Kimbrel, Venters, O’Flaherty, Freeman, Minor and there’s a lot more there too. Much more than we have and much more highly regarded too.
Much better developed as well. Parnell, Mejia and Thole didn’t really help very much their first go around. Niese and Mejia got hurt. Davis was a first round selection from one of the best (if not the best) baseball schools in the US. He was on the US Amateur Baseball Team, let’s not cannonize Omar for drafting a guy everyone projected to be a future starter. Niese and Gee were good picks, Duda might help too. Worth a shot but if you think other teams fans are crowing about a one dimensional first basemen playing L or RF guess again. They have a few of them and if you don’t like Alderson’s collection of rehab projects for the rotation you have no one to than but Omar and his scouting director for all of their early round pitching busts.
After all you can’t blame Alderson for his drafts yet can you? I’m sure you’ll find a way.
Why can’t our guys be just as good, or even better than Stanton, Heyward, ect?
like ANY said last night: The numbers Ike and Niese put up last year are comparable to a lot the rookies that came up last year.
It’s strange that Omar doesn’t get much credit for drafting Davis, but the Braves get so much credit for drafting Heyward. Why?
The Braves didn’t just draft and develop Heyward. They also have Freeman coming up at 1B. AAA MVP last year. Hanson and Minor in the rotation, Venters, Kimbrell and O’Flaherty in the pen and FIVE pitchers in the top 100 prospects. If it was just Heyward you could say they were lucky but it’s not. Teheran, Vizcaino and the rest will be here before you know it and we can’t even fill 2B or RF.
Knock it off with slamming the Mets drafting already! What is your obsession with the Mets RF position? Who have the Yankees drafted the last 50 years? Just answer the question without giving me the history of drafting and scouting as a way of tip toeing out of the question. Except for Dwight Evans who have the Red Sox had as their RF in the last 50 years? WHo have been the Cardinals RFer the last 50 years. The Pirates have had success drafting their own RFers in Dave Parker & Roberto Clemente.
Knock it Off and stop making excuses for other teams.
And so what if the Mets haven’t drafted a stellar 2B recently. So what? We’ve done fine developing our own second basemen over the years. What about Backman? What about Edgardo Alfonso???? The Mets should ALWAYS be drafting a solid 2Bman and never have a lean period? Never? What if Reese Havens becomes the real deal?
Just knock if off with your cheap pot shots against Minaya because their NOT WORKING.
And don’t say it’s okay because I’m all over Alderson either. That’s different and has nothing to do with you always writing novels & manifestos with every response you provide. Just get to your point.
I can’t help it if facts are less important to you than opinions.
Someday soon I would like to have a RFer and second basemen on this team that lead the league in something other than worst offensive production. What’s so hard to comprehend about that?
Backman was a 1st rounder #16 pick, limited range, limited pop and had to be platooned. He was basically Luis Castillo on a good team who played next to a great defender.
Alfonzo is the ONLY second basemen we have ever signed and developed who made the All Star team in 50 years. We HAVE signed and paid a lot to guys who sucked. I’d like to see that change some day.
Even if teams don’t draft and develop RFers and second basemen at least they don’t get ML worst production out of them year after year and if they did it wouldn’t be OK with them.
The team with the largest payroll should never have the worst RFer AND Second basemen in the league and we do almost every single year for the last two decades.
If that’s OK with you great, but it’s not with me. I’d like to get to the post season more than once every seven years.
And AGAIN,
We did not make the post season in 07 &08 because of what happened ON THE FIELD. Nothing else. Stop with your Monday Morning quarterback 2nd guessing.
Being a Mets fan you should KNOW what heartbreaking losses are more than any other team so knock it off.
We also had heartbreaking defeats in the 80s and who can forget that killer loss to Pittsburgh in 90 or 91. That was about as heart wrenching as it gets.
Stop with the excuses.
What excuses? I’m blaming our 11 losing seasons on not scouting, drafting and developing our own players especially at RF and 2B.
I’m not making any excuses. I’m placing the blame squarely on the fact that we get league worst offense from those positions time and time again. Year after year because we do not draft sign and develop anyone good enough to be better than the worst RFer or secondbasemen in the Majors.
I’m identifying this AS THE REASON we have not been to the playoffs more than 3 times in the last two decades.
Tell SD, Milwaukee, Cinn, SF, LA, and Pittsburgh about heartbreaking losses that took the post season out of their grasp. You think we’ve only had bad luck. We backed into a tie by “winning” a game we weren’t even in in 1999, then won the next day on a wild pitch walkoff to tie Cinn then beat them in a one game playoff. Think that didn’t hurt Reds fans?
Think ’86 didn’t kill Red Sox Fans? “69 didn’t tear up Cubs fans? ’73 didn’t destroy Pirate fans?
It hasn’t all been bad luck for us you know and really when you have the highest payroll over a 20 year period it really shouldn’t be left up to luck anyway.
A team with the highest payroll should get some kind of decent play from RF and 2B more than once or twice every 20 years.
The problem is your facts aren’t really facts just under valuations of what we have compared to what everyone else has!
The Braves have one of the best minor league system in the league. So yeah, just about every minor league system wouldn’t look that good compared to them.
The Mets have a GOOD minor leagues, not a great one – I never said it was great. Sandy Alderson said we were middle of the pack, which is probably about right….
And Eric O’Flaherty? He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners – he wasn’t drafted by the Braves.
How about the other guys I mentioned?
And I think Alderson was being kind by saying that and there is an extremely small minority of about 4 people that would disagree.
I wonder if the Braves “great farm system” might have anything to do with them going to the playoffs 15 times in 20 years. More than twice as often as we have gone in 49 years.
Of course having a great farm system helped…..
Well if it helps. Why wouldn’t you want us to have anything less than a great system?
When did I say i didn’t want a great farm system?
Well if you want a great farm say so. Don’t defend the policies and practices that prevent us having one.
If you think we should get more scouts, go over slot, keep more of our #1 and #2 picks say so.
If you think we should target corner OF hitters so we can stay away from free agency say so.
How about developing players? Do you think we should continue to have players learn a new position up here or would you prefer they already know how to play it when they get here?
Are you happy with the production we’ve gotten out of our FA 2B men? You want to sign more or would you like to draft and sign 5 guys and let the cream come to the top?
How about spreading out 10 Million every year on elite talent amateurs from the Caribbean instead of signing a Jason Bay or a Billy Wagner and teaming those guys up with the guys we drafted with the picks we kept?
Most of all how much better would you like our chances with Stanton in RF and Pedroia at 2B? We could have drafted them, anyone could have. Pedroia went #65 and Stanton #76. We could have drafted these guys as easily as FL or Boston did but we chose “slot guideline” guys.
I’m tired of slot guideline guys that washout constantly while everyone else pays the going rate and then we pay 10 times that much and get s**t.
Maybe because it got us to within one game of the WS?
The Mets have a good minor league system, not a bad one. Yes it could be better, but it isn’t as bad as you’re making it out to be. Like Alderson said: we are middle of the pack – i think we are going to have two very good players in Niese and Davis. Oh and that RFer you keep talking about, maybe Lucas Duda is going to be our future RFer – lets see.
And if murphy wins the 2B job, our entire infield would have came up through our system – I would say that’s a pretty good job of developing players.
Our minor league system is WAY better than what you’re saying it is. We have a lot of very talented players, and I’m excited to see how they play for us in the near future.
Don’t know why you bother fighting these guys.
You’re right. They dont know any better. Never show up to a gunfight with a pen knife instead of gun.
Joe, you note about Citi, “…because in a park that they repeatedly remind us was built for pitching, speed and defense….”
We have two lard butts potentially on the team, one at 1B and the other guy grooming for 1B if he goes to Buffalo. When the Mets spent a 1st Round pick on Davis, I was amazed. Ike is a good first baseman, thankfully, because that the only defensive position he can play well. At bat, his upper body athleticism makes him a potential long ball hitter with average. But Ike’s legs are less than mediocre. And Duda’s are worse. So I’m confounded why Omar would spend his First Round choice on a guy who will have to repeatedly crush the ball to justify his place in the offensive lineup at CitiField. And the odds of Ike or anyone in our lineup pulling a Pujols at Citi are remote. Duda was drafted in Round 7, so his selection is more understandable to me.
All the above means that we need a guy at 2B who can clear the bases with extra base hits. His name isn’t Ruben Tejada. Using Tejada, just about any Mets pitcher, Ike and Duda in the same lineup, gives me a sense of forboding. Too few hits and too slow. At small ballparks, it might work out well. Not in Flushing.
“Scouts admit they did not uniformly foresee Duda’s ascendance to becoming a top prospect.”
“A natural first baseman, Duda only began getting serious outfield exposure in the minors in left field the past two seasons because of Ike Davis’ presence on the same ’09 Double-A Binghamton team.Left field is a work in progress. Right field is an entirely new position, where Duda had not played professionally until the two Grapefruit League games this week.”I think I’m a little more comfortable out there,” Duda said about right field after getting a second exhibition game under his belt at the position Friday. “I’ll just keep plugging away. I took like 50 or 60 fly balls in right field after batting practice. I’ll continue to do that and see what happens.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/columns/story?columnist=rubin_adam&id=6209764
BTW I believe Duda had a double today
““I try not to think about it too much because when I look back on it, I was so immature and so dumb in terms of baseball,” he said. “I was very loud and obnoxious. I never listened to anybody, and there are guys in there right now that are the same way.”
A very good article on Izzy I recommend reading.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/sports/baseball/13mets.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss
I thought that quote was your admission of being out of your league. I was going to commend you on your honesty. Then I saw it was Izzy.
Maniac unlike some I never pound my chest in here talking about how much smarter i am compared to others in MMO about baseball. You have me confused with someone else.
I like baseball and enjoy no wait I love to talk with most of MMO about it. I am a die-hard MMO fan. I love the MMO community and reading what they write about the Mets I really do.
I don’t know if your joking or not but I am sorry that you think that quote was me speaking about myself. It shows how wrong you are about me. I try to treat ppl the way i want to be treated but how I am treated is out of my control.
If you really think that I am so immature and so dumb in terms of baseball and very loud and obnoxious and that I never listened to anybody. Well I think you have me figured all wrong.
I love all of the commenters here. I love how passionately you defend your opinions. It’s a great community. But please let’s keep everything respectable. We are all on the same side, no need to hit below the belt.
“But please let’s keep everything respectable. We are all on the same side, no need to hit below the belt.”
+100
From Sach in the MMO chat room:
Sach: acc. to Popper on twitter, TC when asked if he is not happy with the 4 guys-Castillo,Murph,Emaus,Turner in the 2B derby- 6 second pause and then foot tapping.
LMAO!
Thank you Sach. Thank you Steve Popper. Thank you Terry Collins.
Obviously the manager understands what I’ve been saying all along.
which is what again?
That reporters ask stupid questions?
Asking the manager about the only position battle in camp is a stupid question? What is it the Jersey likes to say? Oh yeah, I got it. WOW, SMH!
Donal, lucky for you Mets Kids Clubhouse starts up again this week on SNY. Now you’ll be able to tune in and hear all the good questions.
Joe,
With all the argumantative responses your article provoked, I thought I would like to say that your article was notable for your ability to take seeming negatives and ending up with hope and a positive article in the end. I agree with you that it is disappointing that our best defensive alternative at 2B will start in the minors. However, I view it as an opportunity for him to hone his hitting skills and perhaps return as the actual starting 2B before the send of the season. During the interim, I believe we can suffice with Luis at 2B, while Dan Murphy attempts to demonstrate ability to field the position. I also like your prior analogy of Harris and Hairston to last year’s experience with Matthews and Jacobs. Those guys are just stopgaps and deflect from identifying the true long term solution, which may be Duda. For all the seeming questionable decisions, somehow you continue to focus on finding the gems among a landscape of sand and gravel. Keep up the good writing.