13
2011
Pelfrey Bombshell: Never Gave Mets A Chance For 2011
An article by 
According to a report by Mike Puma in the NY Post, Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey admitted that he never gave the Mets much of a chance in 2011.
“It’s unrealistic for anybody at the end of last year to come in and say - The Mets, this is a one-year thing, next year we’re going to win it all – It’s unrealistic.”
Wow, I wonder if he told that to his manager Terry Collins when he was named the the Opening Day starter and the ace of the staff. Sorry Terry, you hung your hopes on a loser.
Maybe the truth is that it’s unrealistic to think this team can ever win with a player who has such a losing mentality. Is it no wonder he finished the first month of the season with a 7.39 ERA and was largely responsible to the team’s 5-13 start?
According to Puma, one of Pelfrey’s own teammates responded to his comment about the team’s chances this season and said,
“He’s cutting his own throat,” the player said. “What’s his record, six and nine? He’s supposed to be the ace of the [bleeping] staff. Why don’t you go and win 12 or 13 games?”
Unbelieavable… I don’t know which player said, probably not David Wright, but I applaud whomever it was.
What was Pelfrey thinking???? By making a statement like that, Pelfrey threw his entire team under the bus.
Winning a World Series begins with the mindset of every player on that team. One bad apple can spoil the entire barrel. Pelfrey is a bad apple if your goal is to build a winning atmosphere.
It’s been six years since he debuted with the Mets, and he is still as inconsistent and unreliable as ever. He told Puma that he doesn’t believe the fans want him back next season, my response to that is: WHY SHOULD THEY?
Unfortunately, even though I’ve hoped he would get non-tendered after this season, according to several reports it looks like the Mets will offer him arbitration and keep him after this season. Don’t expect a sweetheart deal with Scott Boras commandeering his ship. He’ll get top money and still pitch like the bottom of the rotation starter he’s been most of his Mets career.
It’s bad enough when you hear fans talk like Pelfrey, but to have this come from a player who has been paid millions of dollars, and who his teammates were counting on to be the team’s ace? Well that’s just too much for me to handle.
Pelfrey can take his 6-9 record and leave for all I care. I’m done with him.
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.
88 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 24 | 18 | .571 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 20 | .535 | 1.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 23 | .465 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 32 | .256 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
Recent Comments
- Dave In Spain: on Mets GM Tells Ike Davis He Has Until End Of Month To Turn Slump Around: Hey BBLB. I don´t remember, but it´s...
- Tommy2cat: on Minors Wrap-Up: Brown/Rodriguez Fill Up Stat Sheet, Cuan Dominant: Nice to see Andrew Brown didn't go...
- METS62FAN: on Injury Update: Wheeler To Rejoin Las Vegas Rotation Next Wednesday: MARK, AFTER 50+ YRS AS A MET...
- gary s: on Mets Appealing Harvey Earned Run, Want Tejada Charged With Error: The tragic is back.Everything about this team...
- Judge Holden: on Mets GM Tells Ike Davis He Has Until End Of Month To Turn Slump Around: Also, based on some of his comments,...
MMO Mets Chat
Need Tickets To The Mets Game?
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
5357 Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1270 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
You know, I have posted this thought before. I don’t want that kind of losing mentality in the clubhouse next year. Mike always manages to come up short. I know he has value as a 4 or 5 starter. But he is all about losing. I would not tendr him. Bite the bullet.
This really just goes to show how stupid Mike is. To actually say something like this to the media? What is he thinking? Stupid, stupid, stupid. No wonder he never made any adjustments or learned a change up. He’s just not all that bright.
I would keep him for 2012 though. His walk year, see if he puts together 20 good starts (he’s done it before, a few times) and see what you can get for him at the deadline or hold onto him and get a supplemental round draft choice.
The thing is to cash him in for a high end prospect rather than let him go and get nothing. That’s what always happens to our players. They leave and we get nothing. Pedro, El Duque, Schowenweiss, Alou, Matsui, Wagner, Delgado, Perez, Castillo. They go and we get nothing going forward.
Come 2012 if he’s not pitching well in his walk year we can just put ‘em in the pen or DFA him mid season. It’s worth the 6 M he’ll get next year just to give ourselves the chance to get something worthwhile for subsequent years and at the very least he’ll probably be healthy enough to give us 7 IP most nights out so he won’t kill the bull pen.
I completely agree, Pelfrey still has value. Non tendering him should be a last resort after all attempts to trade him have been exhausted. That said, if he were to agree to sign for $2-3 million for one year, I’d keep him. But let him go to arby to win an $8MM award, no way. He has trade value lets get something for him.
I agree that he has value as an innings eater. I said that. But sometimes you just have to make an example of someone.
I hear what your saying jdon. I just don’t think we’re in a position to give away anything. Three times, for about a half season each, Pelfrey has pitched pretty good. His arb request shouldn’t really be all that high since Borass will want him to be a FA after a good season, not a bad one. He’ll probably settle at 6 M. To me it’s worth paying the 6 M simply on the chance that he does pitch well in his walk year. The fact that he has been healthy and durable won’t hurt us either in bullpen burnout.
I won’t say it’s likely, I’m not optimistic about it but what do we really have to lose? 6 M. That’s it. Pay the money, hope for a result that allows you to get something at the deadline or a supplemental pick in 2013. If he’s that bad we can put him in the pen or just DFA him.
If we did have pitching riches close to the Majors I’m sure I’d feel the same way (I do to a certain extent) but Familia and Harvey cannot be rushed and Mejia’s won’t be back to just throwing side sessions until June. Schwinden, Moore and Owens aren’t going to be any better than Pelfrey in 2012 and might be needed to back up other guys.
Keep him. It’s the cost of having given away so many draft picks and prospects for guys who then left nothing behind when they moved on.
I feel like an idiot for spending over $100 bucks on a Pelfrey jersey last season. Sickening.
You bought a Pelfrey jersey?!?! Hahahahahaha. You should feel like an idiot.
I’ll bet Dickey said it. I like it when he talks.
Players have no business talking or even thinking like Pelfrey did.
http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/04/the-future-of-michael-alan-pelfrey.html
Pelfrey is just repeating what his OWN OWNER already threw out there before the season started. Dont blame Pelfrey, blame Fred!!!
One more thing sorry, you can also blame Wilpon for why Omar Minaya drafted Pelfrey in the first place, signability and sticking to those damned slot guidelines!!! Wilpon has this team in a choke hold!!!
Pelfrey is what he is, it’s not his fault, plus the team knew he had some kind of psychological problems when they drafted him. I’m not justifying what Pelfrey said, I’m just saying that he’s not the only one to blame.
Pelfrey was actually an over slot selection that slid due to signability concerns. The first round is not where the Wilpon’s have cheaped out. It’s in the subsequent rounds where they always look for signability first and foremost.
The HS kid with a world of talent passed over in rounds 2-20 in favor of the 1B/LF/DH type college player who will sign for slot due to lack of other options.
The HS kid gets selected by other teams and blossoms 5 years later into a true superstar while we’re still looking for positions for the college guy to be hidden at or the HS kid goes to college and becomes a 1st, 2nd or 3rd round pick which we’ve given away.
In any event the truly talented HS kid winds up playing against us instead of for us. That’s the double whammy of not going over slot in rounds 2-20 and drafting for price instead of talent.
We could of had Clay Buchholz instead of Pelfrey. What a mistake that was.
Hindsight is 20/20. Pelfrey was easily considered the best collegiate pitcher available in that draft and the Mets went well overslot to sign him to a major league contract. He only dropped to the Mets because the 8 teams in front of them were afraid of dealing with Boras.
It’s sad when a player gets reprimanded for telling the truth. The club set out to trade Carlos Beltran. The club didn’t pick up the much needed pieces it needed in order to compete. The team set out to trade their closer and put the job in the hands of someone 2 steps from retirement. This was all pre-set before the team took the field. Is Pelfrey wrong for telling the truth? Not at all. The big reason we stunk is because we had incapable everyday players @ 2B, LF, CF, and C. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Pelfrey looks around and sees rookies and youngsters around the roster. He knows, like realistic Met fans know, the team was going to strip away the better players and go with cheaper alternatives. That’s a recipe for disaster. Pelfrey knows what the rest of the roster knows- the team is NOT a playoff contender. The team won’t acquire pieces to compete. Pelfrey is simply telling it like it is. Half the roster knows it. What’s the problem?
…..Seriously?
Seriously? Are you THAT gullible? You’re the same guy that probably thought the Mets had NO CHANCE to compete this year. That could make you perfect for title of “hypcrotical Met fan” if that’s the case. Pelfrey not giving a media prepared answer and being HONEST (something the media and fans seem to have forgotten about) is refreshing. I have a new found respect for Pelfrey. Sadly in the hypocrite world of sports media and delusional fans his honesty is received negatively.
And you’re the same guy who killed Alderson for trading a 34-year-old with nothing to leave in his wake for a top pitching prospect, saying how terrible it is to give up even though he never actually said it, and now you defend the opening day starter for publicly stating it.
I just learned all I need to know about you. Thanks.
Seriously? Are you THAT gullible? You’re the same guy that probably thought the Mets had NO CHANCE to compete this year. That could make you perfect for title of “hypcrotical Met fan” if that’s the case. Pelfrey not giving a media prepared answer and being HONEST (something the media and fans seem to have forgotten about) is refreshing. I have a new found respect for Pelfrey. Sadly in the hypocrite world of sports media and delusional fans his honesty is received negatively.
And since a lot of HYPOCRITES read this message, lets call a spade a spade, shall we? Pelfrey gets hammered because he KNEW the Mets were getting rid of Beltran and K-Rod, while not picking up players to help them compete. I, for one, heard all the rumors about the Mets trading Beltran sometime this season. The players heard it. Pelfrey heard it. He also heard how the Mets were NOT going to keep K-Rod. The players knew it as well.
Pelfrey is only stating what is painfully obvious. The team was going to strip away their highly paid/highly talented players during the season. He knew we would be left with replacements that were NOT going to be suffice. That’s not quitting. That’s being REALISTIC. The Mets trade their best middle of the order hitter and most dangerous bat for a pitcher with a 4 ERA in A ball. That’s quitting. And Alderson should be bashed for not getting something better than that for Beltran.
Stupid would be assuming the Mets would compete with garbage like Emaus, Hu, Hairston, Pagan, and Bay on the field. Thole to catch?
Hypocrites are those who are bashing Pelfrey for feeling EXACTLY the way he did before the season.
And what you learned about me is that I don’t believe in bashing athletes for telling the truth. I leave that in the hands of fans who believe in the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy.
One more thing. Had the Wilpons opened the checkbook for a few much needed pieces, kept Beltran and K-Rod, this team is a LOT closer to the Braves than ANY of you would want to believe.
For a little more money, he could have went after:
C- Yorvit Torrealba
BP- Kerry Wood
BP- JC Romero
P- Aaron Harang
2B- Orlando Cabrera
Where the team is missing the middle of the order hitter, one couldn’t predict injuries to Ike and Wright. Ike, Wright and Beltran would have had a chance, but the message from ownership was K-Rod and Beltran were OUTTA here by the trade deadline. The whole point is our OWNERS/GM thought this team STUNK! Pelfrey, and the rest of the team, felt the same way. All the hype our overtly hyper manager spews to the media isn’t going to cover up this team’s deficiencies.
God Bless his optimism, but Collins doesn’t pitch nor hit. Kudos for Pelfrey for being honest.
The fans don’t play.
Neither do the media members.
Yorvit was involved in a lawsuit with the Mets thanks to another GM agreeing to terms with him and then backing out. Maybe you remember that guy?
Harang wanted to pitch in San Diego and said so
And Kerry Wood signed a contract with the Cubs that guaranteed him a front office position after he retires
Signing Orlando Cabrera sounds nice but not when you have literally 5 other players going for the same role. Why would he sign here rather than go where he knows he’ll be the starter?
This is the biggest fault the critics have. They just throw names out there as though everybody in the league looks at the Mets and says “I wanna go there.” Why do you think that is OmarFan?
You can’t just will players to the Mets. And you can’t just say they should have gotten them when it wasn’t a realistic goal to do so.
I don’t care if *I* thought the Mets were contenders. You put on the uniform Pelfrey, if you go out there assuming you’re gonna lose, you will. Prove me wrong. Don’t sit there and throw a pity party and assume you’re gonna lose.
If you think Pelfrey, or any Met for that matter, thought they were making the playoffs you are a DREAMER. Pelfrey was being refreshingly blunt and honest about a team that was going to be broken up no matter how well they were doing.
In other words, he wasn’t a company man. H
He wasn’t a puppet.
He wasn’t gassing the fans.
He was being HONEST.
And if you can’t accept HONESTY from an athlete, you’re a hypocrite.
As for me throwing names out there, if you pay ANY athlete enough money, they will be here. Losers COMPLAIN about guys they can’t get for whatever reason is thrown out there. Making excuses doesn’t win you any playoff appearances.
TALENT GETS YOU THERE!
Pelfrey told you the truth. Like Jack said in A Few Good Men, “You can’t handle the truth!”
OmarFan:
See here is where you’re lost.
There is a BIG difference between fans or analysts thinking a team has no chance, and a player not only thinking it but saying it. That is your JOB.
You think the Indians or Pirates on opening day thought they had a shot to be relevant? Why should they have based on your argument?
You can’t tell me “throw money at players” when you first said they could have been had for a little money. You’re just trying to find excuses to be right. But you’re not.
It’s funny to me that these comments came out while playing Arizona. Where would they be right now if guys like Hudson, and Kennedy said “we don’t have a chance.”
If Pelf or anybody thinks if this team was in the lead for the wildcard or within a game consistently that they still would have dealt Beltran or KRod… I dunno, but I doubt it.
Who give a CRAP if it’s his “JOB” and what does that have to do with how Pelfrey felt before the season started? The Mets didn’t need to spend 60 million in payroll to improve. If that were the case, I say cut Bay, sign Berkman and Lee and the rest of the guys I mentioned. The guys I mentioned weren’t back-breaking contracts. Don’t spin it.
The Pirates are irrelevant in case you haven’t checked the standings much lately. As for scenarios, the Indians and Pirates weren’t tossing their better players in the garbage like the Mets were planning to do with Beltran and K-Rod since the year began.
Every new GM comes in and makes changes. If changes weren’t necessary no one would have been hired in the first place.
Their wasn’t all that much that could have been done with this roster. Santana was out, Castillo and Perez were cut, Beltran was gone after this year with nothing being left behind and K-Rod would have cost 14 M against 2012′s payroll. 14 M for a decent closer is a lot when you have so many inherited diffiencies on the roster and the high minors.
Catcher probably won’t be solved until 2015 unless we can swing a trade of some sort.
2B wasn’t going to be filled from inside the organization this year except with stop gap types so the decision was made to give a 25 year old rule 5 a shot that didn’t cost one prospect or draft pick. Didn’t work. Hey either did Alomar, Matsui or Castillo.
LF isn’t pulling it’s weight. We knew that going in to the season. What do you want Alderson to do about it? He already had to DFA some inherited guys. CF he went with who he had. Pagan played well the last year and a half and while some people thought he should be sold high on I disagreed. I thought Pagan played a gold glove caliber CF last year. Minus a few too many brain cramps on the bases he’s an outstanding base runner. Doesn’t strike out a lot, hits a lot of line drives and is fighting to get a big contract, not guaranteed anything. He hasn’t played all that well this year, I guess those who called for him to be traded were right but he hasn’t been awful either and physically has the talent to excel on both sides of the ball and that’s not something we can afford to just give away. Believe it or not if he was a FA this year he’d be a type A. I don’t think teams would be falling all over themselves to give away a #1 pick for him but still……..
RF we got much more than I expected from Beltran health wise and it made a big difference but if Reyes wasn’t scorching hot all year and a #2 hitter who more than carried his weight and Murphy who pitchers had to be careful of behind him the numbers wouldn’t have been as good.
The bench was OK. Basically it was configured as Murphy, Hu, Hairston, Harris, Paulino (Nickeas the first week) when the season started. I’ve seen worse. Much worse. Right on this same team.
The Pen had some good (Buckholtz, Byrdek, Beato, Izzy, Parnell) at times. Some bad (Carrasco, Boyer, Igarashi) most of the time. Certainly wasn’t a strength that’s for sure. Takahashi’s pitched well, Feliciano’s hasn’t pitched at all and we got an 18 year old HS kid with a 97 MPH FB and an advanced curve for letting him go. Necessary move because Pedro wasn’t going to last forever.
Alderson will have to do better in this area next year and with some time to work on it probably will but we all know relievers are iffy from year to year and if we had any options from the minors that would have been a big help.
Most teams do provide three or 4 relievers them selves rather than going outside every year and it’s not like we didn’t address the bull pen numerous times in the draft in prior years.
2006 we drafted Joe Smith in the 3rd round, 2007 Eddie Kunz in the supp round, Scott Moviel and Brent Rustich in the 2nd round and Eric Niessen and Steven Clyne in the 3rd round. The only one that panned out was Smith and he was traded.
Capuano and Young were high risk, low cost, big reward guys who I think the idea was to get them re established and see what they could bring at the deadline. Didn’t work. Hey neither did Redding, Escobar, Livan, Williams, and a bunch of other guys we’ve brought in through the years like Estes, D’Amico ect. It happens.
When your options are limited to current Major Leaguers it’s always very limited. Sometimes it works, most times it doesn’t. That’s why it’s important to sign, draft and develop your own guys.
Alderson didn’t inherit a perfect team or he wouldn’t have been hired. He didn’t have free reign to allocate upwards of 200 M his first year or have the prospect base that Phillips inherited to start dealing from.
He could have done what you suggest and just pay everyone a lot more to come here but when you think about it, isn’t that philosophy what built the “worst teams money could buy” part one and two?
Who wants to revisit 1993 and 2003 anyway?
“Every new GM comes in and makes changes. If changes weren’t necessary no one would have been hired in the first place.”
That assumes that the guy before him got fired for a GOOD reason.
Now this isn’t a slam at the hiring of Sandy or what he might do because I don’t think even his staunchest supporters really have a clue about what he is going to do they just ASSUME we are going to be Oakland circa 1995…
But it might prove out that we wee a bit hasty in firing Omar of all those kids you guys don’t like in the MiLs turn out to be All stars or HOF material!
We shouldget an idea of what Sandy thinks about them sometime during the offseason but so far he sure hasn’t been in a ny rush to get rid of any of them and in fact has promoted quite a few with good result.
As was posted in an earlier blog…the book on Omar is not yet closed and what many of you feel was boondoggling could turn out to be genius once his draft picks and aquisitions make it to the MLB level!
So far you can’t say he was horrible with the evaluations when you count up how many MiL guys are now here and perfroming well!
X I get what you guys are saying, I do…
But answer me this….
When is the TRUTH not welcome?
When is the TRUTH spoken by fans unallowed by players?
I mean the TRUTH is the TRUTH is it not?
Wouldn’t we all be better off if everyone spoke the truth regardless of what they do or where they came?
Sure he could have done something to change the facts on the ground but did any of you think he was going to when the season started?
He made a statement to show the disparity of what WAS before the season started to what exists NOW!
If he had come out and said we were going to win at the beginning of the season you all would have said he was crazy for saying it!
SO the TRUTH is either: WE convinced him all hpe was lost, The MEDIA convinced him all was lost, the OWNERS convinced him all was lost, OR….
ALL WAS ACTUALLY LOST!
And he merely believed the truth…
I don’t care what he felt when the season started because he sure wasn’t alone in that.
What IS relevant and everyone seems to be missing is what he was TRYING to tell us cause that IS significant!
This is not the same team, it does not have the feeling that they CAN’T DO!
It has transformed into a CAN DO team! And maybe if we start treating it as such and give it some help so it CAN DO MORE, maybe not only will Pelfrey feel they can win…WE WILL TOO!
Pelfrey put forth the evidence that a change has happened around here….
And it could go right back if we give up and sell it all off in the name of kids who do not have that CAN DO/WIN attitude and as a result we revert back wasting all we HAVE ACCOMPLISHED this year!
“He made a statement to show the disparity of what WAS before the season started to what exists NOW!”
Metsie, I believe you mis-read the quote or the whole article. He made those comments about what WAS, not what IS.
“This organization is headed in the right direction,” he said. “The front office has done a lot of smart things, and in the end this organization is going to have a chance to be in the playoffs every year.”
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/bad_pelf_analysis_3QykeAFVyMopdxYCOH2KmJ#ixzz1UvIJPz00
The reason we have incapable players at C, 2B, CF, LF is because we don’t draft for those positions. That then causes us to give away draft choices in order to secure the services of someone to play there.
The plan was to play Castillo at 2B and Bay in LF. Pagan over the prior year and a half had looked very good on both sides of the ball. This year he hasn’t but no one can deny that he has the talent to play well in all facets of the game and Thole was the only catcher we have developed since Hundley. Offensively Paulino was a very good compliment to Thole but neither are going to win gold gloves and Thole is really just the product of a very poor job of scouting, drafting, signing and developing catchers overall in our farm system. The best of a bad lot.
The best talent in the Draft comes from the first 3 rounds. 50% of the 2011 All Star game was comprised of former 1st, 2nd and 3rd round draft choices (in decending order of quantity) and 25% were IFA’s. These are areas where the Mets typically look to save money. We traditionally look to save money where spending is most beneficial and then look to make up for it where options are very limited, very expensive and frequently provide the leagues worst over all production.
At catcher in the last decade we have drafted exactly one backstop in the first 3 rounds. Blake Forsythe 2010 3rd round, 21 yrs old Savannah A-. We also selected Aaron Hathaway 4th rnd 2004, quit after 2 years and Dock Doyle 5th round 2008 25 years old in St. Lucie 7 games caught this year.
The only year in the last decade in which it appears catcher was even addressed in the draft was in 2005. Drew Butera 5th round, traded for Castillo, McCraw 8th round 25 yrs old in A+ with Milwaukee, 11th round Luis Martinez, did not sign and was drafted by SD two years later and is now up with them for the first time this year and Josh Thole 13th in the 13th round who spent two years learning how to play 1B.
We also signed as IFA’s Albert Cordero 21 Savannah A- in 2008 who is by far and away the best catching prospect at any level in our system and Francisco Pena in 2006 21 yrs old A+ St.Lucie and this year Jose Garcia 16 years old DSL. We also lost an IFA catcher in the 2007 rule 5 Jesus Flores signed in 2002 who as a 21 year old in the Fl. St. League A+ had hit 21 HR’s, (led the league) almost unheard of production for a 21 year old catcher in the pitching rich Fl. St. League.
Same story exists at OF. Three positions, we’ve drafted exactly 4 guys in the first 3 rounds in the last 10 years. Lastings Milledge 1st rnd, #12 slot selection with no interest in college now 26 with Charlotte AAA (White Sox) Javier Rodriguez, 2nd round 2008 21 yrs old with the Cyclones, Kirk Niewenhauss 3rd round 2008, 24 AAA Buffalo and Brandon Nimmo 1st rnd 2011 #13, 18 yrs old Gulf Coast Rookie League. (hopefully)
We’ve also signed as IFA’s some OF prospects going all the way back to Carlos Gomez in 2002, Fern 2005, Puello 2006 and Juan Lagares 22 yrs old Binghamton, a 2005 signee was turned into an OFer (from SS) in 2009. Still that’s only 8 top shelf talented OFers in ten years of drafts and IFA signings. Kirk was more of a “find” than anything else as he played NAIA Division baseball and as everyone inside and outside of baseball knows not every prospect makes it, so why only eight guys in ten years between both sources, draft and IFA in the top 3 rounds or internationally?
In the last five years alone we’ve drafted at least five relief pitchers out of college in the 1st, supplemental, 2nd and 3rd rounds. Joe Smith, Eddie Kunz, Brent Rustich, Eric Niessen and Steven Clyne and then spent two more #1 draft choices on Billy Wagner and Francisco Rodriguez and a boatload of useful players on JJ Putz. plus we gave up another #2 pick in 2002 for David Weathers and signed Bradon Looper as a free agent in 2004 and Schowenweiss and Mota in 2007.
All told that’s two #1 picks, a supplemental pick, a 2nd round pick and three 3rd round picks and a bunch of useful players on the bullpen in five years and yet at just four of the starting eight everyday positions 4 OFers and one catcher in ten years while we’ve also spent a #1 (Alou) and three #2 picks (Cedeno, Floyd and Bay) and a #3 (Beltran) to address our lack of in house options in the OF and a another former #1 pick (Milledge) to address C and RF.
On what planet is the bull pen 10 times more important than half of your starting everyday positions?
This is a systematic failure encompassing the last two years of Phillips era, Duquette’s one year, Minaya’s 6 years and Alderson’s first and also encompasses a period where we have given away 4 first round picks, six 2nd rounders and four 3rd rounders and traded away two more 1st rounders for a DH.
That’s why we have received such poor play overall from C, RF and LF and the fact that we have Den Dekker and Vaughn coming up doesn’t really change that because those guys are old for their league and have huge strikeouts rates in the minors and if they were sure bets would have been drafted a lot higher and even if they were to make it up here could be due to the overall lack of talent in the farm as opposed to possessing a tremendous amount of talent themselves.
They may make it up here and they may even make it big but the fact remains that 29 teams had questions about them and that’s the reason they weren’t drafted higher.
It’s time to start devoting a major part of our assets to filling C, LF, CF and RF with as many top ranked IFA’s and 1st, 2nd and 3rd round draft choices as possible and start rounding out the pen the way everyone else does it. By turning failed starters into good relievers.
Good Post.
But how can you lump Alderson in with Phillips, Duquette or Minaya? Didn’t he draft a CF, SPs and some Catchers with the draft?
Note he didn’t mention McIlvane who drafted NO ONE of any worth!
As for how can you lump Alderson in there? Well you can’t yet….Not until his draft picks are as worthless as all of theirs!
And you can’t elevate him until he has proved his picks are any better than those guys.
Tag I have to say is less interested in trashing or elevating Alderson…
He’s just all about trashing everyone not named Cashen (rightfully) and McIlvane (who deserves the trashing as much as all the neames he mentioned!)
I just went back the last 10 years. 2002-2011. And I’m not trashing anyone, I’m just pointing out WHY we have gotten such poor play overall from these positions.
Like it or not, it is the work you Organization has done, or not done, in the last 5-10 years that most influences the options you have for your roster THIS year.
That’s why I went back ten years. I suppose I should have just dealt with 1997-2006 but I wanted to include the kids we do have in the minors right now and that would have cut them out.
Certainly one year, or even two isn’t a fair representation for any GM’s results or strategy but over a 10 year period encompassing multiple regiems does shed some light on why these positions never get filled from the minors.
As for the OF we have drafted only 6 players in the first 3 rounds in 14 years. Considering that OF comprises 3 of the everyday starting positions that’s pretty hard to believe especially when you consider that in 1/3rd of that time we have drafted at least 5 college relief pitchers and spent two first and a second round pick on three others.
Catcher has been another chronically neglected area in our draft and we have actually shipped out more productive catchers than we have kept while at the same time drafting for relief pitchers, giving up 1st and 2nd round picks for them and shipping the best one’s elsewhere (Izzy and Bell)
Phillips only drafted one catcher in 6 years before the 5th round. The reason this is so disturbing is that more often than not catchers don’t stick at the position. Many times they get shifted somewhere else. Catchers also have higher than normal bust rates due to heavy workloads in the minors.
Not only is the position itself taxing but catchers also have their own workouts, drills, BP, learn game calling, they also get grabbed to catch every side session whenever a pitcher is working on something. Many times they get taken out of a game when their splitting innings only to go warm someone up in the pen. Between washout, stagnation, migration to other positions the ranks get thinned out considerably as you go higher in the minors. This is why you need MORE catchers and you need to draft more of them in early rounds, not later ones so you can provide a couple that can handle your staff for 6-10 years.
You mean Options like Justin Turner, Daniel Murphy, Ike Davis, Jon Niese, Dillon Gee, and Lucas Duda?
Are those the HORRIBLE options you are talking about?
“As for the OF we have drafted only 6 players in the first 3 rounds in 14 years.”
So drafting OF in the first three rounds in only HALF the drafts isn’t enough for you?
We should draft an OF in EVERY year? One Third of the team should be OBSESSED on in the draft?
Did it ever occur to you that WHERE we picked there were no more good OFers to pick?
What is more important? The player or the position he plays when you pick?
Where do players who hit well but can’t play the infield because of their glove go to play?
Whats more important in the OF? Fielding gold glove or hitting for average and power?
Agee give us a break with this redundantly boring and superfluous jibberish you keep posting. All you’re doing is telling how rotten Duquette and Phillips were. We know already. Why are you wasting your time? Talk about something meaningful, please
Seriously…Who cares? lol
Not just Phillips and Duquette, Minaya’s in there too. 18 draft choices over 6 years in the first 3 rounds and he spends 6 of them on relief pitchers. No wonder we have no OFers or catchers.
Six top 3 picks on Starting pitching, six top three picks on relief pitching and 8 top three picks for everything else.
2005 #1 Pelfrey – #2 (Pedro) – #3 (Beltran)
2006 #1 (Wagner) – #2 Kevin Mulvey – #3 Joe Smith
2007 #1 (Alou) – #1S Eddie Kunz – #1S Nate Vineyard – #2 Scott Moviel
#2 Brent Rustich – #3 Erick Niessen – #3 Steven Clyne
* Two Supp picks (1S) extra 2nd and 3rd rounder due to The Orioles
signing Bradford and the Indians signing Roberto Hernandez.
2008 #1 Davis – #1 Havens – #1S Holt – #2 Javier Rodriguez RF- #3 Kirk Niewenhauss CF * Extra 1st and supp picks due to Tom Glavine signing with Atl.
2009 #1 (K-Rod) #2 Stephen Matz – #3 Robbie Shields SS
2010 #1 Matt Harvey – #2 (Bay) – #3 Blake Forsythe C
Basically 6 starting Pitching candidates, 6 relief pitching candidates, 1 Catcher, 1 2B, 1 SS, 1 RF, 1 CF.
Pitching’s valuable every knows that but how about every day position players. Guys that can hit the **** out of the ball, play gold glove defense and run like cheetah’s. Where are they in the whole scheme of things?
Minaya spent just one #2 and one #3 pick on OF prospects in the first three rounds of the draft over a period of 6 years and this coming on the heels of Phillips and Duquette’s 7 year run with only 3 OFers taken in the first three rounds is the reason we are always deficient at those 3 positions.
We’ve spent as many top draft choices in the last 14 years trying to correct our OF diffencies as we have trying to draft top talent. OFers Roger Cedeno, Cliff Floyd, Mike Cameron, Carlos Beltran, Moises Alou, and Jason Bay cost a total of One #1, four #2′s and a #3 pick. Exactly where the best players come from in the draft. Guys that if they make it, make it big, guys you have for a long time, guys that are assets even while their in your farm system in case a worthwhile trade opportunity comes along.
Minaya didn’t even get many international amateur OFers. OK Fern was a excellent attempt, didn’t work out but that just illustrates why you need more top talent prospects at OF especially in this park. Lagares was a SS moved to LF. Eziequiel Carerra (just named AAA level best base runner and best defensive OFer) was included in the Putz trade. Inherited OFers like Gomez and Milledge were traded. Puello was the only international OF signee other than Fern and the farm had just been stripped of OF prospects by Phillips in Bay, Escobar and Nelson Cruz so how exactly were we supposed to fill LF, CF and RF? Just sign a FA every year and give away another #1 or #2 pick?
Catcher is exactly the same issue. Phillips never spent a #1, #2 or #3 pick on a catching prospect. Duquette either. Minaya spent one #3 pick on a catcher (Blake Forsyth 2010) in 6 years. That’s now 14 years of neglecting this vital position. You would have to go all the way back to 1994 to find the last time we took a catcher in even the 2nd round or 1989 the last time we took one in the first round.
True Minaya signed an international amateur in 2006 Francisco Pena but he lost an international amateur Phillips signed (under his own direction) in 2002. A very good defensive catcher who at 21 had led the Fl. St. League in HR’s. Those types of prospects are gold especially when you constantly neglect the position in the draft. I mean c’mon, if your thinking beyond just this year do you put David Newhan on the 40 man roster or Jesus Flores?
The NYY have had the same catcher for a decade and a half and that didn’t stop them from signing Cervelli in 2002, Montero in 2006 or Sanchez in 2009 and they wouldn’t lose one of them to the rule 5.
It’s very disappointing that under three successive GM’s we have constantly neglected the OF and catcher in the top 3 rounds of the draft and then traded or lost OFers and catchers from our system like Nelson Cruz, Carl Everett, Alex Escobar and Jason Bay (in his prime) Jesus Flores and while we have used a lot of top draft picks to select college relief pitchers and sign FA closers (Weathers, Wagner and Rodriguez) we’ve shipped out a lot of one’s that turned out to be pretty good too (Dan Wheeler, Izzy, Bell, Smith)
Neglecting top talent position players and then losing what few we do have, constantly keeps us behind the 8 ball. We always have guys that are good one one side of the ball, not both. Guys who can hit but can’t field or don’t have a true position. Guys who come up here to learn their position. Guys who may work out or may not and as college players get up here at 25 so by the time they learn their position and make all the necessary adjustments in the batters box are well into their prime before they’ve even put it all together.
Look at any list of the top everyday position players that are good in both the field and with the bat and most of them came directly from HS and unless they were International amateurs were drafted in the first 3 rounds.
Exactly the position players we have been avoiding.
Blah Blah Blah…
And what is the breakdown of SUCCESSFUL picks made by the great and powerful McIlvane?
How many years did it take him to complile that great pile of NOTHING he picked?
Truth has nothing to do with it. If you were his teammate would you want ot go into battle with him at your side? Because he tells the truth?. Besides, it wasn’t REALLY the TRUTH. It was his own negative opinion. The team turned out a lot better than he thought they would be.
Truth has EVERYTHING to do with it!
Your chastising him for AGREEING with you!
You say would you want to play on the team with him and that attitude?
Well lets take that notiong to it’s logical conclusion…
Would you want to PLAY HARD for a fan who thinks you have no shot as MANY if not MOST of you did this spring?
He said what he AND YOU thought about our chances when the season started…
He spoke the TRUTH!
NOW unless you thought they had a shot to win when the season started and said so (and can post a link to prove it) then all you are is a hypocritical whiner complaining about someone stealing YOUR OWN ACT!
So what if he is a player!
Players have every right to think they have no chance and have every right to not try hard if the fans feel they suck so bad no reason to go see them!
it wasn;t the truth. It was his opinion.
That is why I say truth has nothing to do with it. It is only the truth if it comes true. He gave his opinion. I consider it the opinion of a loser. Why do you have problems understanding that.
Check the standings and the roster. It’s the truth.
NEWSFLASH it was YOUR opinion too!
So your just as wrong as he was!
Coincidentally I find myself agreeing with Pelf every 5th day ifyouknowwhatimeam.
Sad. Here’s a fan who needs a “change of scenery”… get out, Pelf! He’s nothing but a shirt-chewing, tongue licking, head case! I’d not be surprised if he were traded at some point. But don’t expect a large contract and I’d also expect he not remain a Met past 2012 if he doesn’t right his ship.
How many fans were right there with him when the season started?
I don’t condone him admitting it but I do see what his point was in saying it and it wasn’t about how he felt about the team when the season started, he was trying to point out HOW MUCH HAS CHANGED since then!
He could have (should have!) made his point without telling everyone about his lack of faith, but this is a classic case of people focusing on the SETUP of a point and missing or ignoring THE POINT he was trying to make….Something that happens around here on a daily basis!
We have known for YEARS now that Pelfrey’s main issue that stops him from being an ACE is his lack of faith in HIMSELF! Add to it all the stories, fan rants and assumptions made by all about how SORRY a state this team was that neccesitated firing just about everyone involved from the manager’s level on up, With all that being said he is supposed to keep the faith hardly anyone here bothered to keep themselves?
I don’t fault him for how he felt, He wasn’t alone…(I didn’t agree but I was in the Minority there! )
Is he dumb as an OX for saying what he said? Sure but I don’t expect Athletes picked for physical skills to be all that developed in the brain and thinking process to begin with. Some do and they over achieve because they do! Dickey is a fine example!
What Pelfrey felt was no different than people felt then and up until two weeks ago when they gave up and were ready to sell off whatever they could for 2014-2016…
If you see reality that way then you sure have no soapbox to stand on to complain when a players sees reality under the same light!
He shouldn’t have opened his mouth, he should have done what Players have done for ages…LIED, SAID NOTHING, USED CLICHE that can be aired but says virtually nothing…
But I refuse to crucify him for being HONEST especially when he was making a confession in the name of making the point THIS IS NOT THE SAME TEAM WE STARTED WITH! NOT the team we expected to see all year!
Something is different and the sooner we take advantage of that change and give that change what it needs to succeed, the sooner not only Pelfrey will believe we have a shot at something maybe even the FANS will too and start going to the games, buyin tickets, CHEER ON the team, so that maybe Sandy won’t have to reduce payroll and maybe keep or sign new, the players we need to beat the Phillies and Braves and anyone else who gets in our way!
Metsie, your case doesn’t hold water. Pelfrey didn’t make his statement about the team as it is now as opposed to last month. He made his statement about how he felt coming into this season, complete with Beltran, K-Rod and a healthy Davis and Wright. He didn’t feel this team could compete THEN, not how the team is NOW.
Right as it was in the beginning COMPARED TO NOW!
Or did you skip this part?
“This organization is headed in the right direction,” he said. “The front office has done a lot of smart things, and in the end this organization is going to have a chance to be in the playoffs every year.”
I don’t think he was comparing it to now, that was his feeling from jump street.
“It’s unrealistic for anybody at the end of last year to come in and say – The Mets, this is a one-year thing, next year we’re going to win it all – It’s unrealistic.”
Well I read the same article and it was quite clear he was comparing then to NOW!
If not he would not have talked about NOW at all!
Can’t just cherry pick the parts of the quote you want and ignore the rest…Context says the REASON he mentioned how he felt was to point out the CHANGE from then to now!
He didn’t mention any kind of change. It’s very clear he was talking about the season from the get-go. He said specifically that coming off of last season (not coming of the trade deadline, or the Beltran deal, or whatever changed the team recently) it was unrealistic to think the Mets could compete this season.
So what was the quote I posted…a continuation of the we have no chance sentiment?
In October of 1962 someone said the world was coming to and end…If not for the patient and reserved approach of Kennedy…
Which is the important part of that sentence? The world is coming to an end or the bit about Kennedy?
you don’t relat the two because the writer seperated them with his own writing but they very much together when Pelfrey said them…
It is not like he said the first bit, went and had lunch, played Golf and then came back and said the second bit!
Yet you are reading them in that way BECAUSE THE WRITER wanted you to!
And why does he want you to?
Because the first bit makes for a good story the second bit does not!
You really should take a seat Metsie because Xtreemicon is completey owning you. Like he said this was Pelfrey’s feeling prior to his Opening Day start. He pitched the opener believing this team had no chance before the injuries struck. It was wrong of him to say and admit, let alone think it.
Yeah Nester so you thought they were playoff bound at the beginning of the season did you?
Funny I don’t remember seeing you post that at any time….Care to provide a link showing you did?
Pelfrey thought the same thing YOU thought!
When is truth ok for one and not another?
There is a significant difference between those that can influence a result and those who cannot influence a result believing or not believing in what is possible.
If your on the field you do everything you possibly can in order to give yourself every single chance of victory. What someone in the stands or living room thinks has no effect on the outcome whatsoever.
NO! WRONG! TURTH is TRUTH no matter what you ability to affect that TRUTH!
Did YOU believe Pelfrey was the difference maker? If you did not believe that to be true then why should anyone else?
TRUTH is UNIVERSAL not different from person to person…if it IS different from person to person then it is not a TRUTH!
Just a perception, not a FACT!
You said it was FACT…If you were right then so too was Pelfrey!
So Metsie & Omar: You think players on bad teams should go into Spring training thinking they don’t have a shot?
Am I really reading this? So with NFL training camps you think the Bills are walking around saying “man the Pats and Jets are too good, we have no shot.”
Of course not!
They are not fans, they are not reporters. They have an impact on what the result is.
A player who comes out and says at the start of the season they had no chance? That’s a joke. You never hear players on Cleveland, KC, Pitt, Wash, Arizona etc say that do you?
Why not?
Because if you think and say things like that AS A PLAYER then you are suggesting YOU are a failure. And if you do that, then quit your day job.
Doesn’t matter what they think especially when every other person on the planet thinks the SAME EXACT THING!
It only matter what they DO!
And the truth of the matter here is that Pelfrey tried to do MORE than he should have to make up and PICK UP the percieved lack of talent EVERYONE said existed!
Maybe if you and the other Chicken Littles that have crowed every chance they get about how sorry a state this franchise is in did not take on the mission of trashing:
The Minors who have come up and won games for us this year
Every player who was good such as Beltran, Bay and Reyes (you were all talking about getting rid of them because you COULD NOT WIN WITh THEM!)
The manager who because he lost Mo Vaughn sometime in the past
and perpetuating this MYTH of how BROKE the Wilpons were because of Madoff AGAINST THE FACT that they made a profit from him and the lawsuit was obviously a bad extortion attempt which has proved out in court lately
MAYBE if you guys who keep saying how HORRIBLE SHAPE this team is usuing BASEBALL AMERICA as your proof would just shut up stop trying to tell everyone the SKY IS FALLING in METLAND….
MAYBE no one including the PLAYERS THEMSELVES would buy into it!
The entire TEAM felt that way they just didn’t admit it!
It took Terry Collins to get it out of their head!
Maybe if your doomsday boys would just shut up and look at that crappy MiL system you keep crowing about win games for us and get big hits, That manager you didn’t like that lost his team GET his team to fight and die for him…
MAYBE if you didn’t crow so much about trading the BIGGEST BATS in the lineup for something 4 years down the road, MAYBE they would have had a better attitude going into the season…
and MAYBE if you guys had went and bought tickets instead of whining about how bad this team was going to be they MIGHT have kept the faith enough to AVOIDE 6-13 and be only 4 or 5 games out of the Wildcard right now!
But it was so important for you to trash this team so you could RETEST the failed philosophy called MONEYBALL!
And thats even LONG AFTER all your assesments were proved WRONG! Beltran was playing everyday! Yet you stayed YOUR course and refused to keep the key bat that was helping all those MiLers win the games!
Between your ranting and the media’s ranting, why would ANYONE believe this team had a shot at winning anything?
thinking something in your head is not the truth. It is just your thought. the truth is what comes true. and even if the team did stink this year it would have been the wrong thing to do. baseball players should not always voice their thoughts. They are part of a whole. It is understood that attitude is a very important facet of the team concept and negative vibes do damage. You may not think so but that is how clubhouses go.
I guess he just felt that any team that touted himself as its ace was doomed.
What Pelfrey was saying is the team stinks. Pretty honest when you look around and see what he’s playing with-
1. A bum in Bay
2. Rookie behind the plate
3. Trash in CF
4. Rubbish in the pen
5. Weak bench
6. No legit middle of the order hitters
So Pelfrey thinks this team doesn’t have a chance….lol. Master of the obvious is what I would call him!
You’re wrong, too.
6. No legit middle of the order hitters
Pelfrey made those comments about what he thought the team would be with Beltran, Davis and Wright in the middle of the order.
Boy, you ARE gullible. Beltran was a goner since the offseason. Everyone with a functioning brain new that. Ike was UNPROVEN and I’m sure the team doesn’t see Wright like the rest of his fans do.
Pelfrey made those comments because he knew the team was BS.
Do you know another word other then gullible, talk about bore.
When you go to work, do you tell the media that the company you work for sucks, if so, do you think you’ll have a job tomorrow.
You are clueless
Pelfrey knows his company SUCKS! What’s the problem? He’s saying it in case you’re not able to read between the lines. And a company that usually sucks, sits there and languishes behind the better organizations. Get a clue and check the standings. Get a clue and check the roster.
Pelfrey said what every Met knew before the season.
Do you, and all the other hypocrites, REALLY think Pelfrey and his teammates thought they could compete before the season began. The talk of the entire off-season went like this:
1. The Mets were going to trade Beltran before the trade deadline
2. The Mets were going to trade K-Rod before he hit the 55 games completed mark
3. The Mets were going to trade Reyes because they couldn’t afford him.
4. The Mets didn’t sign ANYONE on the free agent market.
5. The Mets were going to work towards DRASTICALLY lowering payroll.
So reading and hearing all the rumors, Pelfrey was supposed to sit there and tell the fans that he thought they were going to compete for a playoff spot before the season began??????
If you believe that, there are a few other words besides gullible we can use to describe fans:
1. delusional
2. stupid
3. clueless
4. idiotic
5. moron
6. dreamer
7. clowns
8. imbeciles
Talk about clueless – this has nothing to do with whether or not he, the fans or anyone believed this team was going to compete this year, it’s about how to handle yourself as a professional.
Yeah and what did he do at the beginning of the season that says he did not handle himself in a professional manner pray tell?
Did he just lob in his fastball minus 10 MPH because he felt there was no chance to win anyway? NO!
What he did was try TOO hard if anything and tried to win a game all by himself that he didn’t expect anyone else on the team to win FOR him!
And looking at the BA of the players during the 6-13 start he wasn’t so wrong in thinking that, just wrong for trying to make up for it all by himself!
And what did you think when they were 6-13? They were playoff bound?
The difference isn’t in the names on the roster…
The difference is in the ATTITUDE that is here!
i dont have any problem with honesty.
He is tradeable and he will be traded or dumped. The Met will keep Capuano and give Pelfrey his walking papers. Dont have to trade his spine because he never had one.
BIG PELF IS A BIG LOSER!
Pelf has that John Maine vibe around him and it isn’t good.
He’s part of a dysfunctional past and he needs to go.
As Hawk Harrellson, The White Sox announcer says after a strike out: “HE GONE!”
Trade Pelfrey, Keep Reyes.
Amen.
I don’t get it.
A couple of months ago, Dickey, after a loss, said something to the effect that when all is said and done, maybe this team needs to take ownership of what’s going on. Look in the mirror and be honest. Instead of thinking ‘we’re better than this, we don’t deserve this fate’, maybe it’s time to be realistic that this might just be who we are right now.
So the post takes a couple of comments said by Pelf, that were probably cheery picked for this article, and throws them out there to slant it towards whatever point they wanted to present.
And NOW Met fans are all up in arms?
Pelfrey can go lick his hands, and when he’s done he lick my @#$%. Pelfrey is basically a loser & a head case. I’ve been urging the Mets to trade him for year. Sadly, the Mets right now are too strapped for pitching.
I cannot believe that people are defending loser comments from a loser. How far can a met fan sink? I actually thought this team could win 82-84 games this year and said so. If they were to do it after all the injuries I would be flabbergasted. I never thought theyw ould be in post season. And I would never expect a teammate to say shit like this.
A loser who agreed with you at the beginning of the season no?
If he is a loser what does that make you for feeling the same way he did?
Why is it ok to feel that way as a fan?
What gives you the right and not him to CALL IT AS HE SEES IT?
because he is on the team and I am not. Did you ever play organized baseball on a team?
Yes I did! Did you?
Point is if you can think it so can he!
Your both HUMAN and you both have the right to FEEL however you want!
You don’t deserve any EXTRA right to speak that he does not!
Maybe if you guys and the media didn’t harp on in every story how MISERABLE and AWFUL this team was EVERYDAY he would not have been convinced what you said was true!
Human Beings tend to believe what the group believes. Or do you suggest that because he plays on a team that reality doesn’t exist for him and he should fantasize that he is on a Playoff team?
Maybe if you had believed and showed up to cheer them on like they HAD a chance at the playoffs he wouldn’t have felt that way!
Can’t really disagree with what Pelfrey said, however, he shouldn’t have said it. Seriously…how can a team with Mike Pelfrey pitching opening day be considered a contender?!
When were the quotes attributed to Pelfrey supposed to have taken place? I did not see that listed in the article. Did Pelfrey say these things yesterday?, the day after the Mets traded Beltran? Did Pelfrey make these comments in Spring Training? Over the winter? ? Also in what context did Pelfrey make the comments? Did Pelrey walk up to a reporter and say, “Hello Mr. Reporter let me tell you a few things..”
Were the quotes taken out of a larger interview? If so, why not reprint or share the link for the entire interview?
What’s people’s problem with what Pefrey said anyway? So because Pefrey recognizes that the Mets are not likely winning the World Series in 2011 he suddenly turns into a louse who doesn’t play hard or care? Pelfrey is not Oliver Perez. Can anyone honestly say that Pelfrey doesn’t give max effort and have pride in his performance?
Did Pelfrey refuse to take a minor league demotion this year? No, but another Met player did.
Did Pelfrey miss an entire season because he choose to have elective surgery to make himself more attractive in the free agent market 2 years later? No. But another Met player did.
Did Pelfrey sexually molest woman and then expose himself to females in the Mets bullpen? No, but another Met player did.
Did Pelfrey “rat out” his drug using coke head baseball player friends to get out of a felony indictment? No. but another Met player did.
What does Pelfrey do? He states the obvious. “Hey we’re not winning this year” OH WOW That really burst my bubble…. Pelfrey takes the ball and throws inngs. I like Mike Pelfrey I think when he gets his shit figured out he is going to be a consistent 15 game winner/200+ inngs a year pitcher.
here is my final word on this matter: Pelfrey was not speaking the truth. He was speaking his mind. there is a difference that some on this board do not understand and that is fine. honesty and truth are two different things In a team environment, honesty is not always the best policy. only a naive individual believes that honesty is always the best policy.
Looks like this article was written by a hack. I bet most of
what Pelfry said that was positive was left on the tape recorder or note book.
NY writers are the worst in the industry.
The team trades away Beltran, your closer & you should keep a positive outlook?
Yeah right.
I see 2 problems with Pelfrey: first he is not the brightest bulb on the planet, second motivation is a big problem for him. There are many ways to get motivated. Dickey motivates himself because he is mature. Jose’ and Carlos motivated themselves with dreams of a big contract after their walk seasons. Young players like Turner, Murphy, Tejada and Thole motivated themselves because of the potential to win a slot in the starting lineup. Pelfrey cannot motivate himself, but needs to be motivated. Mgmt has a choice of positive reinforcement or negative motivation. For Pelfrey, he had too much positive reinforcement being designated as the “ace” this season and crumbled under that. He was handed that reward on a silver platter and it was too much for him to carry. He is an indvidual who responds to negative forms of motivation. Smack him down and tell him he stinks and is in danger of losing his job. Then he will buckle down and perform as he should. Entering ST next year, Pelfrey needs to be told he may not even be in the starting rotation. If he has a good spring, he should be posted as the 4th or 5th starter behind (depending on who is still around) Santana, Dickey, Niese, Capuano, and even Gee if he gets his pitches back under control. If I was mgmt, I would do everyting possible to convince Pelfrey his very job is in danger. Then he will perform to his ability out of fear. Babies need to be treated as babies.
Here is a response I enjoyed:
http://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2011/08/14/the-pelf-thing/
Dude, don’t be an idiot. The bottom line is the Mets made NO IMPROVEMENTS and were planning to cut payroll. If you think the Mets had a chance, you’re plain foolish. Shoot Pelfrey for seeing the team for what it was and what it was going to be.