3
2012
Separating the Contenders from the Pretenders In The National League
An article by 
I could’ve been a contender…
With the first half of the season is just about in the books, it’s finally time to separate the contenders from the pretenders. There are four teams that I believe are completely out of the playoff picture (Chicago, San Diego, Colorado, and Houston). All four will be sellers in a few weeks, attempting to unload salaries in return for prospects. The remaining 12 teams will be classified into three tiers. The first all have a good chance of winning the pennant this season, the second have a decent chance, while the third are pretenders.
Tier 1:
Washington Nationals: The Nats have the best record in the National League to go along with the best pitching staff. They have allowed approximately 3.5 runs per game this year, which is flat out ridiculous. Look for the Nats to add a bat at the deadline in order to give that aching lineup some help. Jayson Werth has been out pretty much all year with his wrist injury, which has really hurt the offense.
Cincinnati Reds: Joey Votto is putting up surefire MVP numbers, but the Reds pitching staff has been the biggest strength so far this year. Cueto, Arroyo, Leake, Bailey, and Latos have pitched well and stayed healthy, which is a recipe for success. The bullpen, although it has struggled as of late, has been the best in the MLB.
San Francisco Giants: Matt Cain has become the ace of the five headed monster of a rotation. Lincecum has pitched very poorly, but has had some recent success. The Giants need some more help with the lineup, so look for them to be in the market for a big bat.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Whenever you have strong pitching and a couple of star position players, you have a shot to win. The Dodgers lineup is not very good, especially without Matt Kemp, but the MVP candidate will likely return right after the All-Star break. Dee Gordon has struggled to get on base, but his speed does wreak havoc. Kershaw is having another fine year, but the Dodgers need some assistance in the rotation. They could make a push for Cole Hamels if he becomes available.
Tier 2:
Atlanta Braves: The Braves may be the best organization in all of sports. Every single year they seem to be in contention in some form, and this year is no different. Atlanta needs an arm in the rotation, with Brandon Beachy out for the season with TJ surgery. The Braves offense has been very good, led by a resurgent Jason Heyward.
St. Louis Cardinals: Another great organization that puts a solid team out there every night. Mike Matheny’s ballclub were red hot in April, but have since cooled down. Carlos Beltran has been the steal of free agency thus far, as he’s knocked 20 homeruns in the first half of the year. The offense is the fourth best in all of baseball, which is crazy to think when you consider who they lost in the offseason. The Cardinals also need help in the rotation and bullpen, which will be an area they look at near the trade deadline.
Arizona Diamondbacks: The Diamondbacks are coming off a postseason appearance last year and they are finally playing better. They lost Daniel Hudson to injury, Ian Kennedy and Justin Upton have underperformed, but they are still in the thick of things out there in the NL West. They are playing mediocre baseball this year, but I expect them to start tearing it up in the next month or so. This team is young, but way too talented to be playing .500 baseball.
New York Mets: Here comes my bias. I believe this team has a shot, as do most die-hards. Some changes need to be made though, which could come very soon. The Mets need bullpen help desperately, as well as a right handed bat. The Mets could move Daniel Murphy, but I don’t see his value being high enough to garner any significant arms in the bullpen. They Mets might have to move one of their 2nd or 3rd tier prospects to get a Huston Street or a Brett Myers. The Mets could also promote some of their prospects, who seem to have futures in the MLB bullpen (Mejia and Familia).
Tier 3:
Miami Marlins: Miami went for a whole new look in the offseason, but the only noise that they’ve made has come out of Ozzie Guillen’s mouth. Heath Bell has been the worst signing of the offseason, while Jose Reyes still hasn’t picked up where he left off last year. This team has talent and could certainly get back into the picture, but I just don’t see how. They are just way too inconsistent.
Philadelphia Phillies: Sellers written all over them. 5 core players are on the wrong side of 30 and making a lot of money. The Phillies need to get healthy and trade some expiring contracts to get back some high-level prospects. It’ll be tough for Philly fans to swallow, but this team desperately needs to shed some of these high salaries this year.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Everybody fell in love with this team last July and then they had one of the worst second halves in all of baseball. Until they have a stopper in the rotation, I just can’t see this team as a legitimate 162 game team.
Miluwakee Brewers: Last but not least, the Brewers. Milwaukee’s pitching has not been pretty outside of Zack Grienke. Shaun Marcum has been just okay, while Randy Wolf and Yovani Gallardo have not pitched particularly well. The Brewers bullpen has not helped them out, while the offense is mediocre at best. Ryan Braun is shutting his “steroid” haters up, but he can’t do it all by himself.
About the Author: Sagar Parikh
Senior at Villanova University and passionate sports fan. Whether its baseball or curling, you can find me in front of the TV. I love the Mets and my favorite player of all-time is Mike Piazza. If you want someone to just chat about sports, I'm your guy!
85 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 23 | 18 | .561 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 19 | .548 | 0.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 22 | .476 | 3.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 23 | .410 | 6.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 31 | .262 | 12.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
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When do people start talking about Beltran for MVP? Look at his numbers…he’s no pace for +120RBI, 40HR and +.300BA with a +390OBP. He’s on looking to have the best season of his career. It makes me wonder what kind of seasons players would have in NY if Mets fans were a little less intense (IE: stop being jerks) and a little more laid back and supportive of our players.
I know, it’s NY, if you can’t handle the pressure, then you suck and you should get the Eff out of town. There is one saying that I’ve always found true…The only common factor in all your failed relationships is you. Maybe if we chilled out a little bit and were a little more supportive, maybe we’d have some more winning seasons.
As for the Mets, we gotta fix that pen.I hate the idea that Fransico is our closer so Sandy doesn’t want to trade for another closer. Frankie hasn’t been good and we need a real upgrade or the Met’s will start to fade real quick and they’ll never be able hang with the really good teams.
???? So, wait, are we pretenders or contenders???? Not sure where you going with this, but as a baseball fan i will tell you, there’s not one team in the NL who i am afreaid of.. Not the Nats, not the Giants (maybe a little bit), not the braves, not any team.. I think this is where a team like the phillies who are 11 games out STILL have a chance.. Because as bad as they’ve been (due to injuries and incosistant play) they’re only 7.5 games out of the second wild card leader.. Teams are beating each other up and down because there’s no team who will run away with it.. I look for Marlins, braves, Cards, Mets, Pirates, SF, Dodgers, Mets, Reds and Wash to be there towards the end in wat should be a very exciting month of september
All I know is Alderson better get off his fanny and do something sooner rather than later. For the most part his personnel decisions have been God AWFUL for this time despite the author’s love affair with the GM. Can somebody also please tell me how Ben Sheets wound up in the Braves minors?
I am so sick of this Alderson and his “wait-for-the-next-guy-to-move-first” approach, his close-to-the-vest approach and his snails pace. If his snails pace for movements were producing better results other than a few cheap fillers that have done a decent job than i wouldn’t mind. But if this guy is going to move at a snail’s pace, in New York, just to get a Baxter type player than this team is not going to get the help it needs – AGAIN. Man, I despise this front office.
GET OFF YOUR ASS ALDERSON AND HELP THIS TEAM!!
GET OFF YOUR ASS ALDERSON AND HELP THIS TEAM!!”
Yeah bayonne, good luck on that one!
as you already know alex,
- Winners are pro-active not re-active
- Winners set the tone, they don’t wait for the tone to be set for them
- Winners lead the way, they don’t sit back and wait for someone else to
Alderson approaches his team like his hitting philosophy, he waits to get deep into the count and then the pitcher will have the opportunity to throw his best out pitch. If he keeps waiting and waiting and waiting the rest of the National league is gonna throw the Mets a sharp curve and he’s going to be standing there – looking.
Bayonne, we’ve been over this for 2 years straight, but instead, we get called haters etc JUST BECAUSE we called our GM out for doing absolutely nothing to improve or help the team while other teams try to upgrade alderson sits idle to sit what can we come up with to counter attack and see what we can answer with… SMGH
The last few times our GM made a move during the trade deadline to bolster an iffy contender worked out really well didn’t they?
We got Luis Castillo, Oliver Perez, Victor Zambrano, Kris Benson in that fashion. Sometimes it’s better to just see how long you can wait and save some money. Do you think the Mets can beat the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, or Los Angeles Angels in a series? A game?
It’s early July, three weeks from now the Mets could be 15 games out of first place or hold a 10 game lead. Timing is crucial.
Actually when Perez was acquired it was a fantastic move that helped this team win and almost was one of the reasons they had a chance to go to the World Series. As it turns out even though you’re a new writer (or fan that likes to write) you still have your nose firmly entrenched in Alderson’s bowels and that suffocates you from looking at the real picture.
So just because a few entirely different situations that didn’t turn out as well have everything to do with the current scenario. Really? And why do YOU care about saving money? So if they spend money now to try and improve the team you’re gonna concern yourself with the possiblity that they may gamble money and lose?
It’s a risk and if you want to win that’s what you’re SUPPOSED TO DO. If you have the money, and they said the problems are behind them. Then use it. What do YOU care about a few million that a baseball team has? They’ll be able to manage so don’t worry.
Man, Don’t you think they have a budget ready to use for scenarios like this? You want to save a couple bucks at the expense of helping the team? Unbelievable. Maybe if they have a wing in the HOF for the team that saves the most money then maybe you have an argument. And by the way you only HOPE and PRAY that Alderson has the level of success with this team that Omar Minaya had. So far Alderson couldn’t shine Minaya’s shoes.
Sure a few moves didn’t work out for Minaya but I highly doubt that guys like Benson & Zambrano cost the Mets a chance at the post season.
Another guy that just likes to conveniently select some of Omar’s bad moves as a reason not make moves this year to win.
And that’s another thing! So the author wants to wait and see if the team is 15 games out in 3 weeks? That’s nice.
How about doing something NOW to prevent that scenario. That’s what winners do and that’s what successful people do. They are proactive not reactive. And I mean proactive with a plan and not proactive in a knee-jerk way because i know that’s how you will want to interpret it.
Be proactive is the key word… but we’ve seen how bad this GM’s desicion are when he’s rushed into doing things just to please fans… (FFF, Rauch and Ramon)he’s been a horrible GM to say the least…
Hi Sagar,
One should be looked upon his own merits, not those of others. The worst bullpen in the majors was put together by Sandy and the people he brought along with him. The only two remaining from the previous general manager are Parnell and Acosta.
@SP last year at this time Pittsburgh brought in some “talent” destroying the chemestry of the team. The Bucks bombed.
How Do yu know they CAN’T????? We’ve swept good teams and ply well against others, you’re way off on this, you’re just defending the snail pace approach this GM have.. You’ve only pointing out the moves that backfire years after, it’s called second guessing, to be fair, the mid move omar did were great imo, we got Oliver perez who helped the mets into the playoffs and in 2007.. Luis castillo was an upgrade for what we had at 2B in 2007 for the 2 months, that zambrano trade made no sense, but it’s not as if kazmir was a cy young candidate for years..
The GM of this team seem to wait for other teams to make move in order for him to become active.. With every team virtually having a shot at the playoffs, good luck with him trying to make A TRADE to benefit or help this ballclub
Alex, just another new Sandy Lover.
They all think the same, i think this guy is Craig Lerner with a non de plume.
Why do I care if the team saves money? Because I want to see David Wright on this team in two years. You think he won’t bolt when somebody offers him a $100 million and the Mets can’t muster an offer like they did this past offseason? I do like Sandy for one reason, he’s patient. Through your logic, Duquette and Minaya were great GMs. They made moves to try and help the team win midseason, but just didn’t work out. And if you think they were good GMs, fine by me. I just disagree.
I do like Sandy for one reason, he’s patient.”
And please tell us, what has his patient approach given us the past 2 offseasons COMBINED????
all he’s done is bring in a bunch of cheap, oft injured players to see who pan out so he can somehow get credit for one cheap signing while ignoring the other 20…
1. Our best prospect.
2. Financial relief.
3. No long-term committments to aging players.
4. The ability to sign David Wright to an extension.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????
1. our best prospect? ohhh, that’s right, zac wheeler, a kid in the minors he traded for what could be the NL MVP this year
2. Financial relief.?? to do what exactly??? Out of the $50+ million he saved how much of that was used? and how poorly he used it?? Based on research the best he came up with was ronny cedeno? Rauch? Really?
3. No long-term committments to aging players? What????? When do we commit long term to old players? define old before sayign that so i know how seriously wrong you are.
4. The ability to sign David Wright to an extension” see answer number 3 and get back at me as to old players, and how long would you want this guy to be sign, because if you want him to be extended up until 35 then he’s old… Wouldn’t want to commit to an agin 3rd baseman now would you?
Duquette has nothing to do with this topic or conversation so please don’t create something from nothing by putting words in my mouth.
Don’t you think that if they make a move now that they know what they’re doing? What do you think they’re going to do? Make a move now to help the team be relevant in September ..and then go “Whoops” Wait a second…we forgot…we should have saved that money to sign David Wright?
That’s the way you think? What are even doing writing about baseball competition when you know nothing about it.
Oh and helping this team now and in NEW YORK could create even MORE income by the way because if you make an educated decision now about making a post season run you will increase your organizations income by playing relevant ball in September thus putting more fannies in the seats…but i know you don’t think like that cuz you don’t know anything about finances….you jus want to sit there and save money. You don’t realize that in business if you do TOO MUCH to save at the expense of putting out a quality product you lose people that way too.
You’re absolutely correct. And I apologize for putting words in your mouth. The one thing I feel like you’re forgetting is that you’re putting words into my mouth. I never said “throw this season and save” or don’t trade for anybody. I simply said to wait. The market is simply not the same right now as it will be in three weeks.
and what does losing 6 of your next 7 due to a weak catching situation, bad defense and a weak bullpen have to do with “the market”
Do you even know what “the market” is? Teams have already made some very interesting moves. Why didn’t they wait for “the market”? Did the players that were already moved suddenly be available because of “the market”
You do what you can, when you can. You don’t even know what you’re talking about when you use the phrase “the market”. You’ve only just heard that phrase used, it sounds smart, so you decided to use it. You don’t even know what it means and to be honest i don’t even care what it means. My approach is to address your needs ASAP if you can and wherever the market stands at the time is circumstance. I don’t “wait for the market’ while my team is dropping throws at home plate and blowing leads late in games.
He is using the phrase “The Market” because there have been no trades and he is incorrect that things will be different in a couple weeks.
Below are all trades since the start of the season.
04/04:
-The New York Yankees traded George Kontos to the San Francisco Giants for Chris Stewart.
-The Oakland Athletics traded Cedric Hunter to the St. Louis Cardinals for future considerations.
04/08:
-The Pittsburgh Pirates traded Brian Tallet to the San Diego Padres for player to be named or cash.
04/21:
-The Baltimore Orioles traded Josh Bell to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a player to be named later. The Arizona Diamondbacks sent Michael Belfiore (minors) (May 12, 2012) to the Baltimore Orioles to complete the trade.
-The Boston Red Sox traded a player to be named later and Michael Bowden to the Chicago Cubs for Marlon Byrd and cash. The Boston Red Sox sent Hunter Cervenka (minors) (May 15, 2012) to the Chicago Cubs to complete the trade.
05/16:
The Philadelphia Phillies traded Rich Thompson to the Tampa Bay Rays for Kyle Hudson.
06/05:
The Atlanta Braves purchased Ruben Gotay from the Toronto Blue Jays.
06/24:
The Boston Red Sox traded Kevin Youkilis and cash to the Chicago White Sox for Brent Lillibridge and Zach Stewart.
06/30:
The Baltimore Orioles traded Gabriel Lino (minors) and Kyle Simon (minors) to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jim Thome.
07/01:
The New York Yankees traded player to be named or cash to the Philadelphia Phillies for Chad Qualls.
Meant to say that he is correct that the market will be done.
Tell me what moves that were listed above could Sandy have done to improve the Mets. Me, I see no GM pulling the trigger yet on anything.
Meanwhile in Queens….. ….. …… …….. (Crickets sounds) …. …..
The market is simply not the same right now as it will be in three weeks”
then you should wait to see who the pretenders and contenders are in 3 weeks, meaning the article have no validation NOW… and you should’ve posted in 3 weeks then.. Makes no sense… The GM is horrible and you’re wait and be patient atitude can lead to trouble as well, because other teams might snatch players to may fill our biggest needs
Bayonne, my first thought exactly… He’s saying the same things most of this sabergooners who love their god say.. No surprised if in fact he was Craig..
The way I am perceiving your comments is everyone is making moves and Sandy ain’t doing crap. If my perception is incorrect, then please let me know.
Currently these are the more notable acquisitions since June:
ATL Signs Ben Sheets (Hasn’t been relevant since ’08)
Bal Trades for Thome
NYY Trades for Qualls
Sox trade for Youk (dumped for a box of balls)
ATL trade for Ruban Gotay
Out of all 5 of them only the Youk trade is a possible improvement and it was done quicker simply to get him out of the clubhouse. No one is making moves because the market is not there yet. Between the article from the other day and this, this b-ing is premature. If they finish strong into the ASG and there are no trades to improve the team I will be upset with y’all.
@SP: Such a well written and intelligent summery of the pennent race. This will be fun to watch.
I am not optimistic that Sandy will commit enough assets to secure a Houston Street or a simmilar acquisition. His timeline was for 2014. Sandy is a patient man. Who knew the National League was so weak? The Wilpons smelling pennent race sales and money may be willing to push their young assets into service now.
We are headed into the heat of the summer with 4 of our 5 starters having questionable staminia issues. Now is the time go to a six man rotation. First Harvey, then Wheeler shoud be given an opportunity to start. If they work out, Young and Gee could be moved to the bullpen and used as old fashioned 3 inning closers. FF, Byrdak, Parnell, Hefner and Rauch could continue in their current manner. Starter’s may even be available to relieve in a pinch.
Buffalo has made this year a success. Lets Go Mets.
Off topic but Alderson better watch what he tweets because if you go after the fans than you’re gonna lose. The fans will come back and rip you apart. While ALderson may have been right about what he said he still should not have said it because the fans will come right back and rip his head off at the first chance they get.
“Wright vs.Sandoval: A city of 8 million was outvoted by a city of 800,000.”
I agree, the tweet sounds like he is calling out the fanbase and that is never a good approach.
Now if he said something is fishy regarding how the votes broke out the last couple days, fine but he didn’t. It sounds like he is blaming the fans to me.
Or maybe he ought to be blaming Dave Howard or Jay for not providing the laptops, the room and a free ticket to the game for fans in exchange for voting all 9 innings for their players like the Giants PR guys did.
Wow, is that what the Giants Media Relations people do?
That’s what they did, Joe. And they weren’t bashful about boasting about it either.
Here’s one link:
http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120626&content_id=33971658¬ebook_id=33987398&vkey=notebook_sf&c_id=sf
The club invited 15 fans who had tweeted about how much they’ve been voting for Giants players to come to AT&T Park to a conference room that was decorated to be the “Campaign Headquarters,” where the participants were provided with computers to vote as many times as they could throughout Tuesday’s game.
“We wanted to take the chance to not only reward them, but ask them to help us,” Giants director of social media Bryan Srabian said. “We asked them to come in and spend the game voting. This is just all about our fans getting behind a special campaign like this. It’s exciting.”
Or maybe he ought to be blaming Dave Howard or Jay for not providing the laptops, the room and a free ticket to the game for fans in exchange for voting all 9 innings for their players like the Giants PR guys did”
They might’ve did that had he not spent the little money we had on crap like rauch and FFF and ronny cedeno…
Lets not forget the biggest albatross on this team is not Rauch and Francisco. That honor goes to Jason Bay who makes five times more than both of them and has provided us with nothing. At least FF is 5th in the league in saves.
Hi Joe D.,
As we know, the save statistic is so overblown so Francsico being fifth in the league doesn’t exactly impress me compared to how many games he almost blew, the save situations he didn’t blow but was taken out by Terry before he did – and my stomach ulcers.
Yet you wanted to keep K-Rod for 17.5 million who nearly blows every save attempt he gets and blew just as many as Francisco when he was here. My ulcers were just as painful when K-Rod tried to save a game as when Francisco tries to save a game. You make K-Rod out to be like Bruce Sutter. He was a highwire act and blew his share too.
Excuse me but I did some research on K-Rod vs Francisco that took into account their record as of June 18th and
K-Rod had 3 more saves and one less blown save than Francisco did at the same time last season!
He also had a 1-2 record where Francisco had a 1-3 record!
So that whole crap about Francisco being better in save situations is total bunk from the start of the season to June 18th…
I just checked on this date last year K-RFod had 20 to Francisco’s 18 so he still hasn’t gotten more saves than K-Rod at this point last year and 1 more blown save….
Time to Apologize to Joey!
Apologize to Joey for wanting a 17.5 million dollar closer who’s numbers may be slightly better then FF? Apologize? Really? What idiot GM would ever pay an okay closer like K-Rod 17.5 million dollars? Oh wait Omar. Nevermind.
No Apologize for trying to say he blows every save chancde he gets when he blew less that Francisco!
You LIED!
And now you and jessup run to change the subject to something about 17 Mil which he didn’t have to get if we had a GM who knew how to negotiate with players!
Run from what you said if you want but you got caught in a lie all to argue with a guy who you accused of lying weeks ago!
Well we all know who lied today now don’t we?
I said nearly but we all know you have comprehension issues.
Yeah did he nearly blow every save opportunity Fonzie?
Does blowing 2 out of 22 Save opportunities (with one blown save being a BSWin) Really constitute NEARLY ALL Save opportunities?
Or are you just doing whatever you normally do when you get caught in a lie and blame the poster who pointed out you lie for not comprehending a Lie as Fact!
“K-Rod had 3 more saves and one less blown save than Francisco did at the same time last season!”
So 3 more saves and 1 less blown save is worth $6million?
Lets stop pretending like KRod was making $5.5 mil.
If you tell me KRod is the Mets closer for 2 years making $5.5 million, sign me up.
The problem was had he been on the Mets 2012 roster heading into Spring Training, he’d be making more money than David Wright.
Yeah but K-Rod didn’t tget hurt last year did he?
But go on with your attempt at changing the subject…
Let us all know when Francisco gets to 46 Saves….
then you might have a point on what he gets paid!
He should you know he has a much better team than K-Rod had last year if we are to believe all that crap your pushed on us on July 28th last year!
Moron, try and understand what people say. Nearly blew every save. As in every game he enters he’s a highwire act, Nearly blowing even the games he saves.. Like Francisco nearly blows every game he saves. Got it now? Was that too hard? Do you need idiot characters for comprehension help?
Everybody here knows who the liar is. It’s you Metsie. I don’t lie. I bring facts. You bring idiocy and bullshit. Even your allies know this. So nice try trying to make me look like you.
Show how many of his 20 was nearly blown….
Go ahead slappy stand by your statement?
Besides like Francisco has not almost blown every save he has gotten?
Your just another Sandy Shill!
Hi Joe,
Just think of Bay as a really expensive bench player. Figure 400g per hit.
A lot of tongue and cheeks comments can catch up to you… I hope it does to him, he’s an arrogant person who thinks is better than you and you.. and you and you…
So, the truth doesn’t matter? You just want smoke blown up your nether regions?
Timing is everything.
Many Met fans are ripping this FO for pulling the trigger too soon over the winter and ‘overpaying’ for 2 BP arms.
Now some Met fans – some of those same Met fans – are ripping the FO for not making a move right now – or soon enough, to help the big club ‘win now’.
Make up your minds.
With the extra WC many teams aren’t going to throw in the towel until closer to the end of July.
If some deal can get done now that helps the team, go for it. Otherwise, if what we’re looking for isn’t out there yet, have to stand pat for a few weeks.
SRT, i 100% disagree, we KILLED the front office for overpaying last offseason due to the whole “we are broke and lost $70 million last year” crap… Noone was saying they pulled the trigger too soon, the issue was WHY IN THE HELL they’d sign FFF and Rauch for over $15 million? when we could’ve had 10 guys at that price… He clearly overreacted to what the marlins did, yes we needed bullpen, but not at the price he paid for… It was pathetic then and we were right all along.. Thing is, he “supposedly” fixed the bullpen, yet as of right now, our biggest issue is, well, wouldn’t you know it… The f’ing bullpen…
Some of you here might have had that opinion Alex but on other Met blogs, they were killing Sandy for pulling the trigger too soon and over paying. It was a debate that went on for like 2 months during the winter.
Sandy saw a problem. Tried to fix it. The fix is not working. So Sandy try to fix it again.
There, there Sandy don’t let the mean people bother you. There, there.
…gags and pukes.
It’s been nice and civil here for a couple of weeks, lets try and keep it that way.
This.
But you have to admit the reason why it has been that way is certain people not being around…
you mean as long as only members of a particular fringe element get together, there won’t be any difference of opinions? Seems logical.
Guess your idea of civil and mine are different Joe D. Since when is being called a fat horse and told to go make some tuna casserole is civil? Not to mention the daily berage if you disagree you must be a Sandy Lover, or a sabregoon.
Something to consider about the Nats…
They claim they are going to shut down Strausberg if he hits a certain number of pitches and innings thrown this season.
Now no one can say (or believe) if they are in a division race that they might follow through but lets just say we get a decent lead on them in the division (or Atlanta as well) They could fold up shop and shut him down in hopes of making a good run next year with a few improvements in Free Agency.
That would make September a much easier race to deal with for us and Atlanta
They are claiming they will shut him down playoffs be damned if he hits 200 Innings.
Lets hope for our sake they do!
Hi Metsie,
Thanks for backing me up on this.
Yesterday in the shout box I was having the discussion and another individual who pointed out that KRod of late was sporting a 9.00 ERA. I looked up and saw that he was referring to his last two outings in which he gave up one run in each inning. No reference to all the shutout or single run innings beforehand or that a small stretch of bad innings about a week or so into the season was responsible for his high ERA. Despite giving up two runs in his last two innings, KRod has sported an ERA of 3.33 in his last 21 innings. Before those last two outings, he gave up just five earned runs in 19 innings – one can do the math to figure out that was an ERA below 2.5.
It was also suggested that Takahashi wasn’t doing a good job for the Angels, despite last season sporting a 3.40 ERA in relief. Like KRod, a few bad early season outings make his pitching stats look bad. In both cases, this shows how limited stats can be in player evaluation, especially for relievers. And it was then noted that Izzringhausen was going to retire after last season so I ask why is he then pitching for the Angels at only $650K?
If one wants to argue about KRod being way overpaid, well, this would not be the first time a player was getting more than his market value warranted – even if he was producing. It was a fire sale, not a move to improve the team.
BTW, here are the game logs for KRod, Takahashi and our pal Issringhausen this season. Wonder what our record would have been had Sandy and his people retained this trio in the bullpen. Again, look at the games early in the season and the log as the season progresses to see that the bottom line is not truly reflective of the overall performances (except in Izzy’s case).
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=rodrifr03&t=p&year=
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=takahhi01&t=p&year=
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=isrinja01&t=p&year=
Itg’s not the Stats themselves thats the problem…It’s how people manipulate them to say whatever they want to say that day!
And when you take away the manipulation and expose it they will go runnin for the hills.
You also said the 2010 Mets bullpen was one of the best in baseball and you couldn’t have been more wrong. How could a team that had 12 walkoff losses, a team that gave up 6 walkoff HR’s, 3 of them by Feliciano who was on the mound for 5 of those walkoff losses. How could a team that lost games on the road 12 times in the oppsosing teams last at bat be considered one of the best bullpens in the sport. Thats just the damage they caused on the road. Do you want to go over the games they gave it up at home? It’s not any prettier.
Well they did have the 9th Best ERA in the MLB in 2010
Why did they have walkoff wins? Thats an easy one!
Our closer hurt himself and missed the end of the season!
Nope that’s not it. They were blowing games well before K-Rod got hurt. Bullpen ERA means nothing when you give up leads left and right. 12 walkoff losses is a pathetic bullpen. 6 walkoff HR’s 3 walkoff grand slams. Thats just on the road. The 2010 bullpen were 2nd in the majors in blown saves. K-Rod had his worst year and Takahashi was 8 for 8 as his replacement. The pen has sucked since 2006. Do you and Joey actually watch the games or do you just whine about past players that helped the team play sub 500 baseball. Great talent evaluators you two are. LMAO.
Show your data….
There were no blown saves for a loss, Two blown for a win for a total of 3 Blown Saves
and one loss to K-Rod because he came in tied and gave away the winning run.
That as of the same date today.
For the season:
He had 25 Saves, 4 Wins, 2 losses 5 blown saves 3 BWs and 2 ND
Then he got hurt!
SO why dont’t you show us all those walkoff wins you say we had early in the season because they sure don’t show up in K-Rods numbers!
So far all I see on K-Rods record is two which are games he lost because he came in tied!
Mets fans need to stop complaining about Wright. You’ve got 8+ million potential fans in the NYC area to vote, compared to 750K in the city of SF. Giants fans kicked your collective asses under the rules. If you don’t like it, then vote more next year…
The title of this post is “NL: Separating the Contenders from the Pretenders”. You need to find the post with all the complaining you claim is going on and make your voice heard there.
If you hadn’t noticed other than the initial surprise when it was announced how much the Giants fans stuffed the ballots Mets fans have barely said squat about it today.
Maybe you feel some guilt and are looking for a means to get rid of it but as far as this site is concerned most have long since moved on.
@MetsGm A city with 8 million has a lower payroll than a city with 800 thousand SHUT YOUR MOUTH & make a good move for ONCE!
Met Maniac I read your comment in the shoutbox and your wish has been granted.
LMAO!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Bayonne,
Double-LMAO on that one!
But expect a box of chocolates instead.
Alderson is proving more and more to show himself as a punk. A Harvard Punk.
@MetsGm A city with 8 million has a lower payroll than a city with 800 thousand SHUT YOUR MOUTH & make a good move for ONCE!
My response is:
@MetsGM You say a lot of shit for someone who[s done NOTHING to improve this club in 2 years you’re one of the reasons i don’t go to games
This guy is just as snarky and sarcastic as his minions. I guess if this is leadership by example you can’t find a better example. This guy just better make some moves to support this club and get them into the playoffs because he sure talks a lot for a guy who’s done NOTHING in 2 years. Not a likeable guy at all and he’s probably one of the reasons why people can act indifferent towards this club because he’s as indifferent, shallow, methodical, and cold and calculated as can be. He’s certainly not a guy to root for but luckily the players themselves are innocent and the Mets will still be here long after this guy is gone, dead and buried.
You know you’re block bayonne right??? You can post it to him but if you’re block your tweets won’t be seeing…
Actually it was his 2nd tweet i was responding to but i accidentally posted his 1st tweet twice. Here’s the 2nd tweet:
@MetsGM: Election of “Kung Fu Panda” shows value of a cute nickname. Surprised Giants fans didn’t elect a “ball dude” to start
Just as sarcastic and snarky as his legion of saber goons. And you guys should take a moment out and check out his twitter page because lots and LOTS of people are firing back at him and it’s good to see and if you haven’t then you should say your piece to him too. I hate this guy, man.
LOL maybe if there were few more Mets worth voting to the ASG other than Wright more people would have been inspired to vote!
Lol, maybe, and just maybe, there’s a method to his madness.. He maybe did this to show support for DW, and work on that extension?? Not sure, but if it helps the man keep wright for a decent price, it was well thought out… Although, most of the tweets to him are very offensive..
they’re calling him Fa-****, to gT-fO, sT-fU etc..Lol… I guess you can say he’ s NOT having a good Day@@@@@@
Alderson is getting RIPPED by the fanbase via twitter for his comments and I LOVE it.
But you’re so loved, cupcake.
Lmao!!!! He is.. getting murder!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lmao!!!
@MetsGM Bottom line, this is payback for when Sandoval didnt make it in 2009. So kindly go F**** yourself… Lmao…
My favorite tweet from someguy….
And just to show the other side:
Sandy Alderson @MetsGM:
ASG election of “Kung Fu Panda” shows the value of a cute nickname. Surprised Giants fans didn’t elect a “ball dude” to start at 3B.
For those commenting on Sandy’s tweets, Tim Kurkjian said he believes Sandy is joking and is just trying to get a rise out of people. So you’re respectable cursing tweets you write or re-publish is just playing right into the fun he’s having.
Ahhh yes because Sandy is a Calculating genius and the rest of the planet is too dumb to see the underlying awesomness and purpose in everything he does!
Everything Sandy does has a high minded concept that the masses are incapable of understanding due to thier ignorance, stupidity or lack of Sanity
He is just on another level of understanding than the rest of the entire planet and anyone who dares question anything he does is merely falling into his super intelligent trap!
Only Jessup is smart enough to see the Ompnipotent intelligence behind all of Sandy’s moves and we should all just get on the Brain Train and worship his holiness because we are puny dumb beings who can’t possibly know just how smart and calculated everything Sandy does is!
ROFLMAO!
for those who think that tim kurkjian believes sandy is joking need to shut the **** up and realize the GM of this team is a jerk and the whole world is getting to know how much of a db-ag he truly is