Duda’s Boots of Lead

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• Ron December 24, 2012 at 8:44 am

  While maybe accurate to an extent that piece is just downright cruel. I know it’s tongue in cheek but the big guy tries. I liked him when he came up and still do. Definitely not the worst hitting outfielder in baseball. Merry Christmas to you and all!
  • Eraff December 24, 2012 at 9:02 am

    The critique of his defense is SPOT ON…I do think it’s UNFAIR to take a player to task for playing Out Of Position— he’s playing OF because that’s where his Manager and His General Manager decided to use him. He has bad range and almost no tools to play the position…he’s in Good Shape—he’s SLOW and LUMBERING—that’s his Physical Ability.

    I’ve always thought that the best remedy for all of this Crap would be for the Owner and the GM to Trot out with The Starting Lineups each Night….. then you could boo THEM instead of directing this sort of unfair stuff at players.

    Duda is a useable Major League Piece…HE doesn’t think he’s a RF—the Mets Play him there. Criticize THEM.
    • srt December 24, 2012 at 9:50 am

      This.
      He’s just not an outfielder, period.
      He’s not overweight and probably not out of shape. His build is what it is – which is not suited to the OF.
      • this is stupid December 24, 2012 at 9:52 am

        Yeah. I mean Keith kept going on and on that Duda looks like a tank up close.
• Connor O'Brien December 24, 2012 at 9:14 am

  A little harsh on Duda, but accurate nonetheless. Just want to correct one point you made about UZR:

  “You might argue UZR can fluctuate season to season and there’s this big margin of error blah blah blah, better to look at UZR/150. Surely he’ll look better given a broad based sample right? Um, no, his UZR/150 is actually worse at -38.6.”

  UZR/150 just takes your UZR and projects it out oer 150 games. So If a guy has played 5 games with a -1 UZR, he will have an UZR/10 of -30. Normally, if I were looking at URZ numbers that bad, I’d be skeptical and say that the sample size is too small (it’s supposed to be at least three seasons) but in Duda’s case, it’s just so obvious that he can’t get to fly balls…
• Hotstreak December 24, 2012 at 9:34 am

  Duda belongs as a DH/1B. SA got to find a trading partner for a RH OF preferably same age as Duda or younger. I taker a corner OF or CF and power or speed. This guy just has to be serviceable everyday OF (no 4th OF) types.
• Eraff December 24, 2012 at 9:54 am

  BTW—UZR?…Please.,..I’ve SEEN him play…I don’t need UZR
  • Wally Backman December 24, 2012 at 10:00 am

    UZR was most likely included for the geeks who swear by it so his piece would be broad based. UZR is a joke, just something the youngins’ like because they see it as their small contribution to baseball lore. I see them at the games with their eyes looking everywhere except the field of play or simply diddling with their phones.
    • gorgeguy December 24, 2012 at 12:04 pm

      Totally agree. Way too many stats nowadays and WAY too much phone diddling. It’s making the game more geek-friendly, which is ironic. Then again, it lets them “play” with the big boys.

      I played my fantasy team base on many stats and traded players/put them out in their best stat positions. I won the league, but most of it was based on the fact that the guys I didn’t mess with had good games at the right times.

      Just watching Duda in left, yes he’s painful to a certain degree, but he did better there than right. I’ll still take him over Bay and yes, even Hairston.
• Metstheory22 December 24, 2012 at 10:04 am

  And he is still better than Daniel Murphy was.
  • Joe D December 24, 2012 at 11:14 am

    Ah yes, Daniel Murphy. The measuring stick that all future outfielders will be judged by.
    • Jerry M December 24, 2012 at 1:26 pm

      Yes Joe, Murphy wasn’t bad at Shea in the OF. At Citi which was bigger he made a couple of errors. The Mets fans never will forgive him for them. He probably wouldnt have gotten better if he worked at it, but never got the OF chance. But thats the Magnet that Murphy draws you either like him or hate him.
• neekerbreeker December 24, 2012 at 10:14 am

  For the record I like Lucas, I think he’s a good guy and I’d like him a lot more if he didn’t have to play RF for the Mets. As far as playing out of position, in the minors he played 227 games at 1B, 201 games in LF, and something like 29 games in RF. If there is a position he might be able to play at the major league level it’s LF — I seem to recall he wasn’t half bad there in the minors but Jason Bay has been blocking him on the Mets. At the major league level he’s put in 397 innings with a -4.9 UZR, not nearly as bad as his RF numbers. Also, most of his games at 1B in the minors were in low A ball (Brooklyn), he didn’t really play much there after that. Duda should probably be playing LF, especially on the Mets with RF at Citi being as challenging as it is.
• steve December 24, 2012 at 10:16 am

  Comment deleted for being the immature ramblings of an idiot.
  • Angelo December 24, 2012 at 10:20 am

    jeez and i thought i am the foreign in here easy big guy , article is a little harsh , but truth hurts also
  • neekerbreeker December 24, 2012 at 10:39 am

    Duda doesn’t have to pay good money to watch me run around trying to catch a baseball (even though I’m pretty sure I’m faster). The piece was a tongue-in-cheek critique of his defense, which most would agree leaves something to be desired. No need for adolescent insults, and yes, he should be playing LF.
    • BadBadLeroyBrown December 24, 2012 at 12:16 pm

      “No need for adolescent insults, and yes, he should be playing LF.”

      Well you gotta give Steve some credit….after-all you did use adolescent insults in your post aimed at Duda.

      Fair is Fair! If you can give it be ready to take it
      • neekerbreeker December 24, 2012 at 12:29 pm

        Yeah but that post by steve was the definition of adolescent, down to the spelling.
  • Hitman December 24, 2012 at 10:46 am

    Real mature, steve. Step away from the computer for a moment and take a deep breath or just go outside in general. You’re getting stressed over an article on Christmas Eve.
    • BadBadLeroyBrown December 24, 2012 at 12:20 pm

      Well Steve was just as mature as the author of this post was…I got the point the 1st time he insulted Duda….but he went on and on and on….

      If it was a “terrible immature joke” about Duda it was “UZR” I had to bail half way…
      • neekerbreeker December 24, 2012 at 1:31 pm

        UZR is a potentially biased stat because it’s subjective in so far as what constitutes a “difficult” play given speed & trajectory, I’ll give you that. FRAA is more of a concrete “counting” stat but it doesn’t take range into account. Fangraphs does have fan observation data which I really like but you don’t get much input on guys like Duda (only 14 fans contributed). The fan input tends to be on the mark. The problem with defense is it’s hard to measure, to quantify & qualify. It’s subjective and most traditionalists judge by watching (can’t argue with that). The attempts at measuring defense are interesting nevertheless, and if i had to choose I’d have to side with believing they do provide useable information.
        • BadBadLeroyBrown December 24, 2012 at 4:16 pm

          The day I start over complicating baseball with useless flawed SABR stats like UZR, WAR etc…Is the day I stop following the sport….

          All this ball trajectory crap doesnt account for windy stadiums, the back spin on the ball, routes taking by the fielder etc….

          I prefer to watch baseball as a sport and not a Math problem
          • Joey D. December 24, 2012 at 5:38 pm

            Hi BBLB,

            So right. And the shame of it is that we have a lawyer and analytical mind that has grabbed that in the belief it can make him astute in the game. One who knows baseball would be able to give an opinion as to what Ike Davis was doing wrong – even if it wasn’t the correct one. One with a baseball understanding wouldn’t come up with PPPA to explain the drop in run production the second half – especially since PPPA is a cumulative stat reached by division. It doesn’t take into account factors like a pitcher throwing strikes as opposed to facing another one who isn’t hitting the plate, or what the pitch count is with a hanging curve ball is thrown.

            Meaning, it doesn’t show anything. If Sandy referred to better plate discipline, citing that too many players were swinging at bat pitches early in the count and pitchers knew they could fool them it would have at least shown some sign of baseball intelligence.
            • Fonzie13 December 24, 2012 at 5:48 pm

              Rusty Staub didn’t know what was wrong with Ike either and suggested a stint at AAA. Maybe Rusty should’ve been a lawyer instead of a baseball player and Steve Phillips said on Mad Dog radio that the Mets got away from their higher PPPA in the first half and that’s why their offense struggled in the 2nd half. He said the same thing about the Redsox only the Redsox got away from it entirely last year compared to the last 8-9 years. I guess Steve Phillips, former player, scout and GM has no baseball intelligence.
              • Joey D. December 24, 2012 at 6:17 pm

                Fonzie,

                If you want to say Rusty Staub had no idea of what was wrong with Davis, then why don’t you say that Terry Collins and Dave Hudgens did – they felt he was swinging at bad ptiches due to his laying off of the first pitch – going against the directives of that lawyer with the statistical mind.

                So it was the lawyer emphasizing taking the first pitch more often that caused the problem that then had to be resolved by the baseball people.

                Remember what Bobby Ojeda said about the Mets telegraphing to opposing pitchers they were holding up swinging at that first pitch and that it was going to undermine them in the long run? That proved to be true. Again, the lawyer emphasizing taking the first pitch more often that caused the problem that everyone in the national league then took advantage of.

                I think this says more about Sandy Alderson’s professional knowledge of the game than trying to infer something because Rusty Staub had no idea what was wrong with Ike Davis.

                http://www.newyorksportsworld.com/remarkable-return-from-ike-davis/

                http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/05/mmo-fan-shot-ojeda-comes-down-hard-on-mets-approach-at-plate.html
                • Fonzie13 December 24, 2012 at 7:54 pm

                  Nobody knew what was wrong with Ike. Collins and Hudgens only gave their opinions as to what Might be wrong. Ike wasn’t even hitting pitches right down the middle. Again your reasoning why you don’t think Alderson is an astute baseball person is absurd. Just becausse he didn’t know what was wrong with Ike doesn’t mean he doesn’t know the sport well. Even ex players had no idea what to make of Ike’s struggles including Staub who had about 2800 hits himself. Ike didn’t even know what pitch he hit for base hits during that period. He was lost.

                  And as far as Ojeda he was right if the Mets or any team take pitches right down the middle then they’re not going to be very productive. That is not what the organizational philosophy is. It is to take unhittable pitches and attack pitches in the zone. The former lawyer now widely respected baseball executive did not emphasize taking the 1st pitch. He emphasized taking bad ptches. Unfortunately the Mets don’t have enough talented players on their roster to execute that plan. It’s the talent that’s the problem not the plan. The same plan was in place in 2011 and the Mets offense was 6th best in the NL. They were also 4th in runs at the allstar break last season. Get players that can hit and that organizational philosophy will work wonders. It has for the Yankees and Redsox since the late 90′s. Nobody is telling these guys to take hittable pitches.
                  • Joey D. December 24, 2012 at 9:12 pm

                    Hi Fonzie,

                    Nobody knew but a lot of ex-players had their own ideas – right or wrong. Sandy could not even venture a guess. That is the difference. An astute professional has at least a hypothesis instead of saying he is just an observer.

                    Ike had a history of being an aggressive hitter and knowing that is what led Collins and Hutchins so suggest going back to his older hitting habits. That is something one does not learn from studying stats.

                    And Ojeda was speaking specifically in terms of the Mets literally taking the first pitch – not laying off them if they were bad pitches. There is a difference. He was pointing out that the Mets literally were taking the first strike in order to work the count. Why was Davis holding back on the first pitch?

                    And what does a team’s PPPA prove in regards to taking bad pitches and swinging at good ones? Each at bat has to be looked at individually depending upon the hitter, the pitcher, the type and the quality of the pitches being thrown. And when Sandy said it went down it was shown later on that meant one less pitch every twenty at bats – a miniscule figure for even a statistician to be concerned about. Yet that was Sandy’s explanation for the run production and that is not representative of one professionally astute in the game. Neither is being an observer. Neither is saying Citi Field wasn’t the problem for the lack of home runs, it was that the hitters had to learn how to hit home runs there. Neither is signing one to be a closer who has a history of not performing well in the closer role. To think he is something more than a lawyer and business person – that is absurd, especially when many who had supported Sandy at the beginning now see him in that light as well.

                    These are not just my opinions – the overwhelming majority on MMO has been calling Sandy Aldeson an idiot and a lot worse. Many express the same belief that he is not even a bad baseball person but just a lawyer helping the Wilpons make it through their financial nightmare and nothing more.
                  • Metsie December 24, 2012 at 9:35 pm

                    “Nobody knew what was wrong with Ike”

                    Except me and VinnyB who BOTH told you Ike had lost his timing due to missing an awful lot of time (Just as Beltran did for two months when he missed that time) and the only thing that would help it was to keep throwing him out there….

                    You Laughed as usual because you wanted to send him down….
                  • Joey D. December 24, 2012 at 10:06 pm

                    Hi Metsie,

                    Not to mention that Terry Collins suspected that he wasn’t being himself even during that bad slump – in May he said

                    “We had been talking with him about trying to hit more balls the opposite way. “Well, that’s not him. He’s never done that. So here we were, asking him to do something he’s not comfortable with. That defeats the purpose of what we are trying to do. I said, ‘Just be yourself. Get in the box, block out where your hands are, where your feet are. See the ball and put an aggressive swing on it.’ That’s how he got here.”.

                    That was something Sandy could not understand because he talks in terms of “discipline” instead of “aggressiveness” instead of understanding that one can be both an aggressive and disciplined hitter at the same time. That is something that has to be observed to be understood on a professional level – not derived from calculations deemed important by an admitted observer.

                    As far as Ike needing to get his timing back due to being out so long – you are right. I guess Sandy with his methodology only compounded it.

                    P.S.

                    Metsie, do you think Rusty knew nothing more about hitting than Sandy Alderson?
                  • Fonzie13 December 25, 2012 at 3:36 am

                    Rusty Staub had no idea nor did he venture a guess. Just more absurdity on your part that a man who’s been involved in baseball for 30 years doesn’t have knowledge of the game. Not only is that absurd it’s just a flat out DUMB comment. You seem to make your share of them though so no one should be surprised.

                    ” Ike had a history of being an aggressive hitter” Yes and he was being aggrressive. He was swinging at everything. He started to hit better when he became more selective and started swinging at more hittable pitches. you as usual are wrong.

                    “And Ojeda was speaking specifically in terms of the Mets literally taking the first pitch – not laying off them if they were bad pitches. There is a difference. He was pointing out that the Mets literally were taking the first strike in order to work the count. Why was Davis holding back on the first pitch”

                    Again you totally missed the point about Ojeda. What he said was right. It’s not the philosophy that’s the problem it’s the lack of talent to execute it properly. They are not supposed to lay off pitches to hit. They’re supposed to attack them. That has always been Hudgens philosophy.

                    Also both you and Ojeda are incorrect about Ike. He took less first pitch strikes and swung at more first pitch strikes than 2010 and equal to 2011. All of his percentages went up from his first 2 years so Ike did not take more first pitch strikes he swung at more. He just missed more.

                    Bob Ojeda also said Ryan Zimmerman is not known for his glove and he is one of he best defensive 3rd baseman in the sport so I take a lot of what Bobby O says with a grain of salt because he does not do a lot of research. Bobby O also said Sandy is doing a great job as GM of the Mets but obviously you don’t agree with that one.

                    http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/davisik02-bat.shtml#batting_pitches::none

                    Maybe take a look at Ikes numbers across the board on first pitches.

                    Maybe you should cast a poll and see what the majority feels about the direction of the fanbase becuase the ones calling him an idiot are not exactly the sharpest tools in the shed here and the majority of the fanbase on other sites as well as other GM’s and professional baseball people (Not Bloggers) think he has the franchise headed in the right drection. You honestly think I take other bloggers opinions more seriously than his peers? LMAO!

                    The problem with you is you are a terrible judge of talent. You still think the team was good enough to compete for a playoff spot each of the last 2 years. That tells everyone all they need to know about your ability to judge talent. I mean for god sakes you still think K-Rod at 17.5 should’ve still been a Met last year. Again that tells all we need to know about your baseball knowledge. And you are questioning the intelligence of one of the most respected excecutives in the entire sport.

                    You need better reasoning than him not giving an opinion of Ike’s slump or him saying they need to learn how to hit HR’s there at Citifield or looking at the teams drop in PPPA which Steve Phillips also pointed out. Agenda’s don’t count. 1 out of 20 seems miniscule but over a season it becomes a few hundred. In a game of inches a few hundred extra pitches can mean a whole lot. These are the litle things you don’t seem to understand. The Redsox and Yankees have been using this philosophy for well over a decade which is why a 9 inning game between the 2 teams routinely last about 4 hours and they have been offensvie juggernauts. There hitters get pitchers out of the game by the 5th-6th innings because they’re elective, work counts and drive up their pitch counts.Then they pound the weaker middle relievers.
                  • Just-Da-Damaja December 25, 2012 at 7:57 am

                    The lawyer said that Daniel Murphy was an adequate to average defensive 2B

                    Daniel Murphy was the WORST defensive 2B in baseball

                    It is fair to say that the lawyer is no longer a baseball guy and is more concerned with the legal / financial elements of the game.
                  • this is stupid December 25, 2012 at 9:19 am

                    I was gonna say something, but Fonzie nailed it.

                    I think anyone who watches Ike Davis can realize that the main problem is that he has a long, loopy swing. People are really overrating him. I doubt he ever hits over 270.
                  • Fonzie13 December 25, 2012 at 11:01 am

                    Yeah like he’s going to come out and say Murphy is an awful 2nd baseman. He’s really going to trash him. It’s the other way around. The lawyer is no longer a lawyer, hasn’t been for 30 years. He’s been in baseball since, hence he’s a baseball guy. I’m sure if his name was Alicea you’d have a different opinion.
                  • Joey D. December 25, 2012 at 11:49 am

                    “the ones calling him an idiot are not exactly the sharpest tools in the shed her”

                    Yes Fonzie, and the same applies to debating and calling the other pathetic, a liar, makes things up and refers to websites that never exist – not exactly the sharpest tools in the shed either”.

                    The same about not having the sharpest tools could also be said about a professional who pitched 15 years in the majors and won more than 100 games, had a good ERA and WHIP for his era as opposed to one who talks about the team PPPA being decreased by one pitch every twenty at bats. This professional made the point about the Mets telegraphing to the league that they were not going to be aggressive on the first pitch virtually putting them in an 0-1 hole. He explained how that signal gives the advantage to the pitcher and effects what happens further into the pitch count.

                    One spoke from experience. The other spoke about stats. And if one wants to go by stats, the ones that pitcher with 15 years in the game decided to show were in much more detail to demonstrate what happens pitch-by-pitch with different pitch counts as opposed to the one who correlated a drop in production with a drop in PPPA and left it at that.

                    There is a difference between spending 30 years in the game as an executive and spending 30 years in the game as a baseball person. There is a difference between knowing the game PROFESSIONALLY and knowing the game as an OBSERVER is very apparent.
                  • Metsie December 25, 2012 at 12:57 pm

                    “It’s not the philosophy that’s the problem it’s the lack of talent to execute it properly”

                    The entire team seems to have gotten the lesson wrong….Do they ALL lack Talent?

                    “If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, then the general is to blame. But, if orders are clear and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers.”
                    ― Sun Tzu

                    Since everyone seems to have missed what you think Hudgens was teaching the fault clearly lies with the orders he gave them.

                    They were not CLEAR or DISTINCT.

                    Whats worse they do not fit all situations where a batter find himself.
                    Better to teach them how to fight with two strikes than to WAIT for something that may never come.

                    And Joey he knows PLENTY more than Alderson does…Maybe more than Hudgens as well…
                    But the issue here regarding Ike is Staub knows little to nothing about a power hitter like Ike.

                    Staub was always about a controlled bat, Ike is more like Kingman and Strawberry where they swing and swing hard to transfer as much power into the ball as possible.

                    With more Bat control you can hit more types of Pitches, get more hits but fewer HRs.
                    With hard swinging you get less hits but more HRs.
                  • Joey D. December 25, 2012 at 3:35 pm

                    Hi Metsie

                    It is also not true that Rusty Staub had no opinion of what could possibly be wrong with Ike Davis. He had many thoughts and to infer otherwise is taking a sentence out of context and ignoring the scope of what he was saying.

                    For example, when claimed that Staub also said he did not know what was wrong with Ike Davis what was not mentioned was that Rusty was talking about what the Mets were doing to straighten Ike out:

                    “I don’t know what’s happening. I’m not privy to anything that’s being said in that dugout. I don’t have an idea what the hitting instructor is talking to Ike Davis about.”

                    And Rusty also said ” “He’s so messed up in his head, it’s beyond comprehension.”. That is not saying he had no more an idea what was wrong with Ike than Sandy Alderson. In fact, Rusty voiced an opinion as to many things he did see Ike was doing wrong:

                    “I’ve watched the Mets on TV quite a bit, and he’s had the bat in different positions, he’s pumping that thing up and down; he’s not giving himself much of a chance. I think he’s gotta slow it down, and be quieter. If your hands start moving down when that ball is coming, you’re not getting there. He does that a lot.”

                    So for one to say….

                    “Rusty Staub had no idea nor did he venture a guess. Just more absurdity on your part that a man who’s been involved in baseball for 30 years doesn’t have knowledge of the game. Not only is that absurd it’s just a flat out DUMB comment. You seem to make your share of them though so no one should be surprised.”

                    ….. is a case of making a point that is not credible by attacking the credibility of one’s opposing viewpoint by manipulating what was actually said (in this case, Rusty Staub), intentionally taking things out of context and ignoring the total body of the conversation. That type of behavior speaks for itself and applies to the one whose own words were “the ones calling him an idiot are not exactly the sharpest tools in the shed her”. I’ll also add another word used by that same individual to describe such actions – “pathetic”.

                    Sandy Alderson felt the same way Rusty did – that Ike should be sent down to the minors – but makes him no more a professional baseball person than it does making Rusty a lawyer.

                    Here again is another non-existent web-site that I just make things up about.

                    http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/05/rusty-staub-on-ike-davis-you-cant-go-up-there-hoping.html
                  • Just-Da-Damaja December 25, 2012 at 3:52 pm

                    “Yeah like he’s going to come out and say Murphy is an awful 2nd baseman. He’s really going to trash him. It’s the other way around. ”

                    The Firm believes Sandy Alderson does not talk bad about met players.

                    http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/mets-alderson-cracks-jokes-brace-rough-offseason-article-1.1199256

                    And that Alicea comment was beyond hilarious, I’ll let that go, lets stay on topic

                    #NiceTry
                  • Just-Da-Damaja December 25, 2012 at 3:54 pm

                    “The lawyer is no longer a lawyer, hasn’t been for 30 years. He’s been in baseball since, hence he’s a baseball guy. ”

                    LMAOOOOO

                    The Firm now believes that Sandy Alderson was not brought over to the mets for his legal and financial expertise. It was due to Sandy being a baseball guy.
• mikey December 24, 2012 at 10:45 am

  Frankly I haven’t read the blog piece above. Bloggers, with the exception of a few, who have primary sources are no different than cover bands.
• taskmaster4450 December 24, 2012 at 10:51 am

  Duda is not exactly a defensive gem….everyone knows that. Stats or not, it is clear that Duda is clumsy and not fluid in the OF. He isnt exactly that way at first base either. But did you notice Melky in LF this year? Not gold glove material. Bobby Abreau made a career out of poor defense. Duda is going to earn his keep with his bat. If he belts 30-35 HRs, you can live with him in LF. However, failure to do this means the Mets need to send him to Vegas. That said, I think he warrants another chance to see if he can hit. The Mets need power and he has the potential to provide that. I give him two months to see what he and Kirk can do at the plate along with Den Dekker in Vegas. If Kirk can be respectable and Den Dekker hits in AAA, then around June, move Duda out, Kirk to LF, and Den Dekker into center.

  As for the rest of the defense, Kirk is able to handle CF. He isnt a gold glove winner but he isnt going to hurt the team. Same with Baxter in RF. He can catch the ball, has enough speed to cover some ground, and a strong enough arm to not be an embarrassment. The question for both of them is can they hit (same with Valdy). Of course, if the Mets bring back Hairston, he is also a defensive mishap waiting to happen.

  At this point, I say go with the young guys and see what they can do. Hopefully, between Duda, Den Dekker, Baxter, Kirk and Valdy, there is at least 1 or 2 ML OFs. If any show the ability to hit, then the team can live with poor defense. Yet no hit not glove is a terrible combination.
  • Angelo December 24, 2012 at 11:00 am

    nothing else left to say
  • gorgeguy December 24, 2012 at 2:03 pm

    “….. send him to Vegas”

    That is going to have a funny ring to it for the life of this AAA contract.
• Angelo December 24, 2012 at 10:59 am

  nothing else left to say
• Matt M December 24, 2012 at 11:03 am

  The sooner Duda is off the team, the better.

  Thank god we didn’t trade for Mike Olt.
• azulnaranja December 24, 2012 at 11:08 am

  Duda is a bad outfielder, but if he could be platooned in left with Scott Hairston they could be productive enough offensively to somewhat offset their poor defense. I really hope that they get another right-handed hitting outfielder besides Hairston and Cowgill, but if they don’t, I hope Collins has the sense to platoon as much as possible. With players of limited abilities, the best way to hide their deficiencies is to put them in as many situations as possible where they have a better chance to succeed. Successful managers like Stengel, Weaver, and Anderson (with the Tigers, didn’t have to with the Reds) knew this and thrived with it. Gil Hodges won a Worlds Championship with it. Collins can’t pull that off with this collection, but he can do better than he has. Oh, and don’t bunt so much.
• Nathan December 24, 2012 at 11:21 am

  I seriously doubt he will be even passable in left but it will probably be better. Duda needs to rake this year. If he can have a good year with the bat or even half year he can be shipped to an AL team as a DH. He is not an NL player. It’s sad because if he lives up to his bat potential he could be a fine bat but he’s just not built for defense. The Dunn comment was a little off center cause Dunn had speed when he was young. It was like Larry Walker speed but hey that was good enough.
• Just Some Internet Guy You Dont Know December 24, 2012 at 12:23 pm

  Wow. Never thought I’d see an article rip Duda apart like that. Sure he’s out of position but he isn’t that bad. And if the Mets would stop messing with him then he would hit to make up for some of his defensive woes.

  When Duda was hitting better than Ike was, he was sent to the minors. Even though Ike went on to have a decent season, Duda should have been given the same chance instead of destroying his confidence at the plate when he already has to worry about his fielding.

  Duda’s comparable is probably Adam Dunn but Duda has shown he can situational hit where Dunn hasn’t. Just can’t think of another big donkey who can hit the ball to the moon. If Duda can do anything like 270 20 HR 80 RBI then you have a player. The Mets lack anything like that right now in their outfield. Kirk looks like he might be able to do those numbers too with maturation. But you’re going to have growing pains since the Wilpons are broke and Balderson is covering their ases.

  UZR and all these other recent metrics are BS. What happened to when people actually watched the game and watched the players play instead of thinking some number means a player is good or bad.

  Get used to Duda unless Balderson comes up with a way to trade him. Unlikely with the wrist issue and that wrist thing may be a bigger issue for the Mets moving forward. Look how long it took Carlos Delgado and David Ortiz to come back from wrist injuries.

  Leave Duda alone.
  • Hitman December 24, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    “Get used to Duda unless Balderson comes up with a way to trade him”

    They could’ve traded Duda when they had the chance. Tampa was interested in Duda, but the Mets wanted to keep him because they believe in his “upside”. The last time they believed in someone’s “upside”, he started to suck and eventually was traded to Toronto. If you ask me (and I’ve had this conversation with jessep), Duda needs to go to somewhere like Detroit, where he’d be more of an effective DH than Delmon Young.
    • Just Some Internet Guy You Dont Know December 24, 2012 at 1:13 pm

      I think he would be a great DH but I think he can also be a suitable OF. Dunn did it right? So did other guys who were big lumbering mooses. The Mets could probably still trade him to Tampa or wherever but there’s another issue that pops up if they do. One less OF and one guy I don’t want to see YET is den Dekker. He makes Mark Reynolds look selective at the plate.

      When they try to give 1B and OF guys another position to play it’s not such a bad idea, they just do it to the wrong guy sometimes. Duda I don’t think is one of those wrong guys but you need other good outfielders or guys who can cover ground next to him.
  • neekerbreeker December 24, 2012 at 12:56 pm

    Good post just. I kind of agree (about leaving him alone — at one position, prob LF). The Mets have a long and ugly history with switching guys from their natural positions. I still can’t believe they moved Reyes for Matsui, eesh. But then there was the Murphy fiasco and now Duda. Wasn’t even Thole a 1Bman at one point? From a player development standpoint it doesn’t say much to those who believe it takes time and commitment to prepare a player to field a position in the major leagues. Duda might be passable in left, he can play a little deeper and the walls are more predictable. If he hits (a lot) he might be ok, but they can’t keep switching guys from their natural positions, their offense takes a hit every time. One stat I kind of like is wRRA (the number of offensive runs a player contributes to his team compared to the average). It’s a simple and fairly intuitive stat. Surprisingly in 2011 Lucas had a +14 wRRA, which is well above average if not great. In 2012 it plummeted to 1.3. For the record Bill James projects Lucas will rebound in a big way with a +15 wRRA.
• Sponge Bob December 24, 2012 at 12:29 pm

  Taking an ugly bookend and moving it from the right to the left of your bookshelf doesn’t make it any less ugly. Unless of course you’re a Met fan, then it looks absolutely stunning.
  • Trs86 December 24, 2012 at 12:38 pm

    Well That’s not true most people don’t even use a book end on the left side.
    • gorgeguy December 24, 2012 at 2:10 pm

      
      It’s these type of replies that keep a chat room fun. The ones where the trolls slice and dice everyone ain’t no fun ‘t ‘all.
• Joe December 24, 2012 at 12:59 pm

  The biggest hindrance Duda has is the lump above his shoulders. He takes at bats into the outfield and he takes fielding woes into the batters box. Once he learns how to separate the two and desensitize himself from the critics hes going to bloom into a great offensive, serviceable LF if left alone. The NY market/media probably isnt helping matters either, but I wouldnt like to see him shipped off until hes given a fair shake. Management needs to sit him down & tell him that hes going to play LF & hit 5th all season long, then watch him blossom.
• Mike December 24, 2012 at 1:36 pm

  I’m a Duda fan and a mets fan for 50 years. I will wait until Sept. 2013 when it will be a pleasure to be as cruel to you as you have been to Lucas.
• Joey D. December 24, 2012 at 1:42 pm

  Hi Matt,

  Though appreciative of the research that you did, we did not need that comprehensive break down of advanced stats to tell us what we were able to observe simply with our eyes about Duda’s fielding exploits. In fact, we can tell how the learning process is going by the way his mechanics and instincts change, one way or the other and the confidence (or lack of it) that his body motions indicate which I hope the Mets are relying on more than the stats.
  • Fonzie13 December 24, 2012 at 4:20 pm

    I wonder why those eyes thought Murphy played a good 2nd base.
• Jerry Klunek December 24, 2012 at 1:48 pm

  Even if what you write is accurate, there is no good reason to write such a cruel blog.

  Among other things, Duda appears to be a young, quiet and sensitive guy who doesn’t need to be the subject of sUch a scathing article, especially during the Christmas season.

  You should be ashamed of your insensitivity.
  • gorgeguy December 24, 2012 at 2:17 pm

    I second this comment more than any of the others.

    Me thinks that there’s a few Mets fans who love to slather themselves in negativity. It’s a freakin’ game where the employees get way too much money for their job. Definitely not worth pitching daggers at comrades in these chat rooms nor the players/managers/GMs.

    Merry Xmas to you Jerry for rising above.
  • Steve A. December 24, 2012 at 2:46 pm

    I agree completely. No need to rip a player that’s playing out of position.
  • Just-Da-Damaja December 25, 2012 at 3:55 pm

    Oliver Perez was young and sensitive…where was the love ?
• neekerbreeker December 24, 2012 at 2:11 pm

  I’ll try and tone it down — the good news is that it only gets better (defensively) after Duda … just be thankful I didn’t get to profile Jason Bay!

  There’s a lot of resentment from a lot of fans because it comes down to being ripped off at the gate … we expect the NY Mets to be able to field a major league ready half-way competent ballclub for the prices we pay. When that doesn’t happen there’s lots of displeasure & frustration to go around and unfortunately the public face of the organization (the players) usually become the focus of these feelings. Like I said, I like Duda and I don’t necessarily blame him for the fact that the organization put him in a position to fail … he certainly is no Castillo (who I truly loathed for some reason), but Duda’s RF play is what it is, hard to sugar coat it.
  • this is stupid December 24, 2012 at 2:49 pm

    I have to disagree with the other guys. you should do more stuff like this, it was funny. Negativity is much more enjoyable like this than like this: http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/12/sandy-alderson-is-the-great-pretender.html
• Metsie December 24, 2012 at 4:07 pm

  Ron Swoboda once made every ball hit to him an adventure and eventually one made him a Met Hero….

  Yes Duda is slow, No Question…
  Numbers say he is a really bad….RFer!
  He should never have been put in RF where getting to the ball quickly is important.

  The delay of getting to the ball when added to the length of throw that needs to be made once you got it a recipie for triple city.

  Put him in LF where even if he takes a little longer than most to get to the ball the runner will not attempt to take third as the throw is a short pitch to 3B.

  McReynolds wasn’t a speedy guy either and while he may be a better fielder than Duda no one ever mentioned his fielding as long as his bat was there…

  If Duda starts hitting like he should then no one will care he is trolling LF….
  But that said if he starts hitting we should entertain trading him for something we need. It may take more than just him to get something…
• BadBadLeroyBrown December 24, 2012 at 4:21 pm

  Guess What for all of Duda’s poor defense in the OF he is the Mets BEST Outfielder at the moment….He is the least of the Mets outfield problems
  • Metsie December 24, 2012 at 4:23 pm

    Bingo!

    May instead of complaining about Duda we should complain about the GM that elevated him to the Best OFer on the Roster…
    • neekerbreeker December 24, 2012 at 8:46 pm

      He’s not the best OF on the Mets defensively, not in RF where the Met “braintrust” insist on playing him. Kirk was pretty darned good out there as was Baxter. I agree with Metsie that lately it seems like there are fewer of these mid-level trades. Teams are either trading superstars or prospects and very little else. The strange thing is there seem to be fewer Ray Knight type players these days. After your elite level players you go right to useful but flawed types — players with one or two ++ tools and that’s it. Whatever happened to the well rounded player? Fortunately I think now that the steroid era is subsiding we’re seeing a resurgence of complete players, guys like McCutchen and Longoria and Tulowitzki. For too long its as if baseball assembly lines forgot how to produce a total player, they’d have a fast engine with a decent electrical system and an ok fuel system but they’d forget to install an exhaust! Somewhere between Willie Mays and Mike Trout baseball’s “tool happy” executives became enamored with the likes of Richie Sexson, David Ortiz and Lyle Overbay. Baseball still overlooks complete ball players in favor of big power guys, look no further than the 2012 AL MVP for proof of that. Interestingly, I think this topic is huge for the 2013 Mets because if we’re to have a chance we have pitch well, we have to get faster, and we have to improve significantly on team defense, all of which are doable without massive expenditures.
• AndyB December 24, 2012 at 4:43 pm

  This post also points out why the Mets haven’t been active in the trade market beyond the RA trade — they have nothing anyone else wants (always reminds me of a kid calling a sports talk show with a line like, “why don’t the Mets trade Lucas Duda for Albert Pujols?”

  Nobody wants Lucas, Jordany, Den Dekker, Baxter. Should I go on? Oh, then why don’t they trade Dan Murphy for Matt Kemp?

  Sorry, as a Mets fan this rebuilding project is going to go on for a while until the younger players form a base.

  I hope that not too many of you thought that Cody Ross or Nick Swisher were the answer either.

  Merry Christmas, everyone.
  • Metsie December 24, 2012 at 5:28 pm

    I’m Sorry Andy that is not a fact just a product of a fanbase and an FO who has a lack of imagination, and Can’t judge talent without a Spreadsheet and a subscription to Baseball America, and think even an unproven MiLer who is 2-3 years away is more valuable than an MLB Vet who can help you right away…..

    If we spent less time trying to find a formula that would get us some organizations TOP PROSPECT or some guy like Upton we have LOTS to trade to get what this team needs to make it competitive and at least fill the holes while your waiting for all these kids you have harded to arrive.

    We got Ray Knight for a PTBNL…He was a KEY to the 86 WS and when we dumped him for a kid we haven’t won a WS since! SO much for the kids who can play well for many years being better to have and play than some Vet who gives you the leadership and experience (not to mention the HUNGER kids often do not show) to Win and play hard to get the top prize!

    No one really wanted Calvin Schiraldi either but we still got Ojeda for him didn’t we?

    And no one really wanted Neil Allen at the time but he still got us Hernandez didn’t he?

    The problem with the lack of trades is these guys go by NUMBERS and give the scouting only marginal consideration. They look in the scouting for signs they might get the numbers they want but the problem there is the numbers they like do not translate to greatness they translate to what they look for ALL the time, High OBP, High Walk serviceable but cheap and the rest is unimportant because thier Philosophy dismisses it as unimportant.

    If you guys stopped thinking that every deal has to be for KIDS and if not some SUPERSTAR you would open your mind up to a variety of trade possibilities that could be made to help this club in a meaningful way.

    And while you might suggest there is no ONE player anyone wants that doesn’t mean they would not TAKE a package of three or four players to get something we need or a simple swap of Flores for a similar OF in thier system due to both being held back due to players already on thier respective rosters.

    THOSE are the deals that make the team good not just the BLOCKBUSTER….

    The problem is Sandy (and Fans to some extent) refuse to entertain ANY trade that involves sending a kid away because it doesn’t fit what they think they understand as the way to go.

    Kid HOARDING is not a successful philosophy as more than 50% of all kids bust! Less than 10% ever live up to their “CIELING” and even fewer ever give you long term success to build around.

    So stop looking for trade targets using Baseball America…
    Stop Judging them based on what a Spreadsheet says….
    Stop focusing on SUPERTARS and BLOCKBUSTERS and you will find that there are LOTS of trades that can be made by finding the right fit partner who needs something YOU have and has something WE NEED…

    And get off this notion our entire MiL system is worthless and unwanted….
    And if you INSIST on believing that then ask yourself….

    WHO IS AT FAULT FOR THAT?
    Sure isn’t Omar because most of his kids are the players we are using and refuse to trade!
    Right now only Wheeler and d’Arnaud are recent acquisitions that have made the No Trade list…ALl the rest are hand me downs despite Two Drafts in the top half of each of the last two drafts.
    Are those guys worthless too? If so then put the blame for that where it belongs.
    • azulnaranja December 24, 2012 at 5:52 pm

      Without getting into the details of your post, by 1983 the Mets had been “hoarding” kids for about six years. This allowed them to trade for Hernandez, Knight, Carter, Ojeda and even McReynolds and eventually Viola.
      The Cardinals wanted Hernandez out of there – he was considered a clubhouse cancer and a druggie.
      Knight was old and considered about done. He was AWFUL for a whole season in 1985 and was sort of lucky he was still on the team in 1986. Davey Johnson probably kept waiting for HoJo to take away his job, but Knight had one good year left in him, thankful for us.
      Carter cost the Mets a proven major leaguer in Brooks and a very highly rated, ML ready prospect in Youmans.
      And Schiraldi was desirable – considered the “next in line” after Gooden, Darling, Fernandez et al.
      The Mets have tried bringing in veterans to add to the team – names like Castillo, Schneider and Bay come to mind. Of course, Valentin and LoDuca helped – but for one year, and then they were pretty much done. Look, I wish the Mets could have signed Greinke and Hamilton and not worried about the dollars, but that’s not in the cards, and the rest of the guys out there just aren’t that exciting, so they are probably better off restocking the cupboard.
      • Metsie December 24, 2012 at 6:15 pm

        Yes they were because they already sucked for 3 years before Cashen got here and had amassed a lot of top draft picks already….

        This is the point many here telling us Sandy needs more time don’t seem to get….

        He hasn’t even gotten to the point yet where this team has those picks to work with…

        He didn’t have a worst team in baseball when he started and in order for his philosophy to work he has to GET THERE FIRST!

        Meaning he has to make this team the WORST in baseball (so far so good) and once it has been the worst team in baseball you can start the 5 year clock towards competition.

        So two more years to make us the worst team in baseball, 5 years of top picks to rebuild…
        Sandy needs until 2020 before he wins anything or builds the team Cashen built…

        You guys want to wait that long?
        Is 7 years the amount of time you think is FAIR for this Cashenlike rebuild to succeed and give to Sandy?

        If so stop all this crap about 2014 because it isn’t going to happen!
• L.J. Phipps December 24, 2012 at 5:16 pm

  Duda can hit and I believe if he goes back to his original approach of patience and taking the outside pitch to left he will do fine. While he maybe lacking defensively, he can improve with coaching on his positioning. He will never be “fleet of feet” nor own a gold glove, but he is serviceable and can be alright in leftfield.
  • Metsie December 24, 2012 at 5:34 pm

    There is one mission this year as far as Duda is concerned and that is to get his Bat back up to where it belongs…

    The Fielding is moot because lets face it he won’t be all that much worse than the other two guys that will be out there with him and if you get his Bat going then he is a very good trade chip to someone who needs a good hitting 1B that could get you the OFer you need.
    • L.J. Phipps December 24, 2012 at 5:39 pm

      And your probably right.
      • Metsie December 24, 2012 at 5:47 pm

        Here is my prediction LJ…

        Duda will re-discover his bat and have a higher BA and OBP than Ike but fewer HRs…

        And the peanut gallery here will want to trade Ike’s 32 HRs and move Duda to 1st (despite the loss of power and fielding) merely because they will believe they can get a better BA Prospect for Ike than Duda….

        And it would be a mistake!
        • Hitman December 24, 2012 at 7:19 pm

          *raises eyebrow*

          Holy exaggerations, Batman! Who in their right mind would want Duda over Davis at 1st base?
          • Metsie December 24, 2012 at 9:32 pm

            You should read what some of the people around here say more often you will find a few who suggested Ike as a Trade chip at the end of the season and if I’m not mistaken there was even a report that the FO considered such options when they looked at what they could trade to get OF.
            • Hitman December 24, 2012 at 10:53 pm

              You mean these gems?

              http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/09/ike-davis-on-the-mets-trading-block-where-theres-smoke-theres-fire.html

              http://metsmerizedonline.com/2012/09/duda-over-davis-doesnt-make-sense.html
              • Metsie December 25, 2012 at 12:13 am

                Yep did you read the comments at all?

                This Nugget is funny….

                “I was of the opinion that Davis should have been shopped before the 2011 season for top pitching prospects or as part of a package for a top pitcher. Now it seems his value has been diminished and don’t forget, Rubin doesn’t only report for the Mets fan base. Now the whole league knows Davis is stubborn, doesn’t respond to coaching and clearly takes his offense out into the field with him. So what value does he have, exactly?”

                Note the fact I agree that doing so would be a major mistake….

                Others? Not so much….In fact think it might be a good idea!
              • Joey D. December 25, 2012 at 12:14 am

                Hi Hitman,

                I also recall Mike Francesa saying to trade Davis for an outfielder and put Duda at first.