5
2013
The Mets Just Made The 2013 Season A Lot Shorter
An article by 
Most of the time, when the Mets make a move I disagree with, I tend to write long-winded diatribes filled with bitter sarcasm and scathing remarks generally aimed at the person or persons responsible for the unfortunate transaction. However, today I’m pressed for time so there will no 1,000+ word rant. Instead, I’ll just be giving you the long and short of today’s Mets news, which as you’re about to read, couldn’t be more appropriate.
Terry Collins won’t have much to look up to in 2013.
Jon Rauch was one of the few dependable arms in the Mets bullpen last year. But in 2013, his 6’11″ inch frame will be casting shadows on the mound at Marlins Park.
Various sources have reported that Rauch has signed a one-year, $1 million contract to pitch for the stripped-down version of the Miami Marlins. He will more than likely pitch in Miami for a few months, get a few tattoos, then get shipped off to a pennant contender for a bunch of prospects at the trade deadline.
Rauch’s departure, coupled with the non-signing of 6’10″ Chris Young and the non-tendering of 6’7″ Mike Pelfrey will make the Mets a much shorter team in 2013. In fact, as of this scribbling, no player on the Mets’ 40-man roster is taller than 6’4″.
It’s possible the Mets just thought the 34-year-old Rauch was getting up there in years. Perhaps they believed Chris Young was about to break like an outfield wall in front of Rodney McCray. Or maybe they expected Mike Pelfrey to eventually bite off his tongue while throwing a pitch. For all we know, perhaps the Mets just found a new way to cut costs by spending less money on fabric for the tall players’ jerseys.
But one thing’s for certain. The light stanchions at Citi Field will be the only things casting shadows on the mound now that Rauch, Young and Pelfrey have all cautiously lowered their heads under the home bullpen gate for the last time.
Jon Rauch will be soaking rays in Miami in 2013. Mike Pelfrey will be dodging snowballs and line drives in Minnesota. Chris Young will be trying not to get hurt wherever he winds up. None of these behemoths will be pitching for the Mets in 2013. It looks like a long season just got a little shorter for the Mets.
About the Author: Ed Leyro
Ed Leyro was hatched in the Bronx, but spent most of his youth in Queens at Shea Stadium. Apparently, all that time spent at Mets games paid off as Ed met his wife (The Coop) for the first time at Citi Field during its inaugural season. Guess the 2009 season was good for something after all. In addition to his work at Mets Merized Online, Ed also owns, operates and is head janitor at Studious Metsimus, where he shares blogging duties with Joey Beartran. For those not in the know, Joey is a teddy bear dressed in a Mets hoodie. Clearly, Studious Metsimus is not your typical Mets blog.
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Nice play with words there Ed. I had no idea by the title that your post was going to be about height.
LOL
Would love to hear Sandy’s apologists defend this one…
As the Mets inch closer to oblivion the measure of the Wilpon’s worth is increasing. If the Mets can play over their heads then we will be fine. If we are buried in last place then the coffin will be cheaper because less space is needed. I hope you appreciate the great lengths it took me to reply to your post.
Blah blah blah. You are so tiresome. What a life you must have, coming to the internet not to foster discussion on interesting topics and express opinions, but to rant and rave and tilt at windmills. You are a know nothing blowhard. I don’t so much feel sorry for you as I do everyone who has had the sorry misfortune of spending time with you offline. You are either a 12 year old boy or an extremely angry and failed adult. Either way, you’re consistency of idiocy has grown boring.
Here’s what a normal person might say (if one believed this):
I think this is a mistake. Rauch was one of our better relievers over the second half of the season and at that price, its crazy for the Mets not to bring him back. Sandy did a terrible job with last year’s pen and this appears to be more of the same.I can’t help but wonder if this wasn’t entirely financially drive and that our financial situation is far worse than even we realize.
Here’s you:
AAARGGGGH!. SANDY SUCKS!!! EVEN WORSE, ANYONE WHO LIKES ANY MOVE THAT SANDY MAKES IS A WORTHLESS SANDY DEFENDER!!! DIE SANDY DEFENDERS!!!! YOU MAKE ME SO MAAAAAD!!!! HOW DARE YOU DO OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS ON A MOVE BY MOVE BASIS!! ALL SANDY THINGS MUST SUCK OR YOU SUUUUUCK!!!!
Shut up already. Shut. Up.
Correction: An adult would say I disagree with your posts which all have the same theme. Yes Sandy is not perfect but who is? Hey DBAssassin you’re not perfect either. I know I’m not but the problem is I think that you think you are indeed perfect. Of course since I am not perfect I could be speaking to the second coming. Have a nice day.
No Hostreak, I am not perfect. I’ve been wrong as much as I’ve been right over the course of my sports fan days. And yes, if the point of my post was to engage in an intelligent discourse with someone with whom I disagree, I might have approached it as you suggest.
But that wasn’t my point, was it? JDD and his ilk are tiresome. Its the same thing over and over again. Some of us want to come and read interesting arguments and discourse, whether in support of or against our own view of the subject matter.
And what you seem to be missing, which is key to my original post, is that it isn’t the “everything Sandy does sucks” posts that are most annoying. Its the anger and hatred, both responsive and anticipatory, against any of us who might dare agree with something Alderson has done. It is impossible to come on here and post a positive reaction to something the front office has done, no matter how well you can back up your point of view with fair analysis. You are immediately met with the same tired crap from the Alderson Sucks gang.
So lets assume I’m going to post from here on out in two very different ways. I’ll post intelligently, as you suggest, when responding to a human being who has expressed a reasonably stated and reasonably toned opinion. And every now and then I’m going to jump in and bark and scream and wail at the morons who are blinded by their hatred for all things Alderson or anyone who agrees with something Alderson has done.
That work for you?
DBAssassin: “That work for you?” Thanks for asking but ask yourself does a reply that belittles someone actually “work for you”.
I thought you were an A-Hole and now see you are not.
Yes certain people are Sandy haters and others are Sandy lovers. I am neither. I am both critical and appreciative and realize the Picard lawsuit curtailed baseball operations. I can list his faults but you heard them already.
As for the guy you belittled ( I called him out when warranted) however, he has a good baseball mind and I learned from him how the media was against Beltran who was our best free agent ever. From both Metsie, and Joey D I learned that you can rebuild incrementally and lay the seeds for a championship team. Yes bloggers have different opinions.
It was nice having a dialogue with you.
I agree with you! Jesus! Can this guy just quit his bitching and moaning?! Did he have NOTHING else to write yet wrote something so damned stupid? As you said, STFU already!
Didn’t Rauch have some arm or elbow soreness late in the season? Didn’t land him on the DL but was unavailable for a few days?
If yes, maybe even at 1 MIL they didn’t want to take a chance on the health of the arm.
Or maybe they did offer Rauch a contract and he said, ‘Uh, no thanks’…..
I know he had a knee issue that cost him some time, and seemed to impact his pitching, but don’t remember an arm issue.
Ah…knee issue. I think you’re right on that.
I also remember the knee being the issue and not the elbow but Rauch’s Baseball Prospectus Injury History page makes a note of some elbow soreness back around June 5th.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/card/card.php?id=1556
All I can really remember is swelling of some type – just couldn’t remember the body part.
LOL Well done!
This is going to force SA to sign Valverde
I dont understand why they wouldnt sign such an effective piece of 2012′s BP at a price that seems undervalue
They must have gotten all of Alex’s letters.
Michael Bourn is 5’11″ and Brandon Lyon is 6’1″, so if either signings occur the Mets won’t get much help there haha
And the best part is that the Mets won’t miss either of them.
I’m surprised some actually wanted Rauch back. He was awful, despite the deceptive WHIP. The Mets bullpen had 29 losses, 4th worst in the majors, and Rauch was directly responsible for almost 1/3 of them. His clutch score at BR was the third worst among the relievers on the Mets last year. Only Ramirez and Carrasco had a worse clutch score.
I’m glad they decided not to bring him and Ramirez back. Good riddance.
lol
…..and here they come to save the dayyyyy
LOL! You mean you actually wanted Rauch to return? What was it that impressed you about him? The 7 losses? Or the 4 blown saves? Or was it the deer-in-the-headlights demeanor? Or his thin skin when fans got to him on twitter? Pray tell us!
after healing from his injuries….Rauch in the 2nd half
36 Appearances
0.797 WHIP
.165 BA
.162 BABIP
.212 OBP
Yup….why would we ever resign him !!!
Oh great. He pitches injured the first half and hurts the team, sucking big time. Then he miraculously gets cured in the second half when the team is now out of things, thanks to him playing hurt and sucking big time in the first half!
Hey, but let’s bring him back. Yup, that makes a lot of sense!
He’s such a solid reliever, all 29 other teams were clamoring to give him 1 million bucks as well!
but you can say that about any player we signed in the past 3 off-seasons…
did FF have anyone else willing to give him 6.5 mil a year…?
No, you can’t. Most of the players Sandy has signed up to now were done so earlier in the winter. They weren’t unwanted leftovers hanging around until February 5th.
And it’s not as if Rauch had a high asking price, his agent was Boras, or he cost anyone a draft pick. Those are legit reasons for someone going unsigned so long. Apart from sucking bad, of course.
Did anyone really say they wanted Rauch back earlier this winter? Or are you just whining now because it’s official he isn’t coming back?
You do know it’s Sandy who passed over Rauch and not the other way around, don’t you?
Lyon is going to cost a lot more than Rauch. So losing Rauch had nothing to do with money, either. Well, maybe only in the sense they didn’t want to waste it on Rauch!
You mean like Brandon Lyon…?
“They weren’t unwanted leftovers hanging around until February 5th.”
You mean like Brandon Lyon ?
“And it’s not as if Rauch had a high asking price, his agent was Boras, or he cost anyone a draft pick. Those are legit reasons for someone going unsigned so long.”
You mean like Brandon Lyon ?
No, not like Brandon Lyon , who actually is being pursued by multiple teams right now and who actually will be getting much more money than Rauch.
No one wanted Rauch, except for Miami. Multiple teams want Lyon. Big difference.
We all know that Miami is the worst team to play for right now and it’s the team of last resort. Anyone who signs with them right now has no other options.
It’s February 5th….and Brandon Lyon has not received an offer from any team yet…
It’s February 5th….and Jon Rauch is signed.
I guess all 30 MLB teams have been waiting all winter for the Brandon Lyon sweepstakes to begin !
It’s clear you are wrong again. It was reported over a week ago that the Mets were close to signing Lyon. IOW, an offer had already been made to him by the Mets at that time. And since it’s taken about a week for him to accept, it’s clear he had other offers from other teams as well, or he would have jumped at the Mets offer. Also, reports today say the Giants and Blue Jays were interested in signing him. So it’s likely they were two of the teams that were also interested in him.
Jan Rauch signed on February 5th because no one else showed interest in him. We all know the Marlins are the team of last resort. All 29 other GMs thought he wasn’t very good. Brandon Lyon was wanted by multiple teams. Rauch was only wanted my Miami.
Hi Metro,
As said before, I’m not a Rauch fan, but until one can show me that the Met bullpen has arms that are better, all this is indicative of is that Sandy is not even willing to spend $1 million for an arm that for half the season was decent.
Again, not a matter of not re-signing the going on 35 year old Rauch as it is signing a going on 41 year old Miguel Batista, a going on 37 year old Scott Atchison and a going on 37 year Pedro Feliciano (out two years due to injury) to minor league contracts to go along with Parnell and possibly Carson, Edgin and Familia along with another great signing – Frank Francisco – who is costing Sandy six times more.
Hi Joey – Well now the Mets bullpen has at least two arms better than Rauch. Parnell and Lyon.
And while Lyon’s salary hasn’t yet been revealed, I bet it’s a lot more than $1 million.
If Sandy really didn’t care about competing, he wouldn’t have signed Lyon. He would have just plugged the holes with the likes of Heffner and Familia.
And damaja, LOL at your use of BABIP. Or, I should say, your total misuse of it.
Your use of BABIP here actually undermines your argument that Rauch was a good pitcher in the second half.
A very low BABIP is a warning sign that chance was involved, especially for pitchers. It is considered unsustainable and experts say it means the pitcher is likely to REGRESS the following year. Same warning applies to unusually high BABIPs for pitchers, only in the reverse.
Even if one believes — as i do — that pitchers can control BABIP to some extent — it wouldn’t be by that huge an amount.
So your using BABIP to try to pump up Rauch not only belies a misunderstanding of advanced stats but also shows a hilarious pretension for using stats you don’t understand.
If you want to look at an advanced pitching stat applicable here, then look at xFIP. Rauch’s xFIP is not good — 4.33. Compare that to Parnell’s xFIP of 3.15.
Uh, on second thought, you better stick to simpler stats that you can handle — like WHIP and ERA, lol.
At any rate, not only was Rauch not very good in 2012, but Parnell was demonstrably better.
“He was awful, despite the deceptive WHIP. ”
Funny how stats are only deceptive when they dont strengthen your argument or fit your agenda so to speak….SMH
Nope. You are wrong. But, of course, given YOUR agenda, you would think that way.
In 48 AB, with RISP hitters batted .188 against Rauch last year.
In 70 AB with 2 outs, batters hit .114 against Rauch
and that was with a bad first half…
WTF are you talking about?
Rauch was actually our best reliever last year
He was Mr. Unclutch. He lost 7 games and had 4 blown saves. He only pitched well when the Mets were out of things and the pressure was off.
WTF are YOU talking about?
Being the best reliever in the worst pen in the majors doesn’t make you good.
you doofus
he lost all 7 games in the first half when he was pitching injured.
had he pitched great in the 1st half injury free…but stunk in the 2nd half and was injured…u would say its insane that we sign a guy who is a injury risk and contributed to our 2nd half slide…
instead he pitched hurt in the 1st half, finished the year healthy…and you still find a way to defend not signing him…
but we sign pedro feliciano????
again…
WTF are you talking about…
Grow up damaja. I’m not going to stoop to your level with the personal insults again. If you want to talk like an intelligent adult then leave out the juvenile comments. When you do, you’ll warrant a substantive reply.
he lost all 7 games in the first half when he was pitching injured.
had he pitched great in the 1st half injury free…but stunk in the 2nd half and was injured…u would say its insane that we sign a guy who is a injury risk and contributed to our 2nd half slide…
instead he pitched hurt in the 1st half, finished the year healthy…and you still find a way to defend not signing him…
but we sign pedro feliciano????
again…
WTF are you talking about…
Happy Now?
What’s worse? Losing 7 games and blowing 4 saves in the first half … OR pitching injured for a full TWO months and hurting your team’s chances to compete by doing so? I honestly don’t buy that bogus injury excuse. If it hurt him enough that he couldn’t pitch well, then he should have gone on the DL. It’s total BS. Either way, that doesn’t speak well of him and I’m glad they passed on his sorry ass.
Again, WTF are YOU talking about?
And grow up. Your juvenile personal insults are so tiresome and make you look like a moron.
Also Rauch was NOT the Mets best reliever last year.
Parnell had a higher save percentage — 58% vs. a pathetic 50% for Rauch.
Parnell also had a lower ERA. And a better clutch score.
Those 3 things together trump WHIP and situational hitting stats.
Parnell is not even a particularly good reliever at this point in his career. But he was better than Rauch in 2012.
so save percentage + ERA trumps WHIP and situational stats when it comes to measuring middle relievers?
LMAO…but “clutch” stats is a situational stat…and somehow Rauch’s numbers with 2 outs is still stellar…
ummm….
ok…
whatever
lol
I’m sure u’ll find a way to defend every Sandy signing/non-signing from here on to the end of his tenure
LMAO, indeed … BA has an actual clutch stat which better accurately reflects high leverage situations, and Rauch’s clutch stat is WORSE than Parnell’s!
In fact, Rauch’s clutch stat for Mets relievers last year is the worst except for Ramirez and Carrasco!
And do you know how illogical you sound?
LOL, by bashing Rauch, how am I thus defending Sandy signing him in the first place?
That makes ZERO sense. Totally illogical.
How many AB’s were used in this clutch stat…
what is it made of?
ALL the ABs against a pitcher are used in the clutch stat.
In addition, it uses a leverage index to assign WPA for each play in a game. It distinguishes between high, medium and low leverage situations which is something that plain old situational stats don’t do. That’s the BIG difference between a clutch stat based on a leverage index and the old situational stats.
I think MLB needs to ask expert talent spotter Metro what stat denominator should unseat “WHIP” as the benchmark for successful pitching as he seems to have some new formula which
includes:
-Clutch stat
-Not leaving pitchers in to pitch to strong hitters
-Deer-in-the-headlights demeanor
-Twitter thin skin
It’ll be called “NONLO” as in non-logical
Rauch did a gr8 job & you’ll see that when he does great on an even worse team next season.
There is only one Metric Metro uses…
WMSLG….
Whatever
Makes
Sandy
Look
Good
LMAO…..I think Metro may secretively be Baldersons illegitimate son….
And it’s much more accurate than the stat Metsie always uses …
WFMA
Whatever
Fits
Metsie’s
Agenda
No need for MLB to ask anyone about Rauch. The 29 other GMs have already weighed in on the matter. The verdict: Rauch stinks
For a reliever, results such as save percentage and some advanced stats such as xFIP trump WHIP. A good WHIP is useless if you can’t pitch under pressure, like Rauch couldn’t last season. And Rauch has been pretty unclutch his whole career, with a 67% lifetime save percentage.
LMAOOOOO
I will agree, Rauch was a great pickup and I would have liked to see him re-signed. I would however, tend to worry about his injuries that kept flaring up.
We shall see who gets the last laugh. I think those 29 other GMs will be among those laughing last!
At any rate, I’ve noted for the record that damaja, Joe, and TRS86 think the Mets missed the boat on Rauch, lol.
It’s all in an effort to save money….
Shorter team means they can stack seats two players high in the charter plane!
Smaller plane lower price.
Perhaps Orosco can be induced to pad his all-time appearances record by returning cheaply to our BP. Or maybe Sisk will improve on his prior appearances thru a cheap return?
But seriously, if we all consider ’13 to be extended Spring Training where the youth learn on the job – we have good pieces for a future pen in Carson, Edgin and Familia (we need to trade parnell who will probably then turn into nolan ryan 2)…..
He’s not a player worth talking about. I’d much rather see one of our kids out there.
If the team is smaller, they don’t need to feed them as much or special order gigantic jerseys.