Mets Merized Online

You can tell a lot about a player by the numbers he produces over his career.  The fact that Igarashi has a high 90s fastball is nice, but what has that fastball gotten him over his career?

Looking at Igarashi’s numbers would have me troubled if I’m a Met fan.  

He experienced some lower back pain in 2009 that caused him to miss some time and he missed the entire 2007 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.  From 2004 until 2008 he had never appeared in more than 50 games.  He did have a good year in 2009, appearing in 56 games and picking up 29 holds.  The missed time because of the lower back pain prevented him from appearing in 60 games.  It will be interesting to see how his stamina will be for a full 162 game season when he has had difficulty staying healthy for a 144 game season.

Here is a scouting report from Brandon Siefken of Japan Ball.

In 53 2/3 innings last year, his ERA was a beefy 3.19 which is a red flag to me.

He only struck out 44 batters for a slim 7.39 strike outs per nine innings, which seems low for a reliever. He does not dominate, despite his reputation as a dominator.

He also gives up an alarming number of home runs per 9 innings, as you can see in this Japanese relief pitcher chart from September: http://www.japanbaseballnews.com/?p=1188

I think in MLB there will be many trying times for Igarashi. I think his ego is more dominating than his fastball. If he gives up 0.55 home runs per nine innings in soft hitting Japan, I can see some ugly innings in America on the horizon.

Igarashi does hold the record for the fastest pitch in a NPB game by a Japanese pitcher when he hit 98.75 on the radar gun. Since the Tommy John surgery it is said that his velocity has returned, so that should help him.  He has never had much command, which could be even more challenging as he faces a new strike zone.  

One thing that is almost certain is that he should be a better set-up man than J.J. Putz was for the Mets last year.  The Mets have to hope that he won’t turn into their Masahide Kobayashi.    

For more on international baseball visit MWOB.

Ike Davis 1B – Surely Ike Davis can beat out Daniel Murphy for the first base job.  His .341 average with four homeruns and 16 RBIs in 21 games would seem to indicate that he could.  

Fernando Martinez LF – The Jason Bay acquisition probably means one more year in AAA.  He hit .191 in limited time in the Dominican League, with only one of his nine hits going for extra bases.

Josh Thole C – He may not play defense, but the Mets won’t have any problems with his offensive production as he showed in the Venezuelan League (.381, 3, 28).  He took 25 walks to 13 whiffs and that resulted in a .470 OBA. Off the charts!

Jenrry Mejia RHP – Despite his 12.56 ERA in six starts in the AFL he was still identified as one of the best prospects in the league.  Opponents hit him at a .362 clip and he walked 13 hitters in 14 innings.  Next year will not be the target date for his arrival in the major leagues.

Fernando Nieve RHP – The Mets may have some openings in the starting rotation and after his 2.42 ERA in four starts (five appearances) in the Venezuelan League, Nieve clearly shows that he is ready.  He had a 3/26 walk to K ratio and a .200 opponent average. Sleeper.

Francisco Rodriguez RHP – He arrived late to the Venezuelan League, gave up runs in his first two appearances and then settled down to the K-Rod of old, but with a rather lofty 7.20 ERA in six appearances.

For more international baseball updates visit me at My World of Baseball.

This is why baseball is so great, the trades and free agent discussion just extends the sport throughout the year. The games may be no longer be played on the diamonds as the summer months turn to winter, but games have shifted to the penthouses now. The players are moved like pawns on a chessboard, with each team trying to recover what they have lost from the previous season. Those teams who are successful in acquiring the most efficient group of players will win the grand prize at the end of the year – a World Series.

The last time myworld can remember names like Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee were involved in a trade was when Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez were traded to the Blue Jays for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter. A couple years later the Blue Jays benefited from that trade when Joe Carter hit a game winning homer in the seventh game of the World Series to give the Blue Jays the championship. The Blue Jays will have to hope that history repeats itself and one of the players they acquired equals Joe Carter’s accomplishment. They will have a few years to wait for that to develop.

The Seattle Mariners have to be happy with their acquisition of Cliff Lee. This will give them the best twosome in baseball with King Felix Hernandez and Lee. Unfortunately, this twosome will only last for one year when Lee leaves for free agency, unless the Mariners can convince him of the quality of life in Seattle and he agrees to sign an extension. The two draft picks the Mariners acquire should they lose Lee to free agency will not match the three prospects that the Mariners gave up to acquire Lee. They just have to hope that the one year he plays for them will earn interest in a return to the playoffs and the World Series.

The Phillies were able to acquire their ace and get a two year extension from him. They couldn’t do that with Lee. Getting the two year extension from Halladay was enough to convince them to depart with Kyle Drabek and Michael Taylor, two players they were unwilling to part with when the name of Halladay was discussed last year. They have to hope that the two pitchers that they acquired from the Mariners, Phillippe Aumont or Juan Ramriez, will balance out what they lost for Kyle Drabek. Ideally, it would have been nice to have kept both Lee and Halladay, but a team’s salary structure can only take so much of a financial hit, despite what Scott Boras would like you to believe. Acquiring a Halladay contract and keeping Lee would have put them in the neighborhood of the Yankees as far as salary commitment.

The Toronto Blue Jays will have to be happy with the three prospects they acquired for Halladay. It will be more than the two draft choices that they would have inherited for the loss of Halladay. With the trade they get three prospects without shelling out the large bonuses that are required when signing high draft picks. The Blue Jays have already traded one of the prospects, Michael Taylor to the Oakland Athletics for a player they have coveted for a long time, Brett Wallace. They were actually the first team to draft Wallace in the 42nd round in 2005 out of high school, but they couldn’t convince him to sign. Three years from now having Travis Snider and Brett Wallace in the same lineup will be really scary.

You also can’t forget the Yankees acquisition of Curtis Granderson that makes them a better team. Sorry, Melky Cabrera is not a good defensive centerfielder, no matter how much Yankee fans will try to color it by convincing you that his defense is underrated. The alternative, Brett Gardner is a good defensive centerfielder but he doesn’t provide you with much offense. The Yankees are used to parading a juggernaut of offensive dynamos like Micky Mantle, Joe Dimaggio and Bernie Williams out there. Mixing in the name Brett Gardner to patrol the hallowed pastures of centerfield just doesn’t cut it. It is still too early for Curtis Granderson to pass the litmus test of Yankee greats, but he has to be better than the Melky Cabrera and Bret Gardner duo.

Anytime you do a salary dump, no matter how you try to spin it, you are not going to be a better team the following year. The Tigers will have to hope that Max Scherzer replaces the loss of Edwin Jackson in the starting rotation, but Austin Jackson is not going to replace Curtis Granderson in centerfield, at least not in 2010. Phil Coke and Daniel Schlereth are both bullpen fodder, though Schlereth still has closer possibilities.

The Diamondbacks were trying to acquire a third starter to add to Brandon Webb and Max Scherzer. They did get Edwin Jackson from the Tigers but they had to jettison Scherzer to the Tigers in return. They will have to hope that their Yankee acquisition, Ian Kennedy will become that third starter. So instead of Webb, Scherzer and Jackson they will have to settle for Webb, Jackson and Kennedy.

Now that the Christmas holidays are getting near, a number of the premiere free agents are signing contracts to help them buy those presents. The John Lackey signing with the Red Sox certainly gives Boston one of the best rotations in baseball with Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and a recovered Daisuke Matsuzaka. They are also trying hard to convince the Padres to depart with Adrian Gonzalez, but they will have to depart with one of their roation hopefuls, Clay Buchholtz to get him. To get an offensive player with 40 homeruns at a bargain basement salary will cost the Red Sox Eric Bedard like prospects. The question becomes – are they willing to pay? Myworld can guarantee that Adrian Gonzalez will provide a bigger bang for your buck than Bedard gave the Mariners.

Hideki Matsui also got tired of waiting for the Yankees to choose between Johnny Damon and himself, so he signed a free agent contract with the Yankee killers the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles. Damon now bats his eyes towards the Yankees to convince them that there is enough in him for them to shell out four more years. Good luck with that.

Check out My World of Baseball.

Fernando Martinez made his appearance in the Dominican League.  He would like to make up for all the time he missed on the Mets major league roster because of a knee injury.  So far, it is not a good start to the season as he opened the Dominican League hitting only .167 with five whiffs in 6 games.

Josh Thole has to be upset that the Mets are still looking for a starting catcher and recently signed Henry Blanco as a back up.  All he’s doing is leading the Venezuelan league in hitting at .391.  He’s also showing a little bit of gap power with his 13 doubles, which puts him second in the league.  His .417 average against lefties shows he can hit them.

The starting pitching has been the most effective resource for the Leones.  This wasn’t true for Tobi Stoner’s last start where he was raked for seven runs in just over six innings of work.  This put a dent to his overall ERA, raising it to 3.10.

Fernando Nieve made his bullpen debut last week, tossing two innings of shutout relief.  He struck out four.

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Philip Humber is tops in the league in strikeouts with 18 but that comes with a 4.50 ERA.  Philip has been a workhorse, already appearing in four games, three of them starts and getting his fourth start tonight.  So he has pitched in five of the Leones first 13 games.  He was pitching on adequate rest and didn’t go more than six innings a start, so there were either a lot of byes in the schedule or rain outs.

Wily Mo Pena is starting to show some power, hitting homeruns in two straight games.  The four homeruns are his only extra base hits and he still strikes out frequently (8 in 16 at bats)

Jorge Sosa lodged his fourth victory against one loss with a one run performance against the Gigantes.  The Gigantes got revenge against Jorge today, ripping him for six runs in four innings.

Bill Pulsipher is back for more and got off to a slow start, losing two of his three starts.  He hasn’t gone more than four innings in any of his starts and his last appearance he gave up 10 hits in less than four innings.  He was fortunate enough that he only gave up two runs in the loss.

Juan Richardson and Fernando Tatis are tied for the league lead in doubles with nine.  Tatis is hitting .273 while Richardson is hitting .283.  They each have one homerun.

For more on International Baseball check out My World Of Baseball.

Josh Thole leads the league in hitting at .393.  The way he is raking in the Venezuelan League the Mets catching job should be his.  There doesn’t appear to be any alternative.  He rippled together another 6-game hitting streak, going 9 for 24 for the week and hitting his second homer of the season.  His OBA is .504 with a 24/10 walk to K rate and his slugging is .554.  He also drove in seven runs during this 6-game hitting streak.  He’ll face better pitching in the major leagues, so spring training will be the key.  Jesus Guzman had a 7 for 15 three game hitting streak to help the Leones with their four game winning streak.  With the Giants lack of offense they have to find a place for his bat.  Unfortunately, his best position is also played by Pablo Sandoval.  Rusty Ryal made his Venezuelan debut a good one going 4 for 10 with one dinger in his opening week. 

The Mets could have a sleeper starting pitcher with their pickup of Lance Broadway from the White Sox.  He continues to pitch well, giving up only one run in his six inning start last week.  He’s only given up two hits in his last 12 innings of work.  He leads all pitchers in ERA that have qualified with enough innings pitched with a 2.65 ERA.  Edwin Moreno picked up three saves last week to up his total to 12, which is tied for the top in the league.  Guillermo Moscoso struck out five batters in his three innings of work last week.  In 10 bullpen appearances his ERA is 1.46.

For more International Baseball visit my site, My World of Baseball.

The Olympic Committee has announced that golf and 7 man rugby will be considered for the new Olympic sports and have ignored adding baseball to the 2016 event. The 2012 and 2016 Olympics will be events that myworld will have no interest watching. Golf and rugby are sports that are a bit boring. Of course, some would argue that they feel baseball is a bit boring. Perhaps you will catch me watching a basketball game while spinning the channels and there are no baseball games that are competing against the event. But for the next 8 years the Olympics are a non-issue for me.

Myworld can’t really blame the Olympic Committee for not considering baseball. After you saw the major league baseball players commitment to the World Baseball Classic during a time when baseball was not in the middle of their season, even I would not accept the empty promises that major league players would participate in the Olympics if it was added. Even major league baseball’s statement that they would put out the most competitive team in the 2016 Olympics was not a commitment that major league players would participate.

Now it is up to the various professional leagues to look into efforts to expand baseball. That can only be done at the grassroots level. In the United States, baseball as a participatory sport has been in decline. Most of the loyal baseball fans are over 40 and talk about the good old days. It’s time to rejuvenate the game among the younger folk who can help the sport grow.

Baseball has a tough task. It’s a lot more difficult to get nine people on each side, find bats, balls and gloves to get a game started. Basketball only needs 5 players on each side, a ball and a “basket” to play. Soccer can be played with three on each side (two to pass the ball to one another as they drive down the field and one goalie, plus two shirts to mark the goal) and a ball. Golf you just need a bunch of clubs to play and a lot of money and time to walk on a course.

So it will be interesting where the growth of baseball will go after this snub. At least the organizations trying to lobby for reinstating baseball can put their money to other more useful ventures. Major league baseball makes enough money that they do not need the Olympics to survive. The big question is whether they will share that money with other organizations in countries that are trying to develop baseball.

Sayanara Olympics. You certainly have not made an impression on me with your choice of sports.

Check out my site for more on International Baseball.

The Cuban team announced their players for the World Port Tournament, and  Aroldis Chapman was originally listed as a pitcher for the team.

But, according to a Cuban newspaper report, Aroldis Chapman has in fact defected.  The tournament was scheduled for July 2 through 12th, and Chapman was scheduled to be the opening day pitcher in the tournament, but he never showed up.  The English version of the article is here.

For those who are not familiar with Aroldis Chapman, he is probably one of the top five pitchers in baseball under 25.  He is Yu Darvish without the polish, a kid who can hit the radar guns at 102 miles per hour, but can be erratic with his command. 

He showcased himself at the World Baseball Classic and must have had the major league scouts drooling over his potential.  He would like to put his skills to the test in the major leagues.  You can bet that probably all 30 major league teams would be willing to accommodate him.

Kudos have to be given to East Windup for first reporting it.

While major league baseball would love to see the sport expand internationally, the reality is that the best of the international crop usually gravitate toward the major leagues anyway, and they with which ever organization has the money to pay them the highest salaries.  The gorillas always win.

For more international baseball news, please visit my site.

The international signings have begun, with the first salvo reported by the New York Mets.  According to Baseball Prospectus the Mets have signed Juan Urbina to a bonus of over $1 million.  Juan Urbina is the son of Ugueth Urbina who has a fastball that sits at 88-89 but reaches 91.  As he matures and gets stronger that fastball should increase in velocity.  He also has a curveball that is advanced for his age per Baseball America.

For those of you who may not remember, Ugueth had his major league baseball career interrupted because of an incident in the Dominican Republic.  In 2007 he began serving a 14 year old jail sentence when he attacked five workers on his farm with a machete and poured gasoline on them.  He contended that the workers were trying to blackmail him for money with these false allegations.  By the time he gets out of prison his son should have his major league future mapped.

The other New York team, the Yankees, have signed Gary Sanchez, a catcher out of the Dominican Republic.  His signing bonus is expected to reach $3 million.  He shows plenty of offensive and defensive tools, but with all 16 year olds those tools need lots of refinement before he can call himself major league ready.  He has a body that should stay away from the fast food establishments of the United States if he waits to keep has athleticism intact.  Baseball America also reports that his batting practice performances are much more impressive than his swings against live pitching.  But over time, those issues can be worked out.

The Yankees also signed lesser prospects RHP Chris Cabrera for $400,000 and shortstop Damian Arrendondo for $850,000. 

The Brewers became players in the International fold by signing rightfielder Jose Pena for $400,000.  He is a raw player that according to Baseball America oozes power. 

Baseball America provided a list of the top 25 prospects from Latin America who will be part of the July 2 signing period and they are listed below:

1. Miguel Sano, SS, Dominican Republic
2. Wagner Mateo, CF, Dominican Republic
3. Gary Sanchez, C, Dominican Republic
4. Guillermo Pimentel, CF, Dominican Republic
5. Jose Vincio, SS, Dominican Republic
6. Luis Sardinas, SS, Venezuela
7. Cheslor Cuthbert, 3B, Nicaragua
8. Juan Urbina, LHP, Venezuela
9. Daniel Sanchez, RHP, Venezuela
10. Jose Pena, RF, Dominican Republic
11. Edgar Ferreira, LHP, Dominican Republic
12. Jochi Ogando, RHP, Dominican Republic
13. Jacob Beltre, C, Dominican Republic
14. Victor Payano, LHP, Dominican Republic
15. Jurickson Profar, RHP/SS, Curacao
16. Luis Jolly, CF, Dominican Republic
17. Johendi Jiminian, RHP, Dominican Republic
18. Santo Aybar, SS, Dominican Republic
19. Leonardo Perdomo, RHP, Dominican Republic
20. Rosel Herrera, SS, Dominican Republic
21. Wilfredo Solano, SS, Venezuela
22. Santiago Nesi, C, Venezuela
23. Jorge Polanco, SS, Dominican Republic
24. Jairo Kelly, SS, Dominican Republic
25. Humberto Valor, SS, Venezuela

The one concern teams have to watch out for is the true ages of these players.  The Cleveland Indians got some bad news when one of their top 2007 signings, shortstop Jose Osoria is actually Wally Bryan and he is 20 years old and not 17.  The Indians had signed him for $575,000.  He may have some difficulty getting a visa to play in the United States.  There are reportedly 70 players in the Dominican under investigation for lying about their age. 

For more on international baseball, visit my site.

One of the reasons the Yankees were so good is they had the scouts to scour the country and sign all the good players. So a draft was put together in 1965 to try to balance things out and give other teams an opportunity to acquire the same players the Yankees horded.

There have been successes and failures.

Below is Baseball Almanac’s list of number one draft picks since beginning in 1965.

We’ve ranked them based on what we thought was their impact in the major leagues with a 1 being no impact and a 10 being a Hall of Famer.

1965 – OF Rick Monday (Kansas City Athletics) – Noted more for his flag rescue than any of his baseball exploits – 6

1966 – C Steve Chilcott (New York Mets) – 2

1967 – 1B Ron Blomberg (New York Yankees) – first DH in baseball – 5

1968 – SS Tim Foli (New York Mets) – 5

1969 – OF Jeff Burroughs (Washington Senators) – Son Sean was later drafted by the Padres – 6

1970 – C Mike Ivie (San Diego Padres) – couldn’t throw ball back to pitcher – 3

1971 – C Danny Goodwin (Chicago White Sox) – 1

1972 – INF Dave Roberts (San Diego Padres) – 1

1973 – p David Clyde (Texas Rangers) – rushed to the major leagues to sell tickets – 2

1974 – Inf Bill Almon (San Diego Padres) – 3

1975 – C Danny Goodwin (California Angels) – Still a bust even if drafted first twice – 1

1976 – P Floyd Bannister (Houston Astros) – Son Brian is currently pitching for the Royals – 5

1977 – OF Harold Baines (Chicago White Sox – probably the best DH ever – 9

1978 – 3B Bob Horner (Atlanta Braves) – 7

1979 – OF Al Chambers (Seattle Mariners) – 4

1980 – OF Darryl Strawberry (New York Mets) – could have been better but drugs had an impact on career – 7

1981 – P Mike Moore (Seattle Mariners) – 5

1982 – SS Shawon Dunston (Chicago Cubs) – 6

1983 – P Tim Belcher (Minnesota Twins) – 5

1984 – OF Shawn Abner (New York Mets) – 2

1985 – C B.J. Surhoff (Milwaukee Brewers) – 5

1986 – Inf Jeff King (Pittsburgh Pirates) – 4

1987 – OF Ken Griffey Jr (Seattle Mariners) – the best pick – 10

1988 – P Andy Benes (San Diego Padres) – 5

1989 – P Ben McDonald (Baltimore Orioles) – 6

1990 – SS Chipper Jones (Atlanta Braves) – 9

1991 – P Brien Taylor (New York Yankees) – injury ruined his career – 1

1992 – 3B Phil Nevin (Houston Astros) – 7

1993 – SS Alex Rodriguez (Seattle Mariners) – the second best pick – 10

1994 – P Paul Wilson (New York Mets) – 3

1995 – OF Darin Erstad (California Angels) – the best punter among these number ones – 6

1996 – P Kris Benson (Pittsburgh Pirates) – still trying to battle injuries – 6

1997 – P Matt Anderson (Detroit tigers) – 100 mile per hour heat flamed out – 1

1998 – Inf Pat Burrell (Philadelphia Phillies) – drafted after J.D. Drew didn’t sign with them – 7

1999 – OF Josh Hamilton (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) – drugs stalled his career – 5

2000 – 1B Adrian Gonzalez (Florida Marlins) – weak draft but came out better than expected – 7

2001 – C Joe Mauer (Minnesota Twins) – 8

2002 – P Bryan Bullington (Pittsburgh Pirates) – arm injury stalled career – 2

2003 – OF Delmon Young (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) – younger brother of Dimitri – 4

2004 – SS Matt Bush (San Diego Padres) – converted to pitcher and still bombed – 1

2005 – SS Justin Upton (Arizona Diamondbacks) – 5

2006 – P Luke Hochevar (Kansas City Royals) – Dodgers couldn’t sign him – 4

2007 – P David Price (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) – 9

2008 – SS Tim Beckham (Tampa Bay Devil Rays) – too early

2009 – Stephen Strasburg (Washington Nationals) – Hoping for a 10. The best pitcher that has been drafted first in the draft is David Price, but he is still too early to evaluate. Nothing to really get too excited about.