SB Nation User Blog: Sokojoe

"It would be nice [to aquire Jason Bay]…I think you’d be looking at a pretty good lineup one...

Sokojoe — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:30:23 -0000

"It would be nice [to aquire Jason Bay]…I think you’d be looking at a pretty good lineup one-through-nine."

Good to see Frenchy is confident in our pitchers ability to hit.

WAR Spreadsheet for Current Team

Sokojoe — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:49:32 -0000

WAR Spreadsheet for Current Team

Using Sky's WAR spreadsheet, Bill James projections and a bit of estimatation to fill in gaps, the current Mets roster is projected to win 87 games.

I made this spreadsheet editable so that if anyone wanted to change an estimate/add baserunning/better fielding projections they could.

Mets hire Terry Collins as Minor League Field Coordinator

Sokojoe — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:50:22 -0000

Mets hire Terry Collins as Minor League Field Coordinator

I really don't know what a minor league field coordinator is or what they do, all I know is that when it comes to the NPB I'm an Orix Buffaloes fan. Collins was our manager two seasons ago and he resigned in May after the team didn't play up to expectations. The Buffaloes were in fifth place at the time but after he resigned got hot and ended up moving into second place and making the playoffs. The fact that we were swept in the first round by the Ham Fighters didnt stop it from being a really enjoyable season. This really has nothing to do with the hiring, I just like talking about the NPB and the Ham Fighters when I can.

AAOP: Champtionship

Sokojoe — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:06:51 -0000

Well, it was a disappointing year for the Mets to say the least. After coming so close to a championship, the Mets FO's overconfidence in their current roster lead to an off season filled with only minor moves mostly involving the bullpen and somewhat acknowledging the starting rotation. Well, we saw where that got us, a disappointing 73 wins. While I'm normally a rational member of AA, it's time to blow the core. Here is my proposal to shake up this entire roster and bring the WS trophy over the Tri-Borough RFK Bridge back to Queens!

1. Sign either Greg Maddux or Satoru Komiyama whichever one is actually available.

2. Trade 3.5 WARP Robin Ventura for 1.1 WARP David Justice.

3. Trade 1.1 WARP David Justice for .6 WARP Mark Guthrie.

Why sacrifice that 2.9 WARP you ask? So, that we have the money to trade for a player that had a 7.3 WARP in the previous season.

4. Trade Alex Escobar, Matt Lawton (-1.2 WARP,) Jerrod Riggan, Earl Snyder, and Billy Traber for Roberto Alomar. I know, this trade is a bit unrealistic but for some reason the Indians want to move the future hall of famer so if we move fast I think this package gets it done.

5. Sign David Weathers. He may be ugly but judging from his past season, last year's .8 WARP was a fluke and he should bounce back to his normal 2.0 WARP territory. Touchdown Mets.

6. Trade James K's favorite player, Desi Relaford, and everyone else's favorite player, Tsuyoshi Shinjo, for Shawn Estes. I know this one stings a bit, I mean we love those two players and Estes is overrated due to his 19 win season in '97 and the fact that his ERA has not been close to his DERA...and he's also injured a lot, and, yes, he's making too much money but we're going to need a pitcher after my next move.

7. Trade Kevin Appier (4.0 WARP) for Mo Vaughn. I know he didn't play a single game last year, he has old player skills, he's was already declining the past seasons before the injury and he has a huge contract. By c'mon. I mean this is Mo Fuckin' Vaughn.

8. In between moves 6 and 7, I signed Roger Cedeno to a four year 18 million dollar contract. He had a -0.3 WARP last season and a .9 WARP the season before, but just call this one a feeling.

9. Lastly, to fix that hole in RF that we have. Trade Lenny Harris, Glendon Rusch (.9 WARP,) Benny Agbayani (.5 WARP) and Todd Zeile (2.4 WARP) for Jeromy Burnitz (3.7 WARP) and Jeff D'Amico (-.8 in only 47 innings.)

10. Oh yeah, and select Endy Chavez off waivers.

11. Then lose Endy Chavez off waivers 21 days later.

Overall, my plan has completely exploded the core as we now have a new LF, RF, 2nd basemen, 1st basemen, two starters and a bunch of new bullpen arms. The payroll has increased by $23 million to $117 and there are some question marks. Can Mo Vaughn bounce back? Is Burnitz overrated due to hitting a park perfectly suited for his style of play? I'm I just acquiring Cedeno, Estes and D'Amico due to one good season they had a few years ago that might just be a fluke? Allow me to answer those questions with a question of my own, were there not a lot of questions regarding the 1986 Mets?

Scouts opinions and grains of salt

Sokojoe — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:06:00 -0000

Scouts opinions and grains of salt

"Here’s what one scout who watched Familia closely said about him: "He’s got arm strength, that’s it. Great kid. Arm strength. Bad delivery. No breaking ball. Walked six guys the outing I saw him. Everything in delivery messed up. Was up to 95 mph. Doesn’t get through with his back side, no real balance, misses up in zone because doesn’t follow through/finish. He can’t because of the rest of stuff that’s going on."

Sorry for making yet another thread discussing BA's Top 10 but this response regarding Familia's ranking really perplexed me. From watching just one start, the scout not only is able to trash Jeurys mechinics as well as call him a one dimensional pitcher but convince Rubin and whoever else helped with the list to not consider Familia for the Top 10.

Here's my problem though. First of all, looking at Familia's game logs, Familia has never walked 6 batters in a game in his career. There was one start where he walked 5 in his first start in May. So maybe he's talking about this start and the scout was off by one, no big deal right? Well, to me it is. If the scout can vividly recall that he "doesn’t get through with his back side" and his other claims, he should also have remembered the walks, I would think.

More importantly, I don't understand how one start is any kind of sample size to make the claims the scout makes. I mean sure his job is to be confident about what he sees in select viewing but shouldn't Rubin be pointing out the problem with basing opinions on one start, I mean Felix Hernandez and Johan both walked 6 batters this year and I would think scouts in the stands would be able to question their mechanics on those given days.

Ranting aside, Familia was 19 years old this season. He threw 140 innings with a 7.02 K/9, 2.96 BB/9, 0.19 HR/9!, and a 48.8% GB rate. If poor mechanics get these results, I'll take it.

There’s little sense blocking Davis by signing a first baseman to a multi-year deal. I’m told the M...

Sokojoe — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:35:08 -0000

There’s little sense blocking Davis by signing a first baseman to a multi-year deal. I’m told the Mets likely will trade for a righty-hitting first baseman with a short-term commitment to pair with Daniel Murphy in 2010.

via MetsBlog via Adam Rubin

Indians hire Acta

Sokojoe — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:06:23 -0000

Indians hire Acta

It seems like a good fit for Acta so good luck to him. But I guess we can give up on our hope of a third base coach reunion, unless Cookie Rojas is still available.

I would have never predicted this...

Sokojoe — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:23:20 -0000

(In the sprit of James’ post, Take Me Back to April.)
Between Wright’s power outage and all the injuries, it’s been a really disappointing and frankly odd season. Here’s a list of things I would have put money against at the start of the season: (apologies for bullet points)

• The Mets would throw two complete game shut outs and they would be pitched by Nelson Figueroa and Pat Misch.
• Tim Redding would have the third most strikeouts on the pitching staff (76.)
• The owner of the third highest WAR for pitchers would be Livan Hernandez despite being released after 23 starts.
• Daniel Murphy Blue Collar Blasts would lead the team. (12)
• Fernando Nieve would lead the team in BA. (333 in 9 ABs)
• David Wright would lead our team in SBs. (27)
• Angel Pagan would have a higher ISO then Wright, Beltran or Sheff.
• Small sample size issues of course, but our top three BB% owners would be Felicano, Andy Green, and Emil Brown.
• Andy Green and Emil Brown would be on the team.
• Fernando Tatis would have the 5th highest positional WAR on the team. (1.3)
• Daniel Murphy would lead the team in UZR. (4.2 at 1st)

Speaking of predictions:
I wanted to pat myself on the back for my best prediction of the season, Luis Castillo bouncing back . I guess-timated a .276/.386/.336/.722 line for Castillo and he actually hit .302/.387/.346/.732. Hooray for me.

Equally, I wanted to put my foot in my mouth for predicting Ryan Church was going to have a re-breakout year. Though he has played D well, his bat didn’t return to the level I thought it would. Boo for me.

I’m sure I’m missing a bunch of other statistical anomalies and I’m curious what you guys feel are some of your best/worst predictions, so I figured we could use this thread to discuss.

John Maine Takes Pitch Requests At Poorly Attended Mets-Nationals Game

Sokojoe — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:14:08 -0000

John Maine Takes Pitch Requests At Poorly Attended Mets-Nationals Game

Oh The Onion, what would I do without you?

Two plays later, Sanchez...hit Patriots-killer Dustin Keller in the back of the end zone for a...

Sokojoe — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:11:54 -0000

Two plays later, Sanchez...hit Patriots-killer Dustin Keller in the back of the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown and New York led, 10-9.

via the Boston Globe

I didn't realize NE writers/fans? referred to Keller as such.