(promoted from fanposts. --eric)

I'm thrilled that Delgado is having such a great second half for the Mets, but he has a lower VORP lower than Reyes, Wright, and Beltran. Even just looking at conventional stats, it's clear that those three are having superior seasons to Delgado. Check it out:

Reyes offers phenomenal baserunning and has fantastic offensive production for a shortstop. Other than homers and a slight discrepancy in slugging percentage, Wright has been superior to Delgado in all offensive categories and has a significant advantage in OBP, the most important offensive stat. And although I wouldn't classify third base as a premium defensive position, it is certainly more difficult to find a good hitting third baseman than first baseman, so Wright offers more value for his position than Delgado. Beltran's numbers are comparable to Wright's, and Beltran plays fantastic defense at a difficult position to play.

The bottom line is that Wright, Beltran, and Reyes offer the Mets great production while playing positions that the Mets would have difficulty finding suitable replacements if any of those three players were injured. Imagine the offensive dropoff if the Mets had to replace Reyes with Damion Easley in their lineup on a daily basis. Delgado, on the other hand, offers poor defense at a position that pretty much anyone besides Mike Piazza can play, so his stats would not be as difficult to replace if the Mets lost him.

There's no denying it - Carlos Delgado has had a nice year, and I would not be at all upset if the Mets picked up his option for next year. But the guy has been nowhere near as valuable as the holy trinity of Reyes, Wright, and Beltran. It would be a shame if the sportswriters missed that when they cast their MVP ballots.

I'm stuck at work today (tomorrow too!), and I figured the best way to get back at my boss would be to write a fanpost.

Johan Santana did his best Livan Hernandez impression last night, throwing 121 pitches.  My roommates and I yelled at Jerry Manuel to take Santana out after the 6th inning, but I guess he didn't hear us.  Santana's high pitch count last night made me wonder though.  Manuel got a lot of heat after he took Santana out after 8 innings and 105 pitches in a July 22 game against the Phils that I swear to God did not have a 9th inning, and if you tell me otherwise I will punch you in the ovary.  The next time out Santana went 9, and it seemed to me that Manuel has been reluctant to take out his starters since the July 22 debacle.  Did this criticism cause Manuel to leave his starters in longer?  Before I looked up the stats I thought so, but it turns out that Jerry Manuel did not magically transformed into Dusty Baker after all!  Check it out:

Santana's pitch counts and total innings pitched after 7/22:

118 in 9 IP, 103 in 6.1 IP, 104 in 7 IP, 94 in 7 IP, 113 in 9 IP, and 121 in 9 IP.

AVG = 108.83, MEDIAN = 108.5

Pitch counts and total innings from the start of the season through 7/22:

100 in 7 IP, 91 in 7 IP, 113 in 6.2 IP, 105 in 7 IP, 97 in 7 IP, 114 in 5.2 IP, 116 in 6 IP, 116 in 6 IP, 100 in 7.2 IP, 90 in 7 IP, 110 in 7 IP, 107 in 7.2 IP, 100 in 6 IP, 116 in 7 IP, 95 in 6 IP, 106 in 7 IP, 113 in 6 IP, 95 in 8 IP, 78 in 5 IP, 92 in 4 IP, 105 in 8 IP

AVG = 102.81, MEDIAN = 105, MODE = 100

So on average, Santana is only throwing about 6 pitches more per game than he was before the disaster against Philly.  And the median difference is only about 3 and a half pitches.

If I weren't at work right now I'd break down the numbers to see how if Santana is throwing a slightly greater amount of pitches because he has been more effective or if there's no real reason for the tiny increase.  And I'd love to see if the Mets' other pitchers have been throwing more pitches per game since July 22.  In any case, we can rest assured that - last night aside - Jerry Manuel does not seem to be letting Santana throw an absurd amount of pitches during his starts.  Hopefully the Mets'  current and future managers will keep this up for the rest of the season and throughout Santana's contract.